ssibility of
attaining to anything like a real understanding of the
sacrificial art from all the numerous books I had collected,
I made the greatest efforts to obtain oral information from
some of those few Brahmans who are known by the name of
_S_rotriyas or _S_rautis, and who alone are the possessors
of the sacrificial mysteries as they descended from the
remotest times. The task was no easy one, and no European
scholar in this country before me ever succeeded in it. This
is not to be wondered at; for the proper knowledge of the
ritual is everywhere in India now rapidly dying out, and in
many parts, chiefly in those under British rule, it has
already died out.'

[Footnote 40: 'The Aitareya-brahma_n_am of the Rig-veda,' edited and
translated by Martin Haug, Ph.D., Superintendent of Sanskrit Studies
in the Poona College. Bombay, 1863. London: Truebner & Co.]

Dr. Haug succeeded, however, at last in procuring the assistance of a
real Doctor of Divinity, who had not only performed the minor Vedic
sacrifices, such as the full and new-moon offerings, but had
officiated at some of the great Soma sacrifices, now very rarely to be
seen in any part of India. He was induced, we are sorry to say by very
mercenary considerations, to perform the principal ceremonies in a
secluded part of Dr. Haug's premises. This lasted five days, and the
same assistance was afterwards rendered by the same worthy and some of
his brethren whenever Dr. Haug was in any doubt as to the proper
meaning of the ceremonial treatises which give the outlines of the
Vedic sacrifices. Dr. Haug was actually allowed to taste that sacred
beverage, the Soma, which gives health, wealth, wisdom, inspiration,
nay immortality, to those who receive it from the hands of a
twice-born priest. Yet, after describing its preparation, all that Dr.
Haug has to say of it is:

'The sap of the plant now used at Poona appears whitish, has
a very stringent taste, is bitter, but not sour; it is a
very nasty drink, and has some intoxicating effect. I tasted
it several times, but it was impossible for me to drink more
than some teaspoonfuls.'

After having gone through all these ordeals, Dr. Haug may well say
that his explanations of sacrificial terms, as given in the notes, can
be relied upon as certain; that they proceed from what he himself
witnessed, and what he was able to learn from men who