HYMN TO AGNI.

GLORIFY Agni, the high priest of the sacrifice, the divine, the ministrant, who presents the oblation (to the gods), and is the possessor of great wealth.

May that Agni who is to be celebrated by both ancient and modern sages conduct the gods hither!

Through Agni the wor shipper obtains that affluence which increases day by day, which is the source of fame and the multiplier of mankind.

Agni, the unobstructed sacrifice of which thou art on every side the protector, assuredly reaches the gods.

May Agni, the presenter of oblations, the attainer of knowledge, he who is true, renowned and divine, come hither with the gods.

Whatever good thou mayest, Agni, bestow upon the giver (of the oblation), that verily, Angiras, shall revert to thee.

We approach thee, Agni, with reverential homage in our thoughts, daily, both morning and evening.

The radiant, the protector of sacrifices, the constant illuminator of truth, increasing in thine own dwelling.

* We give an illustration of the temple and castellated tower of Gingee, a town of India, eighty miles south-west of Madras.

Agni, be unto us easy of access as is a father to his son; be ever present with us for our good.

TO INDRA.

Indra, the slayer of Vritra, has been augmented in strength and satisfaction by (the adoration of) men: we invoke him in great conflicts as well as in little; may he defend us in battles!

For thou, hero, Indra, art a host; thou art the giver of much booty; thou art the exalter of the humble; thou bestowest (riches) on the worshipper who offers the oblations, for abundant is thy wealth.

When battles arise, wealth devolves on the victor; yoke thy horses, humblers of the pride (of the foe), that thou mayest destroy one and enrich another: place us, Indra, in affluence.

Mighty through sacrifice, formidable (to foes), partaking of the sacrificial food, Indra has augmented his strength; pleasing in appearance, having a handsome chin and possessing (bright) coursers, he grasps the iron thunderbolt in his contiguous hands for (our) prosperity.

He has filled the space of earth and the firmament (with his glory); he has fixed the constellations in the sky: no one has been ever born, nor will be born, Indra, like to thee thou hast sustained the universe.

May Indra, the protector, who returns to the giver (of oblations) the food that is fit for mortals, bestow (such food) on us: dis

tribute thy wealth, which is abundant, so that I may obtain (a portion) of thy riches. The upright performer of (pious) acts is the donor of herds of cattle to us, when receiving frequent enjoyment (from our libations): take up, Indra, with both hands, many hundred (sorts) of treasure; sharpen (our intellects), bring us wealth.

Enjoy along with us, O hero, the suffused libation for (the increase of our) strength and wealth we know thee (to be) the possessor of vast riches, and address to thee our desires; be, therefore, our protector.

These, thy creatures, Indra, cherish (the oblation) that may be partaken of by all; thou, lord of all, knowest what are the riches of those men who make no offerings: bring their wealth to us.

Translation of H. H. WILSON (Member of the Royal Asiatic Society).

THE SÁMA-VEDA.

HE Sanhitá of the Sáma-Veda consists THE of an arranged series of verses directed to be sung especially at the Somayága, or moon-plant sacrifice. The praises of the different deities who are supposed to honor the ceremony with their presence, and prayers for the prosperity of the worshippers and those connected with them, form the principal subject of those verses. Some of them are supposed to have the powers of consecrating the fire into which the oblation is cast, and others the Soma juice, of which it principally consists.

THE OBLATIONS OFFERED AT THE

SOMAYAGA.

The following particulars relative to the

and its commentary. When any one has determined to perform the moon-plant sacrifice, he invites Brahmans of the three principal classes-Rig-Vedi, Sáma-Vedi and YajurVedi Brahmans. The Atharva-Vedi are not admissible, because, it is said, their profession being to destroy enemies, their presence would be inauspicious. The first thing to be done is to collect the moon-plant (Sarcostema viminalis) and the arani-wood for kindling the sacred fire (Premna spinosa), and this must be done in the moonlight night and from the table-land on the top of a mountain. The moon-plants must be plucked up from the roots, not cut down, and after being stripped of their leaves the bare stems are to be laid on a cart drawn by two rams or hegoats, and by them to be brought to the house of the Yajamána, the institutor of the sacrifice, for whose especial benefit and at whose expense all the ceremonies are performed. The stems of the plants are now deposited in the hall of oblation. Although the caul of the ram must form part of the oblation, I find nothing in the Veda about killing the animal, but I am told it is the practice to kill both of the rams. Abhangs of Tuka Ráma, a sage who flourished in the Deccan about three hundred years ago, the muzzling of the ram and the beating of it to death by the fists of the Brahmans are spoken of as necessary parts of this rite. His verses are to the following effect:

Beat to death the ram you've muzzled,
And offer Soma with sacred song;'
So they say, but yet I'm puzzled,

And half suspect such worship wrong, For rites like these are at best but scurvy, That turn religion topsy-turvy."

