Download CHAPTER 3: Early Hinduism Chapter Objectives After reading this

CHAPTER 3: Early Hinduism
Chapter Objectives
After reading this chapter, the student should be able to:
 Recognize the range and complexity of Hindu beliefs and practices.
 Identify indigenous cultures and religious beliefs present in India before the invasion of IndoAryans and their early development of Hinduism’s foundations.
 Evaluate the impact of Aryan social and spiritual structure on India’s conquered peoples.
 Discuss the origins of the caste system in the Vedic period, and analyze reasons for its
expansion as Brahmanism took hold in India.
 Describe the evolution of Brahmanism as its important external rituals shifted inward and
changed philosophical focus.
 Analyze the concepts of reincarnation and the Law of Karma in Brahmanism and
differentiate Indian beliefs from similar concepts in other world cultures.
Chapter Summary
Hinduism is actually a very diverse family of religions. Modern Hindus when speaking
among themselves prefer to use the word dharma which means “way of life and thought.” PreAryan India served as the original environment for the Vedic age which continued to develop
after the arrival of the Indo-Aryans. Our knowledge of the Indo-Aryan gods is drawn from the
four Vedas: Rig-Veda, Sama-Veda, Yajur-Veda, and Atharva-Veda, with the Rig-Veda being the
primary source. Though many gods existed, emphasis is directed at the primary gods,
specifically, Indra, Shiva and Varuna.
Several orders of priests officiated at public rites. These rites included ritual sacrifice and
utilized grain, flesh and liquid. The most notable of the liquids was soma, a mysterious mixture
of plant extracts and milk or honey which induced intoxication or hallucinatory effects on those
who imbibed.
Toward the end of the Vedic era, the priests were developing a philosophical quality and
the perennial questions of later philosophical inquiry such as the origin of creation were
emerging in the literature. As the Aryans pushed further down the Ganges valley the inevitable
mix of beliefs and culture ensued, and with it the rise of a class system.
The class system, so clearly established in this region of the world arose with the
ascendency of the Brahmins. The Brahmins occupied the upper ring of the class system. The
ritual texts or Brahmanas are a voluminous body of literature which provided the basis for public
and domestic rites and in many respects were the “textbooks” of the different schools of or
families of Brahmins. Significantly, the interiorization of ritual is viewed as the seeds for
asceticism and the practice of individual acts of a religious nature.
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The philosophic basis of the religion though highly speculative is contained in the
Upanishads, which are appendages to the Vedas. These texts are often presented as dialogues.
Monism developed from the philosophical quest to merge the material world and the nonmaterial or inner self. The resulting all inclusive (material and non-material) is the Brahman,
while pure consciousness is turiya.
The doctrines of reincarnation and karma arose from a non-Aryan India, but have a
hospitable climate within a social system structured around a caste system and make their first
appearance in Indian literature in the Upanishads. The link between karma and the caste system
is discussed as a merger of a social system and religion. The ultimate relief from worldly painthe Moksha, the realm of true being and true freedom is an apparent antidote for the earthly
bound, lowly anointed, particularly those confined by a caste system.
Chapter Outline
I.
II.
III.
Introduction
The Religion of the Vedic Age
A.
Pre-Aryan India
B.
The Coming of the Indo-Aryans
C.
Aryan Social Structure
D.
The Rig-Veda
1. Public Rites
2. Brahmin and The Brahmin’s Role
3. Ritual Sacrifice: Soma
4. Sacrifice and Cosmic Origins
5. Deities of Earth and Sky
6. Primary Vedic Gods
7. Liturgical Deities
E.
Henotheism
F.
The Other Vedas
G.
Magic and Rudimentary Science
H.
The Close of the Vedic Period
I.
Aryan Conquest and Compromise
Brahmanism, Caste, and Ceremonial Life
A.
The Rise of the Class System
B.
Brahmin Ascendancy
C.
Ritual Texts: Brahmanas
D.
Rites
1. Public Rites
2. Domestic Rites
E.
The Philosophy of the Upanishads
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F.
G.
H.
I.
J.
K.
L.
M.
N.
Ritual Interiorized
The Trend toward Monism
Brahman
1. Brahman and He-She/It
2. Manifest and Unmanifest Brahman
Brahman and Atman
1. “That Art Thou”
2. Experiential Unity
Cosmic Cycles: Kalpas
First Appearance in Indian Thought of Reincarnation and Karma
1. Samsara
2. Karma
The Place of Caste in the Religious Dogma
The Need of a Way of Release
Moksha
Discussion Questions
1. During the Vedic period a shift in religious and philosophic inquiry brought questions about
cosmology (origins of the world) and the unity of all beings into examination. What spiritual
and societal factors do you think contributed to this religious expansion of ideas?
2. In what ways did the caste system, so strongly developed in India contribute to the Brahmin
religious dogma? Are there any other areas of the world with such strong stratification of the
populace? What similarities and differences might be found and support or debunk the
hypothesis that there is a connection?
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