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K Srinivas

1.Introduction

The classical Indian tradition and Hinduism are rooted in the ancient scriptures called the Vedas. The Sāṅskrit root of the Veda is ‘vid’ which means knowledge. They are the earliest scriptural texts handed down to the generations of humankind containing the divine truths. The Vedas are said to be apocryphal (apauruşeya) for no human agency is involved in their creation. The Vedas are also known as Śruti (literally meaning hearing) for they belong to oral tradition. The great sages and seers preserved them in their memory and transmitted the Vedic knowledge only to those who deserved to receive them. Thus there were no written compilations in the beginning. But there arose a need to compile them in a written form. This task was undertaken by the sage named Krişņna Dvaipāyana Vyāsa. He codified the single Vedic compendium into four Vedas:- Ṛg, Yajur, Sāma and Atharva. This is the reason why he is also called Veda Vyāsa. In memory of this great sage the Hindus celebrate Guru Pūrņima On his birth day, however, it is stated in the Vişņu Purāņa that Vyāsa was assisted by four of his disciples in the process of the compilation of the Vedas. Paila assisted him to compile Ṛgveda, Vaisampāyana, the Yajurveda, Jaimini, the Sāmaveda, and Sumantu, the Atharvaveda.

2. The Structure of the Vedas

Each Veda is divided into two parts: karmakāṅḑa and jňānakāṅḑa. The former deals with the Samhitās (collections of Maṅtras) and the Brāhmaņas and the latter with the Āraņyakas and the Upanişads. In other words, this classification is needed to show the distinction between action and knowledge. Those who are interested in material gains follow the former portion and those who are interested in acquiring knowledge follow the latter. Maṅtras are hymns addressed to eulogize gods or goddesses for some material favour. The collection of such Maṅtras is called Samhitā. There are four Samhitās: Ṛg, Yajur, Sāma, and Atharva. These Samhitās are compiled for the smooth and unhindered performance of the Vedic rituals or sacrifices (yajňa). But yajňa always means a sacrificial celebration. A Vedic sacrifice requires four chief priests. They are: Hotā, one who recites hymns in praise of gods and goddesses to invoke their presence and participation in the yajňa, Udgātā, one who sings the hymns in sweet and appealing musical tones to please the gods and goddesses, Adhvaryu, one who performs the yajňa in accordance with the strict ritualistic code and gives offerings to the gods, and Brahmā, one who supervises the entire proceedings of the yajňa as he is well-versed in all the four Vedas. These Vedic sacrifices are intended to satisfy the needs of the above mentioned four priests who represent the four Samhitās respectively. Sometimes, we also come across the view that originally the Vedas were only three in number (Veda-trayī). But it is believed that the Atharvaveda was added to the list of three later on and it mainly deals with the secular aspects of human life.

It is also held in traditional Hindu texts that Ṛg means verse, Sāma means songs, and Yajuḥ means prose passage. Thus Samhitā or Maṅtra portion of the Veda consists of hymnology addressed to the various gods and goddesses. Ṛg-Samhitā is the oldest and the most important of all the Samhitās. The Vedic Ṛşis are not the authors of the Vedas, but only the seers of the Maṅtras. The Brāhmaņas, unlike Maṅtras, are in prose. They elaborate the complicated ritualism of the Vedas by emphasizing on the rules and regulations laid down for the performance of yajňa. The expression ‘Brāhmaņa’ is originally derived from the word ‘Brahman’ which means a prayer. There is very little philosophy in these portions. The appendages to these Brāhmaņas are called Āraņyakas. They are called so because they are composed in the forests amidst calmness. These texts are mark of transition from ritualistic portion of the Vedas to their knowledge (philosophical) portion. Here in this portion we find mystic interpretation of the Vedic sacrifices. The concluding portion of the Vedas is called Upanişads. They are highly philosophical in their purport and regarded as the cream of the Vedic philosophy. This is the reason why Upanişads are called ‘Vedānta’.

