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Hyla

Stuntz Converse

THE

A G N

I

C A Y A

N

A

RITE: INDIGENOUS

ORIGIN?

I. LITERARY

AND

ARCHAEOLOGICAL

CONSIDERATIONS

In the

last

twenty

to

twenty-five years

archaeological

investigation

has

established

the

existence

of two

distinct,

parallel

cultures

in

northern

India

between about 1100

B.C.

and

500

B.C.

One

of

these

cultures includes the

Punjab

and

Doab

areas

and

the

lower

Chambal

valley.

This

is

the

ancient

Vedic

heartland

known

from

geographical references in the Samihitas and Brahmanas. Archaeo-

logically

this culture

is

characterized

by

a

Gray

Ware

pottery,

painted

at

first

but

evolving

to an

unpainted

type.

The

second

culture is

characterized

by

a

Black-and-Red

Ware

pottery.

This

culture,

with

some local

variations,

stretched from

Kathiawar

eastward

in an

arc

along

the

Narmada

and

up

into the

eastern

Gangetic

plain.

By

800-750

B.C.

such

cities as

Ujjaini,

Kasi,

Sravasti,

and

Ayodhya

were in

existence

in

the

Black-and-Red

Ware territory close to the Gray Ware boundary. Other early

Black-and-Red Ware

cities

were

Chirand,

R&jghat,

Sonpur,

Prahladpur,

Rajghir,

Vaisali,

Eran,

Nagda,

and

Maheshwar,

to

name

a

few.

The

remarkable

thing

about

the

two

cultures is

that

they

lived

side

by

side,

but

remained

notably

isolated

from each

other,

with

no

borrowings

from

each

other of

pottery

techniques

or

styles,

of

ornament

fashions

or

decorative

patterns,

until

around

600-500

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Agnicayana:

Indigenous

Origin?

B.C.1

It is then that

an

exchange begins

to be evident

and

a

new

pottery,

the Northern

Black Polished

Ware,

begins

to

appear

in

the

major

centers of both

cultures.

It

is

also between 500

and

300

B.C

that

Burrow finds a massive influx of

Dravidian

words

into

Sanskrit,

indicating

the

probability

that

this new

encounter

and

exchange

between

the

intrusive

Gray

Ware

people

and

the

indigenous

Black-and-Red Ware

people

was an

exchange

between

Sanskrit-speaking

Vedic

people

and

indigenous

Dravidian

speak-

ers.2

It

is also

between

600

and 500

B.C.

that the new

religious

ideas of

karma and

transmigration begin

to

appear

in the secret

and elite Vedic lore of the

Upanisads.

And it is

significant

that,

without

exception,

all of

the

original

holy places

of

Jainism

and

Buddhism are

located

in

the area of

the

Black-and-Red Ware

culture,

none

in

the

Gray

Ware area.

It

is

against

the

background

of

the

new

archaeological

evidence

for

the

existence

of two

separate

and

isolated cultures

in

northern

1

The

following

sources

have been used

extensively

as the

basis

for

the

archaeo-

logical

statements made in this

study:

S. R.

Rao,

B. B.

Lal,

Bhola

Nath,

S. S.

Ghosh, and Krishna Lal, "Excavations at Rangpur and Other Explorations in

Gujerat,"

Ancient

India,

nos.

18,

19

(1962-63)

(New

Delhi: Director General

of

Archaeology, 1963);

see

esp.

pp.

17,

193-99. B.

K.

Thapar,

"Prakash,

1955:

A

Chalcolithic

Site in

the

Tapti Valley,"

Ancient

India,

nos.

20-21

(1964-65)

(New

Delhi:

Director

General of

Archaeology,

1967).

B. B.

Lal,

"From

the

Megal-

ithic

to

Harappa:

Tracing

back

the Grafitti on the

Pottery,"

Ancient

India,

no.

16

(1960)

(New

Delhi:

Director

General of

Archaeology,

1962).

Lal,

"Excavations

at

Hastinapura,"

Ancient

India,

nos.

10,

11

(New

Delhi:

Director General of

Archaeology,

1954,

1955).

N.

R.

Bannerjee,

The Iron

Age

in

India

(Delhi:

Mun-

shiram

Manoharlal,

1965).

R. E.

M.

Wheeler,

Civilizations

of

the Indus

Valley

and

Beyond (New

York:

McGraw-Hill

Book

Co.,

1966).

Wheeler,

Five

Thousand Years

of

Pakistan

(London:

Royal

India

and

Pakistan

Society,

1950).

The

significance

of the Black-and-Red Ware is still being debated. The basic question is this:

does

the

Black-and-Red Ware

really

represent

a

cultural

complex

whose contin-

uity

can be seen in

other

elements of

the

cultural context of this

pottery,

or is the

Black-and-Red Ware

merely

a

technique

that

became

widely

disseminated and is

found in

widely

differing

cultural

contexts ? As

more

evidence comes

in,

especially

from

the

eastern

Gangetic plain,

a

final

answer to this

question

should

be

possible.

However,

my

assessment

of

the

evidence that

is

already

in

leads me to

conclude,

for the

time

being

at

least,

that the

Black-and-Red

Ware

does

represent

a cultural

complex

and not

just

a

floating

technique.

In

any

case,

there is

no doubt

that the

Gray

Ware

culture was

separate

and

different

from the

culture

or cultures

in which

the

Black-and-Red

Ware

is

found.

2

T.

Burrow,

The Sanskrit

Language

(London:

Faber

&

Faber,

1955),p.

387.

