THE SAMHITAS (RIG VEDA, SAMA VEDA, YAJUR VEDA AND ATHARVA VEDA): CONTEXT, CULTURE, RELIGION AND SOCIETY

THE SAMHITAS (RIG VEDA, SAMA VEDA, YAJUR VEDA AND ATHARVA VEDA): CONTEXT, CULTURE, RELIGION AND SOCIETY

                                                                                   

Introduction

The Indian literature has a great history spanning at least three millennia expressed in speech and writing. Among the Indian literature, Vedas are the oldest Indian literary monuments in the history of world literature. The Vedas[1] are divided into two parts: Karma-kanda (consisting of Samhitas[2] and Brahmanas[3]) and Gnana-kanda (consisting of Aranyakas[4] and Upanishads[5]). This paper focuses on Samhitas, the first part of each Vedas, which is a collection of mantras; the Samhitas are sometimes also referred to as the ‘mantras’. The focus will be on the context of Samhitas, comprising of its cultural, religious as well as social backgrounds.

           

           1. Etymology

Samhita (Sanskrit: संहिता, saṁhitā) literally means “put together, joined, union" and “a methodically, rule-based combination of text or verses.” Samhita is a Sanskrit word from the roots, sam (सं) and hita (हित), which mean “correct, proper” and “wholesome, arranged” respectively. The combination word thus means “put together, joined, compose, arrangement, place together, union" and “combination of letters according to euphonic rules, any methodically arranged collection of texts or verses.”[6]

           

2. Definition

Samhitas are any of the four basic canonical books of Hindu scriptures comprising hymns, prayers, and liturgical formulas and are included in the Rig Veda, the Yajur Veda, the Sama Veda, and the Atharva Veda.[7]

             3. Authorship and Date      

The Samhitas were probably written in c. 1200 B.C.E.[8] The mantras or hymns of the Rig Veda, the earliest of the four Vedas, had been composed long before the art of writing had become known in India. They were composed by different persons during different periods and were preserved by the descendants and disciples of the original composers. Nevertheless, some collections of hymns are associated with a few well-known rishis such as Vasistha, Vyswamitra, Vamadeva, Gritasamada, Atri, Bharadwaja and Kanwa.[9]

4. Division of Samhitas

Samhitas, as mentioned earlier, are the first part of each Vedas. Though there must have been several Samhitas, there are four Samhitas which differ sharply from one another and which are preserved in one or more recensions.

They are as follows:[10]

2.1. The Rig Veda – Samhita, the collection of the Rig Veda. The Rig Veda is ‘the Veda or the knowledge of the praise – songs.

2.2. The Atharva Veda – Samhita, the collection of the Atharva Veda, i.e., of the knowledge of the magic formulas (atharvan).

2.3. The Sama Veda – Samhita, the collection of the Sama Veda, i.e. of the knowledge of the melodies (Saman).

2.4. The Yajur Veda – Samhita, the collection of the Yajur Veda, i.e. of the knowledge of the sacrificial formulas (Yajus, plural Yajumsi) of which there are two recensions which differ from each other rather sharply, namely:

  2.4.1. The Samhita of the Krishna (Black) Yajur Veda which is preserved in various recensions of which the Taittiriya – Samhita and the Maitrayani – Samhita are most important.

  2.4.2. The Samhita of the Sukla (White) Yajur Veda, which is preserved in the Vajasaneyi – Samhita.

5. The Context: Culture, Religion and Society of Samhitas

Each Samhitas are briefly accessed on the basis of its culture, religion and society are briefly given below:

5.1. Cultural Context of Samhitas

The hymns of the Rig Veda, the first in the Vedic canon, supply us with ample material, other than any other Vedas, for reconstructing a fair picture of cultural context of Samhitas.[11]

1. The location: The major portion of the hymns must have been sung in the tract of land watered by the Indus and its tributaries. Sindhu, the ancient name of the Indus constantly recurs in the Rig Veda. The rare mention of the Ganga and Yamuna indicates that the Aryans had by that time, when those hymns were composed, extended farther east to the vicinity of those rivers.[12]

