A History of Indian Literature v1.c8.s2.61

v1.c8.s2.61

Although the gulf which divides the hymns of the Ṛgveda from the rest of Indian literature may perhaps not be so wide as many older investigators have supposed, a gulf still exists.⁴ This is proved by the language, by the cultural conditions indicated above, and most particularly by the stage of religious development, which we meet with in the hymns. So much is certain, that, whatever the poetical value of the songs of the Ṛgveda may be, there exists no more important source for the investigation of the earliest stages in the development of Indian religion, no more important literary source for the investigation of the mythology of the Indo-European peoples, indeed, of peoples in general, than these songs of the Ṛgveda.