Book Iii. Chapter Iv
*
"The Vishnu Purana", translated by Horace Hayman Wilson, [1840],
p. 275
Chap. Iv.
Division of the Veda, in the last Dwpara age, by the Vysa Krishna Dwaipyana. Paila made reader of the Rich; Vaiampyana of the Yajush; Jaimini of the Shun; and Sumantu of the Atharvan. Sta appointed to teach the historical poems. Origin of the four parts of the Veda. Sanhits of the Rig-veda.
Parara.--The original Veda, in four parts, consisted of one hundred thousand stanzas; and from it sacrifice of ten kinds 1, the accomplisher of all desires, proceeded. In the twenty-eighth Dwpara age my son Vysa separated the four portions of the Veda into four Vedas. In the same manner as the Vedas were arranged by him, as Vedavysa, so were they divided in former periods by all the preceding Vysas, and by myself: and the branches into which they were subdivided by him were the same into which they had been distributed in every aggregate of the four ages. Know, Maitreya, the Vysa called Krishna Dwaipyana to be the deity Nryana; for who else on this earth could have composed the Mahbhrata 2? Into what portions the Vedas were arranged by my magnanimous son, in the Dwpara age, you shall hear.
When Vysa was enjoined by Brahm to arrange the Vedas in different books, he took four persons, well read in those works, as his disciples. He appointed Paila reader of the Rich 3; Vaiampyana of
p. 276
the Yajush; and Jaimini of the Soma-veda: and Sumantu, who was conversant with the Atharva-veda, was also the disciple of the learned Vysa. He also took Sta, who was named Lomaharshana, as his pupil in historical and legendary traditions 4.
There was but one Yajur-veda; but dividing this into four parts, Vysa instituted the sacrificial rite that is administered by four kinds of priests: in which it was the duty of the Adhwaryu to recite the prayers (Yajush) (or direct the ceremony); of the Hotri, to repeat the hymns (Richas); of the Udgtri, to chaunt other hymns (Sma); and of the Brahman, to pronounce the formul called Atharva. Then the Muni, having collected together the hymns called Richas, compiled the Rigveda; with the prayers and directions termed Yajushas he formed the Yajur-veda; with those called Sma, Sma-veda; and with the Atharvas he composed the rules of all the ceremonies suited to kings, and the function of the Brahman agreeably to practice 5.
p. 277
This vast original tree of the Vedas, having been divided by him into four principal stems, soon branched out into an extensive forest. In the first place, Paila divided the Rig-veda, and gave the two Sanhits (or collections of hymns) to Indrapramati and to Bshkali. Bshkali 6 subdivided his Sanhit into four, which he gave to his disciples Baudhya, Agnimthara, Yajnawalka, and Parara; and they taught these secondary shoots from the primitive branch. Indrapramati imparted his Sanhit to his son Mandukeya, and it thence descended through successive generations, as well as disciples 7. Vedamitra, called also kalya, studied the same Sanhit, but he divided it into five Sanhits, which he distributed amongst as many disciples, named severally Mudgala, Goswalu, Vtsya, lya, and iira 8. Skaprni made a different division of the original Sanhit into three portions, and added a glossary (Nirukta), constituting a fourth 9. The three Sanhits were given to his three pupils, Krauncha,
p. 278
[paragraph continues] Vaitlaki, and Valka; and a fourth, (thence named) Niruktakrit, had the glossary 10. In this way branch sprang from branch. Another Bshkali 11 composed three other Sanhits, which he taught to his disciples Klyani, Grgya, and Kathjava 12. These are they by whom the principal divisions of the Rich have been promulgated 13.
Footnotes
275:1 According to the Grihya portion of the Sma-veda, there are five great sacrificial ceremonies; 1. Agnihotra, burnt-offerings, or libations of clarified butter on sacred fire; 2. Derapaurnamsa, sacrifices at new and full moon; 3. Chturmasya, sacrifices every four months; 4. Pau-yajna or Awamedha, sacrifice of a horse or animal; and 5. Soma-yajna, offerings and libations of the juice of the acid asclepias. These, again, are either Prkrita, 'simple,' or Vaikrita, 'modified;' and being thus doubled, constitute ten.
