Ancient Religions I: Concept of the Cosmic Order in the ancient religions
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| Rta, the cosmic order that keeps the universe in balance |
Now, you might be asking me "Why are you simply focusing on the Aryan Migration Hypothesis again? Isn't Out of India theory the trendy one these days?". Yes and No. Among the common masses of India, obviously the latter has gained much appreciation and momentum, while a notable section of scholars continue to champion the former, but I personally choose to walk a different path, which is based on a sort of golden mean between the two conflicting theories. The path is based on the Paleolithic Continuity Paradigm (PCP), which I intend to write about in the coming days. But till then, please stay with me in the journey beyond the conflict between the Aryan Migration and Out of India theories.
This is precisely because they're out of scope of this article. In this brief series, I plan to write about the structure and formulation of the religions (and by extension, the mythology and understanding) of our ancestors.
Sources of information
The Rigveda, together with the other Vedas, serve as the primary source of information here. But interpretations may vary, and more of them arise from time to time. Well, the Vedic religion is an open-source religion, if I may safely loan the word from modern computational terminology. Anyone can build a new interpretation of the Vedic texts, as long as it is backed by an understanding of Vedic Sanskrit and common logic.
Similarly, I've also relied on Zend Avesta, the Bible of the Parsis, who are (undeniably) related to the the Indian Aryas. And once again, here I take and use the term Arya only to denote the followers of the Vedic religion. It's a name they used to refer to themselves. The origin of the term can be doubted, but definitely it arose much, much before its corruption by the Nazis.
In addition to the Asian texts of the Indo-European family, I've also relied on the Norse mythology and its fine interpretation by H.A Gueber in his fascinating (and fun to read) book Myths of the Norsemen: From the Eddas and Sagas, as well as the Greeko-Roman religion (together with its interpretation) as contained in E.M Beren's book Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome.
Beginning the tale: Rta, the cosmic order that binds together the earth and heavens
In a famous hymn sung in the praise of Lord Shiva, the third of the Hindu Trinity, we hear:
Rtam Satyam Param Brahma Purusham Krishnapingalam |
Urdharetam Virupaksha Vishwaroopaya bai Namah ||
That triggers immediate interest, because the very first term here is Rta. What exactly is Rta? Well, a quick Wikipedia search will take you HERE, which pretty much sums it up, albeit too briefly. To copy-paste the definition -
Rta is the principle of natural order which regulates and coordinates the operation of the universe and everything within it. In the hymns of the Vedas, Ṛta is described as that which is ultimately responsible for the proper functioning of the natural, moral and sacrificial orders.Thus, we happen to develop a basic understanding of what Rta is. But I daresay, this understanding is a bit too minimal, and deserves much more attention for it to bloom into a clearer, more logical and satisfying conclusion.
NOTE: The above Slokah is often used in the Vaishnava literature as well, where it is regarded as a chant sung in the praise of Mahavishnu. But the use of the term Virupaksha is more suited to denote Lord Shiva rather than Visnu.
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| Varuna, the Lord of the infinite ocean |
I agree, that the above is a much more polished and refined concept, that emerged from the philosophical mindset of the later-Vedic philosophers who composed the compendium of the Upanishads, but it is inevitably and undeniably linked to the ancient concept of Rta. The later-Vedic philosophers saw, in everything process of nature, a sort of unity that manifests differently each time. This unity is what they called the Brahman.
But then again, before the origin of the concept of the Brahman, there were the gods, the Deivos (The Shiners, originating from the Indo-European period) from which the names Deva (Vedic) and Daeva (Avestan) were developed. It's striking to see that while Devas are the benevolent deities who maintain the cosmic order in the Vedas, in Avesta the Daevas are regarded as evil demons who oppose the very cosmic order (as laid down by Ahura Mazda) itself! But that's a different story.
