Hinduism 1 the Aryans

							Hinduism
• on the Indian subcontinent one of the world’s oldest faiths
takes root
• not founded by one person, it is inclusive by nature and
absorbs new ideas and practices
• it will come to be known as Hinduism, but its practitioners
initially did not refer to themselves as Hindus
• rather, outsiders travelling near the Indus River, will refer to
the “river people” there as Sindus (after the river)
• from this over time would come the term “Hindu”


• the faith’s foundations are laid by two groups:
        1. the Indus Valley civilizations
        2. the Aryan invaders



    “sanatana dharma”
                                                         3000 BCE 
Indus Valley Civilization
• one of the world's earliest urban civilizations
• its largest cities (Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro)
may have held over 50,000 people
• it was noted for its brick buildings, irrigated
agriculture, metal work and sewer system (large
baths suggest importance given also to physical
and ritual cleanliness)

•archaeological digs have unearthed what seem to
be houses of worship,
• fire pits (altars of a religious nature, perhaps for
animal sacrifice), and




• small, symbolic stone seals with religious
intent (deity’s protection and authentication)
                                                        2500-1700
Matriarchal Society                                                 BCE


• one seal showed a goddess in an ancient ritual
• also found were sculptured female figurines (perhaps a mother
goddess, feminine creator), suggesting also a matriarchal society
and the existence of a fertility cult
                                                                           1900 BCE
The Harappan decline
• this literate civilization was at its height around 2600 BCE
• there was contact between it and other similar sedentary, agricultural
societies (Mesopotamia)
• it entered into a period of decline starting in 1900 BCE (largely due to
internal factors such as floods or drought)
• with the arrival of a new people and their own spiritual traditions, this
Harappan culture would transition into the resulting Vedic culture
• bringing too a controversial invasion theory
                                                                1500 BCE
The Aryan “conquest”
• a conquering, nomadic people from central Asia (sometimes called
Indo-Europeans) spread into India (displacing its agricultural society)
• a patriarchal society, whose people spoke Sanskrit, they introduce
Hinduism’s oldest sacred texts- the Vedas
• they also introduce their own primarily male gods (devas),
replacing the female focus of the Indus Valley people
• this primitive, warlike people became the ruling class, and
instituted the caste system to maintain control (lasting 1,000 years)
A theory                                                            1500 BCE
THE CLAIM
• Hindu civilization the result of mass migration of Indo-Europeans
• these same ‘Aryans’ instrumental in establishing Middle Eastern cultures
• on arrival they destroyed the original culture of the subcontinent
• Hinduism, therefore, is an imported Central Asian religion
   WHY SUCH A CLAIM?
• done to prove the superiority of Western culture and religion
• provide justification for Britain’s then imperial ambitions in India
• to claim that Hindu civilization had outside origins (Middle Eastern
culture brought to India with the Aryans)
• to discredit notion that a spiritually sophisticated civilization existed
at the same time as or before Abraham (and subsequent Western faiths)
                                                                      1500 BCE
A theory debunked
A THESIS DISPROVED
• archeological evidence for an invasion is scarce (chariots not typically the
vehicles of nomads, cities show no signs of man-made destruction)
• nor does overwhelmingly clear textual evidence of such an event exist
• Harappan civilization more likely the victim of natural disasters (drought)
OUR CONCLUSION
• a vibrant society existed and an invasion took place (bringing with it new
influences that in many respects enrich the former)
• one did not comprehensively displace the other (Harappan civilization
was already weakened and in decline, yet it possessed a faith that
absorbed the influences of the newcomers)
• India’s culture and faith are homegrown
                                                                               1500 BCE
Aryan Society’s Varnas
• this primitive warlike people became the ruling class, and instituted the caste
system (varnas - colours) to organize society and maintain control (distinguish
light-skinned Aryan conquerors from darker Dravidians they dominated)
• people were born into a varna

BRAHMINS                                                    KSHATRIYA
• dominant priestly,                                        • noblemen and warrior
scholarly class                                             class
• writers of the                                            • rulers of society (led by
Vedas                                                       Raja)


SHUDRA
• servants (non-
Aryans) who were                                           VAISHYA
excluded from Vedic                                        • merchants, skilled
rituals                                                    craftsmen (source of minor
• unskilled peasant                                        officials)
workers                                                    • farmers
The system
• meaningful social interaction between these castes did not exist and indeed the
system worked to keep this from happening
• in this hierarchal society only the first three groups were considered “twice born”
(underwent initiation into the faith and wore the sacred thread)
• furthermore, only the men of the twice born could hear the Vedas read

• the system was closely linked to one’s occupation
• dharma dictated that one would marry within one’s caste
• different castes could not eat together either
• men would follow their own dharma according
to their caste (or stage of life)
• one’s status at the bottom of the caste structure
reflected bad deeds in a previous life
• the fourth class, the shudra, was further
divided into two subgroups:
          clean and unclean
• the latter were the untouchables
The untouchable Dalits
• at the bottom of the hierarchical society of Vedic India were the Untouchables
or Dalits
 these societal outcastes were excluded from the recognized groups and lived in
separate colonies (chamardlees)

• the worst canker of caste, of old they were the scavengers, cleaners of latrines
(“manual scavenging”), handlers of animal carcasses in the making of leather
• from the Varnas would come the more recent jati system that focuses on birth
groups and occupations




                                  “night soil”
Challengers of Caste
• through the centuries, the elites ignored the problem citing karma
(could not a good dalit look forward to a better life next time?)
• moral leaders, however, have consistently challenged this practice

• new faiths appeared (Jainism, Buddhism
and Sikhism) disavowing caste strictures
• in modern times, reformers put an end to
practices like suttee while others (such as
Tagore and Gandhi) came to the defence of
the harijans (children of God)
• India’s constitution bans untouchability
• the best weapon in eroding the myth of caste?

