VEDA E VEDISMO. — Brahmanesimo (v.), mention was made of the V. and of the Vedic religion, or Vedism. But it is necessary to dwell further on the gods of the Vedic pantheon and on the “hymns of praise,” or rc (whence Rg-veda, “knowledge of the hymns of praise”), which accompanied the sacrifices of soma, the deified juice of a sacred plant used for libations to the gods.
It is not possible to pause here to deal with preliminary questions, such as the importance of the V. for the history of religions or the two methods that contended for primacy in Vedic exegesis: the ethnographic and the mythological, which raised, but did not succeed in resolving, the question of whether the radiant splendour of the sun and dawn, or the outbreak of the storm, contributed more to awakening the sense of the divine. The principal gods invoked in the hymns of the Rgveda are undoubtedly deifications of natural phenomena, more or less anthropomorphic according to the greater or lesser transparency of the natural substratum on which they are based. Agni (ignis) is described as the god with golden hair, a thousand horns, and powerful jaws; but passages attributing human form to Fire are much rarer than in the case of Indra, the storm god armed with the thunderbolt. The appearance of fire was before everyone’s eyes, and it was evident that it was not the figure of a man, whereas no mortal eye could discover the image of Indra. The poet’s imagination was therefore free to lend the god the features of a giant who, when not called upon to bestow rain by rending the clouds, exercised his power elsewhere. Two hundred and fifty hymns are dedicated to him, and two hundred to Agni. The name of Agni begins both the first and the second mandala, or “cycle,” of the Rgveda; but the first is chronologically later than the second, which is itself the first in a series of seven, attributed to as many families of rsi, or “seers,” who are said to have received their revelation. Of the twelve cycles, comprising 1028 hymns, the eighth is likewise attributed to two families of prophets, while the first, ninth, and tenth contain hymns whose authors are individually indicated. But these are mythical personages: the authors remain unknown. Cycles I and X, composed of heterogeneous parts, are the most recent in the collection. The age of the Rgveda is uncertain and impossible to determine with confidence: c. 1800 B.C. is one of the most probable dates. At the time of the composition of the Rgveda, the Indo-Aryans were still settled in the Panjab, the region of the five rivers (the Burhti of the Indus); they were engaged in pastoralism and cultivated barley, but not yet rice (srihi), and for them the wolf was the fiercest animal. In the Rgveda the elephant is mentioned only a couple of times, and the tiger never. The language of the hymns, developed in priestly schools, represents an archaic phase of Sanskrit, which probably remained a learned language, used by the brahmins and educated persons, alongside the vernacular spoken by the people. The hymns were partly recited and partly sung during the sacrifices. The choral hymn of the singing priest (udgitar) is the Sāma-veda, or “V. of melodies,” which contains 1540 stanzas, all but 75 of them drawn from the Rgveda, especially from Cycle IX, dedicated to the god Soma. Musical notation is lacking, but the constant association of the stanzas with their melodies compensated for this deficiency. Even today, in Catholic churches, the words of a hymn such as Tantum ergo or Te Deum suffice to recall to the faithful “the air” of the chant. Ab Iove principium, but Dyaus pitar (Diespiter, Iuppiter), “Father Heaven,” is a secondary divinity in the Rgveda; primacy belongs to Vārūna, the god of the starry sky, who sees and punishes the sins of men. In the company of Mitra, a solar deity, he rises at dawn upon a throne supported by bronze columns and observes, with the eye of the sun, the overt and secret actions of his subjects. The two gods are guardians of rta, “order,” both moral and cosmic. “O kings Mitra and Vārūna,” says hymn V, 62, stanza 3, “you sustain the earth and heaven by your power; you make the herbs grow and cause milk to flow to the heifers; ready givers, you make the rain fall in torrents.” Vārūna also rules over the gods, but one of them contests his primacy: Indra, the god of battles, armed with the thunderbolt, lord of the atmospheric sky. His figure is wholly anthropomorphic, with some comic features of unmistakably popular origin. The Rgvedic hymn I, 32, 1–8, 15, thus celebrates the liberation of the waters—the rivers of the Panjab—which the dragon Vṛtra held captive in the mountain caves: “I will celebrate the deeds of Indra, the first that he performed armed with the thunderbolt: he slew the dragon, opened a passage for the waters, and split open the bellies of the mountains. — He slew the dragon that lay upon the mountain; Tvaṣṭar had fashioned the resounding thunderbolt for him. Like lowing cows, the waters swiftly ran forth to plunge into the sea. — With the greed of a bull, he bellowed for soma; he drank the juice pressed in the three vats. The Munificent seized the hurled weapon, the thunderbolt; he slew that firstborn of dragons. — When you slew, O Indra, the firstborn of dragons and also destroyed the magic spells of the sorcerers, then, creating the sun, the sky, and the dawn, you truly found no more enemies. — With the thunderbolt, his great weapon, Indra struck Vṛtra, the fiercest enemy, and Vyamsa. The dragon lies stretched upon the earth like brushwood cut with an axe. — Like a drunken man unable to fight, he challenged the great hero, the destroyer ready for the assault. Indra’s enemy could not withstand the impact of his blows; as he fell, he crushed the rivers. — Without feet or hands, he fought against Indra; the latter hurled the thunderbolt into his back. Castrated, yet seeking to stand against a bull, Vṛtra lay here and there, torn to pieces. — Above him, lying thus like a broken reed, the waters pass, taking courage. The dragon Vṛtra lay at the feet of those waters which he had held enclosed by his power. — Indra, wielder of the thunderbolt, rules over that which moves and that which stands still, over the horned and the hornless. As king, he governs men; he has embraced these things as the rim of the wheel embraces the spokes.” The exegetes do not agree on the interpretation of the myth; for some, the mountains symbolise the masses of clouds, and the waters set free are the rains.
