CHAPTER II._The Religions of India Handbooks on the History of Religions, Volume 1, Edited by Morris Jastrow

PEOPLE AND LAND.

The Aryan Hindus, whose religions we describe in this volume[1],

formed one of the Aryan or so-called Indo-European peoples. To the

other peoples of this stock, Persians, Armenians, Greeks, Italians,

Kelts, Teutons, Slavs, the Hindus were related closely by language,

but very remotely from the point of view of their primitive religion.

Into India the Aryans brought little that was retained in their

religious systems. A few waning gods, the worship of ancestors, and

some simple rites are common to them and their western relations; but

with the exception of the Iranians (Persians), their religious

connection with cis-Indic peoples is of the slightest. With the

Iranians, the Hindus (that were to be) appear to have lived longest in

common after the other members of the Aryan host were dispersed to

west and south[2]. They stand in closer religious touch with these,

their nearest neighbors, and in the time of the Rig Veda (the Hindus'

earliest literature) there are traces of a connection comparatively

recent between the pantheons of the two nations.

According to their own, rather uncertain, testimony, the Aryans of the

Rig Veda appear to have consisted of five tribal groups[3]. These

groups, _janas_, Latin gens, are subdivided into _viças_, Latin vicus,

and these, again, into _gr[=a]mas_. The names, however, are not

employed with strictness, and _jana_, etymologically gens but

politically tribus, sometimes is used as a synonym of _gr[=a]ma_.[4]

Of the ten books of the Rig-Veda seven are ascribed to various

priestly families. In the main, these books are rituals of song as

inculcated for the same rites by different family priests and their

descendants. Besides these there are books which are ascribed to no

family, and consist, in part, of more general material. The

distinction of priestly family-books was one, possibly, coextensive

with political demarcation. Each of the family-books represents a

priestly family, but it may represent, also, a political family. In at

least one case it represents a political body.[5]

These great political groups, which, perhaps, are represented by

family rituals, were essentially alike in language, custom and

religion (although minor ritualistic differences probably obtained, as

well as tribal preference for particular cults); while in all these

respects, as well as in color and other racial peculiarities, the

Aryans were distinguished from the dark-skinned aborigines, with whom,

until the end of the Rig Vedic period, they were perpetually at war.

At the close of this period the immigrant Aryans had reduced to

slavery many of their unbelieving and barbarian enemies, and formally

incorporated them into the state organization, where, as captives,

slaves, or sons of slaves, the latter formed the "fourth caste." But

while admitting these slaves into the body politic, the priestly

Aryans debarred them from the religious congregation. Between the

Aryans themselves there is in this period a loosely defined

distinction of classes, but no system of caste is known before the

close of the first Vedic Collection. Nevertheless, the emphasis in

this statement lies strongly upon system, and it may not be quite idle

to say at the outset that the general caste-distinctions not only are

as old as the Indo-Iranian unity (among the Persians the same division

of priest, warrior and husbandman obtains), but, in all probability,

they are much older. For so long as there is a cult, even if it be of

spirits and devils, there are priests; and if there are chieftains

there is a nobility, such as one finds among the Teutons, nay, even

among the American Indians, where also is known the inevitable

division into priests, chiefs and commons, sometimes hereditary,

sometimes not. There must have been, then, from the beginning of

kingship and religious service, a division among the Aryans into

royalty, priests, and people, i.e., whoever were not acting as priests

or chieftains. When the people becomes agricultural, the difference

tends to become permanent, and a caste system begins. Now, the Vedic

Aryans appear in history at just the period when they are on the move

southwards into India; but they are no irrupting host. The battles led

the warriors on, but the folk, as a folk, moved slowly, not all

abandoning the country which they had gained, but settling there, and

sending onwards only a part of the people. There was no fixed line of

demarcation between the classes. The king or another might act as his

own priest--yet were there priestly families. The cow-boys might

fight--yet were there those of the people that were especially

'kingsmen,' _r[=a]janyas_, and these were, already, practically a

class, if not a caste[6]. These natural and necessary social

divisions, which in early times were anything but rigid, soon formed

inviolable groups, and then the caste system was complete. In the

perfected legal scheme what was usage becomes duty. The warrior may

not be a public priest; the priest may not serve as warrior or

husbandman. The farmer 'people' were the result of eliminating first

the priestly, and then the fighting factors from the whole body

politic. But these castes were all Aryans, and as such distinguished

most sharply, from a religious point of view, from the "fourth caste";

whereas among themselves they were, in religion, equals. But they were

practically divided by interests that strongly affected the

development of their original litanies. For both priest and warrior

looked down on the 'people,' but priest and warrior feared and

respected each other. To these the third estate was necessary as a

base of supplies, and together they guarded it from foes divine and

mortal. But to each other they were necessary for wealth and glory,

respectively. So it was that even in the earliest period the religious

litany, to a great extent, is the book of worship of a warrior-class

as prepared for it by the priest. Priest and king--these are the main

factors in the making of the hymns of the Rig Veda, and the gods

lauded are chiefly the gods patronized by these classes. The third

estate had its favorite gods, but these were little regarded, and were

in a state of decadence. The slaves, too, may have had their own gods,

but of these nothing is known, and one can only surmise that here and

there in certain traits, which seem to be un-Aryan, may lie an

unacknowledged loan from the aborigines.

