Dedicated to Late Dr. S. K. Bedekar Adhyaya

The most ancient religious literature in India comprises the Vedas, which Gonda aptly describes as * one of the most original and interesting production of human endeavour. ’

Traditionally the Vedas are held to be apauresheya i.e. not of human origin. The Brih. Up. (II.4) declares that the Vedas are like the breath of the infinite being. This belief in the divine and impersonal character of the Vedas has invested them with great sanctity and authority. Various attempts have been made to give a rational meanig to this apaurisheytva of the Vedas, but they need not detain us here. We must however, take note of the fact that this belief has formed the basis of both the religious thought and the social structure of the Hindus for countless generations even upto the present time. The Vedas are held to be eternal and infallible and scriptural authority has become the canon for the acceptability of a religious or philosophical doctrine. Thus Badarayana rejected the Sankhya doctrine of pradhana as the independent cause of the material w orld by calling it un-Vedic. 1 This extreme regard for scriptural authority had an unintended but undesirable result in that later thinkers had to show considerable ingenuity in demoi,>trating that their own contributions to religious or Philosophic thought was really based on the Vedas.

The term Veda literally means ' knowledge ' and it is used in the plural to dengtte.four different types.of collections namely hymns of praise to deities (Rigveda), of sacrificial formulae 1

(Yajurveda), of chants sung to certain fixed melodiesj, (Samaveda) and the Atharvaveda comprising among others magical spells. The last received recognition only at a later date as the Gita mentions only three Vedas, trayidharma (ix.21) and the knowers of the three vedas (ix.20).

In the Vedic period we come across two streams of thought bearing upon religion and philosophy, which may be broadly called liturgical and metaphysical. The former consists of (1) samhitas or collections of hymns, (2) Brahmanas which are prose works which deal with sacrificial rites and ceremonies, (3) Aranyakas, speculations of hermits living in forests and (4) Upanishads which are philosophical texts dealing with the central meaning of life. This classification is, however, not exclusive but merely indicative of two broad tendencies, according as the emphasis is placed on ritual duties or on ethical conduct and spiritual practices.

The Brahmanas were mainly occupied with Shrauta or VediC' sacrifices. We, however, get some stray references in them to sacraments. A fragmentary account of upanayana is found in the Gopatha Brahmana (1.2). The Shat. Brahinana gives an account of it and uses the word brhamacarya to describe the life of a Vedic student (XI.3). It also uses the word antevasi to denote a student living with a teacher and the word ajina, deer skin, worn by a hffermit. It also deals with upanayana, the initiation of a vedic student, the daily vedic study and the death ceremonies. The Tandya Brahmana refers to the Vratyastoma sacrifices through which the Vratyas were reclaimed to the Aryan fold. The vratya was an outcaste or a member of three classes who had lost his class owing to the non-performance of principal samskaras or purificatory rites (especially investiture of the sacred thread).

Both Indra and sage Angiras find a prominent mention in gjgveda (X.14.6) in which both are identified with the cult of sacrifice. Indra's greatness is celebrated in about 250 hymns of gigveda, which forms nearly one-fourth of the corpus and he is said to be the leader - nay the very soul of sacrifice. 1 The Vedic gods are closely connected with the ritual system of which they form an integral part. The word Angiras occurs about fifty times in Rigveda and most of the prominent seers with two exceptions belong in one way or another to the Angiras family.

The two exceptions are Gritsamada of Mandala II and Vasishtha of Mandale VII. Gritsamada was the son of Bhargava Vitahaya, who when defeated by Pratardana, son of Divodas, took shelter in the hermitage of Bhrigu and embraced the profession of a brahmin (Mbh.XII.31, Sauti). The Gritsamadas were originally devotees of Varuna and also of Rudra (RV.II.33), but later became the enthusiastic supporters of Indra cult. (RV.II.22). We find further one of the Gritsamadas imploring Varuna (RV.II.28) that he should not be made to suffer for his or another's sin. Probably he refers to the sin committed by him or his ancestor by transferring his loyalty from Varuna to Indra. Vasishtha too who was the son of Mitravaruna, (RV.VII.33) became the priest and supporter of the Vedic Aryan king Sudas and helped him to win victory over the ten kings in Dasharajna war. He ascribes his later misfortunes to the wrath of Varuna and bewails the fact that his kinship with Varuna had come to an end (RV.VII.88).

Generally one may say that the Angirasas identified themselves with the Indra cult and made important contributions to the Vedic Sacrifice.

The Western scholars are critical of Hindu religion (dharma) on two counts. Firstly they point out that it is mainly concerned with the religious duties to be performed by the four Gasses (Varna) in different stages of life (ashrama) and does i not deal adequately with the ethical values which should j govern human conduct. Secondly they say that the authors of Dharmashastra do not show sufficient awareness of one's social service to the not-so-well-to-do families and other creatures as an important element of moral conduct. As regards the first, the most ancient texts of the Hindus are the three Vedas, Rigveda, Yajurveda and Samaveda, which are collectively called the Trayi ‘ the sacred triad The vedas consist of hymns addressed to various deities (mantra portion) and of the Brahmanas which state the‘rules for the employment of the hymns at the various sacrifices and their origin with detailed explanations with sometimes lengthy illustrations.- The upanishadas are the mystical portions attached to the Brahmanas which tried to ascertain the secret meaning of the Vedas.

We find that even the Vedas, with all their emphasis on sacrificial rites, have laid stress on moral values. The sublime concept of rita in the Rigveda conceived the world as a moral order, which presages the later doctrin of truth. 1 In the Tai. Up.

(1.2), when the student was ready to leave the teacher's house after completion of his Vedic study, the teacher exhorted him to speak the truth and practise dharma (Tai. Up. 1.2). The Brih.

Up. also says that one should inculcate in the minds of persons three cardinal virtues, viz. self-restrant, compassion to all living creatures and charity. This description is however, not exclusive, but merely indicative of two broad tendencies according as the emphasis is placed on ritual works or on ethical and spiritual practices.

According to Shri. Shabara 2 the obvious purport of the Vedas is to impart to us knowledge about our duties and to lay down injunctions about the performance of such duties. The Sanskrit equivalent of duty is dharma, which has undergone changes of meaning in the Vedic and Sutra period. In Rigveda it means mostly ‘ religious ordinances and rites ’ and in some cases, ‘ the merit acquired in performing them ’. In the Ait. Br.

j t has been used in the sense of ‘ the whole body of religious rites. ’ In the Sutra period it came to mean first the varnadharma i.e. duties cast upon a person according to his class and much later it included the duties cast upon him according to his stage of life, ashramadharma.

