Page:The Religion of the Veda.djvu/287

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The Final Philosophy of the Veda 271


ception of the (frame, which means first “breath,” and then “ self.” As far as the early poetry is con... cerned there is not the least doubt about the primary meaning of zftmmz.‘ It is familiarly correlated with wind, “ the breath of the goals.“ The (infirm or soul of man after death returns to mingle with the wind from which it is auppoacd to have emanate1| The later Veda abounds; in crude and fanciful psycho» physical observations in which the parts and font.» tions of the human body, the little cosmos, are correlated more or less skilfully with the phenomena of the outer world, the big cosmos, An important thought of this sort is, that the human body is pern vaded by plural breaths, fireflies or zitmmzs; these vivify the body, and are the essential part, the ego, of the living individual. Several of the older Upam ishacle contain a fable, resembling the Latin fable of “ the belly and the members.” The vital powers are quarrelling among themselves for supremacy. They bring their case before Prajapati, “ the lord of creatures.” Prajapati advises them to leave the body one by one and to observe which less affects it most. The voice, the eye, the ear, the mind tie-

1 For the meaning of tame, the reduced stem of the same word in the pronominal sense of “self,” see the author in American jouraai

osztilalogy, xvi, p. 421:. 3 Rig—Veda 7. 87. a; 10. I68. 4. 3 15:21., to. 16. 3; go. 13; 92. 13.