Historical Vedic religion

Vedism refers to the oldest form of the Vedic religion, when Indo-Aryans entered into the valley of the Indus River in multiple waves during the 2nd millennium BCE.

[a] According to Heinrich von Stietencron, in 19th century western publications, the Vedic religion was believed to be different from and unrelated to Hinduism.

[20] In response to western colonialism and (Protestant) proselytizing, Hindu reform movements like the Brahmo Samaj and the Neo-Vedanta in the late 19th and early 20th century rejected the 'superstitions' of Puranic Hinduism, which in their view had deviated from the Vedic heritage, instead propagating a return to the Vedas and to restore an "imagined"[21] original, rational and monotheistic ancient Hinduism with an equal standing as Protestant Christianity.

[20] The historical Vedic religion is now generally accepted to be a predecessor of modern Hinduism, but they are not the same because the textual evidence suggests significant differences between the two.

[23][page needed] Nevertheless, while "it is usually taught that the beginnings of historical Hinduism date from around the beginning of the Common Era," when "the key tendencies, the crucial elements that would be encompassed in Hindu traditions, collectively came together,"[24] some scholars have come to view the term "Hinduism" as encompassing Vedism and Brahmanism, in addition to the recent synthesis.

[14][33] The eastern Ganges plain was dominated by another Indo-Aryan complex, which rejected the later Brahmanical ideology and gave rise to Jainism and Buddhism, and the Maurya Empire.

[55] It was "a syncretic mixture of old Central Asian and new Indo-European elements"[55] which borrowed "distinctive religious beliefs and practices"[12] from the Bactria–Margiana culture (BMAC).

[12] This syncretic influence is supported by at least 383 non-Indo-European words that were borrowed from this culture, including the god Indra and the ritual drink Soma.

[39]The oldest inscriptions in Old Indic, the language of the Rig Veda, are found in northern Syria, the location of the Mitanni kingdom.

[57] The Old Indic term r'ta, meaning "cosmic order and truth", the central concept of the Rig Veda, was also employed in the Mitanni kingdom.

[61] White (2003) cites three other scholars who "have emphatically demonstrated" that Vedic religion is partially derived from the Indus Valley civilization.

The Vedic religion changed when Indo-Aryan people migrated into the Ganges Plain after c. 1100 BCE and became settled farmers,[14][63][64] further syncretizing with the native cultures of northern India.

[2][page needed][3] The evidence suggests that the Vedic religion evolved in "two superficially contradictory directions", namely an ever more "elaborate, expensive, and specialized system of rituals",[65] which survives in the present-day srauta-ritual,[66] and "abstraction and internalization of the principles underlying ritual and cosmic speculation" within oneself,[65][67] akin to the Jain and Buddhist tradition.

[77] Historically, and still by some modern authors, the word 'Brahmanism' was used in English to refer to the Hindu religion, treating the term Brahmanism as synonymous with Hinduism, and using it interchangeably.

[93] They follow the outline of 19th century colonial rulers, who viewed India's culture as corrupt and degenerate, and its population as irrational.

— Nasadiya Sukta, Rig Veda, 10:129-6[96][97][98] The idea of reincarnation, or saṃsāra, is not mentioned in the early layers of the historic Vedic religion texts such as the Rigveda.

[108][23] Similarly, the later layers of the Vedic literature such as the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (c. 800 BCE) – such as in section 4.4 – discuss the earliest versions of the Karma doctrine as well as causality.

[112] Specific rituals and sacrifices of the Vedic religion include, among others:[15][verification needed] The Hindu rites of cremation are seen since the Rigvedic period; while they are attested from early times in the Cemetery H culture, there is a late Rigvedic reference invoking forefathers "both cremated (agnidagdhá-) and uncremated (ánagnidagdha-)".

The Rigveda is a collection of hymns to various deities, most notably heroic Indra, Agni the sacrificial fire and messenger of the gods, and Soma, the deified sacred drink of the Indo-Iranians.

[119] In the Hindu tradition, the revered sages of this era were Yajnavalkya,[120][121] Atharvan,[122] Atri,[123] Bharadvaja,[124] Gautama Maharishi, Jamadagni,[125] Kashyapa,[126] Vasistha,[127] Bhrigu,[128] Kutsa,[129] Pulastya, Kratu, Pulaha, Vishwamitra Narayana, Kanva, Rishabha, Vamadeva, and Angiras.

[130] In the Vedas and later sutras, the meaning of the word satya (सत्य) evolves into an ethical concept about truthfulness and is considered an important virtue.

[131] Vedic ṛtá and its Avestan equivalent aša are both thought by some to derive from Proto-Indo-Iranian *Hr̥tás "truth",[133] which in turn may continue from a possible Proto-Indo-European *h2r-tós "properly joined, right, true", from a presumed root *h2er-.

[134] As Mahony (1998) notes, however, the term can be translated as "that which has moved in a fitting manner" – although this meaning is not actually cited by authoritative Sanskrit dictionaries it is a regular derivation from the verbal root -, and abstractly as "universal law" or "cosmic order", or simply as "truth".

[136] Owing to the nature of Vedic Sanskrit, the term Ṛta can be used to indicate numerous things, either directly or indirectly, and both Indian and European scholars have experienced difficulty in arriving at fitting interpretations for Ṛta in all of its various usages in the Vedas, though the underlying sense of "ordered action" remains universally evident.

[139] The central myth at the base of Vedic ritual surrounds Indra who, inebriated by Soma, slays the dragon (ahi) Vritra, freeing the rivers, the cows, and Dawn.

The Vedic god Indra in part corresponds to Dyaus Pitar, the Sky Father, Zeus, Jupiter, Thor and Tyr, or Perun.

Some major deities of the Vedic tradition include Indra, Dyaus, Surya, Agni, Ushas, Vayu, Varuna, Mitra, Aditi, Yama, Soma, Sarasvati, Prithvi, and Rudra.

[157] According to David Knipe, some communities in India have preserved and continue to practice portions of the historical Vedic religion, as observed in Kerala and Andhra Pradesh states and elsewhere.

[162][163][m][164][165] These were not direct outgrowths of Vedism, but movements with mutual influences with Brahmanical traditions,[162] reflecting "the cosmology and anthropology of a much older, pre-Aryan upper class of northeastern India".