16 The Religian of the Veda

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tween the Veda. and the lamr Hindu Epic, the: Mahabharata. This; is, in my apinicm, an cxaga gemticm, but it is significant that the satatemmzt could be: made at £111.. The aarly ruligiflns and the rcllgimm institutiom of the; Hindus-1 and liarsiam Show, to be: sum, far greater imlupm‘ldtmcc fmm mic: another than their lztngtmgag, but tlmy arc, mmm thfilGSS, at the root much tlm game. 3:: it 11:15; Gama“: tc) pass; that: amt at all mam). part: 0f tlm leic Pantheon and Vedic mligiaus ideas; bégin bcfcrm the: Veda. Or, to put it even mare: piiraLIQD-iifiillly, Indian religion begins before its arrival in India”

Yet further, beyond the mmmmn period of the: Hindus and the Persians, there: is a. still rcmatcr permd which. is not entirely clased to DU!“ View It is the common Indo~Eumpmn time, the time when the: Hindus and Persians still shared their language and home with the remaining mam» bfirs of the same stock, the Hellcnes, Italians, Celts, Teutons, and Slavsl In this altagcther prm historic time there also existed certain germs «3f religion, and some of these: germs grew into import... ant matures of the later religinns of theme peaplesl Thuqexreligion of the Veda. is indebted to this; early time to an extent that is not negligible. We shall SEE later on in what way the two layers of prehis- toric religious matter have: contributed to and afifacted