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Revision as of 11:39, 6 April 2006 by Broux (talk | contribs) (→Pantheon: added Pantheon (gods) hyperlink)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)The religion of the Vedic civilization is the predecessor of classical Hinduism, usually included in the term. Its liturgy is reflected in the text of the Vedas. The religion centered on a clergy (the Brahmins) administering sacrificial rites.
Texts considered to date to the Vedic period, composed in Vedic Sanskrit, are mainly the four Vedas, but the Brahmanas, and some of the older Upanishads are also considered Vedic. The Vedas record the liturgy connected with the rituals and sacrifices performed by the purohitas. To the rishis, the hymns of the Rigveda and other Vedic hymns divinely revealed and they were rather "hearers", of divine revelation. (shrauta means "what is heard").
The mode of worship was performance of sacrifices and chanting of hymns (see Vedic chant). The priests helped the common man in performing rituals. People prayed for abundance of children, cattle and wealth.
Elements of Vedic religion reach back into Proto-Indo-Iranian times. The Vedic period is held to have ended around 500 BC, Vedic religion gradually diversifying into the historical Dharmic religions.
Pantheon
The main names of deities of the Vedic pantheon were Indra, Agni (fire), and Soma. Other deities were Varuna, Surya (the Sun), Mitra, Vayu (the wind). Goddesses included Ushas (the dawn), Prithvi (the Earth) and Aditi. Rivers, especially Sarasvati, were also considered goddesses. Deities were not viewed as all-powerful. The relationship between the devotee and the deity was one of transaction, with Agni (the sacrificial fire) taking the role of messenger between the two. Strong traces of a common Indo-Iranian religion remain visible, especially in the Soma cult and the fire ritual also preserved in Zoroastrianism.
Rituals
The Ashvamedha (horse sacrifice) has parallels in the 2nd millennium BC Andronovo culture, in India allegedly continued until the 4th century AD. The exact details of the sacrifice are unknown today, but if successful it was said to give 'new life' to the animals involved and may not have included actual killing.
Animal sacrifice, eating of meat, and vegetarianism are all recommended in the Vedas & Puranas depending on occupation and caste. The warrior caste (ksatriya) and kings are instructed to hunt and kill wild animals as practice for fighting, and so they became accustomed to killing for use on the battlefield. People from the labourer (sudra) and merchant (vaisha) castes who wish to eat meat are encouranged to kill 'lower' animals such as pigs and goats and to offer them first in sacrifice to particular demigods such as Kali. For those seeking religious perfection and for the priestly class (Brahmanas) the killing and eating of animals was strictly forbidden, with all food having to be offered to Lord Vishnu before being taken as 'prasadam'.
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:
- The Agnihotra or oblation to Agni
- The Agnicayana, the sophisticated ritual of piling the fire altar.
- The Agnistoma or fire sacrifice
- The Ashvamedha or horse sacrifice described in the Yajurveda
- The Purushamedha or human sacrifice, probably very early reduced to a symbolic sacrifice.
- The rituals described in the Atharvaveda concerned with demonology and magic.
Monistic tendencies
Already the Rigveda, in its youngest books (books 1 and 10) contains evidence for emerging monotheistic thought. Often quoted are pada 1.164.46c,
- ékam sád víprā́ bahudhā́ vadanti
- "To what is One, sages give many a title" (trans. Griffith)
and hymns 10.129 and 10.130, dealing with a creator deity, especially verse 10.129.7:
- iyám vísṛṣṭiḥ yátaḥ ābabhûva / yádi vā dadhé yádi vā ná / yáḥ asya ádhyakṣaḥ paramé vyóman / sáḥ aṅgá veda yádi vā ná véda
- "He, the first origin of this creation, whether he formed it all or did not form it, / Whose eye controls this world in highest heaven, he verily knows it, or perhaps he knows not." (trans. Griffith)
Ékam sát in 1.164.46c means "One Being" or "One Truth". Such concepts received greater emphasis in classical Hinduism, from the time of Adi Shankara at the latest.
Post-Vedic religions
Vedic religion gradually diversified into the 'Hindu' paths of Yoga and Vedanta, a religious path considering itself the 'essence' of the Vedas. The Vedic pantheon was interpreted as a unitary view of the universe with God seen as immanent and transcendent in the forms of Ishvara (God's Personal Feature), Paramatma (God's localised feature) and Brahman (God's Impersonal Energies).
Religions considered to be descended from the Vedic religion include:
Zoroastrianism shares common Indo-Iranian properties with the Vedic religion but it is not a direct descendant.
