In relating contests of this nature, difference of worship is usually alluded to. Indra saved Dabhîti from being carried off by the Asuras (or Dasyus). "He burnt all their weapons in a kindled fire, and enriched (Dabhîti) with their cattle, horses, and chariots ;" and the other good deeds he performed when he was "delighted by libations offered with faith." Enemies advance, "breaking the sacrificial vessels." Similar expressions are very frequent, showing that the Dasyus, or enemies, were not worshippers of Indra. It is also stated that they spoke a different language.

thunderbolt thou hast confounded the voiceless Dasyus; thou hast destroyed in battle the speech bereft (foes)."3

In addition to the Dasyu chiefs above-mentioned, M. St.Martin draws attention to one named Krishna.

"Offer adoration with oblations to him who is delighted (with praise), who, with Rijiswan, destroyed the pregnant wives of Krishna."

Professor Wilson observes, in a note, that "Rijiswan is said to be a king, the friend of Indra; Krishna to be an Asura (or Dasyu), who was slain, together with his wives, that none of his posterity might survive.”

Krishna means black; and the name may, on this occasion, Professor Wilson thinks, allude to the dark-complexioned aborigines. But there is another Krishna, even in the Rig-Veda, and he and his son Viswaka are members of the Angirasa family, who may be called Rig-Veda aristocrats of good old family descent; and both father and son appear amongst the Rishis of the hymns. M. St.-Martin warns his readers against imagining any connection between Krishna, the Dasyu, who was conquered

Wilson's trans., vol. ii. p. 245, vol. iii. p. 436; R. V. ii. 15, vi. 26.

Ibid, vol. iii. p. 438; R. V. vi. 27.

3 Wilson's trans., vol. iii. p. 276; R. V. v. 29.

Ibid, vol. i. p. 260; R. V. i. 101.

by Rijiswan on the banks of the river Ansumatî, and Krishna, the Yâdava, the celebrated hero in the epic literature. Dasyu was an appellation given by the Aryan Hindus to the race which they found already in the land. This aboriginal race called themselves Jats, and the word Jat, the Sanskrit Yâdava, refers to the later Krishna, and possibly to aboriginal Dasyus. So soon as Dasyus were converted to the religion of the Vedas, they were ranged amongst Aryas. M. St.-Martin cites passages from the Rig-Veda, in which something of this process is visible. In one hymn Indra is entreated to bring Turvasu and Yadu into submission to his law, whilst in another hymn Turvasu, Yadu, and their king Asanga, appear amongst Indra's friends; and on one occasion we even find a Brahman sacrificer of the important family of the Kânwas thanking the Yadus for the rich presents they had made him. The Bhojas afford a similar example. These people are another tribe of the same aboriginal race as the Yadus, now known as Bhotiyas; but, nevertheless, they assisted at the sacrifice which Viswâmitra offered for King Sudâs.

"These sacrificers are the Bhojas, of whom the diversified Angirasas (are the priests.)"1

At verse 14 of the same hymn Viswâmitra asks Indra what his cattle do for him amongst the Kîkatas?-people who offer no libation, who kindle no sacrificial fire. "Bring them to us," he continues; "give us the wealth of the usurer; let us have the portion of the vile Nîcha." Kîkatas are a tribe of aborigines who were dwelling to the east of the Saraswatî, and "Indra's cattle," meaning clouds, the poet's prayer is, that the beneficent clouds may not be detained amongst the people who offer no worship in the east, but that they may come west, and cause plenty and prosperity to Indra's loving worshippers. These slight notices of the Dasyus or Jats of former days will suffice to show that, although they were enemies, they were not regarded Wilson's trans., vol. iii. p. 85; R. V. iii. 53. St.-Martin, p. 139.

as contemptible or unimportant enemies by the Rig-Veda Hindus. The more combative tribes seem to have lived in the mountains, making sudden incursions on the plains, as their descendants have had a habit of doing ever since. Other tribes again, as the Yâdavas, appear in the Mahâbhârata as then adopting Hindu modes of worship, after having become amalgamated with the Aryan race. This mingling of races has had a most extensive influence on the inhabitants of India. Among the lower classes the non-Aryan element prevails; among the middle classes it probably balances the Aryan element, and even in the classes of soldiers, kings, and Brahmans it is far from unknown. Brahmans and a few kings best represent the ancient Aryan Hindu race; and of these we find names in the Rig-Veda which have been honoured, not only in all history and literature, but honoured in a long-continued line of posterity.

"As the tree suffers pain from the axe, as the Simal flower is (easily) cut off, as the injured cauldron leaking scatters foam, so may mine enemy perish!"VISWAMITRA'S IMPRECATION, p. 74.

CHAPTER IV.

Brahmans, men who recite hymns,-Rishis, men who see hymns.-Brahman gradu-. ally became a general name for Priest. - Soma Sacrifice.- Viswamitra and Vasishtha.-Conflict between priests and soldiers.-Brahmanical importance supported by ceremonial and sacred literature.-Schools and Colleges.

IN the hymns of the Rig-Veda the principal characters are inspired poets called Rishis. Viswâmitra is the warrior Rishi who fought for king Sudâs, quarrelled with Vasishtha, addressed a fine hymn to the river Saraswatî, and crossed its banks to gather Soma. Vasishtha is the Rishi who makes confession of sin to Varuna, and ridicules Soma ceremonies; Kutsa, the

BRAHMAN.

BRAHMANS.

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Rishi who drives the god Indra in his car, and so forth. Occasionally, however, the hymns call Rishis Brahmanas, for Brahman (neuter) is a word for hymn, whilst Brahmana probably means a man who recites such hymns.1

Mr. Muir gives a long list of passages in which the word Brahman is used in the hymns in the sense of "hymn" or "prayer," as: "A sacrifice without prayer (abrahmâ) does not please thee."

Rig-Veda, ii. 23. "We invoke thee, Brahmanaspati, chief leader of the (heavenly) bands," the expression being, Professor Wilson tells us, "best lord of mantras"-brahmanám. Again, in Mandala vi. 75, we read:

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Whoever, whether an unfriendly relative or a stranger, desires to kill us, may all the gods destroy him; prayer is my best armour.”

But in an interesting essay on the original signification of the word Brahma, Professor Haug, while affording further proof that one of the principal meanings of this word is "hymn," warns us not to connect with it, or with our rendering of it, "prayer," the idea of devotion in the modern sense of the latter word.3

"Afterwards," Mr. Muir observes, "when the ceremonial became more complicated, and a division of sacred functions took place, the word Brâhmana, or the men who uttered the hymns, was more ordinarily employed for a minister of public worship, and at length came to signify one particular kind of priest with special duties."+

Much has been written about the origin of Brâhmans, some Orientalists believing that they were of different race from the other classes of Aryan Hindus; but we meet with no facts suffi

1 Muir, J. R. A. S., vol. ii. New Series, p. 260. Priests in the Vedic Age. We shall hereafter call the latter Brahmans, to distinguish them, on the one hand, from Brahman, and on the other, from the Vedic works called Brahmana,-word of the neuter gender. See p. 79. Wilson's trans., vol. ii. p. 262.

-a

3 Ueber die ursprüngliche Bedeutung des Wortes Brahma; in "Sitzungsberichte der K. Bairischen Ak. d. W.," 1868, ii. Compare also Wilson's trans., vol. iv., (edited by Mr. Cowell,) p. 28. 4 J. R. A. S. New Series, vol. ii. p.

261.