the gods vainly--but why art thou
angry with us, O _G_atavedas? May liars go to destruction!"

S a t y a m, as a neuter, is often used as an abstract, and is then
rightly translated by truth. But it also means that which is, the true,
the real; and there are several passages in the Rig-Veda where, instead
of _truth_, I think we ought simply to translate s a t y a m by the
true, that is, the real, [Greek: to ontos on].[66] It sounds, no doubt,
very well to translate Satyena uttabhita bhumi_h_ by "the earth is
founded on truth;" and I believe every translator has taken s a t y a in
that sense here. Ludwig translates, "Von der Wahrheit ist die Erde
gestuetzt." But such an idea, if it conveys any tangible meaning at all,
is far too abstract for those early poets and philosophers. They meant
to say "the earth, such as we see it, is held up, that is, rests on
something real, though we may not see it, on something which they called
the Real,[67] and to which, in course of time, they gave many more
names, such as _R i_ t a, the right, B r a h m a n," etc.

Of course where there is that strong reverence for truth, there must
also be the sense of guilt arising from untruth. And thus we hear one
poet pray that the waters may wash him clean, and carry off all his
sins and all untruth:

"Carry away, ye waters,[68] whatever evil there is in me,
wherever I may have deceived, or may have cursed, and also
all untruth (an_ri_tam)."[69]

Or again, in the Atharva-Veda IV. 16:

"May all thy fatal snares, which stand spread out seven by
seven and threefold, catch the man who tells a lie, may they
pass by him who tells the truth!"

From the Brahma_n_as, or theological treatises of the Brahmans, I
shall quote a few passages only:

"Whosoever[70] speaks the truth, makes the fire on his own
altar blaze up, as if he poured butter into the lighted fire.
His own light grows larger, and from to-morrow to to-morrow
he becomes better. But whosoever speaks untruth, he quenches
the fire on his altar, as if he poured water into the lighted
fire; his own light grows smaller and smaller, and from
to-morrow to to-morrow he becomes more wicked. Let man
therefore speak truth only."[71]

And again:[72] "A man becomes impure by uttering falsehood."

And again:[73] "As a man who steps on the edge of a sword placed over
a pit cries out, I shall slip, I shall slip into the pit, so let a man
guard