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^^milar collection for the Srauta-s^tras, but such a ^U^ection was never made, and it is never alluded ^ jja the ancient literature of the Brahmans.* , Sflyaoa (Et. Bh. i. p. 28.) remarks that some verses of the Ta- -^y^-^eda are called ^ich in the Br&hmanas of the Adhvaryns. Thas ^g ^ene y^l ^^*i\f^^yf^ is called a ?ick addressed to Sa^tfi. S&mans also are mentioned, as when i* • ""^ " Singing ^g ^mao he dts down." Xn the S&ma-veda *" "® not only :^cl 'M^ ^°* •*** '*'iah invocations, soC* " ^T^*l*lt^f ,,p^?nrf^. TIT1?lif%7Wlt%| TheHotript^t^^^^ to 5 invowti^ which would more properly ^ '"®* Yignsli, sncH • ^iWVMT^^ . Adhvaiyu. b* *°'* 8ot the water ? " *<> ''J^* *^® Adhvaryu repUes : ^^^^f^* " ^es, it y^ come." Here the CJommentator says, '^tTS^^^JW^ CHABACTBB OF THB BIO-VBBAr 47i>' ' If then the Rig-veda-sanhitft was not composed for the special benefit of the Hotris, much less of the other two classes of priests, it might be supposed that it had nevertheless a sacrificial character, and was in- tended to assist the fourth class of priestS| or the Brahman, properiy so called. The Brahman, as we saw, had to watch the three classes of priests and to correct any mistake they might commit. He was liierefore, supposed to know the whole ceremonial and all the hymns employed by the Hotri, Adhvaryu, and Udg&tri. Now the Rig-veda does contain most of the hjrmns of the other two Vedas^, and in several places it is maintained that the Brahman ought pro- perly to be a Hotri. All this would render it not improbable that the Rig-veda-sanhitft belonged to the same age as the other two Sanhitds, that its collection was suggested by the same idea which led to the col* lection of the hymns of the other two classes of priests, and that, for the special benefit of the Brahman, it comprehended in one body all the hymns which the Hotri, the Adhvaryu, and Udg&tri were expected toknpw singly. In this case the Rig-veda- sanhitft, ^ The invocatians, properly called Yajush, are of course not to be found in the Bjg*veda. Some of the hymns of the 8ama and Yigur-vedas, which have a more modem appearance, are to ba found in the tenth Mandala of the Rig-veda, or among the latest additions, such as the Yalakhiljas. There are, however, some, which, though they occur in the Sama and Yajur-vodas, are not to be found in the Big-veda. This may possibly be accounted for by the fact that we do not possess all the S&kh^ of the Big- veda. The differences also in the text of hymns, as read in the three Vedas, must be ascribed to. the influence of early ^£khas, and cannot be used as an argument for determining the more or less ancient date of the three Y edas. 476 CHABACTW OF THB BIG-VSDA. uistead of being more ancient, would in &ct repreoent the latest collection of a sacred poetry. It would be of no avail to appeal to the testi- mony of later authorities, such as the For&nas, in order to refute this theory. The Vishnu-purft^a (p. 276), for instance, has the following remarks on this subject : " Vyftsa," it is said, " divided the one sacri- ficial Veda .into four parts, and instituted the sacri- ficial rite administered by the four kinds of priests, i^ which it was the duty of the Adhvaryu to recite the Yajush verses or direct the ceremony ; of the Hotfi to repeat the lUch ; of the Udgfttri to chaunt the S&man ; and of the Brahman, to pronounce the formula called Atharvan. Then the Muni, having collected together the hymns called Rich, composed the Big-veda, &c., and, with the Atharvans, he com- posed the rules of all the ceremonies suited to kings, ^nd the function of the Brahman agreeably to prac- tice." This passage only serves to show that the authors of the Pur&nas were entirely ignorant of the tone and character of the Yedic literature. For although the Brahman priest was the only Ritvij who had occasionally to use passages from the Athar- va-veda, blessings, imprecations, etc.; yet the so* called Atharva-veda had nothing in common with the three ancient Yedas, and contained no informa- tion on the general features of the great sacrifices, such as would have been indispensable to the super- intendent of the other priests.