The celebrated line which it is enjoined should be repeated without intermission, and which is the most holy passage in the Vedas, reads literally, "Let us meditate on the adorable light of Savitri (the sun—the divine ruler); may it guide our intellects." This, it is asserted, is addressed to the sun as the symbol of a divine and all-powerful being, and it is regarded as a proof of the monotheism of the Vedas. This explanation is, however, considered by some to be far from satisfactory, and to offer greater difficulties than the text ever can when taken in a natural light.
The creed of Buddha contains similar traces of elemental worship. The five Buddhas and the five Bodhisattwas would appear to be personifications of the principal natural elements and phenomena.
In Persian mythology we find a similar deification of natural phenomena. In the creed of Zoroaster, which was a modification of pre-existing beliefs, there is an eternal almighty Being, Zernane Akherene (illimitable, uncreated time), who created Ormuzd (light, goodness); and Ahrimann (darkness, evil). Ormuzd created the universe, and the genii, or deities of light, of whom there are three classes.
1st Class. The seven Amshaspands, including Ormuzd himself. The remaining are Bahman, the genius of the region of light; Ardibehesht, of ethereal fire; Sharwir, of metals; Sarpandomad, of fruitfulness; Khudad, of time; Amerdad, of the vegetable world, flocks, and herds.
2nd Class. The twenty-seven Izeds, male and female—the elementary deities: e.g. Khorsid, the deity of the sun; Mah, of the moon; Tashter, of the dog-star, and of rain; Rapitan, the deity of heat, &c. These deities were probably worshipped before the belief was reduced to a system.
3rd Class. The Fervers—the vivifying principles of nature, the ideal types of the material universe, corresponding in general with the ideas of Plato. Every one, even Ormuzd, has his Ferver. "An Iranite has thus constantly by his side his ideal type, or uncorrupted material image, to guide him through life and preserve him from evil."[12]
The Iranite worships light, fire, and water, as emblems of Ormuzd, in whom these elements are united; he does not worship the elementary spirits attached to them.
In China, the state religion—the religious system of Confucius—embodies the following objects of worship, arranged in three classes:—
1st Class. Ta sze, or great sacrifices, includes the worship of the heavens (Yâng), and the earth (Yin); and while worshipping the material heaven, they appear to consider that there exists an animating intelligence (Tae-keih) which presides over the world, rewarding virtue and vice. This class includes also deified sovereigns.
2nd Class. Choong-sze, medium sacrifices, includes the worship of gods of the land and grain, the sun and moon, genii, sages, gods of letters, inventors of agriculture, manufacturers, and useful arts.