Between the Rig Veda and the formation or completion of the next Veda,

called the Atharvan, the interval appears to have been considerable,

and the inherent value of the religion inculcated in the latter can be

estimated aright only when this is weighed together with the fact,

that, as is learned from the Atharvan's own statements, the Aryans

were now advanced further southwards and eastwards, had discovered a

new land, made new gods, and were now more permanently established,

the last a factor of some moment in the religious development.

Indications of the difference in time may be seen in the geographical

and physical limitations of the older period as compared with those of

the later Atharvan. When first the Aryans are found in India, at the

time of the Rig Veda, they are located, for the most part, near the

Upper Indus (Sindhu). The Ganges, mentioned but twice, is barely

known. On the west the Aryans lingered in East Kabulistan (possibly in

Kashmeer in the north); and even Kandahar appears, at least, to be

known as Aryan. That is to say, the 'Hindus' were still in

Afghanistan, although the greater mass of the people had already

crossed the Indus and were progressed some distance to the east of the

Punj[=a]b. That the race was still migrating may be seen from the

hymns of the Rig Veda itself.[7] Their journey was to the south-east,

and both before and after they reached the Indus they left

settlements, chiefly about the Indus and in the Punj[=a]b (a

post-Vedic group), not in the southern but in the northern part of

this district.[8]

The Vedic Aryans of this first period were acquainted with the Indus,

Sutlej (Çutudri), Beas (Vip[=a]ç, [Greek: Yphtsis]), Ravi (Parushni or

Ir[=a]vat[=i]); the pair of rivers that unite and flow into the Indus,

viz.: Jhelum (Vitast[=a], Behat), and Chin[=a]b (Asikni,[9] Akesines);

and knew the remoter Kubh[=a] ([Greek: Kôphhên], Kabul) and the

northern Suv[=a]stu (Swat); while they appear to have had a legendary

remembrance of the Ras[=a], Avestan Ra[.n]ha (Rangha), supposed by

some to be identical with the Araxes or Yaxartes, but probably (see

below) only a vague 'stream,' the old name travelling with them on

their wanderings; for one would err if he regarded similarity or even

identity of appellation as a proof of real identity.[10] West of the

Indus the Kurum and Gomal appear to be known also. Many rivers are

mentioned of which the names are given, but their location is not

established. It is from the district west of the Indus that the most

famous Sanskrit grammarian comes, and long after the Vedas an Indic

people are known in the Kandahar district, while Kashmeer was a late

home of culture. The Sarasvati river, the name of which is transferred

at least once in historical times, may have been originally one with

the Arghand[=a]b (on which is Kandahar), for the Persian name of this

river (_s_ becomes _h_) is Harahvati (Arachotos, Arachosia), and it is

possible that it was really this river, and not the Indus which was

first lauded as the Sarasvat[=i]. In that case there would be a

perfect parallel to what has probably happened in the case of the

Ras[=a], the name--in both cases meaning only 'the stream' (like

Rhine, Arno, etc.)--being transferred to a new river. But since the

Iranian Harahvati fixes the first river of this name, there is here a

stronger proof of Indo-Iranian community than is furnished by other

examples.[11]

These facts or suggestive parallels of names are of exceeding

importance. They indicate between the Vedic Aryans and the Iranians a

connection much closer than usually has been assumed. The bearings of

such a connection on the religious ideas of the two peoples are

self-evident, and will often have to be touched upon in the course of

this history. It is of less importance, from the present point of

view, to say how the Aryans entered India, but since this question is

also connected with that of the religious environment of the first

Hindu poets, it will be well to state that, although, as some scholars

maintain, and as we believe, the Hindus may have come with the

Iranians through the open pass of Herat (Haraiva, Haroyu), it is

possible that they parted from the latter south of the Hindukush[12]

(descending through the Kohistan passes from the north), and that the

two peoples thence diverged south-east and south-west respectively.

