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A History of Indian Literature v1.c8.s6: The Samhitās of the Yajurveda

A History of Indian Literature v1.c8.s6

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The Samhitās of the Yajurveda

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Just as the Sāmaveda-Saṃhitā is the song-book of the udgātar, so the Yajurveda-Saṃhitās are the *prayer-books* for the Adhvaryu priest. The grammarian Patañjali² speaks of "101 schools of the Veda of the Adhvaryus," and it is conceivable that many schools of just this Veda existed; for with reference to the separate sacrificial acts, such as the Adhvaryu had to execute and accompany with his prayers, differences of opinion and sectarian divisions could easily arise, which led to the formation of special manuals and prayer-books. The least deviation in the ceremonial or in the liturgy was sufficient cause for the formation of a new Vedic school. Up to the present we know the following five Saṃhitās and schools of the Yajurveda:

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² In the Introduction to his Mahābhāṣya.

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1. The Kāṭhaka, the Yajurveda-Saṃhitā in the recension of the Kaṭha-school.³ 2. The Kapiṣṭhala-Kaṭha-Saṃhitā, which is preserved only in a few fragments of manuscript.¹

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³ Edited by L. v. Schroeder, Leipzig, 1900-1910, Index Verborum by R. *Simon*, 1912. For the contents of the Kāṭhaka see A. *Weber*, Ind. Stud. 3, 451 ff.; for the text and its interpretation s. *Keith*, JRAS, 1910, 517 ff.; 1912, 1095 ff.; *Caland*, ZDMG, 72, 1918, 12 ff.

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¹ See L. v. *Schroeder*, WZKM, 12, 362 f.

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3. The Maitrāyaṇī-Saṃhitā, *i.e.* the Yajurveda-Saṃhitā in the recension of the Maitrāyaṇīya school.²

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² Edited by L. v. *Schroeder*, Leipzig, 1881-1886. Numerous passages from this Saṃhitā have been translated into German by L. v. *Schroeder*, Indiens Literatur und Kultur, Leipzig 1887, pp. 110-162. See also *Schroeder*, ZDMG, 33, 1879, 177 ff.; *Caland*, ZDMG, 72, 1918, 6 ff.

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4. The Taittirīya-Saṃhitā, *i.e.* the Yajurveda-Saṃhitā in the recension of the Taittirīya school, also called "Āpastamba-Saṃhitā" after the Āpastamba-school, one of the chief schools in which this text was taught.³

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³ Edited by A. *Weber* in Ind. Stud. Vols. 11 and 12, 1871-72; with Sāyaṇa's commentary in Bibl. Ind., 1860-1899, and in Ān SS Nr 42; translated into English by A. B. *Keith*, HOS, Vols. 18, 19, 1914.

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These four recensions are closely inter-related, and are designated as belonging to the "Black Yajurveda." Differing from them is

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5. The Vājasaneyi-Saṃhitā or the Saṃhitā of the "White Yajurveda," which takes its name from Yājñavalkya Vājasaneya, the chief teacher of this Veda. Of this Vājasaneyi-Saṃhitā there are two recensions, that of the Kāṇva and that of the Mādhyandina-school, which however, differ very little from each other.⁴

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⁴ Ed. by A. *Weber* (The White Yajurveda, Part I, The Vâjasaneyi-Saṃhitâ...... with the Commentary of Mahîdhara, Berlin-London 1852). Translated into English by R. T. H. *Griffith* (The Texts of the White Yajurveda), Benares, 1899.

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The chief difference between the Saṃhitās of the "black" and the "white" Yajurveda lies in the fact that the Vājasaneyi-Saṃhitā contains only the Mantras, *i.e.* the prayers and sacrificial formulæ which the priest has to utter, while the Saṃhitās of the Black Yajurveda, besides the Mantras, contain a presentation of the sacrificial rites belonging to them, as well as discussions on the same. That is to say, in the Saṃhitās of the Black Yajurveda there is that which is called "Brāhmaṇa" or "theological discussion," and which forms the contents of the Brāhmaṇas to be discussed in the next chapter, mixed with the Mantras. Now it is easily conceivable that in the prayer-books intended for the use of the Adhvaryus, the sacrificial rites themselves too were discussed, for these priests had above all to perform the separate sacrificial acts, and the muttering of prayers and formulas in the closest connection with these acts formed only a small part of their duties. It can therefore hardly be doubted that the Saṁhitās of the Black Yajurveda are *older* than the Vājasaneyi-Saṁhitā. Only later systematizers among the Yajurveda-theologians probably felt the necessity of having a Saṁhitā consisting only of Mantras analogous to the other Vedas, as well as a Brāhmaṇa separate from it.¹

