The student of the Rig-veda cannot remind himself too often of the composite character of the collection of hymns that it contains. Colebrooke’s essay On the Vedas was published in 1805, more than a century ago, and Sanskrit scholars are still debating whether these hymns are the simple and direct utterances of the hopes and fears, the prayers and the fancies of the faith which the Aryan brought with him when he first entered India, or whether they give us his thought when he had reached a comparatively advanced stage of civilization after the sages of his race had long and carefully considered the world around them. The truth may lie between the two views. There are verses and hymns that most certainly belong to the religious childhood, the wonder-time, of the Aryan race. There are as certainly others that have been composed or revised so that they magnify the power of the priest, and emphasize the duty of the worshipper to support elaborate ceremonial and to heap liberal gifts on clamouring ministrants. These mark a late and often a corrupt period of the evolution of the Aryan’s faith. A few hymns, such as the Purusa sukta, Hymn 90 of Book X of the Rig-veda, are obviously the productions of a singer who inherited many questionings and speculations. If only it were possible to arrange the hymns in the order in which they were composed they would thus give materials for an outline of the growth of the religion of the Aryans from the days when they were still one race with the ancestors of the Persians down to the time when the Epic Age of their history in India was beginning. Because this cannot be done the reader is constantly harrassed by the impression that he is missing much of their significance.

If a guess may be hazarded, the hymns of the Rig-veda cover a period of seven hundred years, years in which many Aryan tribes journeyed far, conquering and colonizing the great stretch of country from the passes of Afghanistan to the Ganges. Those were years in which clans or families grew into nations, in which the Aryan faith was in close but not always hostile relation to the religion of the Dasyus, and in which it could not but be that there would be many marriages which would bring the beliefs of the Dasyus into the homesteads where Dyaus and Varuna and Agni were worshipped.

It was a long period of expeditions, warfare, adventure; then of adaptation to new conditions of climate, soil, seasons, and crops; while the civilization of the nomads beyond Afghanistan changed in different degrees in different districts to the settled national life described in the Mahabharata.

There are reflections of all these varying conditions in the hymns, but owing to the confusion of more and less ancient hymns in the Rig-veda it is mere audacity to attempt to separate and declare dogmatically precisely what acts of worship and what expressions of belief made up the religion of Vedic times. It must be sufficient to indicate the chief elements of the religion in general terms, always with the understanding that the Aryans were many, that the centuries were long, and that what is true of one tribe or place or generation may not be true of all.

Another word of caution must be entered. The hymns that have been referred to, and the hymns that will be found in the section of this book containing readings from the Vedas have, of course, been selected because they are full of meaning, such as the hymns to Varuna; or of beauty, such as the hymns to Ushas; or of quaint interest, such as that to the frogs. These hymns are typical of others equally valuable. But, as Max Müller did not hesitate to say, it must not be forgotten that though the historical interest of the Veda can hardly be exaggerated, large numbers of the Vedic hymns are childish in the extreme, tedious or common-place. Many of them convey no clear meaning, or are full of vain repetitions. It is not the rule but the exception to find in this great collection of literature any cry of the soul, any glimpse of a spiritual instinct, any grasp of high revelation.

It is a curious fact, too, that in so great a collection of hymns there is so little attempt to weave the scattered religious instincts and aspirations of the time into a consistent whole; nor any evident effort after ordered religious conceptions of the universe, such as resulted, in the case of the Greeks—kinsmen of the Aryans, let us remember—in an idealized grouping of the gods on Olympus, and in a love for beauty in things moral which led them far in the search for that form of religion which was truer and more perfect than the polytheism of Olympus. In spite of the many statements in the hymns of the Aryans sages as to the relations of the gods to each other, there is nothing but inconsistency in the genealogies of those gods, and a complete lack of agreement between the various assertions that are made about them. It is impossible to construct a theology out of the materials found in the Vedas.