275:2 The composition of the Mahbhrata is always ascribed to the Vysa named Krishna Dwaipyana, the cotemporary of the events there described. The allusion in the text establishes the priority of the poem to the Vishnu Purna.
275:3 Or rather, 'he took Paila as teacher.' The expression is, Rigveda rvakam Pailam jagrha. rvaka means properly 'he who causes to hear, a lecturer, a preacher;' although, as in the case of its applicability to the laity of the Buddhists and Jainas, it p. 276 denotes a disciple. The commentator however observes, that the text is sometimes read 'one who had gone through the Rig-veda.' So in the preceding verse it is said, 'he took four persons, well read in the Vedas, as his disciples,' and again it is said, 'Sumantu, conversant with the Atharva-veda, was his disciple.' It is clear, therefore, that the Vedas were known, as distinct works, before Krishna Dwaipyana; and it is difficult to understand how he earned his title of arranger, or Vysa: at any rate, in undertaking to give order to the prayers and hymns of which the Vedas consist, Paila and the others were rather his coadjutors than disciples; and it seems probable that the tradition records the first establishment of a school, of which the Vysa was the head, and the other persons named were the teachers.
276:4 The Itihsa and Purnas; understanding by the former, legendary and traditional narratives. It is usually supposed that by the Itihsa the Mahbhrata is especially meant; but although this poem is ascribed to Krishna Dwaipyana, the recitation of it is not attributed to his pupil, Roma or Loma-harshana: it was first narrated by Vaiampyana, and after him by Sauti, the son of Lomaharshana.
276:5 From this account, which is repeated in the Vyu P., it appears that the original Veda was the Yajush, or in other words was a miscellaneous body of precepts, formul, prayers, and hymns, for sacrificial ceremonies; Yajush being derived by the grammarians from Yaj, 'to worship.' The derivation of the Vyu Purna, however, is from Yuj, 'to join, to employ;' the formul being those especially applied to sacrificial rites, or set apart for that purpose from the general collection: p. 277 ### again, ### The commentator on the text however, citing the former of these passages from the Vyu, reads it, confining the derivation to Yaj, 'to worship.' The concluding passage, relating to the Atharvan, refers, in regard to regal ceremonies, to those of expiation, nti, but from the preceding specification of the four orders of priests who repeat at sacrifices portions of the several Vedas, it relates to the office of the one that is termed specifically the Brahman: so the Vyu has 'He constituted the function of the Brahman at sacrifices with the Atharva-veda.'
277:6 Both in our text and in that of the Vyu this name occurs both Bshkala and Bshkali. Mr. Colebrooke writes it Bhkala and Bhkali. As. Res. Viii. 374.
277:7 The Vyu supplies the detail. Mandukeya, or, as one copy writes, Mrkandeya, taught the Sanhit to his son Satyaravas; he to his son Satyahita; and he to his son Satyar. The latter had three pupils, kalya, also called Devamitra (sic in MS.), Rathntara, and another Bshkali, called also Bharadwja. The Vyu has a legend of kalya's death, in consequence of his being defeated by Yjnavalkya in a disputation at a sacrifice celebrated by Janaka.
277:8 These names in the Vyu are Mudgala, Golaka, Khliya, Mtsya, aiireya.
