Two Old Faiths | Page 2

points in its long course it was joined
by such and such a tributary; yet much is known regarding the mighty
river which every intelligent man will find it profitable to note and
understand.
[Sidenote: The Christian's duty in relation to the subject.] The Christian
ought not to rest satisfied with the vague general idea that Hinduism is
a form of heathenism with which he has nothing to do, save to help in
destroying it. Let him try to realize the ideas of the Hindu regarding
God, and the soul, and sin, and salvation, and heaven, and hell, and the
many sore trials of this mortal life. He will then certainly have a much
more vivid perception of the divine origin and transcendent importance
of his own religion. Farther, he will then extend a helping hand to his
Eastern brother with far more of sensibility and tenderness; and in
proportion to the measure of his loving sympathy will doubtless be the
measure of his success. A yearning heart will accomplish more than the
most cogent argument.
[Sidenote: The purpose of the Tract.] In this Tract we confine ourselves
to the laying down of great leading facts and principles; but these will
be dwelt upon at sufficient length to give the reader, we trust, an
accurate conception of the general character and history of Hinduism.
We shall also briefly contrast the system with Christianity.
The history of Hinduism may be divided into three great periods, each
embracing, in round numbers, about a thousand years.

I.
THE VEDAS.
[Sidenote: The most ancient writings of India.] Regarding the earliest
form of Hinduism we must draw our conceptions from the Veda, or, to
speak more accurately, the four Vedas. The most important of these is
the Rig Veda; and internal evidence proves it to be the most ancient. It
contains above a thousand hymns; the earliest of which may date from
about the year 1500 B.C. The Hindus, or, as they call themselves, the
Aryas, had by that time entered India, and were dwelling in the
north-western portion, the Panjab. The hymns, we may say, are racy of
the soil. There is no reference to the life led by the people before they
crossed the Himalaya Mountains or entered by some of the passes of
Afghanistan.
It would be very interesting if we could discover the pre-Vedic form of
the religion. Inferentially this may, to some extent, be done by
comparing the teachings of the Vedas with those contained in the books
of other branches of the great Aryan family--such as the Greeks, the
Romans, and, above all, the Iranians (ancient Persians).
The ancient Hindus were a highly gifted, energetic race; civilized to a
considerable extent; not nomadic; chiefly shepherds and herdsmen, but
also acquainted with agriculture. Commerce was not unknown; the
river Indus formed a highway to the Indian Ocean, and at least the
Phenicians availed themselves of it from perhaps the seventeenth
century B.C., or even earlier.
[Sidenote: The hymns are strongly religious. They are a selection.
Pre-eminently sacerdotal. Present the religious thought of the ancient
Hindus.] As soon as we begin to study the hymns of the Veda we are
struck by their strongly religious character. Tacitly assuming that the
book contains the whole of the early literature of India, many writers
have expressed themselves in strong terms regarding the primitive
Hindus as religious above all other races. But as we read on we become

convinced that these poems are a selection, rather than a collection, of
the literature; and the conviction grows that the selection has been
made by priestly hands for priestly purposes. An acute critic has
affirmed that the Vedic poems are "pre-eminently sacerdotal, and in no
sense popular."[1] We can thus explain a pervading characteristic of the
book which has taken most readers by surprise. There is a want of
simplicity in the Veda. It is often most elaborate, artificial,
overrefined--one might even say, affected. How could these be the
thoughts, or those the expressions, of the imperfectly civilized
shepherds of the Panjab? But if it be only a hymn-book, with its
materials arranged for liturgical purposes, the difficulty vanishes.[2]
We shall accordingly take it for granted that the Veda presents only the
religious thought of the ancient Hindus--and not the whole of the
religious thought, but only that of a very influential portion of the race.
With all the qualifications now stated, the Veda must retain a position
of high importance for all who study Indian thought and life. The
religious stamp which the compilers of the Veda impressed so widely
and so deeply has not been obliterated in the course of thirty centuries.
[Sidenote: Their religion is Nature-worship.] The prevailing aspect of
the religion presented in the Vedic hymns may be broadly designated
as Nature-worship.
[Sidenote: Physical