brAhmaNa glue

Vaidika ideals

The vaidika ideals (../deva-s, xAtra, dharma, brahman, yajna … mentioned in the intro) easily lend themselves to the development of virile, yet harmonious and composite polytheistic rAShTra-s (states).

  • The polycentric and adaptible vaidika ideals were quite acceptable to non-vaidika pagans.

  • Further, the sheer sophistication of the continually developing vedAnga-s and kala-s were very attractive to vedic and non-vedic pagans alike.

Ritualist conservative core

  • Conservation of core vaidika ideas over millennia and across genepool-shifts involved evolution of a well-developed and influential ritualist caste (brAhmaNa-s) with a powerful oral tradition and specifically a grammatical tradition that allowed preservation of the language, especially in ritual.

Attractiveness of the brAhmaNa-s

  • The brAhmaNa ability to hold and spread the attractive vedic ideals, and their tendency towards sophistication in the shAstra-s was very impressive. They were not initially limited by Ananda-addictions and (sea-faring type) taboos.

  • Their sagely lifestyle had a charm to it. A brAhmaNa was ideally not to seek wealth - even via due fees for his yAjana [aitareya brAhmaNa - TW17].

  • Further, the brAhmaNa-s were mostly not a threat to the ruling elite (kShatriya or otherwise).

Penetration and Aryanization

  • The Aryan elite always included brAhmaNa-s. So, they initially spread with the Arya invasion.
  • Elsewhere they freely migrated (often upon invitation), bringing with them the attractive vaidika ideals and practices.
  • This facilitated the gradual Aryanization (= vedicization) of the host populations - even in the languages.
  • This was accompanied by brAhmaNa-s additionally learning (and even mastering) the local languages and practices - to the extant of becoming active in their preservation and flowering. Eg. brAhmaNa participation in early tamiL, kannaDa and telugu literature.
  • Later on, brAhmaNa-s would prove critical in resisting Christianity and Islam.
    • Francis Xavier: “If it were not for the opposition of the Brahmins, we should have them all embracing the religion of Jesus Christ.” (FX Letter to the Society at Rome - 31 December 1543)

Examples and analogies:

rAmAyaNa

  • India - Valmiki Rāmāyaṇa
  • Nepal - Sidhi
  • Sri Lanka - Jānakī-Haraṇa
  • Thailand - Ramakien
  • Japan - Ramaensho
  • Java - Kakavin
  • Cambodia - Reamker
  • Malaysia - Seri
  • Phillipines - Maharadia Lawana
  • Burma - Yamayana
  • Laos - Phra Lak Rama

The Rāmāyaṇa is truly “Asia’s Epic” & it is eternal.

Continual harmonization

  • This penetration was likely accompanied by acknowledgement of kShatriya status of local lords. Late examples include: shivAjI, the hiraNyagarbha ritual for nair rulers.
  • More widely, the brAhmaNa-s, through the evolving dharmashAstra-s and commentaries, tried to harmonize the functioning of the society - to bring order out of chaos. Thus they assisted the local lords in increasing local harmony.

National integration

  • Besides patronage, brAhmaNa-s kept freely migrating and visiting various parts of hindu-dom in quest of mantra, shAstra and tIrtha.
  • They carried with them news, lore and skills from one region to another.
  • This facilitated a certain unity in spirit (../described in the intro) throughout hindu abodes.
    • Example from Trinidad [IMG].
  • Thus, it is no joke when one declares that without the brAhmaNa-s, there would be no India. Rather, we would have an unconsolidated set of tribes (as in most of America and Africa), ready to far more easily fall to the sword of the intolerant monotheistic blight.
  • “In terms of “soft power” the Indo-Aryan and Iranian religions were far more capable of imposing themselves on various east Asian peoples including the Mongols and Turks than vice-versa. Indeed, the religion of the Hindu even impressed itself on the Islamized Turko-Mongol tyrant Akbar in his later days. "

Defence

“Unlike today, in the past it was an important factor for the survival of the Hindus. As the Greek observers remarked the brAhmaNa-s called upon the rulers repeatedly to unrelentingly keep fighting until all vestiges of Macedonian military presence were wiped out in northwestern India. Their cousins, the old Iranians were similar even though they were on the losing side. Long after Darius had fallen the zaotar Spitamanes of the clan of Zarathushtra was able to mobilize the Iranians in a fight unto death against the Macedonians.”

Indologist frustrated speculation

Johannes Bronkhorst

Unusual success

Brahmanism did not ‘have one single empire, nor did it have its ‘Constantine’. On the contrary, Brahmanism was introduced in numerous kingdoms of relatively limited size. And there is a further difference: Constantine converted to Christianity, but no king needed to convert to Brahmanism. Brahmanism is not the kind of thing you can convert to. Calling it a religion, as we know, is stretching the meaning of this term. It makes more sense to call it a socio-political ideology with a variable religious dimension. Indeed, a ruler, or anyone else, might combine sympathies for Brahmanism and, say, Buddhism. Inscriptions confirm that rulers could have such combined sympathies.

Attractiveness to rulers

If kings did not convert to Brahmanism, why did they bother to invite Brahmins and promote their vision of society? Why should they accept the claim that Brahmins are superior to everyone else, including the king himself? Why should they give gifts to Brahmins, often in the form of agrahāras? What were such gifts expected to bring the donors? An answer that the inscriptions themselves propose is increase of merit. To some extent this begs the question. Why should a ruler wish to obtain the kind of merit that Brahmanism promises? They may have hoped for a good afterlife, to be sure. But clearly they had to believe first that gifts to Brahmins were the way to attain this. As usual with claims about the afterlife, there was no way to verify them. We may assume that rulers also expected more visible results from their largesse, such as magical protection for their kingdom and kingship. But even such practical expectations were built, and had to be built, on a reputation that preceded the Brahmins. Somehow it should be known’ that the presence and support of Brahmins was good for a kingdom before a ruler would get involved with them.

Source of brAhmin reputation

How did Brahmins succeed in building such a reputation for themselves? The details of this process will probably forever remain hidden from us. We may surmise that pure chance played a role, followed, after initial successes, by a snowball effect. The early Buddhist texts create the impression that there were Brahmins traveling beyond their core area who put effort into promoting their vision of society to whoever was ready to listen. Most of the discussions of Brahmins with the Buddha—if the texts are to be believed—turned around the superiority of Brahmins. These Brahmins combined this missionary activity …