History of India
1
HISTORY
Subject
:
History
Paper No.
:
Paper - 1
History of India
Unit No. & Title
:
Unit – 5
Background to the Emergence of
Early Historic India
Topic No. & Title
:
Topic - 1
Vedic Period up to c. A.D. 650
Lecture No. & Title
:
Lecture - 4
Vedic Religion
(For under graduate student)
Script
VEDIC RELIGION
A survey of Vedic literature helps to graph the religious
concepts and practices in vogue in the Vedic society, which
spanned a period of approximately one and a half millennia
from 1500 to the 6th century B.C.E. The Rig Veda Samhitā,
with its ten Mandalas, provides us with the information on
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the early phase of the Vedic society and religious thoughts,
while the other three Samhitā along with the Brāhmanas,
Āranyakas and Upanisads cover the later phase. The Vedic
literature primarily represented a corpus of ritual and
philosophical ideas, concepts and practices, originating from
a supra-human source (apaureseya) providing elaborate
information regarding the religious beliefs of the respective
phases. The earliest section of the Rig Veda is the Samhitā
comprising the ‘family books’ in the Mandalas II - VIII. This
section contains a collection of hymns addressed to various
deities. The hymns follow a specific pattern. They have
been ascribed to the families of certain seer-poets. The
hymns are dedicated to specific deities of the early Vedic
pantheon thereby throwing light on religious beliefs and the
popularly invoked deities.
The ‘family books’ are often placed within a time bracket of
c.1500 B.C.E - 1000 B.C.E or between c.1200 B.C.E and
1000 B.C.E. The later Vedic corpus, including the Manḍalas
1, 9 and 10 of the Rig Veda, the Samhitās of the Sāma,
Yajur and Atharva Vedas and the Brāhmanas, Āranyakas
and Upanisads attached to all the four Vedas are generally
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dated to the first half of the first millennium B.C.E. The
Brāhmanas
are
exegeses
on
the
rituals,
while
the
Āranyakas and Upanishads essentially contain philosophical
discourses. Though the internal chronology of the Vedic
corpus is very complex and problematic, it can be said that
all these texts had similar purposes and orientation and
shared
similar
discursive
practices
and
channels
of
transmission, although the contents and levels of spiritual
philosophy may have been diverse.
The diverse elements of the Vedic religious system, the
centrality of the sacrificial rituals, the dominance of the
Brāhmanas as the ritual specialists and the shift in the
world of religious perceptions as the sacrifices gave way to
speculative philosophy in the Upanisadic period may be
gleaned from the Vedic texts. The hymns were circulated
through
centuries
and
generations
in
oral
form,
meticulously memorized and transmitted through repetitive
chanting. Intricate devices were invented to ensure correct
transmission
and
great
stress
was
laid
on
proper
articulation of each sound. Thus the texts were confined
within a small religious aristocracy, and as sacred texts,
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they were to be preserved as precisely as possible. With
time only a closed group of brāhmanas alone claimed to
have the knowledge of the Vedas. The exercise of tight
control on the circulation of the oral texts crystallized their
status as the ritual specialists of the society.
However, the religious practices or belief systems described
in the Vedic literature do not represent monolithic or
simplistic patterns. In the early phase itself this system
comprised several strands of thought - primitive beliefs,
various types of divine imageries and philosophies.
On the one hand there were numerous references to
magical rites and on the other extreme we find hints of an
incipient scientific consciousness. This multifaceted and
multilayered texture of the belief system would evolve and
take shape in a later phase on a different plane.
In the last phase of the Later Vedic society transcendental
thought and mysticism found expression in the Upanisads,
presenting a new genre of philosophy, which was quite
distinct from the almost contemporary Brāhmanas.
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Existence was conceived in the Rig Veda within a universe
divided into three realms - the sky, the earth and the
middle realm (antariksha). Almost all the deities were
associated with these three realms. The hymns consisted of
three principal sections. They began with an eulogy to a
specific deity and an elaboration on the various attributes of
that deity, which was followed by the invocation of that
particular deity; finally the prayers were offered to the deity
with reference to the specific or general requirements of the
worshipper as an individual or a community.