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¹ It is usually assumed that the name "White" Yajurveda means "clear, well-arranged" Yajurveda, and that it indicates the clear distinction between sacrificial utterances and explanations of ritual in the same, while "black" Yajurveda means "unarranged" Yajurveda. This explanation, emanating from Indian commentators, seems very improbable to me. But already in Śatap. Br. XIV, 9, 4, 33 (*cf.* IV, 4, 5, 19) the "white sacrificial utterances" (śuklāni yajūṁṣi) are called *ādityāni*, "revealed by the sun"; and the Purāṇas, too, relate that Yājñavalkya received new sacrificial utterances from the *sun* (Viṣṇu-Purāṇa, III, 5). I believe that the "*white* Yajurveda" owes its name to this connection with the sun. In contrast to this the older Yajurveda was then called the "black" one. It is most improbable "that the Saṁhitā of the white Yajurveda is most closely related to the original form of the Veda of the Adhvaryu," as Pischel thinks, KG, 172. *Cf.* Keith, HOS, Vol. 18, pp. lxxxv ff., on the mutual relationship of the Saṁhitās of the Yajurveda.

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Significant, however, though the differences between the single Saṁhitās of the Yajurveda may have been for the priests and theologians of ancient India, yet for us they are quite inessential; and also as to time the various Saṁhitās of the Black and White Yajurveda are probably not very distant from each other. If, therefore, in the following lines I give a short description of the contents of the Vājasaneyi-Saṁhitā, then this is quite sufficient to give the reader an idea of the contents and character of the Saṁhitās of the Yajurveda in general.

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The Vājasaneyi-Saṃhitā consists of 40 sections, of which, however, the last 15 (perhaps even the last 22) are of later date. The first 25 sections contain the prayers for the most important great sacrifices. The first two sections give the prayers for the New and Full Moon sacrifices (Darśapūrṇamāsa) with the oblation to the Fathers (Piṇḍapitryajña) belonging to them. In the third section follow the prayers for the daily fire-cult, the laying of the fire, and the fire-sacrifices which have to be offered every morning and evening (Agnihotra), and the Sacrifices of the Seasons (Cāturmāsya) which take place every four months. The prayers for the Soma-sacrifice in general,[^1) including the animal-sacrifice belonging to it, are to be found in sections IV to VIII. Among the Soma-sacrifices there are such as last *one* day, and such as last several days. To the one-day sacrifices belongs the Vājapeya or "Drink of Strength," a sacrifice offered originally probably only by warriors and kings, which was connected with a chariot-race, and at which, besides Soma, brandy (surā) also was offered, a drink otherwise proscribed according to brahmanical law.[^2) Intended exclusively for kings is the "King's inauguration sacrifice" or Rājasūya, a sacrificial feast connected with many a popular usage: a symbolical military expedition, a play at dice, and all sorts of magic rites. The prayers for these two kinds of Soma-sacrifices are contained in sections IX and X. Then in sections XI to XVIII follow the numerous prayers and sacrificial formulæ for the Agnicayana or the "Building of

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[^1): The sacrifices of the Ancient Indians fall into two great sub-divisions: *food sacrifices* (in which principally milk, butter, cake, pulp and grain were offered) and *Soma sacrifices* (whose chief component part is the soma-libations). The separate sacrifices may be classed under these two chief groups. The animal sacrifice is connected with sacrifices of the first division, as well as those of the second In connection with every kind of sacrifice is the *fire-cult*, which is, to a certain extent, the preliminary of every kind of worship of the gods. [^2): According to the law books, the drinking of brandy is as great a sin as the murder of a Brahman.

