A History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, so far as it illustrates the Primitive Religion of the Brahmans c8.12

c8.12

To ascribe to literary compositions such as the Mantras and Brâhmaṇas a divine origin, and to claim for them a divine and absolute authority, is a step which can hardly pass unnoticed in the intellectual history of a nation, whether for the circumstances which led to it, or for the results which it produced. Now, in India the results of that fatal step are palpable. It may have been intended as a check on religious reforms, but it led to a religious revolution.