The Religion of the Veda: The Ancient Religion of India (from Rig-Veda to Upanishads) c6.28

c6.28

Yet further, beyond the common period of the Hindus and the Persians, there is a still remoter period which is not entirely closed to our view. It is the common Indo-European time, the time when the Hindus and Persians still shared their language and home with the remaining members of the same stock, the Hellenes, Italians, Celts, Teutons, and Slavs. In this altogether prehistoric time there also existed certain germs of religion, and some of these germs grew into important features of the later religions of these peoples. The religion of the Veda is indebted to this early time to an extent that is not negligible. We shall see later on in what way the two layers of prehistoric religious matter have contributed to and affected the shaping of Vedic thought. For the present it will be advantageous to turn to the Vedic religion of historic times, so that there may be some basis for discriminating between what is old and what is new. And as it would not be gracious to presume too much knowledge of so remote a theme as the Veda, we must first describe briefly the documents of which consists the Veda, the most ancient literary monument of India, the most ancient literary document of the Indo-European peoples—the foundation for all time of India's religious thought.