Brahman, and commanded Manu to create all living creatures, gods, Asuras, and men, and all things movable and immovable; which command Manu performed. The legend overlooks the fact that the new creation was unnecessary, as we have already been told that Manu brought seeds of everything on board ship. The poems of the Rigveda present no trace of the legend of the flood. It may have arisen in the land of the Ganges, from the experience of the floods there, unless it is simply borrowed from external sources. In any case it is of later date; the Çatapatha-Brahmana is one of the later Brahmanas. Weber, "Ind. Stud." 9, 423; Kuhn, "Beiträge," 4, 288. I cannot follow De Gubernatis, "Letture," p. 228, ff, _seqq._ [56] Kaegi, "Rigveda," 2, 58. [57] On the Bhrigus see A. Weber, "Z. D. M. G." 9, 240. Kuhn, "Herabkunft," s. 21 ff. [58] On the Sarayu, which is mentioned, "Rigveda," 4, 30, 14, and 10, 64, 9, cf. Lassen, _loc. cit._ 1^2, 644. [59] "Rigveda," 1, 126, 1; 8, 21, 18. [60] Muir, _loc. cit._ 5, 451, 456. [61] "Rigveda," 7, 18, 2; in Muir, _loc. cit._ 5, 455. [62] "Rigveda," 1, 28, 5; 6, 47, 29. [63] "Rigveda." 6, 75, in Muir, _loc. cit._ 5, 469, 471. [64] Roth, "Das lied des Arztes," "Rigveda," 10, 97. "Z. D. M. G." 1871, 645. [65] Muir, _loc. cit._ 5, 457, 461, 465. [66] Muir, _loc. cit._ 5, 463. [67] "Rigveda," 10, 21, 5. Above, p. 29. [68] "Rigveda," 1, 94, 7; 1, 140, 1. [69] "Samaveda," by Benfey, 2, 7, 2, 1. [70] "Samaveda," by Benfey, 1, 1, 2, 2; 1, 1, 1, 9. [71] Muir, _loc. cit._ 5, 212 ff. [72] Kuhn, "Herabkunft des Feuers," s. 23 ff., 36 ff., 70 ff. [73] Kaegi, "Rigveda," 1, 23. [74] The triple birth is explained differently in the poems of the Rigveda and in the Brahmanas. [75] "Rigveda," 1, 36; cf. 1, 27, 58, 76. [76] _Divo napata_: "Rigveda," 1, 182, 1, 4. [77] "Rigveda," 1, 112, 116, 117, 118, 119, according to Roth's rendering; cf. Benfey's translation, "Orient," 3, 147 ff. [78] "Rigveda," 1, 92; 1, 30; 4, 52; 10, 39, 12. [79] Muir, _loc. cit._ 5, 193 ff. [80] "Rigveda," 1, 49; 1, 92; 1, 2, 5; 1, 113, 19 in Benfey's rendering, "Orient," 1, 404; 2, 257; 3, 155. The three skilful Ribhus, who are frequently mentioned in the Rigveda, are assistants of the spirits of light. They assist the gods to liberate the cows, which the spirits of the night have fastened in the rock-stable, _i.e._ the bright clouds. [81] The spirits of light are called sons of Aditi, _i.e._ of the Eternal, Unlimited, Infinite; seven or eight sons are ascribed to her; Hillebrandt, "Die Göttin Aditi." Originally Aditi meant, in mythology, merely the non-ending, the imperishable, in opposition to the perishable world, and the gods are called the sons of immortality because they cannot die. Darmesteter, "Haurvatat," p. 83. [82] "Rigveda," 1, 50, according to Sonne's translation in Kuhn, "Z. V. Spr." 12, 267 ff.; cf. Benfey's rendering, "Orient," 1, 405. [83] "Rigveda," 1, 35, according to Roth's translation; cf. Benfey, "Orient," 1, 53.