The historical Vedic religion, also called Vedism or Brahmanism, and sometimes ancient Hinduism or Vedic Hinduism, constituted the religious ideas and practices prevalent amongst some of the Indo-Aryan peoples of the northwest Indian subcontinent (Punjab and the western Ganges plain) during the Vedic period ( 1500–500 BCE). These ideas and practices are found in the Vedic texts, and some Vedic rituals are still practised today. The Vedic religion is one of the major traditions which shaped modern Hinduism, though present-day Hinduism is significantly different from the historical Vedic religion.
The Vedic religion has roots in the Indo-Iranian culture and religion of the Sintashta ( 2200–1750 BCE) and Andronovo ( 2000–1150 BCE) cultures of Eurasian Steppe. This Indo-Iranian religion borrowed "distinctive religious beliefs and practices" from the non-Indo-Aryan Bactria–Margiana culture (BMAC; 2250–1700 BCE) of south of Central Asia, when pastoral Indo-Aryan tribes stayed there as a separate people in the early 2nd millennium BCE. From the BMAC, Indo-Aryan tribes migrated to the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent, and the Vedic religion developed there during the early Vedic period ( 1500–1100 BCE) as a variant of Indo-Aryan religion, influenced by the remnants of the late Indus Valley Civilisation (2600–1900 BCE).
During the late Vedic period ( 1100–500 BCE), Brahmanism developed out of the Vedic religion as an ideology of the Kuru-Panchala realm which expanded into a wider area after the demise of the Kuru-Pancala realm and the domination of the non-Vedic Magadha cultural sphere. Brahmanism was one of the major influences that shaped contemporary Hinduism, when it was synthesized with the non-Vedic Indo-Aryan religious heritage of the eastern Ganges plain (which also gave rise to Buddhism and Jainism) and with local religious traditions.
Specific rituals and sacrifices of the Vedic religion include, among others: the Soma rituals; fire rituals involving oblations (havir); and the Ashvamedha (horse sacrifice). The rites of grave burials as well as cremation are seen since the Rigvedic period. Deities emphasized in the Vedic religion include Dyaus, Indra, Agni, Rudra and Varuna, and important ethical concepts include satya and ṛta.
Terminology
Vedism and Brahmanism Vedism refers to the oldest form of the Vedic religion, when Indo-Aryans entered into the valley of the Indus River in multiple waves during the 2nd millennium BCE. Brahmanism refers to the further developed form of the late Vedic period which took shape at the Ganges basin around 1000 BCE. According to Heesterman, "It is loosely known as Brahmanism because of the religious and legal importance it places on the brāhmaṇa (priestly) class of society." During the late Vedic period, the Brahmanas and early Upanishads were composed. Both Vedism and Brahmanism regard the Veda as sacred, but Brahmanism is more inclusive, incorporating doctrines and themes beyond the Vedas with practices like temple worship, puja, meditation, renunciation, vegetarianism, the role of the guru, and other non-Vedic elements important to Hindu religious life.
Ancient Hinduism and Vedic Hinduism The terms ancient Hinduism and Vedic Hinduism have also been used when referring to the ancient Vedic religion.
According to Heinrich von Stietencron, in 19th century western publications, the Vedic religion was believed to be different from and unrelated to Hinduism. Instead, Hinduism was thought to be linked to the Hindu epics and the Puranas through sects based on purohita, tantras and bhakti. In response to western colonialism and (Protestant) proselytizing, Hindu reform movements like the Brahmo Samaj and the Neo-Vedanta in the late 19th and early 20th century rejected the 'superstitions' of Puranic Hinduism, which in their view had deviated from the Vedic heritage, instead propagating a return to the Vedas and to restore an "imagined" original, rational and monotheistic ancient Hinduism with an equal standing as Protestant Christianity.
In the 20th century, the neo-Hindu emphasis on Vedic roots, and a better understanding of the Vedic religion and its shared heritage and theology with contemporary Hinduism, led scholars to view the historical Vedic religion as ancestral to modern Hinduism. The historical Vedic religion is now generally accepted to be a predecessor of modern Hinduism, but they are not the same because the textual evidence suggests significant differences between the two. These include the belief in an afterlife instead of the later developed reincarnation and samsāra concepts. Nevertheless, while "it is usually taught that the beginnings of historical Hinduism date from around the beginning of the Common Era," when "the key tendencies, the crucial elements that would be encompassed in Hindu traditions, collectively came together," some scholars have come to view the term "Hinduism" as encompassing Vedism and Brahmanism, in addition to the recent synthesis.
Origins and development
Indo-Aryan Vedic religion The Vedic religion refers to the religious beliefs of some Vedic Indo-Aryan tribes, the aryas, who migrated into the Indus River valley region of the Indian subcontinent after the collapse of the Indus Valley Civilisation. The Vedic religion, and subsequent Brahmanism, centre on the myths and ritual ideologies of the Vedas, as distinguished from Agamic, Tantric and sectarian forms of Indian religion, which take recourse to the authority of non-Vedic textual sources. The Vedic religion is described in the Vedas and associated with voluminous Vedic literature, including the early Upanishads, preserved into the modern times by the different priestly schools. The religion existed in the western Ganges plain in the early Vedic period from 1500–1100 BCE, and developed into Brahmanism in the late Vedic period ( 1100–500 BCE). The eastern Ganges plain was dominated by another Indo-Aryan complex, which rejected the later Brahmanical ideology and gave rise to Jainism and Buddhism, and the Maurya Empire.
