Page 739 - Lokmanya Tilak Samagra (khand 2)

CHALDEAN AND INDIAN VEDAS 91

either as their neighbours or as tradesmen in those early days.
When the old religion of sacrifice was thus tampered with, and
hybrid hymns incorporating foreign magical incantations and
formulre were tried to be introduced in the Vedic litera-
ture, it was natural that the Veda which contained these in-
cantations should come to be looked upon with scant respect
or · even with contempt by the orthodox Vedic community,
who must then have regarded the Atharva Veda as a novel
departure in their religious observances. There are some other.
words in the Atharva Veda, especially in the poison and witch- ,
craft hymns, which ·on their face appear to be foreign importations.
For instance we may cite Tabuvam* in the hymn we are considering
and Kanaknakam and Taudi in Av., X, 4. Again in the word Kim£-
din which occurs both in the ~ig and the Atharva Veda, ( ~.
VII, 104. 23; Av. I. 7. 1) and which indicates goblins, or evil
spirits, is derived by Yaska (VI. 119) from Kim idantm (what
now ? ), and explained by observing that these ghosts were believed
to wander about in search of ' what is now happening. ' This
derivation is obviously fanciful; and as the word has a foreign
ring, I believe that it is a Chaldean word. !For Ekimmu and Dimme
are Accadian words for spirits and Kimm-dimm may well have
been a word compounded from them to express ghosts of all
kinds.
It may be further noted that the Kiratas, evidently some non-
Aryan tribe, are mentioned as dealing in medicinal herbs in Av.
X. 4. 140; and Griffith, in a note to Av. V. 13. 5 interprets Kairata
as a variety of snake found among the Kin1tas, the barbarous
tribes who inhabited woods and mountains and lived by hunting
( the Kirrhadae of Arrian ). It is therefore not to be doubted
that the magic and witchcraft hymns in the Atharva Veda do con-
tain some foreign words. But we in India have not the means to
thoroughly investigate all of them. We have no library in India,
much less an Assyrialogist we can refer to or consult, for obtaining
the requisite information on these matters. The Mleccha-prasi-

• I think T.'ibu.vanz is derived from the Polynesian word talu and
means, pertaining to or resulting from tabu, i. e. contact with unclean,
unholy, or interdicted thing, in which case the disease or evil requires
to be treated with sacred incantations. The exorcist asks whether the
poison is or is not of Td/mva?h character. For the use of tahus in Baby-
lonia see Thomps()tt's Semitic i1Iagic.