must have taken place in 1181 B. C., and 1426 B. C. is given for the formation of the lunar mansions.* A knowledge of the solar zodiac was borrowed from the Greeks, after the Christian era, as we will see in a subsequent Book.

Besides astronomy, other branches of learning were also cultivated in the Epic Period. Thus in Chhândogya Upanishad (VII, 1, 2), we find Nârada saying to Sanatkumâra, "I know the Rig Veda, sir, the Yajur Veda, the Sâma Veda, as the fourth the Atharvana, as the fifth the Itihâsa Purâna, the Veda of the Vedas (grammar); the Pitrya (rules for sacrifices for the ancestors); the Râsi (the science of numbers); the Daiva (the science of portents); the Nidhi (the science of time); the Vâkovâkya (logic); the Ekâyana (ethics); the Deva Vidyâ (etymology;) the Brahma Vidyâ (pronunciation, prosody, &c.); the Bhûta Vidyâ (the science of demons); the Kshatra Vidyâ (the science of weapons); the Nakshatra Vidya (astronomy); the Sarpa Devanjana Vidyâ (the science of serpents and of genii). All this I know, sir."

In Brihadâranyaka (II, 4, 10) we are told that " RigVeda, Yajur Veda, Sâma Veda, Atharvângirasas, Itihâsa (legends), Purâna (cosmogonies) Vidyâ (knowledge), the Upanishads, Slokas (verses), Sûtras (prose rules) Anu Vyâkhyânas (glosses), Vyâkhyânas (com

* Hindu Astronomy. London (1825). P. 3 and 10.

mentaries), have all been breathed forth from the Supreme Being.

Again in the eleventh book of the Satapatha Brâhmana, we have mention of the three Vedas, the Atharvângirasas, the Aunsâsanas, the Vidyâs, the Vâkovâkya, the Itihâsa Purâna, the Narasansîs and the Gâthâs.

Professor Weber is of opinion that these names do not necessarily imply distinct species of work which existed in the Epic Period, and which have been since lost to us. He points out that many of the names merely imply the different subjects which we still find existing in the Brâhmanas. It was at a later age, in the Rationalistic Period, that these different subjects which we find interwoven in the Brahmanas and Upanishads branched out as separate subjects of study, and were taught in the separate Sûtra works and compositions which have came down to us.

There is considerable force in this supposition, but at the same time it seems very likely that on many of the subjects enumerated above, separate works existed in the Epic Period, which have been lost to us because they have been replaced by more elaborate and scien tific works of a later age on the same subjects.

CHAPTER VIII.

THE SACRIFICIAL RITES AND LEGENDS OF THE

BRAHMANAS.

THE main feature which distinguishes the religion of the Epic Period from that of the preceding age is the great importance which came to be attached to sacrifice. In the earlier portion of the Vedic Period, men composed hymns in praise of the most imposing manifestations of nature; they deified these various natural phenomena, and they worshipped these deities under the name of Indra or Varuna of Agni or the Maruts. The worship took the shape of sacrifice, ¿. e., the offering of milk or grain food, of animals or libations of the soma juice to the gods. Such offerings were but an accompaniment to the worship of the gods which proceeded from pious hearts and pious lips.

A gradual change, however, is perceptible towards the close of the Rig Veda, and in the period of the Brahmanas sacrifice as such, the mere forms and ceremonials and offerings, had acquired such an abnormal importance, that everything else was lost in it. The priests appear to have believed that the ancient hymns had been composed simply and solely for the purpose

of being uttered at sacrifices, and were only a means to the great end. They entirely forgot that the hymns were themselves the earliest expression of those feelings of gratitude and fervency in the human heart which found a later and a less pure form of expression in elaborate sacrifices.

It would be entirely foreign to our purpose to describe the various kinds of sacrifices of which we find accounts in the Brâhmanas, from the simple morning or evening sacrifice (Agnihotra), and the new and full moon sacrifices (Darsa Pûrnamâsa Ishti), to the sattras or sacrificial sessions, which lasted for a whole year or even ten or twelve years!

Sacrifices were generally accompanied by gifts of cattle, gold, garments and food, and by the offering of animals as victims. There is a curious passage in Satapatha Brahmana, 1, 2, 3, 7 & 8, about animal sacrifice which deserves to be quoted:

"At first, namely, the gods offered up a man as a victim. When he was offered up, the sacrificial essence went out of him. It entered into the horse. They offered up the horse. When it was offered, the sacrificial essence went out of it. It entered into the ox, when it was offered up, the sacrificial essence went out of it. It entered into the sheep. They offered up the sheep. When it was offered up, the sacrificial essence went out of it. It entered into the goat. They offered up the goat. When it was offered up, the sacrificial R. C. D., A. I.

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essence went out of it. It entered into this earth. They searched for it by digging. They found it in the shape of those two substances, the rice and barley: therefore even now they obtain those two by digging; and as much efficacy as all those sacrificed animal victims would have for him, so much efficacy has this oblation (of rice, &c.), for him who knows this.”

Professor Max Müller infers from this passage that human sacrifices prevailed among the ancient Hindus, not in the Brâhmana Period, not even in the Vedic Period, but at a still remoter age. Dr. Rajendra Lala Mitra, we regret to observe, follows the lead of Professor Max Müller, and infers from certain other passages which he quotes from the literature of this period, that the inhuman custom prevailed in the remote past. We demur to the conclusions of these two eminent scholars.

If human sacrifice had prevailed in India before the Rig Veda hymns which are now extant were composed, we should certainly have found allusions to it in the hymns themselves---allusions far more frequent than we find in the later Brâhmana Literature. We find no such allusions. The story of Sunahsepha, as told in the Rig Veda, is no evidence of human sacrifice. And there is absolutely nothing else in the Rig Veda which can be construed as evidence of this fact. It is impossible to suppose that such a striking and fearful custom should have existed and gradually fallen into disuse without