Vedic Practice

[Eugene Aubry]

Specificrituals and sacrifices of the Vedic religion include, among others: the Soma rituals; Fire rituals involving oblations (havir); and the Ashvamedha (horse sacrifice).[18][19] The rites of grave burials as well as cremation are seen since the Rigvedic period.[20] Deities emphasized in the Vedic religion include Dyaus, Indra, Agni, Rudra and Varuna, and important ethical concepts include satya and ṛta.

Vedism refers to the oldest form of the Vedic religion, when Indo-Aryans entered into the valley of the Indus River in multiple waves during the 2nd millennium BCE. Brahmanism refers to the further developed form which took shape at the Ganges basin around c. 1000 BCE.[17][21] According to Heesterman, "It is loosely known as Brahmanism because of the religious and legal importance it places on the brāhmaṇa (priestly) class of society."[21]

According to Heinrich von Stietencron, in 19th century western publications, the Vedic religion was believed to be different from and unrelated to Hinduism. Instead, Hinduism was thought to be linked to the Hindu epics and the Puranas through sects based on purohita, tantras and Bhakti. In the 20th century, a better understanding of the Vedic religion and its shared heritage and theology with contemporary Hinduism led scholars to view the historical Vedic religion as ancestral to modern Hinduism.[22] The historical Vedic religion is now generally accepted to be a predecessor of Hinduism, but they are not the same because the textual evidence suggests significant differences between the two.[c] These include the belief in an afterlife instead of the later developed reincarnation and samsāra concepts.[25][page needed] The Hindu reform movements and the Neo-Vedanta have emphasized the Vedic heritage and "ancient Hinduism", and this term has been co-opted by some Hindus.[22]

The Indo-Aryans were speakers of a branch of the Indo-European language family which originated in the Sintashta culture and further developed into the Andronovo culture, which in turn developed out of the Kurgan culture of the Central Asian steppes.[11][b][f] The commonly proposed period of earlier Vedic age is dated back to 2nd millennium BCE.[52]

Many of the qualities of Indo-Iranian god of might/victory, Verethraghna, were transferred to the adopted god Indra, who became the central deity of the developing Old Indic culture. Indra was the subject of 250 hymns, a quarter of the Rig Veda. He was associated more than any other deity with Soma, a stimulant drug (perhaps derived from Ephedra) probably borrowed from the BMAC religion. His rise to prominence was a peculiar trait of the Old Indic speakers.[38]

The oldest inscriptions in Old Indic, the language of the Rig Veda, are found in northern Syria, the location of the Mitanni kingdom.[55] The Mitanni kings took Old Indic throne names, and Old Indic technical terms were used for horse-riding and chariot-driving.[55] The Old Indic term r'ta, meaning "cosmic order and truth", the central concept of the Rig Veda, was also employed in the Mitanni kingdom.[55] Old Indic gods, including Indra, were also known in the Mitanni kingdom.[56][57][58]

The Vedic religion was the product of "a composite of the Indo-Aryan and Harappan cultures and civilizations".[59] White (2003) cites three other scholars who "have emphatically demonstrated" that Vedic religion is partially derived from the Indus Valley civilization.[15]

It is unclear if the theory in diverse Vedic texts actually reflect the folk practices, iconography, and other practical aspects of the Vedic religion. The Vedic religion changed when Indo-Aryan people migrated into the Ganges Plain after c. 1100 BCE and became settled farmers,[17][60][61] further syncretizing with the native cultures of northern India.[2][page needed][3] The evidence suggests that the Vedic religion evolved in "two superficially contradictory directions", namely an ever more "elaborate, expensive, and specialized system of rituals",[62] which survives in the present-day srauta-ritual,[63] and "abstraction and internalization of the principles underlying ritual and cosmic speculation" within oneself,[62][64] akin to the Jain and Buddhist tradition.

Aspects of the historical Vedic religion still continue in modern times. For instance, the Nambudiri Brahmins continue the ancient Śrauta rituals, and the complex Vedic rituals of Śrauta are practiced in Kerala and coastal Andhra.[65] The Kalash people residing in northwest Pakistan also continue to practice a form of the ancient Vedic religion.[63][h] It has also been suggested by Michael Witzel that Shinto, the native religion of Japan, contains some influences from the ancient Vedic religion.[70][71]

