124 
HINDO 
family of Sandila, a fon of Cafyapa; Dacflia, alfo a defcen- 
dant of Cafyapa ; Vedagarva, of the family of Vatfa; 
Chandra, of the family of Saverna, a Ion of Cafyapa; and. 
Sri Herfhu, a defcendant of Bhavadwaja. From thefe 
anceftors have branched no fewer than a hundred and 
fifty-fix families, of which the precedence was fixed by 
Ballala Sena, who reigned in the twelfth century of the 
Chrifti^n aera. One hundred of thefe families fettled in 
Varendra, and fifty-fix in Rara. They are now difperfed 
throughout Bengal, but retain the family dillinflions 
fixed by Ballala Sena. They are denominated from the 
families to which their five progenitors belonged, and are 
fill confidered as Canyacubja Brahmanas. 
At the period when thefe priefts were invited by the 
king of Gaur, fome Sarefwata Brahmanas, and a fe\y 
Vaidicas, refided in Bengal. Of the Brahmanas of Saref¬ 
wata none are now found in Bengal; but five families of 
Vaidicas are extant, and are admitted to intermarry with 
the Brahmanas of Rara. 
Among the Brahmanas of Varendra, eight families have 
pre-eminence, and eight hold the fecond rank. Among 
thofe of Rara, fix hold the firft rank. The diflinftive 
appellations of the feveral families are borne by thofe of 
the firft rank; but in moll of the other families they are 
difufed ; and Serman, or Serma, the addition common to 
the whole tribe of Brahmins is aflumed. For this prac¬ 
tice, the priefts of Bengal are cenfured by the Brahmins 
of Mit’lula, and other countries, where that title is only 
ul’ed on important occafions,'and in religious ceremonies. 
In Mithila the additions are fewer, though diftinct fami¬ 
lies are more numerous : no more than three furnames 
are in ufe in that diftribl, Thacura, Mifra, and Ojha ; 
each appropriated in any families. 
The Cayaft'has of Bengal claim defcent from five 
Cayaft’has who attended the priefts invited from Canya¬ 
cubja. Their delcendants branched into eighty-three 
families; and their precedence was fixed by the fame 
prince Ballala Sena, who alio adjufted the family rank of 
-other claffes. 
In Benga and Decfhina Rara, three families of Cayaft’¬ 
has have pre-eminence ; eight hold the fecond rank. The 
Cayaft'has of inferior rank generally alfume the addition of 
Dafa, common to the tribe of Sudras, in the fame manner 
as other dalles have limilar titles common to the whole 
tribe. The regular addition to the name of- Clhatriya is 
Verman; to that of a Vaifya, Gupta; but the general 
title of Deva is commonly aflumed; and, with a feminine 
termination, it is alfo borne by women of other tribes. 
Thei'e diftinftions of the ancient Hindoo families are 
important in regulating their intermarriages.. Genealogy 
is made a particular ftudy; and the greateft attention is 
given to regulate the marriages according to eftablifhed 
rules, particularly in the firft marriage of the eldeft fon. 
The^principal points to be obferved are, not to marry 
within the prohibited degrees; nor in a family known 
by its name to be of the fame primitive ftock ; nor in a 
family of inferior rank : nor even in an inferior branch 
of an equal family ; for within fome families gradations 
are eftabiifhed. Thus, among the Culina of the Cayaft’has, 
the rank lias been counted from thirteen degrees; and in 
every generation, fo long as the marriage has been pro¬ 
perly afforted, one degree has been added to the rank. 
But, fhould a marriage be contracted in a family of a 
lower.degree, an entire forfeiture of Inch rank would be 
incurred. In their ftrielnefs on thefe occafions, as well 
as in their p ide of fhowing a remote and uncontaminated 
pedigree, they leem to imitate the practice of the Jews. 
The VEDAS, or HINDOO SCRIPTURES. 
