The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v1.c11.s3.27

v1.c11.s3.27

Von Schroeder strengthens his case by his care not to attempt to claim for his source of religion as great antiquity as for the others, and it is clear that he emphasizes an extremely important element in religion, its connexion with ethical principles. Apart from questions of origins, it is plain that by the Indo-Iranian period, and very probably even in the Indo-European period, this element had come effectively into operation as powerfully affecting the nature of the gods, so that it is a question of minor importance, for practical purposes, whether we assume this belief as a third source of religion or hold that ethical motives have been introduced *ab extra* into a religious scheme which came into life independent of ethics. What is clear is that many of the gods have no original ethical character, and fear often seems to have been more prominent than love or friendship as regards the spirits of the dead.