DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.9550#0097
The Ved from which all Hindoo literature is derived,
is, in the opinion of the Hindoos, an inspired work,
coeval with the existence of the world. It is divided
into four parts, viz. Rik, Yajus, Sam, and Atharva
these are again divided into several branches, and
these last are subdivided into chapters. It is the
general characteristic of each Ved, that the primary
chapters of each branch treat of astronomy, medicine,
arms, and other arts and sciences. They also exhibit
allegorical representations of the attributes* of the Su-
preme Being, by means of earthly objects, animate or
inanimate, whose shapes or properties are analogous to
the nature of those attributes, and pointing out the modes
of their worship immediately or through the medium
of fire. In the subsequent chapters, the unity of the
Supreme Being as the sole ruler of the universe is plainly
inculcated, and the mode of worshipping him particularly
directed. The doctrine of a plurality of gods and god-
desses laid down in the preceding chapters is not only
controverted, but reasons assigned for its introduction ;
for instance, that the worship of the sun and fire, to-
gether with the whole allegorical system, were only incul-
cated for the sake of those whose limited understandings
rendered them incapable of comprehending and adoring
the invisible Supreme Being, so that such persons might
not remain in a brutified state, destitute of all religious
principle. Should this explanation given by the Ved it-
* It is my intention to give, with the hlessing of God, in my next
publication, an account of the relation betwixt those attributes and
the allegorical representations used to denote them.
4
is, in the opinion of the Hindoos, an inspired work,
coeval with the existence of the world. It is divided
into four parts, viz. Rik, Yajus, Sam, and Atharva
these are again divided into several branches, and
these last are subdivided into chapters. It is the
general characteristic of each Ved, that the primary
chapters of each branch treat of astronomy, medicine,
arms, and other arts and sciences. They also exhibit
allegorical representations of the attributes* of the Su-
preme Being, by means of earthly objects, animate or
inanimate, whose shapes or properties are analogous to
the nature of those attributes, and pointing out the modes
of their worship immediately or through the medium
of fire. In the subsequent chapters, the unity of the
Supreme Being as the sole ruler of the universe is plainly
inculcated, and the mode of worshipping him particularly
directed. The doctrine of a plurality of gods and god-
desses laid down in the preceding chapters is not only
controverted, but reasons assigned for its introduction ;
for instance, that the worship of the sun and fire, to-
gether with the whole allegorical system, were only incul-
cated for the sake of those whose limited understandings
rendered them incapable of comprehending and adoring
the invisible Supreme Being, so that such persons might
not remain in a brutified state, destitute of all religious
principle. Should this explanation given by the Ved it-
* It is my intention to give, with the hlessing of God, in my next
publication, an account of the relation betwixt those attributes and
the allegorical representations used to denote them.
4