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Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1indication in these texts of any systematic attempt to make battle against the ancient threefold Veda, or to enter into polemics against the priests devoted to their respective duties while reciting or chanting its mantras. Similarly the ritual texts of the AV. allude preferably, and yet incidentally, to their own Veda, and as occasion offers, bring to the front the priests schooled in it. Thus Kau.s\ 139, 6 an oblation is offered to Bhrzgu and Angiras along with other divinities, without mention, however, of any specific representatives of the other Vedas. The expression. Kauj\ 125, 2, vedabhigupto brahma/^a parivrzto *tharvabhi^ santak 1, illustrates this passive preference for the Atharvan very well; cf. also 137, 25. Again, Kaor. 63, 3, four priests descended from i?zshis, skilled in the bhrzgvangirasa^, are employed very naturally, and simi- larly allusion is made to Atharvan priests and Atharvan schools, Kaui". 59, 25 ; 73, 12 ; Vait. Su. 1, 5 ; Ath. Park 46, 2 ; 73, i ; 77, 4. In the Atharva-parLnsh/as Bhr/gu, Angiras, and Atharvan figure more frequently than any 1 The passage reflects also the Atharvanic connection of their Veda with Brahman and the brahma ; cf. Ath. Pari*. 2,1, brahmawe brahmavedaya . . . namaskrz'tya, and see below, p. lxii ff. lviii HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. other names : they have become the typical teachers of the trivialities which these texts profess. But over and above this the ritual texts raise certain special claims regarding the position of the Atharvan among the Vedas, and they further make the Nature of the , to , . - ' . especial claims demand with strident voice and obvious of the ritual polemic intention that certain offices shall be texts. i reserved for the priests conversant with that Veda. The position of these texts may be stated under three heads. First, they are not content with the rather vacillating attitude of the non-Atharvanic texts which refer in general to a threefold Veda, reserving, as we have seen, the honorific mention of the fourth Veda to more or less well-defined occasions, especially to moods when it is felt desirable to call into requisition the entire range of Vedic literary composition in addition to the trayi vidya (e, g. itihasa, purawa, gatha, &c).
2honorific mention of the fourth Veda to more or less well-defined occasions, especially to moods when it is felt desirable to call into requisition the entire range of Vedic literary composition in addition to the trayi vidya (e, g. itihasa, purawa, gatha, &c). Secondly, the office of the Brahman, the fourth priest at the irauta-ceremonies, who oversees and corrects by means of expiatory formulas (praya^itta) the accidents and blunders of hotar, udg&tar, and adhvaryu, is said to belong to an Atharvavedin, and the Vaitana-sutra in fact exhibits the bh/7gvangirovid in possession of that office. Thirdly, a similar claim is advanced in respect to the office of the purohita. Again and again it is stated that the purohita, guru, or brahman of a king, the chaplain or house-priest, shall be conversant with the Atharvan writings, shall be an Atharvan priest, and this claim, as we have seen above (p. xlvi), is supported to some extent by later Brahmanical treatises not derived from Atharvan schools. Cf. also below, p. lxvii. The Gopatha-brahma/za, in its opening chapters I, 1,4- io, describes the cosmogonic origin of the universe and Exaltation ^e Vedas from the lone brahma. Unlike of the AV. other texts, which as a rule ignore the Athar- m genera . ^^ .^ ^tse creative accounts, the atharvan and the ahgiras texts are placed at the head ; the other Vedic texts (rzk, yaguk, and saman, I, 1, 6), as well as the subsidiary compositions (the five Vedas, called sarpaveda, pua/£aveda, asuraveda, itihasaveda, and purtoaveda, I, 1, INTRODUCTION. lix 10), are relegated to the rear. At Vait. Su. 6, 1 the Atharvan is again placed at the head of the four Vedas. Gop. Br. I, 3, 4 lauds the Atharvan compositions as the greatest religious manifestation, etad vai bhuylshtkam brahma yad bhr/gvangirasa^, and at I, 2, 1 6 (cf. I, 2, 18) the Atharvan figures as the fourth Veda by the name of Brahma-veda, being here correlated with the service of the Brahman-priest as the overseer at the ^rauta-ceremonies 1. At I, 1,9 there is quoted a stanza, thoroughly Upanishad in character, which shows that the Atharvanists correlated their Veda with the knowledge of brahma, -the higher and subtler religious conception, which at all times is raised above any special knowledge of the constituent parts of the Vedic religion : ' The highest Veda was born of tapas, it grew in the heart of those that know the brahma V The Atharvan ritual texts never cite the trayt vidya in formulary order without including the fourth Veda 3, differ- ing in this regard even from the text of the