The cult of sacrifice had become well established in the time of the Brahmanas, which have exalted it as duty par excellence* shreshthama karma 1 (Shat. Br. 1.7, 1.5). Every householder belonging to the first three classes was required to perform sacrifices, which were classified as obligatory and optional. Among the obligatory duties some were to be performed daily (nitya) and some periodically (naimittika).

A householder had to perform the agnihotra sacrifice daily morning and evening and offer cow's milk into the sacred fire.

This obligatory duty was to be performed throughout a man's life, and failure to do so gave rise to pratyavaya (cf. 11,40) or sin. It was also obligatory upon him to perform some periodical sacrifices such as the darshapurnamaasa sacrifice on the new moon and the full moon days, the Chaturmaasa sacrifices 2 and the Agrayana sacrifices at the harvesting time. A householder was prohibited from eating the newly harvested crop without offering the new grain in the agrayana sacrifice.

In addition there were a number of (kamya) sacrifices, which are to be performed for securing some desired object or benefit, such as rain, long life, safe journey, birth of a son etc.

In some Vedic sacrifices the offerings were simple such as belted butter (aajya), boiled rice or barley (charu) and rice cake (purodasha). These are known as haviryajnas, although m two of them animals were also sacrificed. In others known as S°ma sacrifice, the soma brew as well as animals were sacrificed. The latter were much more complicated and spread 0Ver longer periods.

- Sacrifices performed every four months ie at the beginning of Kartika, Phalguna l ani * Ashadha, cf. Apte’s dictionary.

There is ample evidence that the sages of the RV were very well acquainted with sacrifice. We come across frequent references to sacred fires, kindling of the ritual fire, offciating priests etc. throughout its corpus. 1 In many of these rites, however, the magical element, based on the concept of sympathetic magic, seems to have been present from the very beginning. The Manduka Sukta (RV.VII.103), for instance, i s not a satire on the priests as Muir and Max Muller thought, but is a rain charm. According to Frazer, the intimate association of frogs and toads with water has earned for these creatures a wide-spread reputation as custodians of rain; and hence they often play a part in charms designed to draw needed showers from the sky. ’ 2 There was also a universal belief among almost all primitive tribes that there is a sympathetic relation between the commerce of the sexes and the fertility of the soil.

According to Oldenberg, the relation of the chief queen and horse in the ashvamedha sacrifice is clearly a fertility spell, while the obscene language between the queen and the priests could also be explained in the same way. In regard to the sacrificial rites prescribed in Brahmana literature, Keith pertinently observes “ in the vast majority of these cases the nature of the ritual can be solved at once by the application of the concept of sympathetic magic, and this is one of the most obvious and undeniable facts in the whole of the Vedic sacrifice; it is from the beginning to the end full of magical elements. ”

These magical rites thus seem to have originated in tribal organisations which practised a primitive form of agriculture.

There are, however, strong reasons to believe that the Rigvedic people led a pastoral life and did not depend on agriculture. The Rigveda contains very few references to agriculture, and m° st of them appear in its first and tenth Mandates, which are admittedly later compositions. On the other hand, the desire fo r cattle finds an expression practically in every chapter of RV

and the exploits of Indra, the war hero and the chief god of the Vedic people are mainly related to the seizing of the cattle of the dasyus, discovering concealed cows and releasing the cows kept in captivity by the panis in the mountain forests. How then did the magical rites based on agriculture find a place in a society, which was by and large pastoral in character? If they were, as is held by Macdonnell, the relic of a distant past, “ derived from a much earlier age and afterwards continued throughout the priestly literature of later times ”, this tradition should have been common literature of later times and this tradition should have been common to the Aryan tribes living in those days. We shall, however, see later that many Aryan tribes and at least one important priestly clan, namely the Bhrugus, were opposed to this cult of sacrifice. Further in quite a few instances, the desired result of a sacrifice seems to have been far removed from the actual form of the sacrifice. For instance, three important sacrifices, the ashvamedha, the raajasuya and the vaajapeya, which were obviously fertility spells, were used for purposes unconnected with the nature of the ritual. The rajasuya and ashvamedha sacrifices were undertaken for the coronation of a king and for acquisition of suzerainty by him. The vaajapeya then came to be performed as a preliminary rite before undertaking the rajasuya sacrifice. 2 This would lead to the inference that the Vedic seers borrowed these magical rites from the local non-Aryan tribes and by incoporating hymns addressed to the Vedic deities, gave them sophisticated forms. They could now claim that they possessed extraordinary powers by which they could solicit, nay even command, special favous from the §°ds. Thus the relation between men and the divinities came to he viewed as one of mutual dependence.

In the early days when the Vedic ritual was simple, not °nly a brahmin but also a prince could offer a sacrifice to the gods for himself and his people. But with the incorporation of fertility rites the Vedic ritual became elaborate and complicated and so the need was felt of a hieratc order who could devote themselves solely to its performance and to the preservation of its sacred hymnology. Further with the growth of military and administrative responsibilities, the ruling classes had little time for such ceremonies. This development gave rise to two elitist classes, the brahmins and the kshatriyas, whose services now became indispensable for the performance and protection of the sacrifice. From a collective agricultural rite, the ashvamedha became the exclusive privilege of a king, a symbol of royal supremacy. Only a brahmin could now perfoim the brihaspatisava for the attainment of priestly eminence. A number of optional rites came to be prescribed according to the number of the deities to be propitiated and the number of wants to be satisfied. Sacrificial rites thus came to be devised not only for rain and food but also for progeny, virile power, victory in a battle, prosperity of kinsmen, good fortune and also the general welfare. In addition to these temporal benefits, the sacrifices were supposed to bring religious rewards also such as a place in heaven after death. The heaven was the highest goal to which a sacrificer could aspire and indeed every sacrifice was described as a ship bound heavenwards.' This led to the attachment of more importance to the meticulous performance of the ritual rather than to spiritual practices such as Vedic study, austerity and truth.

In course of time, animal sacrifice came under strong condemnation especially by the sankhyas, who quoting the Vedic text ‘ one should not kill any being said that it was sinful. The ritualists, on the other hand, maintained that the particualr injunction in regard to the killing of an animal in a sacrifice overrode the general injunction about non-killing'

Partly as a result of these protests and partly because animals m the meantime had come to be regarded as wealth, there was a change in the public attitude towards animal sacrifice.

Moreover, as stated before, the shrauta rites had become too complicated and time-consuming, and the need was felt for evolving simpler rites which could be performed without the ministration of a priest.

