All the evidence points to the fact that the Sanskrit-speaking Aryans, who composed the Vedas, were not primitive nomads who came from outside India, bringing death and destruction to the indigenous population. Rather, the available evidence points to their having been true natives of India. Moreover, there are good reasons for assuming that the Vedic civilization, as reflected in the Rig-Veda and the other three Vedic Samhitâs, was largely or even completely identical with the so-called Indus civilization. More will be said about this in Chapter 4.
In light of this new understanding, the historical development of Hindu India can conveniently be organized into nine periods, expressing distinguishable cultural styles. The following chronology is very tentative, and to some degree the periodization is arbitrary, since history is largely continuous. The dating of the first four historical periods is admittedly speculative, but so is the standard chronology found in college textbooks. The Vedas clearly must be assigned to an era well before the benchmark date of 1900 B.C.E., which will be explained shortly. How much earlier is not yet known with any degree of certainty, though astronomical references in the Vedas themselves, together with the dynastic genealogies (from the Purânas) and the list of sages in the Brâhmanas and Upanishads, justify a date at least two thousand or more years prior to 1200 B.C.E., which is the commonly accepted but patently wrong date for the composition of the Rig-Veda. Just as the Vedas must be assigned to an earlier period, the composition of the original Brâhmanas for very similar reasons must be pushed back in time before 1900 B.C.E. Likewise the oldest Upanishads, generally thought to have been created shortly before the time of the Buddha, ought to be placed much earlier in light of all this.
1. Pre-Vedic Age (6500–4500 B.C.E.)
Recent archaeological work in eastern Baluchistan (Pakistan) has brought to light a city the size of Stanford in California, which has been dated to the middle of the seventh millennium B.C.E. This early Neolithic town, labeled Mehrgarh by archaeologists, in many ways foreshadowed the later urban civilization along the two great rivers of northwestern India: the Indus and the now dried-up Sârasvatî east of it.
Mehrgarh’s population is estimated to have been around 20,000 individuals, which was huge for that period. Apart from having been a thriving marketplace for imported and exported goods, the town also appears to have been a center of technological creativity and innovation. The industrious people of Mehrgarh cultivated cotton as early as the fifth millennium B.C.E. and mass-produced good-quality pottery by the fourth millennium B.C.E. Terra-cotta figurines dated to c. 2600 B.C.E. clearly evince a marvelous stylistic continuity with the art of the Indus-Sârasvatî civilization and also with later Hinduism.
2. Vedic Age (4500–2500 B.C.E.)
This period is defined by the creation and cultural prominence of the wisdom tradition embodied in the hymns of the four Vedas. Certain astronomical references in the Rig-Veda suggest that the bulk of the hymns were composed in the fourth, with some hymns possibly dating back to the fifth, millennium B.C.E. The absolute lower limit of the Vedic period is fixed by a great natural disaster: the drying up of the mighty Sârasvatî River, apparently as a result of tectonic and climatic changes over a period of several hundred years. Around 3100 B.C.E., the Yamunâ River apparently changed its course and ceased to pour its waters into the Sârasvatî; instead it became a tributary of the Ganges. Around 2300 B.C.E., the Sutlej, the biggest tributary of the Sârasvatî, also started to flow into the Ganges. By 1900 B.C.E., the Sârasvatî, once the greatest stream of Northern India, had dried up. Soon the numerous settlements along its banks were abandoned and finally covered with the sands of the vast Thar Desert.
Given the antiquity of the Vedic hymns and the fact that the Sanskrit-speaking Aryans, as noted above, were not foreign invaders, we can reach only one conclusion: The Vedic people were present in India simultaneously with the so-called Indus civilization. More than that, the archaeological remains of that civilization in no way contradict the cultural world as it is mirrored in the Vedic hymns. Hence we must conclude that the citizens of Harappa and Mohenjo- Daro, as well as the hundreds of other towns of the Indus and Sârasvatî rivers, and the Vedic Aryans were one and the same people.
