510 Report on the " Vedas" 



book of this Sanhita (the whole Sanhita contains 8 books), and on a 

 part of the second book. These are precisely those parts with which 

 we ought to commence, if we would publish the Vedas in the same 

 order, in which they are received by the Hindus, and although it would 

 be a hazardous undertaking to publish the text of the Vedas from one 

 MS. alone, however correct it may be, four MSS. are quite sufficient 

 to prepare a correct text. Rosen had only two MSS., and the com- 

 mentary, and the text he has given, are unexceptionable as regards 

 correctness. There are no different versions of the Vedas, as there are 

 for instance of the Ramayana, they have been handed down to posterity 

 with the utmost fidelity, since an alteration of them would appear to be 

 a sacrilege, moreover the number of verses is known, nay even that of 

 the single words. On these grounds it is evident, that an error, occur- 

 ring in the text, can be only an error of the copyist, which can easily 

 be rectified by the means of four MSS. I now enumerate these 

 MSS. 



1. MS. No. 8— 36, A. from the Library of Bishop's College. This 

 is in Debnagri characters, in small leaves, each of them numbered, ami 

 the number of Slokas, as also their division in lectures and books, most 

 carefully marked. It is probably a pretty old copy, as the characters 

 differ from those at present in use, and require some attention to read 

 them. It is altogether a beautiful MS., and as I have reason to 

 believe from a comparison of some parts with Rosen's Rig Veda, a very 

 correct transcript. 



2. MS. No. 433, from the Library of the Asiatic Society, con- 

 taining the Sanhita of the Rig Veda complete. It is also in Debnagri 

 character, and legible, although not to be compared in this respect 

 with the MS. from Bishop's College. 



3. MS. Nos. 1418 — 1425, from the Sanscrit College, in Debnagri 

 character. This is also a complete transcript of the Sanhita of the 

 Rig Veda, and in most perfect preservation. It is as good a copy as that 

 from Bishop's College, and in modern character. 



4. MS. No. 1417, from the Sancrit College, containing all the 

 Padas or single words of the Rig Veda, it is in modern Debnagri charac- 

 ter, and copied with great attention. The Padas or words are separated 

 from each other by perpendicular lines, which is of material assistance 

 in the interpretation of the text. In Sanscrit many words are often 



