History of India/Volume 1/Chapter 6

by Romesh Chunder Dutt

CHAPTER VI

SOCIAL LIFE

IT was by such continuous wars against the aborigines of the soil that the Aryans at last conquered the whole of the Panjab from the Indus to the Sarasvati, and from the mountains probably to the sea. As might be expected, we have in the Rig-Veda frequent allusions to the Indus and its five tributaries, especially in the seventy-fifth hymn of the tenth book, which we translate in full:—

"O ye streams! The bard celebrates your excellent prowess in the house of the worshipper. They flow in three systems, seven streams in each system. The prowess of the Indus is superior to that of all others.

"O Indus! when you ran towards land rich in food, Varuna opened out the way for you. You flow over a spacious path on the land. You shine above all flowing rivers.

"The mighty sound of the Indus ascends above the earth to the sky! She flows with mighty force and in radiant form. Her mighty sound is heard as if rains were descending from the clouds with great noise. The Indus comes roaring like a bull.

"As cows bring milk to their calves, even thus, O Indus, the other streams come sounding to you with their waters! As a king marches with his forces to battle, even thus you march in front with two systems of rivers flowing by your side!

"O Ganga! Yamuna and Sarasvati and Sutudri (Sutlaj) and Parushni (Ravi)! share this my praise among you! O river combined with Asikni (Chinab)!

SCENE ON AN INDIAN RIVER.

O Vitasta (Jihlam)! Arjikiya (Beas), combined with Sushoma (Indus)! hear my words.

"O Indus! first thou flowest united with Trishtama, then with Susartu and Rasa and the Sveti. You unite Krumu (Kurum River) and Gomati (Gomal River) with Kubha (Cabul River) and Mehatnu. You proceed together with these rivers.

"The irresistible Indus proceeds straight, white and dazzling in splendour! She is great, and her waters fill all sides with mighty force. Of all the flowing rivers, none is flowing like her! She is wild like a mare, beautiful like a well-developed woman! "The Indus is ever young and beautiful. She is rich in horses, in chariots, and in garments; she is rich in gold and is beauteously clad! She is rich in corn and in wool and in straw, and has covered herself with sweet flowers.

"The Indus has fastened horses to her easy chariot

PRIMITIVE INDIAN BOATS.

and has brought food therein to us. The greatness of the chariot is extolled as mighty; it is irresistible and great and rich in its fame! "

The poet in this hymn, as Max Muller said, takes in at one swoop three great river-systems, those flowing from the northwest into the Indus, those joining it from the northeast, and in the distance the Ganges and the Jumna with their tributaries. "It shows the widest

WOMEN OF SALSETTE

geographical horizon of the Vedic poets, confined by the snowy mountains in the north, the Indus and the range of the Suleiman Mountains in the west, the Indus or the sea in the south, and the valley of the Jumna and Ganges in the east." The hymn has historical significance, therefore, with regard to the expansion of the Aryans.

The rivers of the Panjab are sometimes spoken of together as the "seven rivers," and in one passage the seven rivers are said to have the Indus for their mother and the Sarasvati as the seventh. The Indus and its five branches still water the primeval home of the early Hindus, but the Sarasvati, which was the most sacred of ancient rivers and was worshipped even in that remote time as a goddess, has since ceased to flow. Its bed remains visible near Kurukshetra and Thanesvar, however, and these places are still considered sacred by the Hindus.

There is one somewhat curious passage in which the sage Visvamitra, accompanied by chariots and horses and the booty-seeking host of the Bharatas, finds difficulty in crossing the confluence of the Bias and the Sutlaj and pours out an entire hymn to appease the anger of the roaring flood. The rivers yield to the honeyed words of the priest and lower their courses so that the raiding host crosses in safety.

While references to the rivers of the Panjab are thus frequent, allusions to the Ganges and the Jumna are rare, the former being mentioned only twice and the latter three times, but with sufficient clearness to show that the Aryans had at least begun to push as far to the south and east as this territory.

Thus the land of the five rivers was the earliest home of the Aryan settlers in India, and it would seem that the settlers in the Panjab gradually formed themselves into five tribes or nations, especially as the "five lands," "five cultivating tribes," and "five peoples" are frequently mentioned in the Rig-Veda.

