Different

recensions.

lead the life of anchorites, do not greatly differ in character and style from the Brahmaņas, but like them are chiefly ritualistic, treating of special ceremonies not dealt with, or dealt with only imperfectly, in the latter works, to which they thus stand in the relation of supplements. The Upanishads, on the other hand, are of a purely speculative nature, and must be looked upon as the first attempts at a systematic treatment of metaphysical questions. The number of Upanishads hitherto known is very considerable (about 170); but, though they nearly all profess to belong to the Atharvaveda, they have to be assigned to very different periods of Sanskrit literature, some of them being evidently quite modern productions. The oldest treatises of this kind are doubtless those which form part of Vedic Samhitâs, Brâhmaņas, and Aranyakas, though not a few others which have no such special connexion have to be classed with the later products of the Vedic age.

As the sacred texts were not committed to writing till a much later period, but were handed down orally in the Brahmanical schools, it was inevitable that local differences of reading should spring up, which in course of time gave rise to a number of independent versions, more or less differing from one another. Such different text-recensions, called sakhâ (i.e., branch), were at one time very numerous, but only a limited number of them have survived. As regards the Samhitas, the poetical form of the hymns, as well as the concise style of the sacrificial formulas, would render these texts less liable to change, and the discrepancies of different versions would chiefly consist in various readings of single words or in the different arrangement of the textual matter. The diffuse ritualistic discussions and loosely connected legendary illustrations of the Brahmanas, on the other hand, offered scope for very considerable modifications in the traditional matter, either through the ordinary processes of oral transmission or through the special influence of individual teachers.

An original Brahmana, then, may be characterized as a series of theoretic discourses, composed by recognized authorities on ritualistic matters, such as might be delivered or referred to in connexion with practical instruction in the sacrificial art. The growing intricacy of the ceremonial, however, could not fail, in course of time, to create a demand for treatises of a more practical tendency, setting forth, in concise and methodical form, the duties of the several priests in the sacrificial performances. But, besides the purely ceremonial matter, the Brahmanas also contained a considerable amount of matter bearing on the correct interpretation of the Vedic texts; and, indeed, the sacred obligation incumbent on the Brahmans of handing down correctly the letter and sense of those texts necessarily involved a good deal of serious grammatical and etymological study in the Brahmanical schools. These literary pursuits could not but result in the accumulation of much learned material, which it would become more and more desirable to throw into a systematic form, serving at the same time as a guide for future research. These practical requirements were met by a class of treatises, grouped under six different heads or Vedâu subjects, called Vedangas, i.e., members, or limbs, of the (body of the) Veda. None of the works, however, which have come down to us under this designation can lay any just claim to being considered as the original treatises on their several subjects; but they evidently represent a more or less advanced stage of scientific development. Though a few of them are composed in metrical formespecially in the ordinary epic couplet, the anushṭubh sloka, consisting of two lines of sixteen syllables, or of two octosyllabic pâdas. each--the majority of them belong

gas.

to a class of writings called sutra, i.e., "string," consisting Sútras as they do of strings of rules in the shape of tersely expressed aphorisms, intended to be committed to memory. The Sutras form a connecting link between the Vedic and the classical periods of literature. But, although these treatises, so far as they deal with Vedic subjects, are included by the native authorities among the Vedic writings, and in point of language may, generally speaking, be considered as the latest products of the Vedic age, they have no share in the sacred title of śruti or revelation. They are of human, not of divine, origin. And yet, as the production of men of the highest standing, and profoundly versed in Vedic lore, the Sûtras are naturally regarded as works of great authority, second only to that of the revealed scriptures themselves; and their relation to the latter is expressed in the generic title of Smriti, or Tradition, usually applied to them.

The six branches of Vedic science, included under the term Vędânga, are as follows:(1) Siksha, or Phonetics. The privileged position of Phonetic representing this subject is assigned to a small treatise ascribed to the great grammarian Pânini, viz., the Pdninîyâ siksha, extant in two different (Rik and Yajus) recensions. But neither this treatise nor any other of the numerous sikshâs which have recently come to light can lay claim to any very high age. Scholars, however, usually include under this head certain works, called Prútisakhya, i.e., "belonging to a certain súkhá or recension," which deal minutely with the phonetic peculiarities of the several Samhitas, and are of great importance for the textual criticism of the Vedic Samhitâs.

(2). Chhandas, or Metre. Tradition makes the Chhan- Metre. dah-sútra of Pingala the starting-point of prosody. The Vedic metres, however, occupy but a small part of this treatise, and they are evidently dealt with in a more original manner in the Nidâna-sûtra of the Sâmaveda, and in a chapter of the Rik-prâtisâkhya. For profane prosody, on the other hand, Pingala's treatise is rather valuable, no less than 160 metres being described by him.

