or liturgical texts, is, in fact, that which distributes them
into ric, yajus, and sdman^ or, according to a later defini-
tion,2 but one which may be accepted as valid for a period
of much greater antiquity,^ into (a) hymns, more strictly
verses of invocation and praise, which were chanted with
a loud voice : into (h) formulae prescribed with reference
to the various acts of sacrifice, which were muttered in a
low voice : and into (c) chants of a more or less complex
structure, and followed by a refrain which was sung in
chorus. To possess an accurate knowledge of the rics, the
yajus, and the samans, was to possess the " triple science,"
the triple Yeda. When, on the other hand, there is men-
tion of the four Yedas,^ the reference is to the four collec-
tions as they exist at present, viz., the Rig- Veda, which
includes the body of the hymns ; the Yajur- Veda, in which
all the prescribed formulae are collected ; the Sdma- Veda,
which contains the chants (the texts of which are, with a
very few exceptions, verses of the Rig- Yeda ^) ; and the
Atharva- Veda, a collection of hymns like the Rig- Yeda,
but of which the texts, when they are not common to the
two collections, are in part of later date, and must have
been employed in the ritual of a different worship. Be-
sides those collections of mantras, i.e., of liturgical and
ritualistic texts, called Samhitds, each Yeda still con-
tains, as a second part, one or more jBrdhmanas, or trea-
tises on the ceremonial system, in which, with reference
to prescriptions in regard to ritual, there are preserved
numerous legends, theological speculations, &c., as well as
1 Atharva- Veda, vii. 54, 2 ; see
Rig- Veda, x. 90, 9; Tait. Samb., i.
2, 3, 3 ; Catap. Br., iv. 6, 7, i.
- The official definition is given
in the Mimamsa-Sutras, ii. I, 35-37,
pp. 128, 129, of the edition of the ^
Bibliotheca Indica ; see also Sayana's
Commentary on the Rig-Veda, t. i.
p. 23, and Commentary on the Tait-
tiriya Sanihitd, t. i. p. 28,
the Bibliotheca Indica ; Prastbana-
bheda an. Ind. Stud., i. p. 14.
2 Atharva- Veda, xii. I, 38; Aitar. Br., v. 32, 3, 4 ; Catap. Br., ii. 3, 3, 17.
^ Cbandog. Up., vii. I, 2 ; Ath.- Veda, x. 7, 20; Brihadar. Up., ii. 4, 10.
Interesting information on the mode of the formation and the cha- racter of these chants will be found in the introdviction to A. C. Burnell's edition of edition of the Arsbeyabrabmana, pp. xi., xli. See also Tb. Aufrecht, Die Hymnen des Rigveda, 2d ed., Preface, p. xxxviii.
