Reading section 20

[Footnote 406: Hardy, _Indische Religionsgeschichte_, p. 101.]

[Footnote 407: But some of these latter sacrifice images made of dough instead of living animals.]

[Footnote 408: It is said that the Agnishtoma was performed in Benares in 1898, and in the last few years I am told that one or two Vedic sacrifices have been offered annually in various parts of southern India. I have myself seen the sites where such sacrifices were offered in 1908-9 in Mysore city and in Chidambaram, and in 1912 at Wei near Poona. The most usual form of sacrifice now-a-days is said to be the Vajapeya. Much Vedic ritual is still preserved in the domestic life of the Nambathiri and other Brahmans of southern India. See Cochin, _Tribes and Castes_, and Thurston, _Castes and Tribes of southern India._]

[Footnote 409: The outline of a stupa may be due to imitation of houses constructed with curved bamboos as Vincent Smith contends (_History of Fine Art_, p. 17). But this is compatible with the view that stone buildings with this curved outline had come to be used specially as funeral monuments before Buddhism popularized in India and all Eastern Asia the architectural form called stupa.]

[Footnote 410: The temple of Aihole near Badami seems to be a connecting link between a Buddhist stupa with a pradakshina path and a Hindu shrine.]

[Footnote 411: In most temples (at least in southern India) there are two images: the _mula-vigraha_ which is of stone and fixed in the sanctuary, and the _utsava-vigraha_ which is smaller, made of metal and carried in processions.]

[Footnote 412: Thus Bhattacharya (_Hindu Castes and Sects_, p. 127) enumerates eleven classes of Brahmans, who "have a very low status on account of their being connected with the great public shrines," and adds that mere residence in a place of pilgrimage for a few generations tends to lower the status of a Brahmanic family.]

[Footnote 413: Thus in Bengal there is a special class, the Barna Brahmans, who perform religious rites for the lower castes, and are divided into six classes according to the castes to whom they minister. Other Brahmans will not eat or intermarry with them or even take water from them.]

[Footnote 414: This is extraordinarily like the temple ritual of the ancient Egyptians. For some account of the construction and ritual of south Indian temples see Richards in _J. of Mythic Soc_. 1919, pp. 158-107.]

[Footnote 415: But Vedic mantras are used in these ceremonies. The libations of water or other liquids are said to be accompanied by the mantras recited at the Soma sacrifice.]

[Footnote 416: At these sacrifices there is no elaborate ritual or suggestion of symbolism. The animal is beheaded and the inference is that Kali likes it. Similarly simple is the offering of coco-nuts to Kali. The worshipper gives a nut to the pujari who splits it in two with an axe, spills the milk and hands back half the nut to the worshipper. This is the sort of primitive offering that might be made to an African fetish.]

[Footnote 417: See especially the Ambattha Sutta (Dig. Nik. 3) and Rhys Davids's introduction.]

[Footnote 418: See Weber, _Die Vajrasuchi_ and Nanjio, Catal. No. 1303. In Ceylon at the present day only members of the higher castes can become Bhikkhus.]

[Footnote 419: But it is said that in Southern India serious questions of caste are reported to the abbot of the Sringeri monastery for his decision.]

[Footnote 420: The modern Lingayats demur to the statement that their founder rejected caste.]

[Footnote 421: So too in the cakras of the Saktists all castes are equal during the performance of the ceremony.]

[Footnote 422: Some (Khandelwals, Dasa Srimalis and Palliwals) include both Jains and Vaishnavas: the Agarwals are mostly Vaishnavas but some of them are Jains and some worship Siva and Kali. Jogendra Nath Bhattacharya, _Hindu Castes and Sects_, pp. 205 ff.]

[Footnote 423: The names used are not the same. The four Vedic castes are called _Varna_: the hundreds of modern castes are called _Jati._]

[Footnote 424: Sampradaya seems to be the ordinary Sanskrit word for sectarian doctrine. It means traditional teaching transmitted from one teacher to another.]

[Footnote 425: I am discussing elsewhere the possible debt which Christianity and Hinduism may owe to one another.]

[Footnote 426: Panini, IV. 3. 95-98.]

[Footnote 427: Katha Up. I. 1. 2, 23.]

[Footnote 428: R.V. X. 125.]

