cies operate in three interrelated realms, namely discourse (va ̄da), ritual (yajña,
pu ̄ja ̄), and narrative (itiha ̄sa).
Discourse
Discourse or reflection and philosophical commentary developed from an early
date in the history of Hinduism. The ancient texts of the Veda reflect a symbolic
world in which ritual, notably sacrifice performed by a priest for a patron, was
central to the thriving of the community. Speculation about the meaning of the
sacrifice developed in texts still regarded as revelation, in the theological and
ritual commentary of the Bra ̄hman.as and Upanis.ads (see Witzel in this volume),
and various traditions of textual exegesis and philosophy developed from around
the fifth century bce. These were expressed in the sacred language of Sanskrit in
commentaries on sacred scripture and on aphorisms (su ̄tra) formulated within
particular schools. The grammatical analysis of the language of revelation,
along with the etymological and semantic exploration of language, came to be
a prime concern (Kahrs 1998; Staal in this volume). Other sciences also
developed such as astronomy and medicine (see Wujastyk and Yano in this
volume). The famous six systems of Indian philosophy or “critical worldviews”
(dars ́an.a, namely the three pairs Sa ̄mkhya-Yoga, Mı ̄ma ̄m.sa ̄-Veda ̄nta, and Nya ̄ya-
Va i s ́es.ika), considered to be “orthodox” because of their acceptance of the
revelation of the Veda, follow the pattern of their tenets being articulated in
aphorisms and commentaries explaining their meaning. There are other systems
outside of this list, with the S ́aiva, Buddhist and Jain traditions participating in
a shared discourse, along with the extremely important discourse about law
(dharmas ́a ̄stra) that strongly influenced British rule in India (see Rocher in this
volume).
By the early centuries cethe textual traditions had defined their boundaries
in relation to each other and had developed a shared language, with shared cat-
egories, and thinkers in the various traditions were well versed in their oppo-
nents’ texts and arguments. The authors of these texts were often, although not
necessarily, world renouncers who had chosen the fourth estate or stage of life
(a ̄s ́rama) (see Olivelle and Madan in this volume). We can note here the highly
orthodox Mı ̄ma ̄m.saka exegetes, whose focus was the interpretation of vedic
injunction, the Sa ̄mkhya dualists, and the Veda ̄nta, which developed a number
of metaphysical positions in its history from S ́am.kara’s nondualism to Madhva’s
dualist theology. The S ́aiva traditions were also important in this picture, regard-
ing their own scriptures, the Tantras, as transcending the lower revelation of the
other schools, with the Buddhists and Jains rejecting the very idea of sacred rev-
elation. The tenth-century S ́aiva theologian Bhat.t.a Ra ̄makan.t.ha, for example,
knew the texts of other traditions and placed these at lower levels of under-
standing and attainment to his own in the hierarchical, S ́aiva cosmos (Goodall
1998: 177), a feature common in the tantric traditions. This is a long way from
introduction: establishing the boundaries 5