A Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism Klaus K Klostermaie
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201 Vendan<br />
the age and origin <strong>of</strong> Vedic civilization.<br />
While the majority <strong>of</strong> Western scholars,<br />
following the lead <strong>of</strong> Max MÜLLER,<br />
assume that Vedic civilization in India<br />
was the result <strong>of</strong> an invasion by seminomadic,<br />
cattle-breeding Äryan people<br />
from outside India around 1500–1200<br />
BCE, following the decline <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Mohenjo Daro/Harappan city culture,<br />
most Indian scholars contend that Vedic<br />
civilization developed in India itself<br />
around 4000 BCE and that the so-called<br />
Indus civilization (renamed Indus–<br />
Sarasvati civilization) was a late phase<br />
<strong>of</strong> Vedic civilization, which spread eastwards<br />
to the Gangetic plains after the<br />
desiccation <strong>of</strong> the original homeland in<br />
what is today Sindh. While there is neither<br />
literary nor archeological evidence<br />
for an invasion from outside India,<br />
satellite photography and archaeogeography<br />
seem to have established that the<br />
river-bed <strong>of</strong> the Sarasvatï, described in<br />
the Øgveda as the mightiest <strong>of</strong> rivers,<br />
beside which the Vedic people had settled,<br />
had completely dried out by 1900<br />
BCE. It is to be expected that both<br />
groups <strong>of</strong> scholars would engage in<br />
debate to validate their assumptions.<br />
Vedic religion<br />
The religion based on the Veda was<br />
strongly focused on SACRIFICE (yajña),<br />
which was believed to be the source <strong>of</strong><br />
everything. Vedic religion was also<br />
characterized by the division <strong>of</strong> VARŒAS,<br />
believed to have originated at the<br />
puru•ayajña with which humankind<br />
began. Vedic religion was polytheistic:<br />
Indra, Agni, Varuæa and Mitra were the<br />
main deities; however, as one Vedic<br />
verse has it, ‘Indra is known by many<br />
names; all the different names design<br />
but One.’ Vedic religion was the basis <strong>of</strong><br />
later <strong>Hinduism</strong>, which received influences<br />
from other sources. Many Hindus<br />
would call their religion ‘vedic’, emphasizing<br />
the continuity <strong>of</strong> practice and<br />
belief from Vedic times to today.<br />
vegetarianism<br />
Vedic Indians were meat eaters; they<br />
even consumed cattle after they had<br />
been sacrificed. Vegetarianism apparently<br />
developed under the influence <strong>of</strong><br />
Buddhism and Jainism, religions that<br />
insisted on ahiƒsä, ‘non-killing’, repudiating<br />
animal sacrifice and meat eating.<br />
Among Hindus VAIÆŒAVAS are the<br />
strictest vegetarians (Bengali brahmins<br />
eat fish, which they do not consider<br />
against their religion); ŸAIVAS and ŸÄK-<br />
TAS continue animal sacrifices and also<br />
eat meat. Neo-Hindu movements are<br />
proponents <strong>of</strong> strict vegetarianism for<br />
ethical as well as health reasons.<br />
Accepting the doctrine <strong>of</strong> rebirth and<br />
the possibility that a human might be<br />
reborn in an animal, they view animal<br />
slaughter and meat eating as tantamount<br />
to cannibalism. (See also FOOD.)<br />
Vel<br />
A name <strong>of</strong> MURUGAN, the Tamil god <strong>of</strong><br />
war, also known as Sey and Neduvel.<br />
His priests were known as Velan.<br />
Veæa<br />
A mythical king, son <strong>of</strong> Anga, who<br />
angered the brahmins <strong>of</strong> his realm by<br />
forbidding SACRIFICES to anyone but<br />
himself. When their remonstrations did<br />
not help they killed him with blades <strong>of</strong><br />
kuÿa grass. When lawlessness overtook<br />
the kingless country they drilled the left<br />
arm <strong>of</strong> the dead king and produced<br />
Ni•äda, who proved to be wicked and<br />
useless. They drilled the right arm and<br />
obtained Pøthu, who cultivated the<br />
earth (prthivï) and was a just ruler,<br />
restoring the privileges <strong>of</strong> the brahmins.<br />
His story is told in the Mahäbhärata<br />
and in several Puräæas.<br />
Vendan<br />
A Tamil form <strong>of</strong> INDRA, worshipped in<br />
Maridan.