Also, as has been shown, Vedic mathematics influenced the mathematics of Babylonia, which means that the nucleus of the Shulba-Sûtras containing Vedic mathematical theory must have existed around 1800 C.E. Since the Sûtras are deemed later than the Brâhmanas, the date of the Vedas can be pushed back to the third millennium B.C.E. to allow sufficient time for these developments. According to some scholars, the end of the Vedic Age (including the Brâhmanas and the Upanishads) is marked by the famous war remembered in the Mahâbhârata, which is traditionally dated to 3102 B.C.E.).3 This coincides with the beginning of the kali-yuga, the dark age spoken of in the later Purânas, Tantras, and other scriptures. This date, however, is likely too early, and a date of c. 1500 B.C.E. for the war and the final redaction of the four Vedic hymnodies is more probable.
3. The Brahmanical Age (2500–1500 B.C.E.)
With the collapse of the settlements along the Sârasvatî and the Indus, the center of the Vedic civilization shifted further east to the fertile banks of the Ganges (Gangâ) River and its tributaries. The environmental conditions in the new settlement areas not surprisingly caused changes in the social system, which became increasingly complex. In this period, the priestly class developed into a highly specialized professional elite that soon dominated the Vedic culture and religion. The theological-mythological speculations and ritual preoccupations of the priesthood are captured in the Brâhmana literature, after which this period is generally named. The concluding centuries of this era also saw the creation of the ranyakas (ritual texts for forest-dwelling ascetics) and the extensive Sûtra literature dealing with legal and ethical issues and also the arts.
4. The Post-Vedic/Upanishadic Age (1500–1000 B.C.E.)
With the appearance of the earliest Upanishads we enter a new period with its own distinct metaphysical and cultural flavor. They introduced the ideal of internalized ritualism-“inner sacrifice” (antar-yajna)-combined with renunciation of the world. In these anonymously authored sacred scriptures-forming the third stage of the Vedic revelation (shruti)-we can see the beginnings of India’s psychospiritual technology proper. Yet, the Upanishads are not, as is sometimes maintained, totally innovative but rather merely explicate what is hinted at or present in a rudimentary way in the Vedas.”
5. The Pre-Classical or Epic Age (1000–100 B.C.E.)
During the fifth period in the present chronological scheme, India’s metaphysical and ethical thought was in considerable ferment. It had reached a degree of sophistication that led to a fertile confrontation between the various religio-philosophical schools. At the same time, we can witness a healthy tendency toward integrating the many psychospiritual paths, notably the two great orientations of world renunciation (samnyâsa) on one side and the acceptance of social obligations (dharma) on the other. This is the era of the pre-classical developments of Yoga and Sâmkhya. The integrative, syncretistic spirit is best exemplified in the teachings found in the Mahâbhârata epic, in which the earliest complete Yoga work, the Bhagavad-Gîtâ, is embedded. During this period, the massive Mahâbhârata as we know it was created, though its nucleus, which commemorates the great war of the Pândavas and Kauravas, belongs to a much earlier era.
The Râmâyana epic is later than the Mahâbhârata, although its historical core belongs to an age antedating that of the Mahâbhârata by nearly thirty generations.
This is also the era in which Jainism and Buddhism emerged.
6. The Classical Age (100 B.C.E –500 C.E.)
During this era the six classical schools of Hindu philosophy intensified their long-drawn struggle for intellectual supremacy. Halfway through this period the Yoga-Sûtra of Patanjali and the Brahma-Sûtra of Bâdarâyana were composed, and its end is marked by the composition of the Sâmkhya-Kârikâ of Îshvara Krishna. Thi
s is also the period in which Mahâyâna Buddhism crystallized, leading to a very active dialogue between Buddhists and Hindus. The end of the Classical Age coincides with the decline of the Gupta dynasty, whose last great ruler, Skandagupta, died around 455 C.E. Under the Gupta kings, whose rule began in 320 C.E., the arts and sciences flourished extraordinarily. Even though the kings were devout adherents of Vaishnavism, they practiced tolerance toward other religions, which allowed especially Buddhism to thrive and leave its mark on India’s culture. The Chinese pilgrim Fa-hien was greatly impressed with the country and its people. He writes of prosperous towns and numerous charitable institutions, as well as rest houses for travelers on the highways.