Of

the

loan words, Burrow says: "It is evident from this survey that the main influence

of

Dravidian on

Indo-Aryan

was

concentrated at

a

particular

historical

period,

namely

between the

late

Vedic

period

and the

formation of the

classical

language.

This is

significant

from the

point

of

view of

the

locality

where the

influence

took

place.

It is

not

possible

that at this

period

such

influence

could have been

exercised

by

the

Dravidian

languages

of the

South.

There

were no

intensive

contacts

with

South

India

before the

Maurya

period,

by

which

time the

majority

of these words

had

already

been

adopted by

Indo-Aryan.

If

the

influence

took

place

in

the North

in

the

central

Gangetic

plain

and

the classical

Madhyadesa,

the

assumption

that

the

pre-Aryan

population

of

the area

contained

a

considerable

element of Dravid-

ian

speakers

would

best account

for the

Dravidian

words

in

Sanskrit."

The date

500-300

B.C.

is

also

discussed

in

this

reference.

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History

of

Religions

India

during

the

Vedic

period

that

my

own

studies have been

undertaken.

The

archaeological

model of strata

has been used

in

reexamining

the

Rgveda,

the

Rgveda

Brahmanas,

the

Taittiriya

Samihita,

the

Satapatha

Brahmana,

and the

Brhad5ranayaka

and

Chandogya Upanisads.

The

study

of the

Agnicayana

rite is

part

of this

longer study.

The

Agnicayana

rite

is found

most

fully developed

in the

Satapatha

Brahmana

(SB),

Kandas

vi-ix,

with

Kanda x

providing

further

interpretation.

In

this section of the

Brahmana,

Sandilya

is the

authority

cited,

rather than

Yajfiavalkya,

and

the

language

also

distinguishes

it from the rest of the Brahmana. The immediate

practical purpose

of

the

Agnicayana

rite

is

to

build

up

for the

sacrificer an

immortal

body

that

is

permanently

beyond

the reach

of the

transitoriness,

suffering,

and death

that,

according

to this

rite,

characterize

man's

mortal

existence.

The

purpose

is

to be

achieved

by

ritual

analogy

in

the

rebuilding

of the

"unstrung"

body

of

the

god

Prajapati.

The

rite

includes a

year's

preparation

and

then the

placing

of a

minimum

of

10,800

kiln-fired

bricks

(a

sizable

brick-making

operation)

in

minutely prescribed sequence

and

position,

in

five

layers,

with

the

sacrificial

fire

placed

on

top.3

At

every point,

with

every

brick,

special

mantras are

to

be

recited,

special

actions carried

out,

and

the

religious

meanings

of

each

part

of

the

rite

carefully

explained.

The

question

of

bricks is of

major

importance.

The

Harappa

civilization,

whose

last,

flood-damaged

strongholds

in

the north

were

overthrown

by

the

invading

Aryans

in

battles

commemorated

in the

Rg-Veda,

was a

brick-using

culture. The

Harappans

used

millions

of kiln-fired

bricks

as

well as

countless

sun-baked

ones.

In the Kathiawar

peninsula,

after the

devastating

flood

of

between

1700

and

1500

B.C.,

the

Harappan

people

rebuilt

their

cities,

continuing

their

brick-making

and

pottery

traditions,

but with

a

slow

deterioration of the

ancient

skills.

The

bricks of

the

Harappa

civilization

in

its

mature

phase

were

beautifully

made,

well

fired,

and

standardized

in

size. The

basic size

for

the

bricks was

111

inches long,

53

inches wide, and two or three inches thick. There

were also double

bricks

11

inches

square,

and

special

bricks for

well

copings,

drain

covers,

corners,

etc.

Now,

in

the

whole of

the

Rg-Veda

there

is

no word

for

brick,

nor

any descriptive

phrase

for

bricks.

So

far

no

ruins of brick

dwellings

have

been

found that

can

be

attributed to

the

Aryans

3

J.

Eggeling,

trans. The

Satapathabrdhmana,

pt.

4,

in

Sacred

Books

of

the

East

(hereafter

cited

as

SBE)

(Oxford:

Clarendon

Press,

1882

ff.),

43:22,

n. 1.

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Agnicayana:

Indigenous Origin?

in the

early Rg-Vedic

period.

The

Rg-Vedic

references

to

houses

indicate

that

they

were made of

perishable

wood

and

thatch.

Bricks were thus not

part

of the

Rg-Vedic

technical or ritual

accomplishments.

There are

also no references to

bricks

in

the

.Rg-Veda

Brahmanas

and outside

of

the

Agnicayana

sections

of

the

Saihitas

and

Brahmanas

of the

Yajurveda

tradition,

no

signifi-

cant references to bricks occur

in

these

or

in

the

Samaveda

Brahmanas.

Thus,

in

the

Brahmanas,

when

references to

bricks

begin

to

appear,

their use

is confined

to

one

specialized

rite,

and

the rite itself is found

only

in

the

Yajurveda

tradition.

The

fire

altars in other rites were made of

packed

earth, not bricks.

The size of the bricks

to be used

in

the

rite was

one foot

square,

and half-bricks were also

to

be

used

(SB

vii,5,3,2;

viii,7,2,17).

This

size and

shape

corresponds

very closely

to that

of

the

Harappa

bricks

described above.

The lack

of

any

bricks

in

the

early

Vedic

tradition and the

presence

of bricks

in

large

numbers

and of

the

same

size

in the

adjacent

indigenous

Black-and-Red

Ware

territory

suggest

that the

Black-and-Red

Ware culture is the

source

of the Agnicayana brick-making skills.

