The Religion of the Veda: The Ancient Religion of India (from Rig-Veda to Upanishads) c6.16

c6.16

Moreover the laws, or rather the vagaries of caste have taken largely the place of practical religion in the mind of the average Hindu who has not emancipated himself through higher philosophy. The supreme law which really concerns him in his daily life is, to eat correctly; to drink correctly; to marry correctly. The broader, more usual, dictates of religion, such as worship of the gods and ethical conduct, are not ignored, but they take a distinctly secondary place. India has at all times put the stamp of religion upon much that Europe counts as social habit, or social institution. There is not, and there seems never to have been, fixed creed in India. Hinduism has always been tolerant, liberal, latitudinarian in matters of abstract belief; tyrannous, illiberal, narrow-minded as regards such social practices as can be in any way connected with religion. Fluidity of doctrine, rigidity of practice may be regarded as the unspoken motto of Hindu religion at all times.