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might have originated from the term and culture there will remain no vedic 'Dravadida Saman' or it might have had religion, philosophy and culture. If something to do with this Saman.
deva' is non-Aryan then Vedic religion, 20. As stated by the authors of the philosophy and culture is also non-Aryan. pre-vedic existence of the Jain tradition 22. A word about the pre-Vedic existheory the Mahabharata holds that the tence of the snake worship. The. Rg. Asuras were Vedic people with Vedic Veda does not appear to have recorded beliefs. The learned author, however, any reference to snakeworship. However, discards the authority of the Mahabharata there is a seer Sarparajni (Rv. X. 189). on this point since he feels that 'the calm Arbuda Kadraveya Sarpa is the author of and peaceful attitude towards life and the Rv. X 94. The word Sarpa has been used belief in equality for all adopted by the in various senses in the Samhitas. It has Asuras are essentially, originally (and been explained as 'devah' and 'lokah' in perhaps finally also) Jain or Sramanic. the Brahmanas Yajurveda reads' '77: Such an assumption is not acceptable in th:'. Sarparajni has been identified view of the evidences of the existence of with 'earth'. Reverence to sarpa sages, such an attitude and belief in the pre- to gods and to the worlds (in the form of Jain Vedic literature.
their knowledge) coupled with the Yajur 21. It has been stated that Shri K. Veda passage cited above appear to have Sen holds that certain words including
afforded a sufficient background for the
origin of snakeworship in India. If it be tirtha, puja, deva, bhakti, asvattha, tulasi, and sindura are non-Vedic terms and
so, snake worship would cease to be nonwere borrowed from pre-Aryan tribes.
Aryan. The problem needs a thorough
examination from the historical and reliMajority of these words do not appear to have been used in the Vedic Samhitas
gious points of view. and the Brahmanas. They were a later
23. The Rg-Veda mentions several acquisition in Sanskrit. Naturally they rivers. Rv. X. 75 records most of the would have been acquired when the so- rivers of Northern India. In other verses called conflict of the Aryans ar.d the non- also references to some rivers are found. Aryan indigenous people had long vani
There is nothing in the Vedic hymns shed from the Indian soil and the Aryan
which may suggest that their characteristic sacrificial religion with its spiritual deve- nature is absent from the mind of the lopments embodied in the entire Vedic
died in the entire Vedic Vedic seer and that he considers them as literature had fully gained ground. The sacred and god-like. The conception of a words 'deva' and 'yajan' are the backbones deity in relation to a Vedic stanza has to of Vedic religion, philosophy and culture, be fully borne in mind before the nature Out of these two the former, viz, deva of river-hymns can be correctly grasped. is more important than the other since 24. The Vedic literature, therefore, all yainas are connected with the concep- does not testify to the existance of any tion of deva'. Take any one or both 'non-Vedic pre-Aryan 'Sramana Tradiaway from the Vedic religion, philosophy tion.'
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