Varuna and Rta
By now, it is clear that the concept of Rta has remained in Hinduism, and become one with the cosmic order of the Brahman. It is the metaprinciple, that ultimate law that is obeyed by everything occuring in the nature. In Higher Hinduism (the more philosophical sphere of the religion, backed by the Upanishads, Vedantas etc), Brahman is ultimately regarded as the Rta, as well as the origin of the same. Using the same analogy as written above, we can say that the Brahman has created the Rta out of himself, and thus he has become the Rta.
In middle-Vedic Hinduism, we see that the Rta is collectively maintained by deities such as Indra, Agni, Aryaman, Vata, Vayu, Ushas etc. But obviously, layer after layer of formalism, blind greed and superstition ultimately drowned that glorious concept. Instead, priests championed and propagated their hocus-pocus, Vedic-styled mumbo-jumbo etc and developed the Yajnas, fire-sacrifices intended to curry good favour for the sacrificer, generating good money for the priests consequently. The more sacrifices you perform, the greater will be your material and spiritual well-being! This had become the norms during the corruption of the Vedic period. And even then, material well-being was all that counted. The more elegant and moral concepts like Karma, Jyanyoga etc hadn't developed yet back then, and would take a few hundred years more to solidly make their imprint on Hinduism, especially its higher sphere.
But in the earliest hymns of the Rigveda, we find some beautiful references to the Rta, in association with Varuna, who was most probably the chief deity before the Vedas were composed. Thus, we only have a few hymns in the Rigveda which are addressed to him, but the few that are, do point towards the pre-Vadic supremacy of Lord Varuna. Varuna has been invoked again and again with Mitra, a solar deity who'd later become synonymous with Surya, during the period of the Mahabharata. However, Varuna and Mitra together constitute a pair that is quite similar to other pairs such as the Ormazd-Mithra pair in the early Zoroasterian religion. And as Prof. Bloomfield cleverly points out, Mitra and Mithra were the secondary partners in the couple, with Ahura Mazda (Ormazd) and Vanura being the primary and more important of the two.
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| In the Vedas, Mitra has often been called the eye of Varuna. This is a symbolism personifying the sunlit sky. |
It is often said, that some polytheistic religions originally started out as monotheistic religions, but later became corrupted with the seeds of polytheism. Personal preference plays a big part here. You might prefer to worship the sun, while I might be devotee of the force that causes rain, Indra. But in my opinion, the development of the Indo-Aryan (Vedic) religion from the proto-Indo-Iranian and proto-Indo-European religions is far more complicated than that. As per the reconstructed models of the proto-Indo-European religion, Dyuus-Pitri or the Sky-Father was regarded as the supreme deity, and father of the gods and men. Likewise, the earth was considered to be the mother of the Gods. This concept prevailed, and can be tracked in the Vedic and Greek mythologies, where Dyous-Pitri and Prithvi (Sky and Earth), and Oranos/Uranus and Gaia are regarded as the original parents of the deities. Gradual personification led the Greeks to believe that Kronos/Saturn (symbolizing time) usurped his father 's throne, only to be replaced by his own son Zeus/Jupiter later.
However, thanks to what Maurice Bloomfield calls arrested personification, such has not been a fate of Varuna. Here we must remember that while Varuna and Uranus can be related, Dyuus is an entirely separate entity. The name Varuna typically refers to the One who covers, and this might be a reference to the sky (REF: http://www.pantheon.org/articles/v/varuna.html). In addition, in the same article, we can see:
So, using all the information we've gathered so far, we can safely deduce that Varuna, as the guardian of the cosmos, watches over the cosmic order of Rta. It is in fact the set of natural laws arising out of unity (which is evident in the later-Vedantic concept of Brahman), that balance everything in the physical universe. Comparing the ancient wisdom with modern times, I guess we can say that gravity, electromagnetic interaction, strong and weak nuclear interactions are actually elements of this set called Rta.
In the Norse mythology, we have a story of the death of Baldur, the personification of the sun. Once, it is said, Odin, the chief of the Norse Gods (regarded as the All-Father), came to know from the Norms (the past, present and future personified as three old goddesses) that his beloved son, the sun god Baldur, will die from a sharp weapon. This was the destiny of Baldur, as per the Orlog, which is the name the Norsemen used to refer to their concept of the cosmic order, or more precisely, the primal law that exists within and through everything in existence.
