Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 21.djvu/300

Rh 280 SANSKRIT [LITERATURE. Atharva- veda- brah- mana. Atharva- veda- Upani- shads. to those of the earlier books, which had probably escaped the collectors' attention; while the last book, consisting almost entirely of hymns to Indra, taken from the Rik-samhita, is nothing more than a liturgical manual of the recitations and chants required at the Soma sacrifice. The Atharvan has come down to us in a much less satisfactory state of preservation than any of the other Samhitas, and its interpretation, which offers considerable difficulties on account of numerous popular and out-of-the-way expressions, has so far received comparatively little aid from native sources. A com- mentary by the famous Vedic exegete Sayana, which has lately come to light in India, may, however, be expected to throw light on some obscure passages. Even more important is the discovery, some years ago, through the exertions of Sir William Muir, of an entirely different recension of the Atharva-samhita, preserved in Kashmir. This new recension, 1 supposed to be that of the Paippalada school, consists likewise of twenty books (kanda), but both in textual matter and in its arrangement it differs very much from the current text. A considerable portion of the latter, including unfortunately the whole of the eighteenth book, is wanting; while the hymns of the nineteenth book are for the most part found also in this text, though not as a separate book, but scattered over the whole collection. Possibly, therefore, this recension may have formed one of the sources'whence the nineteenth book was compiled. The twentieth book is wanting, with the exception of a few of the verses not taken from the Rik. As a set-off to these shortcomings the new version offers, however, a good deal of fresh matter, amounting to about one-sixth of the whole. From the Mahabhashya and other works quoting as the beginning of the Atharva-samhita a verse that coincides with the first verse of the sixth hymn of the current text, it has long been known that at least one other recension must have existed; but owing to the defective state of the Kashmir MS. it cannot be determined whether the new recension (as seems likely) corresponds to the one referred to in those works. The only Brahinana of the Atharvan, the Gopalha-brdhmana,* is probably one of the most modern works of its class. It consists of two parts, the first of which contains cosmogonic speculations, interspersed with legends, apparently taken from other Brah- raanas, and general instructions on religious duties and observ- ances ; while the second part treats, in a very desultory manner, of various points of the sacrificial ceremonial. The Kalpa-sutras belonging to this Veda comprise both a manual of sVauta rites, the Vaitdna-stitra,* and a manual of domestic rites, the Kausika-sHilra.* The latter treatise is not only the more inter- esting of the two, but also the more ancient, being actually quoted in the other. The teacher Kausika is repeatedly referred to in the work on points of ceremonial doctrine. Connected with this Sutra are upwards of seventy Parisishtas, or supplementary treatises, mostly in metrical form, on various subjects bearing on the per- formance of grihya rites. The last, sutra-work to be noticed in connexion with this Veda is the Saunaktyd Chaturddhydyikd,* being a Pratisakhya of the Atharva-samhita, so called from its con- sisting of four lectures (adhyaya). Although Saunaka can hardly be credited with being the actual author of the work, considering that his opinion is rejected in the only rule where his name appears, there is no reason to doubt that it chiefly embodies the phonetic theories of that teacher, which were afterwards perfected by members of his school. Whether this Saunaka is identical with the writer of that name to whom the final redaction of the Sakala- pratisjikhya of the Rik is ascribed is not known ; but it is worthy of note that on at least two points where Sakalya is quoted by Panini, the Chaturadhyayika seems to be referred to rather than the Rik-pratisakhya. Saunaka is quoted once in the Vajasaneyi- pratisakhya; and it is possible that Katyayana had the Chatur- adhyayika in view, though his reference does not quite tally with the respective rule of that work. Another class of writings already alluded to as traditionally connected with the Atharvaveda are the numerous Upanishads 9 which do not specially attach themselves to one or other of the Samiiitas or Brahmanas of the other Vcdas. The Atharvana- upanishads, mostly composed in s*lokas, may be roughly divided into two classes, viz., those of a purely speculative or general pantheistic character, treating chiefly of the nature of the supreme spirit, and the means of attaining to union therewith, and those 01 a sectarian tendency. Of the former category, a limited number such as the Pras*na, Mundaka, and Mandiikya-upanishads have 1 It is in the hands of Prof. R. v. Roth, who has given an account of it in his academic dissertation, " Der Atharvaveda in Kaschmir," 1875. a Edited, in the Bibl. Ind., by Rajendralala Mitra. 