Traditional
106-413: Śrauta is a Sanskrit word that means "belonging to śruti ", that is, anything based on the Vedas of Hinduism . It is an adjective and prefix for texts, ceremonies or person associated with śruti. The term, for example, refers to Brahmins who specialise in the śruti corpus of texts, and Śrauta Brahmin traditions in modern times can be seen in Kerala and Coastal Andhra . The Sanskrit word śrauta
212-538: A Mimamsa scholar, "thinks of the Veda as something to be trained and mastered to be put into practical ritual use", noticing that "it is not the meaning of the mantras that is most essential [...] but rather the perfect mastering of their sound form." According to Galewicz, Sayana saw the purpose ( artha ) of the Veda as the " artha of carrying out sacrifice", giving precedence to the Yajurveda . For Sayana, whether
318-411: A paribhāṣāsūtra (definitions, glossary section). Other texts such as the early Apastamba śrautasūtra and later composed Katyayana start with Paribhasa-sutra section. The śulbasūtra s or śulvasūtra s are appendices in the śrautasūtras and deal with the mathematical methodology to construct geometries for the vedi (Vedic altar). The Sanskrit word śulba means "cord", and these texts are "rules of
424-466: A square into a rectangle , an isosceles trapezium , an isosceles triangle , a rhombus , and a circle , and transforming a circle into a square. In these texts approximations, such as the transformation of a circle into a square, appear side by side with more accurate statements. As an example, the statement of circling the square is given in Baudhayana as: 2.9. If it is desired to transform
530-645: A 3000-year history. A homa , in all its Asian variations, is a ceremonial ritual that offers food to fire and is ultimately descended from the Vedic religion. The tradition reflects a ritual eclecticism for fire and cooked food ( Paka-yajna ) that developed in Indian religions, and the Brahmana layers of the Vedas are the earliest surviving records of this. Yajna or vedic fire sacrifice ritual, in Indian context, became
636-464: A common noun means "knowledge". The term in some contexts, such as hymn 10.93.11 of the Rigveda , means "obtaining or finding wealth, property", while in some others it means "a bunch of grass together" as in a broom or for ritual fire . The term "Vedic texts" is used in two distinct meanings: The corpus of Vedic Sanskrit texts includes: While production of Brahmanas and Aranyakas ceased with
742-407: A distinct feature of the early śruti (Vedic) rituals. A śrauta ritual is a form of quid pro quo where through the fire ritual, a sacrificer offered something to the gods, and the sacrificer expected something in return. The Vedic ritual consisted of sacrificial offerings of something edible or drinkable, such as milk, clarified butter, yoghurt, rice, barley, an animal, or anything of value, offered to
848-488: A means to preserve the number of cattle, or lack of availability of sacrificial animals. However, according to Grover, the ancient text suggests that "animal sacrifice was given up", and offering had become "vegetable, grains, milk and ghee". The view that ancient Vedic texts had begun asserting that vegetable offerings were as efficient as animal offerings, for certain sacrifices, is shared by Max Müller and others. According to Alexis Sanderson, Śrauta ceremonies declined from
954-511: A mistake to see in [the altar builders'] works the unique origin of geometry; others in India and elsewhere, whether in response to practical or theoretical problems, may well have advanced as far without their solutions having been committed to memory or eventually transcribed in manuscripts." Plofker also raises the possibility that "existing geometric knowledge [was] consciously incorporated into ritual practice". The sutras contain statements of
1060-509: A monistic philosophy of ultimate identity – arguably one indication of Vedism dissipating and reforming into a new systematic vision of the world and its fundamental principles – was born outside the normative classification schema of Vedic social life and became institutionalized as a counterpoint to life in the world. With time, scholars of ancient India composed Upanishads, such as the Pranagnihotra Upanishad , that evolved
1166-622: A number of older Veda manuscripts in Nepal that are dated from the 11th century onwards. The Vedas, Vedic rituals and its ancillary sciences called the Vedangas , were part of the curriculum at ancient universities such as at Taxila , Nalanda and Vikramashila . According to Deshpande, "the tradition of the Sanskrit grammarians also contributed significantly to the preservation and interpretation of Vedic texts." Yāska (4th c. BCE ) wrote
SECTION 10
#17327724024271272-516: A number of scholars such as Mary McGee, Stephanie Jamison, Katherine Young, and Laurie Patton. The Ashvamedha and Rajasuya are not practiced anymore. There is doubt the Purushamedha , a human sacrifice , was ever performed. The Śrauta rituals were complex and expensive, states Robert Bellah, and "we should not forget that the rites were created for royalty and nobility". A Brahmin, adds Bellah, would need to be very rich to sponsor and incur
1378-511: A particular area, or kingdom. Each school followed its own canon. Multiple recensions (revisions) are known for each of the Vedas. Thus, states Witzel as well as Renou, in the 2nd millennium BCE, there was likely no canon of one broadly accepted Vedic texts, no Vedic “Scripture”, but only a canon of various texts accepted by each school. Some of these texts have survived, most lost or yet to be found. Rigveda that survives in modern times, for example,
1484-822: A region spanning the Indian subcontinent, Persia and the European area, and some greater details are found in the Vedic era texts such as the Grhya Sūtras. Only one version of the Rigveda is known to have survived into the modern era. Several different versions of the Sama Veda and the Atharva Veda are known, and many different versions of the Yajur Veda have been found in different parts of South Asia. The texts of