The

word

for

brick

also

suggests

a

probable

non-Aryan

origin.

As

a

Sanskrit

word,

istakd is

related

to

the

ritual

use

of

bricks as

an

oblation,

an

isti,

and not

to

their

general

character

as a

build-

ing

material.

This

suggests

that

bricks

first came

into

Vedic

usage

through

this

ritual

function,

rather

than

through

their

usual

building

function.

By

contrast,

the

brick

words in

Dravidian-

based

languages

such

as Tamil

are

descriptive

of

the

primary

use

of bricks for building. For instance, one Tamil word for brick

is

cengal;

cennu

means

straightness,

and

kal or

gal

means

stone

or

clay.

Another

Tamil

word for

burnt

(fired)

brick is

cutakal,

sutakal;

again

kal

means

clay

or

stone,

and

cutu,

sutu

means

to

burn,

to

bake,

to burn

bricks.4 It

is

possible

that

an

early

form

of

sutakal was

the

foreign phonetic

basis

of what

becomes

Sanskrit-

ized

into istakd: an

inversion

(not

uncommon in

the

incorporation

of Dravidian

words

into

Sanskrit)

of

the s

and

the

u,

and the

dropping of the final 1 to conform to Sanskrit endings, would

give

ustaka;

the

use

of

the

bricks

as isti

would

tend to

bring

about

the

change

from the

initial

u

(not

common in

Sanskrit)

to

the

more

common

i.5

Whatever

the

source

word,

it

was

the

Sanskrit

4

T. Burrow

and

M. B.

Emeneau,

A

Dravidian

Etymological

Dictionary (Oxford:

Clarendon

Press,

1961),

nos.

1091,

2185.

5

A

similar

inversion takes

place,

for

instance,

as the

Dravidian word

for

the

indigenous

tree,

the

sacred

Ficus

religiosa,

comes

over

into

Sanskrit:

atavam

(Tamil)

becomes asvattha in

Sanskrit,

with

the

inversion

of

the

v and

t.

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Agnicayana:

Indigenous

Origin?

as

the

Tugryas

of book viii of the

Rg-Veda

had been

brought

into

the

Vedic

community)

got

hold of the secret and told

it to

men.

The

secret

to

which

Indra was

opposed

was

thus

a rite

which in-

volves

the

making

of the

pot

by

the Black-and-Red

Ware

inverted

firing

technique.

In the

Agnicayana

there

is

further evidence

that

the

fire

pan

and

the

technique

for

making

it

were taken over

from

the

alien

indigenous

culture.

In

the

course of

the

ritual,

the fire

pan

is

addressed

as

follows:

"An

Asura

contrivance

thou

art,

made

in

the

wonted manner"

(SB

vi,6,2,7);

in the

Satapatha

Brahmana

(and

in the Brahmana

period

generally)

the Asuras were

represented

as the divine

beings

of the

enemy

indigenous

peoples.

The

reference

to

the

pot

as an "Asura contrivance" and to the inverted

firing

technique

as the

Asuras' wonted

or

habitual manner of

making

pots

acknowledges

that the

making

of the

pot

has been taken over

from

the

enemy

indigenous

tradition.

Thus the

text

independently

corroborates

the

archaeological

evidence that

the

Black-and-Red

Ware

technique

was

identified

with the

non-Vedic

indigenous

culture. And this in turn underlines the close connection of the

Agnicayana

rite with

that

culture.

If

the

Agnicayana

was taken

over from some

form

of

indigenous

ritual,

then

one would

expect

to

find

in

the Brahmanas both

opposition

to

it and

explanations

of the

ways

in

which the Vedic

adaptation

was

superior

to

other

ways

of

doing

it.

Passages

of

both kinds do

appear.

A

passage

decisively

denying

the need

for

performing

the

Agnicayana

rite at all

is found

in

the more

traditionally Vedic Yajiavalkya section of the Satapatha Brahm-

ana

(SB

ii,3,3,17-18).

Here

it

is stated

that

placing

a

stick

on

the

Agnihotra

fire

corresponds

to

placing

a

brick on

the

Agnicayana,

the

same

Yajus

verses

being

chanted

for

both: "Whoever

knows

this,

just

by

offering

the

Agnihotra year by

year,

offers

the

equiva-

lent

of the

Agnicayana."

In

another

passage

(SB ix,5,2,15)

the

Vedic

gods

are

represented

as

doubting

the

efficacy

of the

building

of an

Agnicitya

by

Tura

Kavaseya,

who was one of the

earliest

in the accounts to build a fire altar according to this rite. "The

gods

asked

him,

'Sage,

seeing

that

they

declare

the

building

of

the fire

altar not

to be

conducive

to

heaven,

why

then

has

thou

built

one?"'

The

answer

is

vague

and

inconclusive.

The text

notes

over

and

again

that

only

the

correct

Sandilya

form

of the

Agnicayana

rite

can be

either

effective or

safe. At

Satapatha

Brahmana

viii,4,4,2-3

the

Asuras

are

represented

as

having

their

own

rules

for

the

building

of

a

fire

altar,

but

it is

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History of Religions

pointed

out

that their efforts

are bound

to end in disaster

because

they

do

not

use the

Sandilya

form of the rite. In

another

passage

(8B

x,5,5,8)

some

priests

who were

traveling

about came

upon

a

fire

altar

whose

shape

was different from

that

of

the

Sandilya

fire altar: this one had

"the

head

pulled

out";

that

is,

it

had a head

built out

in

front

of the altar. The first of the

five

layers

of

the

8andilya

fire

altar

does, indeed,

have

this

shape:

the altar

is often

spoken

of

as

being

in

the

shape

of a

bird,

with

body,

two

wings,

a

tail,

and a

head;

these are

represented

by

slight oblong

projections

of the

brick

pattern

on the

north,

south,

and

west;

to the east

on

the

first

layer

a

special

series

of

bricks

gives

the

appearance

of a

neck

and head.

