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16 WORLD RELIGIONS:EASTERNTRADITIONS

ing a letter for the sound of h, did not in thiscase preserve it.

'Religion', a ProblematicalCategory

'Religion'The definition of a Hindu according to thelaw of India highlights the difficulty of de-termining who is a Hindu. The Hindu Fam-ily Act says that it applies to anyone who be-longs to one of the Hindu 'denominations',such as Vira $aiva or Brahmo Samaj and 'toany other person domiciled in the territoriesto which [the] act extends who is not a Mus-

lim, Christian, Parsi or Jew by religion' (italicsadded) .

Just as the law does, we must take ac-count of the lack of fundamental cohesion

and recognize that there is no overriding sin-gle holy book, dogma, religious leader, or au-thority for the entire Hindu tradition. Never-theless, we can make some generalizationsand delineate some important lines of histor-ical continuity as long as we are aware of the

. vantage point from which we make our state-ments and know their limitations.

Not only did the Hindus not have aname for their religion; they did not evenhave a word to denote the concept of reli-gion. It has been held by some outside schol-ars (and by some Hindus) that the Sanskritword dharma comes close to 'religion', butthis holds only in a limited way. Dharma forHindus means righteousness, justice, faith,duty, a religious and social obligation, but itdoes not cover all that is sacred for theHindu. Hindu notions of the sacred cover

what may be considered 'secular', 'supernat-ural', or even 'superstitious' in the Westernworld. Thus, among other th1hgs, it is nec-essary to understand sacred times, places,

omens, architecture, music, trees, and plantsin the Hindu tradition. .

Subjects such as astronomy and astrol-ogy, phonetics, and studies on poetic metreare traditionally considered vedangaor ancil-lary to the study of scripture. These subjectswould also come under the purview of 'reli-gion'. While it would be impossible to do jus-tice to all these areas that fall under the rubricof sacred texts and the sacred for the Hindus,our discussion of the Hindu tradition in this

chapter will include features not covered by

the word 'religio.n' in the Western world.

HINDU ORIGINS

Historically, Hindu traditions have grownfrom a fusion of the indigenous religions thatexisted in the Indian subcontinent: with the

faith of the Indo-European people (theAryans) who migrated there, possibly be-tween 1750 and 1500 BCE. Some scholars

have held that our knowledge of Hinduismbegins only with the coming of the Indo-Eu-ropean people because the earliest religiouscompositions go back to that era, but histor-ical reconstruction is not based on texts

alOne. By looking at archaeological evidence,one can speculate on the religious practicesthat existed before the invasion of Indo-Eu-

ropean migrants.

The Harappa Culture

In 1926, the excavations by Sir John Marshall(1876-1958) revealed the existence of largetowns on the banks of the Indus River. Two

of these towns are known today as MohenjoDaro ('Mound of the Dead') and Harappa.They are over 480 km (300 mt) apart, butthere is a certain uniformity in the civilizationthat existed in that entire area, stretching

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from the northwest part of India to Kalibaganin Rajasthan and Lothal in Gujarat. From thishomogeneity-the prevalence of many simi-lar objects in towns several hundred milesaway-we may conclude that there was con-tinuous travel and communication amongthem. Because the towns were already quitemature, we do not know exactly when peo-

ple began to settle in that area. From excava-tions and some radiocarbon testing, it is be- .lieved that the towns existed around 2750

BCE,but some historians tend to push thedates back even earlier. Though still known

popularly as the Indus Valley civilization, itis now referred to by scholars as the Harappaculture because it covers a much larger areathan the Indus basin.

The people of this civilization knew theart of writing, for inscriptions have beenfound on their carved seals, but we have not

yet been able to decipher the script with anyassurance. Both a Danish and a Russian team

working on the script have produced con-cordances, but there is still considerabledoubt whether u- and E-shaped symbolsmean a boat and a comb or something com-pletely different. Current scholarship is alsoinvestigating the connections between thislanguage and later ones in India. It is gener-ally believed that the language is closer toDravidian ones of southern India than to anyother and that the script relied upon homo-phones, i.e., different words having the samepronunciation. Until we decipher the script,most of our statements about their culturewill have to be tentative and based on ar-

chaeological evidence.The people of the Harappa civilization

were impressive builders who lived in whatappear to have been planned cities. The citieswere divided into a citadel-like area, whichseems to be the centre of civic and religious

THE HINDU TRADITION ..

