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RELIGIOUS PRACTICES AND OPINIONS
The religion of the Vedas, as far as we are acquainted with it, differs in many very material points from that of the present day. The worship they prescribe is, with a few exceptions, domestic, consisting of oblations to fire, and invocations of the deities of fire, of the firmament, of the winds, the seasons, the moon, the sun; who are invited by the sacrificer, if a Brahman, or by his family priest, if he is not a Brahman, to be present and accept the offering, either oiled butter, or the juice of the Soma, a species of asclepias, which are poured upon the sacrificial fire, in return for which they are supplicated to confer temporal blessings upon the worshipper, riches, life, posterity; the short-sighted vanities of human desire, which constituted the sum of heathen prayer in all heathen countries.
The following is the second hymn of the Rig-veda:
1. Approach, O Váyu (deity of the air); be visible: this Soma juice has been prepared for thee; approach, drink, hear our invocation.
2. Those who praise thee, Váyu, celebrate thee with sacred songs, provided with store of Soma juice, and knowing the season suitable for their oblations.
3. Váyu, thy assenting voice comes to the sacrificer, it comes to many through the offering of the libation.
4. Indra and Váyu, this juice has been prepared; come with benefits for us; verily the libation desires you.
5. Váyu and Indra, observe the libations, being present in the offerings; come quickly.