About the Book The Vedas, the ancient monuments of the Aryan race and the sacred books of the Hindus belong to a hoary antiquity. They disclose a vast field for investigation into the nature of their contents. The present book offers a critical and minute study in this field.

The book is divided into eight chapters. Ch. 1 describes the early Aryans, their home and their social and political life. Ch. 2 surveys the dates of the Vedas, their modern studies and their transmission through the ages. Ch. 3 analyses the nature of the Vedic gods, their number, character and classification. Ch. 4 classifies Vedic gods under seven groups. Ch. 5 fixes the place of sacrifice in the religious life of the early Aryans. Ch. 6 explains motives for sacrifice, priest craft, sacrificial instruments and different types of sacrifices Ch. 7 expounds the message of the Rigveda and closes with a critical evaluation of the legacy of the Aryan Religion. Ch. 8 contains passages from the Vedas and readings in English translation. Besides, there are seven appendices which deal with the origin of the Vedas, their meters, language and contents. The book is documented with a critical Introduction, an exhaustive bibliography and general Index.

INTRODUCTION The present work was originally published by the Christian Literature Society for India (Memorial Hall Compound, Madras) in 1913. The Society planned several volumes on different aspects of Hinduism, Buddhism, Muhammadanism and Christianity. These volumes aimed at presenting an account of the essentials of religions, their tenets, rituals and mythology, through translations of authoritative scriptural passages. Component scholars participated in the preparation of the volumes. In this series Dr. Murdoch contributed an Account of the Vedas. On account of the large body of new information made available by modern disciplines and methods of interpretation, it was felt that no amount of revision would be completely satisfying. Hence, Rev. A.C. Clayton prepared the new volume The Rig-Veda and Vedic Religion which is 'a distinct and new treatment of the subject, besides containing 'all that was of permanent value in Dr. Murdoch's handbook,"

Rev. Clayton made a critical and minute study to prepare an account of the Vedic literature, Vedic life and Vedic religion. Hel first describes the early Aryans and discusses their home and aspects of their social and political life. He devotes a full chapter to a description of the Vedic literature, surveying the modern studies of the Vedas, their transmission through the ages, and the date of the Vedas.

Rev. Clayton critically analyses the nature of the Vedic gods, their number, character and classification. He gives the term 'henotheism' or 'kathenotheism', coined by Max Muller, its proper meaning. He describes in detail the Vedic gods classifying them. under seven groups:

(1) Gods of the Upper World, (ii) Gods of the Air, (III) Gods of the Earth, (iv) Abstract deities, (v) Inferior deities, (vi) Demons and deified animals and objects and (vii) Ancestral spirits. The sacrifices which occupied an important place in the religious life of the Aryans, are elaborately treated in a full chapter. The motives for sacrifice, the priesthood, the sacrificial instruments and the different types of sacrifices are carefully described. Some other aspects of the Vedic religion, which often do not receive a proper emphasis, are rightly given a wider coverage here Thus the prayers of the Aryans and the message of the Yajurveda are discussed in two separate chapters. The elements of adoration and petition In the prayers have been brought out. The petitions for help.. Preservation, welfare, rain, health, sons, forgiveness and future life are analyzed with eruditlane. In focusing attention on the message of the Rigveda, Re Clayton Press emphasises the compo site character of its hymns, with the understanding that the Aryans www many, that the centuries were long, and that what is true of one tribe or place or generation may not be true of all He brings and some of the values of the hymns, the absence of theology and caste distinction, the simplicity and naturalness of the times, the respect for women, and the belief in the actual existence of living gads. Three vary significant lines of thought, which find express alone in the Vedas. are the belief in the righteousness of Varuna, the belief in the power of ceremonies, and the dawning acceptance of monism. The account closes with a critical evaluation of the legacy of the Aryan religion. .

The author has collected significant passages from the Veda 'arranged according to the deities to whom they are addressed, or the special subjects to which they refer'. The readings in English translation are of great help to a proper understanding of the Vedic religion and life, .

The book contains a number of useful appendices. The first one on traditions about the origin of the Vedas reveals the results of erudite scholarship. Traditions in the hymns of the Rigveda, Atharvaveda, Brahmana’s, Upanishad’s, Manusmriti, Mahabharata Harivamsa and Puranas are analyzed here. The other appendices deal with the meters or the Vedas, Vedic Sanskrit, and the contents of the four Samhita.

**Contents and Sample Pages**