आर्य जाति के पूर्वज जो हमारे शब्दों के पहले निर्माता थे, हमारे चिन्तन के पहले कवि थे, हमारे पहले विधि निर्माता थे, हमारे देवताओं के पहले पैगम्बर थे और उस ईश्… - Friedrich Max Müller

There was a time when the ancestors of the Celts. the Germans, the Slavonians. the Greeks and Italians, the Persians and the Hindus. were living together beneath the same roof. separate from the ancestors of the Semitic and Turanian races.... The Aryan nations who pursued a north- westerly direction, stand before us in history as the principal nations of north*western Asia and Europe. They have been the prominent actors in the great drama of history, and have carried to their fullest growth all the elements of active life with which our nature is endowed. They have perfected society and morals, and we learn from their literature. and works of art the element of science, the laws of art, and the principles of philosophy. In continual struggle with each other and with Semitic and Turanian races, these Aryan nations have become the rulers of history. and it seems to be their mission to link all parts of the world together by the chains of civilisation. commerce, and religion. ... But while most of the members of the Aryan family followed this glorious path. the southern tribes were slowly migrating toward the mountains which gird the north of India.... Left to themselves in a world of their own, without a past, and without a future before them, they had nothing but themselves to ponder on. Struggles there must have been in India also. Old dynasties were destroyed. whole f.uni.lies annihilated. and new empires founded. Yet the inward life of the Hindu was not changed by these convulsions. His mind was like the lotus leaf arter a shower of rain has passed over it; its character remained the same, passive, meditative, quiet, and thoughtful.

I do not wish by what I have said to raise any exaggerated expectations as to the worth of these ancient hymns of the Veda, and the character of that religion which they indicate rather than fully describe. The historical importance of the Veda can hardly be exaggerated; but its intrinsic merit, and particularly the beauty or elevation of its sentiments, have by many been rated far too high. Large numbers of the Vedic hymns are childish in the extreme: tedious, low, commonplace. The gods are constantly inyoked to protect their worshippers, to grant them food, large flocks, large families, and a long life; for all which benefits they are to be rewarded by the praises and sacrifices offered day after day, or at certain seasons of the year. But hidden in this rubbish there are precious stones.

मेघ उस वृष्टिदाता की देह बन गया; वह ‘दाता’ कहीं अन्यत्र था, किन्तु हम नहीं जान पाए कि वह कहाँ था या कहाँ है। किन्हीं मंत्रों में ‘पर्जन्य’ ‘द्यौ:’ के पद तक पहुँचा हुआ प्रतीत होता है और पृथ्वी उसकी पत्नी है। अन्य जगह पर्जन्य को द्यौ: का पुत्र बताया गया है, यद्यपि उस प्रारम्भिक स्थिति में यह नहीं सोचा जा सका कि इस प्रकार पर्जन्य अपनी माता का ही पति लग सकता है।