SACRED Part 1 of 2

As the political and social life shifted to the east and south and the economy shifted from semi-nomadic tribes to agricultural and cattle raising kingdoms the religious life of the people went through some changes as well. Many of these changes can be traced through their sacred texts.

The sacred texts of Hinduism are an enormous collection of oral and written scriptures that include myths, rituals, philosophical perspectives, devotional poems and songs, local histories, and more. There are two basic categories within this vast collection: Shruti (revealed) and Smrti (remembered). The word Shruti is from the Sanskrit meaning “heard” suggesting that they are not from the mind of man but “revealed” or “heard” from a divine source. There are four sacred Shruti texts: the Vedas, the Brahmanas, the Aranyakas and the Upanishads.

The Shruti Texts:
The earliest set of Shruti texts are the Vedas. The word veda comes from the Sanskrit word vid, meaning to know. Not unlike the Greek root from which we get gnosis - "knowledge." In early Hinduism seers, known as risis, “heard” the Vedas and developed them into a range of oral traditions. The Vedas were never intended to be texts, they were always intended to be experienced through the dynamic activation of voice giving them life and texture. The Vedas were composed over a period of time from about 1700 b.c. to around 1000 b.c. There are four sets of Vedic texts which lumped together are often called Samhitas.

1. The Rig Veda - mainly composed of songs of praise to various Vedic gods who are personifications of natural forces like the Sun, the storm or rain, harvest, and so on.
2. The Yajur Veda - deals with sacrificial formulas recited as rituals were being performed.
   
3. The Sama Veda - The word sama meaning melody shows us that these Vedas are melodies and hymns sung to the gods to request basic necessities.
4. The Atharva Veda - Contains perhaps hundreds of magic formulas

When the Vedas had been around for a while some members of the higher caste who were seen as priests, began to collect the Vedas. As they did they developed what amounted to commentary to help explain the Vedas. The Brahmana - the second group of sacred texts are commentaries attached to the Vedas that explain the rituals of the Vedas. In fact the word brahmana means the utterance of a Brahman (Brahman is one who is of the priestly caste). Again this reinforces the idea that these were intended to be spoken instead of written. They were considered sacred because it was the Brahmans who were speaking them. From around 900 b.c. to around 700 b.c. the Vedas were gathered together into Samhitas, which means - “collections” that the Brahmans then attempted to explain through the Brahmanas.

The third group of sacred wisdom which was eventually written down is the Aranyakas which is Sanskrit for “Forest Book”. The Aranyakasa developed later than the Brahmanas but held a similar function. Composed in India about 700 to 600b.c. the Aranyakas are different from the Brahmanas in that they develop ideas on secret rites to be carried out only by certain persons, and they are more philosophical in nature. They were intended to be studied only by properly trained individuals. These individuals were either studied hermits who had withdrawn into the forest and no longer took part in Vedic rituals (hence "Forest Book") or pupils who were given instruction by their teachers in the seclusion of their huts in tucked away places.

These first three groups of sacred writings outline the religious life and practice of the culture. These practices were intended to be performed by a priestly caste of people while the common person learned about them by listening to the priests not by reading scripture on their own. There was a strong communal aspect to the religion. As the society - and culture with it - moved east and south and settled along the Ganges River Basin some Brahmans began to settle in the forests and other secluded places. Think of them as the Druids of ancient India. With this move came a gradual shift away from the rituals and the hymns to a more contemplative practice and form to Hinduism. This is reflected in the sacred literature which demonstrates a move towards commenting on and contemplating the the purpose and meaning of life.

In part 2 I will trace the connection between this slow cultural shift, the writing of the fourth group of sacred texts - the Upanisads, and how this impacted the culture and paved the way for Buddhism.