Neither assumption would prevent the country lying between the

Harahvati and Vitast[=a][13] from being, for generations, a common

camping-ground for both peoples, who were united still, but gradually

diverging. This seems, at least, to be the most reasonable explanation

of the fact that these two rivers are to each people their farthest

known western and eastern limits respectively. With the exception of

the vague and uncertain Ras[=a], the Vedic Hindu's geographical

knowledge is limited by Kandahar in the west, as is the Iranian's in

the east by the Vitast[=a].[14] North of the Vitast[=a] Mount Tricota

(Trikakud, 'three peaks') is venerated, and this together with a Mount

M[=u]javat, of which the situation is probably in the north, is the

extent of modern knowledge in respect of the natural boundaries of the

Vedic people. One hears, to be sure, at a later time, of 'northern

Kurus,' whose felicity is proverbial; and it is very tempting to find

in this name a connection with the Iranian Kur, but the Kurus, like

the Ras[=a] and Sarasvat[=i], are re-located once (near Delhi), and no

similarity of name can assure one of a true connection. If not

coincidences, such likenesses are too vague to be valuable

historically.[15]

Another much disputed point must be spoken of in connection with this

subject. In the Veda and in the Avesta there is mentioned the land of

the 'seven rivers.' Now seven rivers are often spoken of in the Rig

Veda, but only once does this term mean the country, while in the

'Hymn to the Rivers' no less than twenty-one streams are enumerated

(RV. X. 75). In order to make out the 'seven rivers' scholars have

made different combinations, that most in favor being Müller's, the

five rivers of the Punj[=a]b together with the Kabul and (Swat or)

Sarasvat[=i]. But in point of fact 'seven' quite as often means many,

as it does an exact number, and this, the older use, may well be

applied here. It is quite impossible to identify the seven, and it is

probable that no Vedic poet ever imagined them to be a group of this

precise number. It would be far easier to select a group of seven

conspicuous rivers, if anywhere, on the west of the Indus. A very

natural group from the Iranian side would be the Her[=i]r[=u]d,

Hilmund, Arghand[=a]b, Kurum, Kabul, Indus, and Vitast[=a]. Against

this, however, can be urged that the term 'seven rivers' may be

Bactrian, older than the Vedic period; and that, in particular, the

Avesta distinguishes Vaikerta, Urva, and other districts from the

'seven rivers.' It is best to remain uncertain in so doubtful a

matter, bearing in mind that even Kurukshetra, the 'holy land,' is

said to-day to be watered by 'seven streams,' although some say nine;

apropos of which fact Cunningham remarks, giving modern examples, that

"the Hindus invariably assign seven branches to all their rivers."[16]

Within the Punj[=a]b, the Vedic Aryans, now at last really 'Hindus,'

having extended themselves to the Çutudri (Çatadru, Sutlej), a

formidable barrier, and eventually having crossed even this, the last

tributary's of the Indus, descended to the jumna (Yamun[=a]), over the

little stream called 'the Rocky' (Drishadvat[=i]) and the lesser

Sarasvat[=i], southeast from Lahore and near Delhi, in the region

Kurukshetra, afterwards famed as the seat of the great epic war, and

always regarded as holy in the highest degree.

Not till the time of the Atharva Veda do the Aryans appear as far east

as Benares (V[=a]r[=a]nas[=i], on the 'Varan[=a]vat[=i]'), though the

Sarayu is mentioned in the Rik. But this scarcely is the tributary of

the Ganges, Gogra, for the name seems to refer to a more western

stream, since it is associated with the Gomat[=i] (Gomal). One may

surmise that in the time of the Rig Veda the Aryans knew only by name

the country east of Lucknow. It is in the Punj[=a]b and a little to

the west and east of it (how far it is impossible to state with

accuracy) where lies the real theatre of activity of the Rig Vedic

people.

Some scholars believe that this people had already heard of the two

oceans. This point again is doubtful in the extreme. No descriptions

imply a knowledge of ocean, and the word for ocean means merely a

'confluence' of waters, or in general a great oceanic body of water

like the air. As the Indus is too wide to be seen across, the name may

apply in most cases to this river. An allusion to 'eastern and western

floods,'[17] which is held by some to be conclusive evidence for a

knowledge of the two seas, is taken by others to apply to the

air-oceans. The expression may apply simply to rivers, for it is said

that the Vip[=a]ç and Çutudr[=i] empty into the 'ocean', i.e., the

Indus or the Çutudr[=i]'s continuation.[18] One late verse alone

speaks of the Sarasvat[=i] pouring into the ocean, and this would

indicate the Arabian Sea.[19] Whether the Bay of Bengal was known,

even by hearsay and in the latest time of this period, remains

uncertain. As a body the Aryans of the Rig Veda were certainly not

acquainted with either ocean. Some straggling adventurers probably

pushed down the Indus, but Zimmer doubtless is correct in asserting

that the popular emigration did not extend further south than the

junction of the Indus and the Pa[=n]canada (the united five

rivers).[20] The extreme south-eastern geographical limit of the Rig

Vedic people may be reckoned (not, however, in Oldenberg's opinion,

with any great certainty) as being in Northern Beh[=a]r (M[=a]gadha).

