Jinamanjari 1996 04 No 13

Author(s): Jinamanjari
Publisher: Canada Bramhi Jain Society Publication

Page 35

purity of the Vedic ritual; whereas, the Grhyasutra describes the practice of making offerings to yaksas at the end of Vedic studies. 25 Although these examples offer a simplistic glance at two extremes in what was a long and complicated process of interaction and change, they do offer an insight into the changes that occurred in the relationship between Brahmanical and popular religion over the centuries. This gradual shift towards the incorporation of popular religion into Vedism seems to have been occurring as early as the Atharvaveda, which began to equate the term "yaksa" with Brahma, and eventually culminates in the rise of modern Hinduism, wherein Visnu, Siva and the Goddess take precedence over older Vedic deities like Indra and Varuna.2
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Furthermore, the presence of a first century B.C.E. linga found under a fence tree demonstrates some connection between later Hinduism and early tree-caityas.2 27 This connection is further supported by the importance of tree symbolism in Hinduism. Specifically, the association of particular plants like the tulsi with Visnu and the sal with Siva, as well as the close relationship between trees and shrines suggests a connection between the caitya of popular religion and later Hindu practice.
The preceding paragraphs have worked to establish the importance of the tree, or more specifically the caitya, as being a centre of sacredness providing access to the transcendent posers of spiritual authority. Similarly, the presence of this imagery in all three of these religions points to it having been transmitted to them through the medium of popular religions, of which the textual accounts suggest trees were an important part. The popular origin of tree and caitya imagery become more significant when we look at the material record of the Indus culture among whose steatite seals several representations of trees, both fenced and un-fenced can be found.
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