appropriated to the purpose and probably for the most part of a temporal and personal to the maintenance of a perpetual fire, al- description-wealth, food, life, posterity, catthough the frequent allusions to the occa- tle, cows and horses, protection against enesional kindling of the sacred flame are rath- mies, victory over them, and sometimes their er at variance with this practice. There is destruction, particularly when they are repno mention of any temple or any reference resented as inimical to the celebration of reto a public place of worship, and it is clear ligious rites, or, in other words, people not that the worship was entirely domestic. The professing the same religious faith. There worshipper, or Yajamana, does not appear are a few indications of a hope of immorto have taken of necessity any part person- tality and of future happiness, but they are ally in the ceremony, and there is a goodly neither frequent nor, in general, distinctly array of officiating priests-in some instances announced, although the immortality of the seven; in some, sixteen-by whom the dif- gods is recognized and the possibility of its ferent ceremonial rites are performed, and attainment by human beings exemplified in by whom the Mantras, or prayers or hymns, the case of the demigods termed Ribhus, elare recited. That animal victims were offered evated for their piety to the rank of divinon particular occasions may be inferred from ities. be inferred from ities. Protection against evil spirits (Rákbrief and obscure allusions in the hymns of shasas) is also requested, and in one or two the first book, and it is inferable from some passages Yama and his office as ruler of the passages that human sacrifices were not un- dead are obscurely alluded to. There is little known, although infrequent, and sometimes demand for moral benefactions, although in typical; but these are the exceptions, and some few instances hatred of untruth and the habitual offerings may be regarded as abhorrence of sin are expressed, a hope is consisting of clarified butter and the juice uttered that the latter may be repented of of the Soma plant. or expiated, and the gods are in one hymn. solicited to extricate the worshipper from sin of every kind. The main objects of the prayers, however, are benefits of a more worldly and physical character. The tone in which these are requested indicates a quiet confidence in their being granted as a return for the benefits which the gods are supposed to derive from the offerings made to them in gratifying their bodily wants, and from the praises which impart to them enhanced energy and augmented power; there is nothing, however, which denotes any particular potency in the prayer or hymn, so as to compel the gods to comply with the desires of the worshipper-nothing of that The Súkta almost invariably combines the attributes of prayer and praise; the power, the vastness, the generosity, the goodness, and even the personal beauty, of the deity addressed are described in highly laudatory strains and his past bounties or exploits rehearsed and glorified, in requital of which commendations, and of the libations or oblations which he is solicited to accept, and in approval of the rite in his honor, at which his presence is invoked, he is implored to bestow blessings on the person who has instituted the ceremony, and sometimes, but not so commonly, also on the author or reciter of the prayer. The blessings prayed for are The chief deities of the Veda are Agni and Indra. The former comprises the element of fire under three aspects: first, as it exists on earth, not only as culinary or religious fire, but as the heat of digestion and of life and the vivifying principle of vegetation; second, as it exists in the atmosphere or mid-heaven, in the form of lightning; and third, as it is manifested in the heavens, as light, the sun, the dawn and the planetary bodies. The sun, it is true, is acknowledged and hymned as a divinity, the soul of all movable and immovable beings, and his manifestations are already known as A'dityas. enforced necessity which makes so conspicu- | wages a doubtful war with the king of the ous and characteristic a figure in the Hindu gods. This contest with the clouds seems to mythology of a later date, by which the per- have suggested to the authors of the Súktas formance of austerities for a continued period the martial character of Indra on other occaconstrains the gods to grant the desired boon, sions, and he is especially described as the although fraught with peril, and even destruc- god of battles, the giver of victory to his tion, to themselves. worshippers, the destroyer of the enemies of religious rites, and the subverter of the cities of the Asuras. A popular myth represents him also as the discoverer and rescuer of the cows, either of the priests or of the gods, which had been stolen by an Asura named Pani, or Vala. Like Agni, he is the possessor and bestower of riches and the granter of all temporal blessings when devoutly worshipped and when propitiated by the Soma juice, which seems to be more especially appropriated to him, and which has the effect of inspiring him with animation and courage. Some of his attributes are obviously allegorical references to the locality of the firmament, as when he is said to have elevated the sun and fixed the constellations in the sky, to be more vast than heaven and earth, and to have sundered them when originally united; of another, which refers to him in the guise of a ram, no very satisfactory explanation is given, although the metamorphosis suggests some analogy between him and Jupiter Ammon. His taking part in the wars of tribes and princes and ensuring the triumph of those he befriends belongs to the poetical part of the personification, and arises, no doubt, from that character for personal valor derived from his metaphorical defeat of Vritra, and the real instrumentality of the electricity of the atmosphere in the descent of fertilizing showers. Indra is a personification of the phenomena of the firmament, particularly in the capacity of sending down rain. This property is metaphorically described as a conflict with the clouds, which are reluctant to part with their watery stores until assailed and penetrated by the thunderbolt of Indra. As in all allegories, the language of fact and fiction is apt to be blended and confounded in the description of this encounter, and the cloud, personified as a demon named Ahi, or Vritra, is represented as combating Indra with all the attributes of a personal enemy, and as suffering in the battle mutilation, wounds and death. In the versions of the conflict found in later works and in the heroic poems and Puránas the original allegory is lost sight of altogether, and Vritra becomes a real personage-an Asura, or king of Asuras, who H. H. WILSON (Member of the Royal Asiatic Society). THE RIG-VEDA.