ORIENTAL SERIES.

ARANYANIARJUNA. 21
and philosophical writings which expound the mystical sense
of the ceremonies, discuss the nature of God, &c. They are
attached to the Brahman as, and intended for study in the
forest by Brahmans who have retired from the distractions of the
world. There are four of them extant : i. Bn'had ; 2. Taittirlya;
3. Aitareya ; and 4. Kaushltaki Ara^yaka. The Aranyakas are
closely connected with the Upanishads, and the names are
occasionally used interchangeably: thus the Bn'had is called
indifferently Brihad Aranyaka or Brihad Ara^yaka Upanishad
;
it is attached to the $atapatha Brahmawa, The Aitareya
Upanishad is a part of the Aitareya Brahmawa, and the Kauslutaki
Aranyaka consists of three chapters, of which the third is the
Kaushitaki Upanishad. "Traces of modern ideas (says Max
Miiller) are not wanting in the Ara?iyakas 3 and the yery fact
that they are destined for a class of men who had retired from
the world in order to give themselves up to the contemplation of
the highest problems, shows an advanced and already declining
and decaying society, not unlike the monastic age of the
Christian world."
"
In one sense the Arawyakas are old, for they
reflect the very dawn of thought ; in another they are modern,
for they speak of that dawn with all the experience of a past
day. There are passages in these works unequalled in any
language for grandeur, boldness, and simplicity. These passages
are the relics of a better age. But the generation which became
the chronicler of those Titanic wars of thought was a small race ;
they were dwarfs, measuring the footsteps of departed giants."
ARANYAiVZ In the JKg-veda, the goddess of woods and
forests.
AEBUDA. Mount Abu. Name of the people living in the
vicinity of that mountain.
AEBUDA. * A serpent/ Name of an Asura slain by Indra
ABDHA-NARI. *
Half-woman.' A form in which /Siva is
represented as half-male and half-female, typifying the male and
female energies. There are several stones accounting for this
form. It is called also Ardhanansa and Parangada.
AKISHrA. A Daitya, and son of Bali, who attacked Knshtta
in the form of a savage bull, and was slain by him*
ARJUNA. '
White.' The name of the third Pandu prince.
All the five brothers were of divine paternity, and Arjuna's
father was Indra, hence he is called Aindri. A brave warrior,