277:9 The commentator, who is here followed by Mr. Colebrooke, states that he was a pupil of Indrapramati; but from the Vyu it appears that kaprni was another name of Rathntara, the pupil of Satyar, the author of three Sanhits and a Nirukta, or glossary; whence Mr. Colebrooke supposes him the same with Yska. As. Res. Viii. 375. It is highly probable that the text of the Vyu may be made to correct that of the Vishnu in this place, which is inaccurate, notwithstanding the copies agree: they read, ###. p. 278 Here kaprnir-atha-itaram is the necessary construction; but quere if it should not be kaprni Rathntara. The parallel passage in the Vyu is, ###. Now in describing the pupils of Satyar, Rathntara was named clearly enough: ###. In another passage it would seem to be implied that this Bshkali was the author of the Sanhits, and Rathntara of the Nirukta only: ###. However this may be, his being the author of the Nirukta identifies him with kaprni, and makes it likely that the two names should come in juxta-position in our text, as well as in the Vyu. It must be admitted, however, that there are some rather inexplicable repetitions in the part of the Vyu where this account occurs, although two copies agree in the reading. That a portion of the Vedas goes by the name of Rathantara we have seen (p. 42); but as far as is yet known, the name is confined to different prayers or hymns of the Uhya Gna of the Sma-veda. The text of the Vishnu also admits of a different explanation regarding the work of kaprni, and instead of a threefold division of the original, the passage may mean that he composed a third Sanhit. So Mr. Colebrooke says "the Vishnu P. omits the khs of Awalyana and Snkhyyana, and intimates that kaprni gave the third varied edition from that of Indrapramati." The Vyu, however, is clear in ascribing three Sanhits or khs to kaprni.
278:10 In the Vyu the four pupils of Skaprni are called Kenava, Dlaki, atavalka, and Naigama.
278:11 This Bshkali may either be, according to the commentator, the pupil of Paila, who, in addition to the four Sanhits previously noticed, compiled three others; or he may be another Bshkali, a fellow-pupil of kaprni. The Vyu makes him a disciple of Satyar, the fellow-pupil of kalya and Rathntara, and adds the name or title Bhradwja.
278:12 In the Vyu they are called Nandyanya, Pannagri, and rjjava.
278:13 Both the Vishnu and Vyu Purnas omit two other principal divisions of the Rich, those of Awalyana and Snkhyyana or the Kautak. As. Res. Viii. 375. There is no specification of the aggregate number of Sanhits of the Rich in our text, or in the Vyu; but they describe eighteen, including the Nirukta; or as Mr. Colebrooke states, sixteen (As. Res. Viii. 374); that is, omitting the two portions of the original, as divided by Paila. The Krma Purna states the number at twenty-one; but treatises on the study of the Vedas reduce the khs of the Rich to five.
"The Vishnu Purana", translated by Horace Hayman Wilson, [1840],
p. 275
Chap. Iv.
Division of the Veda, in the last Dwpara age, by the Vysa Krishna Dwaipyana. Paila made reader of the Rich; Vaiampyana of the Yajush; Jaimini of the Shun; and Sumantu of the Atharvan. Sta appointed to teach the historical poems. Origin of the four parts of the Veda. Sanhits of the Rig-veda.
Parara.--The original Veda, in four parts, consisted of one hundred thousand stanzas; and from it sacrifice of ten kinds 1, the accomplisher of all desires, proceeded. In the twenty-eighth Dwpara age my son Vysa separated the four portions of the Veda into four Vedas. In the same manner as the Vedas were arranged by him, as Vedavysa, so were they divided in former periods by all the preceding Vysas, and by myself: and the branches into which they were subdivided by him were the same into which they had been distributed in every aggregate of the four ages. Know, Maitreya, the Vysa called Krishna Dwaipyana to be the deity Nryana; for who else on this earth could have composed the Mahbhrata 2? Into what portions the Vedas were arranged by my magnanimous son, in the Dwpara age, you shall hear.
When Vysa was enjoined by Brahm to arrange the Vedas in different books, he took four persons, well read in those works, as his disciples. He appointed Paila reader of the Rich 3; Vaiampyana of
p. 276
the Yajush; and Jaimini of the Soma-veda: and Sumantu, who was conversant with the Atharva-veda, was also the disciple of the learned Vysa. He also took Sta, who was named Lomaharshana, as his pupil in historical and legendary traditions 4.