From ancient times it was an article of faith with the Hindus that a person was born with three debts whoch he owed to the sages, the gods and the manes, which he could repay by studying the Veda, sacrificing to the gods and begetting sons respectively. To these three debts were added, even as early as the Brahmana period, two more debts, which a person owed to the myriad creatures of the world and his fellow beings. Thus the Shat. Br. speaks of five mahayajnas and describes them by way of praise as the ' great sacrificial sessions '. Of these the devayajna and the pitruyajna could be performed by simply offering a faggot into the fire for the gods and by offering water to the manes. The bhutayajna and manushyayajna consisted in offering food to the living creatures and hospitality to a guest, while the study of the Veda constituted brahmayajna. With the development of compassion for all creatures, there was a universal sentiment against wanton injury to living beings. The five great yajnas, therefore, came to be regarded as an act of expiation for the accidental destruction of life through five household things'. In respect of these five mahayajnas, Dr. P.V.

Kane observes 2 that the institution was, morally and spiritually, a decided improvement over the shrauta sacrifices, as it was prompted by feelings of devotion, reverence, compassion and fellow feeling.

The architects of the sacrificial cult were known as rishis, the Vedic seers. Sayana describes them by such epithets as atjndriyadrashtarah, mantradrashtarah etc. which would suggest that they ' saw ' the hymns and sacrificial formulae in a state of religious ecstacy. The Vedic seers lived a full social life as householders and discharged their duties both as sacrifice^

(yajamanas) and as officiating priests at the sacrifices (yajakas) with exemplary diligence and meticulous attention.

The sacrifices were, as mentioned before, performed for temporal aspiration and for a place in heaven. Their compositions bear testimony to their sense of hope, optimism and zest of life. The wife of a sacrificer had a significant role in the sacrificial rites, and so great importance was attached to the gaarhasthyadharma i.e. the order of the householder. There is nothing in the Vedic literature expressly corresponding to vaanaprastha, but we find a reference in RV.X. 136.2 to the munis, who are said to be wind-girt and clad in brownish dirty garments. We come across the term muni not infrequently in the Brahmanas, but even there the term seems to apply mostly to householders. The Ait. Br. (VI.33) mentions one householder, Aitasa, as muni. Among the Upanishads, the Brih.

Up. (IV.4.22), for the first time, speaks of munis who had renounced the world and lived by begging. References to ascetic life are to be found among the later Upanishadas such as the Katha, the Mundaka and the Jabala. However, even in the Mbh. we find that Mudgala and Asita Devala, who were householders living in hermitages, were called munis. Another hermit clan mentioned in the Vedas and known as yatis, which was associated with the Bhrigus, was totally opposed to the cult of sacrifice, of which more later.

Among the three aims of life (tri varga), right conduct dharma has been included as the aim of human life, the other two being kaama sensual enjoyment and artha, economic pursuits. Kaama is the satisfaction of the plysical, emotional and artistic life and so is the lowest of the three and only fools regard it as the endof life. In the Gita (vii.ii) lord Krishna says that he is kaama, which is not opposed to dharma. Kautilya in his Arthashastra (1.7) says that one may enjoy kaama, so long as it does not conflied with artha and dharma, but considers artha as more important than the other two, as they are dependent on artha for their fulfilment. He further adds that one should not lead a life of no pleasure. 1 Manu (2.224) states that one should strive for the achievement of all the three aims, but practise dharma when artha and kaama are in conflict with it.

Next to sensual pleasures is the love of riches. Money is a medium of value with which one can buy food and creature conforts and also help less-well-to-do persons and creatures.

With the development of currency and banking, however, it has become a store of value and has provided security and come to be valued for itself. Many now derive pleasure from the mere fact of its possession than its proper use. To explain this, I can do no better that quote from Mill: 2 what, for example, he asks " shall we say of love of money? There is nothing originally more desirable about money than about any heep of glittering pebbles. Its worth is solely that of the things which it will buy, the desire for other things than itself, which it is a means of gratifying. Yet the love of money is not only one of the stongest motivating forces of human life, but money is in many cases desired in and for itself, the desire to possess it is stronger than the desire to use it and it goes on increasing when all the desires which point to ends beyond it, to be encompassed by it, are falling off. It may be then said truly that money is desired not foi the sake of an end, but as the end itself; from being a means to happiness, it has come to be itself a principal ingredient of the individual’s conception of happiness. " In the older times the miser suffered himself and made others dependent upon him suffer privation. But in the modern world money has become a source of corruption in the hands of the unscrupulous.

Tradition invests the Pancharatna religion of the Satvata!^ Ce with great antiquity. The Satvata race worshipped ar ayana, who is said to be an ancient god’ and probably as pointed out by Dr. Dandekar 1 this Narayana finds a mention in Shat. Br. (XII-3.4) as purusha Narayana. Internal evidence shows that in the time of Sauti, Satvata god Nary ana had come to be indentified with the Vedic god Vishnu. When the gods went to see Narayanar to beg him to create some authority for the governance of the world, it is stated that Naryana created from his mind a son for the purpose. When Lord Shiva is praised as the supreme God, it is stated that both Brahmaa and Narayana waited upon him. Here Narayana is described as the wielder of the conch, the discuss and the mace, mounted upon the eagle god, which are both epithets of Vishnu. 2 Now this seems to have been the result of a process which had already started of popularising the Vedic gods by identifying them with the local gods.

The epic is however, silent about the ritualistic details of the Satvata religion. There is some evidence that the Satvata form of worship (vidhi) did consist of some religions rites even before the Narayaniya was composed. The earliest passage in which the term Pancharatra occurs is in the Shat. Br. (VIII. 6) in which Purusha Naryana is said to have conceived of a pancharatra sattra (sacrificial session) for five days. In the Nara-Narayaniya section added by Harivanshakara (XII-321), we have the story of king Vasu, who is said to have worshipped Hari (Narayana), with five sacrifices five times to escape from the god's curse.

This shows that the name pancharatra literally meant a five-day sacrifice, which has a parallel in the Navaratra worship of goddness Durgaa held in the first nine days in the month of ashvin (September-October). The other explanations offered by Otto Schreader 3 are too fanciful to deserve credance. We get a detailed account of the pancharatra creed in the Narayania section of the Mokshadharma added by Harivamshakara (2nd century B.C.)

Tradition invests the pancharatra religion with great antiquity. It j s said to owe its origin to Narayana, who has his abode in Shvetadvipa. Vaishapayana describes Narayana as a very ancient god 1 and probably as pointed out by Dr. Dandekar 2 this same Narayana finds a mention in the Shat. Br. (XII 3-4) as purusha Narayana. Both Satyaki and Kritavarma, warriors of the Satvata nacaa, who took a prominent part in the Bharata war, are mentioned as his devotes. Suta refers to it as ekanta dharma (HD.348.4) and Sauti describes it as Satvata vidhi (VI-62).

