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Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1n account of the multitude which, as reason had no power over it, required to be ruled by signs and wonders^.' The devout belief in the efficacy of invocation and sacri- ' Mommsen, History of Rome, translated by W. P. Dickson, vol. i. p. iSi. * Ibid. vol. ii. p. 400. ^ Ibid. vol. i. p. 179. * Ibid. vol. iii. p. 455. INTRODUCTION. XI ficial ofifering which pervades most of the hymns of the Rig-veda, and which may be assumed to reflect pretty faithfully the religious sentiments of those amongst whom they were composed, could not but ensure to the priest, endowed with the gift of sacred utterance, a considerable amount of respect and reverence on the part of the people. His superior culture and habitual communion with the divine rulers of the destinies of man would naturally entitle him to a place of honour by the side of the chiefs of clans, or the rulers of kingdoms, who would not fail to avail them- selves of his spiritual services, in order to secure the favour of the gods for their warlike expeditions or political under- takings. Nor did the Vedic bard fail to urge his claims on the consideration and generosity of those in the enjoyment of power and wealth. He often dwells on the supernatural virtues of his compositions and their mysterious efficacy in drawing down divine blessings on the pious worshipper. In urging the necessity of frequent and liberal offerings to the gods, and invoking worldly blessings on the offerer, the priestly bard may often be detected pleading his own cause along with that of his employer, as Ka«va does when he sings (Rig-veda Vn I, 2, 13), 'Let him be rich, let him be foremost, the bard of the rich, of so illustrious a Maghavan ^ as thou, O lord of the bay steeds ! ' Though the Dana- stutis, or verses extolling, often in highly exaggerated terms, the munificence of princely patrons, and generally occurring at the end of hymns, are doubtless, as a rule, later additions, they at least show that the sacerdotal office must have been, or must gradually have become during this period, a very lucrative one. Although there is no reason to suppose that the sacrificial ceremonial was in early times so fully developed as some scholars would have us believe, the religious service would seem to have been already of a sufficiently advanced nature to require some kind of training for the priestly office. In course of time, while the collection of hymns were faithfully 1 Maghavan, the mighty or. bountiful, is a designation both of Indra and the wealthy patron of priests. Here it is evidently intended to refer to both.
2of training for the priestly office. In course of time, while the collection of hymns were faithfully 1 Maghavan, the mighty or. bountiful, is a designation both of Indra and the wealthy patron of priests. Here it is evidently intended to refer to both. XU ^ATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA. handed down as precious heirlooms in the several families, and were gradually enriched by the poetical genius of succeeding generations, the ceremonial became more and more complicated, so as at last to necessitate the distribution of the sacerdotal functions among several dictinct classes of priests. Such a distribution of sacrificial duties must have taken place before the close of the period of the hymns, and there can be little doubt that at that time the position of the priesthood in the community was that of a regular profession, and even, to some extent, a hereditary one ^. A post of peculiar importance, which seems to go back to a very early time, was that of the Purohita (literally ' praepositus '), or family priest to chiefs and kings. From the comparatively modest position of a private chaplain, who had to attend to the sacrificial obligations of his master, he appears to have gradually raised himself to the dignity of, so to say, a minister of public worship and confidential adviser of the king. It is obvious that such a post was singularly favourable to the designs of a crafty and am- bitious priest, and must have offered him exceptional oppor- tunities for promoting the hierarchical aspirations of the priesthood ^. In the Rig-veda there is, with the single exception of the Purusha-sukta, no clear indication of the existence of caste in the proper, Brahmanical sense of the word. That in- stitution, we may assume, was only introduced after the Brahmans had finally established their claims to the highest ^ See J. Muir, Original Sanskrit Texts, I, p. 239 seq. ' See Max Miiller, History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, p. 4S5 seq.; A. Weber, Indische Studien, X, 31 seq. In Rig-veda IV, 50, 8, Vamadeva is made to say, ' That king alone, with whom the Brahman walks in front (purva eti), lives well-established in his house ; for him there is ever abundance of food ; before him the people bow of their own accord.' If Grassmann was right in excluding verses 7-1 1 as a later addition, as I have no doubt he was (at least with legard to verses 7-9), these verses would furnish a good illustration of the gradually increasing importance of the office of Purohita.
