Development of Hinduism
from Vedic times

to

today

Chapter One

Vedic religion

In general Vedic religion  today referrs to a bewildering variety of religious spectrum. 

• the historical Vedic religion
  (practices dating to the Vedic period)
• Shrauta, surviving conservative traditions
  within Hinduism
• Vedanta (Upanishadic)
• Hinduism with worship of any god
• Any religion except those of semitic origin

Vedic Religion as Proto-Indo-Iranian religion

“Hittite is the oldest recorded Indo-European language, but it had remained completely unknown during the period in which Indo-European linguistics developed because its records are on clay tablets that were excavated only at the end of the 19th century. Even then, it was not identified as Indo-European until 1915, when Bedrich Hrozný made the discovery through his reading of tablets that had been brought to Vienna from the Istanbul Museum.”

 http://www.utexas.edu/cola/centers/lrc/eieol/hitol-0-R.html

 Hittite On Line, Series Introduction, Winfred P Lehman and Jonathan Slocum.

Vedic Religon or Vedism is the religion of the ancient Indo-European-speaking peoples who entered India about 1500 BC from the region of present-day Iran; it takes its name from the collections of sacred texts known as the Vedas. Vedism is the oldest stratum of religious activity in India

Encylopedia Brittanica

The Indo-Iranians, i.e. speakers of Indo-Iranian languages, includes four different subgroups:

• speakers of the Indo-Aryan languages (that is, the Indic branch);

• speakers of the Iranian-Aryan languages (both east and west – Iranian branch);

• speakers of the Dardic languages (Dard people, various ethnic groups living in Afghanistan, India, and Pakistan.)  Dard, Pisaca, or Pisacha Languages,   group of closely related Indo-Iranian languages spoken in Pakistan, Kashmir, and Afghanistan. They are often divided into three subgroups: Kafiri, or Western; Khowari, or Central (spoken in the Chitral district of northwestern Pakistan); and the Eastern group, which includes Shina and Kashmiri. and

• those of the Nuristani languages. (of the people of Nurestan Province of Afghanistan.)

These groups developed independently to some extent sharing a commonality which we can assume to be the proto- vedic form.  The analysis leads to the following basic common concepts:

*rta (Vedic rta, Avestan asha),
*sauma (Vedic Soma, Avestan Haoma),
*mitra (Vedic Mitra, Avestan Mithra).

 Other Cognate terms and concepts between Rig Veda and Avestan

The following is a list of cognate terms and concepts that may be gleaned from comparative linguistic analysis of the RigVeda and Avesta. Both collections are from the period after the proposed date of separation (ca. 2nd millennium BCE) of the Proto-Indo-Iranians into their respective Indic and Iranian branches.

“Vedic Elements in the Ancient Iranian Religion of Zarathushtra” by Subhash Kak gives a detailed  comparison between the Iranian and Vedic religions at http://www.ece.lsu.edu/kak/zoro.pdf

Vedic civilization

Vedic civilization is the earliest civilization in Indian history of which we have written records that we understand. It is named after the Vedas, the early literature of the Hindu people. The Vedic Civilization flourished along the river Saraswati, in a region that now consists of the modern Indian states of Haryana and Punjab. The Vedic texts have astronomical dates, that some have claimed, go back to the 5th millennium BC. The use of Vedic Sanskrit continued up to the 6th century BC. Vedic is synonymous with Aryans and Hinduism, which is another name for religious and spiritual thought that has evolved from the Vedas.

The early Aryans: Unfortunately, the origin of the Saraswati Valley civilization (Vedic culture) and its relation to the Indus Valley civilization remain hazy. The timeline of Vedic civilization is 4500 BC-1800 BC while that of Indus valley civilization is 3300 BC-1800 BC. The texts describe a geography that some believe to be north India. The greatest river of the Rigveda was Saraswati, now dry and identified with Ghaggar, a seasonal river. It is believed that this river ceased to reach the Arabian Sea by about 1900 BC. Now, a dry river bed, that seems to fit the description of the Saraswati River, has been detected by satellite imagery. It begins in the modern Indian state of Uttaranchal and passing through Haryana, Punjab, and Rajasthan, reaches the Arabian Sea in Gujarat. Our knowledge of the early Aryans comes from the Rigveda, the earliest of the Vedas.

 http://www.haryana-online.com/History/vedic_culture.htm

The Chathur (Four) Vedas

Rig Veda

Rig Veda is a collection of 1028 Vedic Sanskrit hymns dedicated to Rigvedic deities.  However the Mandalas I and X were written in Sanskrit and were written down after the second century with later modifications through the centuries.  The main deity was Indra.  To give an idea of what it is a part of the Rig Veda is given below.

