496 OS THE ve'das, 



has superceded the less sanguinary practice of 

 the Yajnya; and the adoration of Ra'ma and 

 of CrTshn'a has succeeded to that of the ele- 

 ments and planets. If this opinion be well 

 founded, it follows, that the Upanishads in ques- 

 tion have probably been composed in later times, 

 since the introduction of those sects, which hold 

 Ra'ma and Gopa'la in peculiar veneration. 



On the same ground, every Upanishad, which 

 strongly favours the doctrines of these sects, may 

 be rejected, as liable to much suspicion. Such is 

 the A'tmahbdlia Upanishad*, in which Crishna is 

 noticed by the title of Mad'hu-su'dana, son of 

 Devaci: and such, also, is the Suudaritapanify 

 which inculcates the worship of De'vi. 



The remaining Upanishads do not, so far as I 

 have examined them, exhibit any internal evi- 

 dence of a modern date. I state them as liable to 



of ai)iraals at their private cliapel?. Tlie sect which has adopted 

 this system is prevalent in Bengaf, and in many other provinces 

 of India : and tlie Sanguinary Cljapter, translated from the C6- 

 licd Purdna by a member of this society, (Asiatic Researches, 

 Vol. V. p. 371.) is one amonj» tlie authorities on which it relics. 

 But the practice is not approved by other sects of Hindus. 



* I have seen but one copy of it, in an imperfect collection of 

 the Upanishads. It is not inserted in other compilatious, which 

 nevertheless purport to be complete. 



+ According to the only copy that I have seen, it comprises 

 five Upanishads, znd belongs to the At'harvuna ; but the style re- 

 sembles that of the Tantras more than the Vtdas. It is followed 

 by a tract, marked as belonging to the same Vvda, and entitled 

 Tripura Upanishad, or Traipnr'iya; but this difl'ers from another 

 bearing the similar title of Tripuri Upanishad, and found in a 

 different collection of theological treatises. I efjually discredit 

 both of them, although they are cited by writers on the Mantra 

 sdstra (or use of incantations); and although a commentary ha? 

 been written on the Tripura, by Bhatt'a Bha'scara. 



