Hinduism: A Short History (3 page)

     I.

Beginnings of the Vedic ritual and textual tradition: possibly as early as 6000

B.C.E.

in Northwest India (Saptasindhu), superseding and incorporating earlier local (village) cults.

   II.   Consolidation and expansion of Vedic tradition, formation of the “Canon” of the

and emergence of ritual specialists: c.4000

B.C.E.

  III.   Full flowering of Vedic religion in the Panjab and adjacent areas: c.3000

B.C.E.

This would also include the so-called “Indus civilization.”

   IV.   Major natural cataclysms and desiccation of Sindh and adjacent areas followed by migrations from the Indus area eastward towards the Gangetic plains: As a result of population pressure building up in the Yamunā-Ganges doab the Mahābhārata war was precipitated c.1900

B.C.E.

Gradual acceptance of Śaivism and Vaiṣṇavism.

    V.   Internal disputes and development of many mutually incompatible (“heterodox”) traditions: while most of these, like the Ajīvikas, have died out, some survived: Jainism (re-organization in the seventh century

B.C.E.

of an older independent ascetic movement) and Buddhism (originating in the sixth century

B.C.E.

). For several centuries (300

B.C.E.

to 300

C.E.

) non-Hindu traditions were dominant in India, and from there expanded into neighbouring countries.

  VI.   Restoration of Hinduism under the Guptas: from the late fourth century

C.E.

to the sixth century. Anti-Buddhist and anti-Jain polemics and development of orthodox (non-theistic) Hindu theologies (Mīmāmsā and Vedānta) as well as of mainstream (theistic)

(Vaiṣṇavism, Śaivism, later also Śāktism). Foundation of Hindu kingdoms in the countries of South East Asia (Indonesia, Kampuchea, Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, Philippines).

 VII.   Repression of Hinduism under Muslim rule: from c.1200

C.E.

till about 1800

C.E.

Disappearance of Hinduism from public life, cultivation of personal piety (bhakti) and private ritual (Tantra).

VIII.   Emergence of new Hindu kingdoms in Muslim-dominated India: Vijayanagara (1336–1565) and Maharastra (eighteenth century).

   IX.   Rising of reformers of Hinduism under British (Christian) influence: nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Development of a distinct Hindu identity and a Hindu consciousness.

    X.   Partition of India (1947): formation of a theocratic Indian Muslim State (Pakistan) and a secular Indian democratic state (Bhārat). Efforts by Hindu nationalist political parties to “hinduize” Bhārat and transform it into a Hindu rāṣṭra.

BASIC HINDU SOURCE LITERATURE

The total mass of writings considered Hindu Scriptures, i.e. books that are religiously authoritative and believed inspired by a superhuman agency, far exceeds any scriptural tradition of any other religion. While much of it is accepted as divinely revealed only by believers in particular communities, there is a large corpus of books that form the basis of the “Vedic tradition” and that (at least nominally) is accepted by all Hindus as “sacred.” Although writing down of sacred texts was apparently forbidden for a long time, the collection of such texts, the memorization and their recitation, was central to ancient Indian traditions.

Śruti
and
Smṛti

The authoritative Hindu religious literature is divided into two main categories:
śruti
(literally: “that which has been heard”) and
smṛti
(literally: “that which has been remembered”).
Śruti
has the connotation of “revelation,” “truth” in an unquestionable sense, norm of belief and practice.
Smṛti
bases its authority on the standing of the writer to which it is attributed, authoritative only to the extent to which it conforms to
śruti
. It offers a certain freedom of choice between conflicting opinions, allows interpretation that is more than the mere establishing of the one correct meaning of words and sentences.

Śruti
is identical with the Veda (literally “knowledge”) in its wider sense, which comprises:

(a)   the Veda in the narrower sense, i.e. the four

(literally “collections”)

(Veda of hymns, or verses)

(Veda of melodies)

(Veda of rituals)

(Veda of incantations and spells)

(b)   the

, large texts explanatory of the rituals, associated with each of the four

as follows:

(1)

(1)

(2)

Eight, of which the most important are

(1)

(2)

(3)

(c)

, literally “forest treatises,” i.e. teachings no longer relating to sacrifice and ritual, namely:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(d)

, also called “Vedānta,” “end of the Veda,” mystical utterances designed to teach the means for liberation from rebirth and all suffering. There is a very large number of these, of whom 108 are usually enumerated as “genuine.” The so-called “Major Upanisads,” commented upon by classical authors, are about ten to twelve.

There is a large number of so-called “sectarian Upanisads,” compendia of Vaisnava, Śaiva, and Śākta teachings and practices, and others.

Smṛti
or “Tradition” comprises a very large number of heterogeneous works, classified as follows:

(a)

, Codes of Law, often introduced by creation narratives and concluded by advice on how to reach salvation. They are fairly numerous, but some have acquired an authority that stands out, such as

, attributed to Manu, the forefather of all humans now living,

, attributed to an important Vedic sage,

, and many others.

