Vedic Literature: Religious and Philosophic Literature

Vedic Literature: Religious and Philosophic Literature

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The Vedic Texts

1. What is a Veda? The word veda is derived from the root vid, meaning “to know.” The word thus denotes the sacred knowledge contained in the texts known as the Vedic texts.
2. These texts constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature, and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism.
3. The Vedas are also called sruti (“what is heard”) literature, distinguishing them from other religious texts, called smriti (“what is remembered”).
   • Hindus consider the Vedas to be apaurusheya — impersonal and authorless.
   • The Vedas are considered revelations, seen by ancient sages after intense meditation.
   • In the Hindu epic Mahabharata, the creation of the Vedas is credited to Brahma.
   • The Vedic hymns themselves assert that they were skilfully created by Rishis (sages), through inspired creativity, just as a carpenter builds a chariot.
4. There are four Vedas: the Rigveda, the Yajurveda, the Samaveda, and the Atharvaveda.
   • The Rigveda is a collection of 1,028 hymns, divided into 10 mandalas — the earliest compositions, depicting the life of the early Vedic people in India.
   • The Samaveda is a collection of verses, mostly taken from the Rigveda, but arranged in a poetic form to facilitate singing — that is, the prayers of the Rig Veda were set to tune, and this modified collection came to be known as the Sama Veda Samhita.
   • The Yajurveda contains not only hymns, but also the rituals that must accompany their recitation.
     • The rituals reflect the social and political milieu in which they arose, and were performed either publicly or individually.
   • The Atharvaveda is a collection of magic spells and charms, to ward off evil spirits and diseases. Its contents throw light on the beliefs and practices of the non-Aryans.
5. Each Veda has been sub-classified into four major text types:
   • The Samhitas — the collections of hymns or mantras.
   • The Brahmanas — full of ritualistic formulae, explaining the social and religious meaning of rituals.
   • The Aranyakas — texts on rituals, ceremonies, sacrifices, and symbolic sacrifices.
   • The Upanishads — texts discussing meditation, philosophy, and spiritual knowledge.
     • The Upanishads reflect the last composed layer of texts in the Vedas. They are commonly referred to as Vedanta, variously interpreted to mean either the “last chapters” or “parts of the Vedas.”
     • The concepts of Brahman (Ultimate Reality) and Atman (Soul, Self) are central ideas in all the Upanishads.
     • The Upanishads are the foundation of Hindu philosophical thought, and its diverse traditions.
   • The Aranyakas are sometimes identified as karma-kanda (the ritualistic section), while the Upanishads are identified as jnana-kanda (the spirituality section).

The Philosophy of the Upanishads

1. The Upanishads exhibit vigorous and creative philosophical thought. All the philosophical systems and religions of India — heretical or orthodox — have sprung up from the Upanishads.
   • The theological-philosophical systems of Shankara, Ramanuja, and others are founded on the Vedanta/Upanishad.
2. The philosophers of the Upanishads were actively interested in an earnest enquiry into the ultimate truth lying behind the world of creation.
   • They variously expressed their findings in the identity of Brahman and Atman.
     • Brahman — the highest principle, which manifests itself in the motley of creation, and which receives all things back at the time of dissolution.
     • Atman — the individual self.
   • This has been pointedly recorded in the famous dictum of identity, Tat tvam asi (meaning “Thou art That”), where:
     • Tat, meaning “that,” stands for Brahman, and, through it, the universe.
     • Tvam, meaning “thou,” stands for Atman, or the individual self.
   • The conception of the world-soul, Atman, developed from that of the “world-man,” while the earlier conception of the personal creator, Prajapati, grew into the Upanishadic conception of the impersonal source of all being — Brahman.
   • Brahman epitomises the whole evolution of religious and philosophical thought in India. This unity of Brahman (the cosmic principle) and Atman (the psychical principle) — or, in other words, the identity of the individual Atman with the world-Atman — is expressed by the Upanishadic dictum tat tvam asi (“Thou art That”).
   • Brahman, the power that presents itself to us materialised in all existing things, which creates, sustains, preserves, and receives back into itself all worlds — this eternal, infinite, divine power is identical with the Atman: that which, after stripping off everything external, we discover in ourselves as our real, most essential being, our individual self, the soul.
3. Among the new elements in the Upanishads is the doctrine of rebirth (transmigration of the soul).
   • Transmigration appears to have been a part of almost all ancient religions.
   • In the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, the first form of this doctrine is given.
     • This doctrine refers to the continual passage of the soul from one body to another, for all eternity.
     • According to this doctrine, even gods pass away and are replaced by other gods; animals, insects, and, according to one view, even plants, live under the same law.
4. Closely allied to transmigration is the doctrine that the karma (action) of a person determines the nature of their life in the next birth — this soon became fundamental to most Indian thought.
   • It may have justified the social inequalities of the Aryan community, though it was not designed to be such. In any case, it provided a satisfactory explanation for the mystery of suffering, which still troubles many thoughtful souls all over the world.
   • According to the doctrine of Karma, one’s conduct or deeds determine one’s status — the exaltation or debasement of one’s status, and whether one’s lot is happy or wretched, rests entirely on one’s own acts.
   • This doctrine postulates that one’s present condition is inevitable, but only because of karma accruing from past actions.
5. The Upanishads call for the acquisition of knowledge for salvation, and denounce the concept of salvation by action or by faith alone.
   • According to the Upanishads, the realisation that Brahman is the only reality, and that the same reality is the individual soul, leads one to liberation.
   • For the acquisition of this knowledge, selfish desires are to be eliminated.

