ORIENTAL SERIES.

VEDA. 34$
gion. They consist of hymns written in an old form of Sanskrit,
and according to the most generally received opinion they were
composed "between 1500 and 1000 B.C. But there is no direct
evidence as to their age, and opinions about it vary considerably.
Some scholars have thought that the oldest of the hymns may
"be carried back a thousand years farther. It seems likely that
some of the hymns were composed before the arrival of the
Aryan immigrants in India, and there is no doubt that the hymns
vary greatly in age and spread over a very considerable period
There are various statements as to the origin of the Vedas.
One is that the hymns emanated like breath from Brahma, the
soul of the universe. It is agreed that they were revealed orally
to the JJishis or sages whose names they bear ; and hence the
whole body of the Yeda is known as Sruti, '
what was heard.'
The Vedas are now four in number: (i.) Rig, (2.) Yajur,
(3.) Sama, (4.) Atharva; but the Atharva is of comparatively
modern origin. The other three are spoken of by Manu as the
" throe Vedas," and are said by him. to have been " milked out,
as it were," from fire, air, and the sun. In reality the .Z&g-veda
is the Veda, the original work ; for the Yajur
and the Sama are
merely different arrangements of its hymns for special purposes.
Each Veda is divided into two parts, Mantra and BralimaTia.
'
The Mantra, or instrument of conveying thought/ consists of
prayer and praise embodied in the metrical hymns. The Brah-
mawa, a collective term for the treatises called Brahmawas, is of
later date tlxan the Mantra. It is written in prose, and contains
liturgical and ritualistic glosses, explanations, and applications of
the hymns illustrated by numerous legends. To the Brahmawas
are added the Arawyakas and Upanishads, mystical treatises in
prose and verse, which speculate upon the nature of spirit and
of God, and exhibit a freedom of thought and speculation which
was the beginning of Hindu philosophy. All the Vedic writings
are classified in two great divisions, exoteric and esoteric: the
Karma-kan^a, t
department of works/ the ceremonial and the
Jnana-kamZa, *
department of knowledge. '
The hymns and prayers
of the Mantra come tinder the first, the philosophical speculations
of the Brahmanas, aixd especially of the Upanishads, under
the second division. All are alike /Sruti or revelation. See
Brahmana, Upanishad, &c.
The Mantra or metrical portion is the most ancient, and the