History of India/Volume 1/Chapter 8

by Romesh Chunder Dutt

CHAPTER VIII

THE BRAHMANIC PERIOD AND LITERATURE

WHEN once the Aryan Hindus had reached the Sutlaj, they lost but little time in crossing it and hastening to the valley of the Ganges, so that, in the course of centuries, the entire region as far as the modern Tirhut was the seat of powerful kingdoms and nationalities, who cultivated science and literature in their schools and developed new forms of religion and of civilization widely different from those of the Vedic Period.

Among the nations who flourished in the Ganges valley and left their names in the epic literature of India, the most renowned are the Kurus, who had their kingdom near the modern Delhi; the Panchalas, who settled farther to the southeast, near the present Kanauj; the Kosalas, who occupied the land between the Ganges and the Gandak, or Gunduck, which includes the modern Oudh; the Videhas, who lived beyond the Gandak, in what is now known as Tirhut; and the Kasis, who settled about the modern Benares. These were the most renowned nations of the second period, though other less powerful nationalities also flourished and extended their kingdoms from time to time.

A View of the Ganges

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From early ages the Ganges has been the sacred river of India, and its waters are as hallowed as those of the Jordan or the well of Zemsem. Such miraculous powers are ascribed to this stream, that, according to Hindu tradition, those who die immersed in its waters attain heavenly bliss.

When the Kurus and Panchalas entered the Doab, they gave indications of a vigorous national life, and their internecine wars form the subject of the first National Epic of India, the Mahabharata. And although this work, in its present shape, is the production of a later age, it preserves indications of that rude and sturdy vigour and the warlike jealousy which characterized the early conquerors of the Ganges Valley. The Hindus did not, however, live many centuries in the soft climate of this valley before declining in prowess as they gained in learning and civilization. The royal courts of the Videhas and the Kasis were learned and enlightened, but contemporary literature does not bear witness to their warlike qualities. The Kosalas, too, were a polished nation, but their traditions, preserved in the second National Epic of India, the Ramayana (in its present form a production of later ages), show devotion to social and domestic duties, obedience to priests, and regard for religious forms, rather than the sturdy valour and the fiery jealousies of the Mahabharata.

This gradual enervation of the Hindus was the cause of most important changes in religious and social rules. Religion changed its spirit. The hymns with which the conquerors of the Panjab had invoked the nature-gods scarcely commended themselves to the more effete and more ceremonious Hindus of the Ganges valley. The hymns were still repeated, but lost their meaning and sense, and ceremonials and observances took the place of simple forms. The priestly class creased in number and in influence, until they formed a hereditary caste of their own. The kings and warriors of the valley of the Ganges lived in more splendid courts, and had more gorgeous surroundings than the warriors of the Panjab, and soon separated themselves from the people and formed a caste of their own.
TYPE OF THE SUDRA CASTE. The mass of the people the Vaisyas or Visas of the Rig-Veda became more feeble than their forefathers in the Panjab, and wore, without a protest, the chains which priests and warriors the Brahmans and the Kshatriy as threw around them. 'And lastly, the aborigines who were subjugated and had adopted the Aryan civilization formed the low caste of Sudras and were declared unfit to perform the Aryan religious rites or to acquire religious knowledge.

Such was the origin of the caste system in India, in the second period of Hindu history. The system arose out of weakness and lifelessness among the people, and, to a certain extent, it has perpetuated that weakness ever since. At the close of the period, however, there appears to have been a reaction, and the Kshatriyas at last tried to prove their equality with the Brahmans in learning and religious culture. WeaWearied with the rituals and ceremonials prescribed by priests, the Kshatriyas started new speculations and bold inquiries after the truth. The efforts were unavailing. The priests remained supreme. But the vigorous speculations which the Kshatriyas began are the only redeeming portion of the literature of this period and form the nucleus of the Hindu philosophical systems and religious revolutions of a later day.

It was in this period of Aryan expansion in the Granges valley that the Rig-Veda and the three other Vedas—Sanaa, Yajur, and Atharva—were finally arranged and compiled. Then followed another class of compositions known as the Brahmanas, and devoted to sacrificial rites. The custom of retirement from the world into forest life, which was unknown in the earlier ages, then sprang up, and the last portions of the Brahmanas are Aranyakas devoted to forest rites. And lastly, the bold speculations started by the Kshatriyas are known as the Upanishads and form the last portions of he literature of this period, even as they close the so-called Revealed Literature of India formed by the Rig-Veda of the previous period and by the Brahmanas, Aranyakas, and Upanishads, which were written approximately between 1400 and 800 B.C. and which form the literature of the Brahmanic age. This literature alludes constantly to the deeds of the Kurus, the Panchalas, the Kosalas, and the Videhas living in the valley of the Ganges, but it was impossible in the nature of things that hymns like those of the Rig-Veda should be composed after the Hindus had achieved the elaborate civilization and adopted the pompous religious rites of the Brahmanic and Epic Period. Natural phenomena no longer excited the wonder and religious admiration of the cultured and somewhat artificial Aryans of the Ganges valley engaged in solemn rites and elaborate sacrifices. The fervent prayer to the rain-god Indra and the loving address to the dawn-goddess Ushas were almost impossible. The very import and object of the old simple hymns were forgotten, and sacrifices of various descriptions, from simple morning and evening libations to elaborate royal sacrifices lasting for many years, formed the essence of the later religion. The rules of the sacrifices, the import and object of every minute rite, the regulations for each insignificant observance—these constituted the religion of the people, these formed the subjects of discussion between learned kings and royal priests, these formed the bulk of the Brahmana literature.

