Mahony (religion, Davidson College) provides an introduction to the Vedic religious tradition of ancient and classical India emphasizing the nature of divinity and its relationship to the natural and human worlds; Vedic cosmology and metaphysics; the nature and process of revelation and its relationship to poetry and other forms of expression; the structure and purpose of ritual performance and other forms of hallowed activity; and the function and practice of meditation. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.