Page:The Religion of the Veda.djvu/65
time this earth was unstable. (God) Indra cut off their wings. By means of the mountains he made firm the earth. The wings became clouds. Therefore these clouds ever hover about the mountains. For this is their place of origin."
At the end of the Brāhmanas appears a class of texts known as Āranyakas, or "Forest Treatises." The meaning of this name is not altogether clear. It seems probable that these works were recited by hermits living in the forest, or, more precisely, those who went to the forest to live, at the time when they entered the third stage of Hindu life, preparatory to final emancipation.[1] According to another, less likely, view they are texts which were taught by teacher to pupil in the solitude of the forest, rather than in the profaner surroundings of the town or village this because the quiet of the forest harmonised better with the sanctity of their contents. In either view it is difficult to see why so much ado should have been made about them. The Āranyakas are later than the Brāhmanas; this follows from the position they occupy at the end of these texts, and from their contents. On top of descriptions of sacrificial ceremonies we have here symbolism of the sacrifice and priestly philosophy of the most fantastic order. The real ritual perform-
- ↑ See below, p. 288.