[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Religion and philosophy](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion) › [The Religion of the Veda: The Ancient Religion of India (from Rig-Veda to Upanishads)](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.bloomfield-1908) › c5 # The Religion of the Veda: The Ancient Religion of India (from Rig-Veda to Upanishads) c5: Contents The Religion of the Veda: The Ancient Religion of India (from Rig-Veda to Upanishads) c5 - **Language:** English ### Contents ### [c5.1](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.bloomfield-1908.c5.1) LECTURE THE FIRST. ### [c5.2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.bloomfield-1908.c5.2) INDIA THE LAND OF RELIGIONS.—THE VEDA. ### [c5.3](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.bloomfield-1908.c5.3) Multiplicity of Hindu religions—Brahmanism—Buddhism—Profound hold of religion upon the Hindu mind—Hindu life dominated by religious institutions—The four stages of life—The institution of caste—Caste then and now—Symptoms of revulsion against caste—Other pernicious religious institutions—Continuity of India's religious history—Date of the conception of \*ṛta\*, or "cosmic order"—Close relationship of the religions of India and Persia—Slight connection between India and Persia in secular history—The Parsis in India—Close relation between Veda and Avesta—The Veda and the Indo-European period—The Veda as a whole—The date of the Veda—Its great uncertainty—Nature of Vedic tradition—The Çrotriyas, or "Oral Traditionalists"—Uncertain character of Vedic life and institutions—Origin of the Veda—Contents of Vedic literature as a whole—The four Vedas—The Rig-Veda—The books of the Rig-Veda—Theme and character of the Rig-Veda—A hymn to Goddess Dawn—The Yajur-Veda—Character of the \*yajus\*-formulas—The Sāma-Veda—Origin and purpose of the Sāma-Veda—The Atharva-Veda—Contents of the Atharva-Veda—Religious Quality of the Atharva-Veda—Two Atharvan hymns—The Brāhmaṇa Texts—Some legends of the Brāhmaṇas—The Āraṇyakas, or "Forest Treatises"—The Upanishads—Literary history of the Upanishads—The Upanishads in the West—Critical estimate of the Upanishads. . . . . . . . . 1-59 ### [c5.4](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.bloomfield-1908.c5.4) LECTURE THE SECOND. ### [c5.5](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.bloomfield-1908.c5.5) THE HIERATIC RELIGION.—THE PANTHEON OF THE VEDA. ### [c5.6](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.bloomfield-1908.c5.6) Fundamental traits of early Vedic religion—False view of the nature of Vedic poetry—The Rig-Veda as sacrificial poetry—Difficulty of understanding the ritual character of the Rig-Veda—Poetry addressed to the Goddess Dawn—A hymn to the sacrifice post—The Goddess Dawn as the symbol of liberality at the sacrifice—Some erroneous estimates of Goddess Dawn—Agni the son of "Baksheesh"—Practical purposes of Vedic poetry—The Rig-Veda contains the religion of the upper classes—The ritual of the Rig-Veda—The \*āprī\*-hymns—Nature-worship the keynote of the Rig-Veda—India's climate and nature-worship — Vedic and Hellenic mythology compared — Arrested anthropomorphism — Definition of the word Pantheon as applied to the Veda—Faulty classifications of the Vedic gods—Chronology of the gods—Different degrees of certainty about the origin of the gods—Classification of the gods in these lectures . . . . . 60-98 ### [c5.7](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.bloomfield-1908.c5.7) LECTURE THE THIRD. ### [c5.8](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.bloomfield-1908.c5.8) THE PREHISTORIC GODS. ### [c5.9](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.bloomfield-1908.c5.9) Two prehistoric periods bearing upon Hindu religion—Scepticism about Comparative Mythology—Difficulties in the way of Comparative Mythology—Comparative Mythology and Ethnology—The myth of Cerberus—The Indo-European period—Prehistoric words for god—Father Sky and Mother Earth—The Thunderer—The Vedic Açvins, or "Horsemen," the two Sons of Heaven—The Dioscuri in Greek mythology—The Lettish myth of the two "Sons of God"—Common kernel of the myth of the two "Sons of Heaven"—The Aryan, or Indo-Iranian period—Important religious ideas common to the two peoples—The dual gods Varuna and Mitra—Ahura Mazda and Varuna—The conception of \*ṛta\*, or "cosmic order"—The Ādityas—Aditi, the mother of the Ādityas—Mitra, a sun god—The sun, the moon, and the planets—The Ādityas and Amesha Spentas—Early ethical concepts among the Indo-Europeans—Varuna and Greek Ouranos (Uranus)—The origin of man—Sundry parents of man—"Father Manu"—Yama and Yamī, the "Twins"—Interlacing of the myths of the first man—The human character of Manu and Yama—Yama, the god of the dead—Soma, the sacrificial drink of the gods—The myth of Soma and the Heavenly Eagle—Value of the preceding reconstructions . . . . . . . . . 