THE Doctrine of Maya - HolyBooks.com

""""""46 THE DOCTRINE OF MAYAKnowing the soul, free from desire, wise, immortal,self-existent, satisfied with the essence, not deficient inany respect, one is not afraid of death." x A.V. x. 8. 44.They call him Indra, Mitra, Varuna, Agni ;likewise heis the heavenly-winged eagle ;what is one the sages namevariously they call him Agni, Yama, Matarisvan." 2;A.V. ix. 10. 28.These typical passages point to a continuation ofthe same idea in the A.V. The Brahmanas, theexegetical treatises on the Samhitas, being mainlyguided by the Sruti, 3 and starting with the objectof making explicit what is implicitly implied in themantras, may naturally be supposed not to swervefrom the general spirit of the latter. What is already explicit in the mantras is sometimes onlyemphasized in these treatises. The transition fromthe earlier thought of the Samhita to that of theBrahmanas may be noticed, for instance, in R.V.x. 81, where the questionis askedLudwig, p. 395 ; Deussen, Geschichte, i. I. 318 ; Grifnth,ii.34.1Compare what Deussen remarks on this passage :die erste und alteste Stelle,die wir kennen, in der ruckhaltlosder Atman als Weltprincip proklamiert wird, A.V.x. 8. 44," (Geschichte der Philosophie, vol. i., p. 334).2 See Whitney s A.V., p. 561.3The Brahmanas in regard to their subject-matter aresupposed by some to be uditanuvadah i.e., they explain in detail what is already given in the Veda. (Cf.Yaska, Nirukta, i. 16. Roth s ed., p. 37, uditanuvadahsa ^bhavati.")