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THE POWER OF KARMA with the Veda. The Veda alone is called revelation. The Brahmans maintain that it existed before all time, that it was revealed by Brahma and seen by divine sages, who themselves were free from the taint of humanity."
General Albert Pike tells us that the divine sages referred to were seven of the ancient Rishis, sons of a Rishi, and these are mentioned in the Veda as having been translated to the sky, becoming there the seven stars of Ursa Major, the Great Bear, ever after known as the Seven Rishis. These seven stars, always visible at night, and always circling round the north star, are eternal witnesses to the divine origin of the Veda. The Rishis were simply sages or bards, and not necessarily priests. Some families of these were greatly distinguished and some of the hymns are assigned to five successive generations of Rishis. Sanctified by sacrifice and gifts, some of these are said to have attained the companionship of Indra (the Light) and immortality, i.e., to have ascended to the sky, the abode of light, and as stars to have become immortal. It would appear that the most ancient Vedic hymns were, in the words of Bunsen, “the outpourings of the free natural inspiration flowing out of the whole of material life, and the great events of the poet's own
