The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v1.c11.s5.1

v1.c11.s5.1

Nothing is more difficult than to determine in what measure the Vedic religion of the texts was really popular, and how far it merely represented the views of the priests. It would, of course, be folly to depreciate the value of knowledge of the latter, for it is to those only who deeply busy themselves with religion that, for good or bad, changes in popular views are ultimately due, and there is no valid reason to suppose that in the main the gulf between the religion of the Vedic priest and the Aryan people was greater than that between modern Churchmen and the ordinary citizen of the lower social orders.