[Footnote 429: Compare too the hymns of the R.V. to Varuna as a rudimentary expression of Bhakti from the worshipper's point of view.]

[Footnote 430: _E.g._ Theragatha, 818-841 and 1231-1245.]

[Footnote 431: I. 2.]

[Footnote 432: They are called the Sandilya Sutras and appear to be not older than about the twelfth century A.D., but the tradition which connects them with the School of Sandilya may be just, for the teaching of this sage (Chandog. Up. III. 14) lays stress on will and belief. Ramanuja (Sribhashya, II. 2. 43) refers to Sandilya as the alleged author of the Pancaratra. There are other Bhakti sutras called Naradiya and ascribed to Narada, published and translated in _The Sacred Books of the Hindus_, No. 23. They consist of 84 short aphorisms. Raj. Mitra in his notices of Sanskrit MSS. describes a great number of modern works dealing with Bhakti.]

[Footnote 433: Yet it is found in Francis Thompson's poem called _Any Saint_

So best God loves to jest With children small, a freak Of heavenly hide and seek Fit For thy wayward wit.]

[Footnote 434: Pope, _The History of Manikka-Vacagar_, p. 23. For the 64 sports of Siva see Siddhanta Dipika, vol. IX.]

[Footnote 435: _E.g._ Ramanuja, Nammarvar, Basava.]

[Footnote 436: Apparently meaning "possessor of cows," and originally a title of the youthful Krishna. It is also interpreted as meaning Lord of the Vedas or Lord of his own senses.]

[Footnote 437: _E.g._ the beginning of the Chand. Up. about the syllable _Om._ See too the last section of the Aitareya Aran. The Yoga Upanishads analyse and explain _Om_ and some Vishnuite Upanishads (Nrisimha and Ramata-paniya) enlarge on the subject of letters and diagrams.]

[Footnote 438: The same idea pervades the old literature in a slightly different form. The parts of the sacrifice are constantly identified with parts of the universe or of the human body.]

[Footnote 439: The cakras are mentioned in Act V of Malati and Madhava written early in the eighth century. The doctrine of the nadis occurs in the older Upanishads (_e.g._ Chand. and Maitrayana) in a rudimentary form.]

CHAPTER XXVII

THE EVOLUTION OF HINDUISM. BHAGAVATAS AND PASUPATAS

1

India is a literary country and naturally so great a change as the transformation of the old religion into theistic sects preaching salvation by devotion to a particular deity found expression in a long and copious literature. This literature supplements and supersedes the Vedic treatises but without impairing their theoretical authority, and, since it cannot compare with them in antiquity and has not the same historic interest, it has received little attention from Indianists until the present century. But in spite of its defects it is of the highest importance for an understanding of medieval and contemporary Hinduism. Much of it is avowedly based on the principle that in this degenerate age the Veda is difficult to understand,[440] and that therefore God in His mercy has revealed other texts containing a clear compendium of doctrine. Thus the great Vishnuite doctor Ramanuja states authoritatively "The incontrovertible fact then is as follows: The Lord who is known from the Vedanta texts ... recognising that the Vedas are difficult to fathom by all beings other than himself ... with a view to enable his devotees to grasp the true meaning of the Vedas, himself composed the Pancaratra-Sastra."[441]

This later sectarian literature falls into several divisions.

A. Certain episodes of the Mahabharata. The most celebrated of these is the Bhagavad-gita, which is probably anterior to the Christian era. Though it is incorporated in the Epic it is frequently spoken of as an independent work. Later and less celebrated but greatly esteemed by Vishnuites is the latter part of book XII, commonly known as Narayaniya.[442] Both these episodes and others[443] are closely analogous to metrical Upanishads. The Mahabharata even styles itself (I. 261) the Veda of Krishna (Karshna).

The Ramayana does not contain religious episodes comparable to those mentioned but the story has more than once been re-written in a religious and philosophic form. Of such versions the Adhyatma-Ramayana[444] and Yoga-vasishtha-Ramayana are very popular.

B. Though the Puranas[445] are not at all alike, most of them show clear affinity both as literature and as religious thought to the various strata of the Mahabharata, and to the Law Books, especially the metrical code of Manu. These all represent a form of orthodoxy which while admitting much that is not found in the Veda is still Brahmanic and traditionalist. The older Puranas (_e.g._ Matsya, Vayu, Markandeya, Vishnu), or at least the older parts of them, are the literary expression of that Hindu reaction which gained political power with the accession of the Gupta dynasty. They are less definitely sectarian than later works such as the Narada and Linga Puranas, yet all are more or less sectarian.