^ Against this stiktement that of Kumfirila should be taken into THE MANTRA PERIOD. 477 The real answer to a sappositioh which would assign the Rig-veda-sanhit& to the Brahman is, that to him also that collection of hymns would have been of no practical utility. He would have learnt from it many a hymn never called for, never used at any sacrifice; and he would have had to unlearn the order both of hymns and verses whenever he wished to utilise his knowledge for the practical objects of his station* We may, therefore, safely ascribe the collection of the Rig-veda, or, as Professor Roth calls it, the histo- rical Veda, to a less practical age than that of the Brfthmana period ; to an age, not entirely free from the trammels of a ceremonial, yet not completely enslaved by a system of mere formalities ; to an age no longer creative and impulsive, yet not without some power of upholding the traditions of a past that spoke to a later generation of men through the very poems which they were collecting with so much zed and JEiccuracy. The work of the Mantra period is not entirely represented by the collection of the ancient hymns. Such a work would be sufficient in itself to give a character to an age, and we might appeal, in the his- tory of ancient Greek literature, to the age of the Diaskeuasts. A generation which begins to collect has entered into a new phase of life. Nations, like individuals, become conservative when they cease to trust implicitly in themselves, and have learnt from experience that they are not better than their account :(i. 8.) irffJl^^lfil^Kl^l ^I^Htat^^rifildi; 478 THE MANlilA PERIOD. fatHex^s. But though the distmetive feature of the MaTit>r period consisted in gathering the fruits of ly^G-'gone spring, this was not the only work whioln occupied the Brahmans of that age. Where w>em ^*^^ *^ ^^ collected from the mouth of ^e people, they have likewise to be arranged. Corrections are supposed to be necessary; whole verses may have to be supplied. After collecting and correcting a large number of poeni3, many a man would feel disposed to try his own poetical )Owers; and if new songs were wanted, it did ndt require great talent to imitate the simple strains of the ancient Rishis. Thus we find in the Rig-veda, that, after the collection of the ten Mandalas was -finished-, some few hymns were added, generally at the end of a chapter, which are known by the name of Khilas. We can hardly call them successful imitations of the genuine songs; but in India they seem to have soon acquired a certain reputation. They found their way into the Sanhitfis of the other Vedas ; they are referred to in the Br&hmanas ; and though they are not counted in the Anukraraanis, together ^with the original hymns, they are there also men: 4ioiied as recognised additions. Besides these hymns, which were added after the collection of the ten books had been completed, there is eLnothev class of hymns, actually incorporated in the sacred Decads, but which nevertheless must be ascribed to poets who were imitators of earlier poets, and -^hose activity, whether somewhat anterior to, or contemporaneous with the final edition of the Rig- Y^3,B^Ba,nhitk^ must be referred to the same Mantra period. We need not appeal to the tradition of the Brahmans, who, in matters of this kind, are ex- THS MANTBA PERIOD. 479 tremely untrustworthy. They place a very small interval between the latest poets of the hymns and the final collection of the ten books. The latter they ascribe to Krishna Dvaip&yana Vy&sa, the em* bodiment of the Indian hiaa-xeurjj whereas one of the poets whose hymns form part of the SanhitlL| is Par&6ara, the reputed father of Vy&sa^ But we have better evidence in the hymns them- selves, that some of their authors belonged to a later, generation than that of the most famous Rishis. The most celebrated poets of the Yeda are those who are now called the M&dhyamas \ from the fact of their hymns standing between the first and the last books of our collection. They are Gritsamada, (2d Mandala), Vifiv&mitra (3d Mandala), Vllmadeva (4th Mandala), Atri (5th Mandala), Bharadv&ja (6th Mandala), and Yasishtha (7th Mandala).