46
SOCIAL LIFE
"The Indus is ever young and beautiful. She is rich in horses, in chariots, and in garments; she is rich in gold and is beauteously clad! She is rich in corn and in wool and in straw, and has covered herself with sweet flowers.
"The Indus has fastened horses to her easy chariot
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PRIMITIVE INDIAN BOATS.
and has brought food therein to us. The greatness of the chariot is extolled as mighty; it is irresistible and great and rich in its fame! "
The poet in this hymn, as Max Muller said, takes in at one swoop three great river-systems, those flowing from the northwest into the Indus, those joining it from the northeast, and in the distance the Ganges and the Jumna with their tributaries. "It shows the widest
