hey are the magicians of the
universe who sport with the forces of nature as easily as a conjuror in
a bazaar does tricks with a handful of balls. But though the average
Hindu would be shocked to hear the Puranas described as idle tales, yet
he does not make his creed depend on their accuracy, as many in Europe
make Christianity depend on miracles. The value of truth in religion is
rated higher in India than in Europe but it is not historical truth. The
Hindu approaches his sacred literature somewhat in the spirit in which
we approach Milton and Dante. The beauty and value of such poems is
clear. The question whether they are accurate reports of facts seems
irrelevant. Hindus believe in progressive revelation. Many Tantras and
Vishnuite works profess to be better suited to the present age than the
Vedas, and innumerable treatises in the vernacular are commonly accepted
as scripture.

Scriptures in India[62] are thought of as words not writings. It is the
sacred sound not a sacred book which is venerated. They are learnt by
oral transmission and it is rare to see a book used in religious
services. Diagrams accompanied by letters and a few words are credited
with magical powers, but still tantric spells are things to be recited
rather than written. This view of scripture makes the hearer uncritical.
The ordinary layman hears parts of a sacred book recited and probably
admires what he understands, but he has no means of judging of a book as
a whole, especially of its coherency and consistency.

The moral extravagance of Hinduism is more serious. It is kept in check
by the general conviction that asceticism, or at least temperance,
charity and self-effacement are the indispensable outward signs of
religion, but still among the great religions of the world there is none
which countenances so many hysterical, immoral and cruel rites. A
literary example will illustrate the position. It is taken from the
drama Madhava and Malati written about 730 A.D., but the incidents of
the plot might happen in any native state to-day, if European
supervision were removed. In it Madhava, a young Brahman, surprises a
priest of the goddess Chamunda who is about to immolate Malati. He kills
the priest and apparently the other characters consider his conduct
natural and not sacrilegious. But it is not suggested that either the
police or any ecclesiastical authority ought to prevent human
sacrifices, and the reason why Madhava was able to save h