Jambu Jyoti

Author(s): M A Dhaky, Jitendra B Shah
Publisher: Kasturbhai Lalbhai Smarak Nidhi Ahmedabad

Page 14

Jainism vis-à-vis Brahmanism
ancient character in the Vedic literature. Its household rituals belong to the profane or popular customs, on the verge of the Vedic orthodoxy. It is mentioned alongwith the other three Vedas in the Satapatha-Brāhmaṇa, before Buddhism came into existence. The Atharvaveda does represent the Brahmanical culture as a whole (cp. Horsch. pp. 45-54). It was spread from the north-west slowly to the midland India and the east. It was not known in the period before the existence of Buddhism (cp. Horsch. p. 63. See also Tsujs Review on his monograph). It was generally known as the kṣatraveda, the Veda of the warriors, and was connected with the Vratyas (cp. Horsch. p. 428, Matas. p. 10 and footnote 40).
3
(5) The Vratyas:- The Vratyas are the members of the non-brahmanical cult of the Aryan origin. They are wandering kṣatriyas originally of the northwest, probably Kuru-Pañcālas, precursors of the dikṣitas, later of the Saivaites. They possess pure religious character and are much nearer to the Brahmanism in their thinking (cp.Horsch. pp. 401-402, 408). They are considered amongst the condemned brahmins of the east-Magadha, since they lost their contact with the orthodoxy (Horsch. p. 419). Particularly, the Vratyastoma ceremony is meant for their purification at the beginning of, and return from their royal expeditions. They are respected persons (arhan, divya, etc.). They organized samghas for their cult. They are distinguished by their priestly and royal functions, both at a time, but are not concerned directly with the new Brahmanical systems of the Aryavarta. The Vratyas are unorthodox in behaviour due to their contact with the earlier Aryans migrated to India. They spoke very old dialects (Horsch. p. 418, cp. Heesterman-1962, Parpola-1975 footnote 46.)
(6) Early Upanisads - Early Upanisadic doctrines originated in the extremely esoteric Brahmanical environment and were exclusively confined to intimate circles. The Upanisadic thinkers resorted to solitary places in order to get probably a bit of free thinking, secluded from the ritualistic surroundings. But it seems that the speculative ideas of the early Upanisads emerging from within the ritualism could not altogether resist its hold. The esoteric ideas being confined to restricted circles in solitary places developed independently and show no influences of contemporary heterodox ideas developing even in the same geographical regions (Horsch. p. 400).