By

the

time

the

altar

is

built

up

to the

fifth

layer

it

no

longer

has the

appearance

of

having

a neck

and head on the

eastward side as

in

the

first

layer,

and this is

intentional,

as

the

fire

itself,

standing

on

the

top

of

the

altar,

is to

be

the

head. The

"pulled

out head"

is still

present

even in the

fourth

layer,

being

obscured

only

in

the

fifth,

and it

is

possible

that

the

construction

with

the

"pulled

out

head"

represents

an

original

indigenous

form.7

To build the fire altar in this

way

with the head

pulled

out,

states

the

text,

results in

the

early

death

of the one

who

builds it.

This

in

turn

is

connected with

another late

Vedic

use of the

same

Agnicitya

construction-its use as a

tomb or

relic mound

(SB

xiii,8,1,1-4,12).

In

this case the head

is to

be

built on the east

side,

but of the

same

size as the

wings

and

tail,

thus

making

it

symmetrical.

At

xiii,8,1,5

appears

a

most

important

comparative

statement:

"The

people

who

are

godly8

make

their

burial

places

four-cornered,

whilst those who are of the Asura

nature,

the

Easterners and

others,

(make them)

round." The

same sort of

comparison

occurs

again

at

xiii,8,2,1:

"Whence those

who are

godly

people

make their

sepulchres

so

as

not

to be

separate

(from

the

earth),

whilst those

(people)

who

are

of the

Asura

nature,

the

Easterners and

others,

(make

their

selpulchral mounds)

so as

to

be

separated

(from

the

earth),

either

on a

camu

or

some such

thing."

It

should be

recalled

that the

archaeological

evidence

shows

the

presence

of Black-and-Red Ware cities in the eastern

Gangetic

plain

during

the

late

Brahmana

period.

The

"people

of

the

Asura

nature,

those

Easterners and

others"

were

evidently

non-Vedic

people

in

the

Black-and-Red

territory,

who

were

already

at

this

early

date in the

habit of

building

round,

solid,

relic

mounds raised

7

Eggeling,

Satapathabrcihmana,

pt.

4,

in

SBE,

vol.

43.

See

diagramns

n

the notes

on

pp.

17,

24, 48,

71,

98.

8

I.e.,

the

Vedic

people.

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Agnicayana:

Indigenous

Origin?

up

off the

ground,

on

a

brickwork

base

of some kind.

The

Vedic

mounds

were to

be

square,

and,

as the text

goes

on to

say,

they

were

also to be

much

smaller

(only

three

or four feet

high)

so as

not

to

attract the

attention of

marauders. Both kinds were

solid,

and in them

only

the bones

of the

deceased were

deposited,

between

the

bricks which were

laid out like a

bird

at the

lowest

level.

While

the

Vedic forms are

different,

they

parallel

larger

and more

com-

plex

types

attributed to

the

neighboring

culture,

types

which

from

their

description

very

much

resembled the

later

stupas.

A

number of

lines of evidence

have been

cited

which indicate

the

indigenous

connections of the

Agnicayana

rite: the use of a

large

number of

kiln-baked

bricks

of

approximately

the same

size

as

those of the

neighboring

Black-and-Red

Ware

culture,

although

the

Vedic

Aryans

were

not

a

brick-making

people;

the ritual

meaning

of

the

word

for brick

in

Sanskrit,

rather than an

ordinary

functional

meaning;

the

instructions

for

the

firing

of the

fire

pan,

involving

the

very technique

by

which

the

indigenous

Black-

and-Red

Ware

is made

black

and

red;

the

opposition

of Indra

to

the only other rite in which this

firing

technique is to be used; the

text

as

it

addresses

the

pot,

calling

it

an

Asura

contrivance made

in

the

habitual

way;

the

opposition

to the

Agnicayana

found in

other

sections

of

the

Satapatha

Brahmana;

the insistence

that

while

those

Easterners and

others

of

the

Asura nature

might

be

engaged

in

larger,

more

complex

constructions,

only

the

Sandilya

rite

was

effective,

showing indirectly

the

presence

of

developed

fire altar

and

relic-mound

practices

among

the

Black-and-Red

Ware people to the south and east.

II.

THEOLOGICAL

CONSIDERATIONS

Sufficient

evidence has

been

cited

to show

that the

8andilya

tradition,

centering

around the

Agnicayana,

had

many

indigenous

characteristics

and

a

probable

indigenous

source,

although

it

had

been adapted to Vedic use, the building of an immortal body so

that

at

death

the

sacrificer

could

go

to

"yonder

world,"

to the

Vedic

gods

and

fathers.

The

indigenous

connections

of

the

Sandilya

tradition

markedly

heighten

the

importance

of the

fact,

noted

by

Eggeling

and

others,

that

the

religious

conceptions

found

in

the

Sandilya

section of

the

Satapatha

Brahmana,

as well as

vocabulary

and

grammar,

differ

significantly

from

the earlier

Rg-

Veda,

the

Rg-Veda

Brahmanas,

and

the

Yajniavalkya

section

of

88

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of

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the

8atapatha

Brahmana.9

It

is

possible

that

the

peculiar

theology

of the

Agnicayana may

also

represent

indigenous

influences.