7. The Tantric/Purânic Age (500–1300 C.E.)
Around the middle of the first millennium C.E., or slightly earlier, we can witness the beginnings of the great cultural revolution of Tantra, or Tantrism. This tradition, whose extraordinary psychotechnology is discussed in Chapter 17, represents the impressive outcome of many centuries of effort to create a grand philosophical and spiritual synthesis out of the numerous divergent approaches in existence at the time. In particular, Tantra can be seen as integrating the highest metaphysical ideas and ideals with popular (rural) beliefs and practices. Tantra understood itself as the gospel of the dark age (kali-yuga). By the turn of the first millennium C.E., Tantric teachings had swept across the entire Indian subcontinent, influencing and transforming the spiritual life of Hindus, Buddhists, and Jainas alike.
On one hand, Tantra simply continued the millennia-long process of amalgamation and synthesis; on the other hand, it was genuinely innovative. Although it added little to India’s philosophical repertoire, Tantra was of the utmost significance on the level of spiritual practice. It promoted a spiritual lifestyle that was in contrast to most of what had hitherto been considered legitimate within the fold of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. In particular, Tantra lent philosophical respectability to the feminine psychocosmic principle (known as shakti), which had long been acknowledged in more local cults of Goddess worship.
This era could also be referred to as the Puranic Age, because during this time the great encyclopedic compilations known as the Purânas were created on the basis of much older Purânic traditions (dating back to the Vedic era). At their core the Purânas are sacred histories around which a web of philosophical, mythological, and ritual knowledge has been woven. Many of these works show the influence of Tantra, and many contain valuable information about Yoga.
8. The Sectarian Age (1300–1700 C.E.)
The Tantric rediscovery of the feminine principle for philosophy and yogic practice set the stage for the next phase in India’s cultural history: the bhakti movement. This movement of religious devotionalism was the culmination of the monotheistic aspirations of the great sectarian communities, notably the Vaishnavas and Shaivas; hence the title Sectarian Age. By including the emotional dimension in the psychospiritual process, the devotional movement-or bhakti-mârga- completed the pan-Indian synthesis that had been initiated during the Pre-Classical/Epic Age.
9. Modern Age (1700–Present)
The ferment created by the syncretistic bhakti movement was followed by the collapse of the Mughal empire in the first quarter of the eighteenth century and by the growing political presence of European nations in India, culminating in Queen Victoria assuming the title Empress of India in 1880. The Queen was fascinated with Hindu spirituality and welcomed visits from yogins and other spiritual figures. Ever since the founding of the East India Company in London in 1600 and the Dutch East India Company two years later, there has been a growing impact of Western secular imperialism upon the age-old religious traditions of India. This has led to a progressive undermining of the native Indic value system through the introduction of a Westem- style (science-oriented and essentially materialistic) education combined with new technologies. On this point the following remark by Carl Gustav Jung springs to mind:
The European invasion of the East was an act of violence on a grand scale, and it has left us with the duty-noblesse oblige-of understanding the mind of the East. This is perhaps more necessary than we realize at present.4
India’s creative genius, however, has not suffered these developments passively. There has been a promising spiritual renaissance, which, among other things, has created for the first time in history a missionary sense among Hindus: Ever since the appearance of the imposing figure of Swami Vivekânanda at the Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893, there has been a steady flow of Hindu wisdom, especially Yoga and Vedânta, to the Euro-American countries. As Jung, with characteristic perceptiveness, observed:
We have never yet hit upon the thought that while we are overpowering the Orient from without, it may be fastening its hold upon us from within.5
Much more could be said about the modern revival of the Hindu tradition and its impact in the West, but this subject lies beyond the scope of the present book.
