Rivers in Ancient India (study)

by Archana Sarma | 2019 | 49,356 words

This page relates ‘The Vedic Literature’ of the study on the rivers in ancient India as reflected in the Vedic and Puranic texts. These pages dicsusses the elements of nature and the importance of rivers (Nadi) in Vedic and Puranic society. Distinctive traits of rivers are investigated from descriptions found in the Vedas (Samhitas), Brahmanas, Aranyakas, Upanishads and Puranas. The research is concluded by showing changing trends of rivers from ancient to modern times.

1. The Vedic Literature

The Vedic literature actually squeezes a huge type of literature such as Saṃhitā, Brāhmaṇa, Āraṇyaka, Upaniṣad and six Vedāṅgas. Though the Veda consists of primarily the Mantras and the Brāhmaṇas, yet the Brāhmaṇa portion is again sub-divided into three classes, viz. the Brāhmaṇa, Āraṇyaka and the Upaniṣad. So, the four different classes of Vedas are—Saṃhitā, Brāhmaṇa, Āraṇyaka and Upaniṣad.

The term Veda is derived from the root vid-‘to know’ with the suffix ac. It means ‘Supreme knowledge’ or ‘knowledge par excellence’. It has been mentioned in the Ṛgvedabhāyṣabhūmikā as ‘Veda is the Supernatural Knowledge which cannot be attained through perception and inference.’[1] This can be attained only through this revealed text, i.e. the Veda. Manu calls the Veda as “the repository of all religious duties.”[2] Sāyaṇācārya, in his introduction to the commentary on the Taittirīyasaṃhitā,[3] remarked “The Veda helps us to know the supernatural means to attain or get the desired object and to avoid the undesirable object.” The term Veda includes both the Mantra and the Brāhmaṇa. According to Āpastambaparibhāṣāsūtra, ‘Veda is the name given to Mantra and Brāhmaṇa jointly.[4] Sāyaṇācārya, in his introduction to his commentary on the Ṛgvedasaṃhitā, remarks “The Mantra and Brāhmaṇa constitute Vedas.”[5] The great authority on the Pūrvamīmāṃsā system and the famous commentator of its aphorisms Śavarasvāmin also defines the Veda as “Mantras and Brāhmaṇas together constitute the Veda.”[6] Mantra is the first part of the Vedic literature. Mantras or Saṃahitās are the collections of hymns, prayers, benedictions, etc. Yāskācārya defines mantras as–manānāt mantraḥ.[7]

‘Brāhmaṇas’ standing for a huge mass of prose texts which contains speculations on the mantras, precepts for the application of mantras in different sacrifices, details of sacrificial paraphernalia and theological, philosophical, grammatical, etymological and metrical speculations.[8]

The third part of the Vedic literature is the Āraṇyakas. The Āraṇykas are regarded as the treatises of forest. According to Sāyaṇācārya, the Āraṇyakas are so called because these were to be read in the forest. Āraṇyakas were meant to give a preliminary training to those who desire eagerly for the liberation from the bond of birth and rebirth.[9]

Upaniṣads are the concluding part of the Vedic literature. So it is called the Vedānta. The Upaniṣads dealt with the Jñanakāṇḍa or the knowledge section of the Veda. Upaniṣad is called the essence of the Veda.[10]

The Ṛgveda is the first and foremost of all the Vedas. There are two divisions of the Ṛgveda, viz. aṣṭaka and maṇḍala. According to the aṣṭaka division, this Veda is divided into eight aṣṭakas. According to the maṇḍala division, there are 10 maṇḍalas in the Ṛgveda. There are 10 maṇḍalas, 85 anuvākas, 1028 sūktās and 10552 mantras in the Ṛgveda. Among the 1028 sūktas, 11 sūktas are known as Khilasūkta. Because of this division into maṇḍalas, this Veda is known as Dāśatayī also.

Sāmaveda is the Veda of tunes. Sāman literally means ‘tune’ or ‘melody’-a mode of singing which is practised on the particular group of words. The Sāmaveda is wholly metrical. It consists of two parts, the Pūrvārcik and Uttarārcik. At present, there are three different schools of the Sāmaveda, i.e. Rāṇāyaṅa, Kauthuma and Jaimini, called as Rāṇāyṇīyasaṃhitā, Kauthumasaṃhitā and Jaiminīyasaṃhitā.[11]

The Yajurveda, forms with the root yaj, meaning ‘worship.’ The Veda primarily of prose mantras for worship in the rituals. The Yajurveda is broadly divided into two parts–the ‘Black’ or Kṛṣṇayujurveda or Taittirīyasaṃhitā and the ‘White’ or Śuklayajurveda or Vājasaneyīsaṃhitā. Vājasaneyīsaṃhitā is divided into two brancheskāṇva and Mādhyandina. There are 40 chapters and 1975 mantras in the Vājasaneyīsaṃhitā. Taittirīya, Maitrāyaṇī, katha and Kapiṣṭhala are the branches of the ‘Black’ Yajurveda.

The last and latest Veda is the Atharvaveda. This Veda is not included in the Traīvidyā, which proves its late origin. It is a collection of 730 hymns with about 6000 mantras, divided into twenty books. Two different recensions of the text—the Paippalāda and the Śaunakīya have survived into modern times. This Veda is also known as Atharvāṅgīrasa which means that it refers to a work which was used both to bless and to curse. Bless comes from the Atharva side and curse comes from the Āṅgīrasa side.[12]

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

pratyakṣenānuṃitya vā yastūpāyo na budhyate | enaṃ vidanti vedena tasmāt vedasya vedatā || Sāyaṇācārya on Ṛgvedabhāṣyabhūmikā, p.148

[2]:

vedo’khilo dharmamūlam | Manusaṃhitā, 2.6

[3]:

iṣṭaprāptyaniṣṭaparihārayoralaukikamupāyaṃ yo grantho vedayati sa vedaḥ | Sāyaṇācārya on his introduction to Taittirīya Saṃhitā, bhāṣya, p.2

[4]:

mantra brāhmaṇayorvedanāmadheyaṃ | Āpastambaparibhāṣāsūtra, 1.33

[5]:

mantrabrāhmaṇātmakatvaṃ tāvadaduṣṭaṃ lakṣaṇam| Sāyaṇācārya on Ṛgvedabhāṣyabhūmikā, p.3

[6]:

mantraśca brāhmaṇaṃ ca vedaḥ| Pūrvamīmāṃsāsūtra, 1.2.3

[7]:

Nirukta, 7. 22

[8]:

Vide, Basu, Jogiraj, India of the age of the Brāhmaṇas, p.2

[9]:

Sāyaṇācārya on the Taittirīya Āraṇyaka, 1.6

[11]:

cf., Sarma, S.N., A History of Vedic Literature, pp. 78-79

[12]:

cf., Ibid., pp. 82-83

Like what you read? Consider supporting this website: