The Inner Conflict of Tradition: Essays in Indian Ritual, Kingship, and Society c10.27

c10.27

Vedic ritual, then, can neither offer a viable model for man's life and activity in the world nor do justice to the transcendent. It can only propose an absolute order, which is, however, undermined from within and restricted to the place and time of the ritual's execution. In the final analysis, the Vedic śrauta ritual has to and does in fact acknowledge defeat. But how then should the orthodox Hindu relate to the transcendent when the Vedic sacrifice fails him?