(3) Vyakarana, or Grammar. Pânini's famous grammar Grammar is said to be the Vedanga; but it marks the culminating point of grammatical research rather than the beginning, and besides treats chiefly of the post-Vedic language. (4) Nirukta, or Etymology. Yâska's Nirukta is une Etytraditional representative of this subject, and this important mology. work certainly deals entirely with Vedic etymology or explanation. It consists, in the first place, of strings of words in three chapters:-(1) synonymous words; (2) such as are purely or chiefly Vedic; and (3) names of deities. These lists are followed by Yaska's commentary, interspersed with numerous illustrations. Yaska, again, quotes several predecessors in the same branch of science; and it is probable that the original works on this subject consisted merely of lists of words similar to those handed down by him.

(5) Jyotisha, or Astronomy. Although astronomical Astrocalculations are frequently referred to in older works in nomy. connexion with the performance of sacrifices, the metrical treatise which has come down to us in two different recensions under the title of Jyotisha, ascribed to one Lagadha, or Lagata, seems indeed to be the oldest existing systematic treatise on astronomical subjects. With the exception of some apparently spurious verses of one of the recensions, it betrays no sign of the Greek influence which shows itself in Hindu astronomical works from about the third century of our era; and its date may therefore be set down as probably not later than the early centuries after Christ.

(6) Kalpa, or Ceremonial. Tradition does not single Cereout any special work as the Vedânga in this branch of monial, Vedic science; but the sacrificial practice gave rise to a large number of systematic sûtra-manuals for the several

lar lyrics that was accessible to the collectors, or seemed to them worthy of being preserved. The question as to the exact period when the hymns were collected cannot be answered with any approach to accuracy. For many reasons, however, which cannot be detailed here, scholars have come to fix on the year 1000 B.C. as an approximate date for the collection of the Vedic hymns. From that time every means that human ingenuity could suggest was adopted to secure the sacred texts against the risks connected with oral transmission. But, as there is abundant evidence to show that even then not only had the text of the hymns suffered corruption, but their language had become antiquated to a considerable extent, and was only partly understood, the period during which the great mass of the hymns were composed must have lain considerably further back, and may very likely have extended over the earlier half of the second millenary, or from about 2000 to 1500 B. C.

As regards the people which raised for itself this imposing monument, the hymns exhibit it as settled in the regions watered by the mighty Sindhu (Indus), with its eastern and western tributaries. The land of the five rivers forms the central home of the Vedic people; but, while its advanced guard has already debouched upon the plains of the upper Ganga and Yamunâ, those who bring up the rear are still found loitering far behind in the narrow glens of the Kubha (Cabul) and Gomati (Goinal). Scattered over this tract of land, in hamlets and villages, the Vedic Aryas are leading chielly the life of herdsmen and husbandmen. The numerous clans and tribes, ruled over by chiefs and kings, have still constantly to vindicate their right to the land but lately wrung from an inferior race of darker huc; just as in these latter days their kinsmen in the Far West are ever on their guard against the fierce attacks of the dispossessed red-skin. Not unfrequently, too, the light-coloured Aryas rage internecine war with one another,- -as when the Bharatas, with allied tribes of the Panjab, goaded on by the royal sage Visvamitra, invade the country of the Tritsu king Sudâs, to bo defeated in the "ten kings' battle," through the inspired power of the priestly singor Vasishtha. The priestly office has already become one of high social importance by the side of the political rulers, and to a large extent an hereditary profession; but it does not yet present the baneful features of an exclusive caste. The Aryan housewife shares with her husband the daily toil and joy, the privilege of worshipping the national gods, and even the triumphs of song-craft, some of the finest hymns being attributed to female

scers.

