CHAPTER XII.                              129

absent man was present, she conceived an aversion to
his fine attire, and Yajuavalkya became aware of it,
though she concealed it. On having finished, he took
the water to sprinkle it over the head of the woman,
for this holds with them the place of the blowing after .
an incantation, since blowing is disliked by them and
considered as something impure. Then the woman said,
" Sprinkle it over this column." So he did, and at once
the column became green. Now the woman repented
having missed the blessing of his pious action ; there¬
fore on the following day she went to the master, asking
him to send her the same pupil whom he had sent the
day before. Yajuavalkya, however, declined to go
except in his turn. No urging had any effect upon
him ; he did not mind the wrath of his master, but
simply said, " Take away from me all that you have
taught me." And scarcely had he spoken the word,
when on a sudden he had forgotten all he knew before.
Now he turned to the Sun and asked him to teach him
the Veda. The Sun said, " How is that possible, as I
must perpetually wander, and you are incapable of
doing the same ? " But then Yajuavalkya clung to
the chariot of the Sun and began to learn the Veda
from him; but he was compelled to interrupt the
recitation here and there on account of the irregularity
of the motion of the chariot.

The Samaveda treats  of  the  sacrifices, command- Samaveda

■..,..                    T-                 •       1    •                              iM        ^^'^ Athar-

ments, and prohibitions. It is recited m a tone like vanaveda.
a chant, and hence its name is derived, because sdman
means the sweetness of recitation. The cause of this
kind of recital is, that Narayana, when he appeared on
earth in the shape of Vamana, and came to the king
Bali, changed himself into a Brahman and began to
recite the Samaveda with a touching melody, by
which he exhilarated the king, in consequence of which
there happened to him the well-known story.

The Atharvanaveda is as a text connected by the
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