The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v2.c31.s5.23

v2.c31.s5.23

The rite, which is of course paralleled in innumerable details by the practices of Greeks, Romans, Germans, and many other peoples Aryan and non-Aryan, is on the whole but loosely connected with religion. The Vedic ritual prescribes many verses and offerings, but the great wedding hymn,⁷ which makes the wedding of Sūryā, the sun maiden, and Soma, the mysterious god known by the Brahmans, doubtless the moon, the prototype of the human wedding, is clearly a late production, and the outcome of much priestly elaboration. Agni alone is the real object of much feeling, and it is as the living fire on the hearth that he is really worshipped.¹