The religious belief of the people consists in a system of natural symbolism, a worship of the elementary forces of nature, regarded as beings endowed with reason and power superior to those of man. In giving utterance to this simple belief, the priestly spokesman has, however, frequen. worked into it his own speculative and mystic notions. Indra, the stout-hearted ruler of the cloud-region, receives by far the largest share of the devout attentions of the Vedic singer. His ever-renewed battle with the malicious demons of darkness and drought, for the recovery of the heavenly light and the rain-spending cows of the sky, forms an inexhaustible theme of spirited song. Next to him, in the affections of the people, stands Agui (ignis), the god of fire, invoked as the genial inmate of the Aryan household, and as the bearer of oblations, and mediator between gods and men. Indra and Agni are thus, as it were, the livine representatives of the king (or chief) and the priest of the Aryan community; and if, in the arrangement of the Samhita, the Brahmanical collectors gave precedence to Agni, it was but one of many avowals of their own hierarchical pretensions. Hence also the hymns to Indra are mostly followed, in the family collections, by thoso addressed to the Viśve Devâh (the "all-gods") or to the Maruts (Mavors, Mars), the warlike storm-gods and faithful companions of Indra, as the divine impersonation of the Aryan free. inen, the vis or clan. But, while Indra and Agni are undoubtedly the favourite figures of the Vedic pantheon, there is reason to believe that these gods had but lately supplanted another group of deities who play a less prominent part in the hymns, viz., Father Heaven (Dyaus Pitar, Zeus Tarhp, Jupiter); Varuna (oupavos), the allembracing firmament; Mitra (Zend. Mithra), the genial light of day; and Savitar (Saturnus) or Sûrya (héλios), the vivifying sun. Of the Brahmanas that were handed down in the schools of the maņas of Bahvrichas (i.c., possessed of many verses "), as the followers of Rigveda, the Rigveda are called, two have come down to us, viz., those of the Aitaroyins and the Kaushitakins. The Aitareya-brahmana1 and the Kaushitaki- (or Sankhayana-) brahmana evidently have for their groundwork the same stock of traditional exegetic matter. They differ, however, considerably as regards both the arrange. ment of this matter and their stylistic handling of it, with tho exception of the numerous legends common to both, in which the discrepancy is comparatively slight. There is also a certain amount of material peculiar to each of them. The Kaushitaka is, upon the whole, far more concise in its style and more systematic in its arrangement-merits which would lead one to infer that it

Brâlı

Edited, with an English translation, by M. Haug, 2 vols., Bombay, 1863. An edition in Roman transliteration, with extracts from the commentary, has been published by Th. Aufrecht. Bonn. 1879.

is probably the more modern work of the two. It consists of thirty chaptors (adhyaya); while the Aitareya has forty, divided into eight books (or pentads, panchaka, of five chapters each). The last ten adhyâyas of the latter work are, however, clearly a later addition, though they must have already formed part of it at the time of Panini (c. 400 B.C. ?), if, as scems probable, one of his grammatical sûtras, regulating the formation of the names of Brâhinanas, consisting of thirty and forty adhyâyas, refers to these two works. In this last portion occurs the well-known legend (also found in the Sânkhâyana-sûtra, but not in the Kaushitakibrahmana) of Sunahsepa, whom his father Ajigarta sells and offers to slay, the recital of which formed part of the inauguration of kings. While the Aitareya deals almost exclusively with the Soma sacrifice, the Kaushitaka, in its first six chapters, treats of the several kinds of haviryajña, or offerings of rice, milk, ghee, &c., whereupon follows the Soma sacrifice in this way, that chapters 7-10 contain the practical ceremonial and 11-30 the recitations (sastra) of the hotar. Sayana, in the introduction to his commentary on the work, ascribes the Aitareya to the sage Mahidâsa Aitareya (son of Itarâ), also mentioned elsewhere as a philosopher; and it seems likely enough that this person arranged the Brâhmana and founded the school of the Aitareyins. Regarding the authorship of the sister work we have no information, except that the opinion of the sage Kaushitaki is frequently referred to in it as authoritative, and generally in opposition to the Paingya-tle Brahmana, it would seem, of a rival school, the Paingins. Each of these two Brahmanas is supplemented by a "forestportion," or Aranyaka. The Aitareyáranyakaa is not a uniformn production. It consists of five books (aranyaka), three of which, the first and the last two, are of a liturgical nature, treating of the ceremony called mahávrata or great vow. The second and third books, on the other hand, are purely speculative, and are also styled the Bahrricha-brahmana-upanishad. Again, the last four chapters of the second book are usually singled out as the Aitareyopanishad, ascribed, like its Brahmana (and the first book), to Mahidasa Aitareya; and the third book is also referred to as the Samhitaupanishad. The fourth and fifth books are doubtless of later origin, being composed in sûtra-form. Even native authorities exclude them from the sacred canon, and ascribe them to Asva lâyana and Saunaka respectively, of whom more further on. regards the Kaushitaki-aranyaka, our MS. material is not yet sufficient to enable us to determine its exact extent and arrangement. It would, however, scem that there are two different recensions of this treatise, a shorter one, consisting of nine, and a longer one of fifteen, adhyayas. Four of these, variously placed at the beginning or end, or after the second adhyaya, constitute the highly interesting Kaushitaki (brahmana-) upanishad, of which we possess two different recensions. The remaining portions of the Aranyaka seen to correspond, to some extent, to the cere monial sections of the Aitareya-aranyaka.