(b)

, “history,” comprising the two ancient Indian epics

(including

(c)

, “old books,” texts that provide information about the creation of the universe, about genealogies of patriarchs and kings, rules of life and mythologies of the major deities they are dealing with. They are subdivided into 18

, “Great Purāṇas,” classified according to the deity they are devoted to, and a large number of

, “Lesser Purāṇas.”

1. The

comprise:

6 Vaiṣṇava

Purāṇas:

6 Śaiva

Purāṇas:

6 Brahma

Purāṇas:

2.

, of which there are a large number.

The ascription to either category is not undisputed. Thus e.g. the Sāktas consider the

a “Mahā-Purāṇa,” while others classify it as a “Upa-Purāṇa.”

In general, the members of a particular

would consider the Purāṇa, that they adopt as theirs, as

, revelation, with the same authority as that of the Vedas.

3. Numerous

, works that describe the history of a particular holy place

, embellishing it with numerous miraculous events associated with the image and its worship.

The
Sūtras

At a certain time, when memorizing the increasingly voluminous primary literature apparently became next to impossible, short compendia,
sūtras
(literally “threads”), were composed that presented the essentials of each discipline in a succinct and reliable manner. In the course of time, virtually all subjects of traditional learning received their
sūtras
. Thus we have in the context of religion
Śrauta-Sūtras
, summarizing the rules applying to public sacrifices;
Gṛhya-Sūtras
, providing a summary of domestic rites;
Kalpa-Sūtras
, compendia of other rituals;
Dharma-Sūtras
, manuals of religious and secular law; and
Śulva-Sūtras
, providing elementary geometry and rules of construction for fire-altars and so forth.

When the Veda became difficult to understand owing to the archaic language it used and the distance in time between its composers and its later students,
Vedāṅgas
, books teaching the auxiliary sciences connected with Veda-study, were provided. Thus we have
Śikṣā
(phonetics),
Chandas
(meter),
Vyākaraṇa
(grammar),
Nirukta
(etymology),
Jyotiṣa
(astronomy) and
Kalpa
(ritual).

While training in the Vedas was mandatory for brahmins in order to enable them to fulfill their priestly duties, very often they were also taught secular subjects, termed
Upa-Vedas
(sciences not connected with Veda-study). The traditional subjects were
Āyur-Veda
(medicine),
Gandharva-Veda
(music and dancing),
Dhanur-Veda
(archery), and
Sthāpatya-Veda
(architecture).

In addition to the vast body of writing described above, which forms the common heritage of Hinduism, there is an extensive sectarian literature which advocates tenets that are exclusive to certain
saṃpradāyas
and are not shared by other Hindus. Thus there are numerous
Saṃhitās
, sectarian Vaiṣṇava writings;
Āgamas
, sectarian Śaivite works; and
Tantras
, sectarian Śākta books. By the followers of these
saṃpradāyas
these works are considered revealed
(śruti)
and equal in authority to the Veda. While offering some philosophical reflections on the nature of God, world, and living beings from the specific theological perspective which the particular sect advocates, they are mostly concerned with ritual and with regulations of the life of the devotees. Some are manuals of worship as it is performed in major temples. Thus the
Parameśvara Saṃhitā,
¹⁵
to mention just one example, codifies the worship of the great Viṣṇu sanctuary at Śrīraṅgam, the
Somaśambhupaddhatī
¹⁶
details the daily ritual in South Indian Śiva temples.

While the classification of Hindu scriptures is fairly universally accepted, both the relative and the absolute dating are controversial. With regard to the relative dating, there are Hindu scholars who assume that the Atharvaveda is older than the Ṛgveda
¹⁷
and there is a fairly strong Hindu tradition that insists that the Purāṇas are as old as the Vedas, antedating the epics.

With regard to absolute dating the gap between those who accept the Āryan invasion theory and those who do not is enormous. Because the dating has to be seen in this context, no figures will be mentioned here and the reader is advised to compare the sets of dates provided earlier. The estimated age of Epics, Purāṇas, and Tantras will be mentioned when dealing with these writings. There is a tendency among Hindus to consider scriptures “beginningless”
(anādi)
and to take literally the claim of many of them to be direct revelations from the Supreme – again removing them from any meaningful historical process of dating.

There is an ancient rivalry between North and South in India that also extends to language and scriptures. While the North insists on the primacy of Sanskrit scriptures and considers Sanskrit the only sacred language proper, the South claims that Tamil is older than Sanskrit and that certain Tamil writings are on an equal footing with Sanskrit
śruti
. This linguistic cum religious issue came to the fore in medieval Tamilnadu: the
ācāryas
of Śrīraṅgam had the Tamil hymns of the Āḷvārs recited in temple-worship, side by side with Sanskrit hymns. One branch of Śrīvaiṣṇavas, the Tengalais, even placed the Tamil writings above the Sanskritic ones.