It is almost equally true to say that though the Aryan had high esteem for many of the virtues, these Vedic poets and thinkers do not present to their hearers any complete moral ideal. This is all the more remarkable for the conditions were as favourable to the formation of high ethical and mystical ideals in those days as they ever have been in India.

(i) Socially the Aryans when they entered India were free from any caste system. Even the priests were not as yet a separate class. The barriers that forbade any but the priests to be learned had not been set up, and so far as can be seen now there was nothing to hinder prophet or law-giver from delivering such message as he had.

(ii) The simplicity and naturalness of the times is also evident from the part that women had in worship and sacrifice. The hymns, especially the marriage hymns and the funeral hymns, show not only that priesthood had not yet usurped the right to preside at religious ceremonies, but that woman helped in the worship, had ceased to be a child before she was married, received due honour in the house of her husband, and might even compose hymns that would be included in the Vedas. The position of the women of any race may be regarded as an index of the social advancement of that race, and by this criterion it is evident that the Aryans were not hampered by an unhealthy family system.

(iii) The mental outlook was clearer than it became during the period when the Brāhmanas were being composed. The Vedic worshipper does not deny his own personality or the personality of whatever gods he is worshipping. He speaks like a man who believes in the existence of his own ego and in the reality of the personality of the divine being whom he worships. The monism of the Upanishads which reduces the Supreme to a ‘mere abyss of being’ without qualities, which looks on all existence as illusion (māyā) and explains it as a merely phenomenal round of births (samsāra) determined by the inexorable necessity of consuming the fruits of deeds done in previous lives (karma) may find passages in the Rig-veda to which it can trace some of its doctrines. But, speaking generally, the Vedas show men who believe in the actual existence of living gods as much as they believe in the actuality of their own personal experience.

(iv) Nor was there anything in the forms of worship practised by the early Aryans to prevent, if the term may be allowed, the possibility of the attainment of high spiritual vision. Their praise of the gods in its simpler forms is the spontaneous utterance of any man ‘with opened eyes’ to the marvels of the world around him. Their prayers for safety and health and long life and family welfare are the expressions of what could not but be the wishes of men in the early stages of national life. The offerings of soma-juice and grain, and the occasional solemn sacrificial feast of the worshipper with his god on some sacred animal are indications that they shared with many other primitive races the belief that these were the right and proper ways in which they might approach the gods. There is nothing in these things that would debar progress to a moral and spiritual ideal as high as that attained from much the same beginnings by the Hebrews.

If a summary of the position of those Vedic thinkers is attempted, the student will see that three very significant lines of thought find expression in the Vedas, all of them in hymns probably of the same periods. There is the belief in the righteousness of Varuna, the belief in the power of ceremonies, and the dawning acceptance of monism.

The study of the first of these gives ground for thinking that for a long time the Aryans were on the way to reach a high moral ideal. Varuna was, as has already been pointed out, one of the very old gods of the Aryans, and it is Varuna who towers above all the rest in moral grandeur. It is possible to trace in the conception of this deity a movement of the minds of those ancient worshippers towards a theism of a wonderfully lofty character. There is much in the prayers and hymns to Varuna that brings back to one who knows it the lofty language of Hebrew seers and Psalmists. He is the great lord of the laws of nature, the upholder and controller of their order and their movement. He is especially a moral sovereign, and in his presence more than in that of any other Vedic god a sense of guilt awakens in his servants’ hearts. His eyes behold and see the righteous and the wicked. Varuna’s ordinances are fixed and sure, so that even the immortal gods cannot oppose them. He places his fetters upon the sinner; his is the power to bind and the power also to release, and he forgives sins even unto the second generation. Perhaps the most significant fact of all in regard to this Vedic deity is the connexion of the doctrine of rita or the moral order with his name and authority.¹

This last point is worthy of special notice for rita is the highest conception of ’the whole duty of man’ to be found in the Veda. It is the divine method and law, which should be paramount in the order of the universe, in the worship of the gods, and in the actions of men. It corresponds to the ‘righteousness’ of the Hebrews.

