ifice as mental aberrations.
They represent the fancies of acute intellects dealing with ancient
ceremonies which they cannot abandon but which they transform into
something more congenial to their own transitional mode of thought.

Though the Brahmanas and Upanishads mix up ritual with physical and
metaphysical theories in the most extraordinary fashion, their main
motive deserves sympathy and respect. Their weakness lies in their
inability to detach themselves (as the Buddha succeeded in doing) from a
ritual which though elaborate was neither edifying nor artistic: they
seem unable to see the great problems of existence except through the
mists of altar smoke. Their merit is their evident conviction that this
formalism is inadequate. Their wish is not to distort and cramp nature
by bringing it within the limits of the ritual, but to enlarge and
expand the ritual until it becomes cosmic. If they regard the whole
universe as one long act of prayer and sacrifice, the idea is grandiose
rather than pedantic, though the details may not always be to our
taste[157]. And the Upanishads pass from ritual and theology to real
speculation in a way unknown to Christian thought. To imagine a
parallel, we must picture Spinoza beginning with an exposition of the
Trinity and transubstantiation and proceeding to develop his own system
without becoming unorthodox.

The conception of the sacrifice set forth in the Brahmanas is that it is
a scientific method of acquiring immortality as well as temporal
blessings. Though originally a mere offering in the _do ut des_
principle, it has assumed a higher and more mysterious position[158]. We
are told that the gods obtained immortality and heaven by sacrifice,
that they created the universe by sacrifice, that Prajapati, the
creator, _is_ the sacrifice. Although some writers are disposed to
distinguish magic sharply from religion, the two are not separated in
the Vedas. Sacrifice is not merely a means of pleasing the gods: it is a
system of authorized magic or sacred science controlling all worlds, if
properly understood. It is a mysterious cosmic force like electricity
which can be utilized by a properly trained priest but is dangerous in
unskilful hands, for the rites, if wrongly performed, bring disaster or
even death on bunglers. Though the Vedic sacrifices fell more and more
out of general use, this notion of the power of rites and formulae did
not fade with them but has deeply infected mod