In the

Satapatha

Brahmana the

Agnicayana

with

its

special

religious

views

(which

will

be

referred

to

as the

Prajapati

theology)

appears

to have

been

a

distinct

and

developed

tradition,

added

to

the Vedic

Soma sacrifices.

But the

Prajapati

legends

and the

conceptions

they conveyed

had

already

been known before

the two

lines were

brought together.

Eggeling

points

out

that

this

accounts

for the

occasional

presence

of

Prajapati

legends

in the

Rg-Veda

Brahmanas,

where,

however,

they

are

bodily

inserted and

often

conflict with the

context,

and in the

Yjniiavalkya

section of the

satapatha

Brahmana,

where

the

references are

often

perfunc-

tory.10

The

purpose

of

the

Agnicayana

rite is to

build

up

for the

sacri-

ficer an

immortal self

that

is

permanently beyond

the

reach of the

transitoriness,

suffering,

and

death that

are

held to

characterize

his mortal

existence. This is done

through

the

placing

of the

bricks

in

the fire

altar

and

an

interwoven series

of sacramental

identifi-

cations,

providing

a ritual

analogy

to the

rebuilding

of the

"unstrung"

body

of the

god Prajapati.

This

is

explained

through

repetitive

and

sometimes

conflicting

legends

about

Prajapati,

who

symbolizes

the

creative-destructive

process

continually

occurring

in

nature.

Frequently

the

sacrifice itself

is seen

in

this

Prajapati

theology

as

death-and-new-life,

rather

than

in

the older

Vedic

terms

of

"gift"

and

strengthening

food.

The

primary deity

in all

of

this is

Prajapati.

Prajapati

first

appears in the Vedic literature in the small group of "philosophi-

cal"

hymns

in the

final

stratum

(bk.

i,

50-191;

bk.

x)

of the

Rg-Veda.

The

language

of

these

hymns

connects them

with the

small

number

of

yatu

or

black

sorcery

hymns,

also found

for the

first time in

the last

stratum of

the

Rg-Veda,

the

philosophical

hymns

and the

curse

hymns

form

a

single

tradition that

differs

from the

main

body

of

book x.11

Furthermore,

the

yatu

verses

contain

practices

and

beliefs

which

in

stratum

1

of

the

Rg-Veda

had been condemned as enemy alien ways, contrary to belief in

9

Eggeling,

Satapathabrdhmana,

pt.

1,

in

SBE,

12:xxxi, xlvi;

A.

B.

Keith,

The

Veda

of

the

Black

Yajus

School

Entitled

Taittiriya

Sanhita

(Cambridge,

Mass.:

Harvard

University

Press,

1914),

pp.

cxxvi

ff.

Both

Eggeling

and

Keith

discuss the

views

of other

scholars,

as

well as

their

own

views,

at

these

references.

10

Eggeling,

Satapathabrahmana,

pt.

4,

in

SBE,

43:

xiii

ff.;

Keith,

The

Veda

of

the

Black

Yajus

School,

p.

cxxx;

A. B.

Keith,

The

Religion

and

Philosophy of

the

Vedas

and

Upanishads

(Cambridge,

Mass.:

Harvard

University

Press,

1925),

p.

440.

11

Edward V.

Arnold,

"The

Rig

Veda and the

Atharva

Veda,"

Journal

of

the

American

Oriental

Society

22

(1901):

309-20.

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Agnicayana:

Indigenous Origin?

the

Vedic

gods

and

Vedic

rites.l2

It

is thus consistent

with

these

earlier references

in

the

Rg-Veda

to discover

in the

Agnicayana,

with its

indigenous

connections,

that

an

exalted

position

is

also

here

accorded to

the

deities of

the

few

philosophical

hymns

of

book

x

of the

Rg-Veda.

In

those

Rg-Vedic

hymns

honoring

Visvakarman,

Purusa,

Hiranyagarbha,

Ka,

and

Prajapati,

the

outstanding

contrast

with

the other

Vedic

conceptions

of

deity

is the

morbidity-fecundity

character of these

deities,

the

combina-

tion in

each

deity

of both

creative

and destructive functions.

In

the

Agnicayana Prajapati

is

accorded

the

highest

position,

the

other

deities of the

philosophical hymns

being

subsumed under him.13

Many

of the

explanatory

legends

in the

Agnicayana

have to

do

with a basic

formula,

whose

details

are varied to suit

the

particular

aspect

of

the ritual

at

hand.

Prajapati

came

into

being

from

the

golden

embryo.

He

did

not wish to

remain

alone

and

so

he

started

creating by

austerities

and desire.

When

he

had finished

creating,

"his limbs

became

unstrung,"

and he was

totally helpless,

the

equivalent

of

death to an

immortal. The

gods

then,

in

return

for

some

promised

favor from

Prajapati, by

means of some

sacrifice,

put

strength

back

into

Prajapati.

Men

similarly

can

gain

the

same

benefit

from

Prajapati

as did the

gods

by performing

the

equiva-

lent

sacrifice.

In

the

early

Rg-Veda

men

offered

gifts

to the

gods

to

strengthen

and

please

the

gods,

who in

return rendered nature

creative for

man's

strengthening

and

enjoyment.

That

religious

outlook

fundamentally

affirmed

the value

of

life in

this

world. What

is

different in the

Prajapati

theology

is the idea that

creativity

bears

always

within it

the

seeds

of death.

