s declared to be the same as Agni
and as Varuna, and probably every deity in the Vedic pantheon is at some
time identified with another deity. But though in one way the gods seem
vague and impersonal, in another the distinction between gods and men is
slight. The Brahmanas tell us that the gods were originally mortal and
obtained immortality by offering sacrifices: the man who sacrifices like
them makes for himself an immortal body in the abode of the gods and
practically becomes a Deva and the bliss of great sages is declared
equal to the bliss of the gods[138]. The human and divine worlds are not
really distinct, and as in China and Japan, distinguished men are
deified. The deification of Buddha takes place before our eyes as we
follow the course of history: the origin of Krishna's godhead is more
obscure but it is probable that he was a deified local hero. After the
period of the Brahmanas the theory that deities manifest themselves to
the world in avataras or descents, that is in our idiom incarnations,
becomes part of popular theology.

There are other general characteristics of Indian religion which will be
best made clear by more detailed treatment in succeeding chapters. Such
are, firstly, a special theory of sacrifice or ritual which, though
totally rejected by Buddhism, has survived to modern times. Secondly, a
belief in the efficacy of self-mortification as a means of obtaining
super-human powers or final salvation. Thirdly, an even more deeply
rooted conviction that salvation can be obtained by knowledge. Fourthly,
there is the doctrine that faith or devotion to a particular deity is
the best way to salvation, but this teaching, though it seems natural to
our minds, does not make its appearance in India until relatively late.
It is not so peculiarly Indian as the other ideas mentioned, but even at
the outset it is well to insist on its prevalence during the last two
thousand years because a very false impression may be produced by
ignoring it.

There also runs through Indian religion a persistent though
inconspicuous current of non-theistic thought. It does not deny the
existence of spirits but it treats them as being, like men, subject to
natural laws, though able, like men, to influence events. The ultimate
truth for it is not pantheism but fixed natural laws of which no
explanation is offered. The religion of the Jains and the Sankhya
philosophy belong to this current. So did the teaching of several
anc