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the Fire Altar,” a ceremony which extends over a whole year, and to which a deep mystical-symbolical meaning is ascribed in the Brāhmaṇas. The fire-altar is named no other than “Agni” and is looked upon throughout as identical with the fire-god. It is built of 10,800 bricks, in the form of a large bird with outspread wings. In the lowest stratum of the altar the heads of five sacrificial animals are immured, and the bodies of the animals are thrown into the water out of which the clay for the manufacture of the bricks and the fire-pan is taken. The modelling and baking of the fire-pan and the separate bricks, many of which have special names and a symbolical significance of their own, is executed with much ceremoniousness accompanied by the continuous recitation of spells and prayer-formulæ. The following sections XIX to XXI give the prayers for the Sautrāmaṇī celebration, a remarkable sacrificial ceremony at which again, instead of the drink of soma, brandy is used and sacrificed to the Aśvins, to the goddess Sarasvatī and to Indra. The ceremony is recommended for one who has drunk too much Soma or with whom the Soma does not agree—and that may have been its original purpose—but also for a Brahman who desires success for himself, for a banished king who desires to regain his throne, for a warrior who desires victory, and for a Vaiśya who wishes to attain great riches. Many of the prayers belonging to this sacrifice refer to the legend of Indra, who was indisposed through intoxication from excessive enjoyment of Soma and had to be cured by the Aśvins and by Sarasvatī.¹ Finally, sections XXII to XXV, with which the old part of the Vājasaneyi-Saṃhitā ends, contain the prayers for the great Horse sacrifice (Aśvamedha), which only a powerful king, a mighty conqueror or “world-ruler,” might offer. Old legends and epic poems tell of primeval kings, who performed this sacrifice, and it is looked upon as the highest glory of a ruler, if it can be said of him: "He offered the Horse-sacrifice." The purpose of this great sacrifice is expressed very beautifully in the prayer Vāj.-Saṃh., XXII, 22:

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¹ *Cf.* above, p. 85.

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"O Brahman! May in this kingdom the Brahmin be born who shines through sacred knowledge! May the warrior who is a hero, a skilful shot, a good marksman, and a powerful chariot-fighter, be born here! Also the cow which yields good milk, the ox which draws well, the swift horse, the good housewife! May to this sacrificer a hero-son be born who is victorious, a mighty chariot-fighter and eloquent in the assembly! May Parjanya send us rain according to our desire! May our fruit-bearing plants ripen! May happiness and prosperity fall to our share!"

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That the last fifteen sections are of later origin is not to be doubted. Sections XXVI to XXXV are designated even by Indian tradition itself as Khilas, *i.e.* "appendices," "supplements." Actually XXVI to XXIX contain only appendices to the prayers of the preceding sections. Section XXX is shown to be an addition even through the fact that it contains no prayers, but only an enumeration of the people who are to be sacrificed at the Puruṣamedha or "Human sacrifice" to the most diverse divine beings or to beings and powers for the moment elevated to divinity. No less than one hundred and eighty-four persons are to be slaughtered at this Puruṣamedha, there being offered, to give only a few examples, "to Priestly Dignity a Brahmin, to Royal Dignity a warrior, to the Maruts a Vaiśya, to Asceticism a Śūdra, to Darkness a thief, to Hell a murderer, to Evil a eunuch...........to Lust a harlot, to Noise a singer, to Dancing a bard, to Singing an actor........to Death a hunter........to the Dice a gambler........to Sleep a blind man, to Injustice a deaf man.........to Lustre a fire-lighter........to Sacrifice a washerwoman, to Desire a female dyer......to Yama a barren woman......to the Joy of Festival a lute-player, to Cry a flute-player... to Earth a cripple......to Heaven a bald-headed man," and so on. Surely it is hardly conceivable that all these classes of people should have been brought together and killed. We have to deal here probably only with a symbolical rite representing a kind of "human sacrifice" by which even the great horse-sacrifice was to be outdone, but which probably existed only as part of sacrificial mysticism and theory, and in reality hardly occurred.¹ With this agrees also the fact that section XXXI contains a version of the Puruṣasūkta, known to us from the Ṛgveda—*i.e.* of the hymn Ṛv. X, 90, in which the origin of the world through the sacrificing of the Puruṣa and the identification of the world with the Puruṣa are taught, Puruṣa, "Man," being conceived as the Highest Being,—and that this section, which the Brahman is to recite at the Puruṣamedha, is also called an Upaniṣad, *i.e.* a secret doctrine. Section XXXII, too, is in form and contents nothing but an Upaniṣad. The Creator Prajāpati is here identified with the Puruṣa and the Brahman. The first six verses of section XXXIV are similarly counted amongst the Upaniṣads, with the title Śivasaṃkalpa-Upaniṣad.² The prayers of sections XXXII to XXXIV are to be employed at the so-called Sarvamedha or "All-sacrifice." This is the highest sacrifice which exists at all, and which ends with the sacrificer's presenting the whole of his possessions to the priests as sacrificial fee and then retiring as a hermit into the forest there to spend the rest of his days. Section XXXV contains a few funeral verses, which are mostly taken from the Ṛgveda. Sections XXXVI to XXXIX contain the prayers for the ceremony called Pravargya, at which a cauldron is made red-hot on the sacrificial fire, to represent symbolically the sun; in this cauldron milk is then boiled and offered to the Aśvins. The whole celebration is regarded as a great mystery. At the end of it the sacrificial utensils are so arranged that they represent a man: the milk-pots are the head, on which a tuft of sacred grass represents the hair; two milking-pails represent the ears, two little gold leaves the eyes, two cups the heels, the flour sprinkled over the whole the marrow, a mixture of milk and honey the blood, and so on. The prayers and formulae naturally correspond with the mysterious ceremonies.¹ The XL and last section of the Vājasaneyi-Saṃhitā again contains an Upaniṣad, the very important Īśā-Upaniṣad, occurring in all Upaniṣad-collections, to which we shall have to refer in the chapter on the Upaniṣads.

