Sanskrit

SANSKRPT, the name applied by Hindu scholars to the ancient literary language of India. The word sarytskrita is the past participle of the verb kar(k):), " to make " (cognate with Latin creo), with the preposition sam, " together " (cog. aµa, (3µos, Eng. " same "), and has probably to be taken here in the sense of " completely formed " or " accurately made, polished, refined " - some noun meaning " speech " (esp. bhasha) being either expressed or understood with it. The term was, doubtless, originally adopted by native grammarians to distinguish the literary language from the uncultivated popular dialects - the forerunners of the modern vernaculars of northern India - which had developed side by side with it, and which were called (from the same root kar, but with a different preposition) Prakrita, i.e. either " derived " or " natural, common " forms of speech. This designation of the literary idiom, being intended to imply a language regulated by conventional rules, also involves a distinction between the grammatically fixed language of Brahmanical India and an earlier, less settled, phase of the same language exhibited in the Vedic writings. For convenience the Vedic language is, however, usually included in the term, and scholars generally distinguish between the Vedic and the classical Sanskrit.

I. Sanskrit Language The Sanskrit language, with its old and modern descendants, represents the easternmost branch of the great Indo-Germanic, or Aryan, stock of speech. Philological research has clearly established the fact that the Indo-Aryans must originally have immigrated into India from the north-west. In the oldest literary documents handed down by them their gradual advance can indeed be traced from the slopes of eastern Kabulistan down to the land of the five rivers (Punjab), and thence to the plains of the Yamuna (Jumna) and Ganga (Ganges). Numerous special coincidences, both of language and mythology, between the Vedic Aryans and the peoples of Iran also show that these two members of the Indo-Germanic family must have remained in close connexion for some considerable period after the others had separated from them.

The origin of comparative philology dates from the time when European scholars became accurately acquainted with the ancient language of India. Before that time classical scholars had been unable to determine the true relations between the then known languages of our stock. This .fact alone shows the importance of Sanskrit for comparative research. Though its value in this respect has perhaps at times been overrated, it may still be considered the eldest daughter of the old mothertongue. Indeed, so far as direct documentary evidence goes, it may be said to be the only surviving daughter; for none of the other six principal members of the family have left any literary monuments, and their original features have to be reproduced, as best they can, from the materials supplied by their own daughter languages: such is the case as regards the Iranic, Hellenic, Italic, Celtic, Teutonic and Letto-Slavic languages. To the Sanskrit the antiquity and extent of its literary documents, the transparency of its grammatical structure, the comparatively primitive state of its accent system, and the thorough grammatical treatment it has early received at the hand of native scholars must ever secure the foremost place in the comparative study of Indo-Germanic speech.

The Sanskrit alphabet consists of the following sounds: (a) Fourteen vowels, viz: Ten simple vowels: a, a, i, i, u, u, r, f, 1 (7); and Four diphthongs: e, di, o, au. (b) Thirty-three consonants, viz.: Five series of mutes and nasals: guttural: k kh g gh n palatal: c ch j jh lingual: l th d dh n dental: t th d dh n labial: p ph b bh m; Four semivowels: y r l v (w) Three sibilants: palatal (4), lingual s (sh), dental s; 'and ' A soft aspirate: h. (c) Three unoriginal sounds, viz.

visarga (Ii), a hard aspirate, standing mostly for original s or r; and two nasal sounds of less close contact than the mute-nasals, viz. anusvara (m) and anunasika (rn). As regards the vowels, a prominent feature of the language is the prevalence of a-sounds, these being about twice as frequent as all the others, including diphthongs taken Vowels. together (Whitney).

The absence of the short vowels e and 6 from the Sanskrit alphabet, and the fact that Sanskrit shows the a-vowel where other vowels appear in other languages - e.g. bharantam = cgpovra, ferentem; janas = 14pos, genus - were formerly considered as strong evidence in favour of the more primitive state of the Sanskrit vowel system as compared with that of the sister languages. Recent research has, however, shown pretty conclusively from certain indications in the Sanskrit language itself that the latter must at one time have possessed the same, or very nearly the same, three vowel-sounds, and that the differentiation of the original a-sound must, therefore, have taken place before the separation of the languages. Thus, Sans. carati, he walks, would seem to require an original kereti (Gr. iriXfc = queleti, Lat. colit), as otherwise the guttural k could not have changed to the palatal c (see below); and similarly Sans. janu, knee, seems to stand forgenu (Lat. genu, Gr. yhvv). Not impossibly, however, this prevalence of pure a-sounds in Sanskrit may from the very beginning have been a mere theoretical or graphic feature of the language, the difference of pronunciation having not yet been pronounced enough for the early grammarians to have felt it necessary to clearly distinguish between the different shades. of a-sounds.

The vowels e and o, though apparently simple sounds, are classed as diphthongs, being contracted from original ai and au respectively, and liable to be treated as such in the phonetic modifications they have to undergo before any vowel except a.

As regards the consonants, two of the five series of mutes, the palatal and lingual series, are of secondary - (the one of Indo-Iranian, the other of purely Indian) growth.

The palatals are, as a rule, derived from original gutturals, the modification being generally due to the influence of a neighbouring palatal sound i or y, or e (a). The surd aspirate ch, in words of IndoGermanic origin, almost invariably goes back to original sk: e.g. chid- (chind-) = scindo, aril w: chaya = QKCit (O.E. scin, shine) Sans. gacchati = (R The palatal sibilant š (pronounced sh) likewise originated from a guttural mute k, but one of somewhat different phonetic value from that represented by Sanskrit k or c. The latter, usually designated by k 2 (or q), is frequently liable to labialization (or dentalization) in Greek, probably owing to an original pronunciation kw (qu):. e.g. katara=1r6repos, uter; while the former (k l ) shows invariably in Greek, and a sibilant in the Letto-Slavic and the Indo-Iranian languages: e.g. svan (sun) = Kuwv (iwv), canis, Ger. Hund; dasan = Skim, decem, Goth. taihun. The non-original nature of the palatals betrays itself even in Sanskrit by their inability to occur at the end of a word - e.g. ace. vacam =Lat. vocem, but nom. vak = vox - and by otherwise frequently reverting to the guttural state.

The linguals differ in pronunciation from the dentals in their being uttered with the tip of the tongue turned up to the dome of the palate, while in the utterance of the dentals it is pressed against the upper teeth, not against the upper gums as is done in the English dentals, which to Hindus sound more like their own linguals. The latter, when occurring in words of Aryan origin, are, as a rule, modifications of original dentals, usually accompanied by the loss of an r or other adjoining consonant; but more commonly they occur in words of foreign, probably non-Aryan, origin. Of regular occurrence in the language, however, is the change of dental n into lingual n, and of dental s into lingual s, when preceded in the same word by certain other letters. The combination ks seems sometimes to stand for ks (? kst) as in Sans. aksa, Gr. iz wv, axle; Sans. dakshina, Gr. 51.0s (but Lat. dexter); sometimes for kt, e.g. Sans. kshiti, Gr. KTIQGs (but Sans. kshiti = Gr. 4Bivcs); Sans. takshan, Gr.

The sonant aspirate h is likewise non-original, being usually derived from original sonant aspirated mutes, especially gh, e.g. hamsa = x v (for xa y s), anser, Ger. Gans; aham = ywv, ego, Goth. ik. The contact of final and initial letters of words in the same sentence is often attended in Sanskrit with considerable euphonic modifica tions; and we have no means of knowing how far the practice of the vernacular language may have corresponded changes to these phonetic theories. There can be no doubt, how ever, that a good deal in this respect has to be placed to the account of grammatical reflection; and the very facilities which the primitive structure of the language offered for grammatical analysis and an insight into the principles of internal modification may have given the first impulse to external modifications of a similar kind.

None of the cognate languages exhibits in so transparent a manner as the Sanskrit the cardinal principle of Indo-Germanic wordformation by the addition of inflectional endings - either case-endings or personal terminations (themselves probably original roots) - to stems obtained, mainly by means of suffixes, from monosyllabic roots, with or without internal modifications.

There are in Sanskrit declension three numbers and seven cases, not counting the vocative, viz. nominative, accusative, instru mental (or sociative), dative, ablative, genitive and locative. As a matter of fact, all these seven cases appear, however, only in the singular of a-stems and of the pronominal declension. Other noun-stems have only one caseform for the ablative and genitive singular. In the plural, the ablative everywhere shares its form with the dative (except in the personal pronoun, where it has the same ending as in the singular), whilst the dual shows only three different case-forms - one for the nominative and accusative, another for the instrumental, dative, and ablative, and a third for the genitive and locative.

The declension of a-stems corresponding to the first and second Latin declensions is of especial interest, not so much on account of its being predominant from the earliest time, and becoming more and more so with the development of the language, but because it presents the greatest number of alternative forms, which supply a kind of test for determining the age of literary productions, a test which indeed has already been applied to some extent by Professor Lanman, in his excellent Statistical Account of Noun Inflexion in the Veda. These alternative case-forms are :- I. asas and as for the nominative plural masc. and fem.: e.g. a§vasas and aivas = equi (equae). The forms in asas - explained by Bopp as the sign of the plural as applied twice, and by Schleicher as the sign of the plural as added to the nominative singular - occur to those in as (i.e. the ordinary plural sign as added to the a-stem) in the Rigveda in the proportion of I to 2, and in the peculiar parts of the Atharvaveda in that of I to 25, whilst the ending as alone remains in the later language.

2. a and ani for the nominative and accusative plural of neuters: as yuga, yugani = 1'vya, juga. The proportion of the former ending to the latter in the Rik is 11 to 7, in the Atharvan 2 to 3, whilst the classical Sanskrit knows only the second form.

3. ebhis and ais for the instrumental plural masc. and neuter, e.g. devebhis, devais. In the Rik the former forms are to the latter in the proportion of 5 to 6, in the Atharvan of I to 5, while in the later language only the contracted form is used. The same contraction is found in other languages; but it is doubtful whether it did not originate independently in them.

4. a and du for the nominative and accusative dual masc., e.g. ubha, ubhau = tipcpw. In the Rik forms in a outnumber those in du more than eight times; whilst in the Atharvan, on the contrary, those in du (the only ending used in the classical language) occur five times as often as those in a.

5. a and ena (ena,) for the instrumental singular masc. and neut., as dana, danena = dono. The ending ena is the one invariably used in the later language. It is likewise the usual form in the Veda; but in a number of cases it shows a final long vowel which, though it may be entirely due to metrical requirements, is more probably a relic of the normal instrumental ending a, preserved for prosodic reasons. For the simple ending a, as compared with that in ena, Professor Lanman makes out a proportion of about i to 9 in the Rigveda (altogether 114 cases); while in the peculiar parts of the Atharvan he finds only II cases.

