A History of Indian Literature v1.c8.s2.231

v1.c8.s2.231

Lastly, a kind of intermediate position between religious and secular poetry is occupied by those hymns which are connected with so-called Dānastutis, "Songs of praise to Generosity" (namely, that of the princes and patrons of the sacrifice, for whom the songs were composed.) There are about forty such hymns.¹ Some of them are songs of victory, in which the god Indra is praised, because he has helped some king to achieve a victory over his enemies. With the praise of the god is united the glorification of the victorious king. Finally, however, the singer praises his patron, who has presented him with oxen, horses, and beautiful slaves out of the booty of war, while incidentally with a few coarse, obscene jokes, the pleasure which the slaves give to the singer is recalled. Others are very long sacrificial songs,² also mostly addressed to Indra, which evidently were composed for quite definite occasions at the request of a prince or a wealthy man, and were recited at the sacrifice; and they also are followed by verses in which the patron of the sacrifice is praised, because he gave the singer a liberal priestly fee. These Dānastutis always mention the full name of the pious donor, and indubitably refer to historic events, or actual happenings. Hence they are not unimportant. As poems they are, of course, quite worthless; they are composed to order by artisan-like verse-writers, or accomplished with an eye to the expected payment. Even when they are not connected with any Dānastuti, some of the hymns of the Ṛgveda certainly were "hammered together" for good payment in an equally artisan-like manner. Sometimes even the Vedic singers themselves compare their work with that of the carpenter.¹ Nevertheless it is remarkable that among those hymns which excel at all as works of poetic art, there is not a single one which ends in a Dānastuti. When, therefore, H. Oldenberg ² says about Ṛgvedic poetry *in general*: "This poetry does not rank in the service of beauty, as this religion does not serve the aim of enlightening and uplifting the soul; but both rank in the service of class-interest, of personal interest, of fees,"—he evidently forgets that among the 1,028 hymns of the Ṛgveda there are only about 40 which end in Dānastutis. I think that among the composers of Vedic hymns there were certainly *artisans*, but equally certainly there were also *poets*.