A History of Sanskrit Literature Part 8

Bhaga, Aryaman, Savitri, Puramdhi, The G.o.ds have given thee to share my household.

The G.o.d of fire is at the same time invoked:--

To thee, O Agni, first they led Bright Surya with the bridal throng: So in thy turn to husbands give A wife along with progeny.

The concluding verses (42-47) are benedictions p.r.o.nounced on the newly-wedded couple after the bride has arrived at her future home:--

Here abide; be not divided; Complete life's whole allotted span, Playing with your sons and grandsons, Rejoicing in your own abode.

The last stanza of all is spoken by the bridegroom:--

May all the G.o.ds us two unite, May Waters now our hearts entwine; May Mataricvan and Dhatri, May Deshtri us together join.

There are five hymns, all in the last book (x. 14-18), which are more or less concerned with funeral rites. All but one of them, however, consist chiefly of invocations of G.o.ds connected with the future life. The first (14) is addressed to Yama, the next to the Fathers, the third to Agni, and the fourth to Pushan, as well as Sarasvati. Only the last (18) is a funeral hymn in the true sense. It is secular in style as well as in matter, being almost free from references to any of the G.o.ds. Grave and elevated in tone, it is distinguished by great beauty of language. It also yields more information about the funeral usages of those early days than any of the rest.

From this group of hymns it appears that burial was practised as well as cremation by the Vedic Indians. The composer of a hymn addressed to Varuna in Book VII. also mentions "the house of clay" in connection with death. Cremation was, however, the usual manner of disposing of the dead, and the later Vedic ritual practically knew this method alone, sanctioning only the burial of ascetics and children under two years of age. With the rite of cremation, too, the mythological notions about the future life were specially connected. Thus Agni conducts the corpse to the other world, where the G.o.ds and Fathers dwell. A goat was sacrificed when the corpse was burned, and this goat, according to the Atharva-veda (ix. 5, 1 and 3), preceded and announced the deceased to the fathers, just as in the Rigveda the goat immolated with the sacrificial horse goes before to announce the offering to the G.o.ds (i. 162-163). In the later Vedic ritual a goat or cow was sacrificed as the body was cremated.

In conformity with a custom of remotest antiquity still surviving in India, the dead man was provided with ornaments and clothing for use in the future life. The fact that in the funeral obsequies of the Rigveda the widow lies down beside the body of her deceased husband and his bow is removed from the dead man's hand, shows that both were in earlier times burnt with his body to accompany him to the next world, and a verse of the Atharva-veda calls the dying of the widow with her husband an old custom. The evidence of anthropology shows that this was a very primitive practice widely prevailing at the funerals of military chiefs, and it can be proved to go back to the Indo-European age.

The following stanza (8) from the last funeral hymn (x. 18) is addressed to the widow, who is called upon to rise from the pyre and take the hand of her new husband, doubtless a brother of the deceased, in accordance with an ancient marriage custom:--

Rise up; come to the world of life; O woman; Thou liest here by one whose soul has left him.

Come: thou hast now entered upon the wifehood Of this thy lord who takes thy hand and woos thee.

The speaker then, turning to the deceased man, exclaims:--

From the dead hand I take the bow he wielded, To gain for us dominion, might, and glory.

Thou there, we here, rich in heroic offspring, Will vanquish all a.s.saults of every foeman.

Approach the bosom of the earth, the mother, This earth extending far and most propitious: Young, soft as wool to bounteous givers, may she Preserve thee from the lap of dissolution.

Open wide, O earth, press not heavily on him, Be easy of approach, hail him with kindly aid; As with a robe a mother hides Her son, so shroud this man, O earth.

Referring to the bystanders he continues:--

These living ones are from the dead divided: Our calling on the G.o.ds is now auspicious.

We have come forth prepared for dance and laughter, Till future days prolonging our existence.

As days in order follow one another, As seasons duly alternate with seasons; As the later never forsakes the earlier, So fashion thou the lives of these, Ordainer.