To begin with, the initial level of complexity of the religious
situation is reflected in the Vedic pantheon, which was by
no means fixed or neatly ordered. On the contrary it was
extremely volatile. There was no fixed hierarchy in the
concept of the pantheon and whichever deity was praised in
a hymn was eulogized as the supreme god within that
particular hymn. Besides the divinities, a wide variety of
semi-divine beings, sorcerers and spirits were envisioned
within the three realms. For example, the Asuras were also
described as powerful entities almost in opposition to the
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gods. In later contexts the term would carry an essentially
derogatory connotation. Enmity between gods and demons
generated a cluster of myths, which often reflected human
situations, experienced in actual life.
The Rig Veda represents a polytheistic situation where
almost every deity was conceptually derived from one
natural force or the other. The Rig Veda pantheon consisted
of deities drawn from an Indo-Iranian past (like Mitra and
Varuna), cults drawn from various groups with whom the
Indo-Aryan
people
came
into
contact
on
their
long
migratory route and cults drawn from the indigenous
population of the subcontinent. In the earliest phase the
Indo–European-speaking
people
were
dependent
exclusively on stockbreeding. Thus the earliest pantheon
would be dominated by the gods of the sky, water and the
sun, regarded important for the kind of life they led, thus
the conceptualization of Mitra and Varuna might have had
long roots. In a later phase, when these groups were
travelling through hostile terrain, they clashed with various
clans and groups and plundered them to survive in extreme
conditions. The deities associated with rains and thunder
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came into being in this phase, when the Indo- European
speaking groups embarked on their journey towards the
southern part of Central Asia. In the ultimate phase the
Vedic
pantheon
incorporated
gods
and
goddesses
associated with earth and vegetation.
The earliest gods described in the Rig Veda were thus
drawn from an Indo-European past and they were gods of
the sky and the sun like Mitra, Varuna and Dyaus. In the
second phase these deities continued to be important, but
new deities had emerged like Indra and Parjanya associated with rain and thunder. In the latest phase the
transition into sedentary societies and farming life led to the
creation of gods like Agni, Prajāpati and Yama who became
increasingly prominent.
The deities were generally visualized in an anthropomorphic
form, with elaborate details of the physical features. There
is no clear indication of idol worship. In the later phase the
deities associated with various natural forces would often
outgrow this connection and assume a more complex
identity. For example, Indra, who was originally associated
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with thunder acquired other more complex attributes and
assumed a new role in the Vedic pantheon.
Once
the
Vedic
Aryan
speaking
society
settled
into
agricultural life the memories of the early warfare were
transmuted into legends with the concept of a God like war
hero, – Indra, but with this were added the powers of
providing rain, – the most coveted natural resource for the
agriculturalists and the solar epithet – as the primary
natural force.
The earliest gods, Mitra and Varuna were invoked together
in the Rig Veda. The inscription found at Boghaz- Koi in
Syria carry the names of several gods like Mitras and
Uruvanass along with Indra and others. In the earliest
phase Varuna was the sky god. The hundreds of thousands
of stars were his eyes. The concept of Varuna is also
associated with deliverance of justice from an early period.
The descriptions bestow the god with omniscience and
power of surveillance He is described to be ever present,
ever wakeful. With his millions of unblinking eyes he was
said to be always aware of every evil act that took place in
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the three realms. He restricted and chastised evil-doers
unerringly. Thus the concept of the god Varuna was
associated not only with justice but also morality. Later on
in the period of incipient chiefdoms, Varuna was hailed as
the ruler and the supreme Judge. Later still, he would make
his way into the charmed circle of the superior gods-the
Ādityas and would turn into the deity of the mighty ocean.
Some of the earliest verses in the Rig Veda were dedicated
to the various manifestations of the solar god. Surya,
Savitar and Mitra represent different dimensions of the
solar cult. Minor figures of Aryaman, Bhaga and Dakṣa also
represented the solar cult in their separate ways and were
clearly held in esteem by pastoralists and food gatherers.