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activities, and a large residential area. Streetsoften run parallel, and houses are situated atright angles to the streets and a,re reachedthrough lanes perpendicular to the streets. Inthe citadel mound at Mohenjo Daro, there isa huge swimming-pool-like structure that ar-chaeologists call 'the Great Bath'. It is built ofbrick, and the bottom of the pool is of bricksset with gypsum mortar. Its measures 12 x 7m (39 x 23 ft) and is about 3 m (10 ft) deep.The whole structure is surrounded by porti-cos and rooms. Two flights of stairs lead intothe pool. There is an elaborate system for fill-ing the pool from an adjacent well and drain-ing it. The care with which the complex wasbuilt has led scholars to believe that it was

meant for religious rituals of some sort.The houses at Mohenjo Daro range from

one-room tenements to large ones with adozen rooms and a courtyard. Almost all ofthe larger houses had a well attached to them.A remarkable drainage and sewer system ex-isted in the houses. This feature alone seems

to give the Harappa culture a distinctive char-acter. There were bathrooms even on the sec-

ond floor, and the household drain systemwas connected with the street. The presenceof these connected drains indicates some

township authority that probably plannedand supervised these functions.

Apart from the many houses, there are anumber of other buildings both in the citadelarea of Mohenjo Daro and in the lower townthat have tentatively been identified ashouses of worship. A recently excavatedcitadel mound in Kalibagan contains a seriesof raised brick platforms and fire altars.Nearby~cks, are pits containingashes and animal bones. There are also

bathing places near a well. The whole com-plex seems to be a place of religious ritual,and we can hypothesize that there existed a

18 WORLD RELIGIONS: EASTER!" TRADlTIO!"S

form of fire ritUal, ablutions with water, andanimal sacrifices. Some of the houses alsoseem to have a room with afire altar, sug-

gesting a domestic fire ritual.From the buildings that have tentatively

been identified as worship halls, some stone

sculptures and large numbers of terracottafigurines have been unearthed in the excava-tions. Scholars surmise that some were used

as icons in worship. These include statuettesof what seems to be a mother goddess. Thisfemale figure wears only a short skirt, but hasabundant jewellery and a fan-shaped head-dress with two cups on either side. These lit-tle cups have smoke stains in them, leadingus to believe that they were used for fire orincense offerings by the worshipper. Becauseimages of this figure were common in thiscivilization and it is similar to figures foundin other excavations, Marshall, who made the

initial study, says that they may be earlierforms of the goddesses known as Parvati andKalLAlthough some Western scholars believethat goddess worship in a society indicates ahigh status for women, we have no hard ev-idence in the Harappan civilization to sup-port this thesis. Indeed, as we shall see,though goddesses were worshipped in thelater Hindu tradition, not all women were

held in high esteem.About 2,000 flat square or rectangular

seals and many amulets have been found inthe excavations around the Indus River. Some

of the seals most likely were protective likethe amulets; the purpose of the others is notyet clear. A few seals represent a man seatedin what may be called a yoga-like posture ona low throne with animals near him. The man

appears to have three faces. The animals nearhim include deer, antelope, a rhinoceros, anelephant, and a buffalo. On his head is a hatwith two horns, with an object like a plant

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protruding between them. Marshall pointsout that this kind of headdress was worn onlyby divine beings and kings in Sumer in theAncient Near East.

