A FUNERAL HYMN.
“There are some reasons, which Professor Max Müller explains with his usual eloquence, for supposing that the original conception of Yama in the Rig Veda is the conception of the departing sun. The sun sets and disappears, just as a man’s life ends; and the imagination of a simple race would easily conjure up an after-world where that departed deity would preside over departed spirits. . . . In the Veda, he is the beneficent king of the happy world where the virtuous live and enjoy themselves in after-life. Clothed in a glorious body, they sit by the side of Yama in the realms of light and sparkling waters, they enjoy endless felicity there, and are adored here below under the name of Pitris, or fathers.”—Civilisation in Ancient India, vol. i. p. 87.
The following hymn is a part of the funeral ritual of ancient times, and will be read with interest.
1.
AWAKE the song, the offerings bring, To mighty Yama, gracious king! For he has cleared for us the way To realms of bliss and light of day! And pious souls to Yama take their flight, To realms of sparkling waters and of light!
2.
Yama showed to us the way! The path that never fades away! Our fathers by that path have gone To the realms of setting sun! And every being, after life’s brief day, Shall travel by the same eternal way![^16]
3.
Then come thou, Yama! gracious King, And with thee our forefathers bring! The feast we spread, the hymns we sing, Then consecrate these rites, O King! Pleased with our gifts, partake our ample feast, And with our fathers in this mansion rest!
4.
Then come thou, Yama! gracious King, And with thee our forefathers[^17] bring! Vivasvat, thy mighty sire, Comes he to our sacred fire! On the soft and sacred varhis[^18] rest, Pleased with our gifts, partake our ample feast!
5.
The Angirasas, Bhrigus great, And Atharvans[^19] on us wait! From the regions of the blest Come to share our ample feast! Then pour libations to our fathers great, And may our rites their approbation meet!
6.
[To the Dead Person:]
By the path our fathers know, Go, departed being! go! In realms where sparkling rivers roll, Live, and happy be thy soul! Varuna great, and Yama, gracious king, Dwell in these realms, then hasten on thy wing!
7.
Haste thee on thy unseen wing, Flee to Yama, gracious king! Meet our fathers who have gone, Reap the virtues you have won! Leave sins behind,—follow the setting sun, Leave mortal shape,—a brighter form put on![^20]
Rig Veda, X. 14.