Mitra and Varuna were also the custodians of the Rita or the
Primordial Law or the cosmic order, which also encapsulated
the social order of the mundane realm, the order of the
sacrifice and the inviolable moral order. This was the
concept of Universal Rhythm or Natural Law that was
observed to guide the orderliness of natural phenomena in
which the solar elements were seen to be supreme. This
concept was actually derived from the observation of the
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seasons and the natural world. A logically construed theory
was developed by the early Vedic thinkers to replicate the
orderliness of the Rita in the collective social life of the
tribes in the form of moral strictures and social regulations.
Indra is the chief god in the Rig Veda, with almost onefourth of the hymns addressed to the deity. He was the
great war- god, always eager to strike down the demons in
battle and obliterate the settlements of the Dāsas and
Asuras. The most important myth connected with him is the
myth of the demon Vrtra. The legend went that Indra killed
Vrtra with his infallible weapon, - the thunderbolt made out
of the bones of the sage Dadhīca and released the streams
held back by the demon. Indra killed other enemies too,
hiding deep in the water, along with the slashing off of the
Vrtra. D.D. Kosambi has pointed out that the clash of Indra
and Vrtra symbolizes a clash between the agricultural
groups and the cattle herders and marauders led by the
aggressive warrior chiefs like Indra. Thus slaying of the
Vrtra would signify the smashing of a dam erected by the
agriculturists.
The
Asuras
signified
the
non-Vedic
communities and thus the above reference might indicate
clashes between farming groups of Asuras and the pastoral
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Vedic people. Vrtra was said to own ninety-nine pura or
cities and Indra eventually destroyed all the cities and
gained the title – Purandara or Purbhīd. The Indo-Aryan
groups desirous of ensuring victory in a battle necessarily
always worshipped Indra. Indra was also associated with
material wealth, was hailed as the generous (Maghavan),
believed to fill the earth with wholesome food, stole the
cattle of his rivals, symbolized physical beauty and vigour
and was often depicted as amoral, unlike Varuna.
Thus the imagery of Indra was created on the culture of a
hero, combining the vigorous earthiness of the warrior and
the supernatural powers of the nature god. This imagery
sought to motivate the toiling, strife-ridden Indo-Aryan
clans and thus in the Rig Veda Indra took position as the
mightiest god. Gradually with the rise of priestly hierarchy
Indra’s killing of the Vrtra was, said to have been achieved
through sacrifices; and aided by the participation of other
gods too. Further, Indra was closely linked with Soma, - the
source of a divine and intoxicating drink. The concept was
that Indra and his valorous warriors derived their vigour
and military zeal from this highly intoxicating pleasurable
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drink. In the later phase the drinking of soma was turned
into an elaborate religious ceremony with the ninth mandala
of the Rig Veda being exclusively concerned with the Soma
yajnas.
The
Soma
juice
was
extracted
from
some
unidentifiable creeper, which has no parallel in any other
Indo-European source, except in the Iranian Avesta. It is
interesting to note that in the Vedic texts Soma became
personified as a mighty deity mainly associated with Indra
and Agni. In a still later phase, Soma would symbolize the
moon.
Agni, the other important god in the Rig Veda, was
associated with the first settlements of the Indo-Aryans
who had effectively destroyed the forests and the older
settlements by setting them to fire. Agni was described as
the twice born, the original divine priest. Almost every book
of the Rig Veda started with a hymn addressed to Agni.
Agni
was
the
preserver
of
the
three
realms.
Agni
symbolized the sun at night and acted as the symbolic
barrier to ward off the evil forces. Often invoked along with
Indra, Agni represented the multifarious aspects of fire, –
the fire of important domestic rituals, such as marriage
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ceremonies, fire of the cremation pyre, the fire that burnt
down the forests and destroyed the enemies and the
spiritual fire that emanated from the ascetics. Agni was
conceived as the purest of the elements and was thought to
act as an intermediary between the gods and humans. Agni
was also hailed as the generator of material wealth.
The status of Rudra-Śiva in the Rig Veda was potentially
strong and this god was frequently invoked for protection of
cattle and other domestic animals,- the chief wealth of the
people. Rudra was the central lunar god. The few hymns
dedicated to Rudra reveal the great destructive potential of
the god, although in the Rig Veda his aspect was described
as benign and as one whom people ran to for seeking grace
and protection. He was invoked for long life, progeny and
prosperity. The Maruts were conceived as the sons of
Rudra, who in their plurality drove across the sky in chariots
causing storms and rain. In the Yajur Veda, Rudra was
invoked as the king of the sacrifice and was put together
with Soma for release from evil. In the Atharva Veda the
joint imagery of Agni-Rudra was envisioned as that of a
divine
tiger
against
which
men
were
helpless,
thus
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foregrounding the later fearsome aspect, which gained
popular force in the religious psyche from the later Vedic
period onwards.
