Queer questions and ready replies

by Samuel Grant Oliphant

185. What are the sacred writings of the Hindoos called?

The Vedas (“Knowledge”) are the sacred books of the Hindoos. These books are of great antiquity, but of uncertain date. There are four books: the oldest is the Rijveda,—the Veda of praise; next, the Yajurveda,—the Veda of sacrifice; the Samaveda,—the Veda of chanting; and the latest the Atharvaveda, which is made up after the manner of the Samaveda, but containing additional extracts from the Rijveda; its object is to teach how to appease, to bless, to curse, etc. Each of the Vedas contains a Sanhita, or collection of hymns, and an accompanying Brahmana, or commentary. They are written in Sanskrit.

186. What are the sacred writings of the Persians called?

The Zend-Avesta (“Commentary and Text,” Avesta being properly the sacred text; and Zend, its interpretation into more modern and intelligible language) is the Bible of the ancient Persians and of the modern Parsees or Guebres, who number about 7,000 in Persia, and 200,000 in India. It is ascribed to Zoroaster, who is said to have written 2,000,000 verses, covering 12,000 cow-skin parchments. In its present fragmentary state, it consists of the Vendidad of twenty-two chapters, being the one surviving part (the twentieth) of an original work of twenty-one parts; the Yazna, of seventy-two chapters; the Visparad, of twenty-three chapters; twenty-four sections called Yashts; and a few fragments. It is, next to the Bible, the best of the sacred writings.

187. What are the sacred writings of the Mohammedans called?

The Koran, or Al-Coran, (“The Reading”), is the book of faith of the Mohammedans, or of about one seventh of the human race. It is a single volume of one hundred and fourteen chapters, of very unequal length, written in Arabic, and containing the doctrines and pretended revelations of Mohammed, “The Prophet,” whose followers number about 201,000,000.

188. What are the sacred writings of the ancient Japanese?

The Kojiki (“Book of Ancient Traditions”) is the Bible and oldest monument of Shintonism, the ancient religion of Japan. It is written in pure Japanese, and was composed by order of the Mikado Gemmio, A. D. 712, and first printed about 1625. Shintonism has no moral code, and consists chiefly in the imitation and deification of illustrious ancestors, emperors, heroes, and scholars, the veneration of fire and light, and the inculcation of obedience to the will of the Mikado. Its adherents now number only about 14,000,000, as Buddhism is now the prevailing religion in Japan.

189. What are the “Seven Bibles of the World”?

They are the Scriptures of the Christians; the Zend-Avesta of the Persians; the four Vedas of the Hindoos; the Tripitaka of the Buddhists; the five Kings of the Chinese; the two Eddas of the Scandinavians, and the Koran of the Mohammedans. Of these the Scriptures are the oldest and the Koran the most recent.