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They are Apa (water), Dhruva (pole-star). Soma (moon), Dhara (earth), Anila (wind), Anala (fire), Prabhasa (dawn), and Pra- tyiisha (light). According to the Ramaya^ia they were children of Aditi. YASU-DEYA. Son of Sum, of the Yadava branch of the Lunar race. He was father of Krislma, and Kunti, tlie mother of the TrndaYQ, princes, was his sister. He married seven daughters of Ahuka, and tlie youngest of them, Devaki, was the mother of Krishna. After the death of Kr/sliTia and Bala- VASUDEVA—VAYU. 343 riima he also died, and four of his wives burnt themselves with his corpse. So says the Mahri-bharata, but according to the Vislmu Purawa he and DevakT and Rohi?ii burnt themselves at Dwaraka. He received the additional name of Anaka-dundubhi, because the gods, conscious that he was to be the putative father of the divine Krish?2a, sounded the drums of lieaven at his birth. He was also called Bhu-kasyapa and Dundu, ' drum.' VASU-DEVA. A name of K?'ish?za, derived from that of his father, Vasu-deva ; but as that is incompatible with his claims to divinity, the Maha-bharata explains that he is so called " from his dwelling (vasandt) in all beings, from his issuing as a Vasu from a divine womb." The name was assumed by an impostor named Pau?zc/raka, who w^as killed by Ivrz'shwa. See Pauw/raka. YASUKI. King of the Nagas or serpents who live in Patala. He was used by the gods and Asuras for a coil round the moun- tain Mandara at the churning of the ocean. See ^S'esha. VASU-zS'EN'A. A name of Kar^za. VATA. ' Wind. ' Generally the same as Vayu, but the name is sometimes combined in the Veda with that of Parjanya, and Parjanya-vata and Vayu are then mentioned distinctively. VATAPI. Vatapi and Ilwala, two Rakshasas, sons either of Hrada or Viprachitti. They are mentioned in the Ramaya^ia as dwelling in the Da^zf/aka forest. Vatapi assumed the form of a ram which was offered in sacrifice and afterwards eaten by Brahmans. Ilwala then called ujDon him to come forth, and accordingly he tore his way out of the stomachs of the Brah- mans. He tried the same trick upon Agastya, but that austere sage ate and digested him. Ilwala, as before, called his brother to come forth, and assaulted the sage, who told him that his brother would never return. Then Ilwala was burnt up by fire from the eyes of Agastya. The Maha-bharata's story varies slightly. VATA-VASIK ' Dwelling in fig-trees ' (vaia). Yakshas. VATSA, A^ATSA-RAJA. King of Vatsa, the capital of which was Kausambl. A title of the prince Udaj'ana. There are many persons named Vatsa. VATSYAYANA. A sage who wrote upon erotic subjects, and was author of the Kama-sutras and Nyaya-bhasha. He is also called Malla-naga, VAYU. * Air, wind.' The god of the w^ind, Eolus. In the 344 VAVU—VEDA. Yedas he is often associated with Indra, and rides in the same car with him, Indra being the charioteer. The chariot has a framework of gold which touches the sky, and is drawn by a thousand horses. There are not many hymns addressed to hiuL According to the jSTirukta there are three gods specially con- nected with each other. " Agni, whose place is on earth ; Yayu or Indra, whose place is in the air ; and Siirya, whose place is in the heaven." In the hymn Purusha-siikta Yayu is said to have sprung from the breath of Purusha, and in another hymn he is called the son-in-law of Twash^ri. He is regent of the north-west quarter, where he dwells. According to the Yishvzu PuraTia he is king of the Gandhar- vas. The Bhagavata Purawa relates that the sage Xarada in- cited the wind to break down the summit of Mount Meru. He raised a terrible storm which lasted for a year, but Yish?iu's bird, Garuf?a, shielded tlie mountain with his wings, and all the blasts of the wind-god were in vain. iSTarada then told him to attack the mountain in Garu<ia's absence. He did so, and breaking off the summit of the mountain, he hurled it into the sea, where it became the island of Lanka (Ceylon). Yayu is the reputed father of Bhima and of Hanumat, and he is said to have made the hundred dauo-hters of Kinf>- Kusanabha o o crooked because they would not comply with his licentious desires, and this gave the name Kanya-kubja, ' hump-backed damsel,' to their