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The Religion of the Veda (1894) - Page 12 - Source Library

The Religion of the Veda

Hermann Oldenberg · 1894

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English

Contents.

INTRODUCTION.

The Sources.

	Page
Ancient India and the Rigveda: The oldest collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns, dating back to the 2nd millennium BCE. . . . . . . . . . . . .	1—14
The character of the ancient Indian people p. 1. Character of Rigvedic poetry p. 3. Younger parts of the Rigveda p. 7. The Rigveda as a source for the history of religion p. 9.
The Yajurveda: The Veda of ritual formulas and mantras used by priests during sacrifices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	14—16
Sacrificial magical incantations p. 14.
The Atharvaveda: The fourth Veda, containing hymns, charms, and spells for healing and magic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	17—22
Contents of the Atharvaveda p. 17. Priestly character p. 18. The Atharvaveda as a source for the nature of magic p. 19. The gods and myths in the Atharvaveda p. 20.
The later Vedic and the extra-Vedic literature .	22—26
Brahmanas: Commentaries on the Vedas explaining ritual ceremonies. and Sutras: Brief, aphoristic manuals for Vedic study and ritual. p. 22. Historical matters and narratives p. 25.
Veda and Avesta: The primary collection of sacred texts of Zoroastrianism, closely related to the Vedas. . . . . . . . . . . . .	26—33
Veda and Avesta from the perspective of language p. 26. From the perspective of content, gods, and ritual p. 28.
Indo-European: A large language family and cultural group spanning Europe and parts of Asia. and general comparative religion .	33—38
The Indo-European gods and myths p. 33. Exceeding the Indo-European domain p. 37.

FIRST SECTION.

The Vedic Gods and Demons in General.

	Page
The gods and demons in their relation to nature and the other substrates of mythical conception . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	39—92
Nature deities and Anthropomorphism: The attribution of human characteristics or form to a god or non-human entity. p. 39. Agni: The Vedic god of fire and the messenger between humans and gods. and fire p. 43. Obscurations and new formations p. 48. Nature myths. Other elements of myths p. 53.

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