The Kashmirian Atharva Veda by Leroy Carr BarretReview by: E. H. JohnstonJournal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, No. 1 (Jan., 1938), pp. 123-124Published by: Cambridge University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25201657 .

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THE KASHMIRIAN ATHARVA VEDA 123

the different names of Rudra in different regions look like

syncretism, but no explanation is offered.

The greater part of the book deals with the lives and works

of five great Nayanars. It is clearly written in a beautiful

style, and should be an important contribution to our know

ledge of Tamil literature. Even here there appears to be gaps. The dates and works of these authors are fully treated, as

well as their philosophy, which is expressly called Vedanta,

but their relation to earlier doctrine is only sketched. If the

work is to be called a history, can the &aiva agamas be ignored ?

And are there no $aiva sects that on moral grounds are looked

upon with disapproval ? The author admits that the $aiva

religion got into disrepute, but this was "

because a number

of hypocrites began to lead a very bad life in the name of

religion ", and he instances a kapalika who got drunk. But

this was not a part of his religion, and any religion may have

cases of hypocrisy. There arc very different charges brought

against Saivism, and in the interests of completeness they cannot be ignored. But this is no reflection on the excellence

of the treatment of the Saiva saints and their religion which

the author has given.

A. 738. E. J. Thomas.

The Kashmirian Atharva Veda. Books XVI and XVII.

Edited with critical notes by Leroy Carr Barret.

American Oriental Series, 9. 10J x G\, pp. iv + 198.

New Haven, Connecticut: American Oriental Society, 1936.

The canons of scholarship ordinarily discourage the publica tion of a text based only on a single incorrect MS., but the

Paippalada recension of the Atliarvaveda differs so greatly from the Saunaka recension, familiar to all of us, that the

unusual value accruing to it thereby makes it an exception to the rule. Dr. Barret has been at work on this text for over

thirty years, and his task is now approaching completion,

only three books being still outstanding. In the present volume

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124 REVIEWS OF BOOKS

he has followed the same methods of editing as in the previous

instalments, which appeared in the JAOS.; and, though the

readings often remain doubtful, he has proved that a usable

text can bo extracted from the MS., and ho deserves every credit for the achievement.

For the Sanskritist, however, who is not a Vedic specialist but who often has occasion to consult the Atharvaveda, this

edition has the unfortunate defect of being unusable in the

two respects that he requires without an inordinate amount of

labour. To him the importance of this recension lies firstly in the variant readings which it gives of verses already known

in the Vulgate, but which for the most part are not recorded

in the Vedic Concordance, and secondly in the many new

hymns and single verses. Owing to the different disposition of the two recensions it is necessary at present to look through fifteen numbers of the JAOS., as well as the present volume,

to discover the whereabouts of parallel passages. Nor is it

much easier to come at the new matter, part of which, the

hitherto unknown philosophical hymns, may have considerable

value for others besides Vedic scholars. Is it too much to

hope that the entire work may be made accessible by the

publication of the whole in volume form, by the provision of

a concordance with the Saunaka recension, and by a subject

analysis of the new hymns ?

A. 708. E. II. Johnston.

Tibetan Yoga and Secret Doctrines. Or Seven Books of

Wisdom of the Great Path, according to the late Lama

Kazi Dawa-Samdup's English rendering. Edited by

W. Y. Evans-Wentz. 9 x 6?, pp. xxiv + 389, ills. 9.

London: Oxford University Press, 1935. 16s.

The present book is the third of a series of treatises on

Tibetan yoga.1 All three are editions of the English rendering 1 Tho first and tho second aro : The Tibetan Book of tlie Dead, 1927,

and Tibet's Qreat Yogi Milarepa, 1928, Oxford University Press, both books

being editions of the late Kazi Dawa-Samdup's translations.

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