As

Of Kalpa-súlras, or manuals of sacrificial ceremonial, composed for the use of the hotar prjest, two different sets are in existence, the Asvaldyana- and the Sankhayana-satra. Each of these works follows one of the two Brahmanas of the Rik as its chief authority, viz., the Aitareya and Kaushitaka respectively. Both consist of a Srauta- and a Grihya-sútra. Asvalâyana seems to have lived about the same time as Pânini,-his own teacher, Saunaka, who completed the Rik-prâtisakhya, being probably intermediate between the great grammarian and Yâska, the author of the Nirukta. Saunaka himself is said to have been the author of a Srauta-sûtra (which was, however, more of the nature of a Brahmana) and to have destroyed it on seeing his pupil's work. A Grihya-sutra is still quoted under his name by later writers. Tho Aévalâyana Srauta-sutra consists of twelve, the Grihya of four, adhyâyas. Regarding Sankhâyana still less is known; but he, too, was doubtless a comparatively modern writer, who, like Aévalâyana, founded a new school of ritualists. Hence the Kaushitaki-brahmana, adopted (and perhaps improved) by him, also goes under his name, just as the Aitareya is sometimes called Ašvalâyana-brahmana. The Sankhayana Śrauta-sutra consists of eighteen adhyâyas. The last two chapters of the work are, however, a later addition, while the two preceding chapters, on the contrary, present a comparatively archaic, brâhimana-like appearance. The Grihya-sûtra' consists of six chapters, the last two of which are likewise later appendages. The Sambavya Grihya-sútra, of which a single MS.

Edited, with Sayana's commentary, by Rajendralala Mitra, in the Bibliotheca Indica, 1875-76. The first three books have been translated by F. Max Müller in Sacred Books of the East, vol. 1.

Edited and translated by Dr Röer, in the Bibl. Ind. The last chapter of the second book, not being commented upon by Sayuna, is probably a later addition. 4 Text, commentary, and translation published by E. B. Cowell, in the Bibl. Ind. Also a translation by F. Max Müller in Sacred Books of the East, vol. 1.

Both works have been published with the commentary of Gargya Narayana,' by native scholars, in the Bibl. Ind. Also the text of the Grihya, with a German translation by A. Stenzler.

6 See A. Weber's analysis, Ind. Studien, II. p. 288 sq. This work, with its commentaries, is only accessible in manuscript.

Edited, with a German translation, by H. Oldenberg (Ind. Stud., vol. xv. who also gives an account of the Sambavya Grihya.

