The ancient and medieval architecture of India: a study of Indo-Aryan civilisation

36 THE

EVOLUTION OF

ARYAN RELIGION

an inferior social position

;

theywere

perhaps originally

only

theattendants at

tribal sacrificeswho

chanted theVedichymns

and werecharged

with,minorduties, such as

thecareofsacri-

ficialvessels. Butin course

of timetheincreasing

complica-

tionofsacrificialritesand the

supremeimportanceofa

correct

performanceof them increased the

influenceof the Brahman

inthe Kshatriya household,and made him the

family priest.

ButtheAryan religion remained anexclusive one,

theritesof

whichwerejealouslyguarded astribal secrets. There

wasno

missionary

propaganda among the early Aryan invaders of

India,

but

elaborate precautionswere takentopreventthere-

ligionof

the

Aryanhouseholdandtribebeingdegraded bycon-

tactwithnon-Aryan

allies,

whosegross idolatry

wasanathema

totheVedicseers, andwhose ignoranceof

Vedicritual might

spoiltheefficacyoftribalsacrificesand bringdiredisasterupon

thewholecommunity.

Itisobvious,however,thatastheAryansgradually

settled

down to agricultural pursuits on the plains of India and or-

ganisedthemselves into
peaceful

village

communitiesofwhich

they formed the aristocracy, this intellectual
and

spiritual

exclusivenesscouldnotlong

bemaintained. Socialintercourse

and intermarriage with non-Aryans
would bring pagan rites

into the Aryan household,

and the federation of many

different tribesunder theleadership

ofawarrior of great re-

nownastheirRaja,orking,would

likewisewidentheboundaries

of theAryan body politic. It
must have occurred to many

Aryan
thinkers, even before the
time of Buddha, that the

narrow
exclusive policy which
confined the light of
pure

religion
to

an

aristocraticcaste

wouldinevitablyfail

topreserve

intact the precious
spiritual
inheritance of the
Aryan race.

The propaganda
of Asoka was,
therefore, not
to create an

entirely new
starting-pointfor
Aryan religion,
butto use the

doctrines ofthe
Kshatriya prince,
Sakiya
Muni, as a means