1590-441: A single god , agnosticism , and monistic beliefs where "there is an absolute reality that goes beyond the gods and that includes or transcends everything that exists." Indra , Agni , and Yama were popular subjects of worship by polytheist organizations. Each of the four Vedas were shared by the numerous schools, but revised, interpolated and adapted locally, in and after the Vedic period, giving rise to various recensions of
1696-401: A square into a circle, [a cord of length] half the diagonal [of the square] is stretched from the centre to the east [a part of it lying outside the eastern side of the square]; with one-third [of the part lying outside] added to the remainder [of the half diagonal], the [required] circle is drawn. and the statement of squaring the circle is given as: 2.10. To transform a circle into a square,
1802-560: A substitution is not condoned in Śrauta ritual texts. The discussions about substituting animal sacrifice with vegetarian offering, states Usha Grover, appear in section 1.2.3 of the Shatapatha Brahmana of the Yajurveda . This section, states Grover, presents the progressive change in the material offered to gods during a Śrauta ritual. The change, adds Grover, may be related to Ahimsa (non-violence principle), or merely
1908-527: A table of triplets, however also states that Shulba sutras contain a formula not found in Babylon sources. KS Krishnan asserts that Shulba sutras predates Mesopotamian Pythagoras triples. Seidenberg argues that either "Old Babylonia got the theorem of Pythagoras from India or that Old Babylonia and India got it from a third source". Seidenberg suggests that this source might be Sumerian and may predate 1700 BC. In contrast, Pingree cautions that "it would be
2014-416: A value of π as 3.088, while the construction in 2.11 gives π as 3.004. Altar construction also led to an estimation of the square root of 2 as found in three of the sutras. In the Baudhayana sutra it appears as: 2.12. The measure is to be increased by its third and this [third] again by its own fourth less the thirty-fourth part [of that fourth]; this is [the value of] the diagonal of a square [whose side
2120-551: A word later applied to mean a rule or algorithm in general) or verse, particularly in the Classical period. Naturally, ease of memorization sometimes interfered with ease of comprehension. As a result, most treatises were supplemented by one or more prose commentaries ..." There are multiple commentaries for each of the Shulba Sutras, but these were written long after the original works. The commentary of Sundararāja on
2226-413: Is attested to by the preservation of the most ancient Indian religious text, the Rigveda , as redacted into a single text during the Brahmana period, without any variant readings within that school. The Vedas were orally transmitted by memorization, and were written down only after 500 BCE, All printed editions of the Vedas that survive in the modern times are likely the version existing in about
SECTION 20
#17327724024272332-637: Is derived from the root vid- "to know". This is reconstructed as being derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *weyd- , meaning "see" or "know". The noun is from Proto-Indo-European *weydos , cognate to Greek (ϝ)εἶδος "aspect", "form" . This is not to be confused with the homonymous 1st and 3rd person singular perfect tense véda , cognate to Greek (ϝ)οἶδα ( (w)oida ) "I know". Root cognates are Greek ἰδέα , English wit , Latin videō "I see", Russian ве́дать ( védat' ) "to know", etc. The Sanskrit term veda as
2438-439: Is followed by artha - bodha , perception of their meaning." Mukherjee explains that the Vedic knowledge was first perceived by the rishis and munis . Only the perfect language of the Vedas, as in contrast to ordinary speech, can reveal these truths, which were preserved by committing them to memory. According to Mukherjee, while these truths are imparted to the student by the memorized texts, "the realization of Truth " and
2544-558: Is found in many Upanishads, including the Pranagnihotra Upanishad, the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad section 2.2, Kaushitaki Upanishad sections 1.4 and 2.1–2.5, Prasna Upanishad chapter 2, and others. The idea is also found and developed by other minor Upanishads such as the ancient Brahma Upanishad which opens by describing human body as the "divine city of Brahman". Bodewitz states that this reflects
2650-465: Is in only one extremely well preserved school of Śåkalya, from a region called Videha , in modern north Bihar , south of Nepal . The Vedic canon in its entirety consists of texts from all the various Vedic schools taken together. There were Vedic schools that believed in polytheism in which numerous gods had different natural functions, henotheistic beliefs where only one god was worshipped but others were thought to exist, monotheistic beliefs in
2756-514: Is remembered"). This indigenous system of categorization was adopted by Max Müller and, while it is subject to some debate, it is still widely used. As Axel Michaels explains: These classifications are often not tenable for linguistic and formal reasons: There is not only one collection at any one time, but rather several handed down in separate Vedic schools; Upanişads [...] are sometimes not to be distinguished from Āraṇyakas [...]; Brāhmaṇas contain older strata of language attributed to
2862-410: Is remembered, traditions). The Smartasutras , in ancient vedic and post-vedic literature, typically refer to the gṛhyasūtras (householder's rites of passage) and sāmayācārikasūtras (right way to live one's life with duties to self and to relationships with others, dharmaśāstras ). The Śrautasūtras form a part of the corpus of Sanskrit sutra literature. Their topics include instructions relating to
