1

Traditions and Trajectories in Ancient India

Jeffrey L. Richey, Ph.D.

REL 231

Religions of India and Tibet

Berea College

Fall 2005

2

THE INDUS RIVER VALLEY CIVILIZATION

• Original inhabitants of northwestern India-Pakistan (c. 2500 BCE)

• Indus society:1. Agricultural2. Urban3. Mercantile• Indus religion:1. Polytheistic (esp. goddesses)2. Fertility-oriented• By 1500 BCE, on brink of

collapse, perhaps due to combination of natural and human disasters

3

THE “ARYAN INVASION”

• Around 1500 BCE, “Aryan” peoples from southern Russia enter Indus region

• Aryan society:1. Pastoral2. Nomadic3. Equestrian• Aryan religion:1. Polytheistic2. Patriarchal• Aryan language was ancestral

to Sanskrit, oldest known in Indo-European family

4

INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGE & MYTHOLOGY

• Words in Indo-European languages share common ancestors:

1. English -- father2. German -- Vater3. Latin -- pater4. Greek -- pater5. Sanskrit – pitar• Other examples:1. English – divinity / ritual2. Latin – divus / ritus

3. Sanskrit – deva / ŗta

• Deities in Indo-European traditions share common origins:

1. Norse -- Alfodr (“All Father,” i.e., Odin)

2. Latin – Diespiter (“Day Father,” i.e., Jupiter)

3. Greek – Zeuspater (“Father Zeus”)

4. Sanskrit – Dyauspitar (“Sky Father”)

• Thus, Sanskrit reveals deep links between ancient Indian and Western cultures

5

INDO-ARYAN SOCIETY

• Divided into 4 hereditary occupational divisions (varņas = colors):

1. Brāhman (priest)

2. Kşatriya/Rājanya (warrior)

3. Vaiśya (merchant/artisan)

4. Śūdra (peasant)

• On margins of fourfold society are Dalits (so-called “untouchables”), who perform menial and polluting tasks:

1. Corpse handlers

2. Executioners

3. Hunters and fishermen

4. Leatherworkers

6

THE VEDAS

• Concerned with orthopraxy (proper action) in ritual

• Brāhman authors edit oral liturgical traditions, producing Vedas (“knowledges”), c. 1200-600 BCE

• By 600 BCE, sūtras (“threads,” commentaries), or summaries of Vedas, become popular

• 4 collections (samhitās) of Vedas:1. Ŗigveda (ŗic = praise stanzas sung

by priests in ritual)2. Sāmaveda (sāman = songs sung by

priestly entourage)3. Yajurveda (yajus = short

incantations uttered by priests’ assistants in ritual)

4. Atharvaveda (therapeutic spells and hymns used by atharvans = healers)

7

KARMAMARGA: THE WAY OF ACTION

• Ātman (“breath”) = 1. Essential element of person2. Coexistent with body3. Separable at death, when it

ideally rejoins ancestors• Ŗta (“right, rite”) = 1. Correct pattern2. Cosmic order3. Accomplished by orthopraxy• Dharma (“law”) =1. Fixed principles2. Social order3. Accomplished by obedience to

varņa-specific obligations

• Ashramas (“stages of life”) for males of of three upper varņas:

1. Brahmaçarya (study with guru or master)

2. Grihastha (marriage, family, career)3. Vānaprastha (partial withdrawal

from social life)4. Sannyāsa (complete renunciation of

society, devotion to spiritual life)• Women participate only in householder

stage, with two likely fates:1. Marginalization as widow2. Predeceasing husband

• Gradually, goal of improved reincarnation through right action (karma) replaces reunion with ancestors

8

TRANSCENDING THE VEDAS

• Later Vedic texts (c. 1000-800 BCE) show interest in inner truth underlying outer ritual

• Contemplation of Brahman (omnipresent, immaterial, ineffable source of all) supersedes sacrifices to deities

• Upanişads (“sitting down close at hand,” c. 600 BCE) record master-disciple dialogues related to quest to overcome avidya (ignorance) and gain jñana (knowledge)

• Levels of jñana:1. Pratibhasika – grasping complete

illusion (vaita, dualistic)2. Vyavaharika – grasping conventional

illusion (vaita, dualistic)3. Paramarthika – grasping ultimate reality

(advaita, nondualistic)

9

UPANISHADIC ANTHROPOLOGY

• Ātman = the self’s 3 “bodies”:1. Causal (innermost, where

karma accumulates)2. Subtle (middlemost, where

sensory impressions are stored)3. Gross (outermost, which houses

other elements as physical form)

• Gross body disintegrates at death, but causal and subtle bodies are eternal and pass on in samsara (cycle of rebirth conditioned by karmic retribution)

10

UPANISHADIC PSYCHOLOGY

• 3 psychic organs:1. Çitta (subconscious – transmits

sensory stimuli)2. Manas (conscious mind – receives

sensory stimuli)3. Buddhi (intellect or will – evaluates

sensory stimuli)• 4 levels of consciousness:1. Waking (dominated by material

concerns and self-awareness)2. Dreaming (dominated by material

concerns and self-awareness)3. Dreamless (free of material

concerns but not self-awareness)4. Meditative (free of material

concerns and self-awareness)

11

THE PATH TO JÑANA

• Householder preparation (study of Upanişads, fulfillment of dharma, moral rectitude)

• Renunciation of society and adoption of mendicant status

• Discipleship with guru• Yoga (“work,” “union”):1. Hatha-yoga -- gymnastic2. Kundalini-yoga -- sexual3. Patanjali-yoga – combination of

meditative, physical, and moral disciplines

• Yogic self-cultivation eventually leads to samadhi (experience of undifferentiated unity with Brahman)

12

JÑANAMARGA: THE WAY OF KNOWLEDGE

• Overcome maya (illusion, especially the illusion of separation between ātman and Brahman)

• Realize unity of Brahman and ātman: “That is the Real: That is the Self: That you are!”

• Avoid actions (karma) that promote selfishness and maximize selflessness

• Through knowledge of one’s true self and positive karma, attain mokşa (liberation from samsara and full union with Brahman)

13