452 ON THE VEDAS, 



second arrangement indicated by the index, ap- 

 pear to be ascribed to Praja'pati, or the lord of 

 creatures; as many to Soma, or the moon; seven 

 to Agx r, or fire ; and sixteen to all the gods. Pos- 

 sibly some passages may be allotted by the com- 

 mentators to their real authors, though not pointed 

 out by the index for the Atreyi S'acha. 



Several prayers from this V^da have been trans- 

 lated in former essays*. Other very remarkable 

 passages have occurred on examining this collec- 

 tion of Mantras ■\. The following, from the se- 

 venth and last book J, is chosen as a specimen of 

 the Taittiriya Yqjurveda. Like several before- 

 cite^, it alludes to the Indian notions of the crea- 

 tion ; and, at the risk of sameness, I select pas- 

 sages relative to that topic, on account of its im- 

 portance in explaining the creed of the ancient 

 Hindu religion. The present extract was recom- 

 mended for selection by its allusion to a mytholo- 

 gical notion, which apparently gave origin to the 

 story of the Vardha-avatara ; and from which an 

 astronomical period, entitled CalpUy has perhaps 

 been taken §. 



' Waters [alone] there were ; this world origi- 

 nally was water. In it the lord of creation moved, 

 having become air : he saw this [earth] ; and up- 

 held it, assuming the form of a boar (vardha); 

 and then moulded that [earth], becoming Vis'wa- 

 CARMAX, the artificer of the universe. It became 



* Astatic Researches, Vol. V, and VIT. 



+ 1 Iiave several complete copies of the text; but only a part of 

 the commentary by Sa'yana. 



X BookTII, Chapter 1, Section 5. 



§ One of the Calpas, or renovations of the universe, is deno* 

 miuated Vdr6ha. 