6. am and anam for the genitive plural, e.g. (asvam), asvanam =Y7rxwv, equum (equorum). The form with inserted nasal (doubtless for anam, as in Zend aspanam), which is exclusively used in the later language, is also the prevailing one in the Rik. There are, however, a few genitives of a-stems in original am (for a-Con), which also appear in Zend, Professor Lanman enumerating a dozen instances, some of which are, however, doubtful, while others are merely conjectural.

The Sanskrit verb system resembles that of the Greek in variety and completeness. While the Greek excels in nicety and definite ness of modal distinction, the Sanskrit surpasses it in V e r b primitiveness and transparency of formation. In this part of the grammatical system there is, however, an even greater difference than in the noun inflection between the Vedic and the classical Sanskrit. While the former shows, upon the whole, the full complement of modal forms exhibited by the Greek, the later language has practically discarded the subjunctive mood. The Indo-Aryans never succeeded in working out a clear formative distinction between the subjunctive and indicative moods; and, their syntactic requirements becoming more and more limited, they at last contented themselves, for modal expression, with a present optative and imperative, in addition to the indicative tense-forms, and a little-used aorist optative with a special " precative " or " benedictive " meaning attached to it.

Another part of the verb in which the later language differs widely from Vedic usage is the infinitive. The language of the old hymns shows a considerable variety of case-forms of verbal abstract nouns with the function of infinitives, a certain number of which can still be traced back to the parent language, as, for instance, such dative forms as jiv-dse =viv-ere; sdh-adhyai = g xea0ac; da'- mane = Sopevat; da'-vane = Souvau. Further, ji-she, " to conquer," for ji-se, apparently an aorist infinitive with the dative ending (parallel to the radical forms, such as yudh-é, " to fight," drs'-é, " to see "), thus corresponding to the Greek aorist infinitive Auaac (but cf. also Latin da-re, for dase, The classical Sanskrit, on the other hand, practically uses only one infinitive form, viz. the accusative of a verbal noun in tu, e.g. sthatum, etum, corresponding to the Latin supinum datum, item. But, as in Latin another case, the ablative (data), of the same abstract noun is utilized for a similar purpose, so the Vedic language makes two other cases do duty as infinitives, viz. the dative in tave (e.g. ddtave, and the anomalous etavai) and the gen.-abl. in tos (datos). A prominent feature of the later Sanskrit syntax is the so-called gerund or indeclinable participle in tva, apparently the instrumental of a stem in tva (probably a derivative from that in tu), as well as the gerund in ya (or tya after a final short radical vowel) made from compound verbs. The old language knows not only such gerunds in tea, using them, however, very sparingly, but also corresponding dative forms in tvaya (yuktvaya) and the curious contracted forms in tvi' (krtvi, " to do "). And, besides those in ya and tya, it frequently uses forms with a final long vowel, as bhid-ya, i-tya, thus showing the former to be shortened instrumentals of abstract nouns in i and ti. The Sanskrit verb, like the Greek, has two voices, active and middle, called, after their primary functions, parasmai-pada, " word for another," and atmane-pada, " word for one's self." While in Greek the middle forms have to do duty also for the passive in all tenses except the aorist and future, the Sanskrit, on the other hand, has developed for the passive a special present-stem in ya, the other tenses being supplied by the corresponding middle forms, with the exception of the third person singular aorist, for which a special form in i is usually assigned to the passive.

The present-stem system is by far the most important part of the whole verb system, both on account of frequency of actual occurrence and of its excellent state of preservation. It is with regard to the different ways of present-stem formation that the entire stock of assumed roots has been grouped by the native grammarians under ten different classes. These classes again naturally fall under two divisions or " conjugations," with this characteristic difference that the one (corresponding to Gr. conj. in w) retains the same stem (ending in a) throughout the present and imperfect, only lengthening the final vowel before terminations beginning with v or m (not final); while the other (corresponding to that in pc) shows two different forms of the stem, a strong and a weak form, according as the accent falls on the stem-syllable or on the personal ending: e.g. 3 sing. badra-ti, 4 p€t - 2 pl. bhdra-tha, clp peTe: but é-ti, - i-tha, ire (for ITE): I sing. strziO-mi, arOpvvpc - I pl. strnu-mas (arOpvvpes). As several of the personal endings show a decided similarity to personal or demonstrative pronouns, it is highly probable that, as might indeed be a priori expected, all or most of them are of pronominal origin - though, owing to their exposed position and consequent decay, their original form and identity cannot now be determined with certainty. The active singular terminations, with the exception of the second person of the imperative, are unaccented and of comparatively light appearance; while those of the dual and plural, as well as the middle terminations, have the accent, being apparently too heavy to be supported by the stem-accent, either because, as Schleicher supposed, they are composed of two different pronominal elements, or otherwise. The treatment of the personal endings in the modifying, and presumably older, conjugation may thus be said somewhat to resemble that of enclitics in Greek.

In the imperfect the present-stem is increased by the augment, consisting of a prefixed d. Here, as in the other tenses in which it appears, it has invariably the accent, as being the distinctive element (originally probably an independent demonstrative adverb " then ") for the expression of past time. This shifting of the word-accent seems to have contributed to the further reduction of the personal endings, and thus to have caused the formation of a new, or secondary, set of terminations which came to be appropriated for secondary tenses and moods generally. As in Greek poetry, the augment is frequently omitted in Sanskrit.

The mood-sign of the subjunctive is d, added to (the strong form of) the tense-stem. If the stem ends already in d, the latter becomes lengthened. As regards the personal terminations, some persons take the primary, others the secondary forms, while others again may take either the one or the other. The first singular active, however, takes ni instead of mi, to distinguish it from the indicative. But besides these forms, showing the mood-sign d, the subjunctive (both present and aorist) may take another form, without any distinctive modal sign, and with the secondary endings, being thus identical with the augmentless form of the preterite.

The optative invariably takes the secondary endings, with some peculiar variations. In the active of the modifying conjugation its mood-sign is yet , affixed to the weak form of the stem: e.g. root assyarn = Lat. seem, sim (where Gr., from analogy to E rrE, &c., shows irregularly the strong form of the stem, &p ', for ia-Ln-v: as in 1st sing. of verbs in w, it also has irregularly the primary ending, Xet rotµ L = S. rece-y-am); while in the a-conjugation and throughout the middle the mood-sign is 1, probably a contraction of yd.: e.g. bad res = ckpols. Besides the ordinary perfect, made from a reduplicated stem, with distinction between strong (active singular) and weak forms, and a partly peculiar set of endings, the later language makes large use of a periphrastic perfect, consisting of the accusative of a feminine abstract noun in a (-dm) with the reduplicated perfect forms of the auxiliary verbs kar, " to do," or as (and occasionally bhu), " to be." Though more particularly resorted to for the derivative forms of conjugation - viz. the c2usative (including the so-called tenth conjugational class), the desiderative, intensive and denominative - this perfect-form is also commonly used with roots beginning with prosodically long vowels, as well as with a few other isolated roots. In the l igveda this formation is quite unknown, and the Atharvan offers a single instance of it, from a causative verb, with the auxiliary kar. In the Vedic prose, on the other hand, it is rather frequent,' and it is quite common in the later language.

In addition to the ordinary participles, active and middle, of the reduplicated perfect - e.g. jajan-vdn, yeyov-cas: bubudh-and, 7rE7rvr-µ vo - there is a secondary participial formation, obtained by affixing the possessive suffix vat (cant) to the passive past participle: e.g. k; to-vant, lit. " having (that which is) done." A secondary participle of this kind occurs once in the Atharvaveda, and it is occasionally met with in the Brahmanas. In the later language, however, it not only is of rather frequent occurrence, but has assumed quite a new function, viz. that of a finite perfect-form; thus krtavan, krtavantas, without any auxiliary verb, mean, not " having done," but " he has done," " they have done." The original Indo-Germanic future-stem formation in sya, with primary endings - e.g. dasydti = 560-EL `for SlocErL) - is the ordinary tense-form both in Vedic and classical Sanskrit - a preterite of it, with a conditional force attached to it (ddasyat), being also common to all periods of the language.

Side by side with this future, however, an analytic tense-form makes its appearance in the Brahmanas, obtaining wider currency in the later language. This periphrastic future is made by means of the nominative singular of a nomen agentis in tar (datar, nom. data=Lat. dator), followed by the corresponding present forms of as. " to be " (data-'smi, as it were, daturus sum), with the exception of the third persons, which need no auxiliary, but take the respective nominatives of the noun.

The aorist system is somewhat complicated, including as it does augment-preterites of various formations, viz. a radical aorist, sometimes with reduplicated stem - e.g. srudhi = KXiu9L; ddudrot; an a-aorist (or thematic aorist) with or without reduplication - e.g. dricas =i'Xt res: dpaptam, cf. E7rEciwov; and several different forms of a sibilant-aorist. In the older Vedic language the radical aorist is far more common than the a-aorist, which becomes more frequently used later on. Of the different kinds of sibilant-aorists, the most common is the one which makes its stem by the addition of s to the root, either with or without a connecting vowel i in different roots: e.g. root ji-1 sing. djaisham, pl. djaishma; dkramisham, dkramishma. A limited number of roots take a double aorist-sign with inserted connecting vowel (sish for sis) - e.g. ciyasisham (cf. scrip-sis-ti); whilst others - very rarely ' rt also shows occasionally other tense-forms than the perfect of the same periphrastic formation with kar. in the older but more numerously in the later language - make their aorist-stem by the addition of sa - e.g. ddikshas=tbeL a;. As regards the syntactic functions of the three preterites - the imperfect, perfect and aorist - the classical writers make virtually no distinction between them, but use them quite indiscriminately. In the older language, on the other hand, the imperfect is chiefly used as a narrative tense, while the other two generally refer to a past action which is now complete - the aorist, however, more frequently to that which is only just done or completed. The perfect, owing doubtless to its reduplicative form, has also not infrequently the force of an iterative, or intensive, present.

The Sanskrit, like the Greek, shows at all times a considerable power and facility of noun-composition. But, while in the older language, as well as in the earlier literary products of the - classical period, such combinations rarely exceed the limits compatible with the general economy of inflectional speech, during the later, artificial period of the language they gradually become more and more excessive, both in size and frequency of use, till at last they absorb almost the entire range of syntactic construction.

