Deity and Ritual
Within the narratives of both epics the older pattern of deities and of rituals
based on sacrifice, leading to heaven (svarga), is more prominent, but the newer
patterns of worship, usually seen as leading to liberation (moks.a), do also occur
from time to time – and are then more predominant in the didactic parts. The
deities alluded to or playing any part in the narrative are largely those of the Vedic
pantheon. Indra is particularly prominent, both as the leader of the gods and as
the performer of various heroic deeds (in particular the slaying of Vr.tra), among
the gods mentioned in the Maha ̄bha ̄rata. In the story about the five Pa ̄n.d.avas being
actually fathered by the gods, Indra fathers Arjuna, the finest warrior among
them. In the Ra ̄ma ̄yan.aRa ̄ma is compared most often with Indra and at the
climax of the whole story, in his duel with Ra ̄vana, he receives the help of Indra’s
charioteer, Ma ̄tali. Yama appears quite often in similes and in various boastings
by the warriors of the Maha ̄bha ̄rata, where his role in the older pantheon as the
king of the dead makes this natural (a role that is at odds with the later con-
cept ofsam.sa ̄ra), and similarly in the Ra ̄ma ̄yan.aa common formulaic expression
refers to leading or sending warriors to Yama’s abode. The fire-god, Agni, also
plays quite an appreciable role in the narrative of the Maha ̄bha ̄rata and, in a devel-
opment of the basic narrative of the Ra ̄ma ̄yan.a, he returns Sı ̄ta ̄ to Ra ̄ma with her
purity vindicated by her passing through the fire. Even Varun.a still appears as
a lingering survival, mainly as the lord of the ocean but also in the notion that
heroes are equal to Indra and Varun.a. In general, the opposition between Devas
and Asuras, their contests for supremacy and the myth of the churning of the
ocean all show a Vedic or immediately post-Vedic pattern. Even in the allusions
or episodes relating to Vis.n.u or S ́iva there are still traces of the older pattern, with
Vis.n.u, for example, still in some passages subordinate to Indra.
The religious activities mentioned within the main narratives also reveal a
pattern which still reflects the Vedic situation to a large extent, while the actual
narrative of the Maha ̄bha ̄rata is built around the ra ̄jasu ̄ya (in the dicing game and
the other events of the second book) and around other rituals at various points;
there are even occasional direct references to Vedic ritual officiants or the ritual
itself in the narrative books. On the other hand, some late parts of the narrative
provide the earliest instances of the practice of pilgrimage to tı ̄rthas, which
becomes such a feature of later Hinduism, while on occasion more popular
beliefs, such as in omens and portents, are included. In the Ra ̄ma ̄yan.a, the com-
monest rituals mentioned are the morning and evening worship, but sacrifice in
general, various individual sacrifices and the sacrificial altar are all mentioned
occasionally in the core narrative, although little detail is given. Significantly
sam.nya ̄saand related terms for renunciation do not occur within the Ra ̄ma ̄yan.a,
whereas it is found occasionally in the Maha ̄bha ̄rata; indeed, the various forest
sages who feature in the Ra ̄ma ̄yan.anarrative are clearly hermits (va ̄naprastha),
not ascetics (sam.nya ̄sin). Another aspect in which the Ra ̄ma ̄yan.aappears more
archaic is that its earliest parts largely ignore the concept ofsam.sa ̄ra, mention-
118 john brockington