The Rgveda dedicates about thirty hymns to dawn, the daughter of heaven, who each day restores the beneficent light of day to men. This one (VII, 77) is among the most characteristic: “Radiant, she drew near like a young bride, urging every living creature to move. Agni became a flame for men; she brought the light, driving the darkness into flight. — Spreading herself widely, she rose turned toward the universe; wearing a luminous, splendid garment, she shone forth. Golden-coloured, beautiful to behold, the mother of cows, leader of the days, she gleamed. — The blessed one who bears the eye of the gods (the sun), who guides the fair white horse (the sun), Dawn adorned with rays, has appeared and spread throughout the universe with her shining gifts. — Standing near with blessings, drive away the enemy with your rays; procure for us a broad, secure pasture. Remove hostility, bring us riches, hasten the gift to the singer, O generous one! — Shine for us, goddess Dawn, with the brightest rays, prolonging our life and granting us—you who possess every good—food and gifts of cows, horses, and chariots. — O Dawn, blessed daughter of Heaven, whom the Vasiṣṭhas exalt with their prayers, grant us high and abundant wealth. You (gods), protect us always with prosperity.”
In Vedic religion, sacrifices to the gods were of two kinds: domestic sacrifices, which were attended to by the head of the household using the domestic hearth, and those « conforming to revelation (irauta) », which required three fires and the work of four principal priests: the Hotar or « Invoker », who recited hymns of praise and invited the gods to the sacrificial banquet; the Udgitar or « Singer », who accompanied the libations with songs (āna); the Adhvaryu or « Performer », who took care of the manual part of the rite and recited the sacrificial formulas (yajus); and the Brahmān, the overseer of the sacrifice, who was responsible for the perfect conduct of the ceremonies. While knowledge of only the V. relating to their own office was sufficient for the first three priests (that of the Rgveda for the Hotar, of the Sāma-veda for the Udgitar, and of the Yajur-veda for the Adhvaryu), the Brahmān had to be deeply versed in all three V., in the travidyā or « triple science », regarded as a unity and equated with Brahmān (v.). The fourth V., whose content was magical, had no connection with the sacrifice properly so called. In the Vedic age there were neither temples nor images, nor was there a state priesthood, despite the importance of the cult. Public sacrifices were performed in the open air, in communion with nature, but neither pro populo nor at public expense. They retained a private character even when performed by order of and for the benefit of the king. The spring soma sacrifice was particularly solemn and so costly that only a wealthy yajamina, « patron of the sacrifice », could afford II. The ceremony, at which sixteen priests officiated, is described as follows. Three fires are lit on a rise: that of the « master of the house », representing the domestic fire; that which receives the oblations; and the southern fire, intended to keep evil spirits away. The fires surround the vadi, a quadrilateral area dug into the ground and covered with kula grass, whose longer, indented sides curve like a crescent.
It is the pulvinare of the gods (barhis), on which they, invisible, will recline to take part in the banquet. All the divinities are invited; the greater ones by name, the lesser collectively. The first libation belongs to the Wind, the swiftest god. While the Hotar recites his litanies and the chorus of singers accompanies him, the Adhvaryu, with his assistants, attends to the manual tasks: the sacrifice of 11 goats to as many divinities, the baking of the cakes, and the pressing of the soma. Of the three pressings—the morning, midday, and evening pressings—the middle one belongs exclusively to Indra, the great drinker. Under the eye of the Brahmān, who sees everything from his high seat, the sacrificial offerings follow one another; after gladdening the gods’ table, they will gladden that of the priests. For once the sacrifice is finished, the meat, cakes, and soma are divided among the officiants together with the honorarium, consisting of gold, garments, and livestock. Offerings of food and drink were also made to the semimaterial souls of the dead, to whom the same needs as those of the living were attributed. Every day the head of the household offered the Mani small quantities of dough and rice, and it was believed that during the solemn annual sacrifice in honor of their deceased fathers, they feasted, seated upon the barhis, together with Agni, becoming intoxicated with soma. The Rgveda is poor in eschatological information; nevertheless, it permits the assertion that only the righteous go to heaven, where they find again the good works accomplished in life. For extraordinary merits, special rewards are promised; the donors of horses « unite themselves with the sun » (Rgv., X, 107, 2). References to places of punishment are likewise extremely scarce and vague. The Rgvedic hymn VII, 104, 3, invokes Indra and Soma so that these two gods may hurl the sorcerers, slanderers, liars, and haters of the brahmins into the abyss without foothold, so that not even one of them may return from there. To girls without brothers (prostitutes) and to adulteresses, a « deep place » is assigned, which must be a hell, whereas it is uncertain whether the vague allusions to « falls into the pit » and « descents into profound darkness » refer to places of punishment or rather to a tragic end and death.