Odin immediately sent out messengers to all weapons and sharp objects in the universe, commanding them not to strike his son. Every sharp object in existence obeyed Odin's command. Then, the Aesir (Norse Gods of the high heavens), gathered in their celestial ground, and developed a new game for passing the time. Each God would throw something sharp at Baldur, and it would get deflected without striking him at all! The Gods were verily amused, including Baldur himself, and they all wrongly concluded that Baldur now was out of danger.
However, Loki (the God of trickery, deceit and subterranean fire), who was jealous of Baldur's fame and popularity among the gods and mortals alike (after all, Norselands are harshly cold, and they do love their sun), decided to take advantage of the situation. He persuaded Hoder, the blind god of darkness, to throw a seemingly blunt weapon at Baldur. And it struck Baldur right in his heart, instantly killing him! Actually, the weapon so mentioned was a small, tender plant that grew beside the gate of the Norse heaven, and Loki had magically transformed it into a weapon.
The Gods grew so very sad, losing Baldur thus. Then, the All-Father Odin immediately sent word to Hel, the goddess in charge of the underworld, and asked her to release Baldur from death. Hel replied that she would do so only if every creature in existence would shed tears for Baldur. Again, the divine couple Odin and Frigga sent word to all creatures to cry for Baldur's death. Everyone genuinely cried, save one creature, that laughed and replied that it'd never cry for Baldur. Before the Gods could catch the creature, however, it escaped into the caves and vanished, and was never seen or heard again. Some say, the creature was actually Loki in disguise.
From this beautiful story, it becomes clear that even the seemingly Almighty Odin, the chief of the Germanic gods, couldn't alter the result of Orlog. Another manifestation of Orlog, as the fate or destiny of each individual, is Wyrd.
Thus, it becomes pretty clear, that the concept of the Vedic Rta and the Norse-Germanic Orlog, are similar. They might thus be the derivations of a much earlier proto-Indo-European concept. One thing becomes clear as well, that the concept of cosmic order predates the births of individual Indo-European religions.
In the Rigveda, the concept of Yama is very different from that of the Hindu God of Death, which is his much modified form that we encounter today. Instead, Yama and Yami are the twin children of Vivashwan, a solar deity who later becomes one with Surya. As the first couple, Yama and Yami were similar to Adam and Eve of the Abrahamic religions. Yami, in order to populate the world, asked Yama to procreate with her, but Yama is seen to have replied "We can not, and should not, do so, for that would be Anrta in disguise of Rta". The concept of Yama predates the story, and can be found to be related to the story of Yima, the mythical king of the proto-Iranians, who was said to have ruled the Parsi people during their golden age. But that is not the object here, in this case.
Yama's differentiating between Rta (action supported by law) and Anrta (action against law) reveals that as the Vedas progresses, the primal, cosmic order Rta slowly manifests itself as Dharma, the moral law. There is a difference between these two sets of laws, which might be too evident to be described here. But still, for the general readership, I believe an example should make it clear.
Think of the Christian Fifth Commandment - Thou Shalt Not Kill. This is a moral law, that requires our active participation, and something we should follow. One the other hand, the law of universal gravitation is a natural, cosmic law, which we can call the manifestation of the Rta.
Slowly, the natural order makes its way to become the moral law. This gradually gives rise to Dharma, which is beautifully described in the three-stage distinction between human beings in the Bhagwat Geeta. What exactly is Dharma? It is, put briefly, to act in accordance with the cosmic order. And here, the cosmic order is the will of God. For what can be in existence against the will of an Almighty, All-pervading, All-knowing deity?
As per many western philosophers, an Almighty God can have created the world only in certain ways, which are actually possible. And such a world should definitely obey mathematical laws of the universe (Rta). Why? Because the world itself will be a reflection of the God himself. And God, by his very nature, is mathematical.
Kepler too, in his later life, believed in a unique concept of God, as Geometre, the divine designer. Everything in existence is practically bound by his laws.
