Vaishali Institute Research Bulletin 4

Author(s): R P Poddar
Publisher: Research Institute of Prakrit Jainology & Ahimsa Mujjaffarpur

Page 18

The Vedic Religion and the Origins of Buddhism
Vedic associations of Siva with the animal kingdom, as also the prophylactic character of Puşan may have been the inspiration for the Buddhistic idea of representing the Buddha as deeply concerned with the sufferings of the animal world, a feeling which we find depicted in the Buddhistic artistic figures and in legen is.
The Vedic religion is a composite one. It is, in Hegelian words, a great example of the reconciliation of the religons of nature, of law and of spirit. The ritualistic side of this religion was emphasized by the Brāhmaṇas and the higher contemplative side by the Upanisada. But the period between the end of the Samhita age and the Upanisada was not only one of sacrifice and ritual but was also rich in the development of thought. The certitude which characterise the philosophic assertions of the Upanisads presupposes a long antecedent past. This is also apparent from such phrases as eke ahuḥ and ṛcābhyuktam. There also was a development of sophistical teaching in the pre-Upanisadic period, which may trace itself to the references to scepticism found in the hymns. This sophistical teaching reached its climax in the teachings of the "six heretical teachers" and even in some aspects of the teachings of Buddha.
3. Vedic Scepticism as one of the Roots of Buddhism
But even in the days of the Rgveda a spirit of doubt about the existence and potency of gods had begun to infiltrate into thought of some Vedic singers Kasmai devaya haviṣā vidhema. Some modern exponents interpret the word Kam (in kasmai) as meaning blissful and hence regard this Rgvedic hymn as inculcating the necessity of the worship of the blissful Godhead. But the historical and comparative methodologists of Vedic interpretation regard this hymn as a definite indication of the emergence of scepticism. There are other hymns which also contain sceptical views. The growth of scepticism' in the Vedic period is immensely sign ficant from the standpoint of the origins of Buddhism. Buddha launched a protest movement against the contemporary system of worship, ritualism and Brahmaṇical sacredotalism. It may well be suggested that the thinkers and poets who began critical reflections on the Vedic religious ideas and practices and expressed sceptical notions are precursors of the heterodox systems of Buddhista and Jainism.2 Yaska's Nirukta refers to Kautsa
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For Sceptical notions see Ṛgveda, VIII, 96, 13-15; II 12, 5; VIII, 103, 3; IV, 24, 10.
The Mahabharata XII, 218 contains references to heretical teachers at the courts of ancient kings. According to Pandya,