84 Analysis of the Purdnas. [March, 



and is purely Hindu, it can only relate to a state of things anterior to 

 the Mohammedan invasion ; it is not a necessary consequence, it is true, 

 that the Agneya Purana should bear a similar date, but it is an argument 

 rather in favour of such a belief, and contributes with other grounds to 

 authorize such a conclusion, if not for the whole work, for a very exten- 

 sive portion. 



The like genuine Hindu character belongs to the sections that follow 

 on the shape of weapons and archery, the phraseology and p: actice of 

 which are no longer known. These sections of the Agneya Purdnaare 

 indeed particularly valuable, as they preserve almost, if not quite, 

 singly, the memory of former regal and martial usages. 



The chapters on the subject of judicature and law are so far curious, 

 that they are literally the same as the text of the Mitdkshara, ascribed 

 to the Muni Yajnydwalkya. The antiquity of that text is, in the 

 estimation of the Hindus, extravagantly remote ; but without reference 

 to their belief, it is certainly not very modern, as passages have been 

 found on inscriptions in every part of India, dated in the tenth and 

 eleventh centuries. To have been so widely diffused, and to have 

 then attained a general character as an authority, a considerable time 

 must have elapsed, and the work must date therefore long prior to those 

 inscriptions ; at the same time, this throws little light on the period at 

 which the Purana was complied, the author of which might in any day 

 transcribe the code of Yajnydzoalkya, although it is possible, that so 

 undisguised a transfer may have preceded the time at which the 

 legislative code was in general and extended circulation. 



The chapters on law are followed by a rather miscellaneous series 

 regarding the perusal of the Vedas, the averting of threatened ill- 

 fortune, burnt-offerings, and the worship of various deities. We have 

 then a short but curious chapter on the branches of the Vedus, and 

 speaking of the Purdnas, the following remarkable passage occurs: 

 " six persons received the Purdnas from Vydsa, and were his pupils ; 

 their names are Suta, Lomahersha, Sumati, Maitreya, Sinsapdyana, 

 and Suvami" These, therefore, are probably the real authors of most 

 if not of all the Purdnas. It is said also, that Sinsapdyana and others 

 compiled a Sanhita, or epitome of all the Purdnas. 



The next chapter on gifts to be made, when the Purdnas are read, 

 contains the list of the Purdnas and the enumeration of the stanzas 

 they contain. In this respect many differences occur from similar 

 enumerations in other Purdnas, and the Siva Purana is altogether 

 omitted. With regard to the narrators and the chief subjects at least, in 

 some cases, this detail varies from the text of the works as now found ; 