The second tenet of the Pancharatra system, namely ekantabhakti or exclusive devotion to Narayana as the supreme God, has been incorporated in the Gita. This is clear from such expressions as maccitta, matpara, ekabhakti, ananyabhak etc., which signify that the devotes should have sole devotion to Narayana and also accept him as the goal of life. Madhusudana explains the Gita verses (xii.9-11) as follows: " a devotee should, if possible, practise meditation of God or if not, he should follow the Bhagavata dharma or even if that is not possible, he should renounce the fruit of his works." The word Bhagavata does not occur anywhere in the Critical Edition of the Mbh. but is found to be used in the Harivansha in the sense of a devotee of the Bhagavat. It is now here used as a synonym for Pancharatra and in fact, Bana in his Harshacharita (8th ucchvasa) mentions the Bhagavatas separately from the followers of pancharatra. 3

The term dharma, which occurs frequently in the Gita is taken by it commentatars in the sense of vkrnashramadharma > e. the rites and duties prescribed by the scriptjires for the classess and stages of life. The term ashrama, however, does not occur in the Gita and so it is doubtful whether the concept of ashrama, had developed in the time of the Gita. The Upanishadas too do not speak of renuciation as a fourth ashrama until a much later date. Even the later Upanishada Shvetashvatara (6.22)

recognises only three ashramas, as the expression atyashramibhyah seems to refer only to the ascetics who had passed beyond the three stages of life. The post-Buddhist Maitri Up. (4.3) says that it is improper for one to become a monk without passing through the (first three) stages of life. Even Gaudapadacharya refers only to three ashramas (ashramas trividhah) in his Karika on Mandukya Up. (3.6). It is only the Jabala up., of a much later date which says that one may renouce the world even after studentship, nay a person may do so on the very day he becomes indiffrent to wordly life.

The term aashrama, however, does not occur in the Gita, and so it is doubtful whether the concept of ashrama had developed in the time of the Gita. The Gita seems to distinguish between the duties based on caste (jatidharma, i-43) and the duties based on class (chaaturvarnya). Krishna says that he had created the four classes in accordance with the division of qualities and actions (gunakarmavibhagashah, iv. 13). Whatever that be in modern times man’s profession is not determined by his birth but by his aptitude, training, choice and circumstances, and so his dharma is determined by the code and conduct appropriate to his calling. It is implicit in the concept of dharma that one should subordinate one's personal comfort and happiness to one's sense of duty. This is what the Lord means when he says that he is desire which is not opposed to one's duty. (Vii.II)

The same consideration would seSm to apply to social and humanitarian work undertaken by a person. Shri Aurobindo advises that one should relinquish even such work for his sake and should surrender oneself heart and soul to God. He seems to base his view on the Lord's final exhortation (xviii.66) to Arjuna to abandon all duties and take shelter in him alone. It seems strange that after extolling the path of action to Arjuna throughout, the Lord should conclude with the advice to g ive up action altogether. This advice would have suited Arjuna very well, as he wanted to avoid the destructive war at any cost. That he did not take it in that sense is clear from the fact that he decided to accept the advice of Krishna to fight The phrase sarvadharman partiyajya, therefore, means not renunication of action but abandonment of its fruit (phalatyaga). Shri Ramanuja takes parityajya to mean ’ renouncing the fruit and agency of action ‘ as taught in xviii.9-11. Shri Madhava also states that the renunciation of actions here means the relinquishment of their fruit.

Among the divine endowments the study of scriptures sacrifices and giving of alms are the religions duties relevant for man. Giving of help to less fortunate fellow-beings without expectation of a return has an ennobling effect on character, but it should be given to deserving persons at the proper time and place. Although the Gita talks about sacrificial rites, which were the form of worship in those days, their injunction would apply to ritual worship of every kind. Thus the Lord does not disapprove of ritual worship, but says that one should undertake religious duties with faith but without expectation of any reward. The Gita does not attach much importance to the materia! sacrifice (dravyayajna), but says that any worship or spiritual practice becomes a yajna par excellence, if it is undertaken without the desire for a reward. Thus the Gita includes in this wider concept of yajna all spiritual practices such ns criptural study, austerities, self-control and pursuit of knowledge.

No one can follow his favourite propensity to the exlusion of moral values without grave danger to his spiritual progress. A purely intellectual approach ti: life breeds egoism and indifference to human suffering. Pure ‘activism is likely to blunt moral senSibilities and make one forget that the gual of life is not success and prosperity, but God-realisation. Pure devotion, which is not based on the knowledge that we are all children of one God, breeds intolerance, bigotry and fundamentalist attitudes. The lives of our great sages and saints show that they have followed a combination of the three paths.

Shri Shankara, in spite of his predilaction for knowledge based on renunciation, was a great activist. He travelled through out the length and breadth of the country and established four maths for the propagation of his advaita doctrine. He was also a devotee as is seem from his exquisite devotional songs addressed to different deities. Patanjali, who laid great emphasis on the Yoga of meditation, recommended the yoga of action (kriyayoga) and divine worship (ishvarapranidhana)

as aids to meditation. In more recent times, shri Jnaneshvara, the great saint of Alandi (Maharashtra), began as a hathayogi of the Natha Sampradaya, practised the way of knowledge and became a jnani-bhakta. Shri Ramakrishna started as a devotee of goddess Kaali, became a jnani-bhakta and taught that social and humanitarian service was also a form of divine worship.

His desciple Svami Vivekanand not only established the Ramakrishna Math but also the Ramakrishna mission, adopting the motto liberation of the Self and welfare of the world. 1 Thus wisdom is the supreme means of liberation, but is not exclusive of service to humanity and devotion to God.

Before proceeding to discuss the functions of the State or the duties of a king, it is usual for most European writers to take up the problem of the origin of the State. Plato, for instance, tells us that the State arises out of individual needs and so when the society is organised on the principle of division of labour the division occasionally leads to conflict and so requires the imposition of central control. Neither Valmiki nor Vaisampayana has stated anything about the origin of kingship. Valmiki, however, (VR.2.61) describes the perils of a kingless state and makes a passionate plea for monarchy. He says, in a kingless state there is no safety for one’s life nor wealth, how then can truth prevail there? In a kingless state people do not form associations, design gardens or places of worship. There are no festivities nor performing arts nor nation-building rallies. In a kingless state rich farmers and herdsmen are afraid to sleep with their doors open nor can merchants travel long distances with their rich wares in safety. Even the wandering monks, meditating on the infinite soul, do not find safe lodging, when night overtakes them. In a kingless state one cannot protect w hat one lips nor procure what one has not. Even the soldiers a re powerless to overcome miscreants, no one can call anything his own and people devour one another like fishes. If the king did not exist to adjudicate between right and wrong, the world ' v 'll grope in the dark, and none will know how to behave and act.