In

a

Prajapati

legend

(8B

ii,4,2,2)

the

god

declares to

mortals: "Your

offspring

shall

be

your

death." In

the

early

Rg-Veda,

offspring

were

a

man's

prosperity

and

his

"immortality."14

In

another

passage

(8B

ix,2,1,2)

Agni

(identified

with

Prajapati)

is declared to

be

12

This

has

all

been set

forth in an

earlier,

as

yet

unpublished

study

of mine.

13

For

instance,

in

the

foundation

of

the

altar,

over which

it

is

built

up,

is

placed first a lotus leaf; on that is laid a golden plate, and on that a golden image

of a

man.

At

~B

vii,4,1,7-15

is

one of

the

explanations

which

the text

gives

(and

they differ);

it is

said that

the

lotus leaf

is the womb

from which

Agni

(and

so the

sacrificer

also,

who

is

identified

with

Agni)

is

to be born. The

gold

plate

is

round,

with

twenty-one

knobs;

it

is the sun.

By

placing

it

on the

lotus

leaf,

the

sacrificer

places Agni

in

the

womb and

impregnates

it,

and a verse is

quoted:

"The

womb

of the existent and the

nonexistent did

he

overspread";

the text then

goes

on

to

quote

more

from

Rg-Veda (RV)

x,

121

about

Hiranyagarbha.

Then,

on

the

gold plate

the

gold

man is laid:

"He is

Prajapati,

he is

Agni,

he is the

Sacrificer.

He

is Purusa

for

Prajapati

is

Purusa." In

other

places

Visvakarman and the

Self-existent

are honored also

(SB

viii,2,1,10;

ix,4,1,12).

14

See,

for

instance,

RV

vi,12,6; vi,70,3;

x,63,13.

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History of

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completely

restored

or

renewed

by

the

building

of

the fire

altar,

"and is

now

equal

to

injuring (destroying)

whomsoever he

might

wish to

injure"

(my

italics).

Prajapati's

role as

destroyer

is most

clearly

marked when

he is

identified with

the

sun,

with

Agni,

or with the

year-that

machine

of

impermanence,

glutting

itself

on the

transient,

mortal

existence

of all that

lies this

side of

the

sun

but

also,

with the

same

indiffer-

ence,

proliferating

new

life. Both

the sun

and

Agni

are

frequently

identified with

death

(as

well as

with

generative power),

and

Prajapati

is

identified with

them and

also

directly

with

death.

In

SB

x,1,3,1,

for

instance,

it

is stated:

"Prajapati

created

living

beings.

From

the out-

(and

in-)

breathings

he created the

gods,

and from the

downward

breathings

the

mortal

beings;

and

above

the

mortal

beings

he created Death

as

their

consumer." In

the

Brhadaranyaka Upanisad (1,2,4-5),

in

another creation

legend,

he

is

pictured

as

attempting

to eat

his own

offspring

as

soon

as

it

was

born.

One

cannot

look

for

consistency

in

these

legends,

but

only

for

the

general conceptions

which

emerge.

And there is evidence of

the

hostility

that

appears

to

have

existed

between

the

tradition

represented by

the

Agnicayana

and the

older Vedic

rites.

In

SB

x,4,3,1

ff.,

we

find,

"the

Year

is

the

same

as

Death,"

and

"the

gods

were afraid of

this

Prajapati,

the

Year, Death,

the

Ender,

lest he

by day

and

night

should

reach the end of

their

life."

They

tried all

of the

established

Vedic rites

(the

Agnihotra,

the

new

moon and

full

moon

sacrifices,

etc.),

and

they

were

ineffective.

Then

they

tried out a fire

altar,

but it too did not

work,

until

Prajapati

showed them

just

how to

build

it.

The

strong emphasis

on

death,

as well

as

fecundity,

in

the

primal

divine

being, Prajapati,

who

represents

the

cosmic

process,

tends

to

produce

or

to reflect

a

particular

religious

attitude

toward the

world;

the

believer

regards

the

world,

if

not

as

suffering

and

evil

at

least

as

ambiguous,

as a

condition from

which

he

seeks to

escape.

The

world,

the

human

situation,

bears a

negative

valuation,

and religion is

regarded

as

assisting

man to extricate himself from

it. An

important

passage

in

this

regard

is

8B

x,4,4,1

ff.:

"When

Prajapati

was

creating

living

beings,

Death,

that

evil,

over-

powered

him.

He

practiced

austerities

for

a

thousand

years,

striv-

ing

to

leave

evil

behind

him." The

phenomenal

world,

the

world

of

created

living beings,

is

the

world of

evil15 where

death

15

See

also,

for

instance,

SB

x,5,1,1

ff.

where

it is

stated

that this world

is

death.

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Agnicayana:

Indigenous

Origin?

overpowers,

or is

part

of,

even

the divine and immortal

being

who

is lord of this

world,

"lord of creatures."

The

passage

further

em-

phasizes

that the

way

to free oneself from evil is

through

the

practice

of

asceticism,

over a

long

period

of

time,

in fact

the

equivalent

of

many

lifetimes. This is made

more

explicit

in

para-

graph

3

of

the

same

passage:

"In the

one-thousandth

year,

he

cleansed himself all

through;

and

he that

cleansed

all

through

is

this

wind

which here

cleanses

by

blowing;

and

that

evil which

he

cleansed

all

through

is

this

body."

A

dualism

here

opposes

the

body,

regarded

as

evil,

to the

spirit

(with

affinities

to

wind

and

breath),

regarded

as

pure.