We now turn to the interesting and pleasing subject of the social and domestic manners and the home life of these five tribes of the Panjab. The first thing that strikes us here is the absence of those unhealthy rules and restrictions, those marked distinctions between man and man and between class and class, which form the most unpleasant feature of later Hindu society. We have already seen that the sturdy Hindus of the Vedic Period recognized no restrictions against the use of beef, and that they referred with pride to their merchants' going to sea. We have seen, too, that the Rishis did not form a separate and exclusive class and did not pass their lives apart from the world in penance and contemplation. On the contrary, the Rishis were practical men of the world who owned large herds of cattle, cultivated fields, fought against the aboriginal enemies in time of war, and prayed to their gods for wealth and cattle, for victory in war, and for blessings on their wives and children. Every father of a family was, in fact, a Rishi on a small scale, and worshipped his gods in his own house in his own fashion, while the women of the family joined in the worship and helped in the performance of the ceremonies. Some among the community were of course prominent in the composition of hymns and the performance of great sacrifices, and kings and rich men sent for them on great occasions, and rewarded them handsomely. But even these great composers—these great Rishis of the Rig-Veda—did not form an exclusive caste of their own. They were worldly men, who mixed and married with the people, shared property with the people, fought the wars of the people, and were of the people; nor is there a shadow of evidence to prove that they formed a caste of their own, different from the fighters and cultivators. Except for the ninetieth hymn of the tenth book, written long after the Vedic period, there is not a single allusion to caste in the entire collection of the Rig-Veda, composed during six hundred years and more, and replete with references to the habits and manners and customs of the people, to agriculture and pasture and manufacture, to wars against aborigines, to marriage and domestic rules, to the duties and position of women, to religious observances and to the science of the time. But if this be negative proof, there is positive evidence as well, and various passages in the Rig-Veda show that the caste system did not exist at the time when the hymns were written and compiled. The very word varna, which in later Sanskrit denotes caste, is used in the Rig-Veda to distinguish the Aryans and the non-Aryans, and nowhere indicates separate sections in the Aryan community. The word Kshatriya, which in later Sanskrit means the military caste, is used in the Rig-Veda simply as an adjective which means strong, and is applied to gods. The word Vipra, which in later Sanskrit denotes the priestly caste, is used in the Rig-Veda merely as an adjective which means wise and which is applied to gods. And the word Brāhmana, which in later Sanskrit connotes also the priestly caste, is used in a hundred places in the Rig-Veda to imply the composers of hymns, and nothing else.

As we have seen, every father of a family was his own priest, and his home was his temple. There is no mention of idols in the Rig-Veda, none of temples or places of worship where the people were to congregate. The sacred fire was lighted in the house of every householder, and he chanted the hymns which we now find collected in the Rig-Veda. We have a pleasing picture of women who assisted at these sacrifices, who ordered the necessary things, prepared them with pestle and mortar, extracted the Soma-juice, stirred it with their fingers, and strained it through a woollen strainer. In numerous places we find mention of wives that joined their husbands and performed the sacrifice together with them, as is shown in the following hymn:—

"O ye gods! The married couple who prepare oblations together, who purify the Soma-juice and mix it with milk,

"May they obtain food for their eating and come united to the sacrifice. May they never have to go in quest of food.

"They do not make vain promises of offerings to the gods, nor withhold your praise. They worship you with the best offerings.

HINDU WOMEN.
From a painting by Edwin Lord Weeks. Copyright, 1895, by Harper & Brothers.

"Blest with youthful and adolescent offspring, they acquire gold, and they both attain to a mature age.

"The gods themselves covet the worship of such a couple who are fond of sacrifices, and offer grateful food to the gods."