Very high ideals were placed before the king by Valmiki and Vaishampayana. Though Rama was an absolute ruler, Ramarajya had come to be regarded as an ideal state. Valmiki describes the righteous rule of Raama in the Yuddhakand (VR 116, 80-90). Under his benevolent rule widows did not lauent nor was there any fear from rogues or epidemics. The kingdom was free from thieves and robbers and misfortunes did not overtake anyone. All were happy and devoted to their duties and did not harm one another. The people lived along with their progeny in perfect health and free from grief. The rains came in proper time, the winds blew gently and the trees with their spreading brannches bore flowers and fruits. His subjects were content to perform their duties and lived a righteous and fruitful life during his long rule.

We do not get any similar description of the rule of Yudhishthira in the epic of Vaishampayana. But the advice of grandsire Bhishma (XII. 140) indicates how a king should govern his kingdom. According to Bhishma the king should always wield the rod of justice and punish offenders against the law. The king has to oversee that the normal religions practices are carried out by the subjects according to shastric injunctions.

For sage Utathya says in the Utathyagita (XII. 91)“ all beings prosper if religion prospers and deteriorate when the latter deteriorates; therefore one should promote religious practices. ” Sauti adds, with the adVance of agriculture and trade, the king had to give protection to the crops of the agriculturists who toiled morning apd-evening in the fields and ensure safety to the traders, who had to carry their goods through forests and deserts to the markets (XII. 90. 22, 23)

Danda or punishment at the right moment and without fail to the miserents is the secret of success. When the subjects are protected day by day through danda, they also contribute to the prosperity of the king and the state. So Danda or punishment is the sine que non of successful government (121. 34). Th e whole adhyaya 121 is devoted to the praise of danda tiom various angles and no person, even if he be the king’s father, mother, brother, wife or priest can escape its jurisdiction. (121.

57). The king was expected to wield the rod of justice tempered with merry, but there is no clear indication about the legal procedure to be followed in the administration of justice.

According to Belwalkar, there was no original contract among the people, but the code was laid down by Prajapati when evil became dominant in a kingless state. Bhishma says'

that Prajapati intervened and after laying down the code commissioned a duly accredited person, king Vainya to ensure that the code was honoured. Such a conflict arose when the code laid down the division of duties among the four classes (varnas). The Prajapati then composed a treatise dealing with a new science dandaniti, the science of polity, dealing with ’ rewards and punishments, the protection of subjects and the means of extending one's kingdom. It was successively abridged by Vishalakshaa, Purandara, Bahudantaka and Brihaspati. The original works are no longer extant, but the names of those authors are quoted in Kautilya's Arthashastra.

There used to be acoucil consisting of elders, nobles, and generals to advise the king in serious situations. In the Mbh., however, even the influence of the council was reduced. Thus when Duryodhana met the councillors before embarking on the war, the council.strongly advised him to avoid war with the Pandavas, but their counsel had no effect on him. Duryodhana did not heed the advise of his elders, Bhishma, Drona and Vidura and even their priest Dhaumya, who was specially invited to attend the meeting, who counselled him to come to terms with the Pandavas. But Duryodhana always sought the advise of his crafty maternal uncle Shakuni, while the trusted counsellor of the Pandavas was Krishna, their cousin on the Mother’s side. This was due to the fact that in a matrilineal society, the formal authority over the activities rested in the hands of brothers, mother's brother, mother's mother's brothers ar, d so on.

More than Suta, Sauti has made very useful contributions I in this regard. He says that the success of a ruler depends on the I manner in which he is able to select and manage his ministers, officers and personal attendants. He gives very shrewd and useful hints in XII. 86. 10 for appointing ministers in high places which hold true even in the present times. He further j adds that in order to assist them in their different tasks there should be officers and messengers, everyone, of whom must be endowed with the following qualities: he should come from a good family, should be of good character, eloquent, competent, clever, sweet-speaking, who does what he says and possesses good memory (XII. 87.5).

In this regard Sauti has laid down two golden rules: one the ruler's best treasure is the appointment of competant officers in several spheres (XII. 56.34) and two while doing this he should prefer a person proficient in actual achievement to one who’is merely skilled in words and schemes (XII. 58.

15). It is, however, not sufficient to expect good performance from ministers, concillors, and personal servants. The king has to enforce it by suitable rewards for good services and by appropriate punishments in the case of lapses. Sauti gives the quintessance of the statecraft in stanza XII. 89.4. Here the king is advised to be the garland-maker of the State. Just as a ^

gardener weaves together into a charming garland flowers of different hues, he should promote perfect harmony among his subjects professing different views and working in different professions. Opposed to this is the work of the incendiary (angaarika) who takes delight in discovering and accentuating differences and keeps subjects at loggerheads to increase his hold on them (XII. 89.4). As the Critical Editor (PCXC)

says, ‘ who will deny that this admonition,has an application as moral for all times. ’

The concept of a universal monarch does not seem to have existed even in the later period of Ramayana. Of the 1 ater ashvamedhas, the one planned by Sagar has been added by S uta (1.38) and of the three by Indra (7.77), by Ila (7.81) and by Raama (7.83) have been inserted by the last redactors in the first century A. D. But he too does not mention that the ashvamedha performed by Raama was a royal horse sacrifice intended to establish his sezerainty over the other kings. In the ashvamedhikaparva of the Mbh., however, Suta mentions that on the advice of Vyasa Yudhishthira performed the ashvamedha sacrifice to atone for the havoc caused in the Bharata war. He had undertaken this war with the express purpose of establishing his suzerainty over the kings; Yudhishthira is said to have let loose the sacrificial horse and nominated Arjuna as the guardian of the horse and performed the sacrifice after Arjuna returned victorious with the horse. Suta and Sauti have also added legends to show that Yudhishthira had performed the sacrifice to establish his sezerainty over the other kings. It is, however, doubtful whether this included the annexation of the conquered States to Hastinapura and the appointment of deputies to rule over the conquered States.

We shall discuss in this chapter the epic society as it existed in the time of Valmiki and Vaishampayana and the changes that took place thereafter. Ayodhya is not mentioned in the Vedic Index. Both Ayodhya and Kosala appear in the late Vedic period. Law mentions that Ayodhya was a village during the late Vedic period and cites Ait. Br. and Sankhyana shrauta sutras 1. Sankalia places the foundation of Ayodhya provisionally in 1500 B. C. 2

According to Panikkar, the colonisation of plains had not been completed during the period of Valmiki and the great centres of ashrama life were deep in the heart of Hindustan. 3

As Brockington observes (p. 69), Ayodhya in Valmiki s time did not materially differ from a village and was at best a village town. The people of Kosala and Ayodhya were Vedic Aryans, who had colonised this region in the immediate post- Vedic period. They worshipped deities in the Vedic pantheon such as Indra, Ashvins, Parjanya and Varuna rather than deities of classical Hinduism, Shiva and Vishnu. In the Vedic peiiod Indra was prominant among the gods with Vishnu subordinate to him and designated’ as Upendra. In the time of Valmiki, Indi a was still the most prominent god with Vishnu subordinate v t o him as Rama is compared to Indra and Lakshmana to Vishnu (VR-6.24). Varuna was still more prominent than Shiva, as it was he who gave the famous bow to Janaka. (VR.2.28).

