Lecture #3: The Vedic period in India

Course: Eastern Religious Traditions

Lecture #3: The Vedic period in India

The Indus Valley Civilization

• Indus valley civilization found in the Indus valley from 2500 8.C. the major city was Harappa. Very high civilization which worshiped the Great Mother Goddess as well as animals and trees (totems). The Great Mother is still worshiped in India as part of the pre-Aryan heritage.
• The Aryans, who were an Indo-European language group, coming thru the Khyber pass. These same groups settled all over the near east, Iran and Greece over a period of 1588 years or 50. Sanskrit is the language they brought with them and many of the same roots invaded India about 1500 B.C. are found in all Indo-European languages, including English & Gaelic.
• they brought a patrilineal system with them as well as a well-organized, already existing priesthood with almost exclusively male gods. They were nomadic tribes without as high a civilization as those they conquered but they were far superior in warfare. They had chariots and Metallurgy (iron) which those they conquered did not.
• It was this priestly caste (the Brahmans), who established the caste system which still exists today. The Brahmans, of course, were on top (these were the priestly families) followed by the Kshatriya or warrior class and the Vaishya or merchant class. These were all Aryan groups. The Shudras were the local indigenous people known as untouchables. Women had a position equivalent to the Shudra. She didn't have right of inheritance or right to study the sacred texts. Male children were alone desirable to carry on the line.
• The Vedas, which mean knowledge in Sanskrit, was specifically sacred knowledge. They include:

• o Samhitas which are collections of basic verses.
• o Brahmanas which are theological and ritual commentaries on the Samhitas (prose)
• o Aranyakas or forest texts, more mystical in nature.
• o Upanishads which follow the Brahmanas and are commentaries of a mystical and philosophical nature.

• Rigveda about 1400 B.C. is the oldest of the Samhitas and basic to the others. It consists of 1028 hymns to various gods.
• 2nd Veda is a collection of sacrificial formulas called Yajurveda. This Samhita contains instructions regarding the times and materials for sacrifice, construction of the fire alter, etc. It is based on the Rigveda so comes later (1400-1000 BCE).
• 3rd Veda is called Samaveda. It is largely verses from the Rigveda, some 1810 of them, set to music. meant to be chanted at the Soma sacrifice.
• 4th Veda is Atharvaveda. (1200 BCE) Is collection of magical formulae--contains prayers for long life, to cure sickness and for demonic possession. Also curses upon demons sorcerers, enemies, as well as charms to secure love. This was probably in possession of the laity.
• All of the above are Samhitas.
• Brahmanas composed between 1000 and 800 BCE. These are written by the priests concerning theological arguments about the Samhitas. They are classified by which Veda they refer to and are collections of theological statements.
• It was at this time that the concept of one absolute God behind all Gods began to take root. It was also at Time The caste systems and reincarnation was introduced
• Aranyakas or "texts of the forest" (800-600 BCE) are considered secret and perhaps dangerous because of magical power and thus must be kept from public and read in forest. They are not interested in sacrifice but explicate mystical meaning and symbolism. Emphasize meditation rather than ritual performance.
• The Upanishads (600-300 BCE) are closely connected with the Aranyakas. They are very heterogenous views of many teachers, old and new ideas mingled. Over 200 written but only 18 or so principal ones. Mostly mystical texts which discuss how one comes from ignorance (the problem) to knowledge (the solution). This knowledge consists of the fact that our Atman or soul is identical with Brachman the absolute. This will be discussed further when we study Advaita (non-duel) Vedanta (referring to the end of the Vedas, which the Upanishads are).
• Word Upanishad is derived from sad (to sit), upa (nearby) and ni (devotedly). Thus it came to mean the relationship between a teacher (guru) and student for secret instruction.

• A guru was necessary to obtain knowledge and total dedication needed.
• meditation needed but is not clear how it was used other than the use of Mantras.
• mantra was used to focus attention and eliminate attachment to everything. repeated over and over. Usually the name of a deity
• moral purification was needed before one could even begin the process.