is at present known, seems to be closely connected with the preceding work. Prof. Bühler also refers to the Rigveda the Vasishtha-dhurmaśástra,1 composed of mixed sûtras and couplets. A few works remain to be noticed, bearing chiefly on the textual form and traditionary records of the Rik-samhitâ. In our remarks on the Vedangas, the Prâtisâkhyas have already been referred to as the chief repositories of siksha or Vedic phonetics. Among these works the Rik-prálisákhya occupies the first place. The original composition of this important work is ascribed to the same Sakalya from whom the vulgate recension of the (Śâkala) Samhitâ takes its name. He is also said to be the author of the existing Pada-pátha (i.c., the text-form in which each word is given unconnected with those that precede and follow it),-which report may well be credited, since the pada-text was doubtless prepared with a view to an examination, such as is presented in the Prâtisâkhya, of the phonetic modifications undergone by words in their syntactic combination. In the Prâtisâkhya itself, Sâkalya's father (or Sakalya the elder) is also several times referred to as an authority on phonetics, though the younger Sakalya is evidently regarded as having improved on his father's, theories. Thus both father and son probably had a share in the formulation of the rules of pronunciation and modification of Vedic sounds. The completion or final arrangement of the Rik-prâtisâkhya, in its present form, is ascribed to Saunaka, the reputed teacher of Âśvalâyana. Saunaka, however, is merely a family name ("descendant of Sunaka"), which is given even to the rishi Gritsamada, to whom nearly the whole of the second mandala of the Rik is attributed. How long after Śâkalya this particular Saunaka lived we do not know; but some generations at all events would seem to lie between them, considering that in the meantime the Sâkalas, owing doubtless to minor differences on phonetic points in the Samhitâ text, had split into several branches, to one of which, the Saisira (or Saisirîya) school, Saunaka belonged. While Sâkalya is referred to both by Yâska and Pânini, neither of these writers mentions Saunaka. It seems nevertheless likely, for several reasons, that Panini was acquainted with Saunaka's work, though the point has by no means been definitively settled. The Rik-prâtisâkhya is composed in mixed slokas, or couplets of various metres, a form of composition for which Saunaka seems to have had a special predilection. Besides the Prâtiâkhya, and the Grihya-sûtra mentioned above, eight other works are ascribed to Saunaka, viz., the Brihad devata, an account, in epic slokas, of the deities of the hymns, which supplies much valuable mythological information; the Rig-vidhana, a treatise, likewise in epic metre, on the magic effects of Vedic hymns and verses; the Pada-vidhana, a similar treatise, apparently no longer in existence; and five different indexes or catalogues (anukramant) of the rishis, metres, deities, sections (anuvaka), and hymns of the Rigveda. It is, however, doubtful whether the existing version of the Brihaddevatâ is the original one; and the Rigvidhâna would seem to be much more modern than Saunaka's time. As regards the Anukramanis, they seem all to have been composed in mixed slokas; but, with the exception of the Anuvâkânukramanî, they are only known from quotations, having been superseded by the Sarvânukrama, or complete iudex, of Katyayana. Both these indexes have been commented upon by Shadgurusishya, towards the end of the 12th century of our era. B. Sama-veda.-The term saman, of uncertain derivation, denotes samhita, a solemn tune or melody to be sung or chanted to a rich or verse. The set chants (stotra) of the Soma sacrifice are as a rule performed in triplets, either actually consisting of three different verses, or of two verses which, by the repetition of certain parts, are made, as it were, to form three. The three verses are usually sung to the same tune; but in certain cases two verses sung to the same tune had a different sâman enclosed between them. One and the same saman or tune may thus be sung to many different verses; but, as in teaching and practising the tunes the same verse was invariably used for a certain tune, the term "sâman," as well as the special technical names of sâmans, are not unfrequently applied to the verses themselves with which they were most commonly connected, just as one would quote the beginning of the text of an English hymn, when the tune usually sung to that hymn is meant. The Indian chant somewhat resembles the Gregorian or Plain Chant. Each sâman is divided into five parts or phrases prastáva or prelude, &c.), the first four of which are distributed between the several chanters, while the finale (nidhana) is sung in unison by all of them.

Sama

veda

In accordance with the distinction between rich or text and saman or tune, the sâman-hymnal consists of two parts, viz., the Samaveda-samhita, or collection of texts (rich) used for making up sâman-hymns, and the Gana, or tune-books, song-books. The textual matter of the Samhitâ consists of somewhat under 1600 Hifferent verses, selected from the Ṛik-samhitâ, with the exception

Text with Krishnapandita's commentary, published at Benares; translation by G. Bühler in Sacred Books, vol. xiv.

Edited, with a French translation, by A. Regnier, in the Journal Asiatique, 1856-8; also, with a German translation, by M. Müller, 1869. Burnell, Arsheyabrahmana, p. xli.

of some seventy-five verses, some of which have been taken from Khila hymus, whilst others which also occur in the Atharvan or Yajurveda, as well as such not otherwise found, may perhaps have formed part of some other recension of the Rik. The Samavedasamhita is divided into two chief parts, the purva- (first) and the uttara (second) archika. The second part contains the texts of the sâman-hymns, arranged in the order in which they are actually required for the stotras or chants of the various Soma sacrifices. The first part, on the other hand, contains the body of tune-verses, or verses used for practising the several sâmans or tunes upon,-the tunes themselves being given in the Grama-geya-gana (i.e., songs to be sung in the village), the tune-book specially belonging to the Pûrvârchika. Hence the latter includes all the first verses of those triplets of the second part which had special tunes peculiar to them, besides the texts of detached sâinans occasionally used outside the regular ceremonial, a well as such as were perhaps no longer required but had been so used at one time or other. The verses of the Pûrvârchika are arranged on much the same plan as the family-books of the Rik-samhità, viz., in three sections containing the verses addressed to Agni, Indra, and Soma (pavamana) respectively, each section (consisting of one, three, and one adhyâyas respectively) being again arranged according to the metres. Hence this part is also called Chhandas- (metre) archika. Over and above this natural arrangement of the two ârchikas, there is a purely formal division of the texts into six and nine prapâthakas respectively, each of which, in the first part, consists of ten decades (dasat) of verses. We have two recensions of the Samhitâ, belonging to the Rânâyanîya and Kauthuma schools, and differing but slightly from each other. Besides the six prapathakas (or five adhyayas) of the Purvârchika,, some schools have an additional "forest" chapter, called the Aranyaka-samhita, the tunes of which-along with others apparently intended for being chanted by anchorites-are contained in the Aranya-gana. Besides the two tune-books belonging to the Parvarchika, there are two others, the Oha-gana ("modification-songs") and Uhya-gana, which follow the order of the Uttarârchika, giving the several sâmanhymns chanted at the Soma sacrifice, with the modifications the tunes undergo when applied to texts other than those for which they were originally composed. The Sâman hymnal, as it has come down to us, has evidently passed through a long course of development. The practice of chanting probably goes back to very early times; but the question whether any of the tunes, as given in the Gânas, and which of them, can lay claim to an exceptionally high antiquity will perhaps never receive a satisfactory answer.