The great desert, Marusthala, formed an impassable southern obstacle

for the first immigrants.[21]

On the other hand, the two oceans are well known to the Atharva Veda,

while the geographical (and hence chronological) difference between

the Rik and the Atharvan is furthermore illustrated by the following

facts: in the Rig Veda wolf and lion are the most formidable beasts;

the tiger is unknown and the elephant seldom alluded to; while in the

Atharvan the tiger has taken the lion's place and the elephant is a

more familiar figure. Now the tiger has his domicile in the swampy

land about Benares, to which point is come the Atharvan Aryan, but not

the Rig Vedic people. Here too, in the Atharvan, the panther is first

mentioned, and for the first time silver and iron are certainly

referred to. In the Rig Veda the metals are bronze and gold, silver

and iron being unknown.[22] Not less significant are the trees. The

ficus religiosa, the tree later called the 'tree of the gods'

(_deva-sadana, açvattha_), under which are fabled to sit the

divinities in heaven, is scarcely known in the Rig Veda, but is well

known in the Atharvan; while India's grandest tree, the _nyagrodha_,

ficus indica, is known to the Atharvan and Brahmanic period, but is

utterly foreign to the Rig Veda. Zimmer deems it no less significant

that fishes are spoken of in the Atharvan and are mentioned only once

in the Rig Veda, but this may indicate a geographical difference less

than one of custom. In only one doubtful passage is the north-east

monsoon alluded to. The storm so vividly described in the Rig Veda is

the south-west monsoon which is felt in the northern Punj[=a]b. The

north-east monsoon is felt to the southeast of the Punj[=a]b, possibly

another indication of geographical extension, withal within the limits

of the Rig Veda itself.

The seat of culture shifts in the Brahmanic period, which follows that

of the Vedic poems, and is found partly in the 'holy land' of the

west, and partly in the east (Beh[=a]r, Tirhut).[23] The literature of

this period comes from Aryans that have passed out of the Punj[=a]b.

Probably, as we have said, settlements were left all along the line of

progress. Even before the wider knowledge of the post-Alexandrine

imperial age (at which time there was a north-western military

retrogression), and, from the Vedic point of view, as late as the end

of the Brahmanic period, in the time of the Upanishads, the northwest

seems still to have been familiarly known.[24]

* * * * *

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 1: We take this opportunity of stating that by the

religions of the Aryan Hindus we mean the religions of a

people who, undoubtedly, were full-blooded Aryans at first,

however much their blood may have been diluted later by

un-Aryan admixture. Till the time of Buddhism the religious

literature is fairly Aryan. In the period of "Hinduism"

neither people nor religion can claim to be quite Aryan.]

[Footnote 2: If, as thinks Schrader, the Aryans' original

seat was on the Volga, then one must imagine the

Indo-Iranians to have kept together in a south-eastern

emigration.]

[Footnote 3: That is to say, frequent reference is made to

'five tribes.' Some scholars deny that the tribes are Aryan

alone, and claim that 'five,' like seven, means 'many.']

[Footnote 4: RV. III. 33. 11; 53. 12. Zimmer, _Altindisches

Leben_, p. 160, incorrectly identifies _viç_ with tribus

(Leist, _Rechtsgeschichte_, p. 105).]

[Footnote 5: Viçv[=a]mitra. A few of the hymns are not

ascribed to priests at all (some were made by women; some by

'royal-seers,' _i.e._ kings, or, at least, not priests).]

[Footnote 6: Caste, at first, means 'pure,' and signifies

that there is a moral barrier between the caste and outcast.

The word now practically means class, even impure class. The

native word means 'color,' and the first formal distinction

was national, (white) Aryan and 'black-man.' The precedent

class-distinctions among the Aryans themselves became fixed

in course of time, and the lines between Aryans, in some

regards, were drawn almost as sharply as between Aryan and

slave.]

[Footnote 7: Compare RV. iii. 33, and in I. 131. 5, the

words: 'God Indra, thou didst help thy suppliants; one river

after another they gained who pursued glory.']

[Footnote 8: Thomas, _Rivers of the Vedas_ (JRAS. xv. 357

ff.; Zimmer, loc. cit. cap. 1).]

[Footnote 9: Later called the Candrabh[=a]ga. For the Jumna

and Sarayu see below.]

[Footnote 10: This is the error into which falls Brunnhofer,

whose theory that the Vedic Aryans were still settled near

the Caspian has been criticised above (p. 15).]

[Footnote 11: Compare Geiger, _Ostiranische Cultur_, p. 81.