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Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1types 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 Ya^ur-veda, the Brahma;/as, and the hymns of the Atharva-veda some of which perhaps go back to the time of the later hymns of the Rik, we meet with numerous passages in which the ambitious claims of the Brahmans are put forward with singular frankness. The powerful personal influence exer- cised by the Purohitas, as has already been indicated, seems to have largely contributed to the final success of the XIV ^ATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA. sacerdotal order. Thus we read in the Aitareya-brahma;/a VIII, 24-25, 'Verily, the gods do not eat the food offered by the king who is without a Purohita : wherefore let the king, who wishes to sacrifice, place a Brahman at the head (puro adhita). . . .' ' Now Agni Vaijvanara, who is pos- sessed of five destructive weapons, is the same as the Purohita. With them he constantly surrounds (protects) the king, even as the ocean surrounds the earth : the king- dom of such a ruler is undisturbed. His vital breath deserts him not before the (full term of) life, but he lives to old age, and attains to the full measure of life : he dies not (and is not born) again, whosoever possesses such a wise Brahman for his Purohita, for the guardian of his realm.' And again, in the Atharva-veda III, 19, 'May this prayer of mine be accomplished ; may perfect vigour and strength, may perfect, unceasing, and victorious power accrue to those whose Purohita I am. I perfect their kingdom, their might, their vigour, their strength. With this oblation I cut off the arms of their enemies .... Go forth, ye men, and conquer ; may your arms be terrible ! ye sharp-shafted, smite the weak-bowed ; ye of terrible weapons and terrible arms, (smite) the feeble ! when discharged, fly forth, O arrow, sped by prayer ; vanquish the enemies ; rush forward and slay all the best of them ; let not one of them escape^.' The question as to how the Brahmans ultimately succeeded in overcoming the resistance of the ruling class receives but little light from the contemporaneous records. Later legendary accounts of sanguinary struggles between the two classes, and the final overthrow, and even annihilation, of the Kshatriyas can hardly deserve much credence. At best they seem to contain some small kernel of historical fact.
2contemporaneous records. Later legendary accounts of sanguinary struggles between the two classes, and the final overthrow, and even annihilation, of the Kshatriyas can hardly deserve much credence. At best they seem to contain some small kernel of historical fact. Perseverance and tenacity of purpose were probably the chief means by which the Brahmans gained their ends. Not unfrequently, too, kings may have lent their countenance to the aspirations of the priesthood, as calculated to counter- act the unruly spirit and ambitious designs of the military order. We certainly meet with not a few instances of kings ' Cf. J. Muir, Original Sanskrit Texts, I, p. 283. INTRODUCTION. XV figuring as the patrons of learned Brahmans. As the old hymns were gradually assuming the character of divinely inspired utterances, additional matter might occasionally find its way into them, almost unconsciously, which more adequately expressed the actual scope of the aspirations of their priestly depositaries. That many such additions must have been made to the old hymns, prior to the age of diaskeuasts and exegetes, cannot be doubted. Another, even more important, source of strength to the sacerdotal order was the sacrifice. The more complicated the ceremonial, the greater the dependence of the lay wor- shipper on the professional skill of the priests ; and the greater the number of priests required for the proper per- formance of these ceremonies, the larger the gains derived by the priesthood generally from this kind of occupation. What more natural, therefore, than that the highest importance should have been ascribed to these performances, and an ever-increasing attention bestowed on the elaboration of the ceremonial. From clear indications in not a few hymns of the Rig-veda it appears, as has already been remarked, that a distribution of the sacrificial functions among different classes of priests had taken place before the final redaction of that collection. As to the time when such a step may have become necessary for the due performance of sacri- fices, this is a question which will probably never be decided. The sacrifice is an old Indo-Iranian, if not Indo- Germanic, institution. Some of the chief Indian sacrifices undoubtedly go back, in some form or other, to the common Indo-Iranian period, notably the Soma-sacrifice, and, if we may judge from the coincidence of name between the apri -hymns ^ and the af ri-gan of the Parsi ritual, the animal sacrifice.