city. Other names of Yayu (wind) are Anila, Marut, Pavana Yata, Gandha-vaha, ' bearer of perfumes ; ' Jala-kilntara, * "whose gar- den is water ; ' Sada-gata, Satata-ga, * ever moving,' &c. YAYU PUKAYA. " The Pura/ia in which A^ayu has de- clared the laws of duty, in connection with the /Sweta kalpa, and which comprises the Mahatmya of Kudra, is the Yayu Pura?ia ; it contains twenty-four thousand verses." jS^o MS. con- taining this number of verses has yet been discovered, but there are indications of the work being imperfect. The PuraTia is divided into four sections, the first begimiing with the creation, and the last treating of the ages to come. It is devoted to the praise of /S'iva, and is connected with the /S'iva Puriij^a, for Avhen one of them is given in a list of Purawas the other is omitted. YEDA. Koot, m/, ' know.' ' Divine knowledge.' The Yedas are the holy books which are the foundation of the Hindu reli- VEDA. 345 gion. They consist of hymns written in an old form of Sansk?-it, and according to the most generally received opinion they were composed between 1500 and 1000 b.c. But there is no direct evidence as to their age, and opinions about it vary considerably. Some scholars have thought that the oldest of the hymns may be carried back a thousand years farther. It seems likely that some of the hymns were composed before the arrival of the Aryan immigrants in India, and there is no doubt that the hymns vary greatly in age and spread over a very considerable period. There are various statements as to the origin of the Yedas, One is that the hymns emanated like breath from Brahma, the soul of the universe. It is agreed that they were revealed orally to the i^ishis or sages whose names they bear ; and hence the whole body of the Veda is known as iSruti, ' what was heard.' The Yedas are now four in number: — (i.) Rig, (2.) Yajur, (3.) Sama, (4.) Atharva ; but the Atharva is of comparatively modern origin. The other three are spoken of by Manu as the " three Yedas," and are said by him tothave been '^ milked out, as it were," from fire, air, and the sun. In reality the i?ig- veda is the Yeda, the original work ; for the Yajur and the Sama are merely different arrangements of its hymns for special purposes. Each Yeda is divided into two parts. Mantra and BrahmaTia. The Mantra, or ' instrument of conveying thought,' consists of prayer and praise embodied in the metrical hymns. The Brah- ma?ia, a collective term for the treatises caUed Brahma?zas, is of later date than the Mantra. It is written in prose, and contains liturgical and ritualistic glosses, explanations, and applications of the hymns illustrated by numerous legends. To the Brahma/ias are added the Ara/^yakas and Upanishads, mystical treatises in prose and verse, which speculate upon the nature of spirit and of God, and exhibit a freedom of thought and speculation which was the beginning of Hindu philosophy. All the Yedic ^mtings are classified in two great divisions, exoteric and esoteric: the Karma-ka?z<ia, ' department of works,' the ceremonial ; and the Jnana-kam/a, 'department of knowledge.' The hymns and prayers of the Mantra come under the first, the philosophical specula- tions of the Brahmanas, and especially of the Upanishads, under the second division. All are alike Svuii or revelation. See Bra,hma7ia, Upanishad, &c. The Mantra or metrical portion is the most ancient, and the 346 VEDA. Look or books in wliich the hymns are collected are called San- liitas. The JR^g-veda and the Sama-veda have each one Sanhita; the Yajur-veda has two Sanhitas. As before stated, the it/g-veda is the original Veda from which the Yajur and Saman are almost exclusively derived. It consists of 1017 Siiktas or hymns, or with eleven additional hjTiins called Yalakhih^as of an apocryphal character, 1028. These are arranged in eight xish/akas, ' octaves,' or Kha??6?as, * sections,' which are again subdivided into as many Adhyayas, 'chapters,' 2006 Vargas or 'classes,' 10,417 7i/ks or 'verses,' and 153,826 Padas or 'words.' There is another division, which runs on concurrently with this division, in ten ]\Ia?Zf^alas, ' circles ' or ' classes,' and 85 Anuvakas or ' sections.' The total number of hymns is the same in both arrangements.