Brahmanism, also called Brahminism, developed out of the Vedic religion, incorporating non-Vedic religious ideas, and expanding to a region stretching from the northwest Indian subcontinent to the Ganges valley.[3][17] Brahmanism included the Vedic corpus, but also post-Vedic texts such as the Dharmasutras and Dharmasastras, which gave prominence to the priestly (Brahmin) class of the society,[3] Heesterman also mentions the post-Vedic Smriti (Puranas and the Epics),[3] which are also incorporated in the later Smarta tradition. The emphasis on ritual and the dominant position of Brahmans developed as an ideology in the Kuru-Pancala realm, and expanded over a wider area after the demise of the Kuru-Pancala kingdom.[17] It co-existed with local religions, such as the Yaksha cults.[2][72][73]

The post-Vedic period of the Second Urbanisation saw a decline of Brahmanism.[83][84] With the growth of political entities, which threatened the income and patronage of the rural Brahmins including; the Sramanic movement, the conquests of eastern empires from Magadha including the Nanda Empire and the Mauryan Empire,[85][86] and also invasions and foreign rule of the northwestern Indian Subcontinent which brought in new political entities.[32] This was overcome by providing new services[87] and incorporating the non-Vedic Indo-Aryan religious heritage of the eastern Ganges plain and local religious traditions, giving rise to contemporary Hinduism.[32][16][2][1][17][3][c] This "new Brahmanism" appealed to rulers, who were attracted to the supernatural powers and the practical advice Brahmins could provide,[87] and resulted in a resurgence of Brahmanical influence, dominating Indian society since the classical Age of Hinduism in the early centuries CE.[32]

Nowadays, the term Brahmanism, used interchangeably with Brahminism, is used in several ways. It denotes the specific Brahmanical rituals and worldview as preserved in the Śrauta ritual, as distinct from the wide range of popular cultic activity with little connection with them. Brahminism also refers specifically to the Brahminical ideology, which sees Brahmins as naturally privileged people entitled to rule and dominate society.[88] The term is frequently used by anti-Brahmin opponents, who object against their domination of Indian society and their exclusivist ideology.[89] They follow the outline of 19th century colonial rulers, who viewed India's culture as corrupt and degenerate, and its population as irrational. In this view, derived from a Christian understanding of religion, the original "God-given religion" was corrupted by priests, in this case Brahmins, and their religion, "Brahminism", which was supposedly imposed on the Indian population.[90] Reformist Hindus, and others such as Ambedkar, structured their criticism along similar lines.[90]

Texts dating to the Vedic period, composed in Vedic Sanskrit, are mainly the four Vedic Samhitas, but the Brahmanas, Aranyakas, and some of the older Upanishads[j] are also placed in this period. The Vedas record the liturgy connected with the rituals and sacrifices. These texts are also considered as a part of the scripture of contemporary Hinduism.[91]

The idea of reincarnation, or saṃsāra, is not mentioned in the early layers of the historic Vedic religion texts such as the Rigveda.[95][96] The later layers of the Rigveda do mention ideas that suggest an approach towards the idea of rebirth, according to Ranade.[97][98]

The ancient Vedic religion lacked the belief in reincarnation and concepts such as Saṃsāra or Nirvana. It was a complex animistic religion with polytheistic and pantheistic aspects. Ancestor worship was an important, maybe the central component, of the ancient Vedic religion. Elements of the ancestors cult are still common in modern Hinduism in the form of Śrāddha.[25][page needed][107]

According to Olivelle, some scholars state that the renouncer tradition was an "organic and logical development of ideas found in the Vedic religious culture", while others state that these emerged from the "indigenous non-Aryan population". This scholarly debate is a longstanding one, and is ongoing.[108]

Though a large number of names for devas occur in the Rigveda, only 33 devas are counted, eleven each of earth, space, and heaven.[113] The Vedic pantheon knows two classes, Devas and Asuras. The Devas (Mitra, Varuna, Aryaman, Bhaga, Amsa, etc.) are deities of cosmic and social order, from the universe and kingdoms down to the individual. The Rigveda is a collection of hymns to various deities, most notably heroic Indra, Agni the sacrificial fire and messenger of the gods, and Soma, the deified sacred drink of the Indo-Iranians.[114] Also prominent is Varuna (often paired with Mitra) and the group of "All-gods", the Vishvadevas.[115]

In the Hindu tradition, the revered sages of this era were Yajnavalkya,[116][117] Atharvan,[118] Atri,[119] Bharadvaja,[120] Gautama Maharishi, Jamadagni,[121] Kashyapa,[122] Vasistha,[123] Bhrigu,[124] Kutsa,[125] Pulastya, Kratu, Pulaha, Vishwamitra Narayana, Kanva, Rishabha, Vamadeva, and Angiras.[citation needed]

In the Vedas and later sutras, the meaning of the word satya (सत्य) evolves into an ethical concept about truthfulness and is considered an important virtue.[127][128] It means being true and consistent with reality in one's thought, speech and action.[127]

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