Sruti Literature as a Source of History

1. “Sruti” literally means “that which has been heard.” In the Hindu tradition, the Vedas have the status of sruti.
2. Many different kinds of histories of the Indo-Aryans have been derived from the Vedas.
   • Nationalist historians extracted historical details from the texts, but tended to idealise the Vedic age.
   • A subsequent trend was more dispassionate in approach, but concentrated on fitting data from the texts into long-term, unilinear historical and anthropological models (associated with Marxist historians).
   • Recent studies offer a more nuanced textual analysis.
3. Extracting history from a literature as ancient, vast, and complex as the Vedas is no easy task.
   • Unfortunately, critical editions identifying the original core of the texts are not available. A great deal depends on the interpretation of words and phrases, whose meanings may vary from one text and context to another.
4. When we talk of the “Vedic age” or “Vedic culture,” we must be conscious of the problem of dating the Rig Veda, the religious and elite nature of the texts, their specific geographical contexts, and the availability of substantial archaeological data for these and other regions.
5. Problems in using the Vedas as a source of history:
   • The Vedic corpus was not a popular literature, and therefore does not necessarily represent popular ideas or practices.
     • Vedic texts comprise a religious literature, and references to possible historical events are few.
     • Vedic literature forms an important part of the Brahmanical tradition — it reflects their religious beliefs, practices, and points of view.
   • The uncertainty of the period of composition of the Rig Veda is a major problem in using this text as a source of history.
     • The texts were transmitted orally for many centuries, and it is not certain when they were first written down. The earliest surviving manuscripts belong to the 11th century CE.
     • Many historians use a rough chronology of c. 1200–1000 BCE, or 1500–1000 BCE, for the composition of the earliest sections of the Rig Veda.
     • Books 2–7, the oldest books of the Rig Veda Samhita, are also known as the “family books,” since their composition is attributed to the families of certain seer-poets — Gritsamada, Vishvamitra, Vamadeva, Atri, Bharadvaja, and Vasishtha.
     • Books 1, 8, 9, and 10 seem to be of a later period.
     • The hymns of this Samhita are arranged in a precise pattern — this pattern makes it possible to detect interpolations, since hymns that disrupt the pattern must have been added to the collection later.
   • Vedic texts can be used as sources of history only for limited geographical areas in which they were composed.
   • There are also several problems in correlating the evidence from the Vedas with archaeology.
6. To what extent can the Vedas be used as historical sources?
   • The Vedic texts can be used as sources of history for the areas in which they were composed.
     • For example, the family books of the Rig Veda Samhita were composed in the land of Sapta-Sindhu, or the seven rivers — that is, the Indus, its five tributaries, and the Saraswati (Ghaggar-Hakra).
     • The Later Vedic texts were composed in the Indo-Gangetic plain and the upper Ganga Valley.
   • The “Battle of Ten Kings” may be based on an actual historical incident — the great battle is said to have taken place on the bank of the river Parushni (Ravi).
     • There are also references showing that political alliances between the tribes were fluid and shifting.
   • There are references to assemblies such as the sabha (a smaller, elite gathering) and the samiti (a larger assembly), presided over by the Rajan, the chieftain.
   • There are also references to cattle rearing, agricultural activity, various craft works, and slavery, which shed important light on the socio-economic life of contemporary society.
7. So, for constructing the history of the subcontinent, it is important to carefully juxtapose archaeological evidence and text-based evidence, and caution must be exercised while using the ancient sruti literature as a source of history.