It was during such a period that the hymns of the Rig-Veda, written in the previous epoch, were compiled, and the same age saw the redaction of the other three Vedas known as the Sama-Veda, the Yajur-Veda (White and Black), and the Atharva-Veda. The reasons which led to the compilation of the Sama-Veda and the Yajur-Veda have been ascertained with a fair degree of certainty. We find mentioned in the hymns of the Rig-Veda different classes of priests who performed different duties at sacrifices. The Adhvaryus were entrusted with the material performance of sacrifice. They measured the ground, built the altar, pared the sacrificial vessels, fetched wood and water, and immolated animals. The Udgatris, on the other hand, were entrusted with the duty of singing, as according to ancient custom some parts of the sacrifice had to be accompanied by songs. The Hotris had to

SACRIFICIAL IMPLEMENTS USED IN THE FUNERAL RITES.

recite hymns. And lastly, the Brahmans presided at sacrifices over all the rest.

Of these four classes of priests, neither the Brahman nor the Hotri required any special manual. The Brahman was required to know the entire ceremonial, to be able to superintend the performance of the sacrifice, to advise the other priests on doubtful points, and to correct their mistakes. The Hotri had simply to recite, and if he knew the hymns of the Rig-Veda, he did not require any separate compilation. But the duties of the Adhvaryu and the Udgatri required special training. Special sacrificial formulas must have

UTENSILS FOR RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES.

existed for the former, and a stock of the Rig-Veda hymns, set to music, must also have existed for the latter in the Vedic Period, for we find the names Yajur and Sama in the Rig-Veda hymns. These formulas and chants were, however, separately collected and compiled at a later age, and these separate compilations, in their final form, are the Yajur-Veda and the Sama-Veda as we now have them. All the verses of the latter Veda, with the exception of a few, are to be found in the Rig-Veda, and it is supposed that these verses, too, must have been contained in some other recension of the Rig-Veda now lost to us. It is clear, therefore, that the Sanaa-Veda is only a selection from the Rig-Veda set to music for a special purpose.

Of the actual compilers of the Yajur-Veda, on the other hand, we have some information. The more ancient, or Black, Yajur-Veda is called the Taittiriya Samhita, from Tittiri, who probably compiled or promulgated it in its present shape, although in the Anukramani of the Atreya recension of this Veda we are told that it was handed down by Vaisampayana to Yaska Paingi, by Yaska to Tittiri, by Tittiri to Ukha, and by Ukha to Atreya, which would imply that the existing oldest recension of the Yajur-Veda was not the first redaction.

We have fuller information with regard to the more recent White Yajur-Veda. It is called the Vajasaneyi Samhita, from Yajnavalkya Vajasaneya, who held the influential position of chief priest in the court of Janaka, king of the Videhas, so that the promulgation of this new Veda probably proceeded from his royal master's court.

There is a striking difference in arrangement between the White Yajur-Veda and the Black Yajur-Veda. In the latter, the sacrificial formulas are followed by dogmatic explanations, and by accounts of ceremonials belonging to them. In the former, the formulas are found only in the Samhita, the explanation and the ritual being assigned to the Brahmana. It is not improbable, as has been supposed, that it was to improve the old arrangement and to separate the exegetic matter from the formulas, that Yajnavalkya founded the new school known as the Vajasaneyins, and that their labours resulted in a new (Vajasaneyi) Samhita and an entirely separate (Satapatha) Brahmana.

But although the promulgation of the White Yajur-Veda is ascribed to Yajnavalkya, a glance at its contents will show that it is not the compilation of any one man or even of one age. Of its forty chapters only the first eighteen are cited in full and explained in due order in the first nine books of the Satapatha Brahmana, and it is the formulas of these eighteen chapters alone which are found in the older Black Yajur-Veda. These chapters are, therefore, the oldest portion of the White Yajur-Veda, and may have been compiled or promulgated by Yajnavalkya Vajasaneya. The next seven chapters are probably a later addition, while the remaining fifteen chapters are undoubtedly a still later accretion, and are expressly called Parisishta or Khila ("supplement").

Of the Atharva-Veda, we need only state that it was not generally recognized as a Veda till long after the period of which we are speaking, though a class of literature known as the Atharvangiras was growing up during the Brahmanic Period, and is alluded to in the later portions of some of the Brahmanas. Throughout the first three periods of Hindu history, and even in Manu and other metrical codes, three Vedas are generally recognized. And although the claims of the Atharva were sometimes put forward, still the work was not generally recognized as a fourth Veda till long after the Christian Era. It is only in the Brahmana and Upanishads of the Atharva-Veda itself that we find a uniform recognition of this work as a Veda. It is divided into twenty books, and contains nearly six thousand verses, although a sixth of the collection is in prose. Another sixth is taken from the hymns of the Rig-Veda, mostly from the tenth book. The nineteenth book is a kind of supplement to the previous eighteen, while the twentieth book is made up of extracts from the Rig-Veda.

