Page:The Religion of the Veda.djvu/212

 196 a The Religion of tho Veda

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and replace: him in the 130.com of the One Two Being. Of all this later on.

However, oven thcssc saccharine promises about the accumulated crctlit given in hoavon for Bizcriﬁcc mch bukahccsh scum not to ll;th been regarded by the poet pricstﬁ as a mzﬂicicnt guamntcc that: they might sccurcly count upon that faith which meant works useful to thcm. Tlmy cmploy‘ nnotlmr devicc. Being skillccl vcr'sc»5111itizs:, they begin to 1156: thcir craft to forge chains of poetry which shall hold rich patrons willing captives, T lxcy composc tho sob-callch déyzawxz‘ztz‘z}, “ gift-praisco,” or gzirﬁzf miragmisyaﬁ, “stanzas singingthc praise: of men.“ In dithyrmnbic language exorbitant gifts: on the part of gcncrmm givers of old, mythic kings and patrons, arc: nora- ratcd, so as to stimulate thc potential patron of tho present day. Thcy sing these praises so otridcntly that the Vcdic texts themselves, in their soborcr moments, dccry the “ gift-.praiscs ” as lies; and polluu- tion. The poet of a “stanza. singing tho praise of men ” and the brandyudrunkard are: likcnccl unto one another: they are polluted, their gifts musst not bc accepted. I question Whether the religious; literal“ turc of any other people contains anything that resembles either in character or extent the “gift-

1 Cf. Ludwig, ﬂaw Ragn- Veda, vol. iii., p. 274 ﬂ}; Bloomfield, T11: A tfmrzla- Veda (frztz’awArycﬁ Encym’apwdz'a), p. 100.

HIP-gna—

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