A Vedic Concordance c4.s2.2

c4.s2.2

2. It registers the variants of mantras not wholly identical.—Mantras which occur only a single time, or appear in a wholly identical form in two or more texts, require no comment after they have been properly arranged in an alphabetical index. Again, mantras which are not wholly identical, but are alike in their beginnings, will also fall into the same or nearly the same place in a direct alphabetic arrangement. It is obvious that the places of occurrence of a given mantra of this kind may be advantageously grouped together, with a statement of the various readings of the different texts. The method used for this purpose is explained below, at page xiv. Once more, if the forms of the mantra in question differ at the beginning, then—obviously again—they will occupy places in the alphabetic arrangement more or less widely apart, and it will be necessary to connect them by some system of cross-references. This also is explained below, at page xv. To sum up, the Concordance affords, primarily, an easy and ready means of ascertaining the following things: First, where a given mantra occurs, if it occur but once; second, whether it occurs elsewhere, either with or without variants, and in what places; and third, if it occur with variants, what those variants are.