Valmiki does not refer to Shiva, who became prominent only in the time of Vaishampayana, who called him Mahadeva, the Supreme God (MGG, p. 87). Vishnu came to be regarded as the supreme God and attained prominence only in the time of Sauti. (450 B.C.)'

1. B. C. Law, Historical Geography of Ancient India, Paris, 1954, p. 67 f 2. H. D. Sankhlia: Ayodhya of the Ramayana in a Historical Perspective, ABORl- %

The ancient Indian soceity in Valmiki's time was so organised and regulated as to bring about the material and S spiritual development of the individual. The law which governed the social and individual life was known as varnadharma which was a distinctive feature of Indian culture.

The society was divided into classes (varna) to procure for it the services which each class was, both by birth and training, well-fitted. This had two advantages firstly they inherited the qualities from their parents who belonged to the same class and received special training from them for the specific services they had to render to the society and secondly it avoided overlapping and break-neck competition among the classes.

* In Valmiki’s time the Aryan society was straitified into four classes or varnas as is clear from the passage (VR.2.76), where it is stated that when Bharata set out to meet Rama in the forest, kshatriyas, vaishyas, shudras and brahmins got ready to go with him. In the Aranyakanda Jataayu speaks of the tradition based on Rigveda (X..90). “Manu bore men by noble Kashyapa brahmins, kshatriyas, vaishyas and shudras; from the mouth were born brahmins, from the chest kshatriyas, from the l bighs vaishyas, and from the feet shudras according to J scripture (VR.3.13). This shows that the order of the four f Va mas had been established in the time of Valmiki.

The occupations of the four varnas have not been spelt out at one place, but can be gleaned from the references j n Valmiki's original Ramayana (VR). The brahmins are described as yajakas (VR. 1. 12) and vedapargas (VR.2.23)

Bharata, as he apporached Ayodhya, considered sacrificing brahmins profiicient in the Vedas as characteristic of that city (VR.2.65) We are further told that the hermitages in the Dandakarnya echoed with the sound of the Vedic recitations and it is said that the start of the rains was the time for the brahmins to chant the same hymns (VR.4.27). The kshatryas were referred to by Vedic term rajanya, which implied their right to rule and the term also included the warriors (yodhas).

As regards the vaishyas among the persons who surrounded Bharata, the leaders of the guilds of merchants are mentioned along with brahmins and the king's councillors (VR.6.113).

There are also references to markets (antarapana or apana) and long distance trade through caravans, 1 Valmiki also mentions various categories of royal servants, such as guards and craftsmen (VR.2.73), mahuts and elephant-riders (VR.3.44), cooks (VR.3.54), bards and charioteers at the courts and actors, singers and dancers at the courts (VR.6.14). The craftsman perhaps fabricated the wepaons including the bows and the arrows as also the musical instruments used on the battle fields. Of the twenty two musical instruments mentioned by Valmiki, half were drums. Other musical instruments used on the battle field were the conch, the horn (turya), the drum, the beating of which served as a‘signal to start the war (VR.2.75); Valmiki also refers to a drummer (VR.2.14). The two terms dasa and preshya, which occur frequently in VR denote personal servants rather than slaves. Slavery as such did not exist in the days of Valmiki, as there is no reference to the buying and selling of slaves therein, apart from the purchase o Sunahshepa narrated by Suta (VS.6.60), which is a legend.

In the early times the brahmins were held in high regard a nd enjoyed certain privilages, as they were not allowed to f 0 ]]ow any other profession; the society used to give them gifts (dakshina) to maintain themselves and their families. This practice is mentioned on four occasions by Valmiki, in which (rifts of cows, gold and silver were given by Dasharatha to them after the completion of the ashvamedha sacrifice (VR. 1.13), by Rama at the time of his departure to the forest (VR.2.29), by Bharata at the time of 1 performing the obsequies of Dasharatha (VR.2.27) and by Sita after she made a vow to river Ganga (VR.3.46). However, any eagerness on the part of a brahmin to secure larger gifts was viewed with disfavour as in the episode of Trijata Gargya (VR.2.29).

The freedom and status enjoyed by women in a society is a measure of its cultural advance. In the days of Valmiki, the women were free to move about in the public and were not confined to the inner apartment (antahpura). The inner apartment seems to have been meant for their protection rather than their seclusion. The appointment of female superintendents (VR.2.14) as well as the female door keepers in Kausalya's apartment. (VR.2.17) must have served the same purpose.

When Sita accompained Raama to the forest, she drove freely through the town (VR.2.35). When Bharata went to Chitrakuta to persuade Raama to return, Dasharatha's widows accompanied him (VR.2.77). The presence of the married women at some of the great public rituals seems to have been a common feature. When Rama made his triumphant entry into Ayodhya at the end of his exile, women were among the crowds who went to greet him (VR.6.99).

As Vaishampayana was mainly concerned with the description of the Bharata war, we do not get much information ab °ut the epic society as it existed in his time. As the time-gap be tween Valmiki and Vaishanpayana was only two centuries, We can take it that the social conditions as existed in Valmiki's tlrne continued during the time of Vaishanpayana also. The conditions as they existed in the time of Vaishanpayana are contained in VM (XIII. 126-134) in which Narada narrates the conversation between Maheshvara and the sages who had assembled on the Himavat mountain. The sages had assembled there to rneet religious-minded Krishna who was observing a vow extending over twelve years to propitiate Shiva and obtain the boon of a son from him. In this dialogue, Vaishanpayana discusses a number of topies such as varnadharma, garhasthyadharma, vanapfasthadharma, rishidharma, bhikshudharma and stridharma, but as pointed out by the Critical Editor, ‘ the discussion lacks any kind of method or logical order or even depth. ’

Among the duties cast on the first three classes, performance of sacrifices, the making of gifts and Vedic studies, were common to all. The Lord of the universe had laid down the following other duties for a brahmin, namely officiating at others' sacrifices, receiving of gifts and teaching of scripturas. The primary duty of a kshatriya was-to protect all creatures. Administration of justice, devotion to truth, selfrestraint and succour to those in distress were the duties by performing which a king covered himself with glory. If a warrior laid down his life on the battel field, he earned the merit of performing a horse-sacrifice aund went to heaven. The duties of a vaishya consisted in tending; cattle, agriculture and trading.