The most influential Purana is the Bhagavata, one of the great scriptures for all sects which worship Krishna. It is said to have been translated into every language of India and forty versions in Bengali alone are mentioned.[446] It was probably composed in the eighth or ninth century.[447] A free translation of the tenth book into Hindi, called the Prem Sagar or Ocean of Love, is greatly revered in northern India.[448] Other sectarian Puranas are frequently read at temple services. Besides the eighteen great Puranas there are many others, and in south India at any rate they were sometimes composed in the vernacular, as for instance the Periya Purana (_c._ 1100 A.D.). These vernacular Puranas seem to be collections of strangely fantastic fairy tales.

C. The word Tantra originally meant a manual giving the essentials of a subject but later usage tends to restrict it to works, whether Hindu or Buddhist, inculcating the worship of Siva's spouse. But there are exceptions to this restriction: the Panca-tantra is a collection of stories and the Lakshmi-tantra is a Vishnuite work.[449]

The fact is that a whole class of Sanskrit religious literature is described by the titles Tantra, Agama and Samhita,[450] which taken in a wide sense are practically synonymous, though usage is inclined to apply the first specially to Saktist works, the second to Sivaite and the third to Vishnuite. The common character of all these productions is that they do not attempt to combine Vedic rites and ideas with sectarian worship, but boldly state that, since the prescriptions of the Veda are too hard for this age, some generous deity has revealed an easier teaching. This teaching naturally varies in detail, but it usually comprises devotion to some special form of the godhead and also a special ceremonial, which commences with initiation and includes the use of mystic formulae, letters and diagrams. Tantras, Agamas and Samhitas all treat of their subject-matter in four divisions[451] the first of which relates to the great problems of philosophy, the second to the discipline necessary for uniting the self and God; the third and fourth to ceremonial.

These works have another feature in common, namely that they are little known except to those Hindus who use them for religious purposes and are probably not very anxious to see them published. Though they are numerous, few of them have been printed and those few have not been much studied by European scholars. I shall say something more about them below in treating of the various sects. Some are of respectable antiquity but it is also clear that modern texts pass under ancient names. The Pancaratram and Pasupatam which are Vishnuite and Sivaite Samhitas are mentioned in the Mahabharata, and some extant Vishnuite Samhitas were perhaps composed in the fourth century A.D.[452] Ramanuja as quoted above states that the Pancaratra-sastra (apparently the same as the Pancaratra-tantra which he also mentions) was composed by Vasudeva himself and also cites as scripture the Sattvata, Paushkara and Parama Samhitas. In the same context he speaks of the Mahabharata as Bharata-Samhita and the whole passage is interesting as being a statement by a high authority of the reasons for accepting a non-Vedic work like the Pancaratra as revealed scripture.

As already indicated European usage makes the words Tantra, Tantrism and tantric refer to the worship of goddesses. It would be better to describe this literature and worship as Saktism and to use Tantrism for a tendency in doctrine and ceremonial which otherwise has no special name. I have been informed by Tamil Pandits that at the present day the ritual in some temples is smarta or according to Smriti, but in the majority according to the Agamas or tantric. The former which is followed by many well-known shrines (for instance in Benares and in the great temples of south India) conforms to the precepts of the Puranas, especially on festival days. The officiants require no special initiation and burnt offerings are presented. But the Agamic ritual can be performed only by priests who have received initiation, burnt offerings rarely form part of the ceremony and vernacular hymns are freely used.[453]

Such hymns however as well as processions and other forms of worship which appeal directly to the religious emotions are certainly not tantric. Tantrism is a species of religious magic, differing from the Vedic sacrifices in method rather than principle.[454] For all that, it sets aside the old rites and announces itself as the new dispensation for this age. Among its principal features are the following. The Tantras are a scripture for all, and lay little stress on caste: the texts and the ritual which they teach can be understood only after initiation and with the aid of a teacher: the ritual consists largely in the correct use of spells, magical or sacramental syllables and letters, diagrams and gestures: its object is less to beseech than to compel the god to come to the worshipper: another object is to unite the worshipper to the god and in fact transform him into the god: man is a microcosm corresponding to the macrocosm or universe: the spheres and currents of the universe are copied in miniature in the human body and the same powers rule the same parts in the greater and the lesser scheme. Such ideas are widely disseminated in almost all modern sects,[455] though without forming their essential doctrine, but I must repeat that to say all sects are tantric does not mean that they are all Saktist. But Saktist sects are fundamentally and thoroughly tantric in their theory and practice.

