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Vol. XXII, No. 4
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are themselves virtually an admission that the correct performance of a comsulsory ritual, that had developed to enormous proportions in the Brähmana period, could not be expected from all, yound and old, from residents of villages and towns as well as from those who resided in the forests. There were again some parts of the sacrificial lore which were of an occult and mystical nature and which could be imparted to the initiated only in the privacy of the forest. The Aranyakas do not lay down rules for the performance of sacrifices, por do they comment on the ceremonial in the Brāhmana style. They are mainly devoted to an exposition of the mysticism and symbolism of the sacritice and priestly philosophy. Meditation, rather than performance, is the spirit of their teaching, and they naturally substitute simpler ceremonial for the complicated one of the Brāhmanas.
Important service was rendered by the Aranyakas when they stressed the efficacy of the inner or mental sacrifice, symbolised by of oblations of rice, barley or milk. They thus helped to bridge the gulf between the 'way of works' (karma-mărga), which was the sole concern of the Brāhmanas, and the 'way of knowledge' (jnana-mārga) which the upnishads advocated. The Aranyakas further lay down upāsanās (or courses of meditation) upon certain symbols and austerities for the realization of the Absolute, which by now had superseded the 'heaven' of the Brāhmana works, as the highest goal or the devout. These symbois form the link between the Brāhmanas and the Upanishads as they are borrowed from the sacrifices. Finally the compromise between the two ways' of karma and jnāna was consummated when karma was made subsidiary to, and a preparatory stage for, jnāna in the Aranyakas and Upanishads.
Not only in the Upanishads but also in the Brāhmanas, there is clear evidence of the fact that kings and warriors share the honours, if not the monopoly, of the intellectual and literary harvest of these days with the Brāhmanas who had to go to them very often for instruction. Nay, even women and people of doubtful parentage took part in this intellectual life and very often possessed the highest knowledge. It was probably these non-priestly circles opposed to the Brāhmanic way of works (karmamärg) that formed the chief recruiting ground for forest hermits and wandering ascetics, who kept aloof from the sacrificial ceremonial of the Brāhmanas by renouncing the world and followed the "way of knowledge” (Jnāna mārg). Budhism which came later represents, very probably, one fruit of such protestant activity.
It is also evident that the Kshatriyas took a leading part in this new line of enquiry. They had now secured a firm footing in the land by defeating the pop Aryans and obtained a high status and pre
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