486 ON TH£ ve'das, 



after its publication by Panchas'ic'ha, who had 

 been himself instructed by AsuRi, the pupil of 

 Capila. 



To adduce more instances would be tedious : 

 they abound in every branch of science. Among 

 works, the authors of which are unknown, and 

 which, therefore, as usual, are vulgarly ascribed 

 to some celebrated name, manj^ contain undisr 

 guised evidence of a more modern date. Such are 

 those parts of Purdnas, in which the prophetic 

 style is assumed, because they relate to events 

 posterior to the age of the persons who are speakers 

 in the dialogue. Thus Budd'ha is mentioned 

 under various names in the Matsya, Vishnu, Bha- 

 gavatOy Garud'a, Nrhinka, and other purafias. 

 I must not omit to notice, that SancarVcha'rya, 

 the great commentator on the abstruscst parts of 

 the Vedas, is celebrated, in the Vr^kad d'hdrma 

 purdn'a"^, as an incarnation of Vishnu ; and GaU' 

 d'apa'da is described, in the Sancara 'Vtjej^a, as 

 the pupil of Suca the son of VvASAf. 



1 do not mean to say, that forgeries are not 

 sometimes committed; or that books are not 

 counterfeited, in whole or in part. Sir W.Jones, 

 Mr. Blaquiere, and myself, have detected inter- 

 polations. Many greater forgeries have been at* 



* Tn tlie 78lh chapter of the 2d part. This is the Purdn'a 

 mentioned by me with doubt in a former essay. I have since 

 procured a copy of it. 



t If this were not a fable, the real age of Vya'sa might be 

 hence ascertained ; and, consequently, the period whert the Vedm 

 were arranged in their present form. Go'vindana'tha, tlie 

 instructor of S'ANCARA, is stated to have been the pupil of Gau- 

 DAPADA; and, according to the traditions generally received iq 

 the peninsula of India, S ANGARA lived little more than eight 

 Jiundred year§ ago. 



