TRANSLATION"~ or THE SAMHITA' or TJIE SA'MA VEDA. BY THE REV. J. STEVENSON, . - · · /i~i\ _N_j_Nff;··~ 1.~· ~\ 1~ LIBRARY ~\ --..: O' -~' OR.FI.I.RIOB.&.RAN ....,·, '~,. '~~:~~'.~, ~'ffeJ: LONDOrl, 'f,;, '_0![0~1iJ PRINTED FOR THE ORIENTAL TRANSLATION FUND OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND, l.f.DeC«:.XLII, CALCUTTA SoCIITT roa TRI RESUSCITATION OP INDIAN L1TIR41'tlllt, 401 NAYAN CHAND DUTT's STHIT, 1906, Downloaded from https://www.holybooks.com Da,t11 St C r,i .Class. ~ ---------· 1---=aii~, ..... Cat. LIL-lr'1 Bk. Card Checked PRINTID BY W. HU0HU1 KING'S HRAD COURT, GOUGH SQUARE, REPRIIITID BY ff, C. OAS1 ELYSIUM Puss, 40, NAJAN CHAND OUTT's STREIT, CALCUTTA. Downloaded from https://www.holybooks.com t'HE TRA~SLATuR.'S PREFACE. lN introducing the V~da which is second in order, though first in excellence according to the Bk4/avad Gita, to the notice of the English public, it seems proper that I should premise a few things relative to the matter and style of the original, and the helps used in making the translation. · SUBJECT OF THE SAMtUTA' 011' Tl4E SA'MA VEDA. The Sam.hita of the Sama Vida consists of an arrariged series of verses, directed to be sung especially at the Somayaga or moon-plant sacrifice. The praises of the dilfer­ ent deities who are supposed to honour the ceremony with their presence, and prayers for the prosper,ty of the wor­ shippers and those connected with them, form the principal subject of these verses. Some of them are supposed to have the power of consecrating the fire into which the oblation is cast; and others, the Soma Juice, of which it principally consists. THE OBLATIONS OFFERED AT THE SOMAVA'GA. The folfowing particulars relative to. the Somayaga may be gathered from this Veda and its Commentary. When any -one has determined to perform the moon-plant sacrifice, he invites Brahmal)s of the three principal classes,-Rig V:~df, - Sama Vedf, and Yajur Vedf Brihm~s. The Atharva feda are not admissible, because, it is said, their profession bein-g to destroy enemies, their prese11ce would be inauspicious. The nrst thing to be done is to collect the moon-plant (sarcoste111a viminalis) and the &l'&\U•Wood for kindling the ucred fire (premna spinosa) ; and this must be done in a moon­ Ugkt night, and fr0~ the table-land 011 the top of a mo11ntain. Downloaded from https://www.holybooks.com II 'l'I-IE TRANSLATOR1S PREJi'AC:f!', The moon-plants must be plucked up from the roots, not cut down, and after being stripped of their leaves, the bare stems are to be laid on a cart drawn by two rams• or he, goats, and by them to be brought to . the · house of the Yajamana, the institutor of the sacrifice, for whose especial benefit and at whose expense all the ceremonies are per, formed. The stems of the plants are now deposited in the hall of oblation. Although the caul of the ram must form part of the oblation, I find nothing in the Veda about killing the animal, but I am told it is the practice to kill both of the rarr.s. In the Abkangs of Tuka Rama, a sage whc flourished in the Deccan about three hundred years ago the muzzling of the ram, and the brating of it to deatlt b) the fists of t~e Brahmav.s, are spoken of as necessary part! of this rite. His verses are to the following effect : " ' Beat to death the ram you've muzzled, And offer the Soma with sacred song;' So they say, but yet I'm puzzled, And half.suspect such worship wrong : For rites like these are at best but scurvy, That turn rehgion topsy.turvy." Should the animal, during the above-mentioned operation utter the least sound, the omen is most inauspicious. I am told that after flaying the ram, and separating the caul, thE flesh is cut into small pieces and cooked, being made intc meat-balls with flour. One Brahmal). informant told me thal they swallow these balls whole ; another, that they simpl} apply them to the tip of their tongue. In the Matsya Pur41)A eleven or thirteen kinds of flesh are ordered to be used at the feast to the manes of a Brahmav.'s ancestors. In the Bkaskya of this Veda, Kravyada, 'eater of flesh,'* is condi­ tionally used as the appellation of a holy Br4hma1,1; so thal there is no innate improbability in the account I h&Ye given though merely on hearsay authority. From the Bk4skyt1 it ~ Part I, Pr, 1, 8. 8, Downloaded from https://www.holybooks.com -t'HE TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE, m clearly appears that the Vaspa forms a part of the oblation to the gods.