then, is easily understood. We see the principle on which it rests
stated in the Old Testament. "Ye cannot serve the Lord," said Joshua to
the elders of Israel; "for he is a holy God." Even so Jeremiah points
sorrowfully to the fact that the pagan nations clung to their false
gods, while Israel was faithless to the true. As St. Paul expresses it,
"they did not like to retain God in their knowledge." Unless this
principle is fully taken into account we cannot understand the
historical development of Hinduism.

[Sidenote: Varuna the only divinity possessed of pure and elevated
attributes.]
The Veda frequently ascribes to the gods, to use the language of Max
Müller, "sentiments and passions unworthy of deity." In truth, except in
the case of Varuna, there is not one divinity that is possessed of pure
and elevated attributes.




II.

PHILOSOPHY, AND RITUALISM.


[Sidenote: Speculation begins.
Rise of asceticism.
Upanishads.
They are pantheistic.]
During the Vedic period--certainly toward its conclusion--a tendency to
speculation had begun to appear. Probably it had all along existed in