Sketch of the Religious Sects of the Hindus c4.4

c4.4

It may be supposed, that some time elapsed before the practical worship of any deity was more than a simple preference, or involved the assertion of the supremacy of the object of its adoration, to the degradation or exclusion of the other gods :* in like manner also, the conflicting opinions were matters rather of curiosity than faith, and were neither regarded as subversive of each other, nor as incompatible with the public worship : and hence, notwithstanding the sources of difference that existed in the parts, the unity of the whole remained undisturbed : in this condition, indeed, the apparent mass of the Brahmanical order at least, still continues : professing alike to recognise implicitly the authority of the *Védas*, the worshippers of *Siva*, or of *Vishnu*, and the maintainers of the *Sánk'hya* or *Nyáya* doctrines, consider themselves, and even each other, as orthodox members of the Hindu community.