* It is explained by all the learned Bribman.s I have met with as the caul or peritoneum, resembling, as they describe it, a piece of silk paper. All the refuse is col-, lected in a bull's hide (go-twach), and buried at the conclu­ sion of the ceremonies. This is done by express command,_ as recorded in the Rig-Veda, I. Ashtaka, I Adh. vu., Anvauka, 51 6. The moon-plant stalks, when brought into the hall of oblation, are bruised by the Brahmai:is with stones, and then put between two planks of wood, that they may be thorough­ ly squeezed and the juice expressed. Tl1t: stalks, with their ex~ressed juice, are then placed over a strainer made of goats' hair, sprinkled with water, and squeezed ~y the fingers of the officiating Brahmai:is, one or two of which must be adorned with flat gold-rings. The juice, mixed with water, now makes its way through the strainer, and drops into the Drol).a Kalas'a, the receiving vessel placed below, and situated at that part of the Yajfiavedi called the Yoni or • womb,-a name, I conjecture, given sometimes to the vessel itself, though properly belonging to the place where it rests. The juice, already diluted with water, is in the Droi;i.a Kalas'a further mixed with barley, clarified butter, and the flour of a grain called by the Marathas wari, the Sansc~it names of which are nivara and trinadlzfmya. It is now allowed to ferment till a spirit is formed, after which it is drawn off for oblations to the gods in a scoop called s' ruclz, and in the ladle called chamasa, for consumption by the officiating Brahmai;i.s. The vessel, scoop, and ladle are all made of the wood of the catechu-tree (mimosa catechu). Nine days are mentioned in the Bhashya as required for the purificatory rites; but how many precede, and how many follow, I do not know. There are three oblations offered daily ; one • Part I. Pr, 1. 6, 2, Downloaded from https://www.holybooks.com THE TltAN'SLATOR'S _PREF'ACT, early in the morning, one at noon, and one at night. The­ Soma, when ptoperly prepared, is a powerful spirit : it is said in this Veda to have intoxicated· S'ukra, the Guru of the Daityas,-to have made even lndra's face turn an awry while he was drinking it,-and, by its exhilarating principle,. to have furnished him with that might, without. which he could aot have subdued the el'lemies of the gods. OFFICIATING BRA'HMANS. The officiating Brahmal}s are distributed into six classes. There is, 1st, the Hota, who chants the hymns of the Rig Veda; ,mdly, the Udgata, who sings the verses of the Sama; 3rdly, the Pota, who prepares the materials for oblatio'n ; 4thly, the Neshta or Karta, who pours the Soma, clarified butter, etc., into the sacred fire : 5thly, the Brahma or Upadrishta, who superintends and directs all the ceremonies; 6thly, the Raksha, who with a Vajra or club of palas-wood, whose head is studded with spikes, stands at the door to ward off improper visitants. These, with the Yajamana or institutor of the sacrifice, form the seven classes of priests necessary at the Somayaga. THI! SACRED FIR!!. The sacred fire ought always to be kept burning in a Brahmal).'s house. The stricter sort accordingly always keep one fire burning, and some who are rich maintain three. The fire, kept alive by all rigid Brahmal).s, is called the G.irhapati or 'household guardian.' It is fed with the palas­ woo,d (butea frondosa), and no other should be 11sed. Twenty­ one pieces, each a cubit long, are directed to be got ready against a sacrifice. At the commencement of the SomayAga,. fire is transferred from the GArhapati to the Dakshi\la. Agni or 1 southern fire,' -and to the A'havanlya or 'oblation-receiving­ fire.' '\"bich is the mo5t easterly of the three, Fire from Downloaded from https://www.holybooks.com TH! TRANSL\TOR'S PREFACE. V heaven, obtained either from lightning or from the, ~un, though by what process is not said, s_hould also l>e. add~d; a.nd fire. procured ftom the araiµ-wood is to be join~ to. the other two; so that there ar~ three different kinds of, ~re in each Ku1;1da or fire-place, The process by which fire is obtained from wood is called churning, as it resr.mbles tbat by which butter in India is separated from milk. The New Hollanders. obtain fire from wood by a similar process. It consists in drilling one piece of ara]].i-wood into another by pulling a string tied to it with a jerk with the one hand, while the other is slackened, and so on alternately till the wood takes fire.