One of the most striking features of Sanskrit word-formation is that regular interchange of light and strong vowel-sounds, usually designated by the native terms of guna (quality) and vriddhi (increase). The phonetic process implied in these terms consists in the raising, under certain conditions, of a radical or thematic light vowel i, u, r, 1, by means of an inserted a-sound, to the diphthongal (guna) sounds di (Sans. e), du (Sans. o), and the combination ar and al respectively, and, by a repetition of the same process, to the (vriddhi) sounds di, du, ar, and di respectively. Thus from root vid, " to know," we have veda, " knowledge," and therefrom vaidika; from yuj, yoga, yaugika. While the interchange of the former kind, due mainly to accentual causes, was undoubtedly a common feature of Indo-Germanic speech, the latter, or vriddhi-change, which chiefly occurs in secondary stems, is probably a later development. Moreover, there can be no doubt that the vriddhi-vowels are really due to what the term implies, viz. to a process of " increment," or vowel-raising. The same used to be universally assumed by comparative philologists as regards the relation between the guna-sounds di (e) and du (o) and the respective simple iand u-sounds. According to a more recent theory, however, which has been very generally accepted, we have rather to look upon the heavier vowels as the original, and upon the lighter vowels as the later sounds, produced through the absence of stress and pitch. The grounds on which this theory is recommended are those of logical consistency. In the analogous cases of interchange between r and ar, as well as l and al, most scholars have indeed been wont to regard the syllabic r and l as weakened from original ar and al, while the native grammarians represent the latter as produced from the former by increment. Similarly the verb as (es), " to be," loses its vowel wherever the radical syllable is unaccented, e.g. asti, Lat. est - smds, s(u)mus; opt. syam, Lat. siem (sim). On the strength of these analogous cases of vowel-modification we are, therefore, to accept some such equation as this: dsmi smds = SpKoµaL: ESp (a)Kov = XEilr e: X L7rety =emi (eiµt): imds (Iya, for Liz v) = 4,EUyw: Ov'yEly = dohmi (I milk): duhmds. Acquiescence in this equation would seem to involve at least one important admission, viz. that original root-syllables contained no simple i- and u-vowels, except as the second element of the diphthongs ai, ei, oi; au, eu, ou. We ought no longer to speak of the roots vid, " to know," dik, " to show, to bid," dhugh, " to milk," yug, " to join," but of veld, deik, dhaugh or dheugh, yeug, &c. Nay, as the same law would apply with equal force to suffixal vowels, the suffix nu would have to be called nau or neu; and, in explaining, for instance, the irregularly formed i we might say that, by the affixion of to the root the presentstem SLxvev was obtained (SLKveuit), which, as the stress was shifted forward, became I plur. SLKvvJ cr(L), - the subsequent modifications in the radical and formative syllables being due to the effects of " analogy " (cf. G. Meyer, Griech. Gramm., § 487). Now, if there be any truth in the " agglutination " theory, according to which the radical and formative elements of Indo-Germanic speech were at one time independent words, we would have to be prepared for a pretty liberal allowance, to the parent language, of diphthongal monosyllables such as deik neu, while simple combinations such as dik nu could only spring up after separate syllable-words had become united by the force of a common accent. But, whether the agglutinationists be right or wrong, a theory involving the priority of the diphthongal over the simple sounds can hardly be said to be one of great prima facie probability; and one may well ask whether the requirements of logical consistency might not be satisfied in some other, less improbable, way.

Now, the analogous cases which have called forth this theory turn upon the loss of a radical or suffixal a (e), occasioned by the shifting of the word-accent to some other syllable, e.g. acc. matdram, instr. matrd; 7rfoµar, E S pKo,cial, ESp(a)Kov: dsmi, smds. Might we not then assume that at an early stage of noun and verb inflection, through the giving way, under certain conditions, of the stem-a (le), the habit of stem-gradation, as an element of inflection, came to establish itself and ultimately to extend its sphere over stems with i- and u-vowels, but that, on meeting here with more resistance' than in the a (g)-vowel, the stem-gradation then took the shape of a raising of the simple vowel, in the " strong " cases and verb-forms, by that same a-element which constituted the distinctive element of those cases in the other variable stems? In this way the above equation would still hold good, and the corresponding vowel-grades, though of somewhat different genesis, would yet be strictly analogous. At all events in the opinion of the present writer, the last word has not yet been said on the important point of Indo-Germanic vowel-gradation.

The accent of Sanskrit words is marked only in the more important Vedic texts, different systems of notation being used in different Accentua- works. Our knowledge of the later accentuation of /ion cee words is entirely derived from the statements of gram marians. As in Greek, there are three accents, the udatta (" raised," i.e. acute), the anudatta (" not raised," i.e. grave), and the svarita (" sounded, modulated," i.e. circumflex). The last is a combination of the two others, its proper use being confined almost entirely to a vowel preceded by a semivowel y or v, representing an original acuted vowel. Hindu scholars, however, also include in this term the accent of a grave syllable preceded by an acuted syllable, and itself followed by a grave.

The Sanskrit and Greek accentuations present numerous coincidences. Although the Greek rule, confining the accent within the last three syllables, has frequently obliterated the original likeness, the old features may often be traced through the later forms. Thus, though augmented verb-forms in Greek cannot always have the accent on the augment as in Sanskrit, they have it invariably as little removed from it as the accentual restrictions will allow; e.g. dbharam, Echepov: dbharama, iclApop.€v: dbharamahi, k5EpOg€0a. The most striking coincidence in noun declension is the accentual distinction made by both languages between the " strong " and " weak " cases of monosyllabic nouns - the only difference in this respect being that in Sanskrit the accusative plural, as a rule, has the accent on the case-ending, and consequently shows the weak form of the stem; e.g. stem pad, 7r06: ddam, iroSa: padas, 7roSos: padi, rat.: padas, rrOSES: padds, 7 65as: paddm, 7roScov: patsu, ?root. In Sanskrit a few other classes of stems (especially present participles in ant, at), accented on the last syllable, are apt to yield their accent to heavy vowel (not consonantal) terminations; compare the analogous accentuation of Sanskrit and Greek stems in tar: pitdram, TraTEpa: pitre, 7rarpos: pitdras, 71-arpes: pitfshu, rrarp(a)ot. The vocative, when heading a sentence (or verse-division), has invariably the accent on the first syllable; otherwise it is not accented.

Finite verb-forms also, as a rule, lose their accent, except when standing at the beginning of a sentence or verse-division (a vocative not being taken into account), or in dependent (mostly relative) clauses, or in conjunction with certain particles. Of two or more co-ordinate verb-forms, however, only the first is unaccented.

In writing Sanskrit the natives, in different parts of India, generally employ the particular character used for writing their own vernacular. The character, however, most widely understood and characters employed by Hindu scholars, and used invariably in characters. European editions of Sanskrit works (unless printed in Roman letters) is the Nagari, or " town-script," also commonly called Devanagari, or nagari of the gods.

The origin of the Indian alphabets is still enveloped in doubt. The oldest hitherto known specimens of Indian writing are a number of rock-inscriptions, containing religious edicts in Pali (the Prakrit used in the southern Buddhist scriptures), issued by the emperor Asoka (Piyadasi) of the Maurya dynasty, in 253-251 B.C., and scattered over the area of northern India from the vicinity of Peshawar, on the north-west frontier, and Girnar in Gujarat, w Jaugada and Dhauli in Katak, on the eastern coast. The most western of these inscriptions - those found near Kapurdagarhi or Shahbazgarhi, and Mansora - are executed in a different alphabet from the others. It reads from right to left, and is usually called the Arian Pali alphabet, it being also used on the coins of the Greek and Indo-Scythian princes of Ariana; while the other, which reads from left to right, is called the Indian Pali alphabet. The former - also called Kharoshthi or Gandhara alphabet (lipi) - which is manifestly derived from a Semitic (probably Aramaean) source, has left no traces on the subsequent development of Indian writing. The IndoPali (or Brahmi) alphabet, on the other hand, from which the modern Indian alphabets are derived, is of more uncertain origin. The similarity, however, which several of its letters present to those of the old Phoenician alphabet (itself probably derived from the Egyptian hieroglyphics) suggests for this alphabet also the probability of a Semitic origin, though, already at Moka's time, the Indians had worked it up to a high degree of perfection and wonder We might compare the different treatment in Sanskrit of an and in bases (murdhdni-rnurdhnd; vadini-vadina); for, though the latter are doubtless of later origin, their inflection might have been expected to be influenced by that of the former. Also a comparison of such forms as (devil) devdnam (agni) agnindm, and (dhenii) dhenundm, tells in favour of the i- and u-vowels, as regards power of resistance, inasmuch as it does not require the accent in order to remain intact.

fully adapted it to their peculiar scientific ends. The question as to the probable time and channel of its introduction can scarcely be expected ever to be placed beyond all doubt. The late Professor Bihler has, however, made it very probable that this alphabet was introduced into India by traders from Mesopotamia about 800 B.C. At all events, considering the high state of perfection it exhibits in the Maurya and Andhra inscriptions, as well as the wide area over which these are scattered, it can hardly be doubted that the art of writing must have been known to and practised by the Indians for various purposes long before the time of Asoka. The fact that no reference to it is found in the contemporary literature has probably to be accounted for by a strong reluctance on the part of the Brahmans to commit their sacred works to writing.

As regards the numeral signs used in India, the Kharoshthi inscriptions of the early centuries of our era show a numerical system in which the first three numbers are represented by as many vertical strokes, whilst 4 is marked by a slanting cross, and 5-9 by 4(+) r, &c., to 4(+)4(+)1; then special signs for 10, 20 and 100, the intervening multiples of ro being marked in the vigesimal fashion, thus 50=20(+)20(-1-)ro. This system has been proved to be of Semitic, probably Aramaic, origin. In the Brahmi inscriptions up to the end of the 6th century of our era, another system is used in which 1 -3 are denoted by as many horizontal strokes, and thereafter by special syllabic signs for 4-9, the decades 10-90, and for roo and 1000. This system was most likely derived from hieratic sources of Egypt. The decimal system of cipher notation, on the other hand, which is first found used on a Gujarat inscription of A. D. 595, seems to be an invention of Indian astronomers or mathematicians, based on the existing syllabic (or word) signs or equivalents thereof.

