Note 196 — Chapter IX · THE RELIGIOUS SENTIMENT.

The theory of do ut des is expressed with naïve completeness in a Brahmanic hymn. “Well filled, O spoon [of the sacrifice], fly down; well filled, return. As having agreed on a price, let us make exchanges of strength and vigour. Give me, I give to thee; bring to me, I bring to thee.” Better still: "If thou wilt injure any one, say to Surya: ‘Strike such an one, and I will make thee an offering,’ and Surya, to obtain the offering, will strike him." (Barth, Les Religions de l’Inde, pp. 25, 26.)