The suggestion is that because of boththe headdress and the animals around him,

this god may be a prototype of the oneknown as Siva in later years. Except for a setof bangles and some jewellery, there is noclothing on this being. The male deity in theIndus Valley is seated with his feet drawn upbeneath him, to~s turned down, heels touch-

ing each other, and hands extended above theknees-a position that was typical of yoga inlater years. Although they have no evident di-rect link with this deity, several stones thatseem to have a phallic significance have alsobeen found in the excavations. This find is in-

triguing because the god Siva is generally de-picted by a liilga, a conical stone some con-sider to be a phallic symbol, which forHindus represents the beginnings of creation.

Another recurrent theme on the seals is

that of a spirit emergingfrom apipal tree andworshippers standing in front of it with littleplants. The pipal tree is still important in theHindu tradition, and we know that it hasbeen so for about 2,500 years. If it indeedhad religious significance during the IndusValley period, this has been one of the moreenduring features of the religious tradition. Insome seals a horned person is coming fromthe pipal tree and a row of seven figures withlong braids is standing in front of it. The no-tion of seven beings is important in laterHindu 'mythology. These figures have beenidentified both as the seven holy men (r$is orseers) and as the seven mothers of later

Hindu myths.Many animals ate represented on the

seals. The religious nature of some of these isstill unclear, although scholars have attrib-

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. THE HINDU TRADITION 19

uted a religious function to the seals with bank. Some pots hold collections of bones; itbulls and cows. But there is general agree- is possible that there was partial burial ofment that the half-human half-animal crea- .these. .

tures and mythological animals like the uni- There is no agreement aboUt the likelycorn were considered divine. Some seals cause for the end of the Indus Valleyciviliza-show a half-human, half-tiger form. Others tion. Some scholars have held that the grow-show a composite animal with parts of a bull ing invasions of the Indo-European peopleand an elephant, or a combination of a ram, from Central Asia, starting around 1750 BCE,an elephant, and a bull. Many of these, in- eventually destroyed the Harappa culture.eluding the lion-elephant animal, seem very Others believe that the Indus River may havesimilar to mythical beasts that became popu- changed its course drastically and floodedlar in later Hinduism. Other abstract sym- the region, but the theory of flooding as a sin-boIs, like variations on the swastika and de- gle cause of destruction is generally dis-signs that resemble the rice-powder drawings counted now. The population may have beendone on thresholds after the morning sweep- wiped out by an epidemic. Possibly a combi-ing, seem popular in the seals. nation of these factors may have contributed

Scholars are not yet sure how the people to the eventual decline of the civilization.in these cities disposed of their dead. Since Although these cities died, the indige-the manner of disposal frequently reveals re- nous religious traditions of the subcontinentligious convictions, this is an important la- of which they were a part continued in manycuna in our information about the religion of ways, even through the early centuries ofthis culture. No large cemeteries have been Indo-European cultural domination. Fromfound, but possibly some of these lie under the fragmentary evidence and clues foupd inalluvial soil and may not yet have been dis- the Indus Valley, as well as in other regionscovered. The small number of graves that of India, we can tentatively say that some fea-have been found are on a north-south axis. tures of the Hindu religion as practised todayIn a few of them objects are buried with the go back before 1750 BCEto Mohenjo Darobodies, and sometimes there is more than and Harappa.one body in a grave. Perhaps it was believed Our knowledge of the civilization inthat the dead might need the materials buried other parts of the subcontinent is even lesswith them for an afterlife. than that of the Indus Valley, bUt scholars

Multiple burial in one grave is more have observed a curious fact in some sites ofproblematic. It is not known whether a archaeological importance. They have no-spouse or attendants were buried along with ticed an intriguing correspondence betweenthe dead. We bear in mind the later practiee---places frequented by people about 4,000of sati, the culturally expected suicide of a years ago and sites that are of religious sig-widow, who throws herself onto her hus- nificance today. For example, some placesbands funeral pyre. In that connection, the that were inhabited and popular 4,000 yearsfragmentary evidence of multiple burials in ago, like the Gudiyam caves near Madras, arethe Indus Valley gives rise to a new set of today seen as the abode of the divine. Whilespeculations. It is supposed that most bodies there is some debate over whether there haswere generally cremated around the river been a continuous belief in the sacredness of