* SELECTIONS FROM THE ORIGINAL SANSCRIT. HYMN TO AGNI. GLORIFY Agni, the high priest of the sacrifice, the divine, the ministrant, who presents the oblation (to the gods), and is the possessor of great wealth. May that Agni who is to be celebrated by both ancient and modern sages conduct the gods hither! Through Agni the worshipper obtains that affluence which increases day by day, which is the source of fame and the multiplier of mankind. Agni, the unobstructed sacrifice of which thou art on every side the protector, assuredly reaches the gods. May Agni, the presenter of oblations, the attainer of knowledge, he who is true, renowned and divine, come hither with the gods. Whatever good thou mayest, Agni, bestow upon the giver (of the oblation), that verily, Angiras, shall revert to thee. We approach thee, Agni, with reverential homage in our thoughts, daily, both morning and evening. The radiant, the protector of sacrifices, the constant illuminator of truth, increasing in thine own dwelling. * We give an illustration of the temple and castellated tower of Gingee, a town of India, eighty miles south-west of Madras. Agni, be unto us easy of access as is a father to his son; be ever present with us for our good. TO INDRA. Indra, the slayer of Vritra, has been augmented in strength and satisfaction by (the adoration of) men: we invoke him in great conflicts as well as in little; may he defend us in battles! For thou, hero, Indra, art a host; thou art the giver of much booty; thou art the exalter of the humble; thou bestowest (riches) on the worshipper who offers the oblations, for abundant is thy wealth. When battles arise, wealth devolves on the victor; yoke thy horses, humblers of the pride (of the foe), that thou mayest destroy one and enrich another: place us, Indra, in affluence. Mighty through sacrifice, formidable (to foes), partaking of the sacrificial food, Indra has augmented his strength; pleasing in appearance, having a handsome chin and possessing (bright) coursers, he grasps the iron thunderbolt in his contiguous hands for (our) prosperity. He has filled the space of earth and the firmament (with his glory); he has fixed the constellations in the sky: no one has been ever born, nor will be born, Indra, like to thee thou hast sustained the universe. May Indra, the protector, who returns to the giver (of oblations) the food that is fit for mortals, bestow (such food) on us: dis tribute thy wealth, which is abundant, so that I may obtain (a portion) of thy riches. The upright performer of (pious) acts is the donor of herds of cattle to us, when receiving frequent enjoyment (from our libations): take up, Indra, with both hands, many hundred (sorts) of treasure; sharpen (our intellects). bring us wealth. Enjoy along with us, O hero, the suffused libation for (the increase of our) strength and wealth we know thee (to be) the possessor of vast riches, and address to thee our desires; be, therefore, our protector. These, thy creatures, Indra, cherish (the oblation) that may be partaken of by all; thou, lord of all, knowest what are the riches of those men who make no offerings: bring their wealth to us. THE Translation of H. H. WILSON (Member of the Royal Asiatic Society). THE SÁMA-VEDA. HE Sanhitá of the Sáma-Veda consists of an arranged series of verses directed to be sung especially at the Somayága, or pon-plant sacrifice. The praises of the different deities who are supposed to honor the ceremony with their presence, and prayers for the prosperity of the worshippers and those connected with them, form the principal subject of those verses. Some of them are supposed to have the powers of consecrating the fire into which the oblation is cast, and others the Soma juice, of which it principally consists. THE OBLATIONS OFFERED AT THE SOMAYAGA. The following particulars relative to the and its commentary. When any one has determined to perform the moon-plant sacrifice, he invites Brahmans of the three principal classes-Rig-Vedi, Sáma-Vedi and YajurVedi Brahmans. The Atharva-Vedi are not admissible, because, it is said, their profession being to destroy enemies, their presence would be inauspicious. The first thing to be done is to collect the moon-plant (Sarcostema viminalis) and the arani-wood for kindling the sacred fire (Premna spinosa), and this must be done in the moonlight night and from the table-land on the top of a mountain. The moon-plants must be plucked up from the roots, not cut down, and after being stripped of their leaves the bare stems are to be laid on a cart drawn by two rams or hegoats, and by them to be brought to the house of the Yajamána, the institutor of the sacrifice, for whose especial benefit and at whose expense all the ceremonies are performed. The stems of the plants are now deposited in the hall of oblation. Although · the caul of the ram must form part of the oblation, I find nothing in the Veda about killing the animal, but I am told it is the practice to kill both of the rams. In the Abhangs of Tuka Ráma, a sage who flourished in the Deccan about three hundred years ago, the muzzling of the ram and the beating of it to death by the fists of the Brahmans are spoken of as necessary parts of this rite. His verses are to the following effect: Somayága may be gathered from this Veda Should the animal, during the above-men |