 All the following three Vedas are written in Sanskrit and is dated well after the second century A.D. There is no doubt they are projections from the Rig Veda codifying other local arts and occultism.

The Yajur-Veda

The Yajur-Veda ("Veda of sacrificial formulas") consists of archaic prose mantras and also in part of verses borrowed from the Rig-Veda. Its purpose was practical, in that each mantra must accompany an action in sacrifice but, unlike the Sama-Veda, it was compiled to apply to all sacrificial rites, not merely the Soma offering. There are two major recensions of this Veda known as the "Black" and "White" Yajur-Veda. The origin and meaning of these designations are not clear. The White Yajur-Veda contains only the verses and sayings necessary for the sacrifice, while explanations exist in a separate Brahmana work. It differs widely from the Black Yajurveda, which incorporates such explanations in the work itself, often immediately following the verses. Of the Black Yajurveda four major recensions survive, all showing by and large the same arrangement, but differing in many other respects, notably in the individual discussion of the rituals but also in matters of phonology and accent.

The Sama-Veda

The Sama-Veda (Sanskrit sāmaveda ) is the "Veda of chants" or "Knowledge of melodies". The name of this Veda is from the Sanskrit word sāman which means a metrical hymn or song of praise  It consists of 1549 stanzas, taken entirely (except 78) from the Rig-Veda. Some of the Rig-Veda verses are repeated more than once. Including repetitions, there are a total of 1875 verses numbered in the Sama-Veda recension published by Griffith.  Two major recensions remain today, the Kauthuma/Ranayaniya and the Jaiminiya.

Its purpose was practical, to serve as a songbook for the "singer" priests who took part in the liturgy. A priest who sings hymns from the Sama-Veda during a ritual is called an udgātṛ, a word derived from the Sanskrit root ud-gai ("to sing" or "to chant").  A similar word in English might be "cantor". The styles of chanting are important to the liturgical use of the verses. The hymns were to be sung according to certain fixed melodies; hence the name of the collection. There is no clue to the date of the compilation of the Samaveda Hymns, nor has the compiler's name been handed down to us.

   The Atharva-Veda

The Artharva-Veda is the "Knowledge of the Fire Priests [atharvans]". The Artharva-Veda or Atharvangirasa is the text 'belongimng to the Atharvan and Angirasa' poets. Apte defines an atharvan as a priest who worshipped fire and Soma.  The etymology of Atharvan is unclear, but according to Mayrhofer related to Avesta athravan (āθrauuan) and denies any connection with fire priests.

The Atharva-Veda Saṃhitā has 760 hymns, and about one-sixth of the hymns are in common with the Rig-Veda.  Most of the verses are metrical, but some are in prose

It was compiled around 900 BC, although some of its material may go back to the time of the Rig Veda,  and some parts of the Atharva-Veda are older than the Rig-Veda.

The Atharvana-Veda is preserved in two recensions, the Paippalāda and Śaunaka.  According to Apte it has nine schools (shakhas).  The Paippalada version is longer than the Saunaka one; it is only partially printed and remains untranslated.

Unlike the other three Vedas, the Atharvana-Veda has less connection with sacrifice.  Its first part consists chiefly of spells and incantations, concerned with protection against demons and disaster, spells for the healing of diseases, and for long life.

 The second part of the text contains speculative and philosophical hymns. R. C. Zaehner notes that:

"The latest of the four Vedas, the Atharva-Veda, is, as we have seen, largely composed of magical texts and charms, but here and there we find cosmological hymns which anticipate the Upanishads, -- hymns to Skambha, the 'Support', who is seen as the first principle which is both the material and efficient cause of the universe, to Prāna, the 'Breath of Life', to Vāc, the 'Word', and so on.

 In its third section, the Atharvaveda contains Mantras used in marriage and death rituals, as well as those for kingship, female rivals and the Vratya (in Brahmana style prose) .”

Gavin Flood discusses the relatively late acceptance of the Atharva-Veda as follows:

"There were originally only three priests associated with the first three Saṃhitās, for the Brahman as overseer of the rites does not appear in the Ṛg Veda and is only incorporated later, thereby showing the acceptance of the Atharva Veda, which had been somewhat distinct from the other Saṃhitās and identified with the lower social strata, as being of equal standing with the other texts."  

The mode of Vedic worship was essentially sacrifices and chanting of hymns.  Prayers were essentially for material gains, wealth, health and progeny. 

Specific rituals and sacrifices of the Vedic religion include:

·    The Soma cult described in the Rigveda, descended from a common Indo-Iranian practice.

·    Fire rituals, also a common Indo-Iranian practice, cf. Zoroastrianism:

o    The Agnihotra or oblation to Agni

o    The Agnicayana, the sophisticated ritual of piling the fire altar.

o     The Agnistoma or fire sacrifice

·     The Ashvamedha or horse sacrifice

·     The Purushamedha, or sacrifice of the cosmic Purusha, cf. Purusha Sukta

·     The rituals described in the Atharvaveda concerned with demonology and magic.

The Ashvamedha (horse sacrifice), in India  continued until the 4th century AD. Like all cattle breeding tribes in the world, killing cows for food was seldom done except as a sacrifice.  Sacrifice was but a regular practice.”  

GODS OF VEDIC RELIGION

A study of the Rig Veda will reveal the nature of the gods of the Vedic Religion which we now undertake

Vedic Pantheon

The Vedic pantheon, similar to its Greek or Germanic counterparts, comprises clans of anthropomorphic deities as well as deified natural phenomena, and like the Germanic Vanir and Aesir it knows two classes of gods, Devas and Asuras.   The Brihadaranyak Upnishad says that there are mainly thirty-three gods  which are classified into three groups: 

Thus, there are eight Vasus,
twelve Âdityas,
eleven Rudras, and
two Ashvins.  Indra and Prajâpati .
There are also the Maruts.
These gods belong to the three regions of the earth (prithvi), the heavens (Dyaus) and the intermediate space (Antariksha).

The eight Vasus are: agni (god of fire), prithivi (goddess of the earth), vayu (god of the wind), antarikch (god of the space), aditya (sun god), dyo (god of the luminous sky), chandrama (moon god) and nakchatra (god of the nakchatras, asterism. Nakchatras are 27, called Magha, Rohini etc.)

The following is a list of  Deities by prominence as they appear in Rig Veda:

(List of Rigvedic deities by number of dedicated hymns, after Griffith. Some dedications are to twin-deities, such as Indra-Agni, Mitra-Varuna, Soma-Rudra, here counted doubly.)

·                     Indra 289   is the chief deity of the Rigveda, and the god of weather and war, and Lord of Svargaloka (Heaven)  .He  rides a white elephant called Airavata and wields the dazzling weapon of lightening called Vajrayudh. Prone to drinking soma,   loses control over himself, prone to anger, mighty and sensuous, and always concerned about his survival and status as the leader.

·         Agni 218   

The demi-god ruling fire, riding on a Ram.    title="Latin" style="color: blue; text-decoration: underline; text-underline: single">Latin ignis (the root of English ignite). The sacrifices made to Agni go to the deities because Agni is a messenger from and to the other gods. He is ever-young, because the fire is re-lit every day; but also he is immortal. Agni is represented as red and two-faced (sometimes covered with butter), suggesting both his destructive and beneficent qualities, and with black eyes and hair, three legs and seven arms. He rides a ram, or a chariot pulled by goats or, more rarely, parrots. Seven rays of light emanate from his body. One of his names is "Sapta jihva", 'seven tongues'. He is worshipped under a threefold form: fire on earth and lightning and the sun.