So Angularly unfuccefsful had been every refearch after 
the original feriptures of the Hindoos, that even fo late 
as when the F-nglifh had formed their eltablifhment at 
Calcutta, it was doubted whether the Vedas were extant, 
-or whether they had not been irrecoverably loft through 
the lapfe of time. It was believed too, that, if a .Brahmin 
2 
OSTAN. 
really poffeffed the Hindoo feriptures, his religious pre¬ 
judices would neverthelefs prevent his imparting any 
knowledge of them. Thefe doubts were not finally aban¬ 
doned, until colonel Polier obtained, from Jeypour, a 
tranfeript of what purported to be a complete copy of 
the Vedas, and which, from their curiofity and value, he 
generoufly depofited in the Britifh Mufeum. About the 
fame time, fir Robert Chambers collected, at Benares, 
feveral fragments of the Vedas; and fir William Jones 
was fuccefsful in procuring valuable portions of them, 
and in tranflating feveral curious paflages, mentioned in 
his valuable works. But the indefatigable H. T. Cole- 
brooke, efq. has been (till more fortunate, in collecting, 
at Benares, (which was foon difeovered to be the great 
repofitory of Hindoo fcience and literature,) the text 
and commentary of a large portion of their facred books ; 
and from whofe valuable paper, in the eighth volume of 
the Afiatic Refearches, we have been enabled to collect 
the following extracts. 
The original Veda is believed, by the Hindoos, As 
noticed above, to have been revealed from the mouth of 
Brahma, and to have been prei’erved by tradition, until 
it was arranged in its prefent order by a f'age, who thence 
obtained the furname of Vyafa, or Vedavyafa ; that is, 
“ compiler of the Vedas." He diftributed the Indian 
feriptures into four parts, entitled Rich, Yajujh, Saman, 
and At'harvana ; each bearing the common denomination 
of Veda. 
It was at firft generally underftood that there were but 
three Vedas; for Amerafinha notices only three Vedas ; 
and mentions the At'harvana, without giving it the lame 
denomination. It is, however, probable, that fome por¬ 
tion at lealtof the At’harvana is as ancient as the compi¬ 
lation of the three others; its name, like theirs, being 
anterior to Vyafa’s arrangement of them. The llihafa, 
and Puranas , conftitute a fifth Veda. But it appears, 
that the Rich, Yajufli, and Saman, are the three principal 
portions of the Veda ; that the At'harvana, or fourth, is 
next in eitirnation ; and that the llihafa and Puranas are 
reckoned-a kind of fupplement to the feriptures, and, as 
fuch, conftitute a fifth Veda; but perhaps lomewhat 
apocryphal. 
The true reafon, why the three firft Vedas are often 
mentioned without any notice of the fourth', mull be 
fought in the difference of their ufe and purport. Prayers, 
employed at folemn rites, called Yujnxas, are placed in 
the three principal Vedas : thofe, which are in profe, are 
named Yaju/h ; fuch as are in metre, are denominated 
Rich ; and fome, which are intended to be chanted, are 
called Saman ; and thefe names, ufed for diltinguifhing 
different portions of the Vedas, are anterior to their repa¬ 
ration in Vyala’s compilation. But the At'harvana, not 
being ufed at the religious ceremonies above-mentioned, 
and containing prayers employed at luftrations, at rites 
for conciliating the deities, and as imprecations on enemies, 
is of courie only referred to on thefe occafions. Different 
fchools too, in procefs of time, admitted different vari¬ 
ations, even in works which appear under the fame title. 
This is accounted for by their commentators, who relate 
the following ftory, taken from Puranas, and other autho¬ 
rities. Vyafa, having compiled and arranged the ferip- 
turesf theogonies, and mythological poems, taught the 
feveral Vedas to as many difciples: viz. the Rich to 
Paila; the Yaju/h to Vailampayana, and the Saman to 
Jaimini ; as alfo the At'harvana to Sumantu, and the 
Itihaja and Puranas to Suta. Thefe difciples inftruifled 
their refpeclive pupils, who, becoming teachers in their 
turn, communicated the knowledge to their own difciples ; 
until, at length, in the progrefs of luccelfive inftrublion, 
fo great variations crept into the text, or into the manner 
of reading or reciting it, and into the no lels facred pre¬ 
cepts for its ufe and application, that eleven hundred 
different fchools of Icriptural knowledge arofe. 
The feveral Sanhitas, or cohesions of prayers in each 
Veda, as received in thei'e numerous fchools, conftitute.l 
the 