Two elements are essential in all religion that is to raise men. There must first be a mystic relation between the worshipper and his god, which shall enable the worshipper to feel that he can communicate with and be inspired by his god. That mysticism is present in the hymns to Varuna. ‘With mine own heart I commune on the question how Varuna and I may be united’ confesses the singer.² Not less important for the moral growth of a man’s soul is the positive conviction of the righteousness of his god and of the need for the worshipper to practise the same righteousness. Along with mystical devotion there must go clear ethical perception. This is present in the hymns to Varuna as far as they refer to rita. If the hymns to Varuna were the only hymns that remained to us from Vedic times we should be justified in believing that the Aryans had almost reached the full belief in a supreme god, just and holy, whom they could and must serve with holiness and righteousness all their days.

But just as this belief begins to find expression Varuna seems to fade away. No hymn is addressed to him in the last book of the Rig-veda.

The effort after righteousness ceases to be apparent if it continued to exist. Indra, a god far inferior in moral qualities becomes for the time chief of the Vedic gods, but supremacy is claimed for so many other gods that the mind of the thoughtful was impelled towards the pantheism or monism that at last has its most uncompromising expression in the non-ethical, non-moral speculations of the Vedanta.

There is a very remarkable hymn in the Rig-veda³ in which this religious change or crisis is reflected in the words of an observant seer. In its verses Indra calls on Agni to awake from darkness. Agni comes telling Indra that for his sake he has forsaken Varuna. ‘I bid farewell to the great god, the Father, . . . . . I leave the Father for my choice is Indra.’ And the seer adds ‘Away pass Agni, Varuna and Soma. Kingship alternates: this (supremacy of Indra) I come to favour.’ That seer had at least grasped the fact, whether he understood the full significance of the situation or not. Later generations were not attracted by the severe personality and the moral uprightness of Varuna and did not return to him; and Varuna remains in later Hindu writings a dim god of seas and storms and tides. Yet it would be a mistake to say that the other trends of thought triumphed over what was represented by the few hymns to Varuna, just as it would be a mistake to say that the monism of the Upanishads and of the Vedanta triumphed over the more ancient beliefs of the Aryans. The supreme vision of holiness was simply not attained.

It is difficult to discern how far the worship of the holy Varuna was general among the Vedic Aryans, and why it declined; but there can be no doubt as to the religious attitude of the ordinary worshipper. He requires attention because of the gift that he offers. ‘Dehi me dadami te, Give thou to me, I give to thee’ is the formula. The gods receive strength from the offerings of the worshipper.

As rivers swell the ocean, so, hero, our prayers increase thy might. viii. 87. 8.

In return the gods ought to render to the worshipper what he wants. One sage argues the matter with Agni without any reserve:

Son of strength, Agni, if thou were the mortal, bright as Mitra, worshipped with our gifts, And I were the immortal god, I would not give thee up, Vasu, to calumny or sinfulness, O bounteous one. My worshipper should feel no hunger or distress nor, O Agni, should he live in sin. Rig-veda, viii. 19. 25, 26.

And not only ought the gods to answer prayer out of mercy and graciousness. The idea that a sacrifice rightly performed or a hymn duly sung will compel the gods to do what the worshipper wishes becomes very pronounced. The magic power of the spell, especially the spell that will set the gods to work against the demons comes out again and again. In one of the later verses of the Rig-veda, the sage Vāmadeva is represented as being able to hire out the services of Indra for ten cows to those who will return him:

Who for ten milch-kine purchaseth from me this my Indra? When he hath slain the Vritras let the buyer give him back to me. Rig-veda, iv. 24. 10.

