English
Brahmayajna is the name given to the act of repeating by heart one's own sacred text or even a single verse of it, whether a Rich, Yajush or S&man. This repeating of all the Rich, Yajush or Sd^man verses is enjoined by many passages of the Br&hmanas, and whenever hymns are thus enjoined to be repeated, that order is to be ob- served in which they have been handed down by an uninterrupted tradition. But as A^valdyana teaches the particular employment of particular hymns, basing it upon the authority of what are termed indicative passages of the revelation, it is but natural that he can not follow the order of the hynms of the Rig-veda. The texts of the Yajur-veda, however, are given, from the first beginning, according to their P. 34. RIO-VEDA-SANHITi. 459 order at the performance of sacrifices, and thus have Apastamba and others proceeded in the same order in the composition of their Siitras. As this order has once been received, it is likewise adopted in the Brah- mayajna. That ASvald^yana should explain in the first place the Dar6ap&rnamd.sa sacrifice, while the Br^mana begins with the Dikshaniylb sacrifice, is no objection, because the Dikshaniyd, is only a modifica- tion of the Dar^apiirnam&sa, and many of its rules must be supplied from the typical sacrifice. Thus the £alpa-s4tra of ASval&yana assists in teaching the performance of the sacrifice by showing the employ- ment of the hjonns. That Aival&yana should teach the employment of passages which do not occur in the Sanhitdi of the Rig-veda^, is no fiskult, because these 1 Our MSS. represent^ according to tradition, the text of the l§|kala-^h&, and the same text is followed by ASvalajana in his Siitras. Now, whenever A^yal§,7ana quotes any verses which form part of the 6&kala-d&khft, he only quotes the first words. Every member of his Charaaa was supposed to know the hymnd of the Sakala4akha by hearty and it was sufficient^ therefore, to quote them in this manner. But when he has occasion to refer to the verses which are found in the Brahmana of the Aitareyins, without being part of the ^lakala-sanhitft, AiSvalayana quotes them in full. As these verses are not quoted in full in the text of the Aitareya-br&hmana, we may fairly suppose that the text of the Rig-veda-sanhita, current among the Aitareyins, was different from that of the Sakala-dakh&, and contained the full text of these hymns. S^yana, in his Commentary, does not state that these additional verses belonged to the lSakh& of the Aitareyins, but there can be little doubt that at his time the text of their Saahit& was lost and forgotten. He says, however, that these verses be- longed to a different ^kha, and that they must be supplied from A^valayana's Sutras, where, for this very reason, they were given in full. At the time of Aival&yana, therefore, the text of the Sanhit^ of the Aitareyins was still in existence, and he like- wise notices in his SCktraa peculiarities in the ceremonial of the 60 ^ occur in difiPerent iSlLkli&s, and their employ- y^'^T^-g pTe8CT>il>ed loy a different Er&hmana, so that o^^ "heing mentioned, can only increase the value of tbex^ ^yg^g Those ^vlio fcno-w the logic of this subject b^ tlja-t there is lout one sacrifice and that it is to ^^lea-*^* from aU the different S&khAs." ^ tf&re *^®'^ ^^® "^^^ that even so late a writer as ^^g^g^ is fully a^w-are o£ the peculiar character of S^y -R.ig'^®^*' ** compared 'with the other Vedas. In *^® ^yes <^® collection of hymns, preserved in the ^*? ,>reda> tas evidently something anomalous. He, ^*^ag^* *P "^ **^® systena of a stiff liturgical religion, ^"^^ts P°^ *^® Sanhit&s simply as prayer-books to be ^*^A at *^® sacrifices. Xhe sacrifices as taught in ^^ :Br6.^w*9*^ and Siitras, are to him a subject o. tZ ereftter importance than the religious poetry o^ ;?^ B-isl^^- It jsbut natural, therefore, that he shoul^^ *^^ VbatiB.the use of this collection of hymns, W, !!5cb*^r?^^^'''^^'^ <>r system, as in the hyL^^ ^^oftlxe^Jur-vedaandS&ma-;eda? Hisan^' ^^"!' "LTll i^^^^^f^-etory. For if the otW' --.^^S^^^ttT^U^r tt ^^^ ^P^vate^^^ — lilar manner the modern Ra* ^*TT ^-^^ t/^ ^ PRINCIPLB OP COLLECTION. 