How antithetical this is to the

early

Vedic

hope,

reiterated

again

and

again,

that the

gods

will

make

available all

bodily experienced

delights

and

preserve

from

harm

"our own

dear

bodies" 16 The

Satapatha

Brahmana

passage goes

on

to state

that

through

"knowledge,"

meditation

on

the

mystic

identifications,

one can

appropriate

for himself the

equivalent

of

Prajapati's

1,000

years

of

asceticism. But the

sacrificer

should

himself

also

practice

asceticism: "Wherefore let him

who

knows

this by all means practice austerities: for indeed, when he who

knows this

practices

austerities,

even

to

abstention

from

sexual

intercourse,

every part

of

him

will

share in the

world of

heaven."

It

is

significant

that

the

section

ends

with a

quotation

from the

Rg-Veda

(i,179,3),

a

banal

generality:

"Not

in

vain

is

the

labor

which

the

gods

favor,"

whose

only purpose

here

must

be to

provide

the

ancient

sanction

of

the

Rg-Veda

for a

religious

view

not

characteristically

Rg-Vedic.

In SB x.4 and 5 death is exalted to the position of the highest

deity,

who

himself

does

not

die,

who

is the

eye

of the

sun,

bathed

in

luminosity.

It is

through

the

sacrificer's

identification

with

this

death-of-all-that-is-phenomenal

that

the

sacrificer

attains

identity

of

atman

with

that

Ultimate which

negates

phenomenality

and

brings

men

an

immortality

that

is

conceived

very

differently

from

the

older Vedic

view

of

heaven

as

a

place

where all

desires

are

fulfilled.

In

this

new

view

which

exalts

death,

a

new

sort

of

heaven is indicated in a cited verse for which no Vedic source has

been

found:

"They

ascend

to that

state

where

desires

have

vanished;

sacrificial

gifts

go

not

thither,

nor

the

fervid

practicers

of

rites

without

knowledge";

the

Brahmana

goes

on:

"For

indeed,

he who

does

not know

this,

does not

attain

to that

world

either

by

sacrificial

gifts

or

by

devout

practices,

but

only

to

those

who know

16

This

phrase

is

from

RV

i,114,7.

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History of

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does that world

belong"

(SB x,5,4,16).

At

the end

of the

sixth

Adhyaya (Kanda

x)

Sandilya

is

quoted

in reference

to

this

knowledge.

He

states that it is an

omniscience,

that

the

object

of

knowledge

is the atman which

is

intelligent

spirit,

the form

of

light,

speechless,

and

indifferent

(my

italics),

and

the

same as

the

person's

own self.

Thus

in

the

section

where

death is

stressed

as

both

the

character

of

and the

master over

all

phenomenal

exist-

ence,

the

ultimate

state includes

all

knowledge

and

indifference.

Nothing

is said of the Vedic aim of

gaining

this

world as well

as

yonder

world.

The

similarity

to

Jain

types

of

doctrines

is

obvious:

life is

suffering,

the domain of

death;

the

body

is

evil,

an

entrap-

ment;

the

state

of the

released

self,

like that of the

released

jiva,

is

omniscience and

indifference;

asceticism

is

a

means

to

release.17

If

Parsva

is

accepted

as

having

been a

historical

person,

as

he

now

generally

is,

then

some sort of

proto-Jainism

was

undoubtedly

being

practiced

near its

original holy places

in

the

Black-and-Red

Ware

territory

to the

east and south

of the

Aryavarta

at

the

time

the

an.ldilya

and

Yajniavalkya

traditions were

brought together

in the

Satapatha

Brahmana.

There are

a

great

many Prajapati

passages

in the

Sandilya

section of

the

Satapatha

Brahmana

which

interpret

the

world

in

the

sense

of the

passages

above,

as

the

domain

of

death,

release

from which

is to

be

sought

through

asceticism and

meditation:

asceticism

and

meditation

assist

the

devotee

to

"mount above"

the

sun

or the

year

or

Agni

as

symbols

of death

and

of

the

phe-

nomenal

world. But

the

anndilya

tradition

represents

something

more. It represents the thorough adaptation of these

conceptions

to

the Vedic

tradition,

the result

being

an

accommodation

in

which

both

the

world-affirming

Vedic

conceptions

and

the

world-negating

non-Vedic

conceptions

are

retained.

How?

The

World

negating

17

The

alternatives

of

complete

release

from

phenomenal

impermanence

after

death,

or

of

remaining

somehow

within

its

hold,

are

expressed

but

not

clearly

resolved.

Yet

the

emphasis

is

placed

on

attaining

the

good things

of life

in

both

worlds

through

the

ritual.

The

key

doctrines of

karma

and

transmigration

do

not

occur in the Agnicayana, although they appear to be known-and rejected by

Yajfiavalkya

in

the earlier

parts

of

the

Satapatha

Brahmana.

The

Agnicayana

does

contain a

heavy

concentration

of

punarmrtyu

passages,

a

related doctrine

regarding

the

possible

sufferings

of

the

fathers,

which

may

represent

attempts

to

neutralize

the

transmigration

doctrine

by

adaptation

and

incorporation

without

relinquishing

the

importance

of this

life

and this

world.

The

way

of

knowledge

is

suggestive

of

yogic

techniques

of

meditation in

the

passage

cited,

SB

x,5,4,16:

the

"person"

in

the

right

eye

and the

one in

the

left

eye

descend

to the

heart,

they

join

in

maithuna,

and

the

man

becomes

insensible.