The commentator Sāyana says that Vāmadeva had by much praise got Indra into his possession or subjugation and so was able to propose this bargain. The notion does not seem to him anything extraordinary. It is the world-wide idea of the power of the spell. And so arises the belief, fatal to morality, that any worshipper who can secure the due performance of the offerings and incantations elaborated into the ritual of the horse-sacrifice in the Yajur-veda, for example, is master of the universe of gods and men.⁴

‘Thus’, says Macdonell, ’the statement occurs in the White Yajur-veda (circ 1000 B. C.) that the Brahman who possesses correct knowledge has the gods in his power. The Brāhmanas go a step farther in saying that there are two kinds of gods, the Devas and the Brahmans, the latter of whom are to be held as deities among men. In the Brāhmanas, too, the sacrifice is represented as all-powerful, controlling not only the gods, but the very processes of nature.’⁵

Verily, there are two kinds of gods; for, indeed, the gods are the gods; and the Brahmans who have studied and teach sacred lore are the human gods. Satapatha Brahmana, II. ii. 2, 6.

The charms and magic formulae in the Atharva-veda are expressions of the same paralysing belief, but it is found in the period before the Atharva-veda also. From the earliest days there had always been present in the mind of the Aryan a firm belief in demons; and while the high aspirations of a few singers were fixed on Varuna, the many, especially as they came in contact with the Dravidians who seemed to worship the devils that the Aryans feared, were more and more inclined to forms of faith and worship which seemed to them to guarantee protection and welfare that they longed for while conscious of the malice and power of the demon hosts. And this belief has persisted in the magic practices of the Dravidians of Malabar and in the black magic of the Tantras.

If modern processes of thought held good in the minds of the ancient Aryans there must always have been men among them who did not accept the established conceptions of those around them. There are Protestants in the most conservative communities and from the Purusa sukta⁶ it is certain that in later Vedic times there were those who had begun to give a monistic interpretation to the universe. The idea of the ancient human sacrifice supplies the almost repellent framework and the imagery of this hymn, and the attempts to link the older mythology to the more developed ideas is awkward, but the general conception of the One that is the All is definite in the poet’s mind and is forcibly put. The full import can only be grasped if it is quoted in full.

1. A thousand heads had Purusa,⁷ a thousand eyes, a thousand feet. On every side pervading earth he fills a space ten fingers wide.⁸

2. This Purusa is all that yet hath been and all that is to be; The lord of immortality which waxes greater still by food.

3. So mighty is his greatness; yea, greater than this is Purusa. All creatures are one-fourth of him, three-fourths eternal life in heaven.

4. With three-fourths Purusa went up: one-fourth of him again was here. Thence he strode out to every side over what eats not and what eats.

5. From him Viraj⁹ was born; again Purusa from Viraj was born. As soon as he was born he spread eastward and westward o’er the earth.

6. When gods prepared the sacrifice with Purusa as their offering, Its oil was spring, the holy gift was autumn; summer was the wood.

7. They balmed (or, immolated) as victim on the grass Purusa born in earliest time. With him the deities and all Sadhyas¹⁰ and Rishis sacrificed.

8. From that great general sacrifice the dripping fat¹¹ was gathered up. He formed the creatures of the air, and animals both wild and tame.

9. From that great general sacrifice Ricas and Sama-hymns were born: Therefrom the metres were produced, the Yajus had its birth from it.

10. From it were horses born, from it all creatures with two rows of teeth: From it were generated kine, from it the goats and sheep were born.

11. When they divided Purusa how many portions did they make? What do they call his mouth, his arms? What do they call his thighs and feet?

12. The Brahman was his mouth, of both his arms was the Rajanya made. His thighs became the Vaisya, from his feet the Sudra was produced.

13. The Moon was gendered from his mind, and from his eye the Sun had birth; Indra and Agni from his mouth were born, and Vayu from his breath.

14. Forth from his navel came mid-air; the sky was fashioned from his head; Earth from his feet, and from his ear the regions. Thus they formed the worlds.