461 theology of the Brahmans anything that is contrary to their, general rules, anything that seems anomalous to them and is yet allowed to exist, we may be sure that it contains some really historical elements, and that it was of too solid a nature to receive the smooth polish of the Brahmanic system. It is so with the Rig-veda-sanliitft. It belongs to a period previous to the complete ascendancy of the Brahmans; it was finished before the threefold ceremonial had been worked out in all its details. And yet there is some system, there is some priestly influence, clearlydistinguishable in that collection also. It is true that the ten books of the Rig-veda stand be- fore us as separate collections, each belonging to one of the ancient families of India ; but were these collec- tions undertaken independently in each of these families, at different times, and with different objects ? I believe not. There are traces, however fEiint, of one superintending spirit. Eight out of the ten Mandalas begin with hjrmns addressed to Agni, and these hymns, with the excep- tion of the tenth Mandala, are invariably followed by hymns addressed to Indra.^ After the hymns ad- 1 First Mandala, Anav&ka l.=AgDi. Anuv&ka 2. 3.=:Indra. Second Mandala, Anuvaka l.=Agni ( — 11). Anuv^ka 2.=Indra. Third Mandala, Anuv&ka 1. 2.= Agni. Anuvaka 3. 4.=Indra. Foarth Mandala, Anuvaka 1. — 2, 5.= Agni. Anuvaka 2. 3.=Indra. Fifth Mandala, Anuvftka 1.— 2, 14.=rAgni. Anuv&ka 2, 15. — 3, 8.=Indra. Sixth Mai^dala, Anuvaka l.~2, l.sAgni. Anuv&ka 2, 1. — 4, 4.slndra. -go AfbI hymns, dresBed to th^se two deities we generally meet with hTmtis addressed to tlie Vi6ve Dev&h. This cannot be the result of mere accident, nor is there anything in the character of the two gods, Agni and Indra, which w^ould necessitate such an arrangement. Agni is indeed called the lowest of the gods, hut this neither implies his inferiority nor his superiority.^ It simply means that Agni, as the god of fire on the hearth, is the nearest god, who descends from his high station to befriend men, and who, in the form of the sacrifi- cial fire, becomes the messenger and mediator between god and men.^ This would not be sufficient to account for the iplace assigned to him at the beginning of eight out of the ten Mandalas of the Rig-veda. Indra, again, is certainly the most powerful of the Vedic gods^, but he never enjoys that supremacy which in Greece and Rome ^*® allowed to Zeus and Jupiter. We can hardly d^^^*> therefore, that the place allowed to hytxxns addressed to Agni and Indra, at the beginning Sevenit Ma^dala Anuv&ka l.=Agiu. Anuvaka 2. == Indra. j^lgbtb Mandala, Fragitha hynma. j^int^ Mandala, Soma hymns. Tentli Mandala, Anuvaka l.=Agni. 1 Scl^^ ^,^ '^'ind. Nem. x. 59. Kal yap ro irp&roy Itrxaroy wore Bdvarai •/'^^* "f"^ ^o ccrxarov Tp&rov, Kl^ptirai ral So^icX^c ry *^kr^ *•"'** ^^ irp^rov, "Hg,, y^^ pa ZcV)c ir i^^r^ ^eiiy (ex ^^^ -^Ct"!! " Come down to us, O Agni, with thy help, he thou nc^os* neap to us to^ay as the dawn flashes forth." 5 inf^ ^\^TifmVf^reV ^f%1ff: \ Kausbitaki-brShmana, vi. 14- JlPBi HTMNS. 463 of the Mandalas, was the result of a previous agree- ment, and that the Mandalas themselves do not re- present collections made independently by different families, but collections carried out simultaneously in different localities under the supervision of one central authority. Another indication of the systematic arrangement of the Mandalas, is contained in the Apr! hymns. There are ten Aprl-sAktas in the Rig-veda : — 1. I. 13., by Medh&tithi, of the family of the Kllnvas (ii. b.) ; 12 verses. 2. I. 142, by Dlrghatamas, son of Uchathya, of the family of the Angirasas (ii. a.) ; 13 verses. (Indra.) 3. I. 188, by Agastya, of the family of the Agastis (vii.); 11 verses. (Taniinapltt.) 4. II. 3, by Gritsamada, son of l^unahotra, (Angi- rasa), adopted by Sunaka (Bh&rgava) (i. 7.); 11 verses. ( Nar&^nsa. ) 5. III. 4, by Vifiv&mitra, son of Gftthin, of the famUy of the Vi6v&mitras (iv.) ; 11 verses. (Tanft- napS.t.) 6. V. 5, by VasuSruta, son of Atri, of the family of the Atreyas (iii.) ; 11 verses. (Nard^ansa.) 7. VII. 2, by Vasishtha, son of Mitrd^varunau, of the family of the V&sishthas (vi.) ; 11 verses. (Nar&- &tnsa.) 8. IX.