Vedic Metre in its Historical Development c17.5

c17.5

The historical study of the hymns by means of internal evidence is only possible by the process of *successive approximations*, each of which reacts upon the evidence by which it was obtained. The earliest attempts made in this direction broke down because their authors took as their units complete Mandalas, as H. Brunnhofer in KZ. xxv 329 ff. (1879), and C. R. Lanman in his *Noun-Inflection in the Veda*, JAOS. x pp. 576-581 (1878). The latter writer has however correctly stated, in my opinion, the method by which progress is possible, and in the present work and the papers which have preceded it I have done no more than attempt to carry out Lanman's programme, as stated on p. 581 of the work referred to.