vii. 18, 1. Tve ha yat pitaraś chid naḥ Indra viśvā vāmā jaritāro asanvann ityādi | "Since, in thee, o Indra, even our fathers, thy worshippers, obtained all riches," etc. vii. 29, 4. Uto gha te purushyāḥ id āsan yeshām pūrveshām aśrinor rishīnām | adha aham tvā Maghavan johavīmi tvam naḥ Indra asi pramatiḥ piteva | "Even they were of mortal birth,-those former rishis whom thou didst hear. I invoke thee again and again, o Maghavan; thou art to us wise as a father." vii. 53, 1. . . . . Te chid hi pūrve kavayo grinantaḥ puro mahi dadhire devaputre | "The ancient poets, celebrating their praises, have placed in the front these two great [beings, heaven and earth] of whom the gods are the children." vii. 76, 4. Te id devānām sadhamādaḥ āsann ṛitāvānaḥ kavayaḥ pūrvyāsaḥ | gūṛham jyotiḥ pitaro anvavindan satya - mantrāḥ ajanayann ushāsam | "They shared in the enjoyments of the gods, those ancient pious sages. Our fathers discovered the hidden light; with true hymns they caused the dawn to arise." vii. 91, 1. Kuvid anga namasā ye vṛidhāṣaḥ purā devāḥ anavadyāṣaḥ āsan | te Vāyave Manave bādhitāya avāsayann⋆ ushasam sūryena | "Certainly those gods who were formerly magnified (or grew) by worship were altogether blameless. They lighted up the dawn and the sun to Vayu (Ayu?) and the afflicted Manu." (See Vol. I. p. 172.) viii. 36, 7. S'yāvāśvasya sunvatas tathā śṛinu yathā aśṛinor Atreḥ karmani kṛinvataḥ | "Listen to Syāvāśva pouring forth libations, in the same way as thou didst listen to Atri when he celebrated sacred rites." 5 ix. 96, 11. Tvaya hi naḥ pitaraḥ Soma pūrve karmāni chakruḥ paramāna dhīrāḥ | "For through thee, o pure Soma, our wise forefathers of old performed their sacred rites." • See Benfey's Glossary to Sāma-veda, under the word vas 2. ix. 110, 7. Tve Soma prathamāḥ vṛikta-varhisho mahe vājāya śravase dhiyam dadhuh | "The former [priests] having strewed the sacred grass, offered up a hymn to thee, o Soma, for great strength and food." x. 14, 15 (=A.V. xviii. 2, 2). Idam namaḥ ṛishibhyaḥ pūrvajebhyaḥ pathikridbhyaḥ | "This reverence to the rishis, born of old, the ancients, who showed us the road." (This verse may also be employed to prove that at the end of the Vedic period the rishis had become objects of veneration.) x. 66, 14. Vasishṭhāsaḥ pitṛivad vācham akrata devān ilānāḥ ṛishivad | ityādi | "The Vasishthas, like the forefathers, like the rishis, have uttered their voice, worshipping the gods." x. 67, 1-will be quoted in a following section. x. 96, 5. Tvam aharyathāḥ upastutaḥ pūrvebhir Indra harikeśa yajvabhiḥ 'Indra, with golden hair, thou didst rejoice, when lauded by the ancient priests." x. 98, 9. Tvām pūrve rishayo girbhir āyan tvām adhvareshu puruhūta viśve | "To thee the former rishis resorted with their hymns; to thee, thou much invoked, all men [resorted] at the sacrifices." Vājasaneyi Sanhitā, xviii. 52. Imau te pakshāv ajarau patatrinau yābhyām rakshāmsi apahamsi Agne | tābhyām patema sukṛitām u lokam yatra rishayo jagmuḥ prathamajāḥ purānāḥ | "But these undecaying, soaring pinions, with which, o Agni, thou slayest the Rakshases,-with them let us ascend to the world of the righteous, whither the earliest-born ancient rishis have gone." (This verse is quoted in the S'atapatha Brāhmaṇa, ix. 4, 4, 4, p. 739.) The ancient rishis, as Sayana says in his note on R.V. i. 2, were Bhrigu, Angiras, and others whom he does not name. In