Page:The Religion of the Veda.djvu/11

CONTENTS.

LECTURE THE FIRST.

INDIA THE LAND OF RELIGIONS. – THE VEDA.

Multiplicity of Hindu religions – Brahmanism – Buddhism – Profound hold of religion upon the Hindu mind – Hindu life dominated by religious institutions – The four stages of life – The institution of caste – Caste then and now – Symptoms of revulsion against caste – Other pernicious religious institutions – Continuity of India's religious history – Date of the conception of ṛta, or "cosmic order" – Close relationship of the religions of India and Persia – Slight connection between India and Persia in secular history – The Parsis in India – Close relation between Veda and Avesta – The Veda and the Indo-European period – The Veda as a whole – The date of the Veda – Its great uncertainty – Nature of Vedic tradition – The Grotriyas, or "Oral Traditionalists" – Uncertain character of Vedic life and institutions – Origin of the Veda – Contents of Vedic literature as a whole – The four Vedas – The Rig-Veda – The books of the Rig-Veda – Theme and character of the Rig-Veda – A hymn to Goddess Dawn – The Yajur-Veda – Character of the yajus-formulas – The Sāma-Veda – Origin and purpose of the Sāma-Veda – The Atharva-Veda – Contents of the Atharva-Veda – Religious Quality of the Atharva-Veda – Two Atharvan hymns – The Brāhmana Texts – Some legends of the Brāhmanas – The Āranyakas, or "Forest Treatises" – The Upanishads – Literary history