The first two Sanskrit grammars published by Europeans were those of the Austrian Jesuit Wesdin, called Paulinus a Sancto Bartholomaeo (Rome, 1790-1804). These were followed by those of H. C. Colebrooke (1805; based on Panini's system), Carey (1806), Wilkins (1808), Forster (r8ro), F. Bopp (1827), H. H. Wilson, Th. Benfey, &c. These, as well as those of Max Miller, Monier Williams and F. Kielhorn, now most widely used, deal almost exclusively with classical Sanskrit; whilst that of W. D. Whitney treats the whole language historically; as does also J. Wackernagel's not yet completed Altindische Grammatik. The first Sanskrit dictionary was that of H. H. Wilson (1819; 2nd ed., 1832), which was followed by the great Sanskrit-German Worterbuch, published at St Petersburg in 7 vols. by Professors Bohtlingk and Roth. Largely based on this great thesaurus are the Sanskrit-English dictionaries by Sir M. Williams (2nd ed., 1899), Th. Benfey, A. A. Macdonell, &c. On the history of the Indian alphabets, cf. G. Bihler, Indische Palaographie (1896); A. C. Burnell, Elements of South Indian Palaeography (2nd ed., 1878), R. Cust's résumé in Jour. Roy. As. Soc., N.S. vol. xvi.

II. Sanskrit Literature The history of Sanskrit literature labours under the same disadvantage as the political history of ancient India from the total want of anything like a fixed chronology. In that vast range of literary development there is scarcely a work of importance the date of which scholars have fixed with absolute certainty. The original composition of most Sanskrit works can indeed be confidently assigned to certain general periods of literature, but as to many of them, and these among the most important, scholars have but too much reason to doubt whether they have come down to us in their original shape, or whether they have not undergone alterations and additions so serious as to make it impossible to regard them as genuine witnesses of any one phase of the development of the Indian mind. Nor can we expect many important chronological data from new materials brought to light in India. Though by such discoveries a few isolated spots may be lighted up here and there, the real task of clearing away the mist which at present obscures our view, if ever it can be cleared away, will have to be performed by patient research and a more minute critical examination of the multitudinous writings which have been handed down from the remote past. In the following sketch it is intended to take a rapid view of the more important works and writers in the several departments of literature.

In accordance with the two great phases of linguistic development referred to, the history of Sanskrit literature readily divides itself into two principal periods - the Vedic and the classical. These periods partly overlap, and some of the later Vedic work are included in that period on account of the subjects with which they deal, and for their archaic style, rather than for any just claim to a higher antiquity than may have to be assigned to the oldest works of the classical Sanskrit.

The term veda - i.e. " knowledge," (sacred) " lore " - embraces a body of writings the origin of which is ascribed to divine revelation (sruti, literally " hearing "), and which forms the foundation of the Brahmanical system of religious belief. This sacred canon is divided into three or (according to a later scheme) four co-ordinate collections, likewise called Veda: (r) the Rig-veda, or lore of praise (or hymns); (2) the Sama-veda, or lore of tunes (or chants); (3) the Yajurveda, or lore of prayer (or sacrificial formulas); and (4) the Atharva-veda, or lore of the Atharvans. Each of these four Vedas consists primarily of a collection (sarrihita) of sacred, mostly poetical, texts of a devotional nature, called mantra. This entire body of texts (and particularly the first three collections) is also frequently referred to as the trayi vidya, or threefold wisdom, of hymn (r, 'ich 2), tune or chant (saman), and prayer (yajus) - the fourth Veda, if at all included, being in that case classed together with the Rik.

The Brahmanical religion finds its practical expression chiefly in sacrificial performances. The Vedic sacrifice requires for its proper performance the attendance of four officiating priests, each of whom is assisted by one or more p y (usually three) subordinate priests, viz.: (I) the Hotar (or hotri, i.e. either " sacrificer," or " invoker "), whose chief business is to invoke the gods, either in short prayers pronounced over the several oblations, or in liturgical recitations (sastra), made up of various hymns and detached verses; (2) the Udgatar (udgatri), or chorister, who has to perform chants (stotra) in connexion with the hotar's recitations; (3) the Adhvaryu, or offering priest par excellence, who performs all the material duties of the sacrifice, such as the kindling of the fires, the preparation of the sacrificial ground and the offerings, the making of oblations, &c.; (4) the Brahman, or chief " priest," who has to superintend the performance and to rectify any mistakes that may be committed. Now, the first three of these priests stand in special relation to three of the Vedic Sarnhitas in this way: that the Samhitas of the Samaveda and Yajurveda form special song and prayer books, arranged for the practical use of the udgatar and adhvaryu respectively; whilst the Rik-sarnhita, though not arranged for any such practical purpose, contains the entire body of sacred lyrics whence the hotar draws the material for his recitations. The brahman, however, had no special text-book assigned to him, but was expected to be familiar with all the Samhitas as well as with the practical details of the sacrificial performance (see Brahman and BrahmanA). It sometimes happens that verses not found in our version of the Rik-sarnhita, but in the Atharvavedasamhita, are used by the hotar; but such texts, if they did not actually form part of some other version of the Rik - as Sayana in the introduction to his commentary on the Rik-sarnhita assures us that they did - were probably inserted in the liturgy subsequent to the recognition of the fourth Veda.

The several Samhitas have attached to them certain theological prose works, called Brahmana, which, though subordinate in authority to the Mantras or Samhitas, are like them held to be divinely revealed and to form part of the 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, however, are of a purely speculative nature, and must be looked upon as the first attempts at a systematic treatment of meta physical 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 the Samhitas, Brahmanas and Aranyakas of the three older Vedas, though not a few others which have no such special connexion have to be classed with the later products of the Vedic age.3 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. Such different text-recensions, called sakha (i.e. branch), were at one time very numerous, but only a limited number 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. But the diffuse ritualistic discussions and loosely connected legendary illustrations of the Brahmanas 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.

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 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 the original treatises on their several subjects; they evidently represent a more or less advanced stage of scientific development. Though a few of them are composed in metrical form - especially in the ordinary epic couplet, the anushtubh sloka, consisting of two lines of sixteen syllables (or of two octosyllabic padas) each - the majority belong to a class of writings called sutra, i.e. " string," consisting 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 sruti or revelation. They are of human, not of divine, origin. Yet, as the production of men of the highest standing, profoundly versed in Vedic lore, the Sutras are regarded as works of great authority, second only to that of the revealed Scriptures; and their relation to the latter is expressed in the generic title of Smriti, or Tradition, usually applied to them.

Cf. P. Deussen, The Philosophy of the Upanishads (Edinburgh, 1906), where these treatises are classified; Jacob, A Concordance to the Principal Upanishads and Bhagavadgita (Bombay S.S., 1891).

mamas. canon. The chief works of this class are of an exegetic nature, - their purport being to supply a dogmatic exposition of the sacrificial ceremonial and to explain the mystic import of the different rites and utterances included therein (see Brahmana). More or less closely connected with the Brahmanas (and in a few exceptional cases with Samhitas) are two classes of treatises, called Aranyaka and Upanishad. The Aranyakas, i.e. works " relating to the forest," being intended to be read by those who have retired from the world and lead the life of anchorites, do not greatly differ in character and style from the Brahmanas, 1 J. Muir's Original Sanskrit Texts (5 vols., 2nd ed.) forms the most complete general survey of the results of Vedic research.

2 The combination ch, used (in conformity with the usual English practice) in this sketch of the literature, corresponds to the simple c - as ri does to;: - in the scheme of the alphabet.

The six branches of Vedic science, included under the term Vedanga, are as follows: I. Siksha, or Phonetics. - The privileged position of representing this subject is assigned to a small treatise ascribed to the great. grammarian Mini, viz. the Paninaya Siksha, extant in two different. (Rik and Yajus) recensions. But neither this treatise nor any other of the numeroussikshas which have recently come to light can lay claim to any very high age. Scholars, however, usually include under this head certain works, called Pratisakhya, i.e. " belonging to a certain Sakha 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 Samhitas.

2. Chhandas, or Metre. - Tradition makes the Chhandah-sutra 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 Nidana-sutra of the Samaveda,and in a chapter of thel ik-pratisakhya. 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. - Panini's famous grammar is said dan. to be the Vega; 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. - Yaska's Nirukta is the traditional representative of this subject, and this important work certainly. deals entirely with Vedic etymology and explanation. It consists, in the first place, of strings of words in three chapters: (I) 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 calculations are frequently referred to in older works in 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 3rd 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 out any special work as the Vedanga in this branch of Vedic science; but Cere- the sacrificial practice gave rise to a large number of Core- . systematic sutra-manuals for the several classes of priests.

The most important of these works have come down to us, and they occupy by far the most prominent place among the literary productions of the sutra-period. The Kalpa-sutras, or rules of ceremonial, are of two kinds: (I) the Srauta-sutras, which are based on the sruti, and teach the performance of the great sacrifices, requiring three sacrificial fires; and (2) the Smarta-sutras, or rules based on the smriti or tradition. The latter class again includes two kinds of treatises: (r) the Grihya-sutras, or domestic rules, treating of ordinary family rites, such as marriage, birth, namegiving, &c., connected with simple offerings in the domestic fire; and (2) the Samayacharika- (or Dharma-) sutras, which treat of eustoms and temporal duties, and are supposed to have formed the chief sources of the later law-books. Besides, the Srauta-sutras of the Yajurveda have usually attached to them a set of so-called Sulva-sutras, i.e. " rules of the cord," which treat of the measurement by means of cords, and the construction, of different kinds of altars required for sacrifices. These treatises are of special interest as supplying important information regarding the earliest geometrical operations in India. Along with the Sutras may be classed a large number of supplementary treatises, usually called Parisishta (aapaXuro/.ceva), on various subjects connected with the sacred texts and Vedic religion generally.

After this brief characterization of the various branches of Vedic literature, we proceed to take a rapid survey of the several Vedic collections.

A. Rigveda. 1 - The Rigveda-samhita has come down to us in the 1 The Rigveda has been edited, together with the commentary of Sayana (of the 14th century), by Max Muller (6 vols., London, 58 491874;491874; 2nd ed., 4 vols., 1890-1892). The same scholar has published an edition of the hymns, both in the connected (samhita) and the disjoined (pada) texts, 1873-1877. An edition in Roman transliteration was published by Th. Aufrecht (Berlin, 1861-1863, 2nd ed. 1877). Part of an English translation (chiefly based on Sayana's interpretation) was brought out by the late Professor H. H. Wilson (vols. i.-iii., 1850-1857) and completed by Professor E. B. Cowell (vols. iv.-vi., 1866-1888). We have also the first volume of a translation, with a running XXIV. 6 recension of the Sakala school. Mention is made of several other versions; and regarding one of them, that of the Bashkalas, we have some further information, according to which it seems, however, to have differed but little from the Skala text. The latter consists of 1028 hymns, including eleven so-called Valakhilyas, which were probably introduced into the collection subsequently to its completion. The hymns are composed in a great variety of metres, and consist, on an average, of rather more than so verses each, or about io,600 verses altogether. This body of sacred lyrics has been subdivided by ancient authorities in a twofold way, viz. either from a purely artificial point of view, into eight ashtakas of about equal length, or, on a more natural principle, based on the origin of the hymns, and invariably adopted by European scholars, into ten books, or mandalas, of unequal length. Tradition (not, however, always trustworthy in this respect) has handed down the names of the reputed authors, or rather inspired " seers " (rishi), of most hymns. These indications have enabled scholars to form some idea as to the probable way in which the Rik-samhita originated, though much still remains to be cleared up by future research.