The Atharva-Veda consists for the most part of formulas intended to protect men against the baneful influences of divine powers, against diseases, noxious animals, and curses of enemies. It knows a host of imps and goblins, and offers homage to them to prevent them from doing harm. The hymns are supposed to bring from the unwilling hands of gods the favours that are wanted. Incantations calculated to procure long life or wealth or recovery from illness, and invocations for good luck in journeys, in gambling, and in intrigue, fill the work. These hymns resemble similar hymns in the last book of the Rig-Veda, except that in the Rig-Veda they are apparently additions made at the time of the compilation, while in the Atharva-Veda they are the natural utterance of the present.

We must now hasten to an account of the compositions called Brahmanas. We have seen that in the Black Yajur-Veda the texts are, as a rule, followed by their dogmatic explanations. These explanations were supposed to elucidate the texts and to explain their hidden meanings, and they contain the speculations of generations of priests. A single discourse

A LAKE SCENE IN INDIA.

of this kind was called a Brahmana; and in later times collections of such discourses were called Brahmanas.

The Rig-Veda has two Brahmanas, the Aitareya and the Kaushitaki. The composition of the former is attributed to Mahidasa Aitareya, son of Itara. In the Kaushitaki Brahmana, on the other hand, special regard is paid to the sage Kaushitaki, whose authority is considered to be final. These two Brahmanas, however, seem to be only two recensions of the same work, used by the Aitareyins and the Kaushitakins respectively, and they agree with each other in many respects, except that the last ten chapters of the Aitareya are not found in the Kaushitaki and probably belong to a later age.

The Sama-Veda has the Tandya, or Panchavinsa, Brahmana, the Shadvinsa Brahmana, the Mantra Brahmana, and the better known Chhandogya.

The Black Yajur-Veda, or Taittiriya Samhita, has its Taittiriya Brahmana, and the White Yajur-Veda, or Vajasaneyi Samhita, has its voluminous Satapatha Brahmana. We have already stated that the Satapatha Brahmana is attributed to Yajnavalkya, though it is more likely the text-book of the school he founded, as he is often quoted in the work. Nor does the work belong entirely to one school or to one age. On the contrary, both in the case of the White Yajur-Veda Samhita and in the case of its Brahmana, there is reason to think that the work belongs to different periods. The first eighteen chapters of the Samhita are the oldest part of the work, and the first nine books of the Brahmana, which comment on these eighteen chapters, are the oldest part of the Brahmana. The remaining five books are later than the first nine.

The Atharva-Veda has its Gopatha Brahmana, a comparatively recent production, the contents of which are a medley, derived to a large extent from other sources.

Next after the Brahmanas come the Aranyakas, which may indeed be considered the last portions of the Brahmanas. They were so designated because they had to be read in the forest, while the Brahmanas were

OVERLOOKING INDRAPAT, THE ANCIENT PANDU CAPITAL.

for use in sacrifices performed by householders in their homes.

The Rig-Veda has its Kaushitaki Aranyaka and its Aitareya Aranyaka, the latter ascribed to Mahidasa Aitareya. The Black Yajur-Veda has its Taittiriya Aranyaka, and the last book of the Satapatha Brahmana is called its Aranyaka. The Sama-Veda and the Atharva-Veda have no Aranyakas.

What gives these Aranyakas a special importance, however, is that they are the proper repositories of those celebrated religious speculations known as the Upanishads. The Upanishads that are the best known and that are undoubtedly ancient are the Aitareya and the Kaushitaki, found in the Aranyakas of those names and belonging to the Rig-Veda; the Chhandogya and the Talavakara (or Kena), belonging to the Sama-Veda; the Vajasaneyi (or Isa) and the Brihadaranyaka, belonging to the White Yajur-Veda; the Taittiriya and Katha and Svetasvatara, belonging to the Black Yajur-Veda; and the Mundaka and Prasna and Mandukya, belonging to the Atharva-Veda. But when the Upanishads had once come to be considered sacred and authoritative works, new compositions of the class began to be added, until the total number reaches two hundred or more. Some of the later Upanishads, which are generally known as the Atharva Upanishads, are as late as the Puranic times, and are sectarian in tendency, instead of being devoted to an inquiry into the nature of Brahma, or the Supreme Spirit, like the old Upanishads. Others still were written long subsequent to the Mohammedan Conquest of India, and the idea of a universal religion which was cherished by the great emperor Akbar finds expression in an Upanishad called the Allah Upanishad.

With the ancient Upanishads the Brahmanic Period ends. Other classes of works, besides those named herein, undoubtedly existed during this epoch, but they have now been lost to us or more frequently replaced by newer works, so that only a fragment of the vast literature of the Brahmanic age has survived to the present day.