Vedic religion

The Vedic religion, also referred to as Vedism, was the religion of an ancient Indo-European-speaking civilization that existed in India beginning around 1500 Before the Common Era (BCE). The Vedic religion is named for a collection of sacred texts known as the Vedas. Vedism centered on the practice of sacrificial rites and often involved sacrificial meals shared between the people and the gods. The Vedas are the only textual documentation of this period in India's religious history and are an important resource to religious scholars. The Vedic religion was influential to the beginnings of the Hindu religion, with many Hindu practices deriving from Vedic texts. The end of the Vedic period of the early Indo-Aryan culture is marked around 500 BCE, when an observable decrease in activity among the Vedic schools made way for the era of classical Hinduism.

Background

The Vedic period of northern India's history began around 1500 BCE with the spread of Aryan culture throughout India. Most historians believe the Aryans came to replace the Indus Valley civilizations as the dominant Indian culture when a large group of Aryans migrated into the Indian subcontinent from the north. An alternative theory holds that no migration took place and that the Aryans emerged from an existing Indus Valley group already living in South Asia. Despite these varying theories, the Aryans were responsible for introducing the Vedic religion to the region.

The Aryan's Indo-European language had already evolved into Vedic Sanskrit by the time they came into control of the Indian subcontinent. The term Aryan came from the Sanskrit word arya, which means "noble" or "honorable." The Aryans believed themselves to be a noble culture and adhered to a social hierarchy. They subjugated all non-Aryan people of South Asia they encountered and eventually spread their culture into the Ganges River region, which they referred to as their Aryan homeland. The Aryan population further spread into south India, overtaking the Indus Valley's Dravidian culture.

The spread of Aryan culture fostered the spread of the Vedic religion. The Aryan's Vedic worship centered on four sacred liturgical materials known as the Vedas. The Vedas were created sometime between 1500 and 1000 BCE. The Vedas were passed down orally for many centuries before being written down. Written in Sanskrit, each of the Vedas was converted into writing at different points in history. The Rig Veda is considered the oldest of the Vedic texts, and historians surmise its creation sometime between 1500 and 1200 BCE. The other three Vedas were conceived sometime before 1000 BCE.

By the first millennium BCE, the Vedic religion had begun to decline as classical Hinduism took hold of the region. By 800 BCE, Indian society had begun questioning the traditions of the Vedic religion. In response, a collection of religious texts known as the Upanishads emerged. The Upanishads were essentially commentaries on Vedic scripture. The Upanishads analyzed Vedic rituals and later evolved into the Vedanta, or the "end of the Vedas," which was a school of philosophy considered the predecessor to the Hindu religion. The Vedas remained sacred scriptures within Hinduism, however, despite little regard for their ritualistic content.

Overview

The Vedic religion adhered to four specific Vedas: Rig Veda, Sam Veda, Yajur Veda, and Atharva Veda. Each Veda consists of Samhita, a collection of hymns and descriptions of rituals. The Rig Veda is the largest and most important of the Vedas. It contains 1,028 hymns and is divided into ten books known as mandalas. The Sam Veda is used for chanting practices. The Sam Veda is almost identical to the Rig Veda but is arranged differently to create chants. The Yajur Veda is used to set up the liturgy, or rituals. Divided into White and Black Yajur Veda, this Veda explains how to carry out rituals and sacrifices. Finally, the Atharva Veda contains prayers and rituals for health. The Atharva Veda was the last to be transcribed in approximately 900 BCE. It is considered the least important of the Vedas due to its folkloric style.

The Vedic religion worshiped many gods. Vedic gods were mostly related to natural powers such as fire, wind, and storms. The Vedas present varying accounts of creation myths, and there is no clear presentation of a divine hierarchy. Several gods are referred to as the greatest of all deities at different points. Three gods receive the most attention throughout the Vedas, however. Indra is the storm god, also called the sky god and the god of war. Indra carries a thunderbolt and is known for his defeat of the demon Vritra and the consequent liberation of the mountain waters. Another god that appears frequently throughout the Vedas is Soma, the embodiment of the sacred soma plant. Soma provided holy soma juices to gods and men. Agni, the god of fire, is featured in about two hundred hymns. Commonly referred to as an important god, Agni was primarily worshiped during Vedic rituals, in which sacrifices were thrown into the fire. The flame was thought to lift the sacrifice into heaven.

The Vedas also mention the heavenly deity Varuna, who kept an eye on creation with his "great eye," the sun. Another significant Vedic god is Purusha, one of the most ancient deities who was sacrificed by other gods to create the moon, sun, sky, and Earth. The texts related to Purusha discuss the Vedic social order, stating Vedic priests emerged from Purusha's mouth, warriors from Purusha's arms, commoners from Purusha's thighs, and laborers and servants from Purusha's feet.

Rituals were arguably the most important aspect of the Vedic religion. The Aryans believed maintaining rituals and sacrifices kept the world in order. Rituals worshiped the gods, and as repayment, the gods maintained and protected the cosmos. Completing the rituals in the exact manner laid out in religious texts was extremely important, and there were specific Vedic schools dedicated to each separate Veda. If the desired outcome of a ritual was not achieved, priests were usually criticized for not performing the steps correctly. The tediousness of these rituals began to wear on Vedic followers as the rules got stricter. The seventh century saw the development of several Indian religions, including Charvaka, Jainism, and Buddhism, which were primarily established as a reaction against the Vedic tradition. This period saw a gradual shift away from the rites and practices of the Vedic religion as more Indians embraced the internal spiritual journeys touted by deviating religious movements. By the fifth century BCE, the authority of the Vedas had almost completely diminished.

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