2.1. Philosophy in the Vedas

Hardly one finds any philosophical thought in the pre-Upanişadic thought. But one cannot ignore the seeds of the important philosophical truths found there. There is a gradual development of philosophical thought from the Maṅtras to the Brāhmaņas to the Āraņyakas to the Upanişads. There is a natural transition from naturalistic and anthropomorphic polytheism through transcendent monotheism to immanent monism in the pre-Upanişadic thought. The personified natural forces changed into real gods and later on became mere forms of mere forms of one personal and transcendental God, who is the custodian of ‘Cosmic and Moral order’. This personal and transcendental God Himself passed into immanent Puruşa.

Later on the Upanişads developed this immanent and transcendent Puruşa into all pervading Brahman/Ātman. The Maṅtra portion represents the religion of ‘Nature’ of the poets, the Brāhmaņa portion ritualism and the religion of ‘Law’ of the priests, the Upanişadic portion the religion of ‘Spirit’ of the philosophers.

The western interpretation of the Vedas does not go well with the spirit of the Vedas. According to such interpretations, the Vedic seers were inspired by the primitive natural forces. But it is the other way round. The Vedas are authorless and eternal. The Vedic seers with their intellect and spiritual powers came face to face with the Reality and this mystic experience or direct intuitive spiritual insight overflew in the literature as the Vedic hymns. The important feature of the Vedic hymns is the same spiritual monism, the same immanent conception of the identity-in-difference that which ultimately transcends itself. Such a view is poetically explained in the Upanişads. It is like seeing footprints of the birds in the air if we have to interpret the Vedas in terms of anthropomorphic polytheism, then henotheism and monotheism in the Vedas, according to Gaudapāda. If there were polytheism in the Vedas, how is it that the binding principle of this world, the supreme Self of the Universe, the guardian of the Cosmos is always referred to? Even when polytheism pays the way for monotheism the most powerful god among the hierarchy of gods is posited as the ruler of this Universe. But such interpretations are not found in the Vedas. All the gods are the manifestation of the same supreme God or principle. When gods are praised, in fact, it is the supreme God who is praised through His manifestations. However, one can only see monism throughout the Vedas.

Some of the descriptions reveal the true nature of the Real. For example, in the Rig-Veda it is mentioned “The One Real, the wise declare as many (ekam sad vipra bahudha vadanti).” Further it is also said “Puruşa is all this, all that was, and all that shall be (Puruşa evedam sarvam yad bhutam yachcha bhavyam).” In fact, “The same ‘Real’ is worshipped as Uktha in the Ṛgveda, as Agni in the Yajuḥ and as Mahāvrata in the Sāma.” From the above references it is evident that the Vedas always referred to one single monistic principle as the supreme Reality.

Although one cannot really distinguish between religion and philosophy in the Ṛgveda, the kind of questions that one confronts give an impression that both religious and philosophical concerns are embedded in the structuring of the Vedas. The following questions substantiate our view. What makes the wind blow? Why does the monsoon come? Who put the sun, giver of warmth and light, in the heavens? How is it that broad-bosomed earth brings forth these myriad life forms? These questions are highly philosophical although modern science may take credit to answer these questions. But, roughly 6000 years ago, these questions were the concern of philosophers. Further, there are also questions such as: What is beyond the gods? What, if any, is the relationship between actions and their consequences? What knowledge, if any, does man have of himself? Of course the questions How? Why? and With what? It may be appropriate with when applied to human creativity. But, when these questions are addressed to natural activity the natural forces (gods) in their personified form are brought into the picture.

3. Religion in the Vedas

Does one find religion in the Vedas? If at all there is one, it is none other than the Vedic dharma. The personification of natural forces (gods) to a great extent answers the questions without entering into the world of mystery. The god of fire (Agni) has certain natural powers. Similar is the case with the god of wind (Vāyu). Thus gods as natural forces are responsible for any natural activity. Thus vital questions of how and why are answered in terms of who. Then the people sought to control nature by offering prayers, sacrifices, and rituals for their benefit. Therefore, it is not a wonder why one finds so many hymns in the Vedas to propitiate gods and goddesses.