There was but one Yajur-veda; but dividing this into four parts, Vysa instituted the sacrificial rite that is administered by four kinds of priests: in which it was the duty of the Adhwaryu to recite the prayers (Yajush) (or direct the ceremony); of the Hotri, to repeat the hymns (Richas); of the Udgtri, to chaunt other hymns (Sma); and of the Brahman, to pronounce the formul called Atharva. Then the Muni, having collected together the hymns called Richas, compiled the Rigveda; with the prayers and directions termed Yajushas he formed the Yajur-veda; with those called Sma, Sma-veda; and with the Atharvas he composed the rules of all the ceremonies suited to kings, and the function of the Brahman agreeably to practice 5.
p. 277
This vast original tree of the Vedas, having been divided by him into four principal stems, soon branched out into an extensive forest. In the first place, Paila divided the Rig-veda, and gave the two Sanhits (or collections of hymns) to Indrapramati and to Bshkali. Bshkali 6 subdivided his Sanhit into four, which he gave to his disciples Baudhya, Agnimthara, Yajnawalka, and Parara; and they taught these secondary shoots from the primitive branch. Indrapramati imparted his Sanhit to his son Mandukeya, and it thence descended through successive generations, as well as disciples 7. Vedamitra, called also kalya, studied the same Sanhit, but he divided it into five Sanhits, which he distributed amongst as many disciples, named severally Mudgala, Goswalu, Vtsya, lya, and iira 8. Skaprni made a different division of the original Sanhit into three portions, and added a glossary (Nirukta), constituting a fourth 9. The three Sanhits were given to his three pupils, Krauncha,
p. 278
[paragraph continues] Vaitlaki, and Valka; and a fourth, (thence named) Niruktakrit, had the glossary 10. In this way branch sprang from branch. Another Bshkali 11 composed three other Sanhits, which he taught to his disciples Klyani, Grgya, and Kathjava 12. These are they by whom the principal divisions of the Rich have been promulgated 13.
Footnotes
275:1 According to the Grihya portion of the Sma-veda, there are five great sacrificial ceremonies; 1. Agnihotra, burnt-offerings, or libations of clarified butter on sacred fire; 2. Derapaurnamsa, sacrifices at new and full moon; 3. Chturmasya, sacrifices every four months; 4. Pau-yajna or Awamedha, sacrifice of a horse or animal; and 5. Soma-yajna, offerings and libations of the juice of the acid asclepias. These, again, are either Prkrita, 'simple,' or Vaikrita, 'modified;' and being thus doubled, constitute ten.
275:2 The composition of the Mahbhrata is always ascribed to the Vysa named Krishna Dwaipyana, the cotemporary of the events there described. The allusion in the text establishes the priority of the poem to the Vishnu Purna.
275:3 Or rather, 'he took Paila as teacher.' The expression is, Rigveda rvakam Pailam jagrha. rvaka means properly 'he who causes to hear, a lecturer, a preacher;' although, as in the case of its applicability to the laity of the Buddhists and Jainas, it p. 276 denotes a disciple. The commentator however observes, that the text is sometimes read 'one who had gone through the Rig-veda.' So in the preceding verse it is said, 'he took four persons, well read in the Vedas, as his disciples,' and again it is said, 'Sumantu, conversant with the Atharva-veda, was his disciple.' It is clear, therefore, that the Vedas were known, as distinct works, before Krishna Dwaipyana; and it is difficult to understand how he earned his title of arranger, or Vysa: at any rate, in undertaking to give order to the prayers and hymns of which the Vedas consist, Paila and the others were rather his coadjutors than disciples; and it seems probable that the tradition records the first establishment of a school, of which the Vysa was the head, and the other persons named were the teachers.
276:4 The Itihsa and Purnas; understanding by the former, legendary and traditional narratives. It is usually supposed that by the Itihsa the Mahbhrata is especially meant; but although this poem is ascribed to Krishna Dwaipyana, the recitation of it is not attributed to his pupil, Roma or Loma-harshana: it was first narrated by Vaiampyana, and after him by Sauti, the son of Lomaharshana.
