Book Title: Most Ancient Aryan Society
Author(s): Ram Chandra Jain
Publisher: Institute of Bharatalogical Research Sriganganagar Rajasthan
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( 315 ) by the Chhanda method or the covering method. Chhañdopathy, thus, means the art of Chhanda recitation for social and individual good.
7. RITUALISATION AND CELESTIALISATION
Yajña is considered as a ritual art and Devas as celestial beings. But the concepts of Yajña and Deva originally signified quite different institutions. Yajña was the tribal activity of the Aryans. Devas were the human leaders of the Aryan common masses. When the Aryan institutions came under the influence of Śramaņic values, these institutions had to change in the changed circumstances. The actual tribal activity was ritualised. The art of Havism and the science of Chhañdopathy facilitated this change. The human devas became celestialised as their erstwhile human glory could not be maintained in the changed times. Ritualisation of yajña and the celestialisation of Devas is a dialectical historical process.
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