—‘-'“'-m—_

= “c. n u, .‘ Andri‘t‘ufimv Huh“ ' ‘

26 The Rcligion of tho Veda

coins from. a somewhat later Vcdic time; tho-y do not coincide exactly with tho carlicr namcs, nor (in they fully correspond to tho contcnts of the texts themselves. Tho earlier namos rcfor rather to this different styles of composition, than to carmnical col~ lcctions. Tho}; an: {may “ stanzas of praisc ”; Joana- 5/411”, “liturgical stanzas and forn'mlas H3 Matron; “Inch- odics ”; and n:z‘flrar’mzzgz‘r‘axné, “ blcssings and curscs. ”

i The book which goo-s by the name of lilngcda con-u

tains not only “ stanzas of praiso,” butmin its latcr partswalso “ blessings and curscs,”as well as most of the stanzas which form the tcxt to tho Manna-«mold dies of the Samchda. Tho Atharva—Vcda contains rcazz, “ stanzas of praise,” and yojfiz‘ts/zz‘, “ liturgical stanzas,”mostly worked over for its own purposes, as well as its vary own. “ blessings and curses.” The Ya~ jun—Veda also contains materials of the other Vcdic types in addition to its main topic, tho liturgy. Thc Sama-Vcda is merely a collection of a certain kind of remit, or “stanzas of praise,” which are derived with some variants and additions from the Rig-Veda, and are here set to music which is indicated by musical notations.

The Rig~Vcda is, on the whole, the oldest as well as the most important of the four collections. Its language is a priestly, very high, or very literary speech. This we may call by distinction the: hicratic