A History of Sanskrit Literature c11.20

c11.20

To the school of the Tāṇḍins belongs the *Panchaviṃça* ("twenty-five fold"), also called *Tāṇḍya* or *Prauḍha, Brāhmaṇa*, which, as the first name implies, consists of twenty-five books. It is concerned with the Soma sacrifices in general, ranging from the minor offerings to those which lasted a hundred days, or even several years. Besides many legends, it contains a minute description of sacrifices performed on the Sarasvatī and Dṛishadvatī. Though Kurukshetra is known to it, other geographical data which it contains point to the home of this Brāhmaṇa having lain farther east. Noteworthy among its contents are the so-called *Vrātya-Stomas*, which are sacrifices meant to enable Aryan but non-Brahmanical Indians to enter the Brahmanical order. A point of interest in this Brāhmaṇa is the bitter hostility which it displays towards the school of the Kaushītakins. The *Shaḍviṃça Brāhmaṇa*, though nominally an independent work, is in reality a supplement to the *Panchaviṃça*, of which, as its name implies, it forms the twenty-sixth book. The last of its six chapters is called the *Adbhuta Brāhmaṇa*, which is intended to obviate the evil effects of various extraordinary events or portents. Among such phenomena are mentioned images of the gods when they laugh, cry, sing, dance, perspire, crack, and so forth.