The Geography of the Vedic Texts

The Country of the Aryans

1. In the early period, the Aryans used the term Sapta Saindhavas for the region where they had settled, in the context of “country.”
2. In the later period, the country of the Aryans was also designated as Aryavarta (most of northern India).

Rivers

1. During the Rig Vedic period, the focus of Aryan culture was the region between the Yamuna and the Sutudri (Sutlej), and along the upper course of the river Saraswati.
   • Out of thirty-one rivers mentioned in Vedic texts, about twenty-five names occur in the hymns of the Rig Veda alone.
   • The Sindhu, identical with the Indus, is the river par excellence of the Aryans, and is repeatedly mentioned.
   • Other frequently mentioned rivers are the Sindhu (Indus), the Saraswati (identified with the Ghaggar-Hakra channel in Haryana and Rajasthan), the Drishadvati (Ghaggar), and the five streams that collectively gave their name to the Punjab (five waters): the Shutudri (Sutlej), Vipas (Beas), Parushni (Ravi), Asikni (Chenab), and Vitasta (Jhelum).
   • The Rigveda also refers to the western tributaries of the Indus — the Gomati (modern Gomal), the Krumu (modern Kurram), and the Kubha (modern Kabul).
   • The Suvastu (Swat) is the most important river mentioned to the north of Kabul.
   • The rivers Yamuna, Ganga, and Sarayu are also mentioned.
     • In the Nadistuti hymn, the Rig Veda enumerates several streams, most of which belong to the Indus system.
   • The Later Vedic texts mention rivers such as the Narmada, Gandak, and Chambal, among others.

The Mountains

• The Rig Vedic people knew about the Himalayas, but did not mention the land south of the Yamuna, and did not mention the Vindhya mountains or the Satpura range at all.
  • The other hills referred to are Arjika, Mujavant, and Silament (Suleman range), and the like, which were all ridges of the Himalayas.

The Seas

• The reference to seas in the early Rig Vedic texts is doubtful — the word samudra, mentioned in the Rig Veda, mainly denotes a collection of water, and not the sea, in this period.
  • However, in Later Vedic literature, samudram actually means “the sea.”
  • There are references to eastern and western oceans in the Shatapatha Brahmana, indicating acquaintance with the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea in the Later Vedic era.
  • Later Vedic texts also refer to the seas and sea voyages, suggesting some kind of commerce, which may have been stimulated by the rise of new arts and crafts.

The Deserts

• The Rig Vedic Aryans were not familiar with any kind of desert.
  • However, an implied reference to Maru as the country of desert mounds near Kurukshetra has been traced in the Taittiriya Aranyaka.
• The Later Vedic texts give three broad divisions of India: Aryavarta (northern India), Madhyadesa (central India), and Dakshinapatha (southern India).

The Puranas as a Source of History

• Purana means “old.” According to tradition, the composition of the Puranas began with the sage Veda-Vyasa.
  • There are 18 Mahapuranas (“great puranas”), and many more Upapuranas (“secondary puranas”).
• The origins of the Puranas may overlap, to some extent, with the Vedas, but their composition stretched forward into the 4th–5th centuries CE, and, in some cases, even later.
  • Most Puranas were written during the Gupta period, though some belong to the early medieval period as well — for example, the Bhagavata Purana (10th century) and the Skanda Purana (14th century).

Five Characteristics (Pancha-lakshanas) of the Puranas

The Puranas are supposed to have five characteristics (pancha-lakshanas) — that is, they are supposed to discuss five topics:

• Sarga: the original creation of the world.
• Pratisarga: dissolution and re-creation.
• Manvantaras: the periods of the various Manus.
• Vamsha: the genealogies of gods and rishis.
• Vamshanucharita: an account of royal dynasties, including the Suryavamshi and Chandravamshi kings.

Secular Knowledge Contained in the Puranas

The conception of time:

• The conception of time in the Puranas is mind-boggling.
  • There are four ages, or yugas — krita, treta, dvapara, and kali.
  • One yuga follows the other, and the periodic destruction of the world is followed by its re-creation.