3: ' The highest Veda was born of tapas, it grew in the heart of those that know the brahma V The Atharvan ritual texts never cite the trayt vidya in formulary order without including the fourth Veda 3, differ- ing in this regard even from the text of the Sa;^hita and the Atharvan Upanishads (see pp. xxxii, xliii). The first half of the Gop. Br. (I, $, 25) ends with the assertion that they who study the trayi reach, to be sure, the highest heaven (trivish/apa//z tridiva;^ nakam uttamam), but yet the Athar- vans and Angiras go beyond to the great worlds of Brahma (ata uttare brahmaloka mahanta/z). As regards the Brahman, the overseer at the ^rauta- performances, the Vait. Su. 1, 1 states that he must be ^ conversant with the Brahma-veda, and in 1, 17. The office o 1 • • 1 -i 1 1 1 1 r 1 • of Brahman Jo this priest is described as the lord of beings, ln \extntUal *orc* °^ t^ie wor^> &c- These expressions seem to indicate that he is the representa- tive at the sacrifice of the personified god Brahman. At 11, 2 (cf. Gop. Br. I, 2, 16) the Brahman is again ordered to be conversant with the atharvangirasa^, this time in 1 £atasro va ime hotra, hautram adhvaryavam audgatraw brahmatvam. 2 Thus according to the version of Saya?za, Introduction to the AV., p. 5, sxtshtho hi vedas tapasoxdhi^ato brahma^anaw hrzdaye sa;//babhuva. Ra^en- dralalamitra's edition, sresht/10 ha vedas tapaso * dhi^ato brahmfi^yanaw kshitaye sa;/zbabhuva, 'it was created for the destruction of the oppressors of Brahmans.' 3 See especially Gop. Br. II, 2, 14, where the atharvangirasa^ are added every time in liturgical formulas to the rik&h, ya^uwshi, and samani. lx HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. expressed contrast with udgatar, hotar, and adhvaryu (samaveda, rzgveda, ya^urveda). At Gop. Br. I, 2, 18 (end) the Brahman is described with the words, esha ha vai vidvan sarvavid brahma yad bhrzgvangirovid. The last statement is of especial interest as indicating the identifi- cation of the Atharvan with the sarvavidya which stands above the trayi vidya (cf. below, p. lxiii). Especially at Gop. I, 3, 1.2 the futility of the sacrifice without a Brah- man skilled in the bhrzgvafigirasa^ is described vividly: a cow, a horse, a mule, a chariot cannot proceed with less than four feet, therefore the sacrifice, in order to succeed, must have four feet : the four Vedas, and the four priests. Especially characteristic is the following : At Tait. S. Ill, 5, 2, 1, &c. (cf. Ind. Stud.
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1indication in these texts of any systematic attempt to make battle against the ancient threefold Veda, or to enter into polemics against the priests devoted to their respective duties while reciting or chanting its mantras. Similarly the ritual texts of the AV. allude preferably, and yet incidentally, to their own Veda, and as occasion offers, bring to the front the priests schooled in it. Thus Kau.s\ 139, 6 an oblation is offered to Bhrzgu and Angiras along with other divinities, without mention, however, of any specific representatives of the other Vedas. The expression. Kauj\ 125, 2, vedabhigupto brahma/^a parivrzto *tharvabhi^ santak 1, illustrates this passive preference for the Atharvan very well; cf. also 137, 25. Again, Kaor. 63, 3, four priests descended from i?zshis, skilled in the bhrzgvangirasa^, are employed very naturally, and simi- larly allusion is made to Atharvan priests and Atharvan schools, Kaui". 59, 25 ; 73, 12 ; Vait. Su. 1, 5 ; Ath. Park 46, 2 ; 73, i ; 77, 4. In the Atharva-parLnsh/as Bhr/gu, Angiras, and Atharvan figure more frequently than any 1 The passage reflects also the Atharvanic connection of their Veda with Brahman and the brahma ; cf. Ath. Pari*. 2,1, brahmawe brahmavedaya . . . namaskrz'tya, and see below, p. lxii ff. lviii HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. other names : they have become the typical teachers of the trivialities which these texts profess. But over and above this the ritual texts raise certain special claims regarding the position of the Atharvan among the Vedas, and they further make the Nature of the , to , . - ' . especial claims demand with strident voice and obvious of the ritual polemic intention that certain offices shall be texts. i reserved for the priests conversant with that Veda. The position of these texts may be stated under three heads. First, they are not content with the rather vacillating attitude of the non-Atharvanic texts which refer in general to a threefold Veda, reserving, as we have seen, the honorific mention of the fourth Veda to more or less well-defined occasions, especially to moods when it is felt desirable to call into requisition the entire range of Vedic literary composition in addition to the trayi vidya (e, g. itihasa, purawa, gatha, &c).
