Religious condition of Aryans in the later Vedic period
The religion of the Rigvedic period was simple and pompous, but the religion of the later Vedic period became complex and pompous. During this period, the Aryan culture developed under the influence of Brahman Dharma in the northern doab. It is estimated that the entire post-Vedic literature was compiled in the Kuru-Panchal region. Yagyakarma and its associated rituals and methods were the backbone of this culture.
(1.) Predominance of Brahmins: In this era the predominance and importance of Brahmins increased tremendously. The Brahmana texts were composed during this period. The authors of these texts were brahmins and they were also related to brahmins. Only brahmins were considered to be entitled to the true knowledge of the Vedas and brahmin texts. It was the Brahmin who used to perform and get the yajna done, so his respect and respect was also high.
During this period the Brahmin's position had become so high that he was addressed by the names Bhu-sur, Bhu-dev etc. Due to the spread of yagyas, the power of the brahmins had increased tremendously. In the beginning, out of the sixteen classes of priests, Brahmins were only a class, but gradually they overtook the other priestly classes and became the most important class. They used to worship and perform sacrifices for themselves and their hosts.
Along with this, they also used to organize ceremonies related to agricultural work. He wished success in the war to his patron king and in return received a promise of charity and protection from the king. The brahmins sometimes fought with the Kshatriyas representing the warrior class for higher authority, but when these two higher varnas competed with the lower varnas, they tended to forget their differences. Towards the end of the post-Vedic period, it was emphasized that these two upper varnas should cooperate with each other and rule the rest of the society.
(2.) Increase in importance of Yagya: The importance of Yagyas had increased so much in this era that it should be called the Age of Yagyas. The Yajurveda, which was composed in this period, is the main text of Yagya. There is a detailed discussion of the law of Yagyas. There was no ease in performing the Yagyas. The householder himself could not perform the yajna, but he needed yagyas. The Yagya also took more time.
Many yagyas lasted throughout the year and a lot of money had to be spent on them. Only kings could perform Rajasuya and Ashwamedha Yagya. Because of this, it became a difficult task to make a yajna for the common man. Yagyas were organized collectively as well as individually. The rajanya and all the members of that people's community used to participate in the collective yagyas.
Private yagyas were performed by different people in their respective homes, as the Vedic people during this period lived a stable life and had their own well-organized families. Individual sacrifices were made to the fire and each such action took the form of a ritual or a yajna.
(3.) Beginning of different types of Yagyas: In the post-Vedic period, the whole Aryan culture appears to be sacrificial. The Shatapatha Brahmana says– 'Rik is the earth, Yajus is the space and Sam is the light, so by the remedies prescribed in these, that is, by the invocation of Agni, Indra, and Surya, man conquers these three worlds.'
By performing material sacrifices, man invokes the powers of the universe and imbibes them in himself. Therefore, in this era, various types of yagyas were organized for different purposes.
Daily Yagya: There were five Mahayagyas in each family daily -
(a) Dev Yagya- In this yagya, food, ghee, milk, curd are offered to the fire.
(b) Bhoot Yagya- In this yajna, food is sacrificed to Prajapati, Kama, Vishwadevi and the four elements namely earth, water, air and sky,
(c) Pitru Yagya- In this, food and water are thrown towards the south for the ancestors.
(d) Brahma Yagya- In this, one has to self-study the Vedic texts.
(y) Manav Yagya- In this, a guest is served food before eating himself.
Agnihotra: Along with these five sacrifices, one had to perform 'Agnihotra' daily in the morning and evening, under which barley and rice were offered to Surya and Prajapati before sunrise and after sunset to Agni and Prajapati.
Monthly Yagya: Along with the daily yajnas, provision was made to perform certain yagyas in each month. Twice a month, on Pratipada and Poornima on 'Darshapurnamaseshti' In these, Agni and Indra and Agni and Soma respectively 'Purodash' was given. According to the Uttarvedic Aryans, there are three types of fire - Garhapatya, Dakshina and Ahwaniya. The altar of the Garhapatya fire is round. The altar of the south-fire is in the shape of a semicircle. The altar of the incandescent fire is square.
Annual Yagya: thrice a year at the beginning of spring, rainy season and autumn respectively 'Vaishvadev', 'Varunpradhan' and 'Sakmedh' Yagyas were performed. In the first five tarpans were offered to Agni, Soma Savita, Saraswati and Pusha and after that Purodash was given to the Maruts, milk and Diva to the Vishwadevas and Purodash to the Prithvi.
In the second i.e. Varuna-pradhan Yagya, the idols of rams and sheep made of flour along with milk were offered to Varuna and the Maruts. The fruits of Karir were sacrificed for rain. After this the two parts of the plow were worshipped. In home remedies, dishes were offered to Vishnu, the deity of the rainy season and Shravan, on Shravan Purnima.
On the full moon day of Marg-Shirsh, the festival of Urgayani was celebrated. The houses were cleaned and whitewashed on this occasion. In the autumn or spring, for the growth of livestock, Shulgav Yagya was performed in which Rudra was sacrificed as a bull.
Somayajna:Somayyagya was the most important of the Vedic sacrifices. Rich people used to do it. This was usually done in the spring at the beginning of the new year. Before doing this, 16 yagyas were appointed who used to initiate the yajaman and his wife. Then Soma's Bunti was brought in the cart. Hot milk was offered on the first day. On the second day, the Soma was brought to the altar, ground with silver and filtered through a sieve. It was then filled in urns, mixed with milk and offered to the deities in bowls.