brâh

The title of Brahmana is bestowed by the Chhandogas, or Samafollowers of the Sâmaveda, on a considerable number of treatises. vedaIn accordance with the statements of some later writers, their manas. number was usually fixed at eight; but within the last few years one new Brahmana has been recovered, while at least two others which are found quoted may yet be brought to light in India. The majority of the Sâmaveda-brâhmanas present, however, none of the characteristic features of other works of that class; but they are rather of the nature of sûtras and kindred treatises, with which they probably belong to the same period of literature. Moreover, the contents of these works-as might indeed be expected from the nature of the duties of the priests for whom they were intended-are of an extremely arid and technical character, though they all are doubtless of some importance, either for the textual criticism of the Samhitâ or on account of the legendary and other information they supply. These works are as follows: —(1) the Tândya-mahd- (or Prauḍha-) brâhmaṇa, or great Brahmana,-usually called Panchavimsa-brahmana from its " sisting of twenty-five" adhyâyas-which treats of the duties of the udgâtars generally, and especially of the various kinds of chants; (2) the Shaḍvimsa, or "twenty-sixth," being a supplement to the preceding work,-its last chapter, which also bears the title of Adbhuta-bráhmana," or "book of marvels," is rather interesting, as it treats of all manner of portents and evil influences, which it teaches how to avert by certain rites and charms; (3) the Samavidhana," analogous to the Rigvidhâna, descanting on the magic effects of the various sâmans; (4) the Arsheya-brahmana, a mere catalogue of the technical names of the sâmans in the order of the Purvârchika, known in two different recensions; (5) the Devatádhyaya, which treats of the deities of the sâmans; (6) the Chhandogya-brahmana, the last eight adhyâyas (3-10) of which constitute the important Chhandogyopanishad; (7) the Samhitopanishadbrahmana, treating of various subjects connected with chants; (8)

con

4 Edited and translated by J. Stevenson, 1843; a critical edition, with German translation and glossary, was published by Th. Benfey, 1848; also an edition, with the Ganas and Sayana's commentary, by Satyavrata Samasrami, in the Bibl. Ind., in 5 vols.

5 Edited with Sayana's commentary, by Anandachandra Vedantavägisa, in the Bibl. Ind., 1870-74.

A. Weber, "Omina et Portenta," Abhandlungen of Berlin Royal Academy of Sciences, 1858.

7 The works enumerated under 3, 4, 5, 7, 8 have been edited by A. Burnell; 8 also previously by A. Weber, Ind. St., Iv.

8 Edited and translated by Dr Röer, Bibl. Ind; also translated by M. Müller, Sacred Books of the East, i.

tite Vamsa-brahmana, a mere list of the Samaveda teachers. To these works has to be added the Jaiminiya- or Talavakarabrahmana, discovered by the late Dr. A. Burnell, but as yet only known by a few extracts. From Prof. Whitney's account of it, the work stands much on a level with the Brahmanas of the Rik and Yajurveda. A portion of it is the well-known Kena(or Talavakara-) upanishad, on the nature of Brahman, as the upreme of deities.