another place we find Atharvan, Manu, Dadhyanch, and others mentioned. I will not here enter into any particulars regarding these ancient sages. For some texts relating to Bhrigu, I may refer to the First Volume of this work, pp. 443 ff.; and various passages relating to Manu will be found in the same volume pp. 162 ff., and in pp. 324-332 of the Second Volume. In regard to Atharvan, as well as Angiras, Professor Gold stücker's Sanskrit and English Dictionary, and in regard to the same personages and Dadhyanch, the Sanskrit and German Lexicon of Boehtlingk and Roth, may be consulted. SECT. II.-Passages from the Veda in which a distinction is drawn between the older and the more recent hymns. From the passages which I propose to bring forward in the present section, it will be found that the hymns which the rishis addressed to the gods are frequently spoken of as new, while others of ancient date are also sometimes mentioned. The rishis no doubt entertained the idea that the gods would be more highly gratified if their praises were celebrated in new, and perhaps more elaborate and beautiful compositions, than if older, and possibly ruder, prayers had been repeated. The fact that a hymn is called new by its author, does not, however, by any means enable us to determine its age relatively to that of other hymns in the collection, for this epithet of new is, as we shall see, applied to numerous compositions throughout the Veda; and often when a hymn is not designated as new, it may, nevertheless, be in reality of recent date, compared with the others by which it is surrounded. When, however, any rishi characterizes his own effusion as new, we are of course necessarily led to conclude that he was acquainted with many older songs of the same kind. The relative ages of the different hymns can only be settled by means of internal evidence furnished by their dialect, style, metre, ideas, and general contents; and we may, no doubt, hope that much will by degrees be done by the researches of critical scholars towards such a chronological classification of the constituent portions of the Rig-veda. The hymns, praises, or prayers uttered by the rishis are called by a great variety of names, such as rich, saman, yajush, brahman, arka, uktha, mantra, manman, mati, manīshā, sumati, dhī, dhīti, dhishaṇā, stoma, stuti, sushṭuti, prasasti, śamsa, gir, vāch, vachas, nītha, nivid, etc. R.V. i. 12, 11. Sa naḥ stavānaḥ ābhara gūyatrena navīyasā | rayiṁ vīravatīm isham | "Glorified by our newest hymn, do thou bring to us wealth and food with progeny." (Sayana explains navīyasā by pūrvakair apy asampāditena gāyatrena | "A hymn not formed even by former rishis.") • Compare Psalms, 33, 3; 40, 3; 96, 1; 98, 1; 144, 9; 149, 1; and Isaiah, 42, 10. i. 27, 4. Imam u shu tvam asmākam sanim gāyatram navyāmsam | Agne deveshu pravochaḥ | “Agni, thou hast announced [or do thou announce] among the gods this our offering, our newest hymn." i. 60, 3. Tam navyasi hṛidaḥ ā jāyamānam asmat sukirttir madhujihvam aśyāḥ | yam ṛitvijo vṛijane mānushāsaḥ prayasvantaḥ āyavo jījananta | "May our newest laudation (springing) from (our) heart, reach him, the sweet-tongued, at his birth, (him) whom mortal priests the descendants of Manu, offering oblations, have generated in the ceremonial." (See iii. 39, 1, in next page, and i. 171, 2 and ii. 35, 2, which will be quoted further on in the next section). i. 89, 3. Tān pūrvayā nividā hūmahe vayam Bhagam Mitram Aditim Daksham Asridham ityādi | "We invoke with an ancient hymn Bhaga, Mitra, Aditi, Daksha, Asridh [or the friendly]," etc. (Pūrvakālīnayā | nityayā | nividā | vedātmikayā vāchā | "With an ancient-eternal, hymn-a Vedic text."