Vishnu was a minor benevolent god in the Rig Veda, often
merging with Indra. The Rig Veda describes the three
gigantic steps of Vishnu, which enveloped the entire world.
The Aśvins were the twin gods associated with health and
healing. They protected mankind from illness, accidents and
other physical disasters. On the other hand the Rig Vedic
hymns were also dedicated to the god of death – Yama and
at least one śloka referred to Agni as the messenger of
Yama. (RV, X, 14, 13) The god is more frequently referred
to in later Vedic texts, by which time he had absorbed many
of the properties of Varuna.
Usas, the goddess of the dawn was the only important
female deity in the early phase. Almost twenty hymns have
been dedicated to Ushas. Some of the most beautifully
composed hymns describe the ever-youthful loveliness of
Ushas. She had been associated with Surya and symbolized
the daily awakening of mankind from sleep and stupor. The
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other goddesses making their way into the pantheon were
the bountiful Aditi, mother of the gods or Ādityas; Sinivalī,
who was invoked for birth of children; Pṛthvi, the earth
goddess and Sarasvatī, representing the river of this name
but also ascribed life giving qualities and power of healing.
Sukumari Bhattacharji has argued that, in the last phase of
the composition of the Rig Vedic hymns, a group of abstract
deities
appear
in
the
Vedic
pantheon
like
Prajāpati,
Brihaspati, Hiranyagarbha, Paramesthin, Viśvakarman and
so on. She has detected incipient monotheistic trends in
these conceptions, which according to her, paved the way
for the shaping of a supreme god from these imageries. She
asserted
that
such
trends
surfaced
due
to
intense
interactions between Indo-Aryan and non-Vedic groups. In
the later period abstract deities like Prajāpati were linked
with the process of cosmic creation.
The cosmic world was also populated by various celestial
beings - the Gandharvas, the Maruts and the Viśvadevas.
The Pitar or Forefathers were worshipped in a later phase of
the Rig Veda’s composition, in the tenth mandala. They
were
associated
with
settled
life
and
the
growing
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importance of the domestic rituals. The books also mention
groups who did not worship the Vedic gods and had no faith
in the yajña rituals performed by the Vedic groups. These
groups had also crowded into the mythological arena of the
Rig Veda and assumed important roles. The Asuras,
Piśāchas and the Yaksas vacillate between the forces of
good and evil and there is no clear demarcation between
the two. The central ritual that expressed the religious
orientation of the people was the yajña or the sacrifice. The
gods were invoked through prayers and ritual sacrifices.
There were the domestic rites in the house of the
yajamāna, the person for whose benefit the ritual was being
performed. Oblations of milk, ghee and grain, especially
barley and later rice, were poured into the fire with the
accompaniment of proper sacrificial chants.
Some yajñas involved animal sacrifice. The goals of such
sacrifices
were
primarily
materialistic.
These
rituals
expressed ardent desire for food, male offspring, good
health and long life. The exact details of the rituals were
never fleshed out in the ślokas. The esoteric practices were
shrouded in mystery. We begin to get the first details about
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the actual performances from the Yajurveda onwards.
However it can be ascertained that proper articulation and
intonations of the chanting were essential for the successful
performance of a sacrifice. The oral enunciation itself was
held as pure and divine.
Speech, metric rhythm and musical notes gained a sacred
spirituality, which was expressed best in the composition of
the Sāma Veda Samhitā. The prelude to this was found in
the conceptualization of the minor female deity of Vāk –
probably representing the divine word - in the latest phase
of the Rig Veda. Apart from the domestic sacrifices, more
spectacular
public
patronage.
This
sacrifices
turned
into
gradually
an
attracted
arena
of
more
economic
redistribution and the entire clan brought prestations. The
wealth of the elite were collected and prominently displayed
on
these
occasions.