3f Indian sacrifices undoubtedly go back, in some form or other, to the common Indo-Iranian period, notably the Soma-sacrifice, and, if we may judge from the coincidence of name between the apri -hymns ^ and the af ri-gan of the Parsi ritual, the animal sacrifice. As regards the third great division of Indian sacrifices, the havirya^was (or offerings of milk, butter, grain-food, and similar materials), of which the present volume treats, we have hardly any evidence to fall back upon. It is, * See Hang's Essays, p. 241 ; Max Miiller, History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, p. 463 seq. XVI ^-ATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA. however, highly probable that these sacrifices also reach at all events far back into the Vedic antiquity. Perhaps the careful preservation of the pravara-lists\ or lists of ancestors required at the ish^i, the normal form of offering which underlies the havirya^/7as, might he adduced in favour of the antiquity of the latter. This, however, is a point which requires further investigation. Neither has the last word been spoken regarding the traditional arrange- ments of the hymns. It is well known that the majority of the single collections of which the first seven Ma;/^alas (and to some extent those of the tenth) are made up, begin with hymns addressed to Agni, which, as a rule, are followed by hymns addressed to Indra. These, again, are in many cases followed by hymns to the Yisve Deva// (and Maruts)^. Now, in the later dogmatic literature we find the three Aryan castes, the Brahman, the Kshatra, and the Vis, identified with Agni, Indra, and the Vij've Devak (all the gods, or, as a special class, the All-Gods)^ respectively. This identification is a very natural one. Agni, the sacrificial fire, the bearer of oblations and caller of the gods, is, like the priest, the legitimate mediator between God and man. Penetrating brilliance (te^as) and holy lustre (var/^as) are the common attributes of the Brahman. Again, Indra, the valiant hero, for ever battling with the dark powers of the sky, is a not less appropriate representative of the knightly order. According to Professor Roth, this truly national deity of the Vedic Aryans would seem to have superseded ' See the present volume, p. 115 note. ^ See Max Miiller, History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, p. 461 seq. 3 See especially Taitt. S. VII, i, i, 4. 5 ; Weber, Ind. Stud. X, pp. 8, 26. In Szt. Br. II, 4, 3, 6. 7, Indra and AgTii are identified with the Kshatra (? power in general) and the Visvc DevaA with the Vis.
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.
1types 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 Ya^ur-veda, the Brahma;/as, and the hymns of the Atharva-veda some of which perhaps go back to the time of the later hymns of the Rik, we meet with numerous passages in which the ambitious claims of the Brahmans are put forward with singular frankness. The powerful personal influence exer- cised by the Purohitas, as has already been indicated, seems to have largely contributed to the final success of the XIV ^ATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA. sacerdotal order. Thus we read in the Aitareya-brahma;/a VIII, 24-25, 'Verily, the gods do not eat the food offered by the king who is without a Purohita : wherefore let the king, who wishes to sacrifice, place a Brahman at the head (puro adhita). . . .' ' Now Agni Vaijvanara, who is pos- sessed of five destructive weapons, is the same as the Purohita. With them he constantly surrounds (protects) the king, even as the ocean surrounds the earth : the king- dom of such a ruler is undisturbed. His vital breath deserts him not before the (full term of) life, but he lives to old age, and attains to the full measure of life : he dies not (and is not born) again, whosoever possesses such a wise Brahman for his Purohita, for the guardian of his realm.' And again, in the Atharva-veda III, 19, 'May this prayer of mine be accomplished ; may perfect vigour and strength, may perfect, unceasing, and victorious power accrue to those whose Purohita I am. I perfect their kingdom, their might, their vigour, their strength. With this oblation I cut off the arms of their enemies .... Go forth, ye men, and conquer ; may your arms be terrible ! ye sharp-shafted, smite the weak-bowed ; ye of terrible weapons and terrible arms, (smite) the feeble ! when discharged, fly forth, O arrow, sped by prayer ; vanquish the enemies ; rush forward and slay all the best of them ; let not one of them escape^.' The question as to how the Brahmans ultimately succeeded in overcoming the resistance of the ruling class receives but little light from the contemporaneous records. Later legendary accounts of sanguinary struggles between the two classes, and the final overthrow, and even annihilation, of the Kshatriyas can hardly deserve much credence. At best they seem to contain some small kernel of historical fact.
