Page:Sacred Books of the East - Volume 42.djvu/29

 INTRODUCTION. XXV

��TB. Ill, 12, 9, I; atharva^a//, Pa;?/&. Br. XVI, lo, lo. The derivative neuter plural atharva/zani (sc. suktani) is common, from AV.XIX, 23, i; V^fik. Br. XII, 9, 10 to Vr/ddhaha- rita-sa/whita 111,45 ((^ivananda, vol. i, p. 213), and later. The same stem, atharva;/a, is used in the masculine singular, atharva/zaj- (sc. veda/^) /^aturtha/^, AV/and. Up. VII, i, 2. 4; 2, ]; 7, 1; in the plural, mantra atharva;/a/^, Ram. II, 26, 21. The stem atharva//a (without vr/ddhi of derivation) is found N/'/si;;/hapurvatapani Up. II, 1, atharva;?air mantrai//; Mahabh. Ill, 189, 14 = 12963, atharva;^a^ (sc. veda/^). Still another derivative is atharva/za, in atharva;/a-vid, Mahabh. XII, 342, 100=13259. The name atharva-veda appears about as early a^the corresponding names of the other Vedic categories (rzgveda. &c.), 5arikh. 5r. XVI, 2, 10; Par. Gr/h. II, i, 7; Hir. Gr/h. II, 19, 6; Baudh. Grih. IV, 5, I. The form employed in the C'ainist Siddhanta is a(t)havva;/a-veda (see below, p. Ivi); that of the Buddhist scriptures is athabba//a-veda (ibid.).

In addition to the designations of the Atharvan discussed

above there are still others, based upon different modes of

^, viewing this heterogeneous collection of Mantras.

Other ° ° ^

designations A single passage, 5at. Br. XIV, (S, 14, 1-4 = of the AV. ^^,.^^ ^^ ^p^ y^ j^^ j_^^ sQ&ms to hint at the

fourth Veda with the word kshatram. The passage is engaged in pointing out the merits of Vedic compositions, stated in the series uktham { = 7'ik; cf. 5at. Br. X, 5, 2, 20), ya^u//, sama, kshatram. Inasmuch as the first three ob- viously represent the trayi vidya, it is possible to view kshatram as epitomising the Atharvan ^ If so, the passage is of considerable interest, as it seems to view the fourth Veda as the Veda of the Kshatriyas. More precisely the passage substitutes the act of kshatra, i.e. the characteristic performances of the Kshatriya (through, or with the aid of

��1 Cf. also Prajna Up. II, 6, where brahma and kshatra figure. Both together represent in the epics the best outcome of the life of a kshatriya, ' piety ' and ' prowess.' It is possible to conceive the appearance of kshatra alone as an elliptic version of both brahma and kshatra, the two together being the out- come of the trayi preceding, rather than a supplementary statement of additional Vedic types of composition; cf Pra^na Up. II, 6. For brahma alone, see below, p. xxxi, note.

�� �