D. Besides the Sanskrit books mentioned above numerous vernacular works, especially collections of hymns, are accepted as authoritative by various sects, and almost every language has scriptures of its own. In the south two Tamil hymnals, the Devaram of the Sivaites and Nalayira Prabandham of the Vishnuites, are recited in temples and are boldly stated to be revelations equivalent to the Veda. In northern India may be mentioned the Hindi Ramayana of Tulsi Das, which is almost universally venerated, the Bhaktamala of Nabha Das,[456] the Sur-sagar of Surdas and the Prem Sagar. In Assam the Nam Gosha of Madhab Deb is honoured with the same homage as a sacred image. The awkwardness of admitting direct inspiration in late times is avoided by the theory of spiritual descent, that is to say of doctrinal transmission from teacher to teacher, the divine revelation having been made to the original teacher at a discreetly remote epoch.

2

In considering the evolution of modern Hinduism out of the old Vedic religion, three of the many factors responsible for this huge and complicated result deserve special attention. The first is the unusual intensity and prevalence of the religious temperament. This has a double effect, both conservative and alterative: ancient customs receive an unreasonable respect: they are not abolished for their immorality or absurdity; but since real interest implies some measure of constructive power, there is a constant growth of new ideas and reinterpretations resulting in inconsistent combinations. The second is the absence of hierarchy and discipline. The guiding principle of the Brahmans has always been not so much that they have a particular creed to enforce, as that whatever is the creed of India they must be its ministers. Naturally every priest is the champion of his own god or rite, and such zeal may lead to occasional conflicts. But though the antithesis between the ritualism of the older Brahmanism and the faith or philosophy of Sivaism and Vishnuism may remind us of the differences between the Catholic Church and Protestant reformers, yet historically there is no resemblance in the development of the antithesis. To some extent Hinduism showed a united front against Buddhism, but the older Brahmanism had no organization which enabled it to stand as a separate Church in opposition to movements which it disliked. The third factor is the deeply rooted idea, which reappears at frequent intervals from the time of the Upanishads until to-day, that rules and rites and even creeds are somehow part of the lower and temporal order of things which the soul should transcend and leave behind. This idea tinges the whole of Indian philosophy and continually crops up in practice. The founder of a strange sect who declares that nothing is necessary but faith in a particular deity and that all ceremonies and caste observances are superfluous is not in the popular esteem a subverter of Hinduism.

The history of both Sivaism and Vishnuism illustrates these features. Siva begins as a wild deity of non-moral attributes. As the religious sense develops he is not rejected like the less reputable deities of the Jews and Arabs but remains and collects round himself other strange wild ideas which in time are made philosophical but not ethical. The rites of the new religion are, if not antagonistic, at least alternative to the ancient sacrifices, yet far from being forbidden they are performed by Brahmans and modern Indian writers describe Siva as peculiarly the Brahman's god. Finally the Sivaite schools of the Tamil country reject in successive stages the grosser and more formal elements until there remains nothing but an ecstatic and mystical monotheism. Similarly among the Vishnuites Krishna is the centre of legends which have even less of conventional morality. Yet out of them arises a doctrine that the love of God is the one thing needful so similar to Christian teaching that many have supposed it must be borrowed.

The first clear accounts of the worship of Siva and Vishnu are contained in the epics and indicate the existence of sectarian religion, that is to say of exclusive devotion to one or other deity. But there is also a tendency to find a place for both, a tendency which culminates in the composite deity Sankara Narayana already mentioned. Many of the Puranas[457] reflect this view and praise the two deities impartially. The Mahabharata not unfrequently does the same but the general impression left by this poem is that the various parts of which it consists have been composed or revised in a sectarian spirit. The body of the work is a narrative of exploits in which the hero Krishna plays a great part but revised so as to make him appear often as a deity and sometimes as the Supreme Spirit. But much of the didactic matter which has been added, particularly books XII and XIII, breathes an equally distinct Sivaite spirit and in the parts where Krishna is treated as a mere hero, the principal god appears to be not Vishnu but Siva.