2968-523: Is rooted in śruti ("that which is heard", referring to scriptures of Hinduism). Johnson says that śrauta , is an adjective that is applied to a text, a ritual practice, or a person, that is associated with śruti . Klostermaier concurs, stating that the prefix means "belonging to śruti ", and includes ceremonies and texts related to śruti . The word is sometimes spelled shrauta in scholarly literature. Spread via Indian religions, homa traditions are found all across Asia, from Samarkand to Japan , over
3074-533: Is the Vedic period itself, where incipient lists divide the Vedic texts into three (trayī) or four branches: Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharva. Each Veda has been subclassified into four major text types – the Samhitas (mantras and benedictions), the Aranyakas (text on rituals, ceremonies such as newborn baby's rites of passage, coming of age, marriages, retirement and cremation, sacrifices and symbolic sacrifices),
3180-488: Is the measure]. which leads to the value of the square root of two as being: Indeed, an early method for calculating square roots can be found in some Sutras , the method involves the recursive formula: x ≈ x − 1 + 1 2 ⋅ x − 1 {\displaystyle {\sqrt {x}}\approx {\sqrt {x-1}}+{\frac {1}{2\cdot {\sqrt {x-1}}}}} for large values of x, which bases itself on
3286-486: Is the oldest extant Indic text. It is a collection of 1,028 Vedic Sanskrit hymns and 10,600 verses in all, organized into ten books (Sanskrit: mandalas ). The hymns are dedicated to Rigvedic deities . Shulba Sutras The Shulva Sutras or Śulbasūtras ( Sanskrit : शुल्बसूत्र; śulba : "string, cord, rope") are sutra texts belonging to the Śrauta ritual and containing geometry related to fire-altar construction. The Shulba Sutras are part of
Śrauta - Misplaced Pages Continue
3392-422: Is to be constructed by one desiring to win the world of Brahman" and "those who wish to destroy existing and future enemies should construct a fire-altar in the form of a rhombus". The four major Shulba Sutras, which are mathematically the most significant, are those attributed to Baudhayana , Manava , Apastamba and Katyayana . Their language is late Vedic Sanskrit , pointing to a composition roughly during
3498-481: The Saṃhitās ; there are various dialects and locally prominent traditions of the Vedic schools. Nevertheless, it is advisable to stick to the division adopted by Max Müller because it follows the Indian tradition, conveys the historical sequence fairly accurately, and underlies the current editions, translations, and monographs on Vedic literature." Among the widely known śrutis include the Vedas and their embedded texts –
3604-527: The Nirukta , which reflects the concerns about the loss of meaning of the mantras, while Pāṇinis (4th c. BCE) Aṣṭādhyāyī is the most important surviving text of the Vyākaraṇa traditions. Mimamsa scholar Sayanas (14th c. CE) major Vedartha Prakasha is a rare commentary on the Vedas, which is also referred to by contemporary scholars. Yaska and Sayana, reflecting an ancient understanding, state that
3710-572: The Aranyakas (text on rituals, ceremonies, sacrifices and symbolic-sacrifices), and the Upanishads (texts discussing meditation , philosophy and spiritual knowledge). Some scholars add a fifth category – the Upāsanās (worship). The texts of the Upanishads discuss ideas akin to the heterodox sramana traditions. The Samhitas and Brahmanas describe daily rituals and are generally meant for
3816-822: The Brahmacharya and Gr̥hastha stages of the Chaturashrama system, while the Aranyakas and Upanishads are meant for the Vānaprastha and Sannyasa stages, respectively. Vedas are śruti ("what is heard"), distinguishing them from other religious texts, which are called smr̥ti ("what is remembered"). Hindus consider the Vedas to be apauruṣeya , which means "not of a man, superhuman" and "impersonal, authorless", revelations of sacred sounds and texts heard by ancient sages after intense meditation. The Vedas have been orally transmitted since
3922-620: The Brahmana layers of the Vedas. These include rituals related to fire, full moon, new moon, soma, animal sacrifice, as well as seasonal offerings made during Vedic times. These rituals and ceremonies in the Brahmanas texts are mixed and difficult to follow. A clearer description of the ritual procedures appeared in the Vedanga Kalpa-sutras. The Vedic rituals, states Burde, can be "divided into Śrauta and Gṛhya rituals". Śrauta rites relating to public ceremonies were relegated to
4028-550: The Brahmanas (commentaries on rituals, ceremonies and sacrifices), and the Upanishads (text discussing meditation, philosophy and spiritual knowledge). The Upasanas (short ritual worship-related sections) are considered by some scholars as the fifth part. Witzel notes that the rituals, rites and ceremonies described in these ancient texts reconstruct to a large degree the Indo-European marriage rituals observed in
4134-463: The Pythagorean theorem , both in the case of an isosceles right triangle and in the general case, as well as lists of Pythagorean triples . In Baudhayana, for example, the rules are given as follows: 1.9. The diagonal of a square produces double the area [of the square]. [...] 1.12. The areas [of the squares] produced separately by the lengths of the breadth of a rectangle together equal
4240-516: The Samhitas , the Upanishads , the Brahmanas and the Aranyakas . The well-known smṛtis include Bhagavad Gita , Bhagavata Purana and the epics Ramayana and Mahabharata , amongst others. Hindus consider the Vedas to be apauruṣeyā , which means "not of a man, superhuman" and "impersonal, authorless". The Vedas, for orthodox Indian theologians, are considered revelations seen by ancient sages after intense meditation, and texts that have been more carefully preserved since ancient times. In
