212 The V&tiu Y6g*. [No. 3, 



Nairta and Varuna Pavan Ouvera and Siva and Sesha with 

 brahmans and dikpalas ever purify you. May all th 

 bled gods bless you with reputation and f; dth, me- 



mory, reasoning, health, veneral ion and mercy, ingenuity, mod 

 bodily comfort, quietude, and Loveliness. May tke planets, tl 

 the moon, Mercury, Mars. Jupiter, Venn-. Saturn, all the 



planets, together with Eahu uiu\Ji</u propitiated, purify you. May 

 devas, danavas, gandharvas, yak-lias, rakshae, serpents, riahis, 

 munis, cows, devamatas also deva-patnis, adhvraas, snak< 

 andapsaras, weapons, all S'astras, rajas and carriers andmedi 

 jewels and the degrees of time, lakes, seas, mountain.-, holy pi 

 cloud-', rivers, prepare you towards the attainment of piety, 

 desires and wealth ! Om, SvasU." 



The JYtstuyjga, described above, is evidently a sacrifice inv< 

 by the ancient Aryan conquerors with a view to propiti: 

 aborigines or primeval owners of the land. Such a practice is not 

 uncommon in Hindu theosophy. Everything that has a place in 

 a ceremony, is worshipped or propitiated. The earth i- pacified 

 before lighting up a sacrificial lire, and is appeased after the Aomjj 

 is over. The tree l'roiu which I are collected is worshipped] 



and is propitiated by mantrat. The sacrifici ren is first adi 



sedwith a proper prayerto the effect " that beasts were cr I 

 by Brahma for sacrifice, and killing in a Tajna La therefore no killing 

 ( <T*«Trr *T5T •^VTS^'y: I )•" Again, " Indra, Soma, and other god-, for the 

 sake of sacrifice became beasts and BO forth." Indeed, without a pre- 

 liminary archan i (worship), no offeri med lit for pr< 

 and no god is prepared to receive any without it. The Vetdl 

 Pisachas (the gods of the aborigines) are first propitiated, they have 

 the precedence in all ceremonies. In days of yore, such ceremonies 

 were very frequently interrupted by the dazyus and daityas, and 

 the holy sages who celebrated them, were often obliged to a 

 assistance from princes and warriors for protecting them against 

 such depredations. In the Eamaj'ana, Yisvamitra carries with him 

 young Eamachandra and Lakshmana to protect his sacrifice. In the 

 performance of a srdddha, the first offering is made to the Bhusv imi, 

 the lord of the soil, and the Smirtis teach us that it is not lawful 

 to perform any ceremony on another man's soil without satisfying 