The
wealth
was
consumed
and
whatever remained was gifted. Romila Thapar has argued
that the elite displayed their wealth and competed with
their peers and established their status and power within
the kin groups. The religious occasions provided the
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platform for such exhibitions of power both for the priests
and the wealthy classes.
The centrality of the sacrifice in the belief system of the
Vedic people can be illustrated with the famous Purusa
Sukta of the tenth mandala of the Rig Veda. Though it has
been placed in a later context, the hymn depicts the deep
rooted importance of sacrifice in the society. It describes a
great primeval sacrifice and explains the origin of the
universe through this act. The entire world arose from the
body of the Purusa, who was the victim of the first sacrifice.
The sukta not only provided the most significant hint of the
idea of an incipient monotheism but also for the first time
contained the social dogma of the caste as originating from
the body of the Purusa. The reference thus at the same
time put down a rule of social stratification and drew
legitimacy from ascription of a supreme divine lineage.
With the growing complexity of the rituals the priests
assumed greater importance. Seven types of priests were
mentioned in the Rig Veda. Gradually the Brahmana priests
outstripped the others. The priesthood gained their fees and
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gifts from the sacrifices. Rituals catapulted the chiefs
(rājana) and the priests to a position of social eminence. It
also turned them into potential allies. The priest legitimized
the political leaders (rājana)) through proper rituals and the
latter reciprocated by offering riches (dāna and daksinā) to
the priests. The dāna stutis in the later books of the Rig
Veda mention generous presents made to the priests by the
king in the form of cows, horses, chariots, gold and female
slaves. But this relationship remained ambivalent for a long
time and the sacrifice often turned into an arena of tussle
between sacred and temporal authorities.
In the early phase itself elements of speculation and
religious scepticism crept into the texts. The trend to exalt a
deity had stretched to the extent of turning him into an
absolute deity. Speculation on such lines moulded the
concept of the impersonal god, the Creator. Occasionally
the sceptic was recognized and the question was asked in
the second mandala – ‘Where is He? Or verily they say of
Him, He does not exist.’ These speculations reached a
culmination in the late tenth mandala. The Nāsadīya hymn
presented a seer and his pupil, who were in a dialogue and
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in the course of it they transcended the barriers of accepted
faith, myths and rituals and asked the most profound
question that every philosophical system has raised again
and again, about how and why the universe came into
being? The tenth mandala of the Rig Veda, a late addition to
the text, contains a rich collection of creation myths. The
Nāsadīya hymn came up with one of the most abstract
theories
of
creation
where
the
concept
of
absolute
emptiness prior to the emanation of existence and nonexistence was conceptualized into a philosophical query.
Purusa Sukta represents yet another exploration into the
mystery. In some of the hymns all existence was said to
have emanated from the Sun or Hiranyagarbha and in
others Viśvakarman, the artisan god was said to have
sculpted out the world from nothingness.
The major shift in the later Vedic discourses seems to be
that
the
hymns
speak
about
different
gods
as
the
manifestations of the same undifferentiated Supreme Being
however this only truly surfaced in the Āranyakas and the
Upanisads. Thus this shift cannot be understood by studying
either the Atharva or the Yajur Veda samhitās. The former
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is laden with magic and charms and formulae emanating
from popular practices, which were very loosely connected
with purposes of Vedic rituals and sacrifice. On the other
hand, the Brāhmanas were exclusively preoccupied with the
classic
ritualistic
aspect
of
religion.
The
Rig
Vedic
incantations were faithfully repeated here with extreme
reverence.
The changing paradigm, which can be clearly observed in
the later Samhitās and the Brāhmanas lay in the perception
of the pantheon. The minor gods of the earlier literature
Rudra and Vishnu emerge here as the most prominent
deities with variegated attributes.
It can be assumed that, by this time the two cults had
assimilated certain elements from the local deities and
slowly
merged
into
the
older
Vedic
cults,
often
overshadowing their older attributes. Thus Rudra was being
identified with Agni as we have already discussed. Major
gods of the Rig Veda like Usas, Bhaga, Aryama, Dyaus etc
had more or less disappeared into oblivion. Indra, Mitra,
Marut etc had ceded their prominent positions to Rudra and
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Vishnu. It has been argued by scholars that in the age of
the Āranyakas popular deities not associated with Vedic
sacrifices were slowly encroaching upon the pantheon,
elbowing out the older deities not compatible with the
changing socio-economic set up. It is also interesting to
note that the imagery of the great mother, the source of all
life was gradually taking shape in the later Brāhmana texts.