Education                      “OBC”
The setting: Bharata mata
• the Indian subcontinent is a
  massive but somewhat                     Mountains
  isolated landmass              Desert
                                 Plateau               Mountains
• to a certain extent during
  its formative period- after
  the Aryan intrusion-
  Hinduism develops free
  from interaction with, or                                        Jungle
  interference from, other
  cultures or civilizations
• the faith and its scriptures
  would develop during this
  period
• so too eventually a
  reformulation of Vedic
  Hindu ideas
                                                                       1500 BCE
A blending of peoples and faiths
• when the Aryans arrive Indus Valley civilization is in decline
• culturally however it is still strong
• its religious elements included a mother-goddess, control over sexual
powers, and ritual cleanliness

• the two cultures and religious traditions would merge
• the result would be Aryan in structure but incorporating much from
Indus Valley people
The Vedic Faith
• the people of Vedic India believed in gods
representing the forces of nature and in the
mysticism of sacrifice (yajna)
• these deities were primarily male
• they had no temples or statues
• through the altar, sacred fire (Agni), and the
mystical rites of sacrifice, immortality could be
achieved
• hymns (mantras) were used as part of the fire
sacrifice made to appease gods of
the skies, middle region and earth
• the power of the hymns lay in their
being heard ( shruti )
                                                                  1500 BCE
The Aryan pantheon
• their major deities all had links to sun
• the gods of the invaders belonged to three groups:
Celestial gods
• these deities were worshipped through rituals, food offerings
and hymns
• Varuna, the group’s key figure, governed moral action and
order (rita) and created the world

Atmospheric gods
• Indra, warrior and god of thunder and lightning, was the key
figure (and 2nd most important Vedic deity)

Terrestrial gods
• the gods of the earth, who became especially important in
later Vedic period
• only these gods were directly associated with sacrifice
• Agni ruled the roost (during this time Varuna and Indra
received fewer sacrifices)
The shruti
• according tradition, the Vedas (knowledge)
was revealed by a creator god (Brahman) to a
group of sages (rishis)
• they in turn would transmit it to the people
• for centuries the Vedas were an oral tradition
passed on by Brahmin priests
• these rishis (later known as the Brahmins)
controlled the sacrificial rituals
• they also controlled the holy texts received or
“heard” from god (the Vedas)
    “the shruti”

• the Vedas were the faith’s oldest texts
                                                                     1400 BCE
Vedas: the roots
• the Vedas    were a set of four collections of direct
revelation (given to the rishis) that appeared in
completed written form before 1000 BCE)
• the Rig-Veda consisted of hymns praising the Aryan gods
• they reveal the warlike nature of these people
and the preeminent status of the priestly class
• Sama Veda – chanted phrases (mantras)
• Yajur Veda – formulas and incantations used during sacrifice (a manual)
• Atharva Veda – “the Veda of the Fire Priest” which contained magical
incantations and spells
• in these books the yajnas (sacrificial
         fire rituals conducted by the
          Vedic priests) were described
                                                                    800 BCE
Brahmanas and Aranyakas
• as the Aryans and the Indus Valley natives further mingle their
cultures and religious customs, new rituals and beliefs emerge
• around 800 BCE two new sacred texts develop, the Brahmanas
(instructions on sacrifice for the Vedic priests) and the Aranyakas
(the “forest texts” detailing the discussions of holy sages
debating the meaning of sacrificial rites)
• in both cases, the writings are meant for the benefit
of the Vedic priests (not the common folk)
• indeed most of the gods from this period are
largely obsolete in Hinduism
 today (with a few exceptions)
- Indra the god of storm     
- Varuna the god of water


     more “shruti”
Agni: the link
• another god from the Vedic Age that survived to
later retain its supremacy in the Hindu hierarchy,
was the god of fire, Agni
• the Aryans worshipped deities representing the
forces of nature, and with fire being so important,
Agni was a proto-typical Aryan god

• central to the sacrificial process, it was Agni that
carried sacrifices to the gods
• the Aryans felt a link existed between the god
and humans (the latter to worship, pray and
sacrifice to the former)

• not merely fire in the physical sense, but
the fire element throughout nature (the vital
spark in the earth)
• has destructive aspects but is also the
friend of man, provider of warmth and light
The stranglehold of the Brahmins
• Vedic Age lasted for hundreds of years
• the Brahmin priests offered sacrifices for those who
requested them
• through this came the reward of escape from mortal bodies
and the prospect of union with the gods
• these fire pit sacrifices were practiced because it was
believed that fire was the creative source of all powers

• such rituals were complex, the priests, therefore, had
considerable power

• they not only recited the verse prayers (mantras), but they also controlled the
Vedas scriptures
• in the late Vedic period, sacrifice was increasingly important, and only certain
gods received much attention

• such was their vice-like grip, that over time people began to question their
adherence to the Brahmin’s world of sacrificial ritual
• disillusionment grew over the power of the Brahmins