[Sidenote: Hinduism deserving of study.
Its antiquity.]
The system of religious belief which is generally called Hinduism is, on
many accounts, eminently deserving of study. If we desire to trace the
history of the ancient religions of the widely extended Aryan or
Indo-European race, to which we ourselves belong, we shall find in the
earlier writings of the Hindus an exhibition of it decidedly more
archaic even than that which is presented in the Homeric poems. Then,
the growth--the historical development--of Hinduism is not less worthy
of attention than its earlier phases. It has endured for upward of three
thousand years, no doubt undergoing very important changes, yet in many
things retaining its original spirit. The progress of the system has not
been lawless; and it is exceedingly instructive to note the development,
and, if possible, explain it.

We are, then, to endeavor to study Hinduism chronologically. Unless he
does so almost every man who tries to comprehend it is, at first,
overwhelmed with a feeling of utter confusion and bewilderment. Hinduism
spreads out before him as a vast river, or even what seems at first

"a dark
Illimitable ocean, without bound,
Without dimension, where length, breadth, and height,
And time, and place are lost."

[Sidenote: The discussion chronological.]
But matters begin to clear up when he begins at the beginning, and notes
how one thing succeeded another. It may not be possible as yet to trace