The Vājaśaneyī and the Taittirīya Samhitās invoked Ambikā,
who was given a share in the Triyambaka homa. The
Taittirīya Āranyaka conceived of Durgā or Durgī, Katyāyanī
and Kanyākumārī. Ambikā and Durgā were divined as the
consort of Rudra-Śiva. In the Kauśitakī Upanisad, Umā
Haimavatī was mentioned for the first time. Although
minimal, these imageries indicated a slow and surreptitious
entry of non-Vedic belief systems stemming from agrarian
psyche.
The Brāhmana texts depict a situation where rituals had
become more elaborate and expensive. Along with the
simple domestic rites like agnihotra; grander sacrifices were
performed by, kings and wealthy people who required
different
types
of
ritual
specialists
along
with
their
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23
innumerable assistants. A number of such rituals were
associated with kingship. The vājapeya yajña sought to
consolidate the status of the ruler and also involved some
fertility rites. The aśvamedha also attempted to establish
the political paramountcy of the king. The rājasuya was the
grand royal consecration ceremony, which symbolically
associated the king with the regeneration of material wealth
and legitimized the king’s role in the redistribution of wealth
and his appropriation of a sizeable part of the surplus. This
was enacted through a symbolic game of dice, which the
king won.
Generally speaking, the later Vedic texts reflect a transition
from a tribal polity based on lineage to the rudimentary
state polity distinguished by an emergent consciousness
about territoriality. The ruler now was not only a leader in
battles; he was also the protector of the settlement. This
entailed a re-arrangement of old ritualistic practices. The
newly developed śrauta rituals carefully supervised by the
ritual specialists fulfilled this need. As the ruler distanced
himself from his kin he had every need to cement his
relationship with the purohita. In the Brāhmana texts the
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24
king was usually described in a subordinate position to the
purohita as the latter was literally the one who mediated on
behalf of the king. The priest’s body and property were
considered inviolable. As the ceremonies like Rājasuya
became indispensable for bestowing the stamp of divinity
on the king, the purohitas demanded heftier fees.
On the other hand, the number and complexity of the
domestic rituals also increased and the later Brāhmana
texts come up with an ever-swelling list of Samskāras to be
performed by the householder. The later Vedas project the
four varnas as distinct social reality. The first three,
comprising of the brāhmanas, kshatriyas and vaiśyas were
designated
the
functions
of
priests,
warriors-cum
-
aristocrats and the providers of wealth respectively. But the
fourth category, the śudra, was introduced as non-kin
labour. The rituals performed by the brāhmaṇas sought to
distance the vaiśyas and śudra from the active ritual arena.
The real perceptible shift comes with the Āranyaka texts.
These texts were said, to have been composed by the sages
who had retreated to the forests and were not obliged to
History of India
25
carry out sacrifices. It seems that sacrifices and rituals were
not rejected but were transcended and meditation became
the major object of endeavour. In the Brāhmana texts
Prajāpati
embodied
the
supreme
Creator
god
closely
associated with cosmic sacrifices. In the Āranyakas the
concept of the unnamed Absolute God without any specific
attributes seemed to envelop every monotheistic trend
within one single idea.
In the Brāhmanas the emphasis was on the understanding
of the mysteries of the sacrifice, in the Āranyakas on the
other hand, the quest was to grasp the eternal mystery of
creation, which was not oriented towards gaining any kind
of material reward. The quest to answer the ultimate
question of creation, which had surfaced in the Rig Veda
trickled down to the Āranyaka period but now it was
concerned with more and more abstract issues. This was
also the phase where preoccupations with life after death
gained
deeper
conceived
in
significance.
terms
of
Still
life
punishment
after
and
death
was
reward,
with
multifarious imageries of heaven and hell. But it was
History of India
26
asserted that heaven could be gained through knowledge
and not only through sacrifices.
