Vedic influence on the Sun-worship in the Puranas
by Goswami Mitali | 2018 | 68,171 words
This page relates ‘Origin and Evolution of Religion’ of the study on the Vedic influence of Sun-worship in the Puranas, conducted by Goswami Mitali in 2018. The tradition of observing Agnihotra sacrifice and the Sandhya, etc., is frequently observed among the Hindus. Another important innovation of the Sun-worship in the Puranas is the installation of the images of the Sun in the temples.—This section belongs to the series “Vedic Concept of God and Religion”.
Part 4 - Origin and Evolution of Religion
According to Hopkins, one inspired religion was prevalent in ancient India from where all the other religions were decadent.[1]
The view of Hopkins almost resembles the view of the Veda:
yajñena yajñamayajanta devāstāni dharmāṇi prathamāṇyāsan/
te ha nākaṃ mahimānaḥ sacanta yatra pūrve sādhyāḥ santi devāḥ//[2]
The Vedic verse reveals the origin of the religion by saying that the gods introduced religion on earth through the performance of a divine ritual of creation. Among different theories related to its origin, two theories are regarded as earlier—firstly, the theory of divine origin; secondly, the theory of human origin.[3] According to the first theory, i.e. divine origin, god is the ultimate source of religion and religion is revealed by means of divinity only. But according to the human origin, viveka, i.e. the human consideration or judgment is the ultimate cause of the origin of religion. Religion, as it is regarded as the result of the divine revelation, but the forms and contents of it cannot be occurred with the participation of human mind.[4] Thus, though these two theories differ from each other, but in origin, they are contemporary to each other.
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
Hopkins, E. Washburn., Origin and Evolution of Religion, p. 2
[2]:
Ṛgvedasaṃhitā,10.90.16
[4]:
Vide, Radhakrishnan, S., Religion and Culture, p. 25