Political history:

• Of the eighteen main Puranas, especially the six — Vayu, Brahmanda, Bhagavata, Bhavishya, Matsya, and Vishnu — provide useful information on ancient political history.
  • They refer to historical dynasties such as the Haryankas, Shaishunagas, Nandas, Mauryas, Shungas, Kanvas, and Andhras (Satavahanas).
  • For example, the Vishnu Purana, Matsya Purana, and Vayu Purana discuss the Mauryan age, the Satavahana period, and the Gupta age, respectively.
  • The dynastic lists end with the Guptas.
  • The Puranas throw a good deal of light on the evolution of kingship, the emergence of the state, inter-state relations, and administrative organisation (local, judicial, civil, military, revenue), among other topics.

Historical geography:

• The Puranas have accounts of mountains, rivers, and places, useful for the study of historical geography — for example, the Markandeya Purana discusses the Vindhyan ranges and the Narmada valley region.

Intermingling of cultures:

• The Puranas also reflect interactions between people belonging to different cultural traditions — for example, the interaction between Brahmanical and non-Brahmanical cultural traditions.

Other secular information:

• System of land grants: Verses praising gifts of land are found in the Padma, Bhavishya, and Brahma Puranas, which throw light on the system of land grants.
• Urbanisation: The Puranas provide information about the foundation, planning, naming, antiquity, growth, and decay of towns and cities, valuable for the study of the history of urbanisation in ancient India.
  • The Puranic records throw light on the nature of urban settlements, showing the growth of towns for political, administrative, commercial, religious, or educational purposes — for example, Kaushambi and Rajagriha as capital cities.
• Origin of the Aryans: According to some Puranas, the original homeland of the Aryans was Pratishthana, from where they expanded across the Gangetic doab — indicating an indigenous origin of the Aryans, in contrast to the foreign-origin hypothesis.
• Brahmanical social values: Puranic descriptions of Brahmanical social values, such as varnashrama dharma (the four-fold stages of life) and the caste system, have considerable historical value.
• Interaction of different cultures: Puranic myths — such as stories of encounters and interactions between demons, gods, and sages — are interpreted by historians as allegorical representations of interactions among people belonging to different cultures.

Secular Knowledge in Some Specific Puranas

• Agni Purana: Has an encyclopaedic character, dealing with subjects like astronomy, geography, grammar, law, medicine, and politics.
• Garuda Purana: Has also assumed an encyclopaedic form, with sections on cosmography, astronomy and astrology, omens and portents, medicine, metrics, grammar, knowledge of precious stones (ratnapariksha), and politics (niti).
• Vishnudharmottara Purana: A supplement to the Vishnu Purana, also encyclopaedic in nature.
  • It also discusses the art of painting, giving an account of the various branches, methods, and ideals of Indian painting.
• Trishashtilakshana Mahapurana: Composed in the 9th century by Jinasena and Gunabhadra.
  • It has sections on topics like the interpretation of dreams, town planning, the duties of a warrior, and how a king should rule.

The Dissemination of Puranic Knowledge

• During the Later Vedic period and afterwards, women and Shudras did not have access to the Vedic texts — but the Puranas became open to them, and they could read and listen to Puranas, which helped in the dissemination of knowledge to the masses.
• The method of disseminating the secular knowledge of the Puranas to the masses was mostly through storytelling:
  • According to Banabhatta, he heard the stories of the Vayu Purana in his village, in his childhood, as the stories of the Puranas were read out publicly.
  • According to the Arthashastra, “the pauranika, the suta, and the magadha” were three officials retained by a king for reciting the Puranas.
  • The indologist Maurice Winternitz also acknowledges that the pauranikas and aitihasikas were professional storytellers.
• The Puranas, with their bountiful secular knowledge, thus acted as a chief source of secular knowledge for the people — particularly at a time when a large section of society was denied access to formal knowledge.

Conclusion

The Vedic corpus and the Puranas together illustrate the two great, complementary streams of ancient Indian religious and philosophic literature: the former, an elite, orally transmitted body of hymns, rituals, and philosophical speculation, whose historical value must be carefully weighed against its religious purpose, its uncertain chronology, and its restricted geographical horizons; the latter, a later, more accessible and encyclopaedic body of texts, which — through their genealogies, cosmological schemes, and storytelling traditions — carried both dynastic history and secular knowledge on subjects from astronomy to town planning to a far wider audience, including those excluded from the Vedic tradition itself. Read critically, and always alongside archaeological evidence, both bodies of literature remain indispensable to reconstructing the political, social, and intellectual history of ancient India — from the philosophical revolution of the Upanishads, with its doctrines of Brahman-Atman identity, karma, and rebirth, to the Puranas’ long dynastic lists ending with the Guptas, and their vivid record of the everyday, secular life of early India.