4346-541: The United Kingdom in 1996 by a Puṣṭimārga mahārāj who employed south Indian priests. The sacrifice was described by Smith to be a "ludicrous debacle" in terms of adherence to ritual rules. Śrauta brahmins specialise in conducting rituals according to the śruti corpus of texts, in contrast to smarta brahmins, known for conducting rituals according to smriti texts. Women reciting mantras at śrauta ceremonies of Hinduism from ancient times have been suggested by
Śrauta - Misplaced Pages Continue
4452-499: The Ŗik (words) without understanding their inner meaning or essence, the knowledge of dharma and Parabrahman . Mukherjee concludes that in the Rigvedic education of the mantras "the contemplation and comprehension of their meaning was considered as more important and vital to education than their mere mechanical repetition and correct pronunciation." Mookei refers to Sayana as stating that "the mastery of texts, akshara-praptī ,
4558-536: The "correct tradition" ( sampradaya ) has as much authority as the written Shastra", explaining that the tradition "bears the authority to clarify and provide direction in the application of knowledge". The emphasis in this transmission is on the "proper articulation and pronunciation of the Vedic sounds", as prescribed in the Shiksha , the Vedanga (Vedic study) of sound as uttered in a Vedic recitation, mastering
4664-476: The 14th century BCE, the only epigraphic record of Indo-Aryan contemporary to the Rigvedic period. He gives 150 BCE ( Patañjali ) as a terminus ante quem for all Vedic Sanskrit literature, and 1200 BCE (the early Iron Age ) as terminus post quem for the Atharvaveda. The Vedas were orally transmitted since their composition in the Vedic period for several millennia. The authoritative transmission of
4770-419: The 16th century CE. The canonical division of the Vedas is fourfold ( turīya ) viz., Of these, the first three were the principal original division, also called " trayī vidyā "; that is, "the triple science" of reciting hymns (Rigveda), performing sacrifices (Yajurveda), and chanting songs (Samaveda). The Rig Veda most likely was composed between c. 1500 BCE and 1200 BCE. Witzel notes that it
4876-588: The 1st millennium BCE . The oldest is the sutra attributed to Baudhayana, possibly compiled around 800 BCE to 500 BCE. Pingree says that the Apastamba is likely the next oldest; he places the Katyayana and the Manava third and fourth chronologically, on the basis of apparent borrowings. According to Plofker, the Katyayana was composed after "the great grammatical codification of Sanskrit by Pāṇini in probably
4982-503: The 2nd millennium BCE with the help of elaborate mnemonic techniques . The mantras, the oldest part of the Vedas, are recited in the modern age for their phonology rather than the semantics , and are considered to be "primordial rhythms of creation", preceding the forms to which they refer. By reciting them the cosmos is regenerated, "by enlivening and nourishing the forms of creation at their base." The various Indian philosophies and Hindu sects have taken differing positions on
5088-510: The Andhra traditions, after one has established the routine of the twice-daily routine of agnihotra offerings and biweekly dara pūrṇamāsa offerings, one is eligible to perform the agniṣṭoma, the simplest soma rite. After the agniṣṭoma, one is eligible to perform more extensive soma rites and agnicayana rites. The first soma Śrauta ritual to be conducted outside of South Asia was in London ,
5194-505: The Apastamba, for example, comes from the late 15th century CE and the commentary of Dvārakãnātha on the Baudhayana appears to borrow from Sundararāja. According to Staal, certain aspects of the tradition described in the Shulba Sutras would have been "transmitted orally", and he points to places in southern India where the fire-altar ritual is still practiced and an oral tradition preserved. The fire-altar tradition largely died out in India, however, and Plofker warns that those pockets where
5300-514: The Brahmana layer of the Vedas were composed and most ritual sutras were complete by around 300 BCE. They were attributed to famous Vedic sages in the Hindu tradition. These texts are written aphoristic sutras style, and therefore are taxonomies or terse guidebooks rather than detailed manuals or handbooks for any ceremony. The Śrautasūtras differ from the smārtasūtra based on smṛti (that which
5406-621: The Brahmin communities considered study to be a "process of understanding". A literary tradition is traceable in post-Vedic times, after the rise of Buddhism in the Maurya period , perhaps earliest in the Kanva recension of the Yajurveda about the 1st century BCE; however oral tradition of transmission remained active. Jack Goody has argued for an earlier literary tradition, concluding that
SECTION 50
#17327724024275512-608: The Hindu Epic Mahabharata , the creation of Vedas is credited to Brahma . The Vedic hymns themselves assert that they were skillfully created by Rishis (sages), after inspired creativity, just as a carpenter builds a chariot. The oldest part of the Rig Veda Samhita was orally composed in north-western India ( Punjab ) between c. 1500 and 1200 BCE, while book 10 of the Rig Veda, and
5618-572: The Shulba Sutras. The content of the Shulba Sutras is likely older than the works themselves. The Satapatha Brahmana and the Taittiriya Samhita , whose contents date to the late second millennium or early first millennium BCE, describe altars whose dimensions appear to be based on the right triangle with legs of 15 pada and 36 pada , one of the triangles listed in the Baudhayana Shulba Sutra. The origin of