3own accord.' If Grassmann was right in excluding verses 7-1 1 as a later addition, as I have no doubt he was (at least with legard to verses 7-9), these verses would furnish a good illustration of the gradually increasing importance of the office of Purohita. Professor Ludwig seems to take the verses 7-1 1 as forming a separate hymn; but I doubt not that he, too, must consider them on linguistic grounds, if on no other, as con- siderably later than the first six verses. The fact that the last pada of the sixth verse occurs again as the closing formula of the hymns V, 55; VIII, 40; and X, 121 (though also in VIII, 48, 13, where it is followed by two more verses) seems to favour this view. INTRODUCTION. xili rank in the body politic ; when they sought to perpetuate their social ascendancy by strictly defining the privileges and duties of the several classes, and assigning to them their respective places in the gradated scale of the Brahma- nical community. The period during which the main body of theVedic hymns was composed, in the land of the seven rivers, seems to have been followed by a time of wars and conquests. From the literary products of the succeeding period we can see that the centre of the Aryan civilisation had in the meantime shifted from the region of the Sindhu (Indus) to that of the Yamuna (Jumna) and Gahga. As the conquered districts were no doubt mainly occupied by aboriginal tribes, which had either to retire before their Aryan conquerors, or else to submit to them as 5udras, or serfs, it seems not unnatural to suppose that it was from a sense of the danger with which the purity of the Brahma- nical faith was threatened from the idolatrous practices of the aboriginal subjects, that the necessity of raising an insurmountable barrier between the Ar>^an freeman and the man of the servile class first suggested itself to the Brahmans. As religious interests would be largely involved in this kind of class legislation, it would naturally call into play the ingenuity of the priestly order ; and would create among them that tendency towards regulating the mutual relations of all classes of the community which ultimately found its legal expression, towards the close of this period, in the Dharma-sutras, the prototypes of the Hindu codes of law. The struggle for social ascendancy between the priesthood and the ruling military class must, in the nature of things, have been of long duration. In the chief literary documents of this period which have come down to us, viz.
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.
1n account of the multitude which, as reason had no power over it, required to be ruled by signs and wonders^.' The devout belief in the efficacy of invocation and sacri- ' Mommsen, History of Rome, translated by W. P. Dickson, vol. i. p. iSi. * Ibid. vol. ii. p. 400. ^ Ibid. vol. i. p. 179. * Ibid. vol. iii. p. 455. INTRODUCTION. XI ficial ofifering which pervades most of the hymns of the Rig-veda, and which may be assumed to reflect pretty faithfully the religious sentiments of those amongst whom they were composed, could not but ensure to the priest, endowed with the gift of sacred utterance, a considerable amount of respect and reverence on the part of the people. His superior culture and habitual communion with the divine rulers of the destinies of man would naturally entitle him to a place of honour by the side of the chiefs of clans, or the rulers of kingdoms, who would not fail to avail them- selves of his spiritual services, in order to secure the favour of the gods for their warlike expeditions or political under- takings. Nor did the Vedic bard fail to urge his claims on the consideration and generosity of those in the enjoyment of power and wealth. He often dwells on the supernatural virtues of his compositions and their mysterious efficacy in drawing down divine blessings on the pious worshipper. In urging the necessity of frequent and liberal offerings to the gods, and invoking worldly blessings on the offerer, the priestly bard may often be detected pleading his own cause along with that of his employer, as Ka«va does when he sings (Rig-veda Vn I, 2, 13), 'Let him be rich, let him be foremost, the bard of the rich, of so illustrious a Maghavan ^ as thou, O lord of the bay steeds ! ' Though the Dana- stutis, or verses extolling, often in highly exaggerated terms, the munificence of princely patrons, and generally occurring at the end of hymns, are doubtless, as a rule, later additions, they at least show that the sacerdotal office must have been, or must gradually have become during this period, a very lucrative one. Although there is no reason to suppose that the sacrificial ceremonial was in early times so fully developed as some scholars would have us believe, the religious service would seem to have been already of a sufficiently advanced nature to require some kind of training for the priestly office. In course of time, while the collection of hymns were faithfully 1 Maghavan, the mighty or. bountiful, is a designation both of Indra and the wealthy patron of priests. Here it is evidently intended to refer to both.
