to his work. When the fire had to be
kindled by men, she made the light by striking down
darkness.

2. She rose up, spreading far and wide, and moving
everywhere. She grew in brightness, wearing her brilliant
garment. The mother of the cows, (the mornings) the leader
of the days, she shone gold-coloured, lovely to behold.

3. She, the fortunate, who brings the eye of the gods, who
leads the white and lovely steed (of the sun), the Dawn was
seen revealed by her rays, with brilliant treasures,
following every one.

4. Thou who art a blessing where thou art near, drive far
away the unfriendly; make the pasture wide, give us safety!
Scatter the enemy, bring riches! Raise up wealth to the
worshipper, thou mighty Dawn.

5. Shine for us with thy best rays, thou bright Dawn, thou
who lengthenest our life, thou the love of all, who givest
us food, who givest us wealth in cows, horses, and chariots.

6. Thou, daughter of the sky, thou high-born Dawn, whom the
Vasish_t_has magnify with songs, give us riches high and
wide: all ye gods, protect us always with your blessings.

I must confine myself to shorter extracts, in order to be able to show
to you that all the principal elements of real religion are present in
the Veda. I remind you again that the Veda contains a great deal of
what is childish and foolish, though very little of what is bad and
objectionable. Some of its poets ascribe to the gods sentiments and
passions unworthy of the deity, such as anger, revenge, delight in
material sacrifices; they likewise represent human nature on a low
level of selfishness and worldliness. Many hymns are utterly unmeaning
and insipid, and we must search patiently before we meet, here and
there, with sentiments that come from the depth of the soul, and with
prayers in which we could join ourselves. Yet there are such
passages, and they are the really important passages, as marking the
highest points to which the religious life of the ancient poets of
India had reached; and it is to these that I shall now call your
attention.

First of all, the religion of the Veda knows of no idols. The worship
of idols in India is a secondary formation, a later degradation of the
more primitive worship of ideal gods.

The gods of the Veda are conceived as immortal: passages in which the
birth of certain gods is mentioned have a physical meaning: