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Spiritual texts of Ancient India
1.0 INTRODUCTION
The Vedic scriptures are the spiritual literature of the ancient Indian culture. They consist of a huge collection of books written in the Sanskrit language that includes material (mundane), religious (ritualistic), and spiritual (monotheistic) knowledge. The word "Vedic" is derived from the Sanskrit word Veda, meaning knowledge or revelation. According to Vedic history, these scriptures were written down about 5000 years ago. This date is not accepted in modern Indology, but the date is, in fact, not very important, because the knowledge in these scriptures probably existed long before it was written down.
The Veda is understood by simply accepting what the Veda says about itself. This Vedic self-understanding may be amazing or even unbelievable to the modern reader, but the different opinions about the origin and history of the Vedic scriptures are due to a fundamental difference in world views between the followers of the Veda and modern mundane scholars.
According to the Indological world view, "Vedic Scripture" doesn't even exist. Modern Indology says that the collection of books mentioned, is not a consistent body of knowledge, but a mere accumulation of texts from different sources. Indology claims that they were written over a long period, starting after the hypothetical Aryan invasion into the Indian subcontinent, about 1000 to 1500 B.C., when the mixture of tribes formed a "Vedic" culture. If we believe this scenario, then it is natural to think that the Indian scriptures are a mass of unsystematic, mythological texts.
The Vedic scriptures maintain a completely different version-one of ancient cultures, timeless revelations, and divine incarnations. The entire body of Vedic knowledge has a systematic structure and a clearly-defined goal, being compiled by Vedic rishis (sages) headed by Veda Vyasa - the literary incarnation of Lord Krishna. About 5000 years ago, these sages systematically wrote down this knowledge to prevent it from being lost in the upcoming Kali-yuga, the Iron Age of quarrel and hypocrisy, and the most fallen in the cycle of ages.
The structure of the Vedic scriptures can be compared to a staircase with many steps, with specific scriptures corresponding to each step. The Vedic scriptures describe both the goal and the steps leading up to this goal. They are non-sectarian because they respect people of all "steps", encouraging everyone to progress to the next step. There is no converting or pushing, because everyone has to walk for himself. As the Vedic saying goes, "Even in a flock of birds, each bird has to fly for itself."
Individual evolution is not limited to one life. The Vedic understanding of reincarnation declares that the steps of this symbolical staircase can also be understood as lifetimes. The almost proverbial "Hindu" tolerance is based on a solid philosophical understanding and shouldn't be confused with merging, indifference or "everything is one."
Superficially, the Vedic scriptures may appear to be unsystematic and even contradictory, but this impression can easily be reconciled by finding out how each step is connected with the goal.
2.0 MEANING
The word ‘Veda’ is derived from the root vid, which means to know, signifying 'knowledge par excellence'. It is specifically applied to a branch of literature, which is declared to be sacred knowledge or divine revelation that is ‘sruti’. Though the hymns of the sruti are attributed to several rishis (sages), tradition maintains that these hymns were merely revealed to the sages and not composed by them. Hence, the Vedas are called apaurusheya (not made by man) and nitya (existing in all eternity), while the sages are known as mantradrashta, that is, inspired seers who saw or received the mantra by sight directly from the Supreme Creator.
2.1 Composition
The Vedic literature consists of two parts: Samhitas and Brahmanas. The latter itself is divided into three parts: Brahmanas the Aranyakas, and finally, the Upanishads.
2.1.1 Samhitas: They are collections of hymns sung in the praise of various gods. They are the most essential part of the Vedic literature. They are four in number: Rig Veda Samhita, Sama Veda Samhita, Yajur Veda Samhita, and Atharva Veda Samhita.
The Rig Veda (veda of praise) consists of 1017 hymns (suktas), and supplemented by 11 others, called valakhilyas. It is divided into 10 books or mandalas. The oldest hymns are contained in mandalas II to VII (which are also known as the 'Family Books' on account of their composition being ascribed to certain families of sages viz. Gritsamada, Vamadeva, Atri, Bharadvaja and Vasishtha), and the latest in mandalas I and X. The Rig Veda is the oldest, as well as the most important of all the Samhitas. Its hymns represent compositions of different periods by priestly poets, of various families. It is purely a religious work, and most of the hymns are all invocations to the gods. Some hymns, specially concerned with the danustutis or 'praises of liberality', throw light also on the political, social and economic aspects of the early Vedic period. It represents a stage of development of the human mind in which natural phenomena were personified into gods. As a work of art too, it deserves a prominent place in world literature. In mandala III, composed by Visvamitra, we find the famous Gayatri mantra, addressed to the solar deity Savitri.
