It is the object of this work to present to the student of religion, in objective form and with constant reference to the original sources and to modern discussions, a comprehensive but concise account of the whole of the religion and philosophy of the Vedic period in India. The difficulty of the task lies not merely in the abundance of the original sources, which I have had occasion to study in detail in making my translations of the Taittiriya Samhitā and the Brahmanas and the Aranyakas of the Rigveda, but also in the extreme divergence of view among modern interpreters of Vedic literature. Doubtless it is owing to this cause that the extraordinary value of Vedic religion to the student of religious belief has been so completely overlooked by Sir James Frazer and Professor S. Reinach in their theories of religion, and that it has been so gravely misinterpreted by Professor Sir William Ridgeway in his essays on the origin of the drama. The account of Vedic religion given in this work will, I trust, do something to restore to that religion its just place in the study of theology.
The writer of such a work must at every turn derive much from his predecessors. An effort has been made to assign to their authors the most important of the theories mentioned, but I desire to acknowledge a more general obligation to certain scholars. In the treatment of the mythology I am deeply indebted to Professor A. A. Macdonell’s Vedic Mythology, which is not merely an invaluable and exhaustive storehouse of facts, but is distinguished by unfailing sureness and clearness of judgement, and I have derived much help from Bergaigne’s Religion Védique, Hillebrandt’s Vedische Mythologie, and Oldenberg’s Religion des Veda, though I have been unable to follow these authors in the more imaginative of their theories. For the ritual I owe many facts to Hillebrandt, Schwab, Caland, Henry, Weber, and last, but certainly not least, to my predecessor, Professor J. Eggeling. In its explanation I find myself often in agreement with Oldenberg, the brilliance and charm of whose work in this sphere can hardly be overestimated. I have made free use of the light cast on ritual by other religions, and I am conscious of having derived great profit from the works of Dr. L. R. Farnell;
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but neither the totemism of Durkheim or S. Reinach nor the vegetationspirits of Mannhardt and Sir J. Frazer have helped me in my study of the Veda. For the philosophy of the Brahmanas and the Upaniṣads, Lévi, Oltramare, and Deussen have been of the greatest assistance through the completeness of the collections of material which they have made, and the fact that I have found it necessary to refuse to accept Deussen’s main theories must not be taken to indicate any lack of appreciation of the great merits of his work. Nor should I conclude without an expression of indebtedness to Roth, Max Mūller, Whitney, Hopkins, Bloomfield, and to the untiring labours and accomplished scholarship of Professor Charles R. Lanman, who has added to the many obligations which I owe to him by permitting these volumes to appear in the Harvard Oriental Series, that monumentum aere perennius of his unselfish devotion to the study of the life and literature of India.
A. BERRIEDALE KEITH.
EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY,
June 1, 1916.
Nonumque prematur in annum. When the Preface to this work was written neither author nor editor imagined that war conditions would compel obedience to the IIoratian maxim in so literal a fashion. In revising the work for press I have taken note, so far as was compatible with the necessity of avoiding the expansion of the work beyond due bounds, of those contributions to our knowledge made since 1916, which appeared to me of most value in respect either of the results attained or of the methods adopted. Recent work on the origin of religion I have not discussed, as I have found nothing in it to throw light on Vedic beliefs, and a criticism on general grounds would involve transgression of the limits of these volumes.
I trust that nothing of first-class importance in the literature has escaped my attention; if it has, some share of the blame must fall on the deplorably inadequate provision made for Sanskrit research in this University, as the result in part of public indifference, in part of the many insistent demands on strictly limited academic resources. It is deeply to be regretted that British opinion should be so heedless of the duty of contributing to the investigation of the ancient civilization of a
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land whence Britain has derived so much of her power and wealth. But a sense of this inexcusable neglect only increases my sincere gratitude to the founder and the editor of the Harvard Oriental Series, whose enlightened and impartial generosity alone have rendered possible the publication of my studies on the religion and philosophy of the Veda.
The delay in publication causes me one serious regret, that this work cannot now evoke the criticism of Hermann Oldenberg, that admirable scholar, to whose writings on Vedic religion and philosophy I desire once more-inane munus-to express my deep obligation.
To my wife I owe sincere thanks for much help and criticism. Mr. Frederick Hall and his staff have, as always, spared no trouble in the production and printing of the volumes, and I desire to express my high appreciation of their efforts.
THE UNIVERSITY OF Edinburgh,
June 1, 1924.
PART