• Reincarnation the idea that souls are reborn over and over until freed of ignorance developed during the period of the Brahmanas. By the time of the Upanishads, it was accepted fact. Evil to them is the fact we are caught in this round of birth and death until we realize atman (our soul) is Brachman (the absolute). Thus, the Upanishads aimed at teaching how to eliminate the surface self to get in touch with the real self which was the absolute.
• Dharma means duty or morality. Is absolute necessity
• Karma is action that will determine what will happen in your next reincarnation. Your karma from past lives determines what is happening to you now. The only hope is enough good karma to get out of the cycle called: Samsara which is the cycle of rebirth and re-death which continues until you reach:
• Moksha. This is liberation or freedom, salvation, in which one comes to know Brachman, the ultimate reality. In most of the texts of the Upanishads Brachman is the human spirit. Moksha means no duality, “I am god."
• Four (4) Characteristics of experience of moksha are: 1) it is intuitive, 2) immediate, 3) self-authenticating and 4) self-satisfying (fulfilled).
• The Vedas up until the Upanishads, had a positive view of life.
• Ult. con. was long life, property, wealth, protection, victory in war and sons.
• Highest real. believed in one absolute that was a multiplicity of Gods (today there are millions) Different gods were high at different times
• hum pred. not having a long enough life.
• solution was sacrifice to the gods to get what one wanted.
• By the time of the Upanishads the notion of reincarnation was developed so the attitude began that is still prevalent today that life is suffering.
• Ult. con. was moksha or liberation from life.
• Highest real was the Atman or human soul which one came to realize was Brachman.
• Hum pred. is suffering, rebirth and re-death based on Karma (samsara)
• Solution thru yoga system using mantra (many systems) one reaches moksha and is no longer reincarnated.

Gods of the Rigveda

• Technically this is henotheism. This means there are more than one God but usually only one primary one at a time to whom all power is ascribed.
• Tendency in Rigveda to ascribe attributes of other gods to one’s favorite deity.
• Counting number of hymns addressed to gods, Indra has 250 (one forth) and is addressed in some 50 others along with other deities.
• Indra was a storm god-described anthropomorphically. Protector of warrior class, is dangerous and unpredictable -- consumes to much soma a strong drink which gives him power. He slayed Vritra the serpent to release pent up waters. Similar myths wherever the Indo-Europeans conquered people who worshiped the Great mother.
• Rudra mentioned in only a few hymns but apparently equated with of Shiva. Has dominion over animals, dwells in forest, redresses wrongs. Called "Shiva” at times which means “auspicious."
• Agni -- fire god. Addressed in some 200 hymns because involved in sacrifice. He is archetypal priest--all seeing. sometimes sought for forgiveness.
• Soma already mentioned is both a God and a drink. the heavenly nectar of which the plant juices are the embodiment. Soma is seen as a protector from accident, illness or trouble and as the giver of joy, comfort, riches and long life. Apparently, it is part of the pre-Aryan heritage.
• In the Rigveda solar deities and sky gods dominate, though there is no consistent mythology. Very few female deities.
• Dyaus, a sky god, is counterpart of Zeus.
• Vishnu fairly minor in Rigveda but today is most important. Part of triad of gods (Brahma (creator), Vishnu (sustainer) and Shiva (the destroyer).
• Varuna sovereign of cosmic order creates and rules with a cosmic and ethical order. Omniscient, has ethical dimension that distinguishes him from other deities. Is counterpart of Hebrew YHWH. Sin against Varuna can mean is disease or falling out of fellowship with him. In all hymns addressed to Varuna he is entreated to release the sinner from penalty for his faults.

Cult Practice

• Sacrifice was central to the cult.
• Domestic sacrifices were by head of the house (always male).
• Public sacrifices were performed by a king or other official priest.
• Sacrifices in Vedic period took place at homes or on an alter at a level area outside no temples.
• Consisted of what men enjoyed -- milk ghee and cakes of barley or rice.
• Animal sacrifices and some evidence of human sacrifice, which was considered most efficacious of all a
• Sacrificed was means by which one got favor of gods. thus, perfect performance of sacrifice was essential.
• Result was that the gods themselves became dependent on the sacrifice, and, since the sacrifice depended upon the accuracy of the priestly class, the Brahmans became more powerful than any earthly king or even any gods. Thus, the caste system developed early (by the time of the Rigveda).
• Brachman the absolute, concept didn't come until the Brahmanas (1000-800 BCE) In later thought (the Upanishads) this Brachman was the only reality.