The tendency to question the centrality of the sacrifice was
bound up in the notion of karman which crystallised in the
Upanisads, the latest and the most philosophically oriented
portions
of
encapsulated
the
the
entire
theory
Vedic
that
literature.
souls
This
were
notion
reborn
to
happiness and to sorrow according to their conduct in the
past lives. It was also thought that one could break free
from this cycle of birth, death and rebirth through absorbing
the all –encompassing knowledge of the Brahman, the
Ultimate
Reality
pervading
the
universe.
Different
philosophical efforts were made to describe the Brahman.
In the early Upanisads Brahman was conceived as the
Ultimate Principle, from which everything originated, being
imperishable and imperceptible. The notion of Brahman
encapsulated the idea of Atman, which was regarded as the
essential reality within the self of an individual. The goal of
the thought in the Upanisads was the realization of the
intrinsic unity between Brahman and Atman. Liberation
from Samsāra or the physical existence was thought to be
History of India
27
only attainable through this knowledge. However, with time
some of the higher and abstract notions got diluted and the
later Upanisads often watered down the concept of the
Brahman to the image of a creator god.
It has been argued that the Upanisadic ideas did not reflect
a monolithic tradition, but were an amalgamation of varied
strands of thought. The tradition of asceticism and the
concepts of the Upanisads could not derive directly from a
linear and uncomplicated Brāhmanical worldview. It is true
that towards the end of the Vedic age, various groups were
facing bewildering changes in their everyday lives and the
older social norms were dismantling. One tendency was to
withdraw from the community and live as hermits or in
small groups away from the centres of habitation. This was
not a simple social phenomenon, which shirked all social
obligations
and
preached
a
life-negating
philosophy.
Sometimes it was an attempt to create an alternative lifestyle
veering
away
from
an
increasingly
regulated,
competitive and materialistic society. It upheld ethical
standards different from the ordered society. Asceticism
also involved acquiring extraordinary control over one’s
History of India
28
body through meditation. It is wrong to assume that the
ascetics always lived isolated in the forests. Some of them
often came back to the settlements and questioned existing
social orders and religious norms.
The view that the world was created out of a great primeval
sacrifice was not entirely accepted even in the Rig Vedic
period as is evident from the Nāsadīya Sukta. The spirit of
questioning the centrality and significance of the sacrifice,
which was possibly initiated by a few thoughtful thinkers;
would be developed by the Kshatriyas, who felt liberated by
moving
away
control.
The
from
sacrificial
Brihadāranyaka
rituals
and
Upanisad
Brāhmanical
held
that
performance of sacrifice led to the world of the Pitars or the
Fathers and knowledge would lead to the world of the Gods,
thus clearly giving precedence to knowledge over sacrifices.
In several of the verses Upanisadic knowledge has been
associated with rājās and Kshatriyas. In the Chhāndogya
Upanisad Āruni was the first Brāhmana to have received
this esoteric knowledge from king Pravāhana. In the
Brihadāranyaka
Upanisad
it
was
related
that
the
rationalistic ideas of Yājñavalkya were rejected by the
History of India
29
Brāhmanas but accepted by the king Janaka. In the early
stages the Kshatriyas were associated with knowledge. In
fact in an earlier text like the Śatapatha Brāhmana Janaka
has been associated with superior knowledge. But it has to
be remembered that the Upanisads were parts of the śruti
tradition
and
mainly
composed
by
the
Brāhmanas.
Yājñavalkya was the key figure in this tradition, placed as
the fountainhead for the articulation of the principal
ideological discourses.
Upanisads, however, did not reject sacrifice but redefined it
through symbols and allegories. The main quest was for the
forces which were symbolically represented in the rituals.
Knowledge of these forces was essential for breaking free
from the cycles of samsāra. The theory of transmigration of
soul was obviously an attempt to rise above the immobile
pattern of caste society. But on the other hand it could be
neatly fitted into the broader concept of karma, which
sought to explain the assigning of caste by birth and in the
general sense assured the maintenance of the social order
according to the laws of Varnāśrama Dharma. Thus the
notions were not challenged by, the orthodox leaders of the
History of India
30
brāhmanical society and subtly under its wings the spirit of
skepticism flourished.