2. Significance of Soma: The Soma plant occupied a prominent place in the Vedic society. Not only was it indispensible for the sacrifices, but was also a favourite common drink. The hymns of Rig Veda show that it was an article of everyday use. As the Aryans moved on to the Gangetic plains, farther and farther away from the Himalayan range, Soma gradually disappeared from their religious and social life of the people due to scarcity in availability. Therefore Sama-Yajur-Atharva Vedas have fewer mention of Soma.[13]

3. Military: It is evident that the art of fighting was fairly well developed among the Aryan people.  Kings and important personages fought in a chariot drawn by horses driven by a charioteer. Horses were trained for military marches.[14]

4. Agriculture: They were essentially as agricultural people as inferred from the frequent prayers for the increase of cattle in the Vedic hymns. The constant prayer for rain indicates that agriculture was the chief occupation of the singers of the Vedic hymns. Barley seems to have been their principal crop. Both cows and horses were used for agricultural purposes. Besides these, Buffaloes, sheep and goats are frequently mentioned among the domestic animals.[15]

5. Food and drinks: Milk and its preparations, butter and curd were everyday articles of food. The meat of cow was freely used for sacrifices as for food. Soma was the favourite drink of gods and men. The Aryans were ardently fond of the Soma drink, which must have been intoxicating.[16]

6. Clothing: For raiment the Aryans had cloth. The art of weaving seems to have been learnt a considerable time before the Vedic age, as inferred from frequent references to weaving in the Rig Veda.[17]

7. Ornamentation: Use of ornaments for decorating the body was well known. Women commonly decorated themselves with ornaments, presumably of gold.[18]

8. Metallurgy: Among metals, gold and iron are frequently mentioned in the hymns of the Rig Veda. Besides its use in ornamentation, gold seems to have been used for coins. The chief use of iron was in making weapons and implements of agriculture. Vessels of iron are also mentioned in the Rig Veda.[19]

9. Carpentry: Carpentry must have been developed to a high degree of proficiency. The carpenter was in great demand in fashioning ploughs and other implements of agriculture. The manufacture of chariots seems to have been a flourishing industry.[20]

10. Navigation: Navigation seems to have made considerable progress. The Aryans in the Vedic age not only plied their boats on the large rivers, but seems to have ventured into the sea.[21]

11: Merchandise: It is evident from passages like R.V. I.56.2. enterprise in commerce was much developed in the Vedic period. A class of people were engaged in the exchange of products and their activity was not confined to the country but extended beyond the seas.[22]

12: Literature: A large number of people were engaged in sacrificial work. The composing of the hymns was the work of a genius. But the extant hymns, which must be only a fraction of all the poetical literature of the age, prove that there were a vast number of poets and seers. Among the Vedic rishis there were several women, the names of some of whom have come down to posterity. Of these Ghosha seems to have achieved considerable reputation. Among others are Apala, Vishwara etc...[23]

13. Magic: In Atharva Veda, though hymns and verses in the spirit of the Rig Veda are scattered here and there, the prevailing atmosphere is that of charms and incantations against sorcerers, rakshasas, diseases etc. A large number of hymns are for healing diseases with amulets and herbs.[24] White leprosy seems to have been very common[25]; so was consumption, which was very much dreaded. There are a number of verses in the Atharva Veda for curing consumption.[26]  There are again a number of hymns which are supposed to be efficacious in winning the love of a man for a woman and of a woman for a man.[27]

5.2. Social Conditions of Samhitas

The social^[28] conditions during the Vedic age are given below briefly:

1. Aryan-Dravidian confrontation: Aryans gradually extended farther and farther to the east and south with the natural increase of population and pressure of new arrivals. The confrontation with an alien race of darker complexion, whom they viewed with contempt, prompted to term them as “dasyu” and “darky” in the Rig Veda.

The Inability of Aryans to co-exist with any other faith except their own incited a long and arduous struggle between the two races for the sovereignty of the land.^[29] The non-Aryans fought with weapons, horses and chariots. However, natives were defeated and were treated almost as beasts. The word dasa became the name for domestic slaves.[30]

2. Fate of the defeated: The vanquished were used widely in tilling the land and other forms of manual labour and soon became valuable element in personal property. The wholesale and absolute confiscation of the land of the conquered people was sanctioned by ‘divine oracle.’