Advaita Vedanta

• Non-duel (Advaita) means there is only one reality in the world, and Vedanta refers to the Upanishads which are the end of the Vedas (Vedanta).
• This has come to the U.S. under the name Transcendental Meditation or T.M.
• Shankara (788-820 CE) one mostly associated with this school. Considered to be an avatar of Shiva. Stories of miracles in his life. Became an ascetic at age 8 and began writing at age 12. traveled throughout India and founded four monasteries that still exist today. He did not develop the Advaita position but developed a philosophical system out of the majority view of the Upanishads. His followers further developed it with philosophical hair splitting in an attempt to perfect the system.

Metaphysical questions

• Brachman or Ultimate Reality is pure consciousness devoid of all attributes and all categories of the intellect. There is no distinction between Brachman and Atman (ones Soul). Brachman alone is Real. The only positive thing that can be said of it is it is Satchidananda pure consciousness, pure existence and pure bliss. It is the pure subject, not an object.
• Maya allows Brachman to appear as qualified lord (Ishvara) who is creator, preserver and destroyer of the world. called Saguna Brachman or Brachman with qualities as distinct from Nirguna Brahman or Brachman without qualities, Nirguna Brachman is ultimately a designation which describes a state of immediate experience of the plenitude of Being. [see Wikipedia: Principle of Plenitude]
• Levels of Being how real something is determined by their degree of participation in Brachman. There are three levels.

• o 1. Reality (sat paramarthika). the whole truth and sole reality.
• o 2. Appearance (vivarta). illusory and characterized by change.
• phenomenally real. ordinary waking experience. religiously speaking it is the theistic religious experience.

• b. illusory existent. The illusion of dreams and other illusory experience.
• 3. Unreality (asat) the level of logical contradiction. As mistaking a rope in the road for a snake. the principle of devaluation is the process by which one 'wakes up' from one level of reality to the next. As you realize that a level is not real you devalue it.
• The world is on the level of appearance. It has practical reality but is not Real? in the ultimate sense since it can be devalued. It is only in a state of ignorance we think it is real. Maya or illusion is the level of appearance. It has no existence apart from Brachman. When right knowledge appears, ignorance and maya are removed.
• Shankara had view that cause alone was real and the effects false. He rejected the view that things arise by chance. But, since Brachman alone is real, he was forced to take the view that there is no change in substance and hence no change in Reality. Change belongs to the level of appearance. On this level we must live as if things change, but when knowledge dawns, we will see that such views are due to our ignorance.

Psychological Questions

• Atman (mans deepest self or soul), fits into the level of the Real, and hence is pure, undifferentiated, self-shining consciousness, Atman transcends all such distinctions as subject and object, time, space, or thought. It cannot be an object knowable by the mind or perceivable by the senses, since thought functions only thru forms and multiplicity.
• Thought is a process while Atman is a state. Atman is not different from Brachman, which means that in the depth of man's being, he is not different from Reality.
• On the phenomenal level is the Jiva which represents the individual human person. Thus, the phenomenal self is a combination of reality and appearance. Jiva is reality to the extent that Atman is its ground.
• Hence the individual self is empirically real for it is part of our experience, but it is transcendentally unreal for the only Real is the Atman which is not different from Brachman.
• Mans problem is that he identifies the change, of which the Jiva is part, with the Real. The consciousness of human limitation is grounded in ignorance. The Atman is essentially unlimited and Real.

Liberation and Ethics

• Meditation and critical thinking are the ways used to reach the realization that Atman is Brachman. The experience is intuitive, immediate, self-authenticating and fulfilling. It is a state of Satchidananda (being, consciousness, bliss) without any object. Brachman is the eternal subject. Perfection is possible in this life. When one comes to the realization that he is Brachman, he is jivanmukta, one who is liberated while living. When this state is attained one still lives in the world but is not deceived by it. He is no longer affected by the worlds misery and has no desire for the world's objects. Karma is no longer accumulated, and all previous karma is destroyed so one lives out this life and when the body dies the jivanmukta attains a disembodied state of liberation.
• Ethics are placed in terms of levels of being. Brachman is beyond all distinctions, including ethical. Good and evil are only on the level of appearance. One who is liberated will not be involved in moral problems such as murder or, on the other hand, anything to which the ego is attached.
• When attain Brachman, all questions dissolve, not answered, just gone.
• U.C.-Moksha, liberation from cycle of rebirth and re-death (sansara).
• H.R.-only reality is Brachman, without characteristics, being, consciousness, bliss are only positive description. Atman is Brachman.
• Problem--ignorance of the fact that the Jiva (our phenomenal self) is not real in ultimate sense. we think the world is real when it is not, it is maya or illusion.
• Solution--must wake up through the three levels of reality to realize that our Atman is Brachman. done thru critical thinking and meditation.

