A History of Indian Literature v1.c8.s3.141

v1.c8.s3.141

Just as the Rohita, the Ox, and the Cow are praised as the Highest Being, so there is one hymn (XI, 5) in which the *Brahmacārin*, the Vedic student, is celebrated in a similar way. And again in the still more mysterious cycle of hymns forming Book XV of the Saṃhitā, the Highest Brahman is conceived and exalted as the *Vrātya*,—both as the heavenly Vrātya, identified with the Great God (mahādeva), the Lord (īśāna) Rudra, and as his prototype, the earthly Vrātya. The Vrātyas were certain, probably Eastern, tribes, whether Aryan or non-Aryan, but certainly living outside the pale of Brahmanism, roving about in bands—on rough waggons covered with boards in a rather war-like fashion, owners of cattle, having their own peculiar customs and religious cults, whose members however could be received into brahmanical society by means of certain sacrificial rites and ceremonies. Such a Vrātya who has already been converted to Brahmanism, seems to be glorified in the Vrātya-book of the Atharvaveda.¹