Page:The Religion of the Veda.djvu/207

 Religious Conceptions and Feeling 191:

persona. grate “ with him that giveth, and him that shall give.” ‘ An exceedineg interesting hymn of the AtharvmVeda, not at all wanting in poeticinspiration, is addressed to the demoness “Grudge,” or “ Avarico.” The name of the lady is Arﬂti. Of course she is primarily an abstraction, Yet she appears as a full. ﬂedged person: she has a golden complexion, is lovely, rests upon golden cushions; is in fact quite an Apsaras, or “schoene Teufelinne,” as the old German poetry has it in for Venus. With all her

charms she is coaxed to go away:

“ Bring (wealth) to us, do not stand in our way, 0 Arati ; do not keep from us the sacriﬁcial fee when it is being taken to us! Homage be to the power of grudge, to the power of baffling! Adoration to Arati!

“Him whom I implore with holy word (Vac Sarasvati), the yoke—fellow of thought, may Faith enter him today,

aroused by the burnished St?th drink! ” (AtharvawVeda 5. 7. I, 5.)

That is to say, when the burnished some drink sparkles in the cup, when the pious emotion that comes from the skilful hymn stirs the heart of the rich sacriﬁcer, then enters into him Faith. But what kind? The kind that drives out niggardliness. Then he gives to the Brahmans. How the Brahmans do long for baksheesh, especially when they are poor!

1 Rig-Veda IO. I51. 2, 3.