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¹ So also *Oldenberg*, Religion des Veda, 2nd Ed., pp. 362 f. and *Keith*, HOS., Vol. 18, pp. cxxxviii, who says: "There can be no doubt that the ritual is a mere priestly invention to fill up the apparent gap in the sacrificial system which provided no place for man." *Hillebrandt* (Rituallitteratur, Grundriss III, 2, pp. 153), however, considers the Puruṣamedha to be a real human sacrifice. There can be no doubt that human sacrifices occurred in ancient India, though not in the Brahmanical cult—only survivals of it can be traced in the rite of building the brick-altar for the fire, and in the Śunaḥśepa legend—, just as cruel human sacrifices occurred even in modern times among certain sects. But this does not prove that the Puruṣamedha was such a sacrifice.

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² Vāj. Saṃh. 34, 1-6, is found as an Upaniṣad in the Oupnekhat of Duperron, and translated by *Deussen*, Sechzig Upanishads des Veda, p. 837. See above pp. 19 f.

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¹ For details about all these sacrifices and festivals see *Hillebrandt*, "Rituallitteratur (Grundriss, III, 2), pp 97-166; *H. Oldenberg*, Religion des Veda, 2nd Ed., pp. 437-474; *E. Hardy*, Die vedisch-brahmanische periode der Religion des alten Indiens, Münster i. W., 1893, pp. 154 ff. and *Keith*, HOS., Vol. 18, pp. ciii ff.

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If it is already clear from the contents of the last sections that they are of a later date, it is confirmed still more by the fact that the prayers contained in the Saṃhitās of the *Black Yajurveda* only correspond to those of the first half of the Vājasaneyi-Saṃhitā.²

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² Only the first 18 Adhyāyas of the Vājasaneyi-Saṃhitā are completely given, word for word, and explained, in the Śatapatha-Brāhmaṇa of the White Yajurveda.

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Now as regards the prayers and sacrificial formulae themselves, which form the principal contents of the Yajurveda-Saṃhitās, they consist partly of verses (ṛc), partly of prose sentences. It is the latter which are called "Yajus," and from which the Yajurveda takes its name. The prose of these prayers is occasionally rhythmical and here and there even rises to poetical flight.¹ The verses which occur are mostly found also in the Ṛgveda-Saṁhitā. The various readings, however, which the Yajurveda often presents, are not indeed more ancient than the text found in the Ṛgveda, but they are mostly intentional alterations which were made in the verses, in order to bring them more into line with the sacrificial acts. Only rarely were whole hymns of the Ṛgveda included in the Yajurveda-Saṁhitās; mostly they are only single verses, torn from their context, which just appeared suitable to some sacrificial ceremony or other, and were therefore included in the Veda of prayers. Therefore these verses are of less interest to us. The characteristic element of the Yajurveda is the prose formulae and prayers.²

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¹ See *Keith*, HOS., Vol. 18, pp. cxl ff., and *H. Oldenberg*, Zur Geschichte der altindischen Prosa (AGGW. N.F., Bd. 16, Berlin, 1917), pp. 2 ff. On the language of the Yajus.

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² We also take no account here of the Brāhmaṇa-like theological explanations which the Saṁhitās of the *Black Yajurveda* contain besides the prayers and formulae. What is said in the following chapter about the Brāhmaṇas is applicable to these too.

