Page:The Cyclopedia of India (Specimen Issue).pdf/149

 THE CYCLOPEDIA OI" INDIA.

have retaences to canals and wells. Shepherds and pasture are mentioned less lrcel than agriculture. whilst trade and common:me as, th nicesanlm’ay rare in . ystngveso civi' tion.are “""d'm distinctly alluded to in the Rig Veda. Theartsot peace included weaving. carpentry and working in metals such as gold. iron and copper. Warriors. perhaps the greater chieltaitu. wore golden helmets and breastplates; women carried bracelets, necklaces and ankle-ts. The customs of the people are marked ' strong common some. and a pleasing absence of altby restriction. The caste sync?! dig mitoﬁrist sari! every 0 a use was s on y "‘“"""‘”°""“‘ priest. Although the exigencia of sacrifice and the special faculties of composition required [or the sacriﬁcial b -mns. gradually led to the lormation at a class of ishis. oly priests and poets, the forerunners ol the Brahmans. yet in the rlmitive age at the Rig Veda this class was separated E no barrier at caste trom the rest ol the po lation. Rishis were men 0! the world. owned erds oi cattle. taught against the common enemy, and inter. married freely with the Eco le. It is only in the concluding ions of t e _' Veda that we ﬁnd evidence 01 t growing superstition oi the people and a beginning at that dee‘fcmlencc upon the priestly class which was destin to Work such irretrievable harm in the later stages at Hindu civilisation. That the Rishia did not lorm a saturate priestly caste may be gathered irom such hymns as the lollowing :— "Behold. I am a composer ol hymns. my lather is a hysician. my mother grinds corn on stone. We are all engaged in didercnt occupations. As cows wander (in various directions) in the pasture-ﬁelds (tor land). so we (in various occupuions). worship thee, 0 Somal [or wealth. Flow than {or lndrat Further. there Were no temples or idols in these early days. The sacred tire was lighted on every heart by the head of the lamily. and there is abundant evidence to prove that wives joined their husbands in celebrating these domestic sacriﬁces. Women. it is dcil'e'ar. wore regarded in”? totally . erent manner tom t 'r sisters “Maw” at a later time. were not secluded. dcha‘rrelrilhhocg education and tell 'on. or disposed 0 ties In marriage. were treated rather as man's nal. the sharer o’l. hissacrinccs joint composer at he sacred h sometimes women even became Rishis—an were allowed to exercise theirdne inﬂuence in Theywerenotmarricdat anagewhentheir education should just begin. but often remained unmarried in the homes oi their lathm. or‘il they chose wedlock. as doubtless the majority did, they would seen: to have some voice in the se- lection ol their husbands. “The woman who is of gentle nature. and o! graceful form selects. among many. her own loved one as her husband." Poly- gamywasallonedamongthegreat andrtch.but the people for the most part remained contented..then as now. with one wile. The re-mamage of mdows was distinctly sanctioned the Rig Veda. and .the prevalenoeol thiscnstomsbomeonthyavanety

of other proofs. Finally. the obnoxious practice of Self. by which a widow ascended her husband's luneral pyre. was unknown in these primitive days. When in aftertimcs the practice became popular, the pl'isthood attempted to give it motion from the Vedas. and a harmless passage referring to a funeral procession was distorted and mistranslated with this end in View.

Other practices now generally condemned by

Food mm ' orthodox Hinduism were the com sumption of ﬂesh and of intoxicating liquor. Cows were the chief source of wealth to the primitive cultivators on the Indus. and one of their uses was to provide lood. Slaughter-houses are spoken at in the Vedas. and there are allusions to the sacriﬁce oi bulls and rams. The intoxicating juice of the Santa plant was regulan drunk by all classes, and as we shall see belowd’ it harmed a predominant element in sacriﬁcial rites. So highly was it regarded. that it came itsell to be worshipped as a deity. and we ﬁnd an entire boolt at the Rig Veda dedicated to the Divine juice ol the Sam.

A low other points connected with the social lilo oi the earlv Hindus deserve notice. The dead were dis of. as to day. by burning. although burial wit ut cremation seems to have been also practised. Some ot the most healttilu‘l 0L tfho h us were

composed art It unera ceremon. 'mm" Transmigration was as yet known and the primitive Hindu believed ina state of blessedncss in the heaven of Yuan. and to which the righteous attained imme- diater alter death. Other hvmns seem to contain the germ ol adoption. and at the later Hindu Law of Inheritance which allows property to go to the daughter's son. only in the absence ol male issue. III. Religion 0/ the l'rdi'c Age.

We are now in a position to examine the religion

“I d m a primitive l;lindus‘. Elbe Rig

. '3 . 'I ' isimmcnse'vauaeua M human document. cause it is the only record possessed by any Aryan

nation-indeed any nation at all—in which we can study that intensely interesting chapter in the history of mankind. the intuition tram a natural to an artiﬁcial religion. The Rig Veda may. thereto". . be regarded as the earliest recorded chn ter in the history of the human intellect. In the o dest boaks oi the Greeks and Romans reli 'on is almost totally artiﬁcial. Groups of gods and goddesses people an artiﬁcial heaven. and largely share human attributes. vices as well as virtues. “ Names which in Homer have become and mythological, are to be found in Veda. as it Were. in a still ﬂuid state. " In the Veda natural phenomena are represented as assuming the character 01 divine be iogs, whereas in Homer this process is already com- plete. Hem-e. we may. apart from all considerations of actual date. call the Vcdu: hymns more ancient than the Homeric because they represent an earlier phase 0! human ht and lccling. Though the religon ot the \v’edic Age IS the worship of Nature.

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