Not much is said
regarding sin and the need of forgiveness. A distinguished scholar[9]
has said that "the religious notion of sin is wanting altogether;" but
this affirmation is decidedly too sweeping.
[Sidenote: No image-worship.
No public worship.]
The worship exemplified in the Veda is not image-worship. Images of the
fire, or the winds, or the waters could hardly be required, and while
the original nature-worship lasted, idols must have been nearly unknown.
Yet the description of various deities is so precise and full that it
seems to be probably drawn from visible representations of them. Worship
was personal and domestic, not in any way public. Indeed, two men
praying at the same time had to pray quite apart, so that neither might
disturb the other. Each dealt with heaven, so to speak, solely on his
own behalf.
[Sidenote: No temples.]
We hear of no places set apart as temples in Vedic times.
[Sidenote: The treatises on ritual.]
A Veda consists of two parts called _Mantra_ or _Sanhita_, and
_Brahmana_. The first is composed of hymns. The second is a statement of
ritual, and is generally in prose. The existing Brahmanas are several
centuries later than the great body of the hymns, and were probably
composed when the Hindus had crossed the Indus, and were advancing along
the Gangetic valley.
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