The Sama Veda (the name is derived from saman, a song or a melody) consists of 1810, or 1549 if one omits the repetitions, stanzas except 75, taken from, the eighth and ninth mandalas of the Rig Veda, and arranged according to the order in which they were chanted by the udgatri priests at the soma sacrifice. They were set to tune for the purpose of chanting in this sacrifice. It is called the book of chants, and the origins of Indian music are traced to it.
The Yajur Veda (veda of yajus or formulae) consists of various mantras (hymns) for the purpose of recitation and rules to be observed at the time of sacrifice. It is primarily a guide for the use of the adhvaryu priests, who performed the manual part of the ritual. The two royal ceremonies of rajasuya and vajapeya are mentioned for the first time in this Veda.
In contrast to the first two Vedas, which are in verse entirely, this one is in both verse and prose. It is divided into two parts, Krishna Yajur Veda and Sukla Yajur Veda. The former (Black) is the older of the two, and contains not only the hymns, but also prose commentaries. The latter (White) contains only the hymns. The former consists of four samhitas (the Kantuka, Kapishthala-Katha, Maitrayan and Taittiriya Samhitas), but the latter has only the Vajasaneyi.
The Atharva Veda (veda of the atharvans or the knowledge of magic formulas) contains charms and spells in verse to ward off evils and diseases. It was closely connected with the warrior class, and two of its hymns are dedicated to the war drum. Believed to be the work of non-Aryans, its contents throw light on the beliefs and practices of the non-Aryans. It is divided into two parts: Paippalada and Saunaka. The former is not fully known, while the latter consists of 731 (or 760) hymns divided into 20 books.
2.1.2 Brahmanas: Belonging to the second great class of the Vedas, they are treatises relating to prayer and sacrificial ceremony. Their subject matter is ritual and language is prose. In short, they deal with the science of sacrifice. The important Brahmanas are: (1) Aitareya, (2) Kausitaki, (3) Tandyamaha,
(4) Jaiminiya, (5) Taittiriya, (6) Satapatha and (7) Gopatha Brahmanas. Aitareya and Kausitaki are related to the Rig Veda, Tandyamaha and Jaiminiya to the Sama Veda, Taitiiriya and Satapatha to the Yajur Veda and Gopatha to the Atharva Veda. The third one, the Tandyamaha Brahmana, is one of the oldest and contains many legends, and includes the vratyustoma, a ceremony through which people of non-Aryan stock could be admitted into the Aryan fold. But the most important, as well as the most voluminous of all the Brahmanas, is the sixth one, the Satapatha Brahmana. It provides us information about, not only sacrifices and ceremonies, but also theology, philosophy, manners and customs of the later Vedic period. The Brahmanas of the Rig Veda are intended for the use of the invoking priest (hotri), those of the Yajur Veda for the officiating priest (adhvaryu) and those of the Sama Veda for the chanting priest (udgatri).
2.1.3 Aranyakas: These forest books deal with mysticism and symbolism of sacrifice and priestly philosophy. The Aranyakas contain transitional material between the mythology and ritual of the Samhitas and Brahman as, on the one hand, and the philosophical speculations of the upanishads, on the other. The ritual is given a symbolic meaning, and knowledge of this meaning becomes more important than the performance of the ritual itself. This principle then becomes the starting point of Upanishadic speculation. Two Aranyakas, the Aitareya and the Kausitaki, are attached to the Rig Veda. The Kausitaki Aranyaka expounds “ih agni hotm” (the fire oblation through breath) as a substitute for the basic rite. This idea of the inner and mental offering, as distinguished from the outer and formal sacrifice, is an important element in the transition from the Brahmanas to the Upanishads.
2.1.4 Upanishads: They are philosophical texts dealing with topics like the Universal Soul, the Absolute, the individual self, the origin of the world, the mysteries of nature, and so on. They mark the culmination of Indian thought in the Vedic period. They criticise rituals and lay stress on the value of right belief and knowledge. Of the several Upanishads, only 12 are very important. They are: (1) Aitareya, (2) Kausitaki, (3) Chandogya, (4) Ken, (5) Taittiriya, (6) Katha, (7) Svetasvatar, (8) Brihadaranyak, (9) Ish, (10) Mundaka, (11) Prashna and (12) Mandukya. (1 and 2 belong to the Rig Veda, 3 and 4 to the Sama Veda, 5 to 9 to the Yajur Veda, and finally 10 to 12 to the Atharva Veda.)