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The simplest prayer that we can imagine is the dedication of a sacrificial gift with the mere utterance of the name of the deity to which it is offered. Formulae of this kind are very numerous in the Yajurveda. "Thee for Agni," "thee for Indra," or "this for Agni," or also "for Agni Hail!" "for Indra Hail!" etc.—with such words the gift is laid down or thrown into the sacred fire. A shorter and simpler song of praise to a god can hardly be imagined than the words with which every morning and every evening the fire-sacrifice consisting of milk (Agnihotra) is offered: "Agni is Light, Light is Agni, Hail!" (in the evening), and "Sūrya is Light, Light is Sūrya, Hail!" (in the morning). In equally brief words the purpose of a sacred act is often indicated, when, for instance, the sacrificial priest cuts off the branch with which the calves are driven from the cows, and says at the same time: "Thee for juice, thee for strength!" or the utensil which served for a sacred act is briefly named and a wish attached to it, when, for instance, the piece of wood with which the sacrificial fire is to be kindled, is dedicated with the words: "This, Agni, is thy igniter; through it mayst Thou grow and thrive. May we also grow and thrive!" If one apprehends evil or bad magic from an object used at the sacrifice, a short spell serves to avert it. The halter with which the sacrificial animal is bound to the stake, is addressed thus: "Become no snake, become no viper!" The razor with which the sacrificer, when he is consecrated for the sacrifice, has his beard shaved, is thus addressed by the priest: "O Knife, do not injure him!" At the consecration of a king, the king looks down upon the ground and prays: "Mother Earth, mayest Thou not injure me, nor I Thee!"¹

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¹ Vaj. IV, 1. VI, 12. II, 14. I, 1. III, 9. X, 23.

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The deities are not always invoked or praised in these sacrifice-formulæ, but in the most diverse ways sacrificial utensils and sacrificial acts are brought into relation to deities. Thus, for example, the priest binds with a rope the sacrificer's wife who takes part in the sacrifice, saying: "A girdle thou art for Aditi." At the consecration for the Soma-sacrifice the sacrificer binds himself with a girdle of hemp and reed-grass with the words: "Thou art the strength of the Angiras,² soft as wool; lend me strength!" Then he makes a knot in his under-garment and says: "The knot of the Soma art thou." Hereupon he enwraps his head in his turban (or in his upper garment) muttering: "Thou art Viṣṇu's protection, the protection of the sacrificer." To the horn of a black antelope, which he wraps up in the hem of his garment he says: "Thou art Indra's womb." The priest takes the sacrificial food from the car with the words: "Thou art the body of Agni, thee for Viṣṇu. Thou art the body of the Soma, thee for Viṣṇu." When the priest takes any sacrificial utensil into his hand, he does it with the oft-recurring formula: "At the god Savitar's instigation I take thee with the arms of the Aśvins, with the hands of Pūṣan."¹

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² The ancient fire- and magic-priests, conceived as semi-divine beings.

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¹ Vāj. I, 30 IV, 10. V, 1 VI, 30.

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The sacred sacrificial fire must be twirled in the ancient manner with the fire-drill;² and the producing of the fire is already in the Ṛgveda compared with the process of procreation, the lower small board being regarded as the mother, and the upper friction-stick as the father of the child Agni (the fire).³ Thus are explained the formulæ with which the fire-twirling is performed at the Soma-sacrifice, in which the two friction-sticks are addressed as the pair of lovers, Purūravas and Urvaśī,⁴ already known to us, who bring forth Āyu. The priest takes the lower friction-stick with the words: "Thou art the birth-place of Agni," lays two blades of sacred grass upon it, and says: "You are the two testicles." Then he lays the small board down with the words: "Thou art Urvaśī," touches the frying pan with the twirling-stick, saying: "Thou art Āyu," and with the words: "Thou art Purūravas" places the twirling-stick into the lower friction-stick. Thereupon he twirls with the formula: "I twirl thee with the Gāyatrī metre, I twirl thee with the Triṣṭubh metre, I twirl thee with the Jagatī metre."⁵

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² This consists of the two "Araṇis" or friction-sticks, of which the one is a small board, the other a pointed stick which is turned round in the small board until a flame results. This is the fire-producing implement still used at the present day by many primitive peoples, *e.g.* the Eskimos, — doubtless one of the most primitive utensils of mankind.

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³ The Malays of Indonesia still to-day call the small wooden board in which the fire drill is turned, "mother" or "woman," while the twirling-stick itself is called "man." The ancient Arabs, too, had two sticks for producing fire by friction, one of which was conceived as female, and the other as male.

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⁴ See above, pp. 103 f.

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⁵ Vāj, V. 2. Śatapatha-Br. III, 4, 1, 20 ff. *Cf.* Śatapatha Br., VIII, 5, 2, 1; Weber, Ind. Stud., 8, 1863, pp. 8 ff., 28 ff., and above, pp. 61 f.

