View source for Historical Vedic religion

{{Short description|1500–500 BC Indo-Aryan religious practices of northwest India}}
{{redirect|Brahamic|the writing scripts|Brahmic scripts}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}
[[File:Late Vedic Culture (1100-500 BCE).png|thumb|The spread of the Vedic culture in the late [[Vedic period]]. ''[[Aryavarta]]'' was limited to northwest India and the western Ganges plain, while [[Greater Magadha]] in the east was occupied by non-Vedic Indo-Aryans.{{sfn|Bronkhorst|2007}}{{sfn|Samuel|2010}} The location of [[shakha]]s is labeled in maroon.]]
{{Hinduism small}}
{{Indo-European topics |Religion and mythology}}

The historical '''Vedic religion''' (also known as '''Vedicism''', '''Vedism''' or ''' ancient Hinduism'''{{efn|name="Vedic Hinduism"}}), and subsequently '''Brahmanism''' (also spelled as '''Brahminism'''), constituted the religious ideas and practices among some of the [[Indo-Aryan peoples]] of northwest India ([[Punjab]] and the western [[Ganges]] plain) of [[ancient India]] during the [[Vedic period]] (1500–500 BCE).{{sfn|Heesterman|2005|pp=9552–9553}}<ref name=britannicavedic>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Vedic-religion |title=Vedic religion |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica}}</ref>{{sfn|Sullivan |2001|p=9}}{{sfn|Samuel |2010 |pp=97-99, 113-118}} These ideas and practices are found in the [[Vedas|Vedic texts]], and some Vedic rituals are still practiced today.{{sfn|Knipe|2015|pp=41-45, 220-223}}<ref name=Witzel2004/><ref name=Witzel_Kalasha/> It is one of the major traditions which [[Origins of Hinduism|shaped Hinduism]], though present-day [[Hinduism]] is markedly different from the historical Vedic religion.{{sfn|Sullivan |2001|p=9}}{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=38}}{{refn|group=note|name="Michaels-legacy"}}

The Vedic religion developed in the northwestern region of the [[Indian subcontinent]] during the early Vedic period (1500–1100 BCE), but has roots in the [[Eurasian Steppe]] [[Sintashta culture]] (2200–1800 BCE), the subsequent Central Asian [[Andronovo culture]] (2000–900 BCE),{{sfn|Anthony|2007}}{{efn|name="Indo-Aryans"}} and the [[Indus Valley Civilisation]] (2600–1900 BCE).{{sfn|White|2003}} It was a composite of the religion of the Central Asian [[Indo-Aryans]], itself "a syncretic mixture of old Central Asian and new Indo-European elements",{{sfn|Anthony|2007|p=462}} which borrowed "distinctive religious beliefs and practices"{{sfn|Beckwith|2011|p=32}} from the [[Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex|Bactria–Margiana culture]];{{sfn|Beckwith|2011|p=32}} and the remnants of the [[Indus Valley Civilization|Harappan]] culture of the Indus Valley.{{sfn|White|2003|p=28}}

During the late Vedic period (1100–500 BCE) Brahmanism developed out of the Vedic religion, as an ideology of the [[Kuru Kingdom|Kuru]]-[[Panchala]] realm which expanded into a wider area after the demise of the Kuru-Pancala realm. Brahmanism was one of the major influences that shaped contemporary [[Hinduism]], when it was synthesized with the non-Vedic Indo-Aryan religious heritage of the eastern Ganges plain (which also gave rise to [[Buddhism]] and [[Jainism]]), and with local religious traditions.<ref name="Vedic religion">{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Vedic-religion|title=Vedic religion|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica|quote=It [Vedic religion] takes its name from the collections of sacred texts known as the Vedas. Vedism is the oldest stratum of religious activity in India for which there exist written materials. It was one of the major traditions that shaped Hinduism.}}</ref>{{sfn|Samuel|2010}}{{sfn|Bronkhorst|2007}}{{sfn|Witzel|1995}}{{efn|name="Vedic Hinduism"}}

Specific rituals and sacrifices of the Vedic religion include, among others: the [[Soma (drink)|Soma]] rituals; [[Fire ritual]]s involving oblations ([[Homa (ritual)|havir]]); and the [[Ashvamedha]] ([[horse sacrifice]]).<ref name="Prasoon"/><ref name="Griffith 1987">{{cite book|first=Ralph Thomas Hotchkin|last=Griffith|url=https://archive.org/details/textswhiteyajur00grifgoog|title=The Texts of the White Yajurveda. Translated with a popular commentary|orig-year=1899|place=Benaras|year=1987|edition=Reprint|isbn=81-215-0047-8|publisher=E. J. Lazarus and Co.}}</ref> The rites of grave burials as well as [[cremation]] are seen since the Rigvedic period.<ref>{{cite book|author=Stephanie Jamison|title=The Rigveda — Earliest Religious Poetry of India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1LTRDwAAQBAJ|year=2015|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0190633394|pages=1393, 1399}}</ref> Deities emphasized in the Vedic religion include [[Dyaus]], [[Indra]], [[Agni]], and [[Varuna]], and important ethical concepts include ''[[satya]]'' and ''[[ṛta]]''.

