A History of Indian Literature v1.c8.s2.10

v1.c8.s2.10

The so-called Khilas, which are found in a few manuscripts, represent, on the whole, a later stratum of Ṛgvedic hymn poetry. The word Khila means "supplement," and this name in itself indicates that they are texts which were collected and added to the Saṃhitā only after the latter had already been concluded. This does not exclude the possibility that *some* of these Khilas are of no less antiquity than the hymns of the Ṛgveda-Saṃhitā, but for some reason unknown to us were not included in the collection. The eleven Vālakhilya hymns, which in all manuscripts are found at the end of Book VIII, without being included in it, are probably of this kind. Of comparatively high antiquity are probably also the eleven Suparṇa hymns, as well as the Praiṣasūktāni and the prose·Nividas, small collections of sacrificial litanies.¹