Sometimes, it is viewed that not all the seers of the Ṛgveda intended religion as the way of understanding and controlling nature and humans. This is evident from the following passage from the Ṛgveda.

Who knows for certain? Who shall here declare it? Whence was it born?, and whence came this creation? The gods were born after this world’s creation: Then who can know from whence it has arisen? None knoweth when his creation has arisen; And whether He has or has not produced it: He who surveys it in the highest heaven, He only knows, or perhaps even he may know not.

The great seers were the seekers of wisdom not just knowledge. They went beyond the gods to the ultimate Principle that rules even the gods. They came to know through their extraordinary powers that there is an immutable and eternal moral order that regulates the natural phenomena. It is popularly known as Ṛta. This is the moral principle that provides order and purpose to the cosmic reality. Nothing takes place in the reality unless otherwise directed by the eternal moral order Ṛta.

Perhaps religion came into the picture only when rituals and sacrifices are performed by humans in order to eulogize the gods for their mundane favours. But the questions how the gods controlled nature and how the humans could influence the gods resulted in a serious theological interpretation. But majority of these explanations are from the Brāhmaņa portion of the Veda which highlight the details of religious worship, although occasionally they crossed the limits of the given answers in order to seek the efficacy of a ritual or sacrifice in terms of the primordial principles. The following passage from the Satapatha Brāhmaņa reveals it:

Verily, in the beginning this (universe) was the Brahman. It created the gods; and, having created the gods, it made them ascend these worlds: Agni (this terrestrial world), Vāyu the air, and Sūrya the sky….Then the Brahman itself went up to the sphere beyond. Having gone up to the sphere beyond, it considered, “How can I descend again into these worlds?” It then descended again by means of these two, Form and Name….These (Name and Form)

indeed are the two great forces of Brahman; and verily, he who knows these two great forces of Brahman becomes himself a great force.

The above passage indicates that there is an attempt to explain the religions in terms of the philosophical. However, both these aspects are promiscuously mixed up with each other. Later on in the Āraņyakas one finds a shift from ritualism to free intellectual inquiry into the nature of reality. Although the Āraņyakas do not oppose the religious way they brought in meditation in the place of sacrifice. The meditation gradually led to free speculation and contemplation that permeated the Upanişads. One should remember that it is not all that easy to distinguish religion and philosophy in the Vedas.

Coming to the hymns of the Ṛgveda, they are all in praise of the gods. As stated earlier all these gods are personalities presiding over the diverse forces of nature or their very essence. Therefore one cannot attribute any special characteristics to them like the Greek gods or the gods found in the Purāņic literature. These Vedic gods may be different from those listed in the Purāņas for they are the expressions of the powers of nature. Take for instance, the god of fire (Agni). He is known as Kaegi and he “lies concealed in the softer wood, as in a chamber, until, called forth by the rubbing in the early morning, he suddenly springs forth in gleaming brightness. The sacrifice takes and puts him on the wood. When the priests pour melted butter upon him, he leaps up crackling and neighing like a horse, he whom men love to see increasing like their own prosperity.

Since these natural forces are treated as gods, the view that the Vedic people were polytheistic gained popularity. There is, in fact, neither polytheism nor monotheism rather it is a simple stage of belief. Unlike in the polytheistic faith, the Vedic gods do not preserve their proper places. They do shrink into insignificance or shine as supreme. On a definite occasion a particular god is eulogized as supreme in order to satisfy one’s need. However, it is not to be interpreted that all other gods are less important or insignificant for the Vedic gods are not independent of all the rest. In other words, each god is standing out as highest when he comes to the mind of the suppliant. Of the Vedic gods six of them are most important. They are: Varuņa, Indra, Agni, Soma, Rudra and Vişņu. The latter two are important because they are developed into full-fledged Gods by their respective sects as supreme Beings.