3. Caste System: It is quite evident that at the time when the hymns of the Rig Veda were composed there were no caste distinctions among the Aryans.^[31] There is no trace of reference to caste distinction is found in Rig Veda[32], but in the Yajur Veda^[33] we find the four castes fully developed. Of course the Yajur Veda being a compilation of mantras and formulae of different periods, the ideas, whether religious or social is not of a homogenous character.

4. The two higher castes of Brahmana and Kshatriya had emerged distinctly throughout the Yajur Veda. It is these two castes that are mentioned oftenest; their interests are specially safeguarded and their welfare is particularly invoked. Apparently these two castes formed the chief factors of society; but the others do not seem to have counted for much.^[34] But in course of time, the Vaishyas and Shudras – by virtue of the importance of their services to society – must have improved their position. The privileged Brahmanas and Kshatriyas were then compelled to make room for them within the social polity.^[35]

5: Government: A regular monarchical system of government was well established in Vedic society. People lived peacefully under kings and there was no question of disobeying the royal authority. The entire social structure presupposes the existence of a ruling chief. The office was evidently hereditary. There are frequent references to kings and succession by their descendants (R.V. IV.4.1).

6. Development of society: In Atharva Veda, there are indeed a number of hymns which are concerned with the ordinary domestic and social rites and ceremonies – such as marriage ceremonies,^[36] funeral ceremonies,^[37] the consecration of new house, ^[38] and the election of a king.^[39]

5.3. Religious conditions of Samhitas

1. Aryans worshipped a specific number of deities, whom they called devas, meaning possibly the ‘shining ones’. The hymns of the Rig Veda were mostly addressed to these deities. In many places of the Rig Veda their number has been categorically mentioned as thirty-three (VIIII. 30.2 and I. 42.2.).^[40]

2. The gods of the Rig Veda are mostly, if not entirely, personifications of the powers of the nature. In every striking phenomenon of nature the Aryan mind beheld a deity, having enormous powers for good or evil over the destinies of men.[41]

3. The deity who easily occupies the first place in the Rig Veda is Indra. The largest number of hymns has been addressed to him. He is distinctly called the chief of the gods. Indra is believed to have created the universe.^[42]

4. In some respects Agni is the most important of the Vedic gods. Though in power and splendour Agni is inferior to Indra, Agni is more closely and familiarly related to man; he is the first messenger between gods and men, carrying the offerings of men to gods and bringing the gods’ blessings to men. In every mandala, the opening hymns are addressed to Agni; thus in a way he is given precedence over Indra. Another prominent Vedic god is Surya or Savita; the two names seem to stand for the same deity, who is evidently the sun-god.[43] 

5. Another Vedic god is Vishnu. Though Vishnu does not play an important part in the Vedic religion, as there are not many hymns in the Rig Veda addressed to him; but he is always spoken of with great regard and seriousness.^[44] 

6. With the progress of knowledge the Aryans realised the interconnection between the forces of nature and the truth that the various objects and power in heaven and earth are but the different manifestations of the one Supreme reality, was foreshadowed. This seems to have been reached through two processes, one of which has been called by the late Prof. Max Muller ‘henotheism’, consisting of the exaltation of one particular god at a time.[45] When any particular god was spoken of, he was magnified above all the others and raised to the position of almost the one Supreme God. Thus, sometimes Indra, sometimes Varuna, sometimes Savita, and sometimes Agni have each in turn been spoken of as the chief of the gods of the creator of the world.[46]

7. Another process of approximation towards monotheism in the Vedas was by the identification of the various Vedic gods. This may have commenced at first in the case of a few gods. Agni seems to have supplied the first clue in this momentous process. The identity of fire in heaven and earth was clearly realised by the Vedic rishis.^[47] In Rig Veda, the third mandala is an interesting hymn, the fifty fifth, the verses of which are in turn addressed to many gods, Usha, Agni, Earth, Heaven, Vishnu, Indra etc. But at the end of each verse recurs the refrain “the great might of the Devas is one.” Here is an unmistakable recognition of the unity of the gods.[48] In another way the unity of the gods was indicated in the seventh hymn of the first mandala, where it has been said that all the praises addressed to the various gods are Indra’s. Finally in R.V. 1.164.46 it says that the different gods are but the various names of the one Supreme God.^[49]

