1-28 
HINDOOSTAN. 
cattle, and by holy perfections; and great by propitious 
celebrity. 
“ Bow to Brahme. Salutation unto thee, O air! Even 
thou art Brahme, prefent [to our apprehenfion.] Thee 
I will call “ prelent Brahme:” thee I .will name “ the 
right one:” thee I will pronounce “ the true one.” 
May that [Brahme, the unirierfal being entitled air] 
preserve me; may that preferve the teacher: propitious 
be it.” 
Of Brahma, in the mafculine. —“ Brahma was firft of 
the gods, framer of the univerfe, guardian of the world. 
He taught the knowledge of God, which is the founda¬ 
tion of all fcience', to his eldeft fon At’harva. That holy 
i fcience, which Brahma revealed to At’harvan, was com¬ 
municated by him to Angir, who tranfmitted it to Saty- 
avaha, the defcendant of Bharadwaja: and this fon of 
Bharadwaja imparted the traditional lcience to Angiras. 
“ Saunaca, or the fon of Sunaca, a mighty houfeholder, 
addreffing Angiras with due refpecf, alked “ What is it, 
O venerable fage, through which, when known, this uni- 
verle is underftood?” 
“ To him the holy perfonage thus replied: “ Two forts 
of fcience mull be diftinguilhed ; as they,-who know God, 
declare : the fupreme fcience, and another. This other is 
the Rigveda, the Yajurveda, the Samaveda, the Atharva- 
veda. But the fupreme fcience is that, by which this un- 
perilhabie [nature] is apprehended, invifible [or imper¬ 
ceptible as is that nature] : not to be leized; nor to be 
deduced; devoid of colour; deftitute of eyes and ehrs ; 
without hands or feet, yet ever varioufly pervadin'g all: 
minute, unalterable; and contemplated by the wile for 
the fource ofbeings. 
st As the fpider fpins and gathers back [its thread] ; 
as plants fprout 'on the earth; as hairs grow on a living 
perlon : fo is this univerfe, here, produced from the un- 
perifhable nature. By contemplation, the vaft one germi¬ 
nates ; from him, food [or body] is produced ; and thence, 
fucceflively, breath, mind, real [elements], worlds, and 
immortality ariljng from [good] deeds. The omnifcient 
is profound contemplation, confiding in the knowledge 
of him, who knows all: and, from that, the [manifefted] 
vaft one, as well as names, forms, and food, proceed: and 
this is TRUTH.” 
Invocation to the Sun; bya Brahmin Priejl. —‘-'This 
excellent praife ol thee, O fplendid Sun! is offered up to 
thee. Be gratified by this my fpeech: approach this • 
craving mind, as a fond man leeks a woman. May that 
Sun (Pulhan), who contemplates, and looks into, all 
worlds, be our protector .”—“ Let us meditate on the 
adorable light of the Divine Ruler (Savitri) : may it 
guide our intellects. Defirous of food, we folicit the gift 
of the fplendid Sun, who fhould be ftudioufty worlhipped. 
Venerable men, guided by the underftanding, falute the 
divine Sun with oblations and praife.” 
Sayan’acharya, the Hindoo commentator, confiders this, 
paffage to admit of two interpretations : “ the light, or 
Brahme conilituting the fplendour, of the Supreme Ruler, 
or Creator of the univerfe;” or “ the light, or orb, of the 
fplendid fun.” 
Consecration of a Kino.— The ceremony is per¬ 
formed by pouring on his head, while feated on a throne, 
water mixed with honey, clarified butter, and fpirituous 
liquor, as well as two forts of grafs, and the lp routs of 
corn. The manifold advantages derived to the crowned 
head by virtue of this ceremony, are thus ftated:—“ Well 
knowing all the [efficacy of confecration], Janamejaya, 
fon of Paricfhit, declared; “ Prieifs, converfimt with this 
ceremony, afiift me, who am likewife apprized [of its be¬ 
nefits], to celebrate the folemn rite. Therefore, do I 
conquer [in fmgle combat] ; therefore, do I defeat arrayed 
forces with an arrayed army: neither the arrows of the 
gods, nor thofe men, reach me: I fhall live the full pe- 
riod of life; I fhall remain mailer of the whole earth.” 
