Page:History of India Vol 1.djvu/45

Rh alludes to irrigation of fields by means of canals which were replenished with water by means of a drona; and in another we are told that cultivators who irrigated their fields kept away birds by uttering loud cries.

Allusions to pasturage, however, are by no means so frequent as allusions to agriculture. Pushan is the god of shepherds–he is the sun as viewed by shepherds–and is supposed to protect them and travellers generally in their wanderings over the country. And here and there in a hymn to Pushan, we find that the Aryans of India had brought with them recollections and songs about those migrations which they occasionally undertook in their primitive home, if not after their settlement in India. We translate one such hymn below:—

"O Pushan! help us to finish our journey, and remove all dangers. Son of the Cloud, do thou march before us!

"O Pushan! do thou remove from our path him who would lead us astray, who strikes and plunders and does wrong.

"Do thou drive away that wily robber who intercepts journeys.

"Do thou trample under thy foot the vile carcass of him who plunders us in both ways (by stealth and by force) and who commits outrages.

"O wise Pushan, destroyer of enemies! we implore of thee the protection with which thou didst shield and encourage our forefathers.