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and ask him for that excellent horse, for he will certainly give it to you, though you are his enemy, sooner than mar the glory of open-handedness, which he has been accumulating since his birth." When the preceptor of the gods said that to him, great Indra went with the gods and craved as a boon that horse Uchchaihśravas from Namuchi. Then the great-hearted Namuchi reflected, " I never turn back a suppliant, so I will not turn back Indra; and how can I, as long us I am Namuchi, refuse to give him the horse? If the glory of generosity, which I have long been acquiring in the worlds, were to wither, what would be the rise to me of prosperity, or life?" Accordingly he gave the horse to Indra, although Śukra warned him not to do it. Then Indra, after he had given the horse, lulled him to security, and as he could not be slain by any other weapon, killed him with foam of the Ganges, in which he had placed a thunderbolt. Alas ! terrible in the world is the thirst for enjoyment, carried away by which even gods do not shrink from unbecoming and infamous conduct. When Danu, the mother of Namuchi, heard this, being afflicted with grief, she made by virtue of her asceticism a solemn resolve for the allaying of her sorrow, " May that mighty Namuchi be again born in my womb, and may he again become invincible by the gods in battle." Then he was again conceived in her womb, and born as an Asura composed all of jewels, named Prabala on account of his strength. Then he performed asceticism, and satisfying supplicants even with his life, became successful, and as prince of the Dánavas conquered lndra a hundred times. Then the gods took counsel together, and came to him, and said to him: " By all means give us your body for a human sacrifice."*[1] When, he heard that, he gave them his own
- ↑ * The word, which I have translated " human sacrifice," is purushamedha. For the prevalence of human sacrifices among all nations of antiquity see Grimm's Teutonic Mythology, translated by Stallybrass, Vol. I, p. 44 and ff; see also Tylor's Primitive Culture, Vol. II, p. 246, 353, 361, 365. Dr. Rajendralála Mitra. Rai Bahadúr, in an essay in the Journal of the Asiatic Society for 1876. entitled " Human Sacrifices in India," traces the history of the practice in India, and incidentally among the principal nations of antiquity. The following is his own summary of his conclusions with respect to the practice in India. (1) That, looking to the history of human civilization, and the rituals of the Hindus, there is nothing to justify the belief that in ancient times the Hindus were incapable of sacrificing human beings to their gods. (2) That the Śunahśepha hymns of the Rig Veda Sanhitá most probably refer to a human sacrifice. (3) That the Aitareya Bráhmana refers to an actual, and not a typical human sacrifice. (4) That the Purushamedha originally required the actual sacrifice of men. (5) That the Śatapatha Bráhmana sanctions human sacrifice in some cases, but makes the Purushamedha emblematic. (6) That the Taittiríya Bráhmana enjoins the sacrifice of a man at the Horse sacrifice. (7) That the Puránas recognise human sacrifices to Chandiká but prohibit the Purushamedha rite. (8) That the Tantras enjoin human sacrifices to Chandiká, and require that, when