“ By this great inauguration, fimilar to that of the god 
Indra, Tura, fon of Cavaflia, cohfecrated Janamejaya, 
Ion of Paricfhit; and, therefore, did Janamejaya, fon of 
Paricfhit, fubdue the earth completely, all around, and 
traverfe it eveiy way, and perform afacrifice with a horfe 
as an offering.—Concerning that folemn facrifice, this 
verfe is univerialLy chanted : “ In Afaiidivat, Janamejaya 
bound [as an offering] to the gods, a horfe fed with grain, 
marked with a white liar on his forehead, and bearing a 
green wreath round his neck.”—Here l’eems to be derived 
tlie Indian fuperllition of facrificing the noble animal, 
the horfe. • * 
Inauguration of Anga. —“ By this great inaugura¬ 
tion, fimilar to that of the god Indra, Udamaya, fon of 
Atri, confecrated Anga ; and,, therefore, did Anga fub- 
due the earth completely all around, and traverfe it every 
way, and perform a facrifice with a horfe as an offering’. 
He, perfect in his perfon, thus addreffed [the prieft, who 
was bufy on fome facrifice :] “ Invite me to this folemn 
rite, and I will give thee [to complete it,] holy man ! ten 
thoufand elephants and ten thoufand female flav.es.” 
“On that fubject thele verfes.are every where chanted : 
“ Of the cows, for which the fons of Priyamed’lia a hi lied 
Udamaya in the folemn rite, this fon of Atri gave them, 
[every day] at noon, two thoufand each, out of a thou¬ 
fand millions. The fon of Virochana [Anga] unbound 
and gave, while his prieft performed the folemn facrifice, 
eighty thoufand white horfes fit for ufe. 
“ The fon of Atri beftowed in gifts ten thoufand wo¬ 
men adorned with necklaces, all daughters of. opulent 
perfons, and brought from various countries. While dif- 
tributing ten thoufand elephants in Avachatruca, the 
holy fon of Atri grew tired, and difpatched meffengers to. 
fmilh the diftribu'rion.” 
Inauguration of the Great King Bharat, or 
Bharata. — “ By this great inauguration, fimilar to that 
of the god Indra, Dirg’hatamas, fon of Mamata, confe- 
crated Bharata, the fon of Duhlhanta; and, therefore, did 
Bharata, fon. of Duhlhanta, fubdue the earth completely 
all around, and traverfe it every way, and perform re¬ 
peated facrifices with liorfes as offerings. 
“ On that fubject too, thefe verfes are every where 
chanted. “ Bharata diftributed, in Malhnara, a hundred 
and feven thoufand millions of black elephants with 
white tulles, and decked with gold. 
“A facred fire was lighted for Bharata, fon of Duh- 
flianta, in Sachi’guna, at which a thoufand Brahmanas 
lhared a thoufand millions of cows apiece. 
“ Bharata, fon of Duhlhanta, bound feventy-eight horfes 
[for folemn rites] near the Yamuna; and fifty-five in 
Vritrag’hna on the Ganga. 
“ Having thus bound a hundred and thirty-three horfes 
fit for facred rites, the fon of Duhlhanta became pre-errri- 
nentiy wife, and lurpaffed the prudence of [every riva*] 
king. 
“ This great achievement of Bharata, neither former 
nor latter perfons [have equalled;] the five dalles of men 
have not attained his feats, any more than a mortal [can 
reach] heaven with his hands.” 
Trial of skill among Brahmins. — “ Janaca, a king 
paramount, or emperor of the race of Videhas, was cele¬ 
brating, at great expence, a folemn facrifice, at which the 
Brahmanas, of Guru and Panchala were aifembled ; and 
the king, being defirous of afeertaining which of thofe 
priefts was the molt (killed and eloquent theologian, or¬ 
dered a thoufand cows to be made fall in his (tables, and 
their horns to be gilt with a prefcribed quantity of gold. 
He then addreffed the priefts : “ Whoever, among you, 
O venerabie Brahmanas, is mod (killed in theology^ may 
take the cows.” The reft prefumed not to touch the cat¬ 
tle ; but .Yajnywalcya bade his pupil Samafravas drive 
them to his home. He did fo ; and the other priefts were 
indignant that he lliould thus arrogate to himfe’if fupe- 
riority. Afwala, who was the king’s officiating prieft, 
alked him, “Art thou, O Yaj nyawaleya! more ikilied in 
a theology 