5724-509: The Upanishads discuss ideas akin to the heterodox sramana -traditions. Nasadiya Sukta (Hymn of non-Eternity): Who really knows? Who can here proclaim it? Whence, whence this creation sprang? Gods came later, after the creation of this universe. Who then knows whence it has arisen? Whether God's will created it, or whether He was mute; Only He who is its overseer in highest heaven knows, He only knows, or perhaps He does not know. — Rig Veda 10.129.6–7 The Rigveda Samhita
5830-442: The Upanishads, one might be witnessing the conclusion of Vedism, not in the sense of its culmination but in the sense of its destruction. In the proto-Vedantic view, the universe and ritual order based on resemblance has collapsed, and a very different configuration based on identity has emerged. Upanishadic monism , one might say, blew the lid off a system contained, as well as regulated, by hierarchical resemblance. The formulation of
5936-444: The Upanishads. This has inspired later Hindu scholars such as Adi Shankara to classify each Veda into karma-kanda (कर्म खण्ड, action/sacrificial ritual-related sections, the Samhitas and Brahmanas ); and jnana-kanda (ज्ञान खण्ड, knowledge/spirituality-related sections, mainly the Upanishads'). Vedas are śruti ("what is heard"), distinguishing them from other religious texts, which are called smṛti ("what
6042-727: The Veda , are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India . Composed in Vedic Sanskrit , the texts constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism . There are four Vedas: the Rigveda , the Yajurveda , the Samaveda and the Atharvaveda . Each Veda has four subdivisions – the Samhitas ( mantras and benedictions ), the Brahmanas (commentaries on and explanation of rituals, ceremonies and sacrifices – Yajñas ),
6148-454: The Veda can be interpreted in three ways, giving "the truth about gods , dharma and parabrahman ." The pūrva-kāņda (or karma-kanda ), the part of the Veda dealing with ritual, gives knowledge of dharma , "which brings us satisfaction." The uttara-kanda (or jnana-kanda ), the part of the Veda dealing with the knowledge of the absolute, gives knowledge of Parabrahma , "which fulfills all of our desires." According to Holdrege, for
6254-429: The Vedas bear hallmarks of a literate culture along with oral transmission, but Goody's views have been strongly criticised by Falk, Lopez Jr,. and Staal, though they have also found some support. The Vedas were written down only after 500 BCE, but only the orally transmitted texts are regarded as authoritative, given the emphasis on the exact pronunciation of the sounds. Witzel suggests that attempts to write down
6360-450: The Vedas is by an oral tradition in a sampradaya from father to son or from teacher ( guru ) to student ( shishya ), believed to be initiated by the Vedic rishis who heard the primordial sounds . Only this tradition, embodied by a living teacher, can teach the correct pronunciation of the sounds and explain hidden meanings, in a way the "dead and entombed manuscript" cannot do. As Leela Prasad states, "According to Shankara ,
6466-480: The Vedas. Schools of Indian philosophy that acknowledge the importance or primal authority of the Vedas comprise Hindu philosophy specifically and are together classified as the six "orthodox" ( āstika ) schools. However, śramaṇa traditions, such as Charvaka , Ajivika , Buddhism , and Jainism , which did not regard the Vedas as authoritative, are referred to as "heterodox" or "non-orthodox" ( nāstika ) schools. The Sanskrit word véda "knowledge, wisdom"
SECTION 60
#17327724024276572-414: The Vedic texts towards the end of 1st millennium BCE were unsuccessful, resulting in smriti rules explicitly forbidding the writing down of the Vedas. Due to the ephemeral nature of the manuscript material (birch bark or palm leaves), surviving manuscripts rarely surpass an age of a few hundred years. The Sampurnanand Sanskrit University has a Rigveda manuscript from the 14th century; however, there are
6678-457: The advent of writing in the early first millennium CE. According to Staal , criticising the Goody -Watt hypothesis "according to which literacy is more reliable than orality", this tradition of oral transmission "is closely related to Indian forms of science" and "by far the more remarkable" than the relatively recent tradition of written transmission. While according to Mookerji, understanding
6784-488: The alphabet as a mnemotechnical device , "matching physical movements (such as nodding the head) with particular sounds and chanting in a group" and visualizing sounds by using mudras (hand signs). This provided an additional visual confirmation, and also an alternate means to check the reading integrity by the audience, in addition to the audible means. Houben and Rath note that a strong "memory culture" existed in ancient India when texts were transmitted orally, before
6890-411: The animal outside the offering grounds was practiced. The killing was viewed as a form of evil and pollution ( papa , agha , enas ), and reforms were introduced to avoid this evil in late/post-Rigvedic times. According to Timothy Lubin, the substitution of animal sacrifice in Śrauta ritual with shaped dough ( pistapasu ) or pots of ghee ( ajyapasu ) has been practiced for at least 600 years, although such
6996-468: The area [of the square] produced by the diagonal. 1.13. This is observed in rectangles having sides 3 and 4, 12 and 5, 15 and 8, 7 and 24, 12 and 35, 15 and 36. Similarly, Apastamba's rules for constructing right angles in fire-altars use the following Pythagorean triples: In addition, the sutras describe procedures for constructing a square with area equal either to the sum or to the difference of two given squares. Both constructions proceed by letting
7102-522: The cord". They provide, states Kim Plofker, what in modern mathematical terminology would be called "area preserving transformations of plane figures", tersely describing geometric formulae and constants. Five śulbasutras have survived through history, of which the oldest surviving is likely the Baudhayāna śulbasūtra (800–500 BCE), while the one by Kātyāyana may be chronologically the youngest (≈300 BCE). Śrauta rituals and ceremonies refer to those found in
