The shift of emphasis intimated in the A ̄ran.yakasserved as prelude to the
next stage of Indian culture and religion, a stage when towns were beginning
to emerge in the Gangetic basin. Those who inherited the Vedic symbol
system, primarily brahmans, were beginning the process of adapting to a
changing landscape. There was apparently more questioning than before
of the efficacy of ancient rituals, which led to speculations about the how
and why of sacrifice.
The religious expressions of the Vedic period are often called “brahman-
ism.” For the brahmans steeped in these traditions the Vedas came to serve
as the authenticating and definitive core of their religious landscape. They
spoke of the hymnic tradition as s ́ruti– heard or revealed “literature.” Even
though the practice of religion changed considerably in subsequent
years, the orthodox legitimated most changes by referring them back to
Vedic symbolism. Hence, all who sought to trace their lineage to those Vedic
imageries were said to be vaidika. Those who did not (such as Jains and
Buddhists) were said to be avaidika. Yet, it is worth recalling that even the
Vedic symbols were themselves the product of a “dialectic” between pastoral
and agricultural images, and between those who represented the brahmanic
practice of ritual and the “folk” elements they had already begun to
appropriate. This dialectic would recur often in the history of “vaidika”
religion and is something of the “genius” of its preservation, adaptation, and
change. This process is what some have called the “brahmanic synthesis.”
Recommended reading
On Indian prehistory
Allchin, Bridgett and Raymond. The Birth of Indian Civilization: India and Pakistan
before 500 BC. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982.
Bryant, Edwin. The Quest for the Origins of Vedic Culture: The Indo-Aryan Migration Debate.
Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2001.
Kennedy, K. A. R. and Possehl, G. L. eds. Studies in Archeology and Paleoanthropology
of South Asia. New Delhi: American Institute of Indian Studies, 1984.
Lincoln, B. Myth, Cosmos, and Society: Indo-European Themes of Creation and Destruction.
Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1986.
Marshall, J. Mohenjo-daro and the Indian Civilization. Three volumes. London: Oxford
University Press, 1931.
Parpola, A. The Sky Garment: A Study of the Harappan Religion and the Relation to the
Mesopotamian and Late Indian Religions. Helsinki: Finnish Oriental Society, 1985.
Parpola, A. Deciphering the Indus Script. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1994.
Piggott, Stuart. Prehistoric India. Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1961.
Possehl, G. ed. Ancient Cities of the Indus. Durham: Carolina Academic Press, 1979.
28 Sources of Indian Religion