Brahmanical Hinduism

Vedas

One can begin by understanding the Vedas, the foundational element of Brahmanical Hinduism, as consisting of four main traditions, the Rig, Sama, Yajur, and Atharva Vedas, which are then each divided into four genres—the Samhitas, Brahmanas, Aranyakas, and Upanishads. The Samhitas constitute the first and essentially earliest layer of Vedic literature; indeed, the Rigveda Samhita is the oldest piece of literature in the entire Indo-European tradition, its earliest compositions dating from around 1200 BCE.

Though there are major religious shifts that take place within the expansive Vedic corpus, the entire religion of the Veda revolves, in one way or another, around the fire sacrifice. Early on in the tradition, such a sacrifice entailed various gods being invited to partake of gifts offered into the fire and listen to hymns of praise in exchange for granting certain desires of the sacrificer (usually this-worldly: health, wealth, progeny, etc.).

Later Vedic literature includes the Brahmanas, Aranyakas, and Upanishads, which proceed roughly chronologically from the Samhitas but still overlap over a period from about 800 to 200 BCE. The Brahmanas elaborate on such rituals, including their performance and meaning, until performance of the sacrifice is accorded a cosmic, regulative function. However, in the Upanishads, a shift takes place whereby experiential knowledge (dhyana) of the subtle meaning of the sacrifice, leading to eternal liberation from the worldly life (samsara), becomes more important than the external ritual action (karma) of its actual physical performance as described in the Samhitas and Brahmanas.

The religious authority of Vedic scripture rests on the fact that it is believed to be the auditory dimension of the fundamental nature of reality. Ancient “seers” (rishis) are believed to have directly “heard” (sruti) or cognized these scriptures and passed them on through meticulous oral transmission down to the present day. These texts are therefore authorless and eternal “records” of ultimate reality, the keys to the deepest secrets of the universe.

Shruti and Smriti

The above representation of the Veda, consisting of four major textual genres (Samhitas, Brahmanas, Aranyakas, and Upanishads) is, however, just one of several ways in which the term Veda can be understood. For instance, one often hears of the four Vedas as referring only to the four Samhitas of the Rig, Sama, Yajur, and Atharva Vedas. Even [Page 156]later material, such as the epic Mahabharata, is sometimes referred to as the “fifth Veda” despite the fact that tradition refers to a specific author producing it. This elasticity of the category “Veda” is one of the key features of Brahmanical Hinduism. “Veda” can act as an open category, whereby other textual or oral traditions are able to weave themselves into its preeminent authority.

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