184/.] On the History and Literature of the Veda. 815 



Veda, and is amply handled in the Mimansa, and according to which 

 the Mantra is commonly metrical and an invocation, while the Brah- 

 mana is mostly prose, and consists of practical religious precepts, — 

 this definition denotes also the fundamental division of the Vedic books. 

 They sever themselves into collections of hymns, and liturgical works. 

 That the former, not only in their origin but also in their collection, 

 are more ancient than the latter, so long as no proofs appear to the 

 contrary (and I have been able to find none) we may, I believe, regard 

 as settled. 



But among the five Vedic books which are called Sanhita, there are 

 only four hymn-collections. The fifth, the Taittiriya Sanhita, which 

 is regarded as a principal part of the Yujur Veda, is a liturgical book, 

 which may occupy the same place in respect of this Veda, as the Aiti- 

 reya Brahmana fills for the Rig Veda. (It is also called Taittireya 

 Brahmana). 



Among these four collections of hymns that of the Rik has the most 

 considerable compass ; and may amount in all to near eleven thousand 

 verses. The Atharva hymns are nearly as numerous. The Vaja- 

 saneya Sanhita, (of the Yajur Veda) may amount to half the extent of 

 the Atharva, and the Sama Sanhita to half the Vajasaneya. Hence 

 would result for the four collections united the number of about 30,000 

 distichs. 



Colebrooke has remarked here and there in his treatises that whole 

 hymns, strophes, or single verses of one Veda are again found in 

 another, or in all the rest, without however giving any more exact 

 determination of the matter. But it appears to me important to be 

 able to estimate the total extent of the old poems which have come 

 down to us in the Vedas, and their distribution in the single collec- 

 tions, for from this point the first step must be taken towards a deter- 

 mination of the reciprocal relation of the different Vedas. The infor- 

 mation I can supply on this point is as follows : — 



The Sanhita of the Sama Veda is, according to the testimony of the 

 Indian commentators, (e. g. of Sayana, in the introduction to his expla- 

 nation of the Rik,) completely contained in the first Veda (the Rik), i. e. 

 the single verses of the Sama, are repeated in the connexion of the 

 hymns of the Rik. Some very rare exceptions of verses, however, 

 occur, which the Rik does not contain. The references to particulars 