3 Text and a German translation published by R. Garbe. 4 This difficult treatise is about to be published by Prof. Bloomfield. Two sections of it have been printed and translated by A. Weber "Omina et Portenta," 1859. 8 Edited and translated by W. D. Whitney. 8 For a full list of existing translations of and essays on the Upani- shads, see Introd. to Max Miiller's Upanishads, Sacred Books, i. probably to be assigned to the later period of Vedic literature ~ T whilst the others presuppose more or less distinctly the existence of some fully developed system of philosophy, especially the Yrcluuta or the Yoga. The sectarian rpanishads, on the other hand identifying the supreme spirit either with one of the forms of Vishnu (such as the Narayana, Nrisimha-tapaniya, RTuna- tapaniyaj Gopala-tapauiya), or with' Siva (e.g. the Rudropanishad), or with some other deity belong to post- Vedic times. II. THE CLASSICAL PERIOD. The classical literature of India is almost entirely a pro- duct of artificial growth, in the sense that its vehicle was not the language of the general body of the people, but of a small and educated class. It would scarcely be possible, even approximately, to fix the time when the literary idiom ceased to be understood by the common people. We only know that in the 3d century B.C. there existed several dialects in different parts of northern India which differed considerably from the Sanskrit ; and Buddhist tradition, moreover, tells us that Gautama SYikyamuni himself, in the 6th century B.C., made use of the local dialect of Magadha (Behar) for preaching his new doctrine. Not unlikely, indeed, popular dialects, differing perhaps but slightly from one another, may have existed as early as the time of the Vedic hymns, when the Indo-Aryans, divided into clans and tribes, occupied the Land of the Seven Rivers ; but such dialects must, at any rate, have sprung up after the extension of the Aryan sway and language over the whole breadth of northern India. Such, however, has been the case in the history of all nations ; and there is no reason why, even with the existence of local dialects, the literary language should not have kept in touch with the people in India, as elsewhere, but for the fact that from a certain time that language remained alto- gether stationary, allowing the vernacular dialects more and more to diverge from it. Although linguistic research had been successfully carried on in India for centuries, the actual grammatical fixation of Sanskrit seems to have taken place about contemporaneously with the first spread of Buddhism ; and indeed that popular religious movement undoubtedly exercised a powerful influence on the linguistic development of India. A. Poetical Literature. 1. Epic Poems. The Hindus, like the Greeks, possess two The great national epics, the Rdmdyana and the Mahdbhdrata. The Rdmdyana, i.e., poem " relating to Rama," is ascribed el to the poet Valmiki ; and, allowance being made for later additions here and there, the poem indeed presents the appearance of being the work of an individual genius. In its present form it consists of some 24,000 s*lokas, or 48,000 lines of sixteen syllables, divided into seven books. (I.) King Daaratha of KosSala, reigning at Ayodhya, (Oudh), has four sons born him by three wives, viz., Rama, Bharata, and the twins Lakshmana and Satrughna. lifuna, by being able to bend an enormous bow, formerly the dreaded weapon of the god Rudra, wins for a wife Sita, daughter of Janaka, king of Vidcha (Tirhut). (II.) On his return to Ayodhya be is to be appointed heir-apparent (yuva-raja, i.e., juvcnis rex); but Bharata's mother persuades the king to banish his eldest son for fourteen years to the wilderness, and appoint her son instead. Separation from his favourite son soon breaks the kind's heart; whereupon the ministers call on Bharata to assume the reins of government. He refuses, however, and, betaking himself to Rama's retreat on the Chitrakuta mountain (in Bundelkhund), implores him to return ; but, unable to shake Rama's resolve to complete his term of exile, he consents to take charge of the kingdom in the meantime. (III.) After a ten years' residence in the forest, Kama attracts the attention of a female demon (Rakshasi) ; and, infuriated by the rejection of her advances, and by the wounds inflicted on her by Lakshmana, who keeps Rama company, she inspires her brother Havana, demon- king of Ceylon, with love for Sita, in consequence of which the latter is carried olf by him to his capital Lanka. While she resolutely rejects the Rakshasa's addresses, Rama sets out with his brother to her rescue. (IV.) After numerous adventures they