Page:History of India Vol 1.djvu/121

Rh When the Kurus and Panchalas entered the Doab, they gave indications of a vigorous national life, and their internecine wars form the subject of the first National Epic of India, the Mahabharata. And although this work, in its present shape, is the production of a later age, it preserves indications of that rude and sturdy vigour and the warlike jealousy which characterized the early conquerors of the Ganges Valley. The Hindus did not, however, live many centuries in the soft climate of this valley before declining in prowess as they gained in learning and civilization. The royal courts of the Videhas and the Kasis were learned and enlightened, but contemporary literature does not bear witness to their warlike qualities. The Kosalas, too, were a polished nation, but their traditions, preserved in the second National Epic of India, the Ramayana (in its present form a production of later ages), show devotion to social and domestic duties, obedience to priests, and regard for religious forms, rather than the sturdy valour and the fiery jealousies of the Mahabharata.

This gradual enervation of the Hindus was the cause of most important changes in religious and social rules. Religion changed its spirit. The hymns with which the conquerors of the Panjab had invoked the nature-gods scarcely commended themselves to the more effete and more ceremonious Hindus of the Ganges valley. The hymns were still repeated, but lost their meaning and sense, and ceremonials and observances took the place of simple forms. The priestly class