8. The intimacy of men with gods developed and Aryans addressed the gods as lord, father, and friends.^[50]

9. If looked closely, this intimate and delicate relationship was at the bottom frankly utilitarian, even mercenary. The relation between the gods and men was that of giving and taking. The gods would give men wealth,^[51] property, children and long life and men would give the gods praise and Soma and make other offerings and sacrifices.^[52] Another object of frequent prayer was long life.^[53] In this strain the Vedic hymns pray for wealth, for food, drink, wives, children, long life and every conceivable object of pleasure and comfort.

10. The conception of sin has often been considered a sure index of the religious depth of a race or community. In the Vedic hymns there are pretty frequent prayers for deliverance from sins, though it must be confessed that in comparison with prayers for riches, children and long life they are not too many.[54]

11. An important factor in the religious belief of a community is the conception of life after death. The existence of life after death was firmly believed. Death was not the end. Dissolution of the body did not mean the extinction of life. Distinction of body and spirit was clearly indicated. There is no trace of the doctrine of transmigration in the Rig Veda. The spirit, after death, was believed to proceed to another world which was sometimes called the realm of Yama or death and the world of the fathers (pitrloka). It is a land of joy and brightness where the departed soul lives in eternal bliss under the rule of Yama in the company of the ancestors.^[55]

12. In heaven the departed enjoy the fruits of good deeds performed in this life.^[56] But as yet no elaborate scale of reward and punishment in the life to come, according to the merits and demerits of this life, had been evolved. Mention of a world of darkness as a counterpart of heaven is found occasionally in the Rig Veda.^[57] But the description of this world of darkness is not as frequent and full as that of the realm of Yama. On the whole, the conception of life after death is meagre, vague and indistinct and the passages referring to it would appear from the context and language to be of a later Vedic period.

13. During Yajur Vedic period, there has been some change in the relative position and importance of gods. Prominence was given to Prajapati, Vishnu and Badra; whereas the more prominent gods of the Rig Veda such as Indra, Agni, Varuna, Soma and Surya have somewhat receded to the background. Prajapati is frequently extolled as the first among the gods, the head of hierarchy.^[58] Similarly there has been a considerable addition to the conception of Rudra in the Yajur Veda, where he becomes a distinct and important deity.^[59] The position of Vishnu also advances considerably. Vishnu is very frequently referred to.^[60]

14. Many of the ideas and conceptions of the Puranas are to be found in the Yajur Veda. In this respect there has been a considerable development over the Rig Veda. The Upanishadic conception of one God has also assumed definite and reasoned shape in Yajur Veda.[61]

15. The ethical conceptions of the Yajur Veda are far in advance of those of the Rig Veda. The sense of sin and shortcoming has been appreciably developed. Prayers for spiritual things – knowledge, forgiveness of sin and immortality – are numerous unlike Rig Veda. The composers of Yajus have caught the glimpse of a higher existence; they have discovered a heaven above earth.^[62]

16. During Yajur Vedic times, the distinction between right and wrong was fairly developed. And the reward for right-doing and punishment for wrong-doing is distinctly recognized. Those who do the right thing go to a higher world and those who commit evil deeds go to a nether world.^[63]

17. The Sama Veda, the third book of the Vedic canon, is of little importance to the inquirer of the development of religious ideas. Though recognized as a separate and independent treatise, it is mostly a compilation from the Rig Veda. The Sama Veda does not throw any fresh light on the various religious movements in India.[64]

18. The original Atharva Veda dealt possibly with the art of enchantments, amulets, etc. But in course of time it incorporated in itself the Vedic gods who also were invoked for protection against the same evils. Some portions of the other Vedas were incorporated in the Atharva Veda and new verses in the style of the other Vedas were composed and added to it. This ultimately secured for it the rank of a Veda. Gods like Indra, Agni, Vayu and Rudra have become abstract deities and are invoked to destroy demons and fiends.[65]