2of training for the priestly office. In course of time, while the collection of hymns were faithfully 1 Maghavan, the mighty or. bountiful, is a designation both of Indra and the wealthy patron of priests. Here it is evidently intended to refer to both. XU ^ATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA. handed down as precious heirlooms in the several families, and were gradually enriched by the poetical genius of succeeding generations, the ceremonial became more and more complicated, so as at last to necessitate the distribution of the sacerdotal functions among several dictinct classes of priests. Such a distribution of sacrificial duties must have taken place before the close of the period of the hymns, and there can be little doubt that at that time the position of the priesthood in the community was that of a regular profession, and even, to some extent, a hereditary one ^. A post of peculiar importance, which seems to go back to a very early time, was that of the Purohita (literally ' praepositus '), or family priest to chiefs and kings. From the comparatively modest position of a private chaplain, who had to attend to the sacrificial obligations of his master, he appears to have gradually raised himself to the dignity of, so to say, a minister of public worship and confidential adviser of the king. It is obvious that such a post was singularly favourable to the designs of a crafty and am- bitious priest, and must have offered him exceptional oppor- tunities for promoting the hierarchical aspirations of the priesthood ^. In the Rig-veda there is, with the single exception of the Purusha-sukta, no clear indication of the existence of caste in the proper, Brahmanical sense of the word. That in- stitution, we may assume, was only introduced after the Brahmans had finally established their claims to the highest ^ See J. Muir, Original Sanskrit Texts, I, p. 239 seq. ' See Max Miiller, History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, p. 4S5 seq.; A. Weber, Indische Studien, X, 31 seq. In Rig-veda IV, 50, 8, Vamadeva is made to say, ' That king alone, with whom the Brahman walks in front (purva eti), lives well-established in his house ; for him there is ever abundance of food ; before him the people bow of their own accord.' If Grassmann was right in excluding verses 7-1 1 as a later addition, as I have no doubt he was (at least with legard to verses 7-9), these verses would furnish a good illustration of the gradually increasing importance of the office of Purohita.
3own accord.' If Grassmann was right in excluding verses 7-1 1 as a later addition, as I have no doubt he was (at least with legard to verses 7-9), these verses would furnish a good illustration of the gradually increasing importance of the office of Purohita. Professor Ludwig seems to take the verses 7-1 1 as forming a separate hymn; but I doubt not that he, too, must consider them on linguistic grounds, if on no other, as con- siderably later than the first six verses. The fact that the last pada of the sixth verse occurs again as the closing formula of the hymns V, 55; VIII, 40; and X, 121 (though also in VIII, 48, 13, where it is followed by two more verses) seems to favour this view. INTRODUCTION. xili rank in the body politic ; when they sought to perpetuate their social ascendancy by strictly defining the privileges and duties of the several classes, and assigning to them their respective places in the gradated scale of the Brahma- nical community. The period during which the main body of theVedic hymns was composed, in the land of the seven rivers, seems to have been followed by a time of wars and conquests. From the literary products of the succeeding period we can see that the centre of the Aryan civilisation had in the meantime shifted from the region of the Sindhu (Indus) to that of the Yamuna (Jumna) and Gahga. As the conquered districts were no doubt mainly occupied by aboriginal tribes, which had either to retire before their Aryan conquerors, or else to submit to them as 5udras, or serfs, it seems not unnatural to suppose that it was from a sense of the danger with which the purity of the Brahma- nical faith was threatened from the idolatrous practices of the aboriginal subjects, that the necessity of raising an insurmountable barrier between the Ar>^an freeman and the man of the servile class first suggested itself to the Brahmans. As religious interests would be largely involved in this kind of class legislation, it would naturally call into play the ingenuity of the priestly order ; and would create among them that tendency towards regulating the mutual relations of all classes of the community which ultimately found its legal expression, towards the close of this period, in the Dharma-sutras, the prototypes of the Hindu codes of law. The struggle for social ascendancy between the priesthood and the ruling military class must, in the nature of things, have been of long duration. In the chief literary documents of this period which have come down to us, viz.
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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