7208-410: The cosmos is regenerated, "by enlivening and nourishing the forms of creation at their base. As long as the purity of the sounds is preserved, the recitation of the mantras will be efficacious, irrespective of whether their discursive meaning is understood by human beings." Frazier further notes that "later Vedic texts sought deeper understanding of the reasons the rituals worked", which indicates that
7314-408: The diameter is divided into eight parts; one [such] part after being divided into twenty-nine parts is reduced by twenty-eight of them and further by the sixth [of the part left] less the eighth [of the sixth part]. 2.11. Alternatively, divide [the diameter] into fifteen parts and reduce it by two of them; this gives the approximate side of the square [desired]. The constructions in 2.9 and 2.10 give
7420-600: The end of the Vedic period, additional Upanishads were composed after the end of the Vedic period. The Brahmanas , Aranyakas , and Upanishads , among other things, interpret and discuss the Samhitas in philosophical and metaphorical ways to explore abstract concepts such as the Absolute ( Brahman ), and the soul or the self ( Atman ), introducing Vedanta philosophy, one of the major trends of later Hinduism . In other parts, they show evolution of ideas, such as from actual sacrifice to symbolic sacrifice, and of spirituality in
7526-491: The end of the rectangle and to paste it to the side so as to form a gnomon of area equal to the original rectangle. Since a gnomon is the difference of two squares, the problem can be completed using one of the previous constructions. The Baudhayana Shulba sutra gives the construction of geometric shapes such as squares and rectangles. It also gives, sometimes approximate, geometric area-preserving transformations from one geometric shape to another. These include transforming
7632-404: The expense of an elaborate Śrauta rite. In ancient times, through the middle of 1st millennium CE, events such as royal consecration sponsored the Śrauta rites, and thereafter they declined as alternative rites such as temple and philanthropic actions became more popular with the royalty. The Upanishads , states Brian Smith, were a movement towards the demise of the Śrauta-style social rituals and
7738-476: The exponents of karma-kandha the Veda is to be "inscribed in the minds and hearts of men" by memorization and recitation, while for the exponents of the jnana-kanda and meditation the Vedas express a transcendental reality which can be approached with mystical means. Holdrege notes that in Vedic learning "priority has been given to recitation over interpretation" of the Samhitas. Galewicz states that Sayana,
7844-629: The fifth to the thirteenth century CE. This period saw a shift from Śrauta sacrifices to charitable grant of gifts such as giving cows, land, issuing endowments to build temples and sattrani (feeding houses), and water tanks as part of religious ceremonies. Most Śrauta rituals are rarely performed in the modern era. Some Śrauta traditions have been observed and studied by scholars, as in the rural parts of Andhra Pradesh , and elsewhere in India and Nepal . Śrauta traditions from Coastal Andhra have been reported by David Knipe, and an elaborate śrauta ceremony
7950-448: The focus from external rituals to self-knowledge and to inner rituals within man. The Pranagnihotra is, states Henk Bodewitz , an internalized direct private ritual that substituted external public Agnihotra ritual (a srauta rite). This evolution hinged on the Vedic idea of devas (gods) referring to the sense organs within one's body, and that the human body is the temple of Brahman , the metaphysical unchanging reality. This principle
8056-534: The four kinds of mantras into four Samhitas (Collections). The Vedas are among the oldest sacred texts . The bulk of the Rigveda Samhita was composed in the northwestern region (Punjab) of the Indian subcontinent , most likely between c. 1500 and 1200 BCE, although a wider approximation of c. 1700–1100 BCE has also been given. The other three Samhitas are considered to date from
8162-435: The gift is of less importance. It may be cake ( puroḍāśa ), pulse ( karu ), mixed milk ( sāṃnāyya ), an animal ( paśu ), the juice of soma-plant ( soma ), etc; nay, the smallest offerings of butter, flour, and milk may serve for the purpose of a sacrifice. — Apastamba Yajna Paribhasa-sutras 1.1 , Translator: M Dhavamony Baudhayana srautasutra is probably the oldest text in the śrautasūtra genre, and includes in its appendix
8268-472: The gods with the assistance of fire priests. This Vedic tradition split into Śrauta ( śruti -based) and Smarta ( Smriti -based). The Śrauta rituals, states Michael Witzel, are an active area of study and are incompletely understood. Śrauta "fire ritual" practices were copied by different Buddhist and Jain traditions, states Phyllis Granoff, with their texts appropriating the "ritual eclecticism" of Hindu traditions, albeit with variations that evolved through
8374-589: The knowledge of paramatman as revealed to the rishis is the real aim of Vedic learning, and not the mere recitation of texts. The supreme knowledge of the Absolute, para Brahman - jnana , the knowledge of rta and satya , can be obtained by taking vows of silence and obedience sense-restraint, dhyana , the practice of tapas (austerities), and discussing the Vedanta . The four Vedas were transmitted in various śākhā s (branches, schools). Each school likely represented an ancient community of
8480-516: The larger corpus of texts called the Shrauta Sutras , considered to be appendices to the Vedas . They are the only sources of knowledge of Indian mathematics from the Vedic period . Unique Vedi (fire-altar) shapes were associated with unique gifts from the Gods. For instance, "he who desires heaven is to construct a fire-altar in the form of a falcon"; "a fire-altar in the form of a tortoise