19. Priesthood: There were a host of priests who were required to perform the daily sacrifices. The performance of the sacrifice was in the beginning probably a simple affair. Every householder lighted or trimmed his own sacred fire, recited some verses of the gods and poured the Soma sacrifice. But gradually the operation grew in complexity; priests were specially trained for the object, who was engaged at least on special occasions. At first these priests were few in number and each could perform all the functions in connection with a sacrifice. But as in course of time the sacrifices became more and more complex, separate functions were assigned to different persons and there grew up various orders of priests.[66]

            6. Critical Reflection

The thesis of chronological development of Aryan faith is based on Aryan Invasion theory. But this thesis has been rejected by the recent scholarship due to lack of evidences of Aryan invasion to the Indian subcontinent and attributing it as either ‘colonial-missionary perspective or Marxist view of history.[67] Max Muller is regarded as the man behind propagation of this theory which the present fundamentalist groups think as demeaning to their origin.[68] The tracing of the development of socio-religious-cultural developments of Aryans through the Samhitas, especially from the Rig Veda is being questioned by the Indian scholars today.[69] Yet the new trend in history to trace the origin of Aryans in Indian Subcontinent itself is still less convincing as the scholars of ‘Indigenous Aryanism’ are yet to explain with more precision the caste system, destruction of Harappa Civilization, the linguistic divide etc... Therefore the Aryan Migration/Aryan migration theory is opted as the basis of this paper which is still one of the prominent theories around.

            Conclusion:

The paper dealt with the context of Samhitas, considering the socio-religious-cultural aspects of Samhitas by tracing back to the Vedas. Most of the information is gathered from the Rig Veda Samhita than any other as it is believed to have been the first Veda and supplies more information with reference to every other Vedas. The contextual study of Samhitas is very essential to understand more about it and compare with times of today. It is interesting to note the difference in various activities and thoughts down the line of history. Yet Samhitas still occupies a great place and influential piece in the Indian literature to retrace her past.

Bibliography

Feuerstein, Georg, Subhash Kak and David Frawley. In Search of the Cradle of Civilization:

            New Light on Ancient India. Chennai: Quest Publishers, 1995.

Klostermaier, Klaus K. Hinduism: A Short History. Noida: Oneworld Publications, 2006.

Kapoor, Subodh. Encyclopaedia of Vedic Philosophy: The Age, Religion, Literature,

            Pantheon, Philosophy, Traditions, and Teachers of the Vedas. New Delhi: Cosmo

            Publications, 2002.

Mohapatra, Amulya and Bijaya Mohapatra. Hinduism: Analytical Study. New Delhi: Mittal

            Publications, 1993.

Olson,Carl. The Many Colors of Hinduism a Thematic-Historical Introduction. London:

            Rutgers University Press, 2007.

Pojman, Louis P. and Michael Rea. Philosophy of Religion: An Anthology. Stanford: Cengage

            Publications, 2008.

Shastri, Shakuntala Rao. Aspirations from a Fresh World. Bombay: Bharathiya Vidya

            Bhavan, 1954.

Talageri, Shrikant G. Aryan Invasion Theory and Indian Nationalism. New Delhi: Voice of

            India Publishers, 1993.

Winternitz, Maurice. A History of Indian Literature: Introduction, Veda, Epics, Puranas and

            Tantras. Delhi:Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, 2015.

Webliography:

https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/Veda (02-02-17; 4:30pm).

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Brahmana (02-02-17; 4:30pm).

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Aranyaka (02-02-17; 4:30pm).

https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/upanishad (02-02-17; 4:30pm).

https://www.revolvy.com/main/index.php?s=Samhita&item_type=topic (02-02-17; 4:30pm).

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Samhita (02-02-17; 4:30pm).

http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/hinduism/texts/texts.shtml (02-02-17; 4:30pm).

https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/culture (02-02-17; 4:30pm).

https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/society (02-02-17; 4:30pm).

