VEDIC HINDUISM by S. W. Jamison and M. Witzel - people.fas ...

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Jamison & Witzel VEDIC HINDUISM 32 classical period of Indian ritual -- which, however, can be shown to actually have been that of the �gveda. d. Classical ritual In contrast to the sketchy and tentative treatment of �gvedic ritual, "Classical" Vedic ritual -- the ritual constantly referred to by the Bråhma�as and exhaustively described by the Śrauta Sūtras -- has been abundantly studied. A general survey35 is A. Hillebrandt's important Ritual-Litteratur. Vedische Opfer und Zauber (1897), which covers G�hya as well as Śrauta rites and offers almost a digest of the relevant Sūtras. It sums up the knowledge gathered by the turn of the century and is still a very useful - and the only - compendium. S. Lévi's La doctrine du sacrifice (1898) offers a first intellectual analysis stressing the regenerative function of the ritual; it was a critical source for the general, epochmaking work of Hubert and Mauss, "Essai sur la nature et la fonction du sacrifice" (1898).36 The general works on Vedic religion mentioned above (Oldenberg 1917, Keith 1925, Renou and Filliozat 1947; Gonda 1960) also treat the rituals in much detail, and Renou 1954 offers a useful lexicon of ritual terminology, with abundant references to the Sūtras.37 C.G. Kashikar (1968), one of the foremost ritualists in the footsteps of Caland, has summed up the formal aspects of the Śrauta literature in a handbook.38 In addition, the introductions and notes to particular text editions and translations are often rich sources of detailed information about rituals and comparison of them across texts. For individual rituals, there are numerous monographic treatments, which will be referred to in what follows. The great Poona project of a Śrautakośa was intended as a collection of all available Mantra, Bråhma�a and Sūtra passages dealing with each of the Vedic rituals. The New/Full Moon and the Soma ritual have been published in Sanskrit, and in the accompanying English section a translation has been given of the relevant passages from the Baudhåyana Śrautasūtra (and other Śrautasūtra passages as far as they deviate), 35 Extensive surveys are those by Weber in Indische Studien X, 321 sqq., XIII, 217 sqq. and Eggeling in the introductions to his translation of the Śatapatha Bråhma�a. 36 Cf. also the long discussion in an unlikely source: Paul Mus, Barubu�ur. Esquisse d'une histoire du bouddhisme fondée sur la critique archéologique des textes, Hanoi 1935, pp. 79- 121. 37 Sen's Dictionary (1978) largely is an English translation of Renou 1954. 38 Mylius has written a summary as well 1973:475-498.
Jamison & Witzel VEDIC HINDUISM 33 but only of non-Mantra texts. Unfortunately the project seems to have ground to a halt after four volumes. Although many scholars over the last century or so have contributed to our knowledge of Vedic ritual, one must be singled out: W. Caland, whose unequaled command of the massive amount of textual material and inspired ability to make sense of it is always evident in the awe-inspiring flood of his text editions, translations, commentaries, and treatments of particular rituals and ritual types. For a bibliography of his works see Caland 1990. Special attention should be drawn to the often long introductory chapters of his books where he gave some very useful discussions of the general structure and the details of the Vedic rituals, which go beyond their codification in Hillebrandt's Ritual- Litteratur. Caland combined a very detailed knowledge of the Vedic ritual in all its texts with a keen interest in the parallels of Vedic rites and customs in other cultures. He also was one of the first to stress the close interrelation and cooperation of all the four Vedas and their priests in the performance of a particular sacrifice. Both in breadth and in detailed knowledge of Vedic ritual, he remains unsurpassed. Before we examine individual rituals, a brief general characterization of Vedic ritual will anchor our discussions. And the first issue we should address is what it lacks -- most notably a fixed place of performance. There were no temples or permanent structures devoted to Vedic ritual. Rather, a sacrificial ground was chosen anew for each performance according to certain characteristics required of its natural features;39 it was prepared by careful measurement and demarcation, with different portions within that ground devoted to different functions. These were alluded to in the YV Sa�hitås, the Bråhma�a and Śrauta Sūtras,40 but were only summed up and treated systematically in their appendices, the Śulba Sūtras (Michaels 1978). Moreover, there is no evidence for icons or images representing gods or their attributes. Even the physical objects employed in the ritual -- cups, ladles, and so forth -- are newly made each time, without rich adornment or special craftsmanship, and mostly of archaic materials (wood) and in archaic fashion (e.g. pottery without wheel). One of reasons, besides the inherent archaism of ritual (artificially re-enforced in the case of some Śrauta rites, see Witzel 1981/2), was that craftsmen of the lower castes were not eligible to produce objects used in the rituals. Exceptions to this rule are found only with some of the more 39 See Caland 1990, p. 5, 450, 504. 40 See, e.g. MS 3.8.4, KS 35.3, KpS 38.6, TS 6.2.6, cf. �B 2.10.4-25.
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VEDIC HINDUISM by S. W. Jamison and M. Witzel - people.fas ...

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