universe is comprehended; and the seeming polytheism which it exhibits offers the elements, and the stars and planets, as gods. The three principal manifestations of the divinity, with other personified attributes and energies, and most of the other gods of Hindu mythology, are, indeed, mentioned, or, at least, indicated, in the Vedas. But the worship of deified heroes is no part of that system; nor are the incarnations of deities suggested in any other portion of the text which I have yet seen; though such are sometimes hinted at by the commentators."1 Some of these statements may, perhaps, require modification; for, without a careful examination of all the prayers of the Vedas, it would be hazardous to assert that they contain no indication whatever of hero-worship; and, certainly, they do appear to allude, occasionally, to the Avataras, or incarnations, of Vishnu. Still, however, it is true that the prevailing character of the ritual of the Vedas is the worship of the personified elements; of Agni or fire; Indra, the firmament; Vayu, the air; Varuna, the water; of Aditya, the sun; Soma, the moon; and other elementary and planetary personages. It is also true that the worship of the Vedas is, for the most part, domestic worship, consisting of prayers and oblations offered — in their own houses, not in temples — by individuals, for individual good, and addressed to unreal presences, not to visible types. In a word, the religion of the Vedas was not idolatry.
1 As. Res., Vol. VIIL, p. 474."
- Or Miscellaneous Essays, Vol. I., pp. 110 and 111.
a*