---

[1]Accessed from https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/Veda (02-02-17; 4:30pm).
Vedas: Any of the four collections forming the earliest body of Indian scripture, consisting of the Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda, and Atharva Veda, which codified the ideas and practices of Vedic religion and laid down the basis of classical Hinduism. They were probably composed between 1500 and 700 BC, and contain hymns, philosophy, and guidance on ritual.

[2] Maurice Winternitz, A History of Indian Literature: Introduction, Veda, Epics, Puranas and Tantras (Delhi:Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, 2015), 48.  Hereafter referred to as Winternitz, A History of Indian Literature...,
Samhitas: namely collections of hymns, magic songs, benedictory words, sacrificial formulas and litanies.

[3]Accessed from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Brahmana (02-02-17; 4:30pm).
Brahmanas: A class of Hindu sacred writings composed around the 9th to 6th centuries B.C. and devoted chiefly to the instruction of Brahmins in the performance of Vedic ritual. 

[4]Accessed from https://www.britannica.com/topic/Aranyaka (02-02-17; 4:30pm).
Aranyakas (Sanskrit: “Forest Book”): a later development of the Brahmanas, or expositions of the Vedas, which were composed in India in about 700 B.C. The Aranyakas are distinguished from the Brahmanas in that they may contain information on secret rites to be carried out only by certain persons, as well as more philosophical speculation.

[5]Accessed from https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/upanishad (02-02-17; 4:30pm).
Upanishads: Each of a series of Hindu sacred treatises written in Sanskrit c.800–200 B.C., expounding the Vedas in predominantly mystical and monistic terms.

[6] Accessed from https://www.revolvy.com/main/index.php?s=Samhita&item_type=topic (02-02-17; 4:30pm).

[7] Accessed from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Samhita (02-02-17; 4:30pm).

[8] Accessed from http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/hinduism/texts/texts.shtml (02-02-17; 4:30pm).

[9] Winternitz, A History of Indian Literature..., 52.

[10] Winternitz, A History of Indian Literature..., 48.

[11] Accessed from https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/culture (02-02-17; 4:30pm).

Culture: The ideas, customs, and social behaviour of a particular people or society

[12] Shakuntala Rao Shastri, Aspirations from a Fresh World (Bombay: Bharathiya Vidya Bhavan, 1954), 9-11. Shastri, Aspirations from a Fresh World…,

[13] Shastri, Aspirations from a Fresh World…, 11-12.

[14] Shastri, Aspirations from a Fresh World…, 21.

[15] Shastri, Aspirations from a Fresh World…, 18.

[16] Shastri, Aspirations from a Fresh World…, 18.

[17] Shastri, Aspirations from a Fresh World…, 19.

[18] Shastri, Aspirations from a Fresh World…, 21.

[19] Shastri, Aspirations from a Fresh World…, 21.

[20] Shastri, Aspirations from a Fresh World…, 20.

[21] R.V. VII 88.3.

[22] R.V.X.156.3

[23] Shastri, Aspirations from a Fresh World…, 23, 24.

[24] A.V. V.5.4.

[25] A.V. I.23.2.

[26] A.V. II.33.6,7.

[27] A.V. VII.36.405. , VII.37.1.

[28] Accessed from https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/society (02-02-17; 4:30pm).

Society: The community of people living in a particular country or region and having shared customs, laws, and organizations.

[29] Shastri, Aspirations A Fresh World…, 13ff.
The “dasyus” were not so underdeveloped. They had fortified cities. They had cattle; the art of tilling land was not unknown to them. They also knew to use metals and extract precious metals from underneath the earth.

[30] Shastri, Aspirations from a Fresh World…, 13-14.

[31] Even the names of the four castes, which divided Hindu society in later times so prominently and formed its very basis, are not to be found in the Vedas in their present sense. ‘Vipra’ which in modern times means the caste Brahmin, simply stands for a wise man in the Rig Veda. Likewise the word ‘kshatriya’ in the Rig Veda means strong or brave and refers indiscriminately to gods and men.

[32] Subodh Kapoor, Encyclopaedia of Vedic Philosophy: The Age, Religion, Literature, Pantheon, Philosophy, Traditions, and Teachers of the Vedas (New Delhi: Cosmo Publications, 2002), 884.

