A History of Sanskrit Literature c7.2

c7.2

BEFORE we turn to describe the world of thought revealed in the hymns of the *Rigveda*, the question may naturally be asked, to what extent is it possible to understand the true meaning of a book occupying so isolated a position in the remotest age of Indian literature? The answer to this question depends on the recognition of the right method of interpretation applicable to that ancient body of poetry. When the *Rigveda* first became known, European scholars, as yet only acquainted with the language and literature of classical Sanskrit, found that the Vedic hymns were composed in an ancient dialect and embodied a world of ideas far removed from that with which they had made themselves familiar. The interpretation of these hymns was therefore at the outset barred by almost insurmountable difficulties. Fortunately, however, a voluminous commentary on the *Rigveda*, which explains or paraphrases every word of its hymns, was found to exist. This was the work of the great Vedic scholar SĀYAṆA, who lived in the latter half of the fourteenth century A.D. at Vijayanagara ("City of Victory"), the ruins of which lie near Bellary in Southern India. As his commentary constantly referred to ancient authorities, it was thought to have preserved the true meaning of the *Rigveda* in a traditional interpretation going back to the most ancient times. Nothing further seemed to be necessary than to ascertain the explanation of the original text which prevailed in India five centuries ago, and is laid down in Sāyaṇa’s work. This view is represented by the translation of the *Rigveda* begun in 1850 by H. H. Wilson, the first professor of Sanskrit at Oxford.