Page:The Religion of the Veda.djvu/230

 214 The Religion of the Veda

smaller house-holders who could not afford them, and did not have any use for them. They had in them the elements of public, tribal or national festivals.‘ Of course they were expensive. A large number of priests were present. We have seen in the past that these gentlemen were not at all shy about asking fees (do/island“) for their services. Now we are told dis- tinctly that the Vedic Kings, or tribal Rajas, were not only interested in the mechanical perfection and outward success of the sacriﬁces undertaken under their patronage, but that they were even more im~ pressed by the speculative, mystic, and theosophic thoughts which were suggested by various phases of the sacriﬁce. Both in the Brahmanas and in. the Up. anishads kings appear as questioners of the great Brahmans who solve for them some knotty sacriﬁcial problem, or even some question connected with the riddle of existence. Whenever their questions are answered to their satisfaction, in the midst of a continuous discourse, the King again and again is excited to generosity: “I give thee a thousand (cows),” says King Janaka of Videha to the great the030pher Yajnavalkya, as the latter unfolds his marvellous scheme of salvation in the “ Great Forest Upanishad.” 5’ Kings were known to give away their

I Cf. Ludwig, Der Rig— Veda, vol, vi., p. x. 9 Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 4. 1:3. I4ﬁ

“a...”