The Indian philosophy tackles this question similarly. The Mundaka Upanishad - 1.7 says:
Thus, we see that the presence of the cosmic order Rta in the world reveals that it is also the reflection/manifestation of the very nature of God.
Well, although the discussion we've had here might not be particularly enlightening, according to everyone, I guess it does give us some food for thought. Did the ancients reach some truly spectacular conclusions, using thought and basic observations alone, towards which the modern science also seems to be pointing? Or is the Viswarahashya (the mystery of the universe), to use the term from my native language Bengali, way more complicated than that? Is it just a stepping stone, or a simpler description of the ultimate truth itself? Only time can tell. But one thing is certain, these beautiful models that transcended borders, castes, creed, religions alike, are truly elegant.
एतावानस्य महिमातो ज्यायाँश्च पूरुषः |
पादोऽस्य विश्वा भूतानि त्रिपादस्यामृतं दिवि ||
Varuna is the keeper of the cosmic order, a force called rta. It is rta which keeps everything working as it should, and Varuna's role as the one who governs rta makes him very important indeed.In the early Vedic hymns to Varuna and Mitra being invoked together (as the Dwanda Samasa Mitra-Varunou), we see that Mitra, being regarded as a form of the sun, is called the eye of Varuna. Therefore, it is clear that Varuna is regarded as the infinite sky here. Like a lot of other ancient religions, the early Indo-Aryan (Vedic) religion also considered a number of stories of creation from the cosmic waters. Even in the later Upanishads, we find references to the formation of the earth (Bhumi) from the celestial waters (Apa), which themselves are said to emerge from the primordial fire Agni, Agni in turn arising out of the light air (Marut), which finally result out of the space of Byom (also called Akasha). Therefore, the relationship between the elements of the cosmos is clear laid in later Hinduism too.
So, using all the information we've gathered so far, we can safely deduce that Varuna, as the guardian of the cosmos, watches over the cosmic order of Rta. It is in fact the set of natural laws arising out of unity (which is evident in the later-Vedantic concept of Brahman), that balance everything in the physical universe. Comparing the ancient wisdom with modern times, I guess we can say that gravity, electromagnetic interaction, strong and weak nuclear interactions are actually elements of this set called Rta.
Rta in other religions
In the Norse mythology, we have a story of the death of Baldur, the personification of the sun. Once, it is said, Odin, the chief of the Norse Gods (regarded as the All-Father), came to know from the Norms (the past, present and future personified as three old goddesses) that his beloved son, the sun god Baldur, will die from a sharp weapon. This was the destiny of Baldur, as per the Orlog, which is the name the Norsemen used to refer to their concept of the cosmic order, or more precisely, the primal law that exists within and through everything in existence.
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| The death of Baldur |
However, Loki (the God of trickery, deceit and subterranean fire), who was jealous of Baldur's fame and popularity among the gods and mortals alike (after all, Norselands are harshly cold, and they do love their sun), decided to take advantage of the situation. He persuaded Hoder, the blind god of darkness, to throw a seemingly blunt weapon at Baldur. And it struck Baldur right in his heart, instantly killing him! Actually, the weapon so mentioned was a small, tender plant that grew beside the gate of the Norse heaven, and Loki had magically transformed it into a weapon.
The Gods grew so very sad, losing Baldur thus. Then, the All-Father Odin immediately sent word to Hel, the goddess in charge of the underworld, and asked her to release Baldur from death. Hel replied that she would do so only if every creature in existence would shed tears for Baldur. Again, the divine couple Odin and Frigga sent word to all creatures to cry for Baldur's death. Everyone genuinely cried, save one creature, that laughed and replied that it'd never cry for Baldur. Before the Gods could catch the creature, however, it escaped into the caves and vanished, and was never seen or heard again. Some say, the creature was actually Loki in disguise.
From this beautiful story, it becomes clear that even the seemingly Almighty Odin, the chief of the Germanic gods, couldn't alter the result of Orlog. Another manifestation of Orlog, as the fate or destiny of each individual, is Wyrd.