The

man in

the

right eye

and

death

and

Agni

are

all

the

same,

and

this

state

of

insensibility

to

the

outside

world,

of

indifference,

is a

foretaste of

the

ultimate state

of

the

delivered

soul,

the

highest

bliss

(BB

x,5,2,11).

93

8/10/2019 Converse 1974

15/16

Agnicayana:

Indigenous Origin?

views

and

practices

are

put

to work to

gain

immediate,

this-

worldly

Vedic ends.

An

important

aspect

of this accommodation

is

that the asceticism undertaken here is not understood as a

negation

of ritual but is

a

part

of a ritual

performance,

and medita-

tion

or

knowledge

is

meditation on and

knowledge

of

the

mystic

sacramental

meaning

of

the

ritual.

Furthermore,

both this world

and

yonder

world are

important:

the

building

up

of

the

immortal

body

for

use in

yonder

world,

in

the

piling

of the

fire

altar,

at

the

same time assures

the

sacrificer of

protection

and

bodily

enjoyment

to the fullest

possible

extent in

this

world also

(SB

ix,5,1,10-11;

x,2,6,4; but as noted above, there are passages which do not refer

to

this-worldly

ends).

Far more than

anywhere

else

in the

Brahmanas,

the

Agnicayana

rite contains

conceptions

that have close

affinities with the

conceptions

of

some

type

of

early

dualistic

religious

or

philo-

sophical

outlook,

such as

Jainism

and later

Srmhkhya,

and the

indigenous

connections of the

Agnicayana

suggest

that

these

conceptions

came into the

Vedic tradition

from the

indigenous

culture also. But the indigenous conceptions were adapted in being

taken over. While

the

Prajapati

theology

emphasizes

that death is

inherent

in the

nature of the

world,

that

life

is

transitory

and

subject

to

suffering

and

evil-a

fundamental

life-negating

tenet

of

Jainism and later of

Buddhism-yet

the

Agnicayana

also

holds,

in

somewhat

of an

agglomeration

rather

than

a

synthesis,

that

the full

and

complete

life to be

attained

by

the rite

includes

not

only

immortality

but

long

life here

and

all

its

enjoyments-

a very life-affirming Vedic value. Again, although the Prajapati

theology

held that

"immortality

is founded

on

death,"

that

only

through

the

identification with

the

death

of this world can im-

mortality

be

attained,

yet

asceticism,

which

is the

suppression

or

"death"

of

the

experience

of

this

world,

is never

a

direct

way

to

immortality

but

relates to ritual

performance

whose

ends are

worldly

as well

as

otherworldly.

This

process

of accommodation

is

highly significant,

as

the same

pattern

of accommodation is

attested in many other instances. Here the threat or challenge of

an alien and

wholly

antithetical world view is

dissipated

and

relativized

by

incorporating

it

as

a

specialized

means to

a

Vedic

end,

by

putting

it

to use

in

a

Vedic ritual context. Of course

the

alien

view also

affected

the

Vedic view

in

such an

accommodation.

Yet the

viability

of this

process

of

accommodation

is

surely

evident

in

the

noteworthy

continuity

in the Indian

tradition from

the

Vedic

period

to the

present.

94

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16/16

History of

Religions

I have outlined some

of

the

reasons

why

I am

convinced

that

the

Prajapati

theology,

found most

intensively

in Vedic literature

in the

Agnicayana

rite,

represents

a

separate

strand of tradition

with

an

original

indigenous origin,

although

as

incorporated

into

the Vedic

materials,

it had

been

adapted

to

Vedic

ends.

This is

in

keeping

with

the available

archaeological, literary,

and

linguis-

tic evidence dealt

with

briefly

in

Section

I

of

this

study.

I am

further

convinced

that

the

archaeological

evidence for two

separate

and

relatively

isolated cultures

existing

in

north

India

during

the Vedic

period

and

beginning

to

interact

extensively

about

500

B.C.

provides

a fruitful and

illuminating

interpretive

structure

with which to

pursue

further

studies.

The

two-culture

situation

not

only

throws

new

light

on the

texts

of

the

Brahmanas

and

Upanisads.

It also

points

to the

rise of

Buddhism

in the Black-

and-Red Ware

territory

as

primarily

a

non-Vedic

movement.l8

The

concept

of cultural

encounter

is

immensely

useful

also

in

clarifying

the

formative

period

of Hinduism and

the

amalgamative

process

which was

occurring

then. Thus the

study

of

the

Agnicay-

ana rite in this new

archaeological

context,

while

significant

for

itself,

is

of

importance

also

in

sharpening

the

implications

of the

new

archaeological

evidence,

supported

by

linguistic

and

literary

findings,

for

a

whole

range

of

further

studies.

School

of

Humanistic

Studies,

Oklahoma State

University

18

It

has been

noted

that all

of the

original

holy

places

of both Jainism

and

Buddhism are

to be

found

in

the

Black-and-Red Ware territory, none of them in

the

Gray

Ware

territory.

Thus the

archaeological

evidence

supports

those

inter-

pretations

of the rise of

Buddhism

and

the

formative

developments

in

early

Hinduism as

involving

a

situation

of

cultural

encounter of two

peoples

with

wholly

different

religious

outlooks,

the

world-affirming

Vedic

view

and the

world-negating

Jain-Buddhist

view. The

rise of

Buddhism

can thus no

longer

be

interpreted

as

a

class

revolt

of eastern

Ksatriyas

against

Brahmin

domination,

for

it is

exactly

in

the

period

of

the rise of

Buddhism

that

archaeological

evidence

shows

the first

significant

interaction between the

two

cultures

began.

95