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Formula-like turns of this kind, which often convey little or no meaning, are extremely numerous in the Yajurveda. Comparatively rarely do we come across long prose prayers, in which the sacrificer expresses his desires to the deity in simple words, as in the above-quoted beautiful prayer, which was spoken at the horse-sacrifice. More frequent are the formula-like prayers, which, however, still convey a reasonable meaning, as the following:

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“Thou, Agni, art the protector of bodies; protect my body! Thou, Agni, art the giver of life; give me life! Thou, Agni, art the giver of strength, give me strength! Thou, Agni, make complete that which is incomplete in my body.” (Vāj., III, 17.)
“May life prosper through the sacrifice! May breath prosper through the sacrifice! May the eye prosper through the sacrifice! May the ear prosper through the sacrifice! May the back prosper through the sacrifice! May the sacrifice prosper through the sacrifice!” (Vāj., IX, 21.)

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But still more frequently we find endless formulæ, the meaning of which is very doubtful, for example:

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“Agni has gained breath with the mono-syllable; may I gain it! The Aśvins have gained the two-footed people with the two-syllabic, may I gain them! Viṣṇu has gained the three worlds with the three-syllabic, may I gain them! Soma has gained the four-footed cattle with the four-syllabic; may I gain them! Pūṣan has gained the five regions of the world with the five-syllabic; may I gain them! Savitar has gained the six seasons with the six-syllabic; may I gain them! The Maruts have gained the seven tamed animals with the seven-syllabic; may I gain them! Bṛhaspati has gained the Gāyatrī with the eight-syllabic; may I gain it!... Aditi has gained the sixteen-fold Stoma with the sixteen-syllabic; may I gain it! Prajāpati has gained the seventeen-fold Stoma with the seventeen-syllabic; may I gain it!” (Vāj., IX, 31-34.)

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However, one of the chief causes of the fact that these prayers and sacrifice-formulæ often appear to us to be nothing but senseless conglomerations of words, is the identification and combination of things which have nothing at all to do with each other, so very popular in the Yajurveda. For instance, a cooking-pot is placed on the fire with the words :

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"Thou art the sky, thou art the earth, thou art the cauldron of Mātariśvan."[^1) (Vāj., 1, 2.)

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Or the cow with which the Soma is bought, is addressed by the priest in the words :

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"Thou art thought, thou art mind, thou art intelligence, thou art the priestly fee, thou art suitable for mastery, thou art suitable for the sacrifice, thou art the double-headed Aditi." (Vāj., IV. 19.)

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To the fire which is carried about in the pan at the building of the fire-altar the following prayer is addressed :

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"Thou art the beautiful-winged bird, the song of praise Trivṛt is thy head, the Gāyatra melody thine eye, the two melodies Bṛhat and Rathan-tara are thy wings, the song of praise is thy soul, the metres are thy limbs, the Yajus-formulæ thy name, the Vāmadevya-Melody thy body, the Yajñāyajñīya-melody thy tail, the fire-hearths are thy hoofs; thou art the beautiful-winged bird, go to heaven, fly to the light!" (Vāj., XII, 4.)

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Then the priest takes three steps with the fire-pan, and says :

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"Thou art the rival-slaying stride of Viṣṇu, mount the Gāyatrī metre, stride along the earth! Thou art the foe-slaying stride of Viṣṇu; mount the Triṣṭubh metre, stride along the air! Thou art the hater-slaying stride of Viṣṇu; mount the Jagatī Metre, stride along the sky! Thou art the hostile-slaying stride of Viṣṇu; mount the Anuṣṭubh metre, stride along the regions of the world!" (Vāj., XII, 5.)

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With reference to this kind of prayer Leopold von *Schroeder* says : "We may indeed often doubt whether these are the productions of intelligent people, and in this connection it is very interesting to observe that these bare and

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[^1): Matariśvan is here the wind-god, hence "the cauldron of M." meaning "atmosphere."

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monotonous variations of one and the same idea are particularly characteristic of the writings of persons in the stage of *imbecility*.” He then gives a few examples of notes written down by insane persons which have been preserved by psychiatrists, and these do indeed show a striking similarity with many of the prayers of the Yajurveda.¹ We must not forget that here we are not dealing with very ancient popular spells, as we find them in the Atharvaveda and in some cases even still in the Yajurveda, but with the fabrications of priests who had to furnish the countless sacrificial rites subtilised by themselves with equally countless spells and formulæ.

