The great heresies, again, have their own special writings.

Thus far we shall draw on the native literature.

Only for some of the modern sects, and for the religions of the wild tribes which have no literature, shall we have to depend on the accounts of European writers.
DATES.
For none of the native religious works has one a certain date.

Nor is there for any one of the earlier compositions the certainty that it belongs, as a whole, to any one time.

The Rig Veda was composed by successive generations; the Atharvan represents different ages; each Br[=a]hmana appears to belong in part to one era, in part to another; the earliest S[=u]tras (manuals of law, etc.) have been interpolated; the earliest metrical code is a composite; the great epic is the work of centuries; and not only do the Upanishads and Pur[=a]nas represent collectively many different periods, but exactly to which period each individually is to be assigned remains always doubtful.