Thus, it becomes pretty clear, that the concept of the Vedic Rta and the Norse-Germanic Orlog, are similar. They might thus be the derivations of a much earlier proto-Indo-European concept. One thing becomes clear as well, that the concept of cosmic order predates the births of individual Indo-European religions.
Rta and Anrta: the transition to Dharma
In the Rigveda, the concept of Yama is very different from that of the Hindu God of Death, which is his much modified form that we encounter today. Instead, Yama and Yami are the twin children of Vivashwan, a solar deity who later becomes one with Surya. As the first couple, Yama and Yami were similar to Adam and Eve of the Abrahamic religions. Yami, in order to populate the world, asked Yama to procreate with her, but Yama is seen to have replied "We can not, and should not, do so, for that would be Anrta in disguise of Rta". The concept of Yama predates the story, and can be found to be related to the story of Yima, the mythical king of the proto-Iranians, who was said to have ruled the Parsi people during their golden age. But that is not the object here, in this case.
Yama's differentiating between Rta (action supported by law) and Anrta (action against law) reveals that as the Vedas progresses, the primal, cosmic order Rta slowly manifests itself as Dharma, the moral law. There is a difference between these two sets of laws, which might be too evident to be described here. But still, for the general readership, I believe an example should make it clear.
Think of the Christian Fifth Commandment - Thou Shalt Not Kill. This is a moral law, that requires our active participation, and something we should follow. One the other hand, the law of universal gravitation is a natural, cosmic law, which we can call the manifestation of the Rta.
Slowly, the natural order makes its way to become the moral law. This gradually gives rise to Dharma, which is beautifully described in the three-stage distinction between human beings in the Bhagwat Geeta. What exactly is Dharma? It is, put briefly, to act in accordance with the cosmic order. And here, the cosmic order is the will of God. For what can be in existence against the will of an Almighty, All-pervading, All-knowing deity?
How did the Rta originate? Eastern and Western philosophies on the matter
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| The Trimurti aspect of Shiva, the Sakara (manifested) form of Brahman |
Kepler too, in his later life, believed in a unique concept of God, as Geometre, the divine designer. Everything in existence is practically bound by his laws.
The Indian philosophy tackles this question similarly. The Mundaka Upanishad - 1.7 says:
As the spider sends forth and draws in its thread, as plants grow on the earth, as hair grows on the head and the body of a living man-so does everything in the universe arise from the Imperishable (Brahman, Purusha).Thus, the world, according to later Hindu philosophy, is created by the Brahman out of himself. The Purusha Suktam (Rigveda 10:90) also supports this statement. The slokah - Purusha Evedam Sarvam, Yadbhutam Yatra Bhabyam - beautifully narrates "The Purusha is indeed all there is, he alone is the past and the future alike".
Thus, we see that the presence of the cosmic order Rta in the world reveals that it is also the reflection/manifestation of the very nature of God.
Final Words
Well, although the discussion we've had here might not be particularly enlightening, according to everyone, I guess it does give us some food for thought. Did the ancients reach some truly spectacular conclusions, using thought and basic observations alone, towards which the modern science also seems to be pointing? Or is the Viswarahashya (the mystery of the universe), to use the term from my native language Bengali, way more complicated than that? Is it just a stepping stone, or a simpler description of the ultimate truth itself? Only time can tell. But one thing is certain, these beautiful models that transcended borders, castes, creed, religions alike, are truly elegant.
एतावानस्य महिमातो ज्यायाँश्च पूरुषः |
पादोऽस्य विश्वा भूतानि त्रिपादस्यामृतं दिवि ||
(Purusha Sukta - Rigveda 10:90.3)
His One Foot has become all these (visible) Worlds, and His Three Feet rests in the Immortal World of the Transcendence.
Credits
Mundaka Upanishad
Bhagwat Geeta
Rigveda
Lectures on Hinduism (Prof. Maurice Bloomfield)
Myths of the Norsemen: From Eddas and Sagas (H.A Guebar)
Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome (E.M Berrens)
Hindu Gods and Heroes (Lionel Barnett)
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