A few of the secular poems contain various historical references. These are the so-called Danastutis or "Praises of Gifts," panegyrics commemorating the liberality of princes towards the priestly singers employed by them. They possess little poetic merit, and are of late date, occurring chiefly in the first and tenth books, or among the Valakhilya (supplementary) hymns of the eighth. A number of encomia of this type, generally consisting of only two or three stanzas, are appended to ordinary hymns in the eighth book and, much less commonly, in most of the other books. Chiefly concerned in describing the kind and the amount of the gifts bestowed on them, the composers of these panegyrics incidentally furnish historical data about the families and genealogies of themselves and their patrons, as well as about the names and homes of the Vedic tribes. The amount of the presents bestowed--for instance, 60,000 cows--is sometimes enormously exaggerated. We may, however, safely conclude that it was often considerable, and that the Vedic chiefs possessed very large herds of cattle.

Four of the secular poems are didactic in character. One of these (x. 34), "The Lament of the Gambler," strikes a pathetic note. Considering that it is the oldest composition of the kind in existence, we cannot but regard this poem as a most remarkable literary product. The gambler deplores his inability to throw off the spell of the dice, though he sees the ruin they are bringing on him and his household:--

Downward they fall, then nimbly leaping upward, They overpower the man with hands, though handless.

Cast on the board like magic bits of charcoal, Though cold themselves, they burn the heart to ashes.

It pains the gambler when he sees a woman, Another's wife, and their well-ordered household: He yokes these brown steeds early in the morning, And, when the fire is low, sinks down an outcast.

"Play not with dice, but cultivate thy cornfield; Rejoice in thy goods, deeming them abundant: There are thy cows, there is thy wife, O gambler."

This counsel Savitri the kindly gives me.

We learn here that the dice (aksha) were made of the nut of the Vibhidaka tree (Terminalia bellerica), which is still used for the purpose in India.

The other three poems of this group may be regarded as the forerunners of the sententious poetry which flourished so luxuriantly in Sanskrit literature. One of them, consisting only of four stanzas (ix. 112), describes in a moralising strain of mild humour how men follow after gain in various ways:--

The thoughts of men are manifold, Their callings are of diverse kinds: The carpenter desires a rift, The leech a fracture wants to cure.

A poet I; my dad's a leech; Mama the upper millstone grinds: With various minds we strive for wealth, As ever seeking after kine.

Another of these poems (x. 117) consists of a collection of maxims inculcating the duty of well-doing and charity:--

Who has the power should give unto the needy, Regarding well the course of life hereafter: Fortune, like two chariot wheels revolving, Now to one man comes nigh, now to another.

Ploughing the soil, the share produces nurture; He who bestirs his feet performs his journey; A priest who speaks earns more than one who's silent; A friend who gives is better than the n.i.g.g.ard.

The fourth of these poems (x. 71) is composed in praise of wise speech. Here are four of its eleven stanzas:--

Where clever men their words with wisdom utter, And sift them as with flail the corn is winnowed, There friends may recognise each other's friendship: A goodly stamp is on their speech imprinted.

Whoever his congenial friend abandons, In that man's speech there is not any blessing.

For what he hears he hears without advantage: He has no knowledge of the path of virtue.

When Brahman friends unite to offer worship, In hymns by the heart's impulse swiftly fashioned, Then not a few are left behind in wisdom, While others win their way as gifted Brahmans.

The one sits putting forth rich bloom of verses, Another sings a song in skilful numbers, A third as teacher states the laws of being, A fourth metes out the sacrifice's measure.

Even in the ordinary hymns are to be found a few moralising remarks of a cynical nature about wealth and women, such as frequently occur in the ethical literature of the post-Vedic age. Thus one poet exclaims: "How many a maiden is an object of affection to her wooer for the sake of her admirable wealth!" (x. 27, 12); while another addresses the kine he desires with the words: "Ye cows make even the lean man fat, even the ugly man ye make of goodly countenance" (vi. 28, 6). A third observes: "Indra himself said this, 'The mind of woman is hard to instruct, and her intelligence is small'" (viii. 33, 17); and a fourth complains: "There are no friendships with women; their hearts are those of hyenas" (x. 95, 15). One, however, admits that "many a woman is better than the G.o.dless and n.i.g.g.ardly man" (v. 61, 6).