Still more charming is the picture of women who themselves acted as Rishis, and composed hymns and performed sacrifices like men. For there were no harmful restrictions placed on women in those days, no attempt to keep them secluded or uneducated or debarred from their legitimate place in society. There is mention of veiled wives and brides, but no reference to the enforced seclusion of women. On the contrary, we meet them everywhere in their legitimate spheres of action, taking a share in sacrifices and exercising their influence on society. We cherish the picture of the cultured lady Visvavara, which has been handed down to us through thousands of years—a pious woman who composed hymns, performed sacrifices, and with true fervency invoked the god Agni to regulate and keep within virtuous bounds the mutual relations of married couples. We meet with the names of other women also who were Rishis of the Rig-Veda.

In Vedic times, the relations of life were determined by the needs and requirements of individuals rather than by cast-iron rules, as in later days, and there was no religious obligation, therefore, that every girl must be married. On the contrary, we find allusions to unmarried women who remained in the homes of their fathers and naturally claimed and obtained a share of the paternal property. On the other hand, we have frequent references to careful and industrious wives who superintended the arrangements of the house and who possessed those domestic virtues for which Hindu wives have always been noted from the earliest to the present times. Occasionally we have allusions to women who went astray, to maidens who had no brothers to watch over their morals, and to wives who were faithless to their husbands, while elsewhere we are told of the wife of a ruined gambler who becomes the object of other men's lust.

It would seem that girls had some voice in the selection of their husbands. Their selection was not always happy, for "many a woman is attracted by the wealth of him who seeks her. But the woman who is of gentle nature and of graceful form selects, among many, her own loved one as her husband." There can be no doubt, however, that fathers always exercised a wise control in the selection of husbands for their daughters, and, as at the present day, fathers gave the maidens away adorned and decked with golden ornaments.

NAUTCH GIRL.

The ceremony of marriage was an appropriate one, and the promises which the bridegroom and the bride made to each other were suitable to the occasion. It is happily described in a hymn in the later portion of the Rig-Veda, which proves that the custom of child-marriage was then unknown, and that girls were married after they had attained their youth. The following verses from it show the Vedic marriage ritual:—

"O Visvavasu (god of marriage)! arise from this place, for the marriage of this girl is over. We extol Visvavasu with hymns and prostrations.

"O Visvavasu! arise from this place. We worship thee, bending in adoration. Go to an unmarried maiden whose person is well developed; make her a wife and unite her to a husband. "Let the paths by which our friends go in quest of a maiden for marriage be easy and free of thorns. May Aryaman and Bhaga lead us well. O gods! may the husband and wife be well united.

"O maiden! the graceful sun had fastened thee with ties (of maidenhood), we release thee now of those ties. We place thee with thy husband in a place which is the home of truth and the abode of righteous actions.

"We release this maiden from this place (her father's house), but not from that place (her husband's house). We unite her well with that place. O Indra! may she be fortunate and the mother of worthy sons.

"May Pushan lead thee by the hand from this place. May the two Asvins lead thee in a chariot. Go to thy (husband's) house and be the mistress of the house. Be the mistress of all and exercise thine authority over all in that house.

"Let children be born unto thee, and blessings attend thee here. Perform the duties of thy household with care. Unite thy person with the person of this thy husband; exercise thy authority in this thy house until old age.

"First Soma accepts thee; then Gandharva accepts thee; Agni is thy third lord; the child of man is the fourth to accept thee.

"Soma bestowed this maiden on Gandharva, Gandharva gave her to Agni, Agni has given her to me with wealth and progeny.

"O bridegroom and bride! do ye remain here together; do not be separated. Enjoy food of various kinds; remain in your own home and enjoy happiness in the company of your children and grandchildren.

"(The bride and bridegroom say) May Prajapati bestow on us children; may Aryaman keep us united till old age. (Address to the bride) O bride! Enter with auspicious signs the home of thy husband. Do good to our male servants and our female servants, and to our cattle.

"Be thine eyes free from anger; minister to the happiness of thy husband; do good to our cattle. May thy mind be cheerful, and may thy beauty be bright. Be the mother of heroic sons and be devoted to the gods. Do good to our male servants and our female servants, and to our cattle.

"O Indra! make this woman fortunate and the mother of worthy sons. Let ten sons be born of her, so that there may be eleven men in the family with the husband.

"(Address to the bride) Mayest thou have influence over thy father-in-law and over thy mother-in-law, and be as a queen over thy sister-in-law and brother-in-law."

