EARLY CIVILISATIONS OF THE NORTHWESThelplessness, by nakedness and want. My mind wanders like a bird which
is chased hither and thither. Like rats gnawing their tails my sorrows are
gnawing at me’ (X, 33). Questions concerning right conduct troubled the
minds of men and are reflected in some of the greatest hymns of the late
tenth book of the Rigveda. A typical example is the touching dialogue
between the twins Yama and Yami in which the sister asks her brother, in
vain, to marry her. There was also doubt about the almighty power of the
gods. In its place grew an increasing awareness of an immutable law
according to which everybody was accountable for his deeds (karma) not
only here and now but also in subsequent births (samsara). These two
ideas of karma and samsara became the key elements of Indian religious
life. They may have been derived from the religion of the indigenous
people with whom the Aryans became more and more involved. Insecurity
and scepticism paved the way for an ever greater reliance on the magic
effect of elaborate sacrificial rites which were outlined in the Brahmana
texts. These rites and the Brahmin priests who knew the secrets of ritual
efficacy became of central importance in this Late Vedic age.
The magic rituals could not satisfy the human quest for an answer to
the fundamental question about the meaning of life, however. The
emphasis on such rituals may have even stimulated the tendency towards
philosophical speculation which no longer remained a privilege solely of
the Brahmins. Kings and Vaishyas, even Shudras and women, were
reported to have asked the great philosophical questions of this age. These
philosophical thoughts were collected in the Upanishads (secret teachings)
which were added at the end to the texts of the great Vedic schools of
thought. The Upanishads, which originated roughly from 750 to 500 BC,
are in many ways connected with the speculations of Brahmin priests
about the efficacy of sacrificial rites. But in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad
we find a transition to a deeper philosophical thought, when the meaning
of the animal sacrifice is reinterpreted in terms of a cosmic symbolism
which is taken as a point of departure for meditation.
The Upanishads document the gradual transition from the mythical
world-view of the Early Vedic age and the magic thought recorded in the
Brahmana texts to the mystical philosophy of individual salvation. This
philosophy led to the liberating insight into the identity of the individual
soul (atman) with the soul of the universe (brahman). This insight is
expressed in the famous formula ‘that thou are’ (tat tvam asi). The dualism
of mind and matter was not yet accepted by this early philosophy; it
attained great importance only later on. The philosophy of the Upanishads,
which combined the atman-brahman idea with a belief in rebirth and
transmigration, radically changed the old Vedic religion and paved the way
both for Buddhism as well as for the later development of Hindu
philosophy.