Mandalas ii.-vii. are evidently arranged on a uniform plan. Each of them is ascribed to a different family of rishis, whence they are usually called the six " family-books ": ii., the Gritsamadas; iii., the Vi§vamitras or Kusikas; iv., the Vamadevyas; v., the Atris; vi., the Bharadvajas; and vii., the Vasishthas. Further, each of these books begins with the hymns addressed to Agni, the god of fire, which are followed by those to Indra, the Jupiter Pluvius, whereupon follow those addressed to minor deities - the Visve Devah (" all-gods "), the Maruts (storm-gods), &c. Again, the hymns addressed to each deity are arranged in a descending order, according to the number of verses of which they consist.

Mandala i., the longest in the whole Samhita, contains 191 hymns, ascribed, with the exception of a few isolated ones, to sixteen poets of different families, and consisting of one larger (50 hymns) and nine shorter collections. Here again the hymns of each author are arranged on precisely the same principle as the " family-books." Mandalas viii. and ix., on the other hand, have a special character of their own. To the Samaveda-samhita, which, as we shall see, consists almost entirely of verses chosen from the Rik for chanting purposes, these two mandalas have contributed a much larger proportion of verses than any of the others. Now, the hymns of the eighth book are ascribed to a number of different rishis, mostly belonging to the Kanva family. The productions of each poet are usually, though not always, grouped together, but no other principle of arrangement has yet been discovered. The chief peculiarity of this mandala, however, consists in its metres. Many of the hymns are composed in the form of stanzas, called pragatha (from ga, " to sing "), consisting of two verses in the brihati and satobrihart metres; whence this book is usually known under the designation of Pragathas. The other metres met with in this book are likewise such as were evidently considered peculiarly adapted for singing, viz. the gayatri (from ga, " to sing ") and other chiefly octosyllabic metres. It is not yet clear how to account for these peculiarities; but further research may perhaps show either that the Kanvas were a family of udgatars, or chanters, or that, before the establishment of a common system of worship for the Brahmanical community, they were accustomed to carry on their liturgical service exclusively by means of chants, instead of using the later form of mixed recitation and chant. One of the rishis of this family is called Pragatha Kanva; possibly this surname " pragatha " may be an old, or local, synonym of udgatar, or perhaps of the chief chanter, the so-called Prastotar, or precentor. Another poet of this family is Medhatithi Kanva, who has likewise assigned to him twelve hymns in the first and largest groups of the first book. The ninth mandala, on the other hand, consists entirely of hymns (554) addressed to Soma, the deified juice of the so-called " moon-plant " (Sarcostemma viminale, or Asclepias acida), and ascribed to poets of different families. They are called pavamani, " purificational," because they were to be recited by the hotar while the juice expressed from the soma plants was clarifying. The first sixty of these hymns are arranged strictly according to their length, ranging from ten down to four verses; but as to the remaining hymns no such principle of arrangement is observable, except perhaps in smaller groups of hymns. One might, therefore, feel inclined to look upon that first section as the body of soma hymns set apart, at the time of the first redaction of the Samhita, for the special purpose of being used as pavamanyas, - the remaining hymns having been added at subsequent redactions. It would not, however, by any means follow that all, commentary, by M. Muller, containing 12 hymns to the Maruts or storm-gods (1869). These were reprinted, together with the remaining hymns to the Maruts, and those addressed to Rudra, Vayu and Vata, Vedic Hymns I. in S.B.E., vol. xxxii. (1891); where (vol. xlvi.) H. Oldenberg has also translated the hymns to Agni, in mandalas 5-5. A metrical English translation was published by R. H. T. Griffith (2 vols., Benares, 1896-1897). Complete German translations have been published, in verse, by H. Grassmann (1876-1877) and, in prose, with comm., A. Ludwig (1876-1888). Cf. also Kaegi, The Rigveda (Eng. trans. by, Arrowsmith, Boston, 1886). 1886).

or even any, of the latter hymns were actually later productions, as they might previously have formed part of the family collections, or might have been overlooked when the hymns were first collected. Other mancialas (viz. i. viii. and x.) still contain four entire hymns addressed to Soma, consisting together of 58 verses, of which only a single one (x. 25, i) is found in the Samaveda-sarphita, as also some 28 isolated verses to Soma, and four hymns addressed to Soma in conjunction with some other deity, which are entirely unrepresented in that collection.

Manciala x. contains the same number of hymns (191) as the first, which it nearly equals in actual length. The hymns are ascribed to many rishis, of various families, some of whom appear already in the preceding mandalas. The traditional record is, however, less to be depended upon as regards this book, many names of gods and fictitious personages appearing in the list of its rishis. In the latter half of the book the hymns are clearly arranged according to the number of verses, in decreasing order - occasional exceptions to this rule being easily adjusted by the removal of a few apparently added verses. A similar arrangement seems also to suggest itself in other portions of the book. This manelala stands somewhat apart from the preceding books, both its language and the general character of many of its hymns betraying a more recent origin. In this respect it comes nearer to the level of the Atharvavedasamhita, with which it is otherwise closely connected. Of some 1350 Rik-verses found in the Atharvan, about 550, or rather more than 4.0%, occur in the tenth mandala. In the latter we meet with the same tendencies as in the Atharvan to metaphysical speculation and abstract conceptions of the deity on the one hand, and to superstitious practices on the other. But, although in its general appearance the tenth mancjala is decidedly more modern than the other books, it contains not a few hymns which are little, if at all, inferior, both in respect of age and poetic quality, to the generality of Vedic hymns, being perhaps such as had escaped the attentions of the former collectors.

It has become the custom, after Roth's example, to call the Riksamhita (as well as the Atharvan) an historical collection, as compared with the Sarnhitas put together for purely ritualistic purposes. And indeed, though the several family collections which make up the earlier manelalas may originally have served ritual ends, as the hymnals of certain clans or tribal confederacies, and although the Sarnhita itself, in its oldest form, may have been intended as a common prayer-book, so to speak, for the whole of the Brahmanical community, it is certain that in the stage in which it has been finally handed down it includes a certain portion of hymn material (and even some secular poetry) which could never have been used for purposes of religious service. It may, therefore, be assumed that the Rik-sarnhita contains all of the nature of popular 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 moo 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 actually composed must have lain considerably farther 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 thus forming the central home of the Vedic people. But, while its advanced guard has already debouched upon the plains of the upper Ganga and Yamuna, those who bring up the rear are still found loitering far behind in the narrow glens of the Kubha (Cabul) and Gomati (Gomal). Scattered over this tract of land, in hamlets and villages, the Vedic Aryas are leading chiefly 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 hue; just as in these latter days their Aryan 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 wage 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 Sudas, to be defeated in the " ten kings' battle," through the inspired power of the priestly singer 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; though 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 songcraft, some of the finest hymns being attributed to female seers.

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, frequently 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 Agni (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 divine 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 those addressed to the Vive Devah (the all-gods ") or to the Maruts, the warlike storm-gods and faithful companions of Indra, as the divine impersonations of the Aryan freemen, the vii 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 1rarr i p, Jupiter); Varuna (probably Apavin), the all-embracing (esp. nocturnal) heavens; Mitra (Zend. Mithra), the genial light of day; and Savitar, the quickener, and Surya (i 7 iX os), the vivifying sun.

Of the Brahmanas that were handed down in the schools of the Bahvrichas (i.e. " possessed of many verses "), as the followers of the Rigveda are called, two have come down to us, viz. those of the Aitareyins and the Kaushitakins. The Aitareya-brahmana' and the Kaushitak12 (or San- 'gv ' khayana-) brahmana evidently have for their groundwork the same stock of traditional exegetic matter. They differ, however, considerably as regards both the arrangement of this matter and their stylistic handling of it, with the 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 - features which would lead one to infer that it is probably the more modern work of the two. It consists of thirty chapters (adhyaya); while the Aitareya has forty, divided into eight books (or pentads, panchaka), of five chapters each. The last ten adhyayas 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 seems probable, one of his grammatical sutras, regulating the formation of the names of Brahmanas, consisting of thirty and forty adhyayas, refers to these two works. In this last portion occurs the well-known legend (also found in the Sankhayana-sutra, but not in the Kaushitaki-brahmana) 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 haviryajna, 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 Mahidasa Aitareya (i.e. son of Itara), also mentioned elsewhere as a philosopher; and it seems likely enough that this person arranged the Brahmana and founded the schcol 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 - the Brahmana, it would seem, of a rival school, the Paingins. Probably, therefore, it is just what one of the manuscripts calls it - the Brahmana of Sankhayana (composed) in accordance with the views of Kaushitaki.

Each of these two Brahmanas is supplemented by a " forestbook," or Aranyaka. The Aitareyaranyaka 3 is not a uniform 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 mahavrata, or great vow. The last of these books, composed in sutra form, is, however, doubtless of later origin, and is, indeed, ascribed by native authorities either to Saunaka or to Asvalayana. The second and third books, on the other hand, are purely speculative, and are also styled the Bahvricha-brahmana-Upanishad. Again, the last four chapters of the second book are usually singled 1 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).

2 Edited by B. Lindner (Jena, 1887).

Edited, with Sayana's commentary, by Rajendralala Mitra, in the Bibliotheca Indica (1875-1876). The first three books have been translated by F. Max Muller in S.B.E. vol. i. A new edition of the work was published, with translation, by A. B. Keith (Oxford, 1909). 1909).