In the

tioned operation, utter the least sound, the omen is most inauspicious. I am told that after flaying the ram and separating the caul the flesh is cut into small pieces and cooked, being made into meat balls with flour. One Brahman informant told me that they swallow these balls whole; another, that they simply apply them to the tip of their tongue. In the Matsya Purána eleven or thirteen kinds of flesh are ordered to be used at the feast to the manes of a Brahman's ancestors. In the Bhashya of this Veda, Kravyáda ("eater of flesh ") is conditionally used as the appellation of a holy Brahman; so that there is no innate improbability in the account I have given, though merely on hearsay authority. From the Bhashya it clearly appears that the Vaspá forms a part of the oblation to the gods. It is explained by all the learned Brahmans I have met with as the caul or peritoneum, resembling, as they describe it, a piece of silk paper. All the refuse is collected in a bull's hide (to-twach) and buried at the conclusion of the ceremonies. This is done by express command, as recorded in the Rig-Veda.

The moon-plant stalks, when brought into the hall of oblation, are bruised by the Brahmans with stones and then put between two planks of wood, that they may be thoroughly squeezed and the juice expressed. The stalks, with their expressed juice, are then placed over a strainer made of goat's hair, sprinkled with water and squeezed by the fingers of the officiating Brahmans, one or two of which must be adorned with flat gold rings. The juice, mixed with water, now makes its way through the strainer and drops into the Drona Kalasa, the receiving-vessel placed below, and situated at that

part of the Yajnyavedi called the Yoni, or womb-a name, I conjecture, given sometimes to the vessel itself, though properly belonging to the place where it rests. The juice, already diluted with water, is in the Drona Kalasa further mixed with barley, clarified butter, and the flour of a grain called by the Maráthas wari, the Sanscrit names of which are nívára and trinadhánya. It is now allowed to ferment till a spirit is formed, after which it is drawn off for oblations to the gods in a scoop called sruch, and in the ladle called chamasa for consumption by the officiating Brahmans. The vessel, scoop and ladle are all made of the wood of the catechu tree (Mimosa catechu). Nine days are mentioned in the Bháshya as required for the purificatory rites. There are three oblations offered daily-one early in the morning, one at noon and one at night. The Soma, when properly prepared, is a powerful spirit: it is said in this Veda to have intoxicated Sukra, to have made even Indra's face turn all awry while he was drinking it, and by its exhilarating principle to have furnished him with that might without which he could not have subdued the enemies of the gods.

THE SACRED FIRE.

The sacred fire ought always to be kept burning in a Brahman's house. The stricter sort accordingly always keep one fire burning, and some who are rich maintain three. The fire kept alive by all rigid Brahmans is called the Gárhapati, or, "household guardian." It is fed with the palás wood (Butea frondosa), and no other should be used. Twenty-one pieces, each a cubit long, are directed to be got ready against a sacrifice.

At the commencement of the Somayaga fire is transferred from the Gárhapati to the Dakshina Agni, or "southern fire," and to the Ahavaniya, or "oblation-receiving fire," which is the most easterly of the three. Fire from heaven, obtained either from lightning or from the sun, though by what process is not said, should also be added, and fire procured from the arani-wood is to be joined to the other two; so that there are three different kinds of fire in each Kunda, or fireplace. The process by which fire is obtained from wood is called churning, as it resembles that by which butter in India is separated from milk. The New Hollanders obtain fire from wood by a similar process. It consists in drilling one piece of arani-wood into another by pulling a string tied to it with a jerk with the one hand, while the other is slackened; and so on alternately till the wood takes fire. The fire is received on cotton or flax held in the hand of an assistant Brahman.

