Title Thumbnail & Hero Image: Bharat Dev, source: www.pinterest.com, access date: Sep.6, 2025.
Indian Philosophy Volume 1.007 - Transition to the Upaniṣads
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First revision: Sep.6, 2025
Last change: Apr.3, 2026
Searched, gathered, rearranged, translated, and compiled by Apirak Kanchanakongkha.
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CHAPTER III
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TRANSITION TO THE UPANIṢADS
The general character of the Atharva-Veda – Conflict of cultures – The primitive religion of the Atharva-Veda-Magic and mysticism – The Yajur-Veda – The Brāhmaṇas – Their religion of sacrifice and prayer – The dominance of the priest – The authoritativeness of the Veda – Cosmology – Ethics – Caste – Future life.
I
THE ATHARVA-VEDA
"THE hymns of the Ṛg-Veda inextricably confused; the deities of an earlier era confounded; and again merged together in a pantheon now complete; the introduction of strange gods; recognition of a hell of torture; instead of many divinities, the one that represents all the gods and nature as well; incantations for evil purposes and charms for a worthy purpose; formulæ of malediction to be directed against those 'whom I hate and who hate me'; magical verses to obtain children, to prolong life, to dispel evil magic, to guard against poison and other ills; the paralysing extreme of ritualistic reverence indicated by the exaltation to godhead of the 'remnant' of sacrifice; hymns to snakes, to diseases, to sleep, time, and the stars; curses on the 'priest plaguer' - such in general outline is the impression produced by a perusal of the Atharva-Veda."1 In the Ṛg-Veda we come across strange utterances of incantations and spells, charms and witchcrafts, hymns to inanimate things, devils and demons, etc. We have the charms of the robbers to lull the dwellers in a house to sleep,2
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1. Hopkins: The Religions of India, p.151.
2. R.V., vii., 55.
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spells to prevent evil spirits causing women to miscarry,1 and charm to expel diseases.2 Though sorcery and magic prevailed in the times of the Ṛg-Veda, the Vedic seers did not encourage or recognise them. The stray references have the appearance of an external addition, while in the Atharva-Veda they are the main theme.
The weird religion that the Atharva-Veda represents is doubtless older than that of the Ṛg-Veda, though the Atharva-Veda collection is a later one. The Vedic Aryans as they advanced into India came across uncivilised tribes, wild and barbarous, and worshipping snakes and serpents, stocks and serpents, stocks and stones. (The Translation will start from here.) No Society can hope to continue in a state of progressive civilisation in the midst of uncivilised and half-civilised tribes, if it does not meet and overcome the new situation by either completely conquering them or imparting to them elements of its own culture. The alternatives before us are either to destroy the barbarian neighbours or absorb them, thus raising them to a higher level, or allow ourselves to be overwhelmed and swamped by them. The first course was impossible on account of the paucity of numbers. The pride of race and culture worked against the third. The second was the only alternative left open, and it was adopted. While the Ṛg-Veda describes the period of conflict between the fair-skinned Aryans and the dark Dasyus01, which Indian mythology makes into a strife of Devas and Rākṣasas, the Atharva-Veda speaks to us of the period when the conflict is settled and the two are trying to live in harmony by mutual give and take. The spirit of accommodation naturally elevated the religion of the primitive tribes but degraded the Vedic religion by introducing into it sorcery and witchcraft. The worship of spirits and stars, trees and mountains and other superstitions of jungle tribes crept into the Vedic religion. The effort of the Vedic Aryan to educate the uncivilised resulted in the corruption of the ideal which he tried to spread. In his Introduction to the translation of the selections from the Atharva-Veda, Bloomfield remarks: "Even witchcraft is part of the Hindu's religion; it had penetrated and become intimately blended with the holiest Vedic rites;
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1. R.V., x. 122.
2. R.V., x. 163.
Notes & Narratives:
Dasyus, source: clipart.com, access date: Mar.18, 2026.1.
01. Dasyus (दस्यु - ทัสยุ) - The ancient dwellers of North Bharat. What we see in Ṛg-Veda is mostly a history of the Āryans from the period of their exodus from the plateau Kumbha till they reached the banks of the Yamunā. The plateau of Kuṃbha is Kabul. The Dasyus were the first people the Aryans had to confront with after passing the Indus. Ṛg-Veda bears testimony to the fact that the civilization of the Dasyus was far advanced than that of the Āryans. Śaṃbara, King of the Dasyus, was the ruler of hundred cities. All the cities were fortified with strong walls and fortresses, which are described as 'aśvamayī', 'āyasī', 'śatabhujī' etc. The greatest enemies of the Āryans were the 'Paṇis' of these cities. They were a particular class of people of these cities. In the 'Nirukta of Yāska' it is mentioned that paṇis were traders. Names of many of the Kings of the Dasyus occur in the Ṛg-Veda. Dhuni, Cumuri, Pipru, Varcas, Śaṃbara and such others are the most valiant and mighty among them. The most important of the several tribes of the Dasyus were the Śimyus, the Kīkaṭas, Śigrus and the Yakṣus. They are mentioned as the Anāsas in the Ṛg-Veda. (Anāsas—without nose). Perhaps their nose was flat; more over they are stated as having dark complexion. So it may be assumed that the Dasyus were Dravidians. They talked a primitive language, and they despised sacrificial religion. They did not worship Gods like Indra and others. Furthermore, they possibly worshipped the Phallus, Śiva, Devi and the like.
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the broad current of popular religion and superstition has infiltrated itself through numberless channels into the higher religion that is presented by the Brāhmin priests, and it may be presumed that the priests were neither able to cleanse their own religious beliefs from the mass of folk with which it was surrounded, nor is it at all likely that they found it in their interest to do so."1 Such are the revenges which the weak of the world have on the strong. The explanation of the miscellaneous character of the Hindu religion, which embraces all the intermediate regions of thought and belief from the wandering fancies of savage superstitions to the highest insight of daring thought, is here. From the beginning the Aryan religion was expansive, self-developing and tolerant. It went on accommodating itself to the new forces it met with in its growth. In this can be discerned a refined sense of true humility and sympathetic understanding. The Indian refused to ignore the lower religions and fight them out of existence. He did not possess the pride of the fanatic that his was the one true religion. If a god satisfies the human mind in its own way, it is a form of truth. None man lay hold upon the whole of truth. It can be won only by degrees, partially and provisionally. But they forgot that intolerance was sometimes a virtue. There is such a thing as Gresham's law in religions, one refined and the other vulgar, the one good and the other base, met, there was the tendency for the bad to beat the good out of circulation.
II
THEOLOGY
THE religion of the Atharva-Veda is that of the primitive man, to whom the world is full of shapeless ghosts and spirits of death. When he realises his helplessness against the natural forces, the precariousness of his own existence so constantly subject to death, he makes death and disease, failure of monsoon and earthquake, the playground of his fancy.
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1. S.B.E., vol. xliii.
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The world becomes crowned with goblins and gods, and the catastrophes of the world are traced to dissatisfied spirits. When a man falls ill, the magician and not the physician is sent for, and he employs spells to entice the spirit away from the patient.1 The terrific powers could only be appeased by bloody sacrifices, human and animal.
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1. If such a view persisted, it was because it had an element of truth. Modern psychology has come to recognise the power of suggestion as a remedy for the ills of the flesh, specially nervous disorders.
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