8586-483: The largest of the squares be the square on the diagonal of a rectangle, and letting the two smaller squares be the squares on the sides of that rectangle. The assertion that each procedure produces a square of the desired area is equivalent to the statement of the Pythagorean theorem. Another construction produces a square with area equal to that of a given rectangle. The procedure is to cut a rectangular piece from
8692-429: The major advances, such as discovery of the Pythagorean theorem, occurred in only one place, and diffused from there to the rest of the world. Van der Waerden mentions that author of Sulbha sutras existed before 600 BCE and could not have been influenced by Greek geometry. While Boyer mentions Old Babylonian mathematics (c. 2000 BCE–1600 BCE) as a possible origin, the c. 1800 BCE Plimpton 322 tablet containing
8798-445: The mantras had meaning depended on the context of their practical usage. This conception of the Veda, as a repertoire to be mastered and performed, takes precedence over the internal meaning or "autonomous message of the hymns." Most Śrauta rituals are not performed in the modern era, and those that are, are rare. Mukherjee notes that the Rigveda, and Sayana's commentary, contain passages criticizing as fruitless mere recitation of
8904-455: The mathematics in the Shulba Sutras is not known. It is possible, as proposed by Gupta, that the geometry was developed to meet the needs of ritual. Some scholars go farther: Staal hypothesizes a common ritual origin for Indian and Greek geometry, citing similar interest and approach to doubling and other geometric transformation problems. Seidenberg, followed by van der Waerden, sees a ritual origin for mathematics more broadly, postulating that
9010-502: The meaning ( vedarthajnana or artha - bodha ) of the words of the Vedas was part of the Vedic learning , Holdrege and other Indologists have noted that in the transmission of the Samhitas , the emphasis is on the phonology of the sounds ( śabda ) and not on the meaning ( artha ) of the mantras. Already at the end of the Vedic period their original meaning had become obscure for "ordinary people", and niruktas , etymological compendia, were developed to preserve and clarify
9116-468: The meaning of the mantras, in contrast to the number of commentaries on the Brahmanas and Upanishads, but states that the lack of emphasis on the "discursive meaning does not necessarily imply that they are meaningless". In the Brahmanical perspective, the sounds have their own meaning, mantras are considered as "primordial rhythms of creation", preceding the forms to which they refer. By reciting them
9222-515: The medieval times. The homa-style Vedic sacrifice ritual, states Musashi Tachikawa, was absorbed into Mahayana Buddhism and homa rituals continue to be performed in some Buddhist traditions in Tibet, China and Japan. Śrautasūtras are ritual-related sutras based on the śruti . The first versions of the Kalpa (Vedanga) sutras were probably composed by the sixth century BCE, starting about the same time as
9328-486: The mid-fourth century BCE", but she places the Manava in the same period as the Baudhayana. With regard to the composition of Vedic texts, Plofker writes, The Vedic veneration of Sanskrit as a sacred speech, whose divinely revealed texts were meant to be recited, heard, and memorized rather than transmitted in writing, helped shape Sanskrit literature in general. ... Thus texts were composed in formats that could be easily memorized: either condensed prose aphorisms ( sūtras,
9434-446: The non-recursive identity a 2 + r ≈ a + r 2 ⋅ a {\displaystyle {\sqrt {a^{2}+r}}\approx a+{\frac {r}{2\cdot a}}} for values of r extremely small relative to a . It has also been suggested, for example by Bürk that this approximation of √2 implies knowledge that √2 is irrational . In his translation of Euclid's Elements , Heath outlines
9540-598: The original meaning of many Sanskrit words. According to Staal, as referenced by Holdrege, though the mantras may have a discursive meaning, when the mantras are recited in the Vedic rituals "they are disengaged from their original context and are employed in ways that have little or nothing to do with their meaning". The words of the mantras are "themselves sacred", and "do not constitute linguistic utterances ". Instead, as Klostermaier notes, in their application in Vedic rituals they become magical sounds, "means to an end". Holdrege notes that there are scarce commentaries on
9646-574: The other Samhitas were composed between 1200 and 900 BCE more eastward, between the Yamuna and the Ganges rivers, the heartland of Aryavarta and the Kuru Kingdom ( c. 1200 – c. 900 BCE ). The "circum-Vedic" texts, as well as the redaction of the Samhitas, date to c. 1000 –500 BCE. According to tradition, Vyasa is the compiler of the Vedas, who arranged
9752-404: The practice remains may reflect a later Vedic revival rather than an unbroken tradition. Archaeological evidence of the altar constructions described in the Shulba Sutras is sparse. A large falcon-shaped fire altar ( śyenaciti ), dating to the second century BCE, was found in the, 1957-59, excavations by G. R. Sharma at Kausambi , but this altar does not conform to the dimensions prescribed by
9858-689: The pranagnihotra sacrifice as one where the practitioner performs the sacrifice with food and his own body as the temple, without any outside help or reciprocity, and this ritual allows the Hindu to "stay in the society while maintaining his independence from it", its simplicity thus marks the "end station of Vedic ritualism". Vedas Divisions Sama vedic Yajur vedic Atharva vedic Vaishnava puranas Shaiva puranas Shakta puranas The Vedas ( / ˈ v eɪ d ə z / or / ˈ v iː d ə z / ; Sanskrit : वेदः , romanized : Vēdaḥ , lit. 'knowledge'), sometimes collectively called