THE HALL OF OBLATION.

The common Yajnyasálá is a room in the inner part of a Brahman's house; it has a serpentine wall of between two and three feet high running through it, called the Yajnyavedi.

THE AUSTERITIES THAT ACCOMPANY THE SINGING OF THE SAMA-VEDA,

The treatise called the Brahmana of the Sáma-Veda is chiefly taken up in pointing out the austerities that must be practised before commencing and during the singing of this Veda. It is evidently, from its style, a modern work, compared with the ancient hymns that form the Sanhitá, yet probably

it is founded on ancient traditions. The first austerity mentioned is the Krichchhra Práyaschitta, which requires for its performance twelve days. During the first three the de votee eats only once, and that during the day; during the next three he eats once, but during the night; for the next three days he eats only provided that some one has given him food without his asking for it; and for the last three days he fasts entirely.

There is next the Atikrichchhra Prayaschitta, corresponding to the above, only the penitent eats on no one day more than a single mouthful; and, as if this were not a sufficient trial of Brahmanical endurance, there is next the Krichchhra Krichchhra, during nine days of which life is sustained by once drinking water, while on the three last even this simple beverage is denied. The singing of various sacred verses is to accompany these fasts. The first of these penances purifies, it is said, from common sins; the second, from deadly sins; and the third makes a man pure even as the gods. Such is the initiatory rite of this book of austerities, but it is a trifle to the concluding one, in the performance of which the devotee is commanded to live on milk during four months; then, having gone to the jungle and having built for himself a shed, he is to enter it with his Kamandalu, or vessel for bathing, and fast twenty-one days without even drinking water. Should such voluntary abstinence be indeed possible, our physiologists will require to remodel their systems. Since the English occupation of the Marátha country the Somayága has been three times performed within its boundaries -once at Násik, once at Puna and once at

Sáttara. The Brahmana declares that without austerities the sacred verses lose all their power; and, since it is hardly to be supposed that privations like those above recorded were on these occasions submitted to or are ever again likely to be endured, the votaries of Hindooism have a ready answer for those who ask why their sacred rites are not now attended with the effects ascribed to them in ancient times. As each of the penances mentioned in the Brahmana has a different object, it is probable that during the Somayága a selection may be made, and that the whole are not required.

THEOLOGY OF THIS VEDA.

The theology of this Veda differs considerably in detail from the modern systems of Hindooism, while yet its basis is the same. Soma, identified with the uncreated spirit, holds the place of Brahmá in the more modern Vedanta; he is said to be Indra, Agni and all the gods. All the gods perish, it is said, at the great Pralaya; Soma alone remains, and becomes the originator of a new world. At the Pralaya it is said that the womb of Ocean contains all the gods. From

these and similar expressions, however, nothing definite can be learned about the particular scheme of Hindoo philosophy taught in the Vedas. Vishnu's Vámana Avatára is several times alluded to or mentioned, but none of the rest. Vishnu is but the younger brother of Indra, and inferior to him. Agni, the god of fire, Indra, the personified firmament, Mitra, the sun, and Váyu, the wind, are the principal deities worshipped. After these come Vishnu; then the sun, under the names Varuna, Púshá, Áditya, etc.; Varuna, as god of ocean; Yama, god of the infernal regions; the Aswini Kumáras―i. e., Beta and Gamma Arietis; the female divinities, Aditi, Saraswatí, Yamuna-i. e., the river Jumna, called Ansumatí; the waters generally; the wife and sisters of Agni; the Ribhu, deified Brahmans; the deified eagle, Garuda; the genii of various sacrificial vessels and utensils and the genius of sin. There is no mention of Brahmá, the creator, and none of Siva, unless, as the author of the Bháshya is inclined to think, Siva is but a form of Agni, to whom the name of Rudra is given in the Vedas. So greatly has the system of Hindooism been modified since these ancient hymns were composed that the divinities adored as primary in them have sunk down into a secondary rank, and others inferior or unknown in those ancient times have been raised to the place they once held.

USE OF THE RIK IN THE SAMA-VEDA.

The Rig-Veda is a collection of ancient hymns arranged according to their authors; the Sáma appears to be a collection of verses. arranged according to their subjects. I am of opinion that most of the verses, if not