A History of Indian Literature v1.c8.s2.209

v1.c8.s2.209

All this sounds immensely funny, and almost generally the song was looked upon by scholars as a parody on the sacrificial songs and malicious satire against the Brahmans.1) However, Bloomfield has proved conclusively2) that this is a magic incantation, which was used as a rain-spell, and that the frogs, which, according to ancient Indian popular belief, can bring forth water, are praised and invoked as rain-bringers. The comparison with the Brahmans is not intended as a satire on the latter, but only as a flattery—a captatio benevolentiae—to the frogs. The frog-song was probably never a satire. It is only we who see something comic in it, and not the ancient Indians, who actually regarded frogs as great wizards. It appears, however, that incantations sometimes arose from secular poems. Thus, the song Ṛv. VI, 75, may originally have been a war song, which has been changed into a battle charm. While some verses of this song are distinguished by great poetic beauty and especially by bold images, other verses show only the dry, inartistic language of incantations. The first three verses sound more like a war-song than like an incantation :