le, is
significant of the time, and of the priest's authority. For it is said
that 'if a king hears this story he is made free of sin,' but he can
hear it only from a priest, who is to be rewarded for telling it by a
gift of one thousand cows, and other rich goods.

The matter following, to which we have alluded, is the use of
sacrificial formulae to defeat the king's foes, the description of a
royal inauguration, and, at this ceremony, the oath which the king has
to swear ere the priest will anoint him (he is anointed with milk,
honey, butter, and water, 'for water is immortality'): "I swear that
thou mayst take from me whatever good works I do to the day of my
death, together with my life and children, if ever I should do thee
harm."[73]

When the priest is secretly told how he may ruin the king by a false
invocation at the sacrifice, and the king is made to swear that if
ever he hurts the priest the latter may rob him of earthly and
heavenly felicity, the respective positions of the two, and the
contrast between this era and that of the early hymns, become
strikingly evident. It is not from such an age as this that one can
explain the spirit of the Rig Veda.

The next selection is the famous story of the flood, which we
translate literally in its older form.[74] The object of the legend in
the Br[=a]hmana is to explain the importance of the Id[=a] (or Il[=a])
ceremony, which is identified with Id[=a], Manu's daughter.

"In the morning they brought water to Manu to wash with, even as they
bring it to-day to wash hands with. While he was washing a fish came
into his hands. The fish said, 'Keep me, and I will save thee.' 'What
wilt thou save me from?' 'A flood will sweep away all creatures on
earth. I will save thee from that.' 'How am I to keep thee?' 'As long
as we are small,' said he (the fish), 'we are subject to much
destruction; fish eats fish. Thou shalt keep me first in a jar. When I
outgrow that, thou shalt dig a hole, and keep me in it. When I outgrow
that, thou shalt take me down to the sea, for there I shall be beyond
destruction.'

"It soon became a (great horned fish called a) _jhasha_, for this
grows the largest, and then it said: 'The flood will come this summer
(or in such a year). Look out for (or worship) me, and build a ship.
When the flood rises, enter into the ship, and I will save thee.'
After he had kept it he took it down to the sea. And the same summer
(year) as the fish had told him he