Indo-European roots and syncreticism The Indo-Aryans were speakers of a branch of the Indo-European language family which originated in the Sintashta culture and further developed into the Andronovo culture, which in turn developed out of the Kurgan culture of the Central Asian steppes. The commonly proposed period of earlier Vedic age is dated back to 2nd millennium BCE.
The Vedic beliefs and practices of the pre-classical era were closely related to the hypothesized Proto-Indo-European religion, and shows relations with rituals from the Andronovo culture, from which the Indo-Aryan people descended. According to Anthony, the Old Indic religion probably emerged among Indo-European immigrants in the contact zone between the Zeravshan River (present-day Uzbekistan) and (present-day) Iran. It was "a syncretic mixture of old Central Asian and new Indo-European elements" which borrowed "distinctive religious beliefs and practices" from the Bactria–Margiana culture (BMAC). This syncretic influence is supported by at least 383 non-Indo-European words that were borrowed from this culture, including the god Indra and the ritual drink soma. According to Anthony,
The oldest inscriptions in Old Indic, the language of the Rig Veda, are found in northern Syria, the location of the Mitanni kingdom. The Mitanni kings took Old Indic throne names, and Old Indic technical terms were used for horse-riding and chariot-driving. The Old Indic term ṛta, meaning "cosmic order and truth", the central concept of the Rig Veda, was also employed in the Mitanni kingdom. Old Indic gods, including Indra, were also known in the Mitanni kingdom.
Indian subcontinental influences The Vedic religion was the product of "a composite of the Indo-Aryan and Harappan cultures and civilizations". White (2003) cites three other scholars who "have emphatically demonstrated" that Vedic religion is partially derived from the Indus Valley civilization.
It is unclear if the theory in diverse Vedic texts actually reflects the folk practices, iconography, and other practical aspects of the Vedic religion. The Vedic religion changed when Indo-Aryan people migrated into the Gangetic Plain after 1100 BCE and became settled farmers, further syncretizing with the native cultures of northern India. The evidence suggests that the Vedic religion evolved in "two superficially contradictory directions", namely an ever more "elaborate, expensive, and specialized system of rituals", which survives in the present-day srauta-ritual, and "abstraction and internalization of the principles underlying ritual and cosmic speculation" within oneself, akin to the Jain and Buddhist tradition.
Aspects of the historical Vedic religion still continue in modern times. For instance, the Nambudiri Brahmins continue the ancient Śrauta rituals, and the complex Vedic rituals of Śrauta are practised in Kerala and coastal Andhra. The Kalash people residing in northwest Pakistan also continue to practise a form of the ancient Vedic religion. It has also been suggested by Michael Witzel that Shinto, the native religion of Japan, contains some influences from the ancient Vedic religion.
Brahmanism
Historical Brahminism Brahmanism, also called Brahminism or Brahmanical Hinduism, developed out of the Vedic religion, incorporating non-Vedic religious ideas, and expanding to a region stretching from the northwest Indian subcontinent to the Ganges valley. Brahmanism included the Vedic corpus, but also post-Vedic texts such as the Dharmasutras and Dharmaśāstras, which gave prominence to the priestly (Brahmin) caste of the society, Heesterman also mentions the post-Vedic Smriti (Puranas and the Epics), which are also incorporated in the later Smarta tradition. The emphasis on ritual and the dominant position of Brahmins developed as an ideology in the Kuru-Pancala realm, and expanded over a wider area after the demise of the Kuru-Pancala kingdom and its incorporation into the Magadha-based empires. It co-existed with local religions, such as the Yaksha cults.
The word Brahmanism was coined by Gonçalo Fernandes Trancoso (1520–1596) in the 16th century. Historically, and still by some modern authors, the word 'Brahmanism' was used in English to refer to the Hindu religion, treating the term Brahmanism as synonymous with Hinduism, and using it interchangeably. Michael S. Allen criticises the use of "Brahminism" for the "greater Vedic tradition", arguing that it obscures the contribution of non-Brahmins to the tradition.: "This greater Vedic tradition is sometimes referred to as "Brahminism," but that label is less than ideal. First, as McGovern (2019) has pointed out in a recent book, the term "Brahmin" was originally not exclusive to followers of the Vedas, but was also used by Buddhists, Jains, and others. Second, although (Vedic) Brahmins were jealous of their teaching authority, they regarded the Vedas as the ultimate source of that authority, and referring to their tradition as "Brahminism" rather than "Vedism" would be subject to the same objections that have led scholars of Tibetan Buddhism to abandon the term "Lamaism." Third, and perhaps most importantly, the term obscures the participation of non-Brahmins in the greater Vedic tradition." In the 18th and 19th centuries, Brahminism was the most common term used in English for Hinduism. Brahmanism gave importance to Absolute Reality (Brahman) speculations in the early Upanishads, as these terms are etymologically linked, which developed from post-Vedic ideas during the late Vedic era. The concept of Brahman is posited as that which existed before the creation of the universe, which constitutes all of existence thereafter, and into which the universe will dissolve, followed by similar endless creation-maintenance-destruction cycles.