276:5 From this account, which is repeated in the Vyu P., it appears that the original Veda was the Yajush, or in other words was a miscellaneous body of precepts, formul, prayers, and hymns, for sacrificial ceremonies; Yajush being derived by the grammarians from Yaj, 'to worship.' The derivation of the Vyu Purna, however, is from Yuj, 'to join, to employ;' the formul being those especially applied to sacrificial rites, or set apart for that purpose from the general collection: p. 277 ### again, ### The commentator on the text however, citing the former of these passages from the Vyu, reads it, confining the derivation to Yaj, 'to worship.' The concluding passage, relating to the Atharvan, refers, in regard to regal ceremonies, to those of expiation, nti, but from the preceding specification of the four orders of priests who repeat at sacrifices portions of the several Vedas, it relates to the office of the one that is termed specifically the Brahman: so the Vyu has 'He constituted the function of the Brahman at sacrifices with the Atharva-veda.'
277:6 Both in our text and in that of the Vyu this name occurs both Bshkala and Bshkali. Mr. Colebrooke writes it Bhkala and Bhkali. As. Res. Viii. 374.
277:7 The Vyu supplies the detail. Mandukeya, or, as one copy writes, Mrkandeya, taught the Sanhit to his son Satyaravas; he to his son Satyahita; and he to his son Satyar. The latter had three pupils, kalya, also called Devamitra (sic in MS.), Rathntara, and another Bshkali, called also Bharadwja. The Vyu has a legend of kalya's death, in consequence of his being defeated by Yjnavalkya in a disputation at a sacrifice celebrated by Janaka.
277:8 These names in the Vyu are Mudgala, Golaka, Khliya, Mtsya, aiireya.
277:9 The commentator, who is here followed by Mr. Colebrooke, states that he was a pupil of Indrapramati; but from the Vyu it appears that kaprni was another name of Rathntara, the pupil of Satyar, the author of three Sanhits and a Nirukta, or glossary; whence Mr. Colebrooke supposes him the same with Yska. As. Res. Viii. 375. It is highly probable that the text of the Vyu may be made to correct that of the Vishnu in this place, which is inaccurate, notwithstanding the copies agree: they read, ###. p. 278 Here kaprnir-atha-itaram is the necessary construction; but quere if it should not be kaprni Rathntara. The parallel passage in the Vyu is, ###. Now in describing the pupils of Satyar, Rathntara was named clearly enough: ###. In another passage it would seem to be implied that this Bshkali was the author of the Sanhits, and Rathntara of the Nirukta only: ###. However this may be, his being the author of the Nirukta identifies him with kaprni, and makes it likely that the two names should come in juxta-position in our text, as well as in the Vyu. It must be admitted, however, that there are some rather inexplicable repetitions in the part of the Vyu where this account occurs, although two copies agree in the reading. That a portion of the Vedas goes by the name of Rathantara we have seen (p. 42); but as far as is yet known, the name is confined to different prayers or hymns of the Uhya Gna of the Sma-veda. The text of the Vishnu also admits of a different explanation regarding the work of kaprni, and instead of a threefold division of the original, the passage may mean that he composed a third Sanhit. So Mr. Colebrooke says "the Vishnu P. omits the khs of Awalyana and Snkhyyana, and intimates that kaprni gave the third varied edition from that of Indrapramati." The Vyu, however, is clear in ascribing three Sanhits or khs to kaprni.
278:10 In the Vyu the four pupils of Skaprni are called Kenava, Dlaki, atavalka, and Naigama.
278:11 This Bshkali may either be, according to the commentator, the pupil of Paila, who, in addition to the four Sanhits previously noticed, compiled three others; or he may be another Bshkali, a fellow-pupil of kaprni. The Vyu makes him a disciple of Satyar, the fellow-pupil of kalya and Rathntara, and adds the name or title Bhradwja.
278:12 In the Vyu they are called Nandyanya, Pannagri, and rjjava.
278:13 Both the Vishnu and Vyu Purnas omit two other principal divisions of the Rich, those of Awalyana and Snkhyyana or the Kautak. As. Res. Viii. 375. There is no specification of the aggregate number of Sanhits of the Rich in our text, or in the Vyu; but they describe eighteen, including the Nirukta; or as Mr. Colebrooke states, sixteen (As. Res. Viii. 374); that is, omitting the two portions of the original, as divided by Paila. The Krma Purna states the number at twenty-one; but treatises on the study of the Vedas reduce the khs of the Rich to five.