99–149 ### [c5.10](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.bloomfield-1908.c5.10) LECTURE THE FOURTH. ### [c5.11](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.bloomfield-1908.c5.11) THE TRANSPARENT, TRANSLUCENT, AND OPAQUE GODS—RELIGIOUS CONCEPTIONS AND RELIGIOUS FEELING IN THE VEDA. ### [c5.12](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.bloomfield-1908.c5.12) The transparent gods: their importance for the study of religion—Father Sky and Daughter Dawn—Sūrya, a god of the sun—Vāta and Vāyu, gods of wind—The most transparent god: Agni, Fire—Agni as the sacrifice fire—Prehistoric gods of fire—Birth and youth of Agni—Agni as god of the morning—New births of Agni—Agni on the altar, the agent of the gods—Priesthood and divinity of Agni—A hymn to Agni—Other myths of the Fire God—The translucent gods: definition of the term—God Vishnu—God Pūshan—God Indra, as an example of an opaque god—Traditional explanation of the myth of Indra and Vritra—Professor Hillebrandt's interpretation of the same myth—Renewed definition of the religion of the Rig-Veda—Renewed definition of Vedic practicalities—Conflicting prayers and sacrifices—The conception of faith—Faith related to Truth and Wisdom—Faith personified—Faith and works—The reward for faith postponed to heaven—Contrast between early “faith” (\*çraddhā\*) and later “devotion” (\*bhakti\*)—“Gift praises,” another sop to the sacrificer—The religious feeling of the Rig-Veda.—The utilitarian sense—The glory of the gods—Absence of real sentiment towards the gods—Poetic inspiration the true religious feeling—The complacent master-singers—The poets’ own estimate of their work—The divine quality of devotion.... 150-207 ### [c5.13](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.bloomfield-1908.c5.13) LECTURE THE FIFTH. ### [c5.14](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.bloomfield-1908.c5.14) THE BEGINNINGS OF HINDU THEOSOPHY. ### [c5.15](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.bloomfield-1908.c5.15) Statement of the problem—Time when theosophy originated—Metempsychosis and pessimism unknown in the earlier Vedic records—Place where the higher religion originated—Priest philosophy at the sacrifice—The theosophic charade—Specimens of the theosophic charade—The riddle hymn of Dīrghatamas—Interrelation between the sacrifice and theosophy—On the supposed origin of theosophy with the royal caste—Criticism of this view—Transition from ritualistic polytheism to theosophy—Early scepticism—“Götterdämmerung”—Failure of God Varuna—Monism, or the idea of unity—The creation hymn—Translation and analysis of the creation hymn—Attempts at Monotheism—Prajāpati, the Lord of Creatures—Viçvakarman, creator of the universe, and kindred conceptions—Purusha, the world man—Brihaspati, the Lord of Devotion—Transcendental monotheistic conceptions: “Time,” “Love,” etc.—Defects of the earlier monotheistic and monistic attempts . . . . . 208-248 ### [c5.16](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.bloomfield-1908.c5.16) LECTURE THE SIXTH. ### [c5.17](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.bloomfield-1908.c5.17) THE FINAL PHILOSOPHY OF THE VEDA. ### [c5.18](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.bloomfield-1908.c5.18) Death and future life in paradise—Early notions of Hell—The idea of retribution—Limit of reward for good deeds—The notion of "death-anew," or "re-death"—How comes the belief in transmigration—Hindu doctrine of transmigration—The method of transmigration—The doctrine of \*karma\*, or spiritual evolution—How transmigration and \*karma\* appear to Western minds—The pessimist theory of life—Cause of Hindu pessimism—Pessimism and the perfect principle (Brahma)—Dualistic pessimism—Salvation through realisation of one's own Brahma-hood—The conception of the \*ātman\*, "breath," as life principle—Ātman, the soul of the Universe—Brahma, the spiritual essence of the Universe—Fusion of Ātman and Brahma—Māyā, or the world an illusion—The unknowableness of Brahma—Emerson's poem on the Brahma—The fulness of Brahma: a story of Yājnavalkya and his wife Mai-treyī—Transition from philosophy to piety—Hindu asceticism—Professor Huxley's critique of asceti-cism—Pilgrim's progress under the religion of Brahma—Investiture and disciplehood—The life of the householder—The life of the forest-dweller and wandering ascetic—Ultima Thule......249-289 --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.bloomfield-1908.c5](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.bloomfield-1908.c5) · Pramāṇa