The Aryans and Brahmanism

ASIA IN ANCIENT TIMES HIST 1301 | History The Aryans and Brahmanism Around 1800 BCE, the Aryans began their conquest of the Indian subcontinent. They brought with them a new religion known as Vedic, derived from their hymns, the Vedas. The Aryans were uneducated, therefore the Vedas, which were chanted in rites to honour a pantheon of gods representing diverse facets of nature and human existence, were an effective teaching tool. The sky was governed by gods like Varuna, and the god of battle was Indra. The Aryans established massive fire altars and ceremonial sacrifices to their gods. They also imposed a tight legal hierarchy on the populations they subjugated. The Vedas, like poetry and prayers, were originally passed down verbally from generation to generation before being written down in Sanskrit. The Vedic religion was expanded upon by the Indian peoples over time, which also altered the makeup of Aryan culture. The role of new gods like Soma, who was connected to grain storage facilities, magical elixirs, and the moon, increased as ritual practice gained greater significance. The Vedic religion subsequently evolved new forms and became what many academics refer to as Brahmanism thanks to a later set of treatises known as the Upanishads, authored by a priestly class called Brahmans. Two of these new terms are karma and samsara. Samsara was an idea of mankind and the cosmos in which, at death, the soul departed the body to reincarnate. In the end, karma determined whether a person was reborn higher on the spiritual ladder in the next life, possibly as a king or priest, or—if ruined by immoral acts—as a lower life form, possibly a hated reptile, to try again. Karma stood for the idea that all human actions, moral and immoral, were counted and weighed. A person's unification with Brahman, the ultimate and all-encompassing reality, was the ultimate aim of their worldly existence. In order to ascend to a higher state of existence, even gods had to carry out virtuous deeds like penance or meditation. The concept that a person's status in this life was not determined by chance but rather by events in previous lifetimes was reinforced by belief in reincarnation. Hence, the power of aristocrats like the Brahmans was revered as a representation of the universe's divine intent. In this sense, the Aryan Vedic religion gave rise to the varna, a rigidly hierarchical society predicated on hereditary position. The Brahmans held the greatest rank and exercised power due to their familiarity with the sacrificial rites and their responsibility as custodians of the poetry, hymns, and subsequent writings that preserved the Vedic traditions. Beneath them stood Kshatriya, or aristocratic warriors, who belonged to noble families and battled in tiny but mighty armies to defend their kingdoms and expand conquest into other territories. The Vaishya, or Aryan commoners, were part of the third class and lived in the upper half of society. They, along with the other two classes, were granted privileges based on the belief that they had experienced a rebirth in their late youth. The Shudras, who made up over half of the population and were nonAryan slaves and peasants who were not allowed to study or hear Vedic hymns, were the fourth main group. The Dalits, a class of "untouchables" who lived at the bottom of society, were probably descended from the people who inhabited portions of south India before to the advent of the Aryans. They were situated below the four tiers of the caste system and virtually outside of it. One measure in a series of laws intended to keep Indians stuck in their hereditary class from birth to death was the ban on marrying members of other castes. Lower class taxes guaranteed the accumulation of riches at the top. The Indian subcaste system was, in fact, quite intricate. Group distinctions within each caste also played a significant role, giving rise to sub-castes with distinct rights, responsibilities, and social networks that governed living arrangements and marriage opportunities. The caste system, which determined an individual's rightful place in this life based on their previous deeds, was a reflection of Hindu religious beliefs. Laws that restricted upward mobility and safeguarded aristocratic privilege were perceived as ensuring stability. They prevented the lower-born from evading the cosmic justice and divine design, which permitted a gradual ascent up the spiritual ladder over a number of lifetimes. The ultimate aim was to be freed from the circle of life and to experience eternal bliss via soul transmission. As a result, the introduction of Aryans and the slow development of Brahmanism gave rise to a new social structure in India.