Henry David Thoreau, "Explore Hinduism", P. 21. Quoted from Gewali, Salil (2013). Great Minds on India. New Delhi: Penguin Random House.
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Whenever I have read any part of the Vedas, I have felt that some unearthly and unknown light illuminated me. In the great teaching of the Vedas, there is no touch of the sectarianism. It is of ages, climes, and nationalities and is the royal road for the attainment of the Great Knowledge. When I am at it, I feel that I am under the spangled heavens of a summer night.

— Henry David Thoreau on Vedas

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Whenever I have read any part of the Vedas, I have felt that some unearthly and unknown light illuminated me. In the great teaching of the Vedas, there is no touch of the sectarianism. It is of ages, climes, and nationalities and is the royal road for the attainment of the Great Knowledge. When I am at it, I feel that I am under the spangled heavens of a summer night." in the context of "Henry David Thoreau, "Explore Hinduism", P. 21. Quoted from Gewali, Salil (2013). Great Minds on India. New Delhi: Penguin Random House." to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Vedas" (Quotes about Vedas) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Henry David Thoreau

About Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau (12 July 1817 – 6 May 1862) was an American essayist, poet, philosopher, abolitionist, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor, and historian. A leading transcendentalist, Thoreau is best known for his book Walden, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings, and his essay Resistance to Civil Government (also known as Civil Disobedience), an argument for disobedience to an unjust state.