No temples mentioned in the earliest Sanskrit literature.-Cities and palaces in poems and dramas.-Extant Buddhist monuments, B.C. 250.-- Sanskrit works on architecture.-Dravidian architecture, A.D. 857, described. -Sanskrit works.-Râm Râz.--Northern Hindu style, from seventh century, A.D.--Ellora and Elephanta.-Temples in Rajputana.-Remarks on ethnology. 391 Hymns of the Rig-Veda.-The Sun.-Vishnu.-Aswins.-Dawn.-Fire.- Varied Character of Agni, Fire.-Rudra.-Indra.-Winds and Storms. THE oldest existing work in Sanskrit is the Rig-Veda, which consists of prayers and hymns addressed to the grand and beautiful phenomena of nature. The date at which these prayers and hymns were composed will, probably, never be ascertained with certainty; but we may safely say, that, in their present shape, they were not collected later than about B.C. 1200, and that they were committed to writing before the time of Pânini, the greatest grammarian of India. The powers invoked are the Sun, the Dawn, Heaven, Earth Fire, the Atmosphere, and Elements under various aspects. The worshippers have no fixed idea of the relative greatness of these powers, but rather their minds appear to have been pervaded by a sense of the incomprehensibility and indefiniteness of Deity; and, unable to frame an image adequate to their intuitions, they met the difficulty by shifting images. Thus we find in hymn 159, book i., heaven and earth (Dyaus and Prithivî) addressed as the parents of all other gods. 1 "At the sacrifices I worship with offerings Heaven and Earth, the promoters of righteousness, the great, the wise, the energetic, who, having gods for their offspring, thus lavish, with the gods, the choicest. blessings, in consequence of our hymn. "With my invocations I celebrate the thought of the beneficent Father, and that mighty sovereign Power of the Mother. The prolific parents have made all creatures, and through their favours (have conferred) wide immortality on their offspring." There are many similar passages in which heaven and earth are regarded as the parents not only of men but of the gods. But "in other places," Mr. Muir finds heaven and earth spoken of "as themselves created." They must, therefore, be referred to a class of shadowy, transitory deities, which never assumed defined or abiding forms in Hindu worship. Aditi is another of these unsubstantial deities; she is the mother of gods. "The mother, the great, the holy Aditi, brought forth these twain (Mitra and Varuna), the mighty lords of all wealth, that they might exercise divine power." 66 May Aditi defend us, may Aditi, the mother of the opulent Mitra, of Aryaman, and of the sinless Varuna, grant us protection." Muir, J. R. A. S., New Series, vol. i. p. 54. | i. p. 65. 2 Muir, J. R. A. S., New Series, vol. ADITI.-SAVITRI, THE SUN. 3 In one hymn Aditi is identified with the sky, in another she is equivalent to heaven and earth, and yet more often she is distinct from either heaven, earth, or sky. Daksha again is a shadowy god. He is an Aditya, one of the sons of Aditi. 66 'Daksha sprang from Aditi, and Aditi from Daksha. "At the creation, the work of Daksha, thou O Aditi, ministerest to the kings Mitra and Varuna," &c.1 And again in R. V. vii. 66, 2, Mitra and Varuna are celebrated as the sons of Daksha. Mr. Muir relieves us from some of our perplexity concerning this mysterious Daksha by suggesting that possibly in some of these passages the word Daksha was used figuratively for strength. Many other deities of this description might be pointed out, but it will suffice to remark upon them incidentally. Gradually the Hindu mind attained more definite conceptions, and it is most interesting to watch the embodiment of ideas rising, as it were, from a divine nebula. The sun appears to have been amongst the earliest objects of worship which attained a measure of personality. Never a very powerful or universal deity, he is, however, addressed with reverence, and even at the present time Hindus daily celebrate the moment of sunrise by prostrations and worship. The words they use are the well-known Gayatri, which is a prayer, socalled, in the 3rd Mandala or book of the Rig-Veda. The sun is in it addressed as Savitri : : We meditate on that desirable light of the divine Savitri, who influences our pious rites. Muir, J. R. A. S., New Series, vol. i. pp. 73, 74; R. V. x. 72, 74; x. 64, 65. 2 The name of a certain measure of verse in the Veda, and hence the sacred verse in question is so called. 3 A small sect, that of the Saurapâtas, or those who worship the sun-god only, still exist. They scarcely differ from the rest of the Hindus in their general observances.-Works of H. H. Wilson, vol. i. p. 266. "Desirous of food, we solicit with praise of the divine Savitri the gift of affluence."1 These words are now almost the only surviving relic of direct sun-worship, but in the Rig-Veda the sun is frequently invoked, and some of the most beautiful expressions of love and reverence are addressed to the divine Savitri : "His coursers bear on high the divine, all-knowing Sun, that he may be seen by all (the worlds). "(At the approach) of the all-illuminating Sun, the constellations depart with the night like thieves. "His illuminating rays behold men in succession, like blazing fires. "Thou, Surya, outstrippest all in speed; thou art visible to all; thou art the source of light; thou shinest throughout the entire firmament. 66 Beholding the up-springing light above the darkness, we approach the divine Sun among the gods, the excellent light ... Rising today, and mounting into the highest heaven, do thou, O Sun, remove the sickness of my heart and the yellowness (of my body). "Let us transfer the yellowness (of my body) to the parrots, to the starlings, or to the Haritala (tree).2 "If, Savitri, through ignorance, through pride in feeble or powerful (dependants), or through human infirmity, we have committed (offence) against thy divine person, or against gods or men, do thou on this occasion hold us to be unoffending.3 "The divine Savitri diffuses his light on high, dispersing the dew . . Divine (sun), thou proceedest with most powerful (horses), spreading thy web (of rays), and cutting down the black abode (of night); the tremulous rays of the sun throw off the darkness which is spread like a skin over the firmament.4 The divine Savitri displays his banner on high, diffusing light |