Note 103 — THE KING AND HIS FOUR MINISTERS.

Vedas: “divine knowledge.” The Vedas are the holy books which are the foundations of the Hindú religion. They consist of hymns written in the old form of Sanskrit, and, according to the most generally received opinion, were composed between 1500 and 1000 B.C. Some scholars have thought the oldest of the hymns may be carried back a thousand years farther. The four Vedas are: the Rig-Veda, the Yajur-Veda, the Sama-Veda, and the Atharva-Veda, the last being of comparatively modern date.—See Dowson’s Classical Dictionary of Hindú Mythology.