Artic Home of the Aryans by Lokamanya Bal ... - Mandhata Global

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above books. The question before us is whether the Vedic hymns,
that is, not only the words of the hymns but also the religious system
found or referred to therein, are the compositions of the يishis to
whom they are assigned in the Anukramanikâs, or the ancient
Indexes of the Veda, in the sense in which the Shâkuntala is a
composition of Kâlidâsa; or whether these hymns existed from times
immemorial, in other words, whether they are eternal and without a
beginning. The hymns themselves are naturally the best evidence on
the point. But, as shown by Dr. Muir in the second chapter (pp. 218-
86) of the Volume above mentioned, the utterances of the Vedic
يishis on this point are not unanimous. Thus side by side with
passages in which the Vedic bards have expressed their emotions,
hopes or fears, or prayed for worldly comforts and victory over their
enemies, condemning evil practices like gambling with dice (X, 34), or
have described events, which on their face seem to be the events of
the day; side by side with passages where the poet says that ho has
made (krî) generated (jan), or fabricated (taksh) a new (navyasî or
apûrvya) hymn, much in the same way as a carpenter fashions a
chariot (I, 47, 2; 62, 13; II, 19, 8; IV, 16, 20; VIII, 95, 5; X, 23, 6; 39,
14; 54, 6; 160, 5; &c.); or with hymns in which we are plainly told that
they are composed by so and so, the son of so and so, (I, 60, 5; X,
63, 17; 67, 1; &c.), there are to be found in the يig-Veda itself an
equally large number of hymns where the يishis state in
unmistakable terms that the hymns sung by them were the results of
inspiration from Indra, Varuna, Soma, Aditi, or some other deity; or
that the Vedic verses (richah) directly emanated from the Supreme
Purusha, or some other divine source; or that they were given by
gods (devatta), or generated by them and only seen or perceived
(pashyât) by the poets in later times, (I, 37, 4; II, 23, 2; VII, 66, 11;
VIII, 59, 6; X, 72, 1; 88, 8; 93, 9; &c.). We are told that Vâch (Speech)
is nityâ or eternal (VIII, 75, 6, also cf. X, 125); or that the gods
generated the divine Vâch and also the hymns (VIII, 100, 11; 101, 16;
X, 88, 8). The evidence of the Vedic hymns does not, therefore,
enable us to decide the