9964-457: The religious energies of the sacrificer and his wife," and is initiated by augmenting a family's single fire Grihya system to a three fire Śrauta system. The community that continues to teach the Śrauta tradition to the next generation also teaches the Smarta tradition, the choice left to the youth. The Andhra tradition may be, states Knipe, rooted in the ancient Apstamba Śrauta and Grihya Sutras. In
10070-458: The sacred Vedas included up to eleven forms of recitation of the same text. The texts were subsequently "proof-read" by comparing the different recited versions. Forms of recitation included the jaṭā-pāṭha (literally "mesh recitation") in which every two adjacent words in the text were first recited in their original order, then repeated in the reverse order, and finally repeated in the original order. That these methods have been effective,
10176-530: The seasonal rituals. The lunar cycle Śrauta sacrifices had no animal sacrifices, offered a Purodasha (baked grain cake) and Ghee (clarified butter) as an offering to gods, with recitation of mantras . According to Witzel, "the Pasubandha or "Animal Sacrifice" is also integrated into the Soma ritual, and involves the killing of an animal." The killing was considered inauspicious, and "bloodless" suffocation of
10282-482: The services of multiple priests, while gṛhyasūtra rituals can be performed without or with the assistance of a priest in the Hindu traditions. The Śrauta rituals varied in complexity. The first step of a Śrauta ritual was making of an altar, then the initiation of fire, next of Havir-yajnas recitations, then offering of milk or drinkable liquid drops into the fire, then prayers all with mantras. More complex Śrauta rituals were based on moon's cycle ( Darshapurnamasa ) and
10388-499: The stage in ancient Indian thought where "the self or the person as a totality became central, with the self or soul as the manifestation of the highest principle or god". This evolution marked a shift in spiritual rite from the external to the internal, from public performance through srauta-like rituals to performance in thought through introspection, from gods in nature to gods within. The Śrauta Agnihotra sacrifice thus evolved into Prana-Agnihotra sacrifice concept. Heesterman describes
10494-484: The text. Some texts were revised into the modern era, raising significant debate on parts of the text which are believed to have been corrupted at a later date. The Vedas each have an Index or Anukramani , the principal work of this kind being the general Index or Sarvānukramaṇī . Prodigious energy was expended by ancient Indian culture in ensuring that these texts were transmitted from generation to generation with inordinate fidelity. For example, memorization of
10600-407: The texts "literally forward and backward in fully acoustic fashion". Houben and Rath note that the Vedic textual tradition cannot simply be characterized as oral, "since it also depends significantly on a memory culture". The Vedas were preserved with precision with the help of elaborate mnemonic techniques , such as memorizing the texts in eleven different modes of recitation ( pathas ), using
10706-526: The time of the Kuru Kingdom , approximately c. 1200–900 BCE. The "circum-Vedic" texts, as well as the redaction of the Samhitas, date to c. 1000 –500 BCE, resulting in a Vedic period , spanning the mid 2nd to mid 1st millennium BCE, or the Late Bronze Age and the Iron Age . The Vedic period reaches its peak only after the composition of the mantra texts, with the establishment of
10812-460: The use of the śruti corpus in great rituals and the correct performance of these major vedic ceremonies, are same as those found in the Brahmana layers of the Vedas, but presented in more systematic and detailed manner. Definition of a Vedic sacrifice Yajña, sacrifice, is an act by which we surrender something for the sake of the gods. Such an act must rest on a sacred authority ( āgama ), and serve for man's salvation ( śreyortha ). The nature of
10918-569: The various shakhas all over Northern India which annotated the mantra samhitas with Brahmana discussions of their meaning, and reaches its end in the age of Buddha and Panini and the rise of the Mahajanapadas (archaeologically, Northern Black Polished Ware ). Michael Witzel gives a time span of c. 1500 to c. 500 –400 BCE. Witzel makes special reference to the Near Eastern Mitanni material of
11024-477: The worldview these rites represented. The Upanishadic doctrines were not a culmination, but a destruction of Vedic ritualism. This had a lasting influence on the Indian religions that gained prominence in the 1st millennium BCE, not only in terms of the Vedanta and other schools of Hindu philosophy that emerged, but also in terms of Buddhist and Jaina influence among the royal class of the ancient Indian society. In
11130-609: The Śrautasutras, while most Vedic rituals relating to rites of passage and household ceremonies were incorporated in the Gṛhyasūtras (literally, homely; also called Laukika or popular, states Lubin). However, the Gṛhyasūtras also added many new non-Śrauta ceremonies over time. The śrautasūtras generally focus on large expensive public ceremonies, while gṛhyasūtras focus on householders and saṃskāras (rites of passage) such as childbirth , marriage , renunciation and cremation . The śrautasūtra ceremonies are usually elaborate and require
11236-482: Was video recorded in Kerala by Frits Staal in 1975. According to Axel Michaels, the homa sacrifice rituals found in modern Hindu and Buddhist contexts evolved as a simpler version of the Vedic Śrauta ritual. Knipe has published a book on Śrauta practices from rural Andhra. The Śrauta ritual system, states Knipe, "is an extended one, in the sense that a simple domestic routine has been replaced by one far more demanding on
#426573