New age: Details about 'Vedic Religion'
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Home
|
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. Monistic/Monotheistic ViewsThe Vedas presented monistic/monotheistic views right from the outset: The very first book of the Rig Veda states,
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. The Ashvamedha (horse sacrifice) has parallels in the 2nd millennium BC Andronovo culture, in India allegedly continued until the 4th century AD. Vegetarianism, the practice now thought by many to be so characteristic of Hinduism, arose only in late or post-Vedic times, possibly already at the time of Panini: The root-compound goghan "slaying cattle", in RV 7.56.17 used parallel to nrhan "slaying men" in reference to the weapon vadha of the Maruts,
in Panini is taught to refer to a "receiver of a cow" exclusively; this change occurred parallel to the rise of, and possibly under the influence of, Buddhism, which began as a reform-movement of the Vedic religion. In later texts, the cow is often described as aditi and aghnya (that which should not be killed). Specific rituals and sacrifices of the Vedic religion include:
Post-Vedic religionsVedic 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 related to the Vedic religion include: See also
Vedizmas
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||