Chapter VACCA to VEDAS of V by The Hobson Jobson Dictionary

by this name. Thus in Linschoten’s description of the route from Malacca to Macao, he mentions at the entrance to the ‘Straits of Sincapura,’ a rock having the appearance of an obelisk, called the Varella del China; and again, on the eastern coast of Champa, or Cochin China, we have frequent notice of a point (with a river also) called that of the Varella. Thus in Pinto:

1540.—“The Friday following we found ourselves just against a River called by the inhabitants of the Country. Tinacoreu, and by us (the) Varella.”—Pinto (in Cogan), p. 48.

This Varella of Champa is also mentioned by Linschoten:

1598.—“… from this thirde point to the Varella the coast turneth North. … This Varella is a high hill reaching into the Sea, and above on the toppe it hath a verie high stonie rock, like a tower or piller, which may be seen far off, therefore it is by the Portingalles called Varella.”—p. 342.

VEDAS. The Sacred Books of the Brahmans, Veda being ‘knowledge.’ Of these books there are nominally four, viz. the Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharva Vedas.

The earliest direct intimation of knowledge of the existence of the Vedas appears to be in the book called De Tribus Impostoribus, said to have been printed in 1598, in which they are mentioned.² Possibly this knowledge came through the Arabs. Though thus we do not trace back any direct allusion to the Vedas in European books, beyond the year 1600 or thereabouts, there seems good reason to believe that the Jesuit missionaries had information on the subject at a much earlier date. St. Francis Xavier had frequent discussions with Brahmans, and one went so far as to communicate to him the mantra “Om srinarayananamah.” In 1559 a learned Brahman at Goa was converted by Father Belchior Carneyro, and baptized by the name of Manuel. He afterwards (with the Viceroy’s sanction!) went by night and robbed a Brahman on the mainland who had collected many MSS., and presented the spoil to the Fathers, with great satisfaction to himself and them (Sousa, Orient. Conquist. i. 151–2).

It is probable that the information concerning the Hindu religion and sacred books which was attained even in Europe by the end of the 16th century was greater than is commonly supposed; and greater than what we find in print would warrant us to assume. A quotation from San Roman below illustrates this in a general way. And in a constitution of Gregory XV. dated January 31, 1623, there is mention of rites called Haiteres and Tandié, which doubtless represent the Vedic names Aitareya and Tandya (see Norbert, i. 39). Lucena’s allusion below to the “four parts” of Hindu doctrine must have reference to the Vedas, and his information must have come from reports and letters, as he never was in India. In course of time, however, what had been-known seems to have been forgotten, and even Halhed (1776) could write about ‘Beids of the Shaster!’ (see Code, p. xiii.). This shows that though he speaks also of the ‘Four Beids’ (p. xxxi.) he had no precise knowledge.

In several of the earlier quotations of the word it will be seen that the form used is Vedam or Veidam. This is the Tamil form. And it became prevalent during the 18th century in France from Voltaire’s having constituted himself the advocate of a Sanskrit Poem, called by him l’Ezour Vedam, and which had its origin in S. India. This was in reality an imitation of an Indian Purana, composed by some missionary in the 17th century (probably by R. de’ Nobili), to introduce Christian doctrines; but Voltaire supposed it to be really an ancient Indian book. Its real character was first explained by Sonnerat (see the Essay by F. W. Ellis, in As. Res. xi.). The first information regarding the real Vedas was given by Colebrooke in 1805 (As. Res. viii.). Orme and some authors of the 18th and early part of the 19th century write Bede, which represents the N. Indian vernacular form Bed. Both forms, Bed and Vedam, are known to Fleury, as we see below.

On the subject of the Vedas, see Weber’s Hist. of Indian Lit., Max Müller’s Ancient Sanskrit Lit., Whitney’s Oriental and Linguistic Studies, vol. i. [and Macdonell’s Hist. of Sanskrit Lit., pp. 29 seqq.].

c. 1590.—“The Brahmins. These have properly six duties. 1. The study of the Bedes.”—Ayeen, by Gladwin, ii. 393; [ed. Jarrett, iii. 115].

„ “Philologists are constantly engaged in translating Hindí, Greek, Arabic, and Persian books … Hájí Ibrahím of Sarhind translated into Persian the At’harban (i.e. Atharva Veda) which, according to the Hindús is one of the four divine books.”—Ibid. by Blochmann, i. 104–105.

1600.—“… Consta esta doutrina de quatro partes. …”—Lucena V. de P. Franc. Xavier, 95.

1602.—“These books are divided into bodies, limbs, and joints; and their foundations are certain books which they call Vedáos, which are divided into four parts.” —Couto, V. vi. 3.

1603.—“Tienen muchos libros, de mucha costa y escriptura, todos llénos de agueros y supersticiones, y de mil fabulas ridiculas que son sus evangelios. … Todo esto es tan sin fundamento, que algunos libros han llegado a Portugal, que se han traydo de la India, y han venido algunos Iogues que se convertieron à la Fè.”—San Roman, Hist. de la India Oriental, 47.

1651.—“The Vedam, or the Heathen’s book of the Law, hath brought great Esteem unto this Tribe