[33] Though occupying the second place in the common classification of the Vedas, chronologically its compilation is possibly a later date than even the Atharva Veda.

[34] Y.V. V.27, XVIII.38.

[35] Y.V. XVIII.18.

[36] A.V. XIV.1,2.

[37] A.V. XVIII.1,2,3 & 4.

[38] A.V. IV.3,7, 8; VII.60.4.

[39] A.V. IV.22.1; IV.8.1.

[40] Amulya Mohapatra and Bijaya Mohapatra, Hinduism: Analytical Study (New Delhi: Mittal Publications, 1993), 17.

The principal gods mentioned in the Rig Veda are Indra, Agni, Soma, Vayu, Surya, Mitra, Varuna,Vishnu, Usha, the twin Aswins, Pusha, Rudra, Prajapati, Yama, Parjamya, Aryama, Maruts, Brahmanaspati, or Brihaspati, Saraswati, Aditi, Adityas, Ribhus, Ila, Twashta, Savita, Indrani, Varunani, Agneyi, Vasus, Matariswa, Vaiswanara and Bharati. 

[41] Shastri, Aspirations from a Fresh World…, 32.

[42] R.V. X. 153.3; VI. 36.4

[43] Shastri, Aspirations from a Fresh World…, 39.

[44] R.V. VIII 52.3, VI.49.13, I.154.1, I.154.2, I.154.3

[45] Carl Olson, The Many Colors of Hinduism a Thematic-Historical Introduction (London: Rutgers University Press, 2007), 8

[46] Shastri, Aspirations from a Fresh World…, 46.

[47] R.V. X. 45.1.: “Agni was first born in the sky (as lightning); his second birth was amongst us as JataVeda. His third birth was in water. Thus Agni, the benefactor of men, is always shining.”

[48] Louis P. Pojman and Michael Rea,  Philosophy of Religion: An Anthology (Stanford: Cengage Publications, 2008), 66.

[49] Yet, we cannot call the religion of the Vedas monotheism; there was only a faint foreshadowing of the monotheism and that, too, towards the close of the Vedic age. Most of the passages, having a distinct monotheistic coloring, are from the first or the tenth mandala, which all scholars assign to the close of the Vedic age. In the Upanishads we find this faint monotheistic light developed into its full glory.

[50] “I consider Agni as father, as a near one, as brother, as my friend for all times.” (R.V. X.7.3.)

“Indra holds his thunderbolt for our protection as a father for his dear son.” (R.V. X.22.3.)

“Be gracious, at your glad carouse – as sire to son. Preserve us even from slaughter. Thou art waxing great.” (R.V. X.25.3.)

[51] The sole motive of sacrifices, offerings and praises was in the beginning at least to induce the gods to give men wealth and prosperity. The Aryans seems to have been mightily afraid of poverty (R.V. VIII.68.12, II.27.17.)

[52] R.V. V.42.9.

[53] “Give us wealth and save us from distressing enemies. May we enjoy for hundred winters with brave sons” (R.V. VI.12.6.).

[54] Shastri, Aspirations from a Fresh World…, 48.

[55] R.V. X. 14.8

[56] R.V. X.107.2

[57] R.V. VII.104.5.

[58] Y.V. VIII.36

[59] Y.V. XVI.3, III.61, XVI.51

[60] Y.V. VIII.1.

[61] Shastri, Aspirations from a Fresh World…, 54.

[62] Y.V.VIII.52.

[63] Y.V.VIII.45.

[64] Shastri, Aspirations from a Fresh World…, 67.

[65] Shastri, Aspirations from a Fresh World…, 73.

[66] Shastri, Aspirations from a Fresh World…, 23.

[67]  Georg Feuerstein, Subhash Kak and David Frawley, In Search of the Cradle of Civilization: New Light on Ancient India (Chennai: Quest Publishers, 1995), iii.

[68] Klaus K. Klostermaier, Hinduism: A Short History (Noida: Oneworld Publications, 2006), 35.

[69] Shrikant G. Talageri, Aryan Invasion Theory and Indian Nationalism (New Delhi: Voice of India Publishers, 1993) 254.