Of special interest in the dialogue between Lord Shiva and Uma is the unequivocal statement of the former that a peison born in a lower class could enter a higher class by performing deeds of religions merit. Lord Shiva said, " With the aid of mertorious deeds, O Goddess, a person who is born in a l 0NVer class, say a shudra, may become a brahmin, when he become*

well-versed in the Vedic lore and is cleansed of all stains, the other hand, a brahmin who is wicked and does not obser v ^

his dharma. falls from the status of a brahmin and become shudra. If a pious nature and righteous conduct are noticed in a shudra, he should be considered a brahmin. Neither birth nor purificatory rites nor learning nor humility can be regarded as grounds for conferring, the status of a brahmin on anyone. In this matter the conduct of a person is the sole test. "

Uma then asked Lord Shiva to tell her the common duties of all classes. The Lord said that there are two ways of life, the way of action (pravritti) and the way of rununciation (nivritti). The householder who follows the way of action, earns great merit by performing the five sacrifices, by being truthful in speech and free from malice, by being humble and sincere in his dealing and by eating his meals after serving a guest. Hospitality to a guest is an important duty of a householder.

Lord Shiva further said that the way of renunciation is followed by an ascetic for the attainment of emancipation. His foremost duty is compassion towards all creatures. He should not reside at a place for more than a day and should not be attached to his possessions, although they may be the barest necessities. Subjugation of the senses and self-control are the distinguishing marks of an ascetic. After he has subdued his senses, he is known as hamsa and after he has transcended the gunas and realised the Self, he is known as paramahansa. There is nothing superior to the latter state, which is chaugeless, beyond sorrow and happiness and free from old age and death.

The pursuit of individual happiness often involves causing Pain or unhappiness to others and also does not furish a standard for moral conduct. In order to get over this difficutly, materialists of the West such as Jeremy Beutham and J.S. hill bad to devise a theory of 'general happiness' so that those actions were held to be morally right, which gave ' the greatest happiness to the greatest number' Jeremy Beutham, while ex plaining how a person, pursuing his own happiness can be prevented from causing pain to others, invoked three sanctions namely political sanction, social sanction and theological sanction.

Human desires are also regulated by the concept of his duty (dharma) in relation to the social group of which he is a member. Even in ancient times he had to enter into different types of social relationships for his survival and continuation of his race. In the Hindu society, as we have it now, the duties based on vamashramadharma have long since become outdated and ceased, although the rigidities of the caste system still continue to operate to the detriment of national colesion and solidarity. However, the basic idea that the duties of a person depend upon his membership of a social group remains relevant and valid even in modern conditions. In a modern society a human being is at the same time a member of different co-operative groups, such as his family, his club, his professional group, his nation or an international group such as the Rotary or the Lion's club. Bradley rightly insists that the moral life of an individual depends on his fulfilling the particular duties which belong to his particular station in the social group. In doing this he is mainly guided by the duties of the people, either handed down by oral tradition or incorporated in their personal law. Such persons who regulate their desires on the basis of what they conceive to be their duty and take delight in discharging it, are called dharmaarama (Ananda, UT, 16). However, the ultimate goal of human life is not merely the performance of one's dharma, but God realisation.

During this period agriculture and cattle-breeding had made considerable progress. Agricultural implements such as the hoe and the plough had come to be in regular use during this period. Sauti makes a reference to langala i.e. a hoe 1 and also mentions a hala i.e. a plough. 2 As stated in the Udyogaparva (152.7), cutting instruments were also in use such as axe (kuthara) and the pick-axe (kuddala), with which they could n0 w fell the trees and break clods of earth. This facilitated the extension of agriculture to forest lands and also establishment 0 f contacts with eastern and southern parts of the country. A passage in the Udyogaparva 1 states that the land does not yield a crop without rain, but also immediately adds that it can be watered with human effort.

These facts are supported by the archareological discoveries of agricultural tools such as the hoe and the ploughshare etc. and the ring wells in Artranjikhera in the period of the NBC culture (600-250 B. C.). Although the ringwells found at Atranjikhera in the NBP ware complex were mainly used for drinking water purposes, it is possible that these people also used such wells for watering land. From what Suta mentions in the ghoshayatra 2 it appears that there were also cattle encosures in which the cattle were kept and counted and calves branded. This was, therefore, a period of agropastoral society with considerable urbanisation and flourishing agriculture and stock-breeding activities.

The Mahabharata contains a record of the philosophical systems during its period. During this time, we come across two ancient systems known as Sankhya, with its allied system Yoga, which had earned a reputation in the early religious and philosophical literature. The Mokshadharma (Mbh. XII. 168353) and the Anugita (Mbh. XIV. 16-50) added by Suta and Sauti shows the immense popularity which it had gained during this period. But the most ancient parts of the Mbh., which relate to Sankhya and Yoga are contained in Shukanuprashna (adhys 221-227), Vasisjha-Karala-Janaka Samvada (adhys. 291-296)

and the Yajnavalkya-Janaka samvada (adhys. 298-306) of the Mokshadharma, and the Guru-Shishya-Samvada (adhys. 3540) in the Anugita added by Suta and the Bhagavadgita added by Sauti (450 B. C.).

The Sankhya system had a non-Vedic origin as is clear from the fact that it is mentioned separately from the Vedas and Aranyakas in M. D. (XII. 337. 1).' The Sankhya system has received the highest encomiums in the ancient Brahmanical and epic literature, and the Sankhya teachers have been held in high regard by the ancient thinkers. Thus the Atharvana parishistha (X. iii. 3. 4) mentions the Sankhya teachers Kapila, Asuri and Panchashikha in connection with the tarpana invocation while offering libations of water to the deceased ancestors. The Ashvalayana Grihyasutra in its tarpana list gives directions for making respectful offerings to the Sankhyas and Siddhas. They are mentioned in the epic in such flattering terms as tattvachintakah, sankhyadarshinah and mahaprajnah (M. D.

301). The Sankhyas seem to have had such a pervasive influence over the other systems that it is said that whatever higher knowledge is to be found in the Vedas, the Sankhyas (i.e. the Sankhya schools), the Yoga and the various Puranas belongs to the Sankhya thinkers (M D. 290. 103).

