A History of Indian Literature v1.c8.s4.2

v1.c8.s4.2

It is quite different with the Saṁhitās of the two other Vedas, the Sāmaveda and the Yajurveda. In these collections we find the songs, verses, and benedictions arranged according to their practical purposes, in exactly the order in which they were used at the sacrifice. These are, in fact, nothing more than prayer-books and song-books for the practical use of certain sacrificial priests—not indeed written books, but texts, which existed only in the heads of teachers and priests and were preserved by means of oral teaching and learning in the priests’ schools.¹ Now, in order to explain the origin of these Saṁhitās, it is necessary to insert here a few words about the cult of the Aryan Indians. This is the more advisable as a complete understanding of the Vedic literature in general is altogether impossible without a certain insight into the ancient Indian sacrificial cult.