Historical Vedic religion Historical Vedic religion The historical Vedic religion (also known as Vedism, Brahmanism, Vedic Brahmanism, and ancient Hinduism) refers to the religious ideas and practices among Indo-Aryan-speaking peoples of ancient India after about 1500 BCE. These ideas and practices are found in the Vedic texts, and they were one of the major influences that shaped contemporary Hinduism. According to the "Encyclopædia Britannica", in the Hindu tradition and particularly in India, the Vedic religion is considered to be a part of Hinduism. According to Heinrich von Stietencron, in the 19th century western publications, the Vedic religion was believed to be different from
Is Theosophy a Religion? and objects of the universe. This "knowledge, therefore, becomes essentially Religion, and must be called in its integrity and universality by the distinctive name of Wisdom-Religion." Blavatsky writes that "the parent trunk" of all religions and philosophical systems contains the "great Truth" that to date was hidden, distorted or simply ignored. She believes that "The Secret Doctrine" is book, in which is set out everything that can be transmitted to humanity in "this century", and it is an attempt to clear a part of the "common foundation" of all—great and small religious and philosophical systems. Kalnitsky has cited: "It was