Soma was generally praised three times a day. On the third day, Agni and Soma were sacrificed and in the end the yajman took a bath called Avabhrav. There were also seven types of Somayagna. Among them 'Vajpeya Yagya' were done to gain power. There was a chariot race. 'Rajasuya Yagya' and 'Ashwamedha Yagya' They were for kings and used to last long. Animal sacrifices were offered in some yagyas, but animal sacrifices were generally not considered good. At the time of animal sacrifice, people turned their backs and asked the gods for forgiveness for this crime.
(4.) Practice of sacrifice in Yagyas: In the Rigveda period, only fruits and milk were sacrificed in the yajna, but now the sacrifice of animal and soma became important in the yajna. On the occasion of great sacrifices and yagyas, people of all sections of the society were sacrificed on behalf of the kings.
(5.) Origin of the Yagnik class: With the increase in the number and importance of yajnas and their complexity, a class arose among the brahmins who specialized in yajnas. The only occupation of this class was to perform a yajna at the place of its host and to receive yagya-fee and donations from him. Brahmins were one of the sixteen types of priests who performed the yagyas.
All the priests were generously given donations and dakshinas. The mantras that were recited on the occasion of the sacrifices were to be pronounced very carefully by the sacrificer. The yagyakarta was called yajman. The success of the Yagya depended on the words of miraculous power uttered on the occasion of the Yagya. The rituals performed by the Vedic Aryans are also seen in other Indo-European peoples, but many rituals developed in the land of India.
The yagya methods were invented, assembled and developed by Brahmin priests. He invented many rituals, many of these rituals were taken from non-Aryan subjects. According to the mentions found in Uttarvedic literature, 2,40,000 cows were given as Dakshina to the chief priest who performed the Rajasuya Yagya.
The priests were given gold, cloth and horses along with the cows in the yagyas. Although the priests sometimes asked for land as dakshina, the practice of donating land as dakshina for sacrifice was not well established in the post-Vedic period. It is mentioned in the Shatapatha Brahmana that in the Ashwamedha Yagya, all these directions north, south, east and west should be donated to the priest. It was not possible to donate land to the priests on a large scale. There is also a mention that the land given to the priests did not allow its transfer possible.
(6.) Philosophical interpretation of a high order: Around 600 BC, the last phase of the post-Vedic period began. During this period, especially in Panchala and Videha, there was a strong movement against the supremacy, rituals and rituals of the priests and the Upanishads were composed. These philosophical texts criticized rituals and emphasized right beliefs and knowledge.
The sages of this period, Yajnavalkya etc. emphasized on recognizing the self and understanding the relationship between the self and the Brahman in the right form. Brahma emerged as the Supreme God. Some Kshatriya kings of Panchala and Videha also participated in this type of thinking and created an environment for reforming the priestly monopoly religion. The ideology of stability and integration was strengthened by his teachings.
The concept of permanence was strengthened by the emphasis on the immutability and immortality of the soul, which is what the Rajshakti needed. The emphasis on the relationship between the soul and Brahma gave strength to the ideology of devotion to the higher authorities. The other major texts of philosophical discussion of this period are the Aranyakas. The theory of reincarnation was also approved in this era.
According to this, the future birth of a person depends on his actions and one who does good deeds, takes birth in a good vagina and one who does bad deeds in a bad vagina. The primacy of knowledge was emphasized in this era. To attain salvation, it was considered necessary to acquire the knowledge of Brahman. Shaddarshan i.e. Sankhya, Yoga, Nyaya Vaisheshik, Purva-Mimamsa and Uttar-Mimamsa were composed during this period.
Praise Text: For material reasons, people used to worship the deities in the past, for the same reasons they still do it, but there has been a lot of change in the method of worship. Praise texts used to be the same as before, but they were no longer of such importance from the point of view of satisfying the gods.
(7.) Change in importance of gods: In the post-Vedic period, the importance of the gods of the Rigvedic period was decreasing and their place was being taken by other new gods. Indra and Agni were not as important as before. In this age, Prajapati became more important than the gods. Many other minor deities of the Rigvedic period were also accorded high positions.
Rudra, the god of animals, became an important deity in the post-Vedic period. Rudra was called as Mahadev and Pashupati. Along with Rudra, the importance of Shiva started increasing. Vishnu now came to be regarded as the patron deity of the people who lived a semi-nomadic life in the Rigvedic period and were now leading a permanent life.
Vishnu came to be called Vasudeva. The seed of Bhagwat theory was also planted in this era. When the society was divided into four classes – Brahmins, Rajnyas, Vaishyas and Shudras, separate deities of each Varna came into existence. Pushan was initially considered a cow protector but later became the deity of Shudras.
(8.) Rise in pomp and superstition: As the Aryans of the post-Vedic period settled in the northern plains, they became highly dependent on the monsoon. As a result, they had to face heavy rains and drought. Agriculture was attacked by insects and diseases. Therefore, to save the crops from destruction, mantra-tantra was used, which is mentioned in the Atharvaveda.
The pure religion of the Rigvedic period was gradually becoming a web of pomp and superstitions. It was now believed that not only could the gods be subdued by yagyas and mantras, but they could also be annihilated. Now people's faith in ghosts and mantras was increasing. There is a description of ghosts and spirits in the Atharvaveda and the means of protection from them have also been told through tantra-mantras. Some symbols and objects were also worshipped. Idol-worship also started in the post-Vedic period.