ient sects, such as the Ajivikas, and strictly speaking Buddhism
itself. For the Buddha is not an Avatara or a messenger but a superman
whose exceptional intelligence sees that the Wheel of Causation and the
Four Truths are part of the very nature of things. It is strange too
that asceticism, sacrifices and modern tantric rites which seem to us
concerned with the relations between man and God are in India penetrated
by a non-theistic theory, namely that there are certain laws which can
be studied and applied, much like electricity, and that then spirits can
be coerced to grant what the ascetic or sacrificer desires. At the same
time such views are more often implied than formulated. The Dharma is
spoken of as the teaching of the Buddha rather than as Cosmic Order like
the Tao of the Chinese and though tantric theory assumes the existence
of certain forces which can be used scientifically, the general
impression produced by tantric works is that they expound an intricate
mythology and ritual.

CHAPTER IV

VEDIC DEITIES AND SACRIFICES

1

Our knowledge of early Indian religion is derived almost entirely from
literature. After the rise of Buddhism this is supplemented to some
extent by buildings, statues and inscriptions, but unlike Egypt and
Babylonia, pre-Buddhist India has yielded no temples, images or other
religious antiquities, nor is it probable that such will be discovered.
Certainly the material for study is not scanty. The theological
literature of India is enormous: the difficulty is to grasp it and
select what is important. The enquirer is confronted with a series of
encyclopaedic works of great bulk and considerable antiquity, treating of
every aspect of religion which interested the Brahmans. But he
continually feels the want of independent testimony to check their
statements. They set forth the views of their authors but whether those
views met with general acceptance outside the Brahmanic caste and
influenced Indian life as a whole or whether classes, such as the
military caste, or regions, such as western India and Dravidian India,
had different views, it is often hard to say. Even more serious is the
difficulty of chronology which affects secular as well as religious
literature. The feats of Hindus in the matter of computing time show in
the most extravagant form the peculiarities of their mental temperament,
for while in their cosmogonies aeons whose length the mind can hardly
grasp are tabu