The Sacred Books and Early Literature of the East, Volume IX

THE SACRED BOOKS AND EARLY LITERATURE OF THE EAST WITH HISTORICAL SURVEYS OF THE CHIEF WRITINGS OF EACH NATION Translations, Bibliographies, etc., by the following Leading Orientalists: IN AMERICA: MORRIS JASTROW, LL.D., Professor of Semitic Languages, University of Penn- sylvania; JAMES H. BREASTED, LL.D., Professor of Egyptology, University of Chicago; CHARLES C. TORREY, D.D., Professor of Semitic Languages, Yale University; A. V. W. JACKSON, LL.D., Professor of Indo-Iranian, Columbia Uni- versity; CHARLES R. LANMAN, LL.D., Professor of Sanskrit, Harvard University; REV. CHARLES F. AIKEN, S.T.D., Dean of the Faculty of Theology, Catholic University; FRIEDRICH HIRTH, LL.D., Professor of Chinese, Columbia Uni- versity; REV. WILLIAM E. GRIFFIS, D.D., former Professor at the Imperial University, Tokio. IN EUROPE: E. A. W. BUDGE, F.S.A., Director of Egyptology in the British Museum; SIR GASTON MASPERO, D.C.L., Member of the Royal Institute of France; REV. A. H. SAYCE, LL.D., Professor of Comparative Philology, Oxford University; W. FLINDERS-PETRIE, LL.D., Professor of Egyptology, University College, London; STEPHEN LANGDON, Ph.D., Professor of Assyriology, Oxford University; SIR ERNEST SATOW. LL.D., G.C.M.G., British Minister to Japan; H. OLDENBERG, LL.D., Professor of Sanskrit, Kiel University; T. W. RHYS-DAVIDS, LL.D., Librarian of the Royal Asiatic Society; ARMINIUS VAMBÉRY, LL.D., Professor of Oriental Languages, University of Budapest. IN ASIA: SIR M. COOMARA SWAMY, Legislative Council of Ceylon; ROMESH CHUNDER DUTT, C.I.E., Author of the History of Civilization in Ancient India; DARAB D. P. SANJANA, Educational Society of Bombay; VISCOUNT KENCHO SUYE- MATSU, LL.M., Japanese Minister of the Interior; SHEIK FAIZ-ULLAH-BHAI, Head Master of the Schools of Anjuman-i-Islam; RALPH T. GRIFFITH, President Benares College, India; JIVANJI JAMSHEDJI MODI, Fellow of Bombay Uni- versity, Officier de l'Académie Française. Under the editorship of a staff of specialists directed by PROF. CHARLES F. HORNE, PH.D. PARKE, AUSTIN, AND LIPSCOMB, INC. NEW YORK LONDON This Volume is one of a complete set of the Sacred Books and Early Literature of the East, consisting of fourteen volumes. In Volume I of the series will be found a cer- tificate as to the limitation of the edition and the registered number of this set. Copyright, 1917, Parke, Austin, and Lipscomb, Inc. THE SNAKE GODDESS. Manasa-devi, a woman whose craft raises her to be a Goddess. THE SACRED BOOKS AND EARLY LITERATURE OF THE EAST ————— VOLUME IX INDIA AND BRAHMANISM ————— In Translations by CHARLES R. LANMAN, LL.D., Professor of Sanskrit, Harvard Uni- versity, editor of Harvard Oriental Series; WM. D. WHITNEY, LL.D., former President of the American Philological Association and Profes- sor of Sanskrit at Yale University; SIR EDWIN ARNOLD, K.C.I.E.; SIR M. MONIER-WILLIAMS, K.C.I.E., former Professor of Sanskrit at Oxford University; ROMESH CHUNDER DUTT, C.I.E. of the Royal Asiatic Society; RALPH T. GRIFFITH, C.I.E., President of Benares College, India; MANMUTHA DUTT, of the Royal Asiatic Society. With a Brief Bibliography by PROF. CHARLES R. LANMAN, LL.D. ———————— With an Historical Survey and Descriptions by PROF. CHARLES F. HORNE, PH.D. PARKE, AUSTIN, AND LIPSCOMB, INC. NEW YORK LONDON "Let there be light."—GENESIS I, 3. ———— "There never was a false god, nor was there ever really a false religion, unless you call a child a false man."—MAX MÜLLER. CONTENTS OF VOLUME IX —————— INDIA—THE BRAHMANIC BOOKS PAGE INTRODUCTION—The Richest Treasure of the East . ... 1 THE VEDAS, OR BOOKS OF HOLY KNOWLEDGE I.—THE RIG-VEDA, The Oldest Aryan Book (2000- 1000 B.C.) .............................................................. 11 The Oldest Hymns..................................................... 16 Hymns by Women Authors ....................................... 45 The Creation Hymn ................................................... 48 Address to the Unknown God.................................... 49 II.—THE ATHARVA-VEDA AND THE BRAHMANAS (1000 B.C.) 51 The Atharva Hymns................................................... 55 The Creation of Night ................................................ 61 The Legend of the Flood............................................ 61 The Fountain of Youth............................................... 63 III.—THE UPANISHADS, or Hidden Wisdom (1000-500 B.C.) 67 The Aitareya, or Creation Upanishad ....................... 72 The Mundaka, which dismisses the old religion . ..... 80 The Kena, which proclaims the One God, Brahma... 89 The Isa, which leads the Lesser Self to the Greater .. 94 The Katha, which tells the Wisdom of Death .......... 97 The Teaching of Sandilya ......................................... 111 LATER SANSKRIT LITERATURE IV.