The above attempt at periodization is only an approximation, and the dates given are flexible. India’s chronology is notoriously conjectural until we come to the nineteenth century. The Hindu historiographers have seldom been concerned with recording actual dates and tended to freely mingle historical fact with mythology, symbolism, and ideology. Western scholars have often remarked on the “timelessness” of Hindu consciousness and culture. Yet, this notion has proven a veritable blind spot, because it has blocked the serious study of the chronological information contained in the Hindu scriptures, especially the Purânas.6
In addition to the division into religio-spiritual traditions and chronological periods, a useful distinction can also be made between the fundamental orientations of asceticism (tapas), renunciation (samnyâsa), and mysticism (yoga) in the broadest sense of the term. These cut across all the religious and philosophical schools of India. The differences and similarities between these major approaches will be made clear in the sections immediately following.
II. THE GLOW OF PSYCHIC POWER—YOGA AND ASCETICISM
Long before the word yoga acquired its customary meaning of “spirituality” or “spiritual discipline,” the sages of India had developed a body of knowledge and techniques that aimed at the transformation and transcendence of ordinary consciousness. This stock of ideas and practices formed the matrix out of which grew the complex historical phenomenon that later came to be called Yoga. In a certain sense, Yoga may be looked upon as internalized asceticism. Where the earlier ascetic stood stock-still under the burning sun in order to win the favor of a deity, the yogin or yoginî’s work occurs primarily in the laboratory of his or her own consciousness.
A typical example of the ascetic is the royal sage Bhagîratha, whose exploits are told in the Mahâbhârata. In ancient times, during a long spell of drought, he took it upon himself to stand on one foot for a thousand years and, for another thousand, hold his arms up high. In this manner he compelled the Gods to grant his request that the heavenly river Ganges (Gangâ) release its waters to flood and regenerate the parched earth. The downpour from the celestial river was so great that God Shiva had to slow its speed by catching the water on his head. The water ran through his tangled hair, forming the riverine basin of the Ganges (Gangâ) River of northern India.
The earliest term for Yoga-like endeavors in India is tapas. Literally, this ancient Sanskrit word means “heat.” It is derived from the verbal root tap meaning “to bum” or “to glow.” The term is often used in the Rig-Veda to describe the quality and work of the solar orb (or its corresponding deity, God Sûrya), or of the sacrificial fire (or its corresponding deity, God Agni). In these contexts it is frequently implied that the heat of sun and fire is painful and distressing in its burning intensity. We can see in this the root of the subsequent metaphoric usage of tapas as psychic heat in the form of anger and aggression, but also as fervor, zeal, or painstaking self-application.
Thus, the word tapas came to be applied to the religious or spiritual struggle of voluntary self-discipl
ine through the practice of austerities. The term tapas is therefore frequently rendered as “asceticism,” or “austerities.” The older hymns of the Rig-Veda still refer to tapas in its naturalistic or psychological connotations. But the tenth book, which is thought to belong to the concluding phase of the Vedic Age, contains many references to its spiritual significance.
In one of the most exquisite hymns of the Rig Veda (10.129), which is an early philosophical treatment of the theme of creation, the manifest worlds are said to have been produced by virtue of the excessive self-heating (tapas) of the primordial Being.7 This self-exertion and self-sacrifice by the incommensurate Being that abides prior to space and time is the great archetype for spiritual practice in general. That the Vedic seers and sages were aware of this is borne out by the above-mentioned “Hymn of Creation” and many other hymns.
The Rig-Veda documents the emergence of tapas as a religious means of creating inner heat or the kind of creative tension that yields ecstatic states, visions of the deities, perhaps even transcendence of object- dependent consciousness itself. The Vedic sacrificial ritual (yajna) involved tremendous concentration, for success depended on the correct pronunciation and intonation of the prayers and on the accurate performance of the ceremony. It is easy to see how the Vedic ritual should have given rise not only to a whole sacrificial mysticism but also to ascetic practices designed to prepare the sacrificer for the actual ritual. The Rig- Vidhâna (1.8) of Shaunâka, an old text on mantric magic belonging to the Epic Era, recommends that all twice-born persons should be intent on tapas and study of the Vedas, as well as cultivate compassion toward all beings.8
The Yoga Tradition Page 16