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I. ALLGEMEINES UND SPRACHE. 4. VEDIC GRAMMAR. 8 represents the foundation of the subsequent strata, it seems important for the sake of clearness and definiteness that the earliest phase should be treated as a whole independently of later developments. The present work will therefore deal with the grammar of only the Mantra portions of the Samhitas; that is to say, it will embrace the whole of the Rgveda, the Atharvaveda³, the Samaveda, and the Vājasaneyi Samhitā ³, but will exclude those portions of the Taittirīya Samhita, the Maitrayaņī Samhita5 and the Kathaka6 which have the character of Brahmaņas 7. Reference will also be made to Mantra material not found in the canonical texts of the Samhitãs, that is, to the Khilas of the Rgveda and the occasional Mantras of this type occurring in the Brahmaņas and Sūtras. As the linguistic material of the Rgveda is more ancient, extensive and authentic than that of the other Samhitas, all of which borrow largely from that text ¹0, it is taken as the basis of the present work. Hence all forms stated without comment belong to the Rgveda, though they may occur in other Samhitās as well. From the other Vedas, such matter only is added as occurs in their independent parts or, if borrowed from the Rgveda, appears in an altered form, the source being in such cases indicated by an abbreviation in parentheses (as VS., TS., AV.). The addition of the abbreviation 'RV.' means that the form in question occurs in the Rgveda only. IO 2 2. Verbal Authenticity of the Texts".-In dealing with the linguistic material of the Samhitãs the question of the authenticity of the forms which it embraces is of great importance. What guarantees then do we possess that the original form of the texts handed down by tradition has not in the course of ages undergone modification and modernization in respect to vocabulary, phonetics, and grammatical forms? This question must first be applied to the Rgveda, the oldest of the Samhitas, which forms the very foundation of Vedic tradition. The evidence of the Sarvanukramaṇī¹, which states the number of stanzas, the metre, and the deity for every hymn of the RV., shows that in general extent, form, and matter, this Samhita was in the Sūtra period the same as now. The Prātiśākhya ¹³ demonstrates that its phonetic character was also the same. Yaska's commentary ¹4 proves that, 14 Breslau 1906 (cp. OLDENBERG, Göttingische Gelehrte Anzeigen 1907, 210—41). ¹ Edited (Samhita text only) by ROTH and | Mass., 1904); SCHEFTELOWITZ, Die Apokry- WHITNEY, Berlin 1856 (Index Verborum in phen des Rgveda (edition of the Khilas), JAOS., vol. XII); translated by WHITNEY (Books I—XIX), with a critical and exegetical commentary, Cambridge, Mass., 1905 (vols. VII and VIII of the Harvard Oriental Series); also edited by SHANKAR P. PANDIT (both Samhita and Pada text), Bombay 1895-99. 9 Cp. OLDENBERG, op. cit., 359 ff.; AUF- RECHT, Das Aitareya Brāhmaṇa, Bonn 1879, p. 420 f. 2 Besides BENFEY's edition also that of SATYAVRATA SAMAŚRAMI, 5 vols., Calcutta 1874-78 (Bibliotheca Indica). 10 Cp. OLDENBERG, op. cit., chapter III; MACDONELL, History of Sanskrit Literature, 181 and 186. 3 Edited by WEBER, with the commentary of Mahīdhara, London and Berlin 1852. 11 Cp. OLDENBERG, op. cit., chapter III (271-369) Der Riktext und der Text der jüngeren Samhitãs und der Brāhmaṇas; 4 Edited by WEBER (vols. XI and XII of LUDWIG, Ueber die Kritik des Rgveda- Indische Studien), Berlin 1871-72. Textes, Abhandlungen d. k. böhm. Gesell- 5 Edited by L. V. SCHROEDER, Leipzig | schaft der Wissenschaften, Prag 1889. 1881-86. 12 Edited by A. A. MACDONELL, Oxford 1886. 13 The Rgveda Prātiśākhya, edited with German translation by MAX MÜLLER, Leipzig 1856—69; edited with UVAȚA's commentary, Benares Sanskrit Series 1894. 6 Edited by L. v. SCHROEDER, vol. 1 (books 1-XVII), Leipzig 1900. 7 Cp.OLDENBERG, Die Hymnen des Rigveda, Band 1 (Prolegomena), Berlin 1888, p. 294ff. 8 See AUFRECHT, Die Hymnen des Rigveda², vol. II, 672-88; MAX MÜLLER, Rgveda², 14 Yaska's Nirukta, edited by ROTH, Göt- vol. IV, 519-41; cp. MACDONELL, Brhad- tingen 1852; edited by SATYAVRATa Sāma- devatā, vol. I, introduction, § 15 (Cambridge, | ŚRAMI, 4 vols. (II-IV with the commentary