According to the Upanishads, there are two kinds of knowledge: the higher and the lower. The higher knowledge helps us to know the imperishable Brahman, while the lower can be gathered from the four Vedas as well as the six Vedangas (Limbs of Vedas). The Mundaka Upanishad is chiefly notable for the clear distinction it makes between the higher knowledge of the supreme Brahman and the lower knowledge of the empirical world.
The Upanishads cannot be regarded as presenting a consistent, homogeneous, or unified philosophical system, though there are certain doctrines held in common. Divergences of method, opinion, and conclusion are everywhere apparent even within a single Upanishad. It is for this reason that the Upanishads are considered speculative treatises. In fact, according to some observers, Upanishads have a constituency of intuition and not a consistency of logic.
Another significant feature of the Upanishads, particularly the older ones, is that practically every basic idea expounded has its antecedent in earlier Vedic texts. What distinguishes the Upanishads is, not so much their originality, as their probing for new interpretations of the earlier Vedic concepts to obtain a more coherent view of the universe and man. Here, the link between man and the cosmos is, no longer the ritual act, but a knowledge of the forces symbolically represented in the ritual.
The idea of rebirth, as such, appears first in a supplementary section of the Brihadarnyaka Upanishad, and also in a slightly fuller form in the Chandogya Upanishad, the two oldest Upanishads. Besides, the Brihadarnyaka Upanishad presents the view that repeated death (mrityu)-a concept first appearing in the Brahmanas is something which the possessor of certain kinds of knowledge can ward off. The doctrine of the cosmic self (Vaisnavara atman) is taught in several stories in the Chandogya Upanishad. One of them tells us of five householders who, along with the great philosopher Uddakala Aruni, go to the philosopher-king, Asvapati of Kekaya, seeking knowledge of the self. But the most important episode in the Chandogya is the one in which Uddakala teaches his son, Svetaketu, the truth of the non-difference of ‘The individual soul’ from ‘the Brahman’.
2.1.5 Vedangas and Sutra Literature: There are six Vedangas: (1) Siksha (Phonetics), (2) Kaipa (Rituals), (3) Vyakaran (Grammar), (4) Nirukta (Etymology), (5) Chandas (Metrics) and (6) Jyotisha (Astronomy). In contrast to the Vedic literature proper, which is considered sruti or divine revelation, the Vedangas are called smriti or literature handed down by tradition, because they are of human origin.
The Vedangas are written in the form of sutras, i.e. condensed prose style intended for memorisation. The sutra literature, though not forming apart of the Vedic literature proper, helps us in the study of the Vedic literature. Of all the sutra texts, only Kalpa Sutras have come down to us, and these are again divided into three classes: (1) Srauta Sutras, (2) Grhya Sutras and (3) Dharma Sutras. The first one deals with the rituals of the great sacrifices of Agni, Soma and animal; the second with the domestic ceremonies and sacrifices to be performed by the house-holder; and the third with the laws, manners and customs of people in general. It is the third one with which historians are mainly concerned, for it constitutes the foundation of the “Hindus’ Constitution” as the Laws of Manu. Attached are the Sulabha Sutras, the oldest books on Indian geometry, containing instructions for the measurement and construction of the complex Vedic fire altars and the laying out of the sacrificial area. some of the authors of these sutras are Baudhayana, Apastamba, Katyayana and manawa.
3.0 Religion and Upanishadic Thought
3.1 Place of Upanishads
The word Upanishad consists of three words. upa meaning 'near', ni meaning 'down' and shad meaning 'be seated'. So, Upanishad means, 'be seated at the feet of the Guru to receive the teaching.'
The Upanishads constitute the Vedanta (the end of the Vedas), not merely because they constitute the last part of them, but more importantly because the Vedantas are their ultimate teaching, reaching out to the highest metaphysical slate, beyond which is only the realm of silence.