1

If the Sâmaveda has thus its ample share of Brâhmana-literature, though in part of a somewhat questionable character, it is not loss richly supplied with sûtra-treatises, some of which probably belong to the oldest works of that class. There are three Srautasitras, which attach themselves mare or less closely to the Panchavimsa-brâhmana:-Masaka's Ârsheya-kalpa, which gives the beginnings of the sâmans in their sacrificial order, thus supplement ing the Arsheya-brâhmana, which enumerates their technical names; and the Srauta-sûtras of Latyayana and Drahydyana, of the Kauthuma and Rânâyanîya schools respectively, which differ but little from each other, and form complete manuals of the duties of the udgâtars. Another sûtra, of an exegetic character, the Anupada-sutra, likewise follows the Panchavimśa, the difficult passages of which it explains. Besides these, there are a considerable number of sûtras and kindred technical treatises bearing on the prosody and phonetics of the sâma-texts. The more important of them are-the Riktantra, apparently intended to serve as a Prâtiśâkhya of the Samaveda; the Nidâna-sútra,3 a treatise on prosody; the Pushpa- or Phulla-sutra, ascribed either to Gobhila or to Vararuchi, and treating of the phonetic modifications of the rich in the sâmans; and the Samatantra, a treatise on chants, of a very technical nature. Further, two Grihya-sutras, belonging to the Sâmaveda, are hitherto known, viz., the Drahydyana-grihya, ascribed to Khâdira, and that of Gobhila' (who is also said to have composed a srauta-sutra), with a supplement, entitled Karmapradipa, by Kâtyâyana. To the Sâmaveda seems further to belong the Gautama-dharmasastra, composed in stras, and apparently the oldest existing compendium of Hindu law.

C. Yajurveda.-This, the sacrificial Veda of the Adhvaryu❘ priests, divides itself into an older and a younger branch, or, as they are usually called, the Black (krishna) and the White (sukla) Yajurveda. Tradition ascribes the foundation of the Yajurveda to the sage Vaisampâyana. Of his disciples three are specially named, viz., Katha, Kalâpin, and Yâska Paingi, the last of whom again is stated to have communicated the sacrificial science to Tittiri. How far this genealogy of teachers may be authentic cannot now be determined; but certain it is that in accordance therewith we have three old collections of Yajus-texts, viz., the Kathaka, the Kalapaka or Maitrayant Samhita, and the Taittiriya-samhita." The Kathaka and Kalâpaka are frequently mentioned together; and the author of the "great commentary" on Pânini once remarks that these works were taught in every village. The Kathas and Kâlâpas are often referred to under the collective name of Charakas, which apparently means wayfarers' or itinerant scholars; but according to a later writer (Hemachandra) Charaka is no other than Vaikampâyana himself, after whom his followers would have been thus called. From the Kathas proper two schools seem early to have branched off, the Prâchya- (eastern) and KapishthalaKathas, the text-recension of the latter of whom has recently been discovered in the Kapishthala-katha-samhita. The Kâlâpas also soon became subdivided into numerous different schools. Thus from one of Kalâpin's immediate disciples, Haridru, the Hâridraviyas took their origin, whose text-recension, the Haridravika, is quoted together with the Kâthaka as carly as in Yâska's Nirukta; but we do not know whether it differed much from the original Kâlâpa texts. As regards the Taittiriya-samhitâ, that collection, too, in course of time gave rise to a number of different schools, the text handed down being that of the Apastambas; while the contents of another recension, that of the Atreyas, are known from their Anukramani, which has been preserved.

The four collections of old Yajus texts, so far known to us, while differing more or less considerably in arrangement and verbal points, have the main mass of their textual matter in common. This common matter consists of both sacrificial prayers (yajus) in verse and prose and exegetic or illustrative prose portions (brâhmana). A prominent feature of the old Yajus texts, as compared with the other Vedas, is the constant intermixture of textual and exegetic portions. The Charakas and Taittiriyas thus do not recognize the distinction between Samhitâ and Brahmana in the sense of two separate collections of texts, but they have only a Samhitâ, or collection, which includes likewise the exegetic or

1 Proceedings of Am. Or. Soc., May 1883.

2 Edited with Agnisvamin's commentary, and the v. 11. of the Drahyâyaṇasutra, by Anandachandra Vedantavagisa, Bibl. Ind., 1872.

3 Two chapters published by A. Weber, Ind. St., vill.

Edited with a commentary, by Chandrakanta Tarkalankara, Bibl. Ind.
Edited by A. Stenzler; translated by G. Bühler, Sacred Books, vol. il.

6 In process of publication by L. v. Schroeder.

7 Partly published, with Sayanu's commentary, by E. Röer, E. B. Cowell, &c., in Bibl. Ind

But,

Brahmana purtions The Taittiriyas seem at last to have been impressed with their want of a separate Brahmana and to have set about supplying the deficiency in rather an awkward fashion: instead of separating from each other the textual and exegetic portions of their Samhitâ, they merely added to the latter a supplement (in three books), which shows the same mixed con dition, and applied to it the title of Taittiriya-brahmana. though the main body of this work is manifestly of a supplementary nature, a portion of it may perhaps be old, and may once have formed part of the Samhitâ, considering that the latter consists of seven ashtakas, instead of eight, as this term requires, and that certain essential parts of the ceremonial handled in the Brahmana are entirely wanting in the Samhita. Attached to this work is the Taittiriya-dranyaka, in ten books, the first six of which are of a ritualistic nature, while of the remaining books the first three (7-9) form the Taittiriyopanishad (consisting of three parts, viz., the Sikshavalli or Samhitopanishad, and the Anandavalli and Bhriguvalli, also called together the Vârunîupanishad), and the last book forms the Nârâyanîya- (or Yâjîikì-) upanishad.

