The History of Buddhist Thought c10.4

c10.4

In the Vedic literature this aspect of religious expression is little in evidence. There we find the sacrifice as the centre and the religious instincts satisfied by the due performance of priestly rites.¹ But with the rise of the doctrine of rebirth human life and its value began to appear in a different aspect. Life with an unending chain of repeated existences became something to be escaped. Schools arose which broke away from the current view and taught a doctrine of release.