—THE MAHABHARATA, the Great Hindu Epic (500 B.C.?)............................................................. 115 The Bhagavad Gita, or Song Celestial ..................... 120 The Journey to Meet Death ....................................... 197 The Entry into Heaven .............................................. 209 v vi CONTENTS PAGE V.—THE HITOPADESA, the Original Beast-Fables of the World (500 B.C.?) .................................................. 221 The Winning of Friends............................................. 225 The Parting of Friends ............................................... 249 War . .......................................................................... 272 Peace........................................................................... 292 VI.—KALIDASA, the Chief Hindu Poet (A.D. 500) .................. 311 Sakuntala, his most celebrated drama ..................... 313 Address to Brahma .................................................... 402 To the Himalayas....................................................... 403 BIBLIOGRAPHY......................................................................... 405 ILLUSTRATIONS IN VOLUME IX ———————— FACING PAGE Manasa-devi, the Snake Goddess....................................Frontispiece The Eternal Dance of Shiva...................................................... 72 Uma Wins Her God Lover ....................................................... 92 Yama, the God of Death, Instructs Nakiketas .......................... 110 Krishna and His Beloved.......................................................... 160 Yudhishthira's Last Journey ..................................................... 216 Vishnu Incarnate ..................................................................... 272 Shiva Drinks the World-poison................................................ 354 vii A word as to the pronunciation of Hindu names may help the reader. The consonants are very similar to ours, except for the "h" in combinations like "bh," "th," etc. This "h" is not pronounced as in "the," etc., but separately as in "post haste," "red hot," etc. Our own "sh" sound is indicated by an italic letter S or s. The italic n is used for the Sanskrit sound which more nearly approaches "ng" as we hear it in "singer," but not in "finger." The vowel "a" has the dull and almost indistinguishable sound of "u" in "fun," except when it is followed by "h" or is marked with an accent. Then it takes the sound of "a" in "far." The other vowels follow nearly the Italian system, "e" as in "prey," "i" as in "ma- rine," "u" as in "rule." Thus, "Upanishad" is pronounced oo-pun-ees-hud, and "Sakuntalá" is shŭ-koon-tŭ-lah. SACRED BOOKS AND EARLY LITERATURE OF INDIA AND BRAHMANISM ——— INTRODUCTION THE RICHEST TREASURE OF THE EAST HEN, a century ago, the first translations of the Wancient books of India reached Europe they aroused a most intense enthusiasm. Men declared that, of all the hidden treasure-hoards of the Orient, the one divinest treasure had been found. To quote only one of the many authori- tative voices of that chorus of praise, Schopenhauer, the mighty founder of a new religion in the North, wrote that he considered the reading of the Sacred Books of Brahmanism "the greatest privilege which this still young century may claim before all previous centuries." He declared that the progress which must follow from this stimulus would equal that other tremendous progress, when Europe had been roused by the recovery of the thought of ancient Greece, and had achieved the Renaissance. The reader of to-day is in far better position than were our ancestors of a century ago to estimate the real value of Indian literature. The number of its ancient books is vast indeed; but our learned men have read through all that they could find, and have analyzed them. The works which these scholars have declared the very best are here presented to the reader, with some brief guidance as to what their value is and whence they came. When, less than two centuries ago, the British conquered India, they found it close-crowded with millions of people of l 2 THE SACRED BOOKS many races. Most numerous and powerful among these were the Hindus, who had dominated the land for three thousand years. There had been occasional foreign invasions and con- quests — of Greeks under Alexander, of wild Scythian tribes, of fierce Mohammedan fanatics — but, on the whole, the Hindus had retained a permanent supremacy. These Hindus were of Aryan stock — that same strong and highly intelligent people of remote antiquity from whom have sprung the Persians with their Zend-Avesta, the Greek and Roman world-conquerors, and every dominating nation of Europe and America to-day. The Hindus by their long association with the Eastern peoples

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