The Arctic Home in the Vedas c16.27.4

c16.27.4

The evidence of the Vedic hymns does not, therefore, enable us to decide the question one way or the other; but if the composition of the hymns is once ascribed to human effort, and once to divine inspiration or to the gods directly, it is clear that at least some of these old Ṛiṣhis believed the hymns to have been sung under inspiration or generated directly by the goddess of speech or other deities. We may reconcile the former of these views with the passages where the hymns are said to be made by human effort, on the supposition that the poets who sang the hymns believed themselves to be acting under divine inspiration. But the explanation fails to account for the statement that the Rik, the Yajus, and the Sâman, all emanated from the Supreme Purusha or the gods; and we must, therefore, conclude that the tradition about the eternity of the Vedas, or their divine origin is as old as the Veda itself. Accordingly, when we come to the Brâhmanas and the Upanishads, we naturally find the same view prevailing. They tell us that the Rig-Veda proceeded from Agni (fire), the Yajur-Veda from Vâyu (wind), and the Sâma-Veda from Sûrya (the sun), and that these three deities got their warmth from Prajâpati who practised tapas for the purpose, (Shat. Brâh. XI, 5, 8, 1 ff; Ait. Brâh. V, 32-34; Chân. Up. IV, 17, 1); or that the Vedas are the breathings of the Supreme Being (Brih. Up. II, 4, 10);