2contemporaneous records. Later legendary accounts of sanguinary struggles between the two classes, and the final overthrow, and even annihilation, of the Kshatriyas can hardly deserve much credence. At best they seem to contain some small kernel of historical fact. Perseverance and tenacity of purpose were probably the chief means by which the Brahmans gained their ends. Not unfrequently, too, kings may have lent their countenance to the aspirations of the priesthood, as calculated to counter- act the unruly spirit and ambitious designs of the military order. We certainly meet with not a few instances of kings ' Cf. J. Muir, Original Sanskrit Texts, I, p. 283. INTRODUCTION. XV figuring as the patrons of learned Brahmans. As the old hymns were gradually assuming the character of divinely inspired utterances, additional matter might occasionally find its way into them, almost unconsciously, which more adequately expressed the actual scope of the aspirations of their priestly depositaries. That many such additions must have been made to the old hymns, prior to the age of diaskeuasts and exegetes, cannot be doubted. Another, even more important, source of strength to the sacerdotal order was the sacrifice. The more complicated the ceremonial, the greater the dependence of the lay wor- shipper on the professional skill of the priests ; and the greater the number of priests required for the proper per- formance of these ceremonies, the larger the gains derived by the priesthood generally from this kind of occupation. What more natural, therefore, than that the highest importance should have been ascribed to these performances, and an ever-increasing attention bestowed on the elaboration of the ceremonial. From clear indications in not a few hymns of the Rig-veda it appears, as has already been remarked, that a distribution of the sacrificial functions among different classes of priests had taken place before the final redaction of that collection. As to the time when such a step may have become necessary for the due performance of sacri- fices, this is a question which will probably never be decided. The sacrifice is an old Indo-Iranian, if not Indo- Germanic, institution. Some of the chief Indian sacrifices undoubtedly go back, in some form or other, to the common Indo-Iranian period, notably the Soma-sacrifice, and, if we may judge from the coincidence of name between the apri -hymns ^ and the af ri-gan of the Parsi ritual, the animal sacrifice.
3f Indian sacrifices undoubtedly go back, in some form or other, to the common Indo-Iranian period, notably the Soma-sacrifice, and, if we may judge from the coincidence of name between the apri -hymns ^ and the af ri-gan of the Parsi ritual, the animal sacrifice. As regards the third great division of Indian sacrifices, the havirya^was (or offerings of milk, butter, grain-food, and similar materials), of which the present volume treats, we have hardly any evidence to fall back upon. It is, * See Hang's Essays, p. 241 ; Max Miiller, History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, p. 463 seq. XVI ^-ATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA. however, highly probable that these sacrifices also reach at all events far back into the Vedic antiquity. Perhaps the careful preservation of the pravara-lists\ or lists of ancestors required at the ish^i, the normal form of offering which underlies the havirya^/7as, might he adduced in favour of the antiquity of the latter. This, however, is a point which requires further investigation. Neither has the last word been spoken regarding the traditional arrange- ments of the hymns. It is well known that the majority of the single collections of which the first seven Ma;/^alas (and to some extent those of the tenth) are made up, begin with hymns addressed to Agni, which, as a rule, are followed by hymns addressed to Indra. These, again, are in many cases followed by hymns to the Yisve Deva// (and Maruts)^. Now, in the later dogmatic literature we find the three Aryan castes, the Brahman, the Kshatra, and the Vis, identified with Agni, Indra, and the Vij've Devak (all the gods, or, as a special class, the All-Gods)^ respectively. This identification is a very natural one. Agni, the sacrificial fire, the bearer of oblations and caller of the gods, is, like the priest, the legitimate mediator between God and man. Penetrating brilliance (te^as) and holy lustre (var/^as) are the common attributes of the Brahman. Again, Indra, the valiant hero, for ever battling with the dark powers of the sky, is a not less appropriate representative of the knightly order. According to Professor Roth, this truly national deity of the Vedic Aryans would seem to have superseded ' See the present volume, p. 115 note. ^ See Max Miiller, History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, p. 461 seq. 3 See especially Taitt. S. VII, i, i, 4. 5 ; Weber, Ind. Stud. X, pp. 8, 26. In Szt. Br. II, 4, 3, 6. 7, Indra and AgTii are identified with the Kshatra (? power in general) and the Visvc DevaA with the Vis.
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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