A History of Sanskrit Literature c10.19

c10.19

Certain religious conceptions have, moreover, been modified and new rites introduced. Thus the word *brahma*, which in the *Rigveda* meant simply "devotion," has come to signify the essence of prayer and holiness, an advance towards its ultimate sense in the Upanishads. Again, snake-worship, which is unknown to the *Rigveda*, now appears as an element in Indian religion. That, however, which impresses on the *Yajurveda* the stamp of a new epoch is the character of the worship which it represents. The relative importance of the gods and of the sacrifice in the older religion has now become inverted. In the *Rigveda* the object of devotion was the gods, for the power of bestowing benefits on mankind was believed to lie in their hands alone, while the sacrifice was only a means of influencing their will in favour of the offerer. In the *Yajurveda* the sacrifice itself has become the centre of thought and desire, its correct performance in every detail being all-important. Its power is now so great that it not merely influences, but compels the gods to do the will of the officiating priest. By means of it the Brahmans may, in fact, be said to hold the gods in their hands.