Zoroaster and Zoroastrianism

• Somewhere around 1200 BCE a visionary priest claimed that Ahura (which means Lord) Mazda had commissioned him to restore order to the Steppes. Since events on earth reflect cosmic events it was felt this change from more a more peaceful lifestyle to a warlike one must be happening because the more peaceful lords, or ahuras, who stood for justice and order must be under attack by Indra.
• Zoroaster, when he was about 30, had a vision in which he saw Ahura Mazda and seven radiant gods and was told to mobilize his people in a holy war against terror and violence. He felt everyone had to decide if they were on the side of good or evil.
• Zoroaster's vision convinced him that ahura Mazda was the supreme god, completely transcendent. Not quite monotheism but close. Mazda was not the only deity but was the first to exist.
• He reasoned that if there was one single divine source for good then there must be only one source also for evil. This wicked deity was a twin spirit to Mazda named ANGRA MAINYU and was co-equal and co-eternal with Mazda. They were destined to always be in conflict with each other. He figured that those raiding them and following Indra meant that Indra had chosen Angra Mainyu.
• Now every single man, woman and child had to make a choice between ASHA (the truth) and DRUJ (the lie). Good men and women must no longer offer sacrifice to Indra and the evil gods. They must commit themselves entirely to Lord Mazda, his holy immortals, and the other ahuras who could alone bring peace, justice and security.
• Zoroaster saw the world no longer as cyclic, but as a battlefield between good and evil which would eventually end. If enough people chose the good and kept pure, they would liberate the world for Lord Mazda. Thus they must pray 5 times a day and keep the fire, Agni, burning to strengthen Agni in the war against evil.
• Zoroaster saw the world rushing towards a cataclysm. He believed that they lived in the "bounded time" of cosmic conflict but soon they would witness the final triumph of good and the annihilation of the forces of darkness. After a terrible battle, Lord Mazda and the immortals would descend to the world of humans and offer sacrifice. There would be a great judgement and the wicked would be wiped from the Earth and a blazing river would flow into hell and incinerate the hostile spirit.
• Then the cosmos would be restored to its original perfection. Mountains and valleys would be leveled into a great plain where gods and humans could live side by side, worshipping Mazda forever. No more death and humans would be like deities, free of sickness, old age and mortality.
• This is the apocalyptic vision we are familiar with and this is where it came from. There had been nothing like it in the ancient world. it came from Zoroaster's outrage at the suffering he saw and desire for justice and punishment for the wicked.
• He foresaw in the Gathas a superhuman "who is better than a good man" called the Saoshyant ("one who will bring benefit") who would lead ahura Mazda's troops into the final battle.
• When centuries later the Axial age began, religion tried to counter the cruelty and aggression of their time by promoting a spirituality based on non-violence. But Zoroaster’s traumatic vision with its imagery of burning, terror inspired a militant piety that over-simplifies reality. Zoroaster belonged to the old spiritual world. He projected the violence of his time onto the divine and made it absolute.
• In his ethics, he looked forward to the Axial age and he tried to introduce some morality into the new warrior ethos. True heroes did not terrorize their fellow humans but tried to counter aggression. The holy warrior was dedicated to peace.
• Zoroaster gained only one convert after years of preaching to his own tribe. Later he gained the chief of another tribe who established the Zoroastrian faith in his territory. We know nothing about the history of Zoroastrianism after his death. By the end of the second millennium the Avestan Aryans had migrated south and settled in eastern Iran where Zoroastrianism became the national faith. It remained a predominantly Iranian religion.
• Ironically, it was the Aryan cattle rustlers whom Zoroaster had condemned who would eventually create the first sustained religion of the axial age, based upon the principle of Ahimsa, or non-violence.