[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.]