None of the Sankhya texts Which existed before the Sankhya-Karika of Ishvarakrishna are extant now. Ishwarakrishna himself states that his Karika represents a summary of a work known as Sastitantra (SK. 72), but this work also is not available. Although we get references to Sankhya ideas and Yoga prectices in later Upanishada such as the Katha, the Mundaka and the Shvetashvatara, our main source of the I Sankhya system in the ancient times is the Mbh. The great mass of material relating to Sankhya found in the Mokshadharma v (Mbh. XII. 168-353) and the Anugita (Mbh. XIV. 16-50)

B shows the immense popularity which it had gained during this i period. But the most ancient parts of Mbh. which relate to i Sankhya and Yoga are contained in Sukanuprashna (adhyayas 224-227), Vashistha-Karala-Janaka-Samvada (adhyayas 291

V of the Mokshadharma and the Guru-Shishya-Samvada I (adhyayas 35-40) in the Anugita added by Suta and the Bhagavadgita added by Sauti (450 B. C.). We have, however, R to bear in mind that the epic accounts of Sankhya in the above dialogues are ascribed to Vasishtha, Yajnavalkya and Vyasa, who were staunch Vedantists.

According to the Sankhyas, the world consists of two ultimate principles, the insentient prakriti belonging to the realm of matter and a sentient purusha belonging to the realm of the spirit. According to Vasishtha, the doctrine of prakriti is based on inference. Thus from the material objects that we see in this world, we infer the existence of gross elements, from gross elemets, of egoism, from egoism of the great principle (mahat) and from the latter of prakriti, where one has to stop to avoid infinite regress. The prakriti is, therefore, described as alinga i.e. without a distinguishing mark (XII. 291. 42). This eightfold prakriti gives rise to sixteen vikaras or effects, namely, the five organs of sense, the five organs of action, the mind and the five objects of senses. In addition to these twentyfour categories, there is the twenty-fifth category, the purusha who is the conscious Self. Vasishtha further tells us that the conception of purusha is also based on inference (XII. 291.

42). But the Sankhya doctrine of pararthatva that every composite thing such as the body or the mind exists for another entity distinct from it, does not find a menton in the epic. The eternal purusha is distinct from the ever-changing prakriti and remains unaffected even when in conjunction with it like a lotus leaf on water. The doctrine of gunas as qualities of prakriti was also known to Suta (XII. 293. 20-25), who gives an elaborate description of the psychic qualities which arise from the predominance of one quality over-the other two in a person (XIV. 36-39). Man is said to suffer bondage so long as he identifies purusha with prakriti or its gunas through ignorance, but attains emancipation through discriminating knowledge between the two. Vasishtha further tells Janaka (XII. 296) that when the Self realises his true nature through discriminating knwledge, he is to be regarded as the twenty-sixth principl e ’

Yajnavalkya, this twenty-sixth principle is the pure supreme self without attributes, and when the individual Self realises himself as different from prakriti, he becomes liberated and beholds the Supreme Self (XII. 396.74).

Suta then proceeds to describe how this process of evolution takes place (XII. 291). The formless Brahman, which is self-existent and bountiful, creates the first embodied being of vast proportions, of infinite deeds and of cosmic form (vishvarupa). This First-born is radiant, immutable and possessed of eight yogic powers' and is known as Hiranyagarbha. He has his hands and feet stretching in all directions, with eyes, ears, mouths and heads everywhere. In the yogic spripture he is known as the great principle (mahat), Virinci and the First-born. In the Sankhya he is known by diverse names. Undergoing modifications, Hiranyagarbha produces the principle of egoism also known as prajapati, from which arise the five great elements. From them evolves the vikara group, namely, the mind, the ten sense organs and (he five objects of senses.

The accounts of Yoga as given by Suta and Sauti in the Mokshadharma are more or less similar. Although Suta points out that the Vedas knew of the eightfold Yoga (Mbh. XII. 304.

7), it h Clear that it could not refer to the ashtangayoga of Patanjali, of whom there is no mention in the Epic. Vasishtha states that meditation is an obligatroy practise with the yogis and is their superb power. According to him, meditation is of two kinds, the one involving the regulation of breath and the other concentration of mind (XII. 294. 8). Suta also states that the control of breath and concentration of mind constitute the ^

two main characteristics of Yoga (XII. 304.9). Suta then goes on to describe how one should practise meditation. He says that after giving up all attachments and observing moderation i n diet, a person should subjugate his senses and fix his mind on the Self during the first and last part of the night. For this purpose, after withdrawing his senses from the sense-objects he should assume a posture as motionless as a block of stone and try to calm down his mind with the help of his understanding.

When he does not hear nor smell, nor taste and see, when he is not sensitive to any touch, when he cherishes no thought and is not conscious of anything, he is said to be perfect in Yoga. At this time he shines like a lamp in a windless place 1 and becomes united with Brahman. Then the Self reveals himself in the heart of the yogi like a blazing fire or like the bright sun or like a flash of lightning in the sky. By such practices the yogi j succeeds in realising the Self that transcends decay and death.

It is thus obvious that what the Suta describes is a theistic Sankhya-Yoga system, which deals with Sankhya and Yoga together and treats them as one. He asserts that he who sees Sankhya and Yoga as one and that both lead to the same goal, namely freedom from death, knows the truth (XII. 293, 304).

But there are also a number of passages in the Mbh. added by Suta which indicate that they are two ancient systems (XII 337. 68). 2 In the same adhyaya we are told that there are five systems, namely Sankhya, Yoga, Pancharatra, the Vedas, and the Pashupata, and that they hold different views, nanamatani (verse 59). It is also said that Sankhya and Yoga were originally declared by two different sages, Kapila an fliranyagarbha respectively. This finds independent corroboration in the Alurbudhnyasamhita (XII. 32) which states that Hiranyagarbha had disclosed the entire system of Yoga in tvv0 different texts, 1 nirodhasamhita and karmasamhita. Mbh.

XII- 289. 9 added by Suta tells us that us that Sankhya and Yoga do not have the same system (darshanam Ha sarnam tayoh)

and gives reasons for holding this view. There we are told that both claim superiority for their own system and advance arguments in support of their claim. The followers of Yoga say that their system is superior, because, they ask, ‘ how can the anishvara Sankhya win release? ’ They further argue that only those who undergo the Yogic discipline acquire the necessary power or strength to destroy the bonds of action due to greed.

Nilakanntha 2 explains that the expression anishvarah katham mucyed suggests that it is difficult to attain liberation without God. He further adds that they adduce the above reasons to establish the excellence of their system (svapakshotkarshaya ca). Hopkins 1 has rightly suggested that this passage is a clear indication of an atheistic Sankhya.

Professor S. N. Dasgupta, however, has advanced the view that Sankhya was probably theistic originally and became atheistic for the first time in the Sankhya school of Caraka and Panchashikha and became confirmed in this regard finally in Ishvarakrishna’s Sankhyakarika. In support of this view dasgupta 4 cites the contents of Sastitantra an old Sankhya text, as given in the Ahirbudhnya Samhita. In this text, the to

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