Analytical approach to the Vedas
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An interpretation of the Vedas on the basis of archaeological and historical data, and linguistic analysis
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Sundar Sarukkai
DISCOVERING THE VEDAS—Origins, Mantras, Rituals, Insights: Frits Staal; Penguin Books, 11, Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi-110017. Rs. 495.
Frits Staal begins by reminding us that the Vedas are not “books” in the sense of other sacred books because they are primarily an oral tradition. They are also not revealed by a divine force. On the contrary, he notes that these verses were composed by poets and there are no hymns or prayers in this corpus.
More significantly, the Vedas are not a “religion.” Gods mentioned in the Vedas “do not dispense grace” nor expect devotion. Staal’s argument is that these verses should be seen for what they literally mean – “storehouse of knowledge.” These verses were composed over a long period of time, by many people, primarily in the regions of North India and Pakistan, with influence from other parts of extended Asia.
Origin
Rigveda is the earliest and consists of 1028 suktas or poems. These verses talk about gods, nature, myths, universe and even sex. Samaveda is the “Rigveda set to music.” In the musical tradition, it is often said that the origin of classical music goes back to Samaveda. The Yajurveda is the “Veda of ritual” and the Atharaveda is about medicines and magic.
Staal questions the Aryan theory of the origin of the Vedas. He repeatedly notes that there was no caste system in the Vedas but arises only in later texts. The Purusa myth, which is often referred to in the context of caste system, is according to the author, a “late addition to the Rigveda.” Much of the first part of the book uses archaeological and linguistic analysis to trace the history and dating of the Vedas.
The second part is about the four Vedas. This is not an introduction in a general sense to these four Vedas but is a more idiosyncratic reading of the Vedas with emphasis on a few verses here and there. The prime method in engaging with these Vedas is through historical and archaeological data as well as a linguistic analysis of the various terms used in the Vedas. This part also contains a short introduction to the Upanishads, Brahmanas and the Aranyakas. Again, the emphasis is not on a general introduction to these texts but responses to specific claims and counterclaims related to these texts.
Analytical
Part Three is an analysis of the Vedas. The primary sections here are on mantras and rituals. Analysis of these categories is primarily through some issues of language-use, in particular the meaninglessness of mantras and rituals. Part Four is a short summary of the Vedic sciences, primarily rituals, geometry, phonetics, grammar and so on. This description also disabuses claims of Vedic mathematics as being Vedic in origin. The final part is a short introduction to Buddhism, particularly with respect to the question of whether the Vedas influenced Buddhism or not.
This is an important book in that it offers a different mode of understanding of the Vedas. The mode is primarily “analytical”, which, for Staal, often reduces to “scientific.” However, he places too much value on science without a critical analysis of it.
There is a constant tension in the book between scholarly writing and writing for “lay” readers. At many points in the book, there is palpable unevenness in the writing. One reason why this tension abounds is perhaps because too much has been crammed into one book. The information chosen is very selective and so also is the kind of analysis offered of these texts. There are sudden flashes of insight but the book does not afford a grasp of what these Vedas and other texts are about in their entirety.
Influence
It is important that we learn how to understand the Vedas in this analytical sense but it is also equally important to ask why the Vedas have remained such an important influence in the daily life of a large number of Hindus in this country and elsewhere. Why and how did these verses, composed by wandering tribals and nomads, become so central to the Hindu civilisation? Is there something in these verses that explains why they have stood the test of time, particularly if they are not divine texts? How did it happen that the Vedas have been so successfully converted into the idiom of religion? What is special to these poems and narratives that is more than just a historical, philosophical or archaeological curiosity? Unless one engages with the experiential, lived experience of the Vedas encoded in the daily lives of millions of people (along with an analytical approach), a book on the Vedas is not really about discovering the Vedas but only about placing it within some categories that are of interest only to a few academicians. But having said that, the kind of analytical approach undertaken by Staal is important to counter-balance the excessive interpretative reading of the Vedas.
The rich historical and linguistic details available in this book, along with an extensive and useful bibliography, make this book an essential reading.
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