Footnotes

THE RIG-VEDA AND VEDIC RELIGION

THE MESSAGE OF THE RIG-VEDA

the latter of whom are to be held as deities among men. In the Brahmanas, too, the sacrifice is represented as all-powerful, controlling not only the gods, but the very processes of nature.¹²

Verily, there are two kinds of gods ; for, indeed, the gods are the gods ; and the Brahmans who have studied and teach sacred lore are the human gods.

Satapatha Brahmana, II. ii. 2, 6.

The charms and magic formulae in the Atharva-veda are expressions of the same paralysing belief, but it is found in the period before the Atharva-veda also. From the earliest days there had always been present in the mind of the Aryan a firm belief in demons ; and while the high aspirations of a few singers were fixed on Varuna, the many, especially as they came in contact with the Dravidians who seemed to worship the devils that the Aryans feared, were more and more inclined to forms of faith and worship which seemed to them to guarantee protection and welfare that they longed for while conscious of the malice and power of the demon hosts. And this belief has persisted in the magic practices of the Dravidians of Malabar and in the black magic of the Tantras.

If modern processes of thought held good in the minds of the ancient Aryans there must always have been men among them who did not accept the established conceptions of those around them. There are Protestants in the most conservative communities and from the Purusa sukta¹³ it is certain that in later Vedic times there were those who had begun to give a monistic interpretation to the universe. The idea of the ancient human sacrifice supplies the almost repellent framework and the imagery of this hymn, and the attempts to link the older mythology to the more developed ideas is awkward, but the general conception of the One that is the All is definite in the poet’s mind and is forcibly put. The full import can only be grasped if it is quoted in full.

The Purusa Sukta

1. A thousand heads had Purusa,¹⁴ a thousand eyes, a thousand feet. On every side pervading earth he fills a space ten fingers wide.¹⁵

2. This Purusa is all that yet hath been and all that is to be ; The lord of immortality which waxes greater still by food.

3. So mighty is his greatness; yea, greater than this is Purusa. All creatures are one-fourth of him, three-fourths eternal life in heaven.

4. With three-fourths Purusa went up : one-fourth of him again was here. Thence he strode out to every side over what eats not and what eats.

5. From him Viraj¹⁶ was born ; again Purusa from Viraj was born. As soon as he was born he spread eastward and westward o’er the earth.

6. When gods prepared the sacrifice with Purusa as their offering, Its oil was spring, the holy gift was autumn ; summer was the wood.

7. They balmed (or, immolated) as victim on the grass Purusa born in earliest time. With him the deities and all Sadhyas¹⁷ and Rishis sacrificed.

8. From that great general sacrifice the dripping fat¹⁸ was gathered up. He formed the creatures of the air, and animals both wild and tame.

9. From that great general sacrifice Ricas and Sama-hymns were born : Therefrom the metres were produced, the Yajus had its birth from it.

10. From it were horses born, from it all creatures with two rows of teeth : From it were generated kine, from it the goats and sheep were born.

11. When they divided Purusa how many portions did they make ? What do they call his mouth, his arms ? What do they call his thighs and feet ?

12. The Brahman was his mouth, of both his arms was the Rajanya made. His thighs became the Vaisya, from his feet the Sudra was produced.

13. The Moon was gendered from his mind, and from his eye the Sun had birth ; Indra and Agni from his mouth were born, and Vayu from his breath.

14. Forth from his navel came mid-air ; the sky was fashioned from his head ; Earth from his feet, and from his ear the regions. Thus they formed the worlds.

15. Seven fencing-logs¹⁹ had he, thrice seven layers of fuel were prepared, When the gods, offering sacrifice, bound, as their victim Purusa.

16. Gods, sacrificing, sacrificed the victim : these were the earliest holy ordinances, The mighty ones attained the height of heaven, there were the Sadhyas, gods of old, are dwelling.

The Hiranyagarbha Hymn

The same idea appears in the remarkable hymn in which Prajapati is declared the lord and creator of all. This hymn also must be read as a whole.