Varuņa was regarded as the highest ethical creation as well as the great celestial Brāhmaņa by the Vedic Hindus. Indra was worshipped as the god of victory being a worrier-king and was invoked very frequently as a god of storm. Agni and Soma were also given importance as terrestrial gods representing fire and plant respectively. Invariably both these gods were invoked during the rituals. The divine and human worlds coalesce in Agni as the fire consumes the sacrifice and as the priest he presents it to the gods above. In a way he is the mediator between the gods and humans. He is not only a priest who brings gods and humans together, but also the element who binds the three worlds. He is the sun in the heaven, lightening in the storm-cloud, and used as fire by humans on the earth. His threefold birth corresponds to the threefold structure of the Universe. Soma is an indispensable plant used in the sacrifice. This plant is yellowish in colour and is found in the mountains. The juice of this plant is filtered through a fine cloth. Since the juice is in liquid form it is likened to waters and streams. Soma is the Lord of streams and son of waters. Since the plant is yellow in colour it is likened to the lightening. Indra being the warrior god, he is depicted as manly of men. As a Vedic precursor Indra remained close to humans as their friend, brother, and their father and mother. He is both generous and quick to wrath. His favourites are not the priestly families as often mentioned in the Ṛgveda but the fighting men. His might is immeasurable and his generosity knows no bounds. If Varuņa is the king by divine right, Indra is the king by right of conquest. One can also notice the signs of rivalry between these two gods in the Ṛgveda. Varuņa is the Universal monarch whereas Indra is the monarch of his own making. Varuņa abides by the law and truth as their guardian. In other words, Varuņa is the guardian of Ṛta, the ‘cosmic order’. He possesses uncanny power (māyā). This is the reason why people must approach him with utmost fear and extreme circumspection.

Rudra is another Vedic god who inspires terror. He kills and makes people alive, he wounds and he heals them. In the Vedas it is held that Rudra was not associated with other Vedic gods excepting with Maruts, also called Rudras, who are his sons. But there is another side of Rudra. He is not only the destroyer, but also a great physician with thousand remedies at his disposal. In the Ṛgveda it is mentioned that his hand is soothing and, healing and cool. His hand takes away all the ailments sent by other gods. Further the Rudra is developed as Rudra-Śiva.

In Atharvaveda he is given the title ‘Paśupati’ or the Lord of the cattle. It is in this form the devotees started worshipping him for they saw themselves as Rudra’s cattle and the god is the lord of the cattle.

Coming to Vişņu, like Śiva, he is a great God of classical Hinduism. Śiva appeared in the form of the Vedic Rudra. But, out of 1,017 hymns found in the Ṛgveda only six hymns are addressed to Lord Vişņu and three of them he shares with god Indra. From these hymns we come to know that he measures the earth, the sky and the beyond. Mortals can only traverse the first two and Vişņu alone knows the third and the highest. Thus he sets limits to the finite world.

4. Summary

To sum up, the Vedas are the revealed scriptures of the Hindus and they are of not human origin. Philosophy and religion are promiscuously mixed up in the Vedas. They contain eternal truths. They are also known as Śruti for the Vedic wisdom was orally transmitted to the deserving disciples by the great seers and sages. The Vedic gods were the personification of natural forces. The entire universe was controlled by the moral order called Ṛta. The Vedic gods Indra, Varuņa, Agni, Rudra and Vişņu were worshipped by the ancient Hindus. Thus one finds both religious and philosophical ideas in the Vedas. They may not be conspicuous but one has to look for them in the vast Vedic literature.

Web links

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vedas
•  http://hinduism.about.com/cs/vedasvedanta/a/aa120103a.htm http://www.hindunet.org/vedas

Bibliography

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• Keith, A.B. Religion and Philosophy of the Vedas and the Upanişads. Cambridge: Harvard University press, 1925.
•  Radhakrishnan, S. Indian Philosophy. Vol. I & II. London: George Allen and Unwin Ltd., 1923.
• Raju, P.T. Structural Depths of Indian Thought. New Delhi: South Asia Publishing House, 1985.
• Tilak, B.G. The Arctic Home of the Vedas. Poona: Tilak Bros., 1956.