In the Aryan
Invasion Theory of Western
historians...the highly organized cultures of the IndusValley and the villages in
other parts
of the subcontinent were overrun by lighter-skinned nomadic invaders from outside India….
…The
theory argues that the Vedas,
the
religious texts often referred to as the foundations of Sanatana Dharma
[i.e.
Hinduism], were the product of the invaders, and not of indigenous
Indians.
These invaders were identified as Aryans,
said to be among the
Indo-European tribes thought to have migrated outward from the steppes
of
southern Russia
during the second millennium BCE. [LR, 74]
The Vedas
The oldest
of the Vedas are the Rig
Vedas. They consist largely of invocations of different gods or
goddesses, such as Usha, goddess of dawn, or Agni, the god of fire,
which have been used since ancient times to carry offerings to the
Unseen. These deities have also been understood metaphysically as
abstract forces within the oneness of Creation. The extract below, a
hymn to Agni, comes from Book 4 of the Rig Vedas.
.
Hymn to Agni
Your envoy who possesses all,
Immortal,
bearer of your gifts,
Best
worshipper, I woo with song.
He,
Mighty, knows the gift of wealth,
he knows
the deep recess of heaven:
He
shall bring hitherward the gods.
He
knows, a God himself, to guide Gods
to
the righteous in his home:
He
gives e’en treasures that we love.
He is
the Herald: well-informed,
he
doth his errand to and fro,
Knowing
the deep recess of heaven.
May we
be they who gratify Agni
with
sacrificial gifts,
Who
cherish and enkindle him.
Illustrious
for wealth are they,
and hero
deeds, victorious,
Who
have served Agni reverently.
So
unto us, day after day,
may
riches craved
by many come,
And
power and might spring up for us.
That
holy Singer in his strength
shoots
forth his arrows swifter than
In the
beginning there was
Existence
alone—One only, without a second. He, the One,
thought to
himself: Let me
be many, let me grow forth. Thus out of himself he projected
the
universe, and having projected out of himself the universe, he entered
into every being. All that is has its self in him
alone. Of
all things he is the subtle essence. He is the truth. He is
the
Self. And that...THAT ART THOU. [LR, 78; Chandogya
Upanishad]
How
does this compare with
Jewish, Christian, and/or Islamic
conceptions
of “monotheism”?
The
wisdom of the Upanishads is like a powerful bow. Make your intelligence
a sharp arrow. Concentrate. Use the bow and the arrow to find your
mark, the Brahman. The
syllable omis the
bow, the atman
is the arrow. It is said that the Brahman
is
the object of the bow and the arrow. Do not hesitate in trying to
achieve your aim. Be as unmoving as the arrow and attain your target....
The spokes of a wheel
surround the nave.
Like that, the veins surround the heart. And in the heart is the being
with many forms. He is the Brahman.
Meditate on him, meditate on his symbol, the syllable om. May you be
blessed so that you may cross the ocean of ignorance....
The Brahman is in the
forefront and he is
everything. The Brahman
is to the back, he is to the north and the south. He is above and
below. This universe is nothing but the supreme Brahman. [ALR, 65]
How
does the relationship between the “ultimate
source”
(i.e. Brahman) and the universe compare with the relationship between “creator”
and “creation”
in the Abrahamic traditions (i.e. Judaism, Christianity and Islam)?
III. Karma, Reincarnation
& Moksha
[Karma]
means action, and also the consequences of action. Every act we make,
and even
every thought and every desire we have, shape our future experiences.
Our life
is what we have made it. And we ourselves are shaped by what we have
done: “As
a man acts, so does he become...A man becomes pure through pure deeds,
impure
through impure deeds.” Not only do we reap in this life the good or evil
we have sown;
they also follow us after physical death, affecting our next
incarnation.
Ethically, this is a strong teaching, for our every move has
far-reaching
consequences. [LR, 79]
Varna (Caste): Social
class system (brahman; kshatriya;
vaishya; shudra)
justified in
terms
of karma (past actions).
.
Dharma (Duty):
Although the final goal is to
renounce
all attachments and pursue complete union with the ultimate (i.e.
Brahman),
until
one is ready to make this commitment, one is bound by the duties and
obligations
associated
with caste..
.
Duties
of the Four Castes Manu
Smrti
For
the sake of the preservation of this entire creation, [Purusha], the
exceedingly resplendent one, assigned separate duties to the classes
which had sprung from his mouth, arms, thighs, and feet.
Teaching, studying,
performing sacrificial rites, so too making others perform sacrificial
rites,
and giving away and receiving gifts—these he assigned to the brahmans.
Protection of the
people, giving away of wealth, performance of sacrificial rites, study,
and nonattachment to sensual pleasures—these are, in short,
the duties
of a kshatriya.
Tending of cattle,
giving away of wealth, performance of sacrificial rites, study, trade
and commerce, usury, and agriculture—these are the
occupations of a vaishya.
The Lord has
prescribed only one occupation for a shudra,
namely, service without
malice of even these
other three classes.
[ALR, 70-1]
.
Asrama (Stages of
Life): One’s duty (dharma)
is based not only on caste, but also on one’s stage of life;
classical
tradition
establishes four stages in the process towards moksha (liberation
from rebirth):
Realise
the Brahman
in whom can be found heaven, the earth, and the atmosphere. In him
reside your senses and your heart. Forget everything else and attain
the one and only Brahman.
That is the way to salvation....
He is the fount of all
wisdom; he is omniscient. The Brahman
resides in the radiance of the heart. He rules over the mind and life.
He is bliss. He is immortality. The learned ones are those who can
visualise the Brahman
in their own atmans.
He
is the
cause. He is action. When an individual visualizes the Brahman, his
heart is freed from all bondage. All his doubts are dispelled. He rises
above the confines of mere action.... [ALR, 65]
How does this
conception of “liberation”
compare with those in the Abrahamic traditions?
The
syllable 