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 Samhita-upanishad. As regards the Kaushitakiaranyaka, 2 this work consists of fifteen adhyayas, the first two (treating of the mahavrata ceremony) and the seventh and eighth of which correspond to the first, fifth, and third books of the Aitareyaranyaka respectively, whilst the four adhyayas usually inserted between them constitute the highly interesting Kaushitaki- (brahmana-) upanishad, 3 of which we possess two different recensions. The remaining portions (9-15) of the Aram/aka treat of the vital airs, the internal Agnihotra, &c., ending with the vamsa, or succession of teachers. Of Kalpa-sutras, or manuals of sacrificial utras of ceremonial, 4 composed for the use of the hotar priest, S veda. two different sets are in existence, the Asvalayana- and the Sankhayana-sutra. 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-sutra. Mvalayana seems to have lived about the same time as Panini (? c. 400 B.C.) - his own teacher, Saunaka, who completed the Rik-pratisakhya, being probably intermediate between the great grammarian and Yaska, the author of the Nirukta. Saunaka himself is said to have been the author of a Srauta-sutra (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. The Asvalayana Srauta-sutra 5 consists of twelve, the Grihya of four, adhyayas.

Regarding Sankhayana still less is known; but he, too, was doubtless a comparatively modern writer, who, like Asvalayana, 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 Asvalayana-brahmana. The Sankhayana Srauta-sutra consists of eighteen adhyayas. The last two chapters of the work are, however, a later addition, 5 while the two preceding chapters, on the contrary, present a comparatively archaic, brahmana-like appearance. The Grihya-sutra 7 consists of six chapters, the last two of which are likewise later appendages. The Sambavya Grihya-sutra, of which a single MS. is at present known, seems to be closely connected with the preceding work. Professor Buhler also refers to the Rigveda the Vasishthadhirmasastra, 8 composed of mixed sutras and couplets.

A few works remain to be noticed, bearing chiefly on the textual form and traditionary records of the Rik-samhita. In our remarks on the Vedangas, the Pratiskhyas have already been referred to as the chief repositories of siksha or Vedic phonetics. Among these works the Rik-pratiidkhya 9 occupies the first place. The original composition of this important work is ascribed to the same Sakalya from whom the vulgate recension of the (Sakala) Samhita takes its name. He is also said to be the author of the existing Padapatha (i.e. 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 Pratisakhya, of the phonetic modifications undergone by words in their syntactic combination. In the Pratisakhya itself, Sakalya'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 1 Edited and translated by Dr Mier, in the Bibl. Ind. The last chapter of the second book, not being commented upon by Sayana, is probably a later addition.

Translated by A. B. Keith (1908), who has also published (as an appendix to his ed. of the Aitareyaranyaka) the text of adhy. 7-15; whilst W. F. Friedlander edited adhy. 1 and 2 (3900). Cf. Keith, J.R.As.S. (1908), p. 363 sqq., where the date of the first and more original portion (adhy. 1-8) is tentatively fixed at 600 55 0 B.C.

Text, commentary and translation published by E. B. Cowell, in the Bibl. Ind. Also a translation by F. Max Muller in S.B.E. vol. i.

4 Cf. A. Hillebrandt, " Ritual-Litteratur," in Biihler's Grundriss (1897).

5 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.

See A. Weber's analysis, Ind. Studien, ii. 288 seq. The work was edited by Hillebrandt, in Bibl. Ind. 7 Edited, with a German translation, by H. Oldenberg (Ind. Stud. vol. xv.), who also gives an account of the Sarnbavya Grihya. An English translation in S.B.E. vol. xxix. by the same scholar, who would assign the two sutra works to Sarvajna Sankhayana, whilst the Brahmana (and Aranyaka) seem to him to have been imparted by Kahola Kaushitaki to Gunakhya Sankhayana.

, Text with Krishnapanelita's commentary, published at Benares; also critically edited by A. A. Fuhrer (Bombay, 1883); translation by G. Baler in S.B.E. vol. xiv.

9 Edited, with a French translation, by A. Regnier, in the Journal Asiatique (1856-1858); also, with a German translation, by M. Muller (1869).

pronunciation and modification of Vedic sounds. The completion or final arrangement of the Rik-pratisakhya,_in its present form, is ascribed to Saunaka, the reputed teacher of Avalayana., 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 Sakalya 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 Säkalas, owing doubtless to minor differences on phonetic points in the Samhita text, had split into several branches, to one of which, the Saisira (or Saisiriya) school, Saunaka belonged. While Sakalya is referred to both by Yaska and Mini, 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 definitely settled. The Rik-pratisakhya 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 Pratisakhya, and the Grihya-sutra mentioned above, eight other works are ascribed to Saunaka, viz. the Brihaddevata,10 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 (anukramani) of the rishis, metres, deities, sections (anuvaka) and hymns of the Rigveda. It is, however, doubtful whether the existing version of the Brihaddevata is the original one; and the Rigvidhana 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 Anuvakanukramani, they are only known from quotations, having been superseded by the Sarvanukramani, 12 or complete index, of Katyayana. Both these indexes have been commented upon by Shaelgurusishya, towards the end of the 12th century of our era.

B. Sama-veda. - The term saman, of uncertain derivation, denotes 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 veda- 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 chanted to the same tune; but in certain cases two verses sung to the same tune had a different saman 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 " saman," as well as the special technical names of samans, are not infrequently applied to the verses themselves with which they were ordinarily 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. For a specimen of the way in which samans are sung, see Burnell, Arsheyabrahrnana, p. xlv. seq.

The Indian chant somewhat resembles the Gregorian or Plain Chant. 13 Each saman is divided into five parts or phrases (prastava, 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.

In accordance with the distinction between rich or text and saman or tune, the saman-hymnal consists of two parts, viz. the Samaveda-samhita, or collection of texts (rich) used for making up saman-hymns, and the Gdna, or tune-books, song-books. The textual matter of the Samhita consists of somewhat under 1600 different verses, selected from the Rik-samhita, with the exception of some seventy-five verses, some of which have been taken from Khila hymns, 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 14 is divided into two chief parts, the purva- (first) and the uttara- (second) archika. The second part contains the texts of the saman-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 samans 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 Purvarchika. 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 samans occasionally used outside the regular ceremonial, as well as such as were perhaps "Edited, with translation, by A. A. Macdonell (2 vols.), in the Harvard Or. series (1904).

" Edited R. Meyer (Berlin, 1878).

l2 Edited, with commentary, by A. A. Macdonell (Oxford, 1886).

13 Burnell, Arsheyabrahmana, p. xli.

14 Edited and translated by J. Stevenson (3843); 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.; and Eng. trans. by R. H. T. Griffith (Benares, 1893).

no longer required but had been so used at one time or other. The verses of the Purvarchika are arranged on much the same plan as the family-books of the Rik-samhita, viz. in three sections containing the verses addressed to Agni, Indra and Soma (pavamana) respectively - each section (consisting of one, three, and one adhyayas 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 archikas, there is a purely formal division of the texts into six and nine prapaihakas respectively, each of which, in the first part, consists of ten decades (dasat) of verses. We have two recensions of the Samhita, belonging to the Ranayaniya and Kauthuma schools, the latter of which is but imperfectly known, but seems to have differed but slightly from the other. Besides the six prapathakas (or five adhyayas) of the Purvarchika, 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 partly contained in the Aranya-gana. Besides the two tune-books belonging to the Purvarchika, there are two others, the Uha-gana (" modification-songs ") and Uhya-gana, which follow the order of the Uttararchika, giving the several samanhymns 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 Saman 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 Ganas, and which of them, can lay claim to an exceptionally high antiquity will perhaps never receive a satisfactory answer.

The title of Brahmana is bestowed by the Chhandogas, or followers of the Samaveda, on a considerable number of treatises. In accord ance with the statements of some later writers, their number was usually fixed at eight; but within the last veda- few years one new Brahmana has been recovered, while brah- at least two others which are found quoted may yet be brought to light in India. The majority of the Samavedabrahmanas present, however, none of the characteristic features of other works of that class; but they are rather of the nature of sutras 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 Samhita or on account of the legendary and other information they supply. These works are as follows: (1) the Tandya-maha- (or Praudha-) brahmana,' or " great " Brahmana - usually called Panchavimsa-brahmana from its " consisting of twenty-five " adhyayas - which treats of the duties of the udgatars generally, and especially of the various kinds of chants; (2) the Shadvimsa, 2 or " twenty-sixth," being a supplement to the preceding work - its last chapter, which also bears the title of Adbhuta-brahmana, 3 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, 4 analogous to the Rigvidhana, descanting on the' magic effects of the various samans; (4) the Arsheya-brahmana, a mere catalogue of the technical names of the samans in the order of the Purvarchika, known in two different recensions; (5) the Devatadhyaya, which treats of the deities of the samans; (6) the (;hhandogya-brahmana, the last eight adhyayas (3-10) of which constitute the important Chhandogyopanishad;5 (7) the Samhitopanishad-brahmana, treating of various subjects connected with chants; (8) the Vamsa-brahmana, a mere list of the Samaveda teachers. To these works has to be added the Jaiminiya- or Talavakara-brahmana, which, though as yet only known by extracts,8 seems to stand 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 Brahma, as the supreme of deities.

If the Samaveda has thus its ample share of Brahmana-literature, though in part of a somewhat questionable character, it is not less richly supplied with sutra-treatises, some of which prob ably belong to the oldest works of that class. There are veda- three Srauta-sutras, which attach themselves more or less sutras. closely to the Panchavimsa-brahmana: Masaka's Arsheyakalpa, which gives the beginnings of the samans in their sacrificial Edited, with Sayana's commentary by Anandachandra Vedantavagisa, in the Bibl. Ind. (1869-1874).

Ed. J. Vidyasagara (1881); also, with German translation, K. Klemm (1894).

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

4 The works enumerated under (3), (4), (5), (7), (8) have been edited by A. Burnell; (8) also previously by A. Weber, Ind. St. vol. iv.; whilst 7 was translated by Sten Konow (Halle, 1893).

Edited and translated by Dr Roer, Bibl. Ind.; also translated by M. Muller, S.B.E. vol. i., text, with German translation, by O. v. Bohtlingk (1889).

Given by Burnell (1878), and (with translation) by H. Oertel, J. Am. Or. S. vol. xvi. See also Whitney's account of the work, Proceedings of Am. Or. Soc. (Mav 7 Transl. by F. M. Muller, S.B.E. vol. i.

order, thus supplementing the Arsheya-brahmana, which enumerates their technical names; and the Srauta-sutras of Latyayana 8 and Drahyayana, of the Kauthuma and Ranayaniya schools respectively, which differ but little from each other, and form complete manuals of the duties of the udgatars. Another sutra, of an exegetic character, the Anupada-sutra, likewise follows the Panchavimsa, the difficult passages of which it explains. Besides these, there are a considerable number of sutras and kindred technical treatises bearing on the prosody and phonetics of the sama-texts. The more important of them are - the Riktantra, 9 apparently intended to serve as a Pratisakhya of the Samaveda; the Nidana-sutra, 10 a treatise on prosody; the Push pa- or Phulla-sutra, ascribed either to Gobhila or to Vararuchi, and treating of the phonetic modifications of the rich in the sämans; and the Samatantra, a treatise on chants of a very technical nature. Further, two Gtihya-sutras, belonging to the Samaveda, are hitherto known, viz. the Drahyayana-grihya, ascribed to Khradira, and that of Gobhila 11 (who is also said to have composed a srautasutra), with a supplement, entitled Karmapradipa, by Katyayana. To the Samaveda seems further to belong the Gautama-dharmasastra,l2 composed in sutras, and apparently the oldest existing compendium of Hindu law.