·         Soma 123 (most of them in the Soma Mandala)  Haoma (in Avestan), from Proto-Indo-Iranian *sauma-, was a ritual drink of importance among the early Indo-Iranians, and the later Vedic and greater Persian cultures.  . In the Avesta, Haoma has an entire Yasht dedicated to it.

It is described as prepared by pressing juice from the stalks of a certain mountain plant, which has been variously hypothesized to be a psychedelic mushroom, cannabis, peganum harmala, or ephedra. In both Vedic and Zoroastrian tradition, the drink is identified with the plant, and also personified as a divinity, the three forming a religious or mythological unity.  Soma represents the god of the Moon. He rides through the sky in a chariot drawn by white horses. Soma was also the name of the elixir of immortality that only the gods can drink.

The Moon was thought to be the storehouse of the elixir.

• Vishvadevas 70 are the various Vedic gods taken together as a whole. 

·         the Asvins 56  are divine twin horsemen in the Rigveda, sons of Saranya, a goddess of the dawn and wife of either Surya or Vivasvat. They are Vedic gods symbolising the shining of sunrise and sunset, appearing in the sky before the dawn in a golden chariot, bringing treasures to men and averting misfortune and sickness. They can be compared with the Dioscuri (the twins Castor and Pollux) of Greco-Roman mythology. The Twins or Twains who are the equivalent of the Geminis, the Dioskouris.

They are the doctors of gods and are devas of Ayurvedic medicine. They are called Nasatya (dual nāsatyau "kind, helpful" in the Rigveda; later, Nasatya is the name of one twin, while the other is called Dasra. By popular etymology, the name nāsatya was analysed as na+asatya "not untrue"="true".

• Varuna 46 is a god of the sky, of rain and of the celestial ocean, as well as a god of law and of the underworld. He is the most prominent Asura in the Rigveda, and chief of the Adityas  law.

• the Maruts 38   storm deities and sons of Rudra and Diti and attendants of Indra. The number of Maruts varies from two to sixty (three times sixty in RV 8.96.8. They are very violent and aggressive, described as armed with golden weapons i.e. lightnings and thunderbolts, as having iron teeth and roaring like lions, as residing in the north, as riding in golden chariots drawn by ruddy horses.

·         Mitra 28  Mitra, Mithra, Mithras

Mitra is a Vedic god who stood for the sun, and was, with his brother Varuna, the guardian of the cosmic order. He was the god of friendships and contracts,.  Hewas an important divinity of Indic culture, descended, together with the Zoroastrian yazata Mithra, from a common Proto-Indo-Iranian deity  Mitra, a god of  . guardian of oaths and agreements.  Mithra may also have been worshipped by the Mani. Some branches of Manicheism identified Mithra as the ruler of the second or third emanation (an occultist would say "ray," "aeon," or "sepheroth").

• Ushas 21 " dawn", is a Vedic deity. She is the chief goddess (sometimes imagined as several goddesses, Dawns) exalted in the Rig Veda. She is portrayed as a beautifully adorned, sexually attractive young woman riding in a chariot.

• Vayu (Wind) 12 he is the Vedic god entrusted with the rejuvenation of nature.

·         Savitar 11 is a solar deity (see Deva) and one of the Adityas. His name is in Vedic Sanskrit meanings "impeller, rouser, vivifier". Savitr is described in the Vedas as having golden arms, hands, hair, etc. He is sometimes identified with, and at other times distinguished from, the chief Sun deity Surya. A number of beautiful Vedic hymns are invoked in his praise. He is the god of the Sun at Sunrise and Sunset, and was most often invoked in the latter role in Vedic hymns.

• Rbhus 11 meaning "clever, skilful", cognate to Latin labor, said of Indra, Agni and the Adityas in the Rigveda) are three semi-divine beings of the Rigveda and the Atharvaveda, Rbhu, Vaja and Vibhvan, called collectively by the name of their leader.
• Pushan 10   God of meeting. Puchan was responsible for marriages, journeys, roads, and the feeding of cattle .

·          Apris 9 means "conciliation, propitiation" and refers to special invocations spoken previous to the offering of oblations. 

·         Brhaspati 8   (also known as Brahmanaspati) is the guru of the Devas and  of the Danavas

·         Surya (Sun) 8 is the chief solar deity.. His char