Polygamy was allowed among kings and the rich in Vedic times, as it was allowed in olden times in all countries and among all nations. Domestic dissensions were the natural result, and we have hymns in the latter part of the Rig-Veda in which wives curse their fellow wives. The evil seems, however, to have grown in the latter part of the Vedic Age, for there are scarcely any allusions to it in the earlier hymns.

There are two curious verses which seem to lay down the law of inheritance and are therefore of peculiar interest. We give a translation of them here:—

"The father who has no son honours his son-in-law, capable of begetting sons, and goes (i.e. leaves his property) to the son of his daughter. The sonless father trusts in his daughter's offspring and lives content.

"A son does not give any of his father's property to a sister. He gives her away to be the wife of a husband. If a father and mother beget both son and daughter, then one (i.e. the son) engages himself in the acts and duties of his father,, while the other (the daughter) receives honour."

This is the first germ of the Hindu law of inheritance, which makes the son, and not the daughter, the inheritor of his father's property and religious duties, and which allows the property to go to the daughter's son only in the absence of male issue. We think we discover the first germs of the Hindu law of adoption, too, in such passages as the following:—

"A son begotten of another may yield us happiness, but can never be regarded or accepted as one's own. And verily he ultimately goes back to his own place. Therefore may a son be newly born unto us who will bring us food and destroy our foes."

We will now supplement our account of domestic customs by making some extracts with regard to funeral rites. Yama in the Rig-Veda is the god of the heaven of the righteous, the god who rewards the tuous man in a happy land after his death. His two dogs, however, are objects to be avoided or propitiated.

"O thou deceased! proceed to the same place where our forefathers have gone, by the same path which they

BURNING GHATS.

followed. The two kings, Yama and Varuna, are pleased with the offerings; go and see them.

"Go to that happy heaven and join the early forefathers. Join Yama and the fruits of thy virtuous deeds. Leave sin behind, enter thy home.

"O ye ghosts! leave this place, go away, move away! for the forefathers have prepared a place for the deceased. That place is beautiful with day, with sparkling waters, and with light; Yama assigns this place to the dead. "O thou deceased! these two dogs have four eyes each, and a strange colour. Go past them quickly. Then proceed by the beautiful path to those wise forefathers who spend their time in joy and happiness with Yama."

These verses give us some idea of the belief in future happiness as it prevailed among the Hindus of the Vedic Age. The rites of cremation and burial are alluded to in the following passages:—

"O fire! do not reduce this deceased to ashes; do not give him pain. Do not mangle his skin or his person. O fire! send him to the home of our fathers as soon as his body is burnt in thy heat."

"O thou deceased! go to the extended earth who is as a mother; she is extensive and beautiful. May her touch be soft as that of wool or of a female. You have performed sacrifices; may she save thee from unrighteousness.

"O earth! rise up above him, do not give him pain. Give him good things, give him consolation. As a mother covers her child with the hem of her garment, so cover the deceased.

"Let the earth, raised on him as a mound, lie light. Let a thousand particles of dust rest on him. Let them be to him as a house filled with butter, let them form a shelter to him."

It remains only to allude to one more remarkable verse of this hymn, the eighteenth in the tenth book, which distinctly sanctions the marriage of widows:—

"Rise up, woman, thou art lying by one whose life is gone; come to the world of the living, away from thy husband, and become the wife of him who holds thy hand and is willing to marry thee."

It is with pain and regret that we refer to another passage belonging to the same hymn in the tenth book from which this last verse is cited. The passage in question may be thus translated:—

"May these women not suffer the pangs of widowhood. May they who have good and desirable husbands enter their houses with collyrium and butter. Let these women, without shedding tears and without any sorrow, first proceed to the house, wearing valuable ornaments." In itself this verse is perfectly harmless, yet by the change in it of agre ("first") to agneh ("of the fire") sanction was found in later times for the institution of suttee, or the burning of the widow on the pyre of her husband, though in the original form of the stanza—and this cannot be too strongly emphasized—the cruelest of all Hindu institutions finds no support whatever.