C. Yajur-veda. - This, the sacrificial Veda of the Adhvaryu priests, divides itself into an older and a younger branch, or, as they are called, the Black (krishna) and the White (sukla) Yajurveda. Tradition ascribes the foundation of the Yajurveda to the sage Vaisampayana. Of his disciples of Black three are specially named, viz. Katha, Kalapin and Yaska 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 Yajustexts, viz. the Kathaka,' 3 the Kalapaka or Maitrayani Samhild,14 and the Taittiriya-samhita. 15 The Kathaka and Kalapaka are frequently mentioned together; and the author of the " great commentary " on Mini once remarks that these works were taught in every village. The Kathas and Kalapas 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 Vaisampayana himself, after whom his followers would have been thus called. From the Kathas proper two or three schools seem early to have branched off, the Prachya- (eastern) Kathas and the KapishthalaKathas, the text-recension of the latter of whom has recently been discovered in the Kapishthala-katha-samhita, and probably also the Charayaniya-Kathas. The Kalapas also soon became subdivided into numerous different schools. Thus from one of Kalapin's immediate disciples, Haridru, the Haridraviyas took their origin, whose text-recension, the Haridravika, is quoted together with the Kathaka as early as in Yaska's Nirukta; but we do not know whether it differed much from the original Kalapa texts. As regards the Taittiriya-samhita, 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 (brahmana). 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 Samhita and Brahmana in the sense of two separate collections of texts, but they have only a Samhita, or collection, which includes likewise the exegetic or Brahmana portions. 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 Samhita, they merely added to the latter a supplement (in three books), which shows the same mixed condition, and applied to it the title of Taittiriya-brahmana. 16 But, though"the main'body of 8 Arsheyakalpa, ed. W. Caland (1908); Latyayana-sutra, with Agnisvamin's commentary and the vv. ll. of the Drahyayana-sutra, by Anandachandra Vedantavagisa, Bibl. Ind. (1872).

Ed. and trans., A. Burnell (Mangalore, 1879).

to Two chapters published by A. Weber, Ind. St. vol. viii.

11 Edited, with a commentary, by Chandrakanta Tarkalankara, Bibl. Ind. (1880); also ed. and trans. by F. Knauer (1884-1887); Eng. trans. by H. Oldenberg, S.B.E. vol. xxx.

12 Edited by A. Stenzler; translated by G. Biihler, S.B.E. vol. ii.

13 Books I., II., ed. by L. v. Schroder (Leipzig, 1900, 1909).

14 Ed. by L. v. Schroder (Leipzig, 1881-1886).

With Sayana's commentary, by E. Roer, E. B. Cowell, &c., in Bibl. Ind.; also, in Roman character, by A. Weber, Ind. Stud. xi., xii.

16 Edited, with Sayana's commentary, by Rajendralala Mitra, Bibl. Ind.; N. Godabole, Anand. Ser. (1898).

this work is manifestly of a supplementary nature, a portion of it may perhaps be old, and may once have formed part of the Sarnhita, 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-aranyaka,' 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 Taittiriyopanishad2 (consisting of three parts, viz. the Sikshavalli or Sarphitopanishad, and the Anandavalli and Bhriguvalli, also called together the Varuniupanishad), and the last book forms the Narayaniya- (or Yajniki-) upanishad.

The Maitrayani Samhita, the identity of which with the original Kalapaka has been proved pretty conclusively by Dr L. v. Schroder, who attributes the change of name of the Kalapa-Maitrayaniyas to Buddhist influences, consists of four books, attached to which is the Maitri- (or Maitrayani) upanishad. 3 The 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, 4 which is also, and more usually, ascribed to the Atharvaveda, and which seems to show a decided leaning towards Sankhya-Yoga notions.

The defective arrangement of the Yajus texts was at last remedied by a different school of Adhvaryus, the Vajasaneyins. The reputed originator of this school and its text-recension is Yaj navalkya Vajasaneya (son of Vajasani). The result of the rearrangement of the texts was a collection of sacrificial S mantras, the Vajasaneya-samhita, and a Brahmana, the atapatha. On account of the greater lucidity of this arrangement, the Vajasaneyins 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 Samhita and Brahmana of the Vajasaneyins 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 Vajasaneyaka, from which we cannot doubt that there must have been at least one other recension of the Satapatha-brahmana. 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 Kanva recension agrees with the practice of the Rik-samhita, and there probably was some connexion between the Yajus school of Kanvas and the famous family of rishis of that name to which the eighth mandala of the Rik is attributed.

The Vajasaneyi-samhita 5 consists of forty adhyayas, the first eighteen of which contain the formulas of the ordinary sacrifices. The last fifteen adhyayas are doubtless a later addition - as may also be the case as regards the preceding seven chapters. The last adhyaya is commonly known under the title of Vajasaneyi-samhita (or Isavasya-) upanishad. 6 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 infrequently, however, they show considerable discrepancies of reading, which may be explained partly from a difference of recension 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 p ssible that many of them may be of high antiquity.

The Satapatha-brahmana,' or Brahmana of a hundred paths, derives its name from the fact of its consisting of loo lectures (adhyaya), which are divided by the Madhyandinas into fourteen, by the Kanvas into seventeen books (kanc)a). The first nine books of the former, corresponding to the first eleven of the Kanvas, 'and consisting of sixty adhyayas, form a kind of running commentary on the first eighteen books of the Vaj.-Samhita; and it has been plausibly suggested by Professor Weber that this portion of the Brahmana may be referred to in the Mahabhashya on Parr. iv. 2, 60, where a Satapatha and Ed. R. Mitra, Bibl. Ind.; H. N. Apte, Anand. Ser. (1898). Trans. by F. M. Muller, S.B.E. vol. xv.

Text and translation published by E. B. Cowell, Bibl. Ind. Also trans. by F. M. Muller, S.B.E. vol. xv.

4 Text, commentary and translation published by E. Roer, Bibl. Ind.; also translation by F. M. Muller, S.B.E. vol. xv., and others.

Edited in the Madhyandina recension, with the commentary of Mahidhara, and the vv. ll. of the Kanva text, by A. Weber (1849); trans. by R. H. T. Griffith (Benares, 1899).

a Translation by E. Wier, Bibl. Ind.; by F. M. Muller, S.B.E. Vol. i.

7 Edited by A. Weber, who also translated the first chapter into German. English translation (5 vols.) by J. Eggeling, in S. B. E. a Shashti-patha (i.e. " consisting of 60 paths ") are mentioned together as objects of study, and that consequently it may at one time have formed an independent work. This view is also supported by the circumstance that of the remaining five books (to-14) of the Madhyandinas the third is called the middle one (madhyama); while the Kanvas apply the same epithet to the middlemost of the five books (12-16) preceding their last one. This last book would thus seem to be treated by them as a second supplement, and not without reason, as it is of the Upanishad order, and bears the special title of Brihad- (great) aranyaka; 8 the last six chapters of which are the Brihadaranyaka-upanishad,' the most important of all Upanishads. Except in books 6-lo (M.), which treat of the construction of fire-altars, and recognize the sage Sandilya as their chief authority, Yajnavalkya's opinion is frequently referred to in the Satapatha as authoritative. This is especially the case in the later books, part of the Brihad-aranyaka being even called Yajnavalkiya-kanda. As regards the age of the Satapatha, the probability is that the main body of the work is considerably older than the time of Mini, but that some of its latter parts were considered by Panini's critic Katyayana to be of about the same age as, or not much older than, Mini. Even those portions had probably been long in existence before they obtained recognition as part of the canon of the White Yajus.

The contemptuous manner in which the doctrines of the Charakaadhvaryus are repeatedly animadverted upon in the Satapatha betrays not a little of the odium theologicum on the part of the divines of the Vajasaneyins towards their brethren of the older schools. Nor was their animosity confined to mere literary warfare, but they seem to have striven by every means to gain ascendancy over their rivals. The consolidation of the Brahmanical hierarchy and the institution of a common system of ritual worship, which called forth the liturgical Vedic collections, were doubtless consummated in the so-called Madhya-desa, or " midland," lying between the Sarasvati and the confluence of the Yamuna and Ganga; and more especially in its western part, the Kuru-kshetra, or land of the Kurus, with the adjoining territory of the Panchalas, between the Yamuna and Ganga. From thence the original schools of Vaidik ritualism gradually extended their sphere over the adjacent parts. The Charakas seem for a long time to have held sway in the western and north-western regions; while the Taittiriyas in course of time spread over the whole of the peninsula south of the Narmada, (Nerbudda), where their ritual has remained pre-eminently the object of study till comparatively recent times. The Vajasaneyins, on the other hand, having first gained a footing in the lands on the lower Ganges, chiefly, it would seem, through the patronage of King Janaka of Videha, thence gradually worked their way westwards, and eventually succeeded in superseding the older schools north of the Vindhya, with the exception of some isolated places where even now families of Brahmans are met withlwhich profess to follow the old Sarphitas.

In Kalpa-sutras the Black Yajurveda is particularly rich; but, owing to the circumstances just indicated, they are almost entirely confined to the Taittiriya school. The only Srauta-sutra of a Charaka school which has hitherto been recovered is that of the Manavas, a subdivision of the Maitrayaniyas. The Manava-Srauta-sutra 10 seems to consist of eleven books, the first nine of which treat of the sacrificial ritual, while the tenth contains the Sulva-sutra; and the eleventh is made up of a number of supplements (pari-sishta). The Manava-grihya-sutra ll is likewise in existence; but so far nothing is known, save one or two quotations, of a Manava-dharma-sutra, the discovery of which might be expected to solve some important questions regarding the development of Indian law. Of sutra-works belonging to the Kathas, a single treatise, the (Charayaniya-) Kathaka-grihya-sutra, is known; while Dr Jolly considers the Vishnu-smriti, 12 a compendium of law, composed in mixed sutras and slokas, to be nothing but a Vaishnava recast of the Kathaka-dharma-sutra, which, in its original form, seems no longer to exist. As regards the Taittiriyas, the Kalpasutra most widely accepted among them was that of Apastamba, to whose school, as we have seen, was also due our existing recension of the Taittiriya-samhita. The A pastamba-kalpa-sutra consists of thirty prasna (questions); the first twenty-five of these constitute the Srauta-sutra; 13 26 and 27 the Grihya-sutra; 14 28 and 29 the Dharma-sutra; 15 and the last the Sulva-sutra. Professor Baler has tried to fix the date of this work somewhere between the 5th and 3rd centuries B.C.; but it can hardly yet be considered as definitely settled. Considerably more ancient than this work are the 'The text, with Sankara's commentary, and an English translation, published by E. Wier, Bibl. Ind. Trans. by F. M. Muller, S.B.E. vol. xv., and others.