2honorific mention of the fourth Veda to more or less well-defined occasions, especially to moods when it is felt desirable to call into requisition the entire range of Vedic literary composition in addition to the trayi vidya (e, g. itihasa, purawa, gatha, &c). Secondly, the office of the Brahman, the fourth priest at the irauta-ceremonies, who oversees and corrects by means of expiatory formulas (praya^itta) the accidents and blunders of hotar, udg&tar, and adhvaryu, is said to belong to an Atharvavedin, and the Vaitana-sutra in fact exhibits the bh/7gvangirovid in possession of that office. Thirdly, a similar claim is advanced in respect to the office of the purohita. Again and again it is stated that the purohita, guru, or brahman of a king, the chaplain or house-priest, shall be conversant with the Atharvan writings, shall be an Atharvan priest, and this claim, as we have seen above (p. xlvi), is supported to some extent by later Brahmanical treatises not derived from Atharvan schools. Cf. also below, p. lxvii. The Gopatha-brahma/za, in its opening chapters I, 1,4- io, describes the cosmogonic origin of the universe and Exaltation ^e Vedas from the lone brahma. Unlike of the AV. other texts, which as a rule ignore the Athar- m genera . ^^ .^ ^tse creative accounts, the atharvan and the ahgiras texts are placed at the head ; the other Vedic texts (rzk, yaguk, and saman, I, 1, 6), as well as the subsidiary compositions (the five Vedas, called sarpaveda, pua/£aveda, asuraveda, itihasaveda, and purtoaveda, I, 1, INTRODUCTION. lix 10), are relegated to the rear. At Vait. Su. 6, 1 the Atharvan is again placed at the head of the four Vedas. Gop. Br. I, 3, 4 lauds the Atharvan compositions as the greatest religious manifestation, etad vai bhuylshtkam brahma yad bhr/gvangirasa^, and at I, 2, 1 6 (cf. I, 2, 18) the Atharvan figures as the fourth Veda by the name of Brahma-veda, being here correlated with the service of the Brahman-priest as the overseer at the ^rauta-ceremonies 1. At I, 1,9 there is quoted a stanza, thoroughly Upanishad in character, which shows that the Atharvanists correlated their Veda with the knowledge of brahma, -the higher and subtler religious conception, which at all times is raised above any special knowledge of the constituent parts of the Vedic religion : ' The highest Veda was born of tapas, it grew in the heart of those that know the brahma V The Atharvan ritual texts never cite the trayt vidya in formulary order without including the fourth Veda 3, differ- ing in this regard even from the text of the
3: ' The highest Veda was born of tapas, it grew in the heart of those that know the brahma V The Atharvan ritual texts never cite the trayt vidya in formulary order without including the fourth Veda 3, differ- ing in this regard even from the text of the Sa;^hita and the Atharvan Upanishads (see pp. xxxii, xliii). The first half of the Gop. Br. (I, $, 25) ends with the assertion that they who study the trayi reach, to be sure, the highest heaven (trivish/apa//z tridiva;^ nakam uttamam), but yet the Athar- vans and Angiras go beyond to the great worlds of Brahma (ata uttare brahmaloka mahanta/z). As regards the Brahman, the overseer at the ^rauta- performances, the Vait. Su. 1, 1 states that he must be ^ conversant with the Brahma-veda, and in 1, 17. The office o 1 • • 1 -i 1 1 1 1 r 1 • of Brahman Jo this priest is described as the lord of beings, ln \extntUal *orc* °^ t^ie wor^> &c- These expressions seem to indicate that he is the representa- tive at the sacrifice of the personified god Brahman. At 11, 2 (cf. Gop. Br. I, 2, 16) the Brahman is again ordered to be conversant with the atharvangirasa^, this time in 1 £atasro va ime hotra, hautram adhvaryavam audgatraw brahmatvam. 2 Thus according to the version of Saya?za, Introduction to the AV., p. 5, sxtshtho hi vedas tapasoxdhi^ato brahma^anaw hrzdaye sa;//babhuva. Ra^en- dralalamitra's edition, sresht/10 ha vedas tapaso * dhi^ato brahmfi^yanaw kshitaye sa;/zbabhuva, 'it was created for the destruction of the oppressors of Brahmans.' 3 See especially Gop. Br. II, 2, 14, where the atharvangirasa^ are added every time in liturgical formulas to the rik&h, ya^uwshi, and samani. lx HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. expressed contrast with udgatar, hotar, and adhvaryu (samaveda, rzgveda, ya^urveda). At Gop. Br. I, 2, 18 (end) the Brahman is described with the words, esha ha vai vidvan sarvavid brahma yad bhrzgvangirovid. The last statement is of especial interest as indicating the identifi- cation of the Atharvan with the sarvavidya which stands above the trayi vidya (cf. below, p. lxiii). Especially at Gop. I, 3, 1.2 the futility of the sacrifice without a Brah- man skilled in the bhrzgvafigirasa^ is described vividly: a cow, a horse, a mule, a chariot cannot proceed with less than four feet, therefore the sacrifice, in order to succeed, must have four feet : the four Vedas, and the four priests. Especially characteristic is the following : At Tait. S. Ill, 5, 2, 1, &c. (cf. Ind. Stud.
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
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