The earliest Upanishads are also a part of the Vedas, and are therefore, a part of the Shruti. They constitute the fundamentals of Vedic philosophy. This repository of knowledge contains within it an exposition of the origin of the Universe, the nature of Brahman and the Aatmn, the relation between mind and matter, etc. Therefore, the main topic of the Upanishads is the ultimate knowledge – the identity of the Brahman and the jivattman – Tat tvam asi or ‘You are That' (Chandogya Upanishad), and the quest for unity in diversity (mundakopanishad). The Upanishads are the first scriptures where the law of Karma appeared as taught by Yajnavalkya (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad).
The characteristics of the Upanishads are their universality and the total absence of any dogmatism. They are the highest philosophy ever conceived by the human mind. Totally, there are 108 Upanishads, though only the first 12 are part of the Vedic literature.
- Twelve major Upanishads are:
- Aitareya and the Kaushitaki, which belong to Rig Veda
- Chandogya to Sama Veda
- Taittiriya, Katha, Shvetashvatara, Brihadaranyaka and Isha to Yajur Veda
- Prashna, Mundaka and Mandukya to Atharva Veda
- Twenty three Samanayavuvedanta Upanishads
- Twenty Yoga Upanishads
- Seventeen Samnyasa Upanishads
- Fourteen Vaishnava Upanishads
- Fourteen Shaiva Upanishads
- Eight Shukla Upanishads.
3.2 Nature of Upanishadic Thought
The Upanishads represent spiritual teachings and investigations which are a common reference point for subsequent Indian philosophy, including the thinkers of nastika sects, who reject the scriptural status of the Vedas. The great philosopher Sankara wrote commentaries on eleven of the Upanishads, and these have acquired a special status shared by few.
The Upanishadic tradition, though rooted in mystical experience, seeks rational and intelligible expression and encourages testing of its conclusions. Upanishadic sages belonged to the Vedic tradition, not only in the obvious sense that their teachings are preserved in texts which are part of Vedic literature, but also in the much more important sense that they stand within the living tradition of orthodoxy. They were frequently critical of elements in the priestly tradition, and some denied the efficacy of rites and sacrifices as a means to liberation. They still remain, however, within the same tradition as sacrificing priests, and in fact even made use of sacrificial imagery to interpret human life or to depict the structure of the cosmos. Despite belonging to the orthodox tradition, the Upanishadic sages represent a style of religious practice and thought far removed from what we find in the other Vedic texts. A significant shift in religious consciousness is evident.
The Upanishads represent a radical reconstruction of religious concerns. The sages consciously linked themselves to earlier traditions in a variety of ways, e.g. they continued the tradition of interpreting sacrificial rites, though they were concerned with the symbolism of the rites and not with the rites themselves. The distance the sages experienced between themselves and the priestly ritualists is expressed in the Upanishads in a variety of ways, as when Svetaketu's father dismisses his son's priestly learning; or through the image the Chandogya offers of a procession of dogs, the tail of one in the mouth of the other, solemnly chanting 'Aum, let us eat! Aum let us drink!' Sometimes the sages merely sought to relativise the importance of the sacrificial cult and its priestly ministers, but sometimes they addressed it with hostility.
The Upanishads mark a major turning point in the development of Indian thought. They placed meditation, mystical experience and the philosophical interpretation of the latter's significance at the heart of the religious quest. They were not concerned merely with an intellectual quest for the Self or reality. There are passages of sophisticated philosophical analysis and argument in the Upanishads, but in the end, it is not intellectual conviction, but experience and the resultant knowledge or realisation, that is the aim of Upanishadic teaching. Given their focus on the experience of meditation and on the disclosure of Being that it offers, it is no surprise that the Upanishads were used as a sourcebook and reference point, not only by orthodox thinkers throughout religious history, but also, by nastika dissidents. Buddhist texts, for example, are rich with material drawn from the early Upanishads.
The Upanishadic tradition did not go unchallenged. While the earliest Upanishads predate the Buddha, many of the later Upanishads are from his period and later. Even before the major attack on orthodoxy was mounted by Buddhists and Jains, other teachers were promulgating dissident doctrines which denied the truth of Upanishadic teachings. We need to see the Upanishads not as the products of a serene, self-confident, unchallenged spiritual tradition, but as those belonging to an early age, presenting the spiritual manifesto of orthodoxy under siege. In which case, the position of the sages seems all the more interesting in that they then represent not a defensive rearguard action, but rather seem to have a critical response to their own tradition while still being loyal to it. Like the nastikas, they could oppose the priestly evaluation of rituals and rites, but unlike them, remained a loyal part of the Vedic community.
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