10 See P. v. Bradke, Z.D.M.G. vol. xxxvi. A MS. of a portion of the Srauta-sutra, with the commentary of the famous Mimamsist Kumarila, has been photo-lithographed by the India Office, under Goldstucker's supervision.

11 Edited by F. Knauer (Leipzig, 1897).

12 Edited and translated by J. Jolly.

13 Edited by R. Garbe, in Bibl. Ind. 14 Ed. M. Winternitz (Vienna, 1887); trans. H. Oldenberg, S.B.E. vol. xxx.

15 G. Miller has published the text with extracts from Haradatta's commentary, Bombay Sansk. Ser.; also a trans. in S.B.E. Baudhayana-k,rlpa-sutra,' which consists of the same principal divisions, and the Bharadvaja-sutra, of which, however, only a few portions have as yet been discovered. The Hiranyakesi-sutra, 2 which is more modern than that of Apastamba, from which it differs but little, is likewise fragmentary, as is also the Vaikhanasa-sutra; 3 while several other Kalpa-sutras, especially that of Laugakshi, are found quoted. The recognized compendium of the White Yajus ritual is the Srauta-sutra of Katyayana, 4 in twenty-six adhyayas. This work is supplemented by a large number of secondary treatises, likewise attributed to Katyayana, among which may be mentioned the Charana-vyuha, 5 a statistical account of the Vedic schools, which unfortunately has come down to us in a very unsatisfactory state of preservation. A manual of domestic rites, closely connected with Katyayana's work, is the Katiya-grihya-sutra, s ascribed to Paraskara. To Katyayana we further owe the Vajasaneyi-pratisakhya, 7 and a catalogue (anukramani) of the White Yajus texts. As regards the former work, it is still doubtful whether (with Weber) we have to consider it as older than Panini, or whether (with Goldstucker and M. Muller) we are to identify its author with Panini's critic: The only existing Pratisakhya 8 of the Black Yajus belongs to the Taittiriyas. Its author is unknown, and it confines itself entirely to the Taittiriya-samhita, to the exclusion of the Brahmana and Aranyaka.

D. Atharva-veda. - The Atharvan was the latest of Vedic collections to be recognized as part of the sacred canon. That it is Atharva- also the youngest Veda is proved by its language, which both from a lexical and a grammatical point of view, marks an intermediate stage between the main body of the Rik and the Brahmana period. In. regard also to the nature of its contents, and the spirit which pervades them, this Vedic collection occupies a position apart from the others. Whilst the older Vedas seem clearly to reflect the recognized religious notions and practices of the upper, and so to speak, respectable classes of the Aryan tribes, as jealously watched over by a priesthood deeply interested in the undiminished maintenance of the traditional observances, the fourth Veda, on the other hand, deals mainly with all manner of superstitious practices such as have at all times found a fertile soil in the lower strata of primitive and less advanced peoples, and are even apt, below the surface, to maintain their tenacious hold on the popular mind in comparatively civilized communities. Though the constant intermingling with the aboriginal tribes may well be believed to have exercised a deteriorating influence on the Vedic people in this respect, it can scarcely be doubted that superstitious practices of the kind revealed by the Atharvan and the tenth book of the Rik must at all times have obtained amongst the Aryan people, and that they only came to the surface when they received the stamp of recognized forms of popular belief by the admission of these collections of spells and incantations into the sacred canon. If in this phase of superstitious belief the old gods still find a place, their character has visibly changed so as to be more in accordance with those mystic rites and magic performances and the part they are called upon to play in them, as the promoters of the votary's cabalistic practices and the averters of the malicious designs of mortal enemies and the demoniac influences to which he would ascribe his fears and failures as well as his bodily ailments. The fourth Veda may thus be said to supplement in a remarkable manner the picture of the domestic life of the Vedic Aryan as presented in the Grihya-sutras or house-rules; for whilst these deal only with the orderly aspects of the daily duties and periodic observances in the life of the respectable householder, the Atharvaveda allows us a deep insight into " the obscurer relations and emotions of human life "; and, it may with truth be said that " the literary diligence of the Hindus has in this instance preserved a document of priceless value for the institutional history of early India as well as for the ethnological history of the human race " (M. Bloomfield). It is worthy of note that the Atharvaveda is practically unknown in the south of India.° This body of spells and hymns is traditionally associated with two old mythic priestly families, the Atharvans and Angiras, their names, in the plural, serving either singly or combined (Atharvan 1 The Sulva-sutra has been published, with the commentary of Kapardisvamin, and a translation by G. Thibaut, in the Benares Pandit (1875). The Dharma-sutra has been edited by E. Hultzsch (Leipzig, 1884), and translated by G. Buhler, S.B.E. xiv.

The H. Grihya-sutra, ed. J. Kirste (Vienna, 1889); trans. H. Oldenberg, S.B.E. vol. xxx.

'An account of the Vaikh. Dharmasutra given by T. Bloch (Vienna, 1896).

4 Edited by A. Weber, 1858.

5 Weber, Ind. Stud. iii.

6 Text and German translation by A. Stenzler.

'Edited, with Uvata's commentary, and a German translation, by A. Weber, Ind. Stud. iv.; another ed. in Benares Sansk. Ser. (1888).

8 The work has been published by W. D. Whitney, with a trans. lation and a commentary by an unknown author, called Tribhashyaratna, i.e. " jewel of the three commentaries," it being founded on three older commentaries by Vararuchi (? Katyayana), Mahisheya and Atreya.

° A. Burnell, Classif. Index of Tanjore Sansk. MSS. p. 37.

girasas) as the oldest appellation of the collection. The two families or classes of priests, are by tradition connected with the service of the sacred fire; but whilst the Atharvans seem to have devoted themselves to the auspicious aspects of the fire-cult and the performance of propitiatory rites, the Angiras, on the other hand, are represented as having been mainly engaged in the uncanny practices of sorcery and exorcism. Instead of the Atharvans, another mythic family, the Bhrigus, are similarly connected with the Angiras (Bhrigvangirasas) as the depositaries of this mystic science. In course of time the lore of the Atharvans came also to have applied to it the title of Brahmaveda; a designation which was apparently meant to be understood both in the sense of the Veda of the Brahman priest or superintendent of the sacrifice, and in that of the lore of the Brahma or sacred (magic) word, and the supreme deity it is supposed to embody. The current text of the Atharva-samhita lo - apparently the recension of the Saunaka school - consists of some 75 o different pieces, about five-sixths of which is in various metres, the remaining portion being in prose. The whole mass is divided into twenty books. The principle of distribution is for the most part a merely formal one, in books i.-xiii. pieces of the same or about the same number of verses being placed together in the same book. The next five books, xiv.-xviii., have each its own special subject: xiv. treats of marriage and sexual union; xv., in prose, of the Vratya, or religious vagrant; xvi. consists chiefly of prose formulas of conjuration; xvii. of a lengthy mystic hymn; and xviii. contains all that relates to death and funeral rites. Of the last two books no account is taken in the Atharva-pratisakhya, and they indeed stand clearly in the relation of supplements to the original collection. The nineteenth book evidently was the result of a subsequent gleaning of pieces similar to those of the earlier books, which had probably escaped the collectors' attention; while the last book, consisting almost entirely of hymns to Indra, taken from the Riksamhita, is nothing more than a liturgical manual of recitations and chants required at the Soma sacrifice; its only original portion being the ten so-called kuntapa hymns (127-136), consisting partly of laudatory recitals of generous patrons of sacrificial priests and partly of riddles and didactic subjects.

The Atharvan has come down to us in a much less satisfactory state of preservation than any of the other Samhitas, and its interpretation, which offers considerable difficulties on account of numerous popular and out-of-the-way expressions, has so far received comparatively little aid from native sources. Less help, in this respect, than might have been expected, is afforded by a recently published commentary professing to have been composed by Sayana Acharya; serious doubts have indeed been thrown on the authenticity of its ascription to the famous Vedic exegetic. Of very considerable importance, on the other hand, was the discovery in Kashmir of a second recension of the Atharva-samhita, contained in a single birch-bark MS., written in the Sarada character, and lately made available by an excellent chromo-photographic reproduction. This new recension," ascribed in the colophons of the MS. to the Paippalada school, consists likewise of twenty books (kanda), but both in textual matter and in its arrangement it differs very much from the current text. A considerable portion of the latter, including the whole of the eighteenth book, is wanting; while the hymns of the nineteenth book are for the most part found also in this text, though not as a separate book, but scattered over the whole collection. The twentieth book is wanting, with the exception of a few of the verses not taken from the Rik. As a set-off to these shortcomings the new version offers, however, a good deal of fresh matter, amounting to about one-sixth of the whole. From the Mahabhashya and other works quoting as the beginning of the Atharva-samhita a verse that coincides with the first verse of the sixth hymn of the current text, it has long been known that at least one other recension must have existed; but the first leaf of the Kashmir MS. having been lost, it cannot be determined whether the new recension (as seems all but certain) corresponds to the one referred to in those works.

The only Brahmana of the Atharvan, the Gopatha-brahmana,12 is doubtless one of the most modern and least important works of its class. It consists of two parts, the first of which arva- contains cosmogonic speculations, interspersed with legends, mostly adapted from other Brahmanas, and veda- general instructions on religious duties and observances; while the second part treats, in a very desultory manner, of various points of the sacrificial ceremonial.

10 Edited by Professors Roth and Whitney (1856); with Sayana's commentary, by Shankar P. Pandit (4 vols., Bombay, 1895-1898). Index verborum, by Whitney, in Am. Or. S. vol. xii., Eng. trans. by R. H. T. Griffith (in verse) (2 vols., Benares, 1897); by W. D. Whitney (with a critical and exegetical commentary),