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NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. four volumes cannot possibly give an adequate idea even of the more important only among the Sacred Books of the East: meaning by Sacred Books none but those that have received some kind of canonical sanction.
For the ancient Vedic Religion there will be in the present Series, two or three volumes of Upanishads, two or three volumes of the Brahmana of the Yagur-veda, and one volume of Grihya Sûtras on domestic ceremonies. Regret has been expressed at the non-appearance of a translation of the Rig-reda, but no one who is in the least acquainted with the present state of Vedic studies would fail to perceive the cause of this. People write and speak as if there were no translations of the Rig-veda. We possess five translations of the Rig-veda, one in French, two in English, and two in German. of these the French translation is purely tentative. The English translation by Professor Wilson follows the commentary of Sâyana, as published by myself, and represents the native or traditional interpretation of the Vedic hymns. The German metrical version by Grassmann marked at the time a real progress, but has now been left behind by the prose translation of Professor Ludwig. The English translation, now publishing at Calcutta, is eclectic, sometimes following native, sometimes European authorities. For those who can read modern Sanskrit there care in addition Sâyana's translation published by me, and the translation now publishing at Benares by Dayananda Sarasvati. What I consider a translation of the Rig-veda ought to be, I have shown in one small volume, published in 1869 containing an interpretation, with its full justification, of twelve hymns only. What prevented me from continuing this translation was ill health, and the warning it gave me that I ought to finish some other
