eeded to study the Vedas, to have offspring, to be respectful to their fellow man and to have high ethical values. These activities may define religion for Hindus.Probably the most important early practice that comes from the Vedas is worshiping by sacrifice to the gods. This was the most common ritual (activity) of the Vedic religion and early on, they had many different uses for it. This was to give pleasure to the god that they were praising and through it, hope of attaining their endowments. The priests of the community, who were known as Brahmins, performed the sacrifices. Only they could properly offer the right way to praise the gods through the hymns of the Rigveda. The hymns symbolized a magic power through the fire they used to sacrifice. Again like the personalization of the gods these were actions that they could see and feel and were able to grasp. They did not have to interact with the gods directly and the physical sacrifices may have been easier to relate to than the immaterial concepts of blessings and gods. This conceptualizes the necessity for a visual attachment for the believers wants and needs. Another way of defining religion could be through these ceremonies. . Religion could simply be the work of priests, or these acts of ritual themselves.Other important rituals can still be found today. The samskaras, which are specific times in the progression of daily life, are significant, because of the ceremonies surrounding them. These included birth, marriage and death and were wishes of luck to protect these occasions for the future. Ceremonies are used to bless these important occasions. Another ritual is the sandhyas, a form of meditation for the praise of the sun, at dawn, noon and dusk. These are performed with a ceremonial offering of water to the sun. This symbolizes the importance of both the sun and the water and when praising the sun signifies thanks for it. Another ritual, puja, was gaining respe...
