The Social and Military Position of the Ruling Caste in Ancient India, as Represented by the Sanskrit Epic c2.s5.756

c2.s5.756

The parallel between a lyric origin for much of our Epic and the Wolfian κλέα ἀνδρῶν, between the kitharode and the vīnāgāthin, can scarcely be called forced, and we have no right to ignore it. The well-developed music of the Vedic period; the kitharode equally besinging soma and the king; the mention of a harp of a hundred strings, çatatanī; the congregational singing (vānasya saptadhātur ij janaḥ, R. V. x. 32. 4), show us that a lyrical beginning is probable, and that not of a late, but of an early period.