The Teaching of The Vedas- What Light Does It Throw on the Origin and Development of Religion

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This book is intended to answer two questions, viz., 1) what is the fundamental teaching of the Vedas? And (2) what light does that teaching throw on the origin and development of Religion?

There is no book in the English language giving a popular, succinct, and yet an adequate, account of the teaching of the Vedas, the oldest records of the Aryan nations. It is hoped, therefore, that this will supply a want long felt alike by missionaries. Ministers, and all interested in the religious history of our fellow-subjects in India.

When I began my missionary career among the Hindus, thirty-three years ago, I felt keenly that, in order to be an efficient worker, a knowledge of the religious and speculative thought of the people was absolutely necessary. But there was no book avail- able that could furnish me with such knowledge. I had to gather it little by little; at first from the works of learned specialists, and afterwards from the study of the Vedas, by the aid of pundits. The results are embodied in this volume.

The study of Comparative Religion, which has been popular on the Continent for some years, is now attracting attention in England. It is important, therefore, to point out the bearing of Vedic teaching on the profoundly interesting subject of the Origin and Development of Religion in general. I have endeavoured to do so in this volume: but should my conclusions in that respect be deemed erroneous by some, the value of the book, as an ex- position of Vedic doctrines, will not be diminished in the least. And should it stimulate others, who possess learning and leisure, to study the subject more thoroughly, and expose what may be deemed untenable, none will rejoice more than myself.

I must caution the general reader against concluding that the doctrines of the Vedas, as shown in this book, constitute what is known as Hinduism, or the religion of India to-day. Hinduism is a mixture of corrupt Vedic doctrines and pre-Aryan cults. Its authoritative guides are the Mahabharata, the Ramayana, the Puranas, the Law Books and the Philosophical Treatises. But, to understand its constituent elements, a knowledge of Vedic doctrines is indispensable. Should life and health continue, I hope, in a subsequent volume, to treat Hinduism on the same plan as I have treated Vedism, when it will become apparent that it is far more irrational and immoral than the religion of the Aryans in the far off Vedic age.

**Contents and Sample Pages**