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¹ L. v. Schroeder, ILC., pp. 113 f.

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Some prayer-formulæ of the Yajurveda are indeed nothing but magic spells in prose. Even exorcisms and curses, quite similar to those with which we have become acquainted in the Atharvaveda, confront us also among the prayers of the Yajurveda. For there exist also sacrificial acts by which one can injure an enemy. Thus the priest says to the yoke of the car on which the sacrificial utensils are kept: “A yoke thou art, injure the injurer, injure him who injures us, injure him whom we injure.” (Vāj., I, 8.)²

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² At the same time an example of the play of words, which is very popular in the Yajus-formulæ. The text reads: dhūr asi, dhūrva dhūrvantam, dhūrva tam yo'smān dhūrvati, tam dhūrva yam dhūrvāmaḥ.

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The following examples of such sacrificial prayers are given by L. von Schroeder,³ from the Maitrāyaṇī-Saṃhitā:

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³ ILC., p. 122.

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“Him who is hostile to us, and him who hates us, him who reviles us and him who wishes to injure us, all those shalt thou grind to dust!”

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“O Agni, with thy heat, glow out against him who hates us and whom we hate! O Agni, with thy flame, burn against him who hates us and whom we hate! O Agni, with thy ray, radiate against him who hates us and whom we hate. O Agni, with thy powerful strength, seize him who hates us and whom we hate!”

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“Death, Destruction, shall seize the rivals!”.

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Just as these exorcism-formulæ have a primitive and popular air, so we find among the riddles, which have come down to us in the Yajurveda, besides genuinely theological riddles which well deserve the technical name "Brahmodya," as they presuppose an acquaintance with Brahman or sacred knowledge, also a few old popular riddles.¹ We have already become acquainted with this certainly very ancient literary type in the Ṛgveda and in the Atharvaveda. In the Yajurveda we also learn of the occasions at which the riddle-games were customary, indeed, even formed a part of the cult. Thus we find in the Vājasaneyi-Saṃhitā in section XXIII,² a number of riddles with which the priests amused themselves at the renowned ancient horse sacrifice. A few of these remind us of our juvenile riddles, while others refer to the sacrificial mysticism of the Brāhmaṇas and the philosophy of the Upaniṣads. As examples the riddles of Vāj. XXIII, 45-48, 51, may be quoted:

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¹ On the Brahmodyas see *Ludwig*, Der Rigveda *Koegel*, III, 390 ff. *Rud. Kœgel*, Geschichte der deutschen Litteratur, I, 1, 1894, pp. 5, 64 ff includes the Brahmodyas, with which he compares the Old Germanic riddle poetry, in the poetic heritage of the Indo-European period.

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² Similarly also in Taittirīya-Saṃhitā, VII, 4, 18.

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The Hotar: "Who wanders lonely on his way?
Who is constantly born anew?
What is the remedy for cold?
What is the great corn-vessel called?"

The Adhvaryu: "The sun wanders lonely on its way,
The moon is constantly born anew,
Fire is the remedy for cold,
The earth is the great corn-vessel."

The Adhvaryu: "What is the sun-like light?
What is the ocean-like flood?

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And what is greater than the earth?
What is that of which no measure is known?"

The Hotar: "Brahman¹ is the sun-like light,
The sky is the ocean-like flood,
And greater than the earth is God Indra,
But it is the cow, of which no measure is known."

The Udgātar: "Into what things has the Puruṣa penetrated?
And what things are contained in the Puruṣa?
This riddle, Brahman, I give thee to solve;
What answer hast thou now to make?"

The Brahman: "The five, it is, into which the Puruṣa has penetrated,
And these are they which are contained in the Puruṣa.²
That is the answer I have thought out for thee;
In the magic strength of knowledge thou art not above me."

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¹ This ambiguous word here probably means "the priest-hood," perhaps "the sacred knowledge."

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² Puruṣa means "human being," "person" and also "spirit," "universal spirit." "The five" are the five senses, which are contained in the Puruṣa, *i.e.* in the "human being" and are permeated by the Puruṣa, *i.e.* the "universal spirit."

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These riddle games form an equally important part of the worship of the gods as the prayers and sacrificial formulæ. However, the term "worship" of the gods expresses but inadequately the purpose of the prayers and formulæ, indeed, of the sacrifices themselves. The majority of the sacrificial ceremonies, as also the Yajus formulæ do not aim at "worshipping" the gods, but at influencing them, at compelling them to fulfil the wishes of the sacrificer. The gods too, love "panem et circenses," they, too, wish to be not only fed, but entertained as well: the Vedic texts very frequently assure us that the gods take a particular pleasure in the mysterious, the enigmatic, the barely hinted-at.³

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³ "The gods love that which is hinted-at, the mysterious," is a sentence often recurring in the Brāhmaṇas, *e.g.*, Śatapatha-Brāhmaṇa, VI, 1, 1, 2; 11; 2, 3; 7, 1, 23, VII, 4. 1, 10, etc. Bṛhadāraṇyaka-Upaniṣad, IV, 2. 2. “The gods love that which is hinted at darkly, and hate that which is uttered directly.”

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In the Yajurveda we find besides, already a mode of influencing the gods which prevailed very largely at later periods, and which consists of enumerating as many names and epithets as possible pertaining to a certain god and of worshipping him under all these names, in order to obtain something from him.` Thus, in the later literature we find texts which enumerate a thousand names of Viṣṇu or a thousand names of Śiva, the recital of which is regarded as a particularly effective and meritorious work of devotion. The first beginnings of this kind of prayers we find in the Śatarudriya, the enumeration of the hundred names of the god Rudra, in Section XVI of the Vājasaneyi-Saṃhitā and in the Taittirīya-Saṃhitā, IV, 5.

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Finally, there is yet another kind of “prayers,” as we cannot help calling them, with which we meet already in the Yajurveda, and with which also, at later periods, much mischief was done. They are single syllables or words, which convey no meaning at all, or whose meaning has been lost, which are pronounced in the most solemn manner at certain places in the act of sacrifice, and are regarded as immensely sacred. There is, first of all, the sacrificial cry *svāhā*, which we usually translate by “hail,” with which every gift for the gods is thrown into the fire, while the cry *svadhā* is employed in the case of sacrificial gifts to the fathers. Other quite unintelligible ejaculations of the kind are *vaṣaṭ*, *veṭ*, *vāt*, but above all the most sacred syllable *om*. This syllable, originally nothing but an expression of assent,¹ was regarded by the Indians for thousands of years, and still to the present day is regarded, as inordinately sacred and full of mystical significance. In the Upaniṣads it is identified with Brahman, the world-soul, and recommended to the wise man as the highest subject of meditation. The Kaṭha-Upaniṣad (II, 16) says of it: "This syllable is indeed Brahman, this syllable is the Highest; for he who knows this syllable will have all his wishes, whatever they may be, fulfilled." To this syllable "*om*" are added the three "great words," namely *bhūr*, *bhuvaḥ*, *svar* (explained by the Indians as "earth, air, sky," which, however, is doubtful) of which it is said in an old text:¹ "This is indeed Brahman, this Truth, this Right; for without these there is no sacrifice."

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¹ According to Aitareya-Brāhmaṇa, VII, 18, *om* means, in the language used for the gods, that which is expressed among human beings by *tathā*, “so be it,” “yes.” In the same way Chāndogya-Upaniṣad I, 1, 8: “This syllable *om* expresses assent, for when a person agrees to something, he says: ‘om’! It is probably purely a coincidence that the syllable *om* partly agrees with the Hebrew “amen” in meaning as well as in sound.

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¹ Maitrāyaṇī-Saṃhitā, I, 8, 5.

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Centuries later, in the Tantras, the religious books of more recent Indian sects, the use of such mystical syllables and words has become prevalent to such an extent that we frequently find nothing for pages, but inarticulated sounds such as um̐, ām̐, hrīm̐, ūm̐, em̐, krom̐, phat, aḥ, and so on. It is significant too, that the word *mantra*, which originally designated the verses and prayers (ṛc and yajus) of the Vedic Saṃhitās, later on had only the meaning of "magic formula." Already in the Yajurveda we can trace quite clearly the transition from prayer to magic formula—the two had, in fact, never been very strictly separated.

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However bare and tedious, unedifying the Yajurveda-saṃhitās are if we want to *read* them as literary works, so supremely important, indeed, interesting are they for the student of religion, who *studies* them as sources not only for the Indian, but also for the general science of religion. Whoever wishes to investigate the origin, the development, and the significance of *prayer* in the history of religion—and this is one of the most interesting chapters of the history of religion—should in no case neglect to become acquainted with the prayers of the Yajurveda.

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For the understanding of the whole of the later religious and philosophical literature of the Indians, too, these Saṃhitās are indispensable. Without the Yajurveda we cannot understand the Brāhmaṇas, and without these we cannot understand the Upaniṣads.

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