The Mahabharata and Puranas contain legends which, though obscure, refer to conflicts of the worshippers of Siva with those who offered Vedic sacrifices as well as with the votaries of Vishnu, and to a subsequent reconciliation and blending of the various cults. Among these is the well-known story of Daksha's sacrifice to which Siva was not invited. Enraged at the omission he violently breaks up the sacrifice either in person or through a being whom he creates for the purpose, assaults the officiants and the gods who are present, and is pacified by receiving a share. Similarly we hear[458] that he once seized a victim at a sacrifice and that the gods in fear allotted to him the choicest portion of the offerings. These stories indicate that at one time Brahmans did not countenance his worship and he is even represented as saying to his wife that according to rule (dharmatah) he has no share in the sacrifice.[459] Possibly human victims were immolated in his honour, as they were in Kali's until recently, for in the Mahabharata[460] it is related how Krishna expostulated with Jarasandha who proposed to offer to Siva a sacrifice of captive kings. In the Vishnu-Purana, Krishna fights with Siva and burns Benares. But by the time that the Mahabharata was put together these quarrels were not in an acute stage. In several passages[461] Krishna is made to worship Siva as the Supreme Spirit and in others[462] vice versa Siva celebrates the glory of Krishna. Vishnuites do not disbelieve in Siva but they regard him as a god of this world, whereas their own deity is cosmic and universal. Many Vishnuite works[463] are said to be revealed by Siva who acts as an intermediary between us and higher spheres.

3

In the following sections I shall endeavour to relate the beginnings of sectarianism. The sects which are now most important are relatively modern and arose in the twelfth century or later, but the sectarian spirit can be traced back several centuries before our era. By sectarians I mean worshippers of Siva or Vishnu who were neither in complete sympathy with the ancient Brahmanism nor yet excommunicated by it and who had new texts and rites to replace or at least supplement the Vedas and the Vedic sacrifices. It is probable that the different types of early Indian religion had originally different geographical spheres. Brahmanism flourished in what we call the United Provinces: Buddhism arose in the regions to the east of this district and both Vishnuism and Sivaism are first heard of in the west.

The earliest sect of which we have any record is that of the Bhagavatas, who were or became Vishnuite. At a date which it is impossible to fix but considerably before the epoch of Panini, a tribe named the Yadavas occupied the country between Muttra and the shores of Gujarat. Sects of this tribe were called Vrishni and Sattvata. The latter name has passed into theology. Krishna belonged to this sect and it is probable that this name Vasudeva was not originally a patronymic but the name of a deity worshipped by it. The hero Krishna was identified with this god and subsequently when the Brahmans wished to bring this powerful sect within the pale of orthodoxy both were identified with Vishnu. In the Mahabharata[464] the rule or ritual (vidhi) of the Sattvatas is treated as equivalent to that of the Bhagavatas and a work called the Sattvata Samhita is still extant. Bhagavata appears to be the most general name of the sect or sects and means simply _of the Lord_ (Bhagavat), that is worshippers of the one Lord.[465] Their religion is also called Ekantika dharma, or the religion with one object, that is monotheism.[466]

A considerable literature grew up in this school and the principal treatise is often spoken of as Pancaratra because it was revealed by Narayana during five nights.[467] The name however appears to be strictly speaking applicable to a system or body of doctrine and the usual term for the books in which this system is expounded is Samhita. All previous discussions and speculations about these works, of which little was known until recently, are superseded by Schrader's publication of the Ahirbudhnya Samhita, which appears to be representative of its class.[468] The names of over two hundred are cited and of these more than thirty are known to be extant in MS.[469] The majority were composed in north-western India but the Pancaratra doctrine spread to the Dravidian countries and new Samhitas were produced there, the chief of which, the Isvara Samhita, can hardly be later than 800 A.D.[470] Of the older works Schrader thinks that the Ahirbudhnya was written in Kashmir[471] between 300 and 800 A.D. and perhaps as early as the fourth century. It mentions the Sattvata and Jayakhya, which must therefore be older.