The

The Maitrayant Samhita, the identity of which with the original Kâlâpaka has been proved pretty conclusively by Dr L. v. Schröder, who attributes the change of name of the KâlâpaMaitrâyanîyas to Buddhist influences, consists of four books, attached to which is the Maitri (or Maitrayant) upanishad. Kathaka, on the other hand, consists of five parts, the last two of which, however, are perhaps later additions, containing merely the prayers of the hotar priest, and those used at the horse-sacrifice. There is, moreover, the beautiful Katha- or Kathaka-upanishad,10 which is also ascribed to the Atharvaveda, and in which Dr Röcr would detect allusions to the Sâukhya philosophy, and even to

Buddhist doctrines.

The defective arrangement of the Yajus texts was at last Samhitt remedied by a different school of Adhvaryus, the Vâjasaneyius. of White The reputed originator of this school and its text-recension is Yajur Yajnavalkya Vâjasaneya (son of Vâjasani). The result of the re- veda. arrangement of the texts was a collection of sacrificial mantras, the Vajasaneyi-samhita, and a Brahmana, the Satapatha. On account of the greater lucidity of this arrangement, the Vâjasaneyins called their texts the White (or clear) Yajurveda,-the name of Black (or obscure) Yajus being for opposite reasons applied to the Charaka texts. Both the Samhitâ and Brahmana of the Vâjasaneyins have come down to us in two different recensions, viz., those of the Madhyandina and Kanva schools; and we find besides a considerable number of quotations from a Vâjasaneyaka, from which wo cannot doubt that there must have been at least one other recension of the Satapatha-brâhmana. The difference between the two extant recensions is, on the whole, but slight as regards the subject-matter;" but in point of diction it is quite sufficient to make a comparison especially interesting from a philological point of view. Which of the two versions may be the more original cannot as yet be determined; but the phonetic and grammatical differences will probably have to be accounted for by a geographical separation of the two schools rather than by a difference of age. In several points of difference the Kânva recension agrees with the practice of the Rik-samhita, and there probably was some connexion between the Yajus school of Kânvas and the famous family of rishis of that name to which the eighth mandala of the Rik is attributed. The Vajasaneyi-samhita 11 consists of forty adhyayas, the first eighteen of which contain the formulas of the ordinary sacrifices. The last fifteen adhyâyas are doubtless a later addition,-as may also be the case as regards the preceding seven chapters. The last adhyâya is commonly known under the title of Vajasaneyi-samhitâ, (or Isavâsya-) upanishad.12 Its object seems to be to point out the fruitlessness of mere works, and to insist on the necessity of man's acquiring a knowledge of the supreme spirit. The sacrificial texts of the Adhvaryus consist, in about equal parts, of verses (rich) and prose formulas (yajus). The majority of the former occur likewise in the Rik-samhita, from which they were doubtless extracted. Not unfrequently, however, they show considerable discrepancies of reading, which may be explained partly from a difference of recen sion and partly as the result of the adaptation of these verses to their special sacrificial purpose. As regards the prose formulas though only a few of them are actually referred to in the Rik, it is quite possible that many of them may be of high antiquity,

The Satapatha-brahmana,13 or Brahmana of a hundred paths, derives its name from the fact of its consisting of 100 lectures (adhyaya), which are divided by the Madhyandinas into fourteen, by

8 Edited, with Sayana's commentary, by Rajendralala Mitra, Bibl. Ind. Text and translation published by E. B. Cowell, Bibl. Ind.

19 Text, commentary, and translation published by E. Rüer, Bibl. Ind.

11 Edited, in the Madhyandina recension, with the commentary of Mahidhara and the v. 11. of the Kanva text, by A. Weber, 1849.

18 Translation by E. Röer, Bibl. Ind.; by F. M. Müller, Sacred Books, of the East, 1.

13 Edited by A. Weber, who also translated the first chapter Into German.. In Sacred Books of the East, a translation, by J. Eggeling, is being published,-2 vols., containing the first four books, having appeared.