Page:The Religion of the Veda.djvu/18

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The Religion of the Veda
NDIA is the land of religions in more than one
sense. It has produced out of its own resources
a number of distinctive systems and sects, two of
which, at least, are of world-wide interest and
importance.
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Brahmanism, in its manifold aspects, is to this day
the religion of about 200 millions of people in India
herself, a matter of interest on the face of it. But
its universal importance lies with the Brahmanical
systems of religious philosophy, especially the two
known respectively as Vedānta and Sänkhya. These
are two religio-philosophical, or theosophical systems
which essay to probe the twin riddle of the universe
and human life. They do this in so penetrating
a way as to place them by the side of the most
profound philosophic endeavors of other nations.
The beginnings of this philosophy are found in the
so-called Upanishads, a set of treatises which are
part of the Veda. The Upanishads contain the
higher religion of the Veda. The essence of higher
Brahmanical religion is Upanishad religion. The
religion of the Upanishads is part of the theme of
these lectures.
Buddhism started in the bosom of Brahmanism.
Its radical reforms, concerning both doctrine and
practical life, are directed in good part against Brah-
manism. Yet Buddhism is a religion genuinely