-Sayana.) i. 96, 2. Sa pūrvayā nividā kavyatā Āyor imāḥ prajāḥ ajanayad manūnām | "Through the ancient hymn, the poetic work, of Ayu he (Agni) generated these children of men. i. 130, 10. Sa no navyebhir vṛisha-karmann ukthais purām darttaḥ pāyubhiḥ pāhi sagmaiḥ | "Through our new hymns, do thou, vigorous in action, destroyer of cities, sustain us with invigorating blessings." i. 143, 1. Pra tavyasim navyasim dhītim Agnaye vācho matim sahasaḥ sūnave bhare j "I bring to Agni, the son of strength, a new and energetic hymn, a production of thought uttered by the voice (vāchaḥ).” ii. 17, 1. Tad asmai navyam Angiras-vad archata ityādi | "Utter to him [Indra] that new [hymn] like Angiras." ("New, i.e. never before seen among other people" anyeshv adṛishṭa-pūrvam— Sāyana.) ii. 18, 3. Harī nu kam rathe Indrasya yojam āyai sūktena vachasā navena | mo shu tvām atra bahavo hi viprāḥ ni rīraman yajamānāso anye | * See the Aitareya Brāhmaṇa, p. 143 of Prof. Haug's translation; and Vol. I. p. 187. "With this new and well-expressed hymn I have yoked the steeds in Indra's car, in order that he may come hither. Let not the other wise sacrificers, who are numerous, stop thee (from coming to me)." ii. 24, 1. Sa imām aviḍḍhi prabhṛitim yaḥ iśishe | ayā vidhema navaya mahā gira | "Do thou who rulest receive this, our offering [of praise]: let us worship thee with this new and grand song." iii. 1, 20. Etā te Agne janimā sanāni pra pūrvyāya nūtanāni vocham | "These ancient [and these] new productions I have uttered to thee, Agni, who art ancient." (Comp. R. V. viii. 84, 5, in the next section.) iii. 32, 13. Yaḥ stomebhir vāvṛidhe pūrvyebhir yo madhyamebhir uta nutanebhiḥ | "[Indra] who has grown through (or been magnified by) ancient, intermediate, and modern hymns." iii. 39, 1. Indram matir hridaḥ a vachyamānā achhā patim stoma tashṭā jigāti | ā jāgrivir vidathe śasyamānā Indra yat te jāyate viddhi tasya | 2. Divas chid ā pūrvyā jāyamānā vi jāgṛivir vidathe śasyamānā | bhadrā vastrāni arjunā vasānā sā iyam asme sanajā pitryā dhīḥ | "1. The vigilant hymn, formed of praise, and uttered from the heart, proceeds to Indra the lord, when chaunted at the sacrifice: be cognizant, Indra, of this [praise] which is produced for thee. 2. Produced even before the daylight, vigilant, chaunted at the sacrifice, clothed in beautiful and radiant garments,-this is our ancient ancestral hymn." (Pitrya is rendered by Sayana as pitṛi-kramāgata, "received by succession from our fathers.") iii. 62, 7. Iyam te Pushann aghṛine sushțutir deva navyasī | asmābhis tubhyam śasyate | "Divine and glowing Pushan, this new laudation is recited by us to thee." v. 42, 13. Pra su mahe suśaranaya medham giram bhare navyasim jāyamānām | "I present to the mighty protector a mental production, a new utterance [now] springing up." Compare the expressions vacho-yuja hari, "brown horses yoked by the hymn (R.V. viii. 45, 39; viii. 87, 9); brahma-yuj, “yoked by prayer" (i. 177, 2; iii. 35, 4; viii. 1, 24; viii. 2, 27; viii. 17, 2); and mano-yuj, "yoked by the mind, or will" (i. 14, 6; i. 51, 10; iv. 48, 4; v. 75, 6; viii. 5, 2). |