==Terminology==
''Vedism'' refers to the oldest form of the Vedic [[religion]],  when Indo-Aryans entered into the valley of the [[Indus River]] in multiple waves during the 2nd millennium BCE. ''Brahmanism'' refers to the further developed form which took shape at the Ganges basin around c. 1000 BCE.<ref name="Heesterman1987">Jan C. Heesterman (1987) (1987), [https://www.encyclopedia.com/environment/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/vedism-and-brahmanism ''Vedism and Brahmanism''], MacMillan Encyclopedia of Religion</ref>{{sfn|Witzel|1995}} According to Heesterman, "It is loosely known as Brahmanism because of the religious and legal importance it places on the brāhmaṇa (priestly) class of society."<ref name="Heesterman1987"/>

==Origins and development==
{{see|Indo-Aryans|Indo-Aryan migrations|Vedic period|Indo-European migrations|Proto-Indo-European religion|Proto-Indo-Iranian religion}}

===Indo-Aryan Vedic religion===
The Vedic religion refers to the religious beliefs of some of the Vedic [[Indo-Aryan peoples|Indo-Aryan]] tribes, the ''aryas'',{{sfn|Kuz'mina|2007|p=319}}{{sfn|Singh|2008|p=185}}{{efn|Michaels: "They called themselves ''arya'' ('Aryans', literally 'the hospitable', from the Vedic ''arya'', 'homey, the hospitable') but even in the Rgveda, ''arya'' denotes a cultural and linguistic boundary and not only a racial one."{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=33}}}} who migrated into the Indus River valley region of the Indian subcontinent after the collapse of the [[Indus Valley Civilisation|Indus Valley Civilization]].{{sfn|Heesterman|2005|pp=9552–9553}}{{efn|name="Indo-Aryans"}} The Vedic religion, and subsequent Brahmanism center on the myths and ritual ideologies of the Vedas, as distinguished from [[Agama (Hinduism)|Agamic]], [[Tantra|Tantric]] and sectarian forms of Indian religion, which take recourse to the authority of non-Vedic textual sources.{{sfn|Heesterman|2005|pp=9552–9553}} The Vedic religion is described in the [[Vedas]] and associated voluminous Vedic literature including the early [[Upanishads]], preserved into the modern times by the different priestly schools.<ref name="jamisonwitzelp2" />{{sfn|Heesterman|2005|pp=9552–9553}} It existed in the western Ganges plain in the early Vedic period from c. 1500–1100&nbsp;BCE,{{sfn|Michaels|2004|pp=32–36}}{{efn|There is no exact dating possible for the beginning of the Vedic period. Witzel mentions a range between 1900 and 1400&nbsp;BCE.{{sfn|Witzel|1995|pp=3–4}} Flood (1996) mentions 1500&nbsp;BCE.{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=21}}}} and developed into Brahmanism in the late Vedic period (1100–500 BCE).{{sfn|Witzel|1995}}{{sfn|Bronkhorst|2016|pp=9–10}} The eastern Ganges-plain was dominated by another Indo-Aryan complex, which rejected the later Brahmanical ideology, and gave rise to [[Jainism]] and [[Buddhism]], and the [[Maurya Empire|Mauryan Empire]].{{sfn|Bronkhorst|2007}}{{sfn|Samuel|2010}}

The Indo-Aryans were speakers of a branch of the [[Indo-European language]] family, which originated in the [[Sintashta culture]] and further developed into the [[Andronovo culture]], which in turn developed out of the [[Kurgan]] culture of the [[Central Asia]]n [[steppes]].{{sfn|Anthony|2007}}<!-- **START OF NOTE** -->{{efn|name="Indo-Aryans"|The Indo-Aryans were pastoralists{{sfn|Witzel|1995}} who migrated into north-western India after the collapse of the [[Indus Valley Civilization]],{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=33}}{{sfn|Flood|1996|pp=30–35}}{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=5}} bringing with them their language{{sfn|Samuel|2010|p=53–56}} and religion.{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=30}}{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2007|pp=5–7}} They were closely related to the Indo-Aryans who founded [[Mitanni]] kingdom in northern Syria{{sfn|Anthony|2007|p=454}} (c.1500–1300&nbsp;BCE).<br>Both groups were rooted in the [[Andronovo]]-culture{{sfn|Anthony|2007|pp=410–411}} in the [[Bactria]]–[[Margiana]] era, in present northern Afghanistan,{{sfn|Anthony|2007|p=454}} and related to the [[Indo-Iranians]], from which they split off around 1800–1600&nbsp;BCE.{{sfn|Anthony|2007|p=408}} Their roots go back further to the [[Sintashta culture]], with funeral sacrifices which show close parallels to the sacrificial funeral rites of the ''Rig Veda''.{{sfn|Anthony|2007|pp=375, 408–411}}<br>The immigrations consisted probably of small groups of people.{{sfn|Anthony|2007}} [[Jonathan Mark Kenoyer|Kenoyer]] (1998) notes that "there is no archaeological or biological evidence for invasions or mass migrations into the Indus Valley between the end of the Harappan phase, about 1900&nbsp;B.C. and the beginning of the Early Historic period around 600&nbsp;B.C."<ref>{{cite book |author=Kenoyer, M. |year=1998 |title=Ancient Cities of the Indus Valley Civilization |page=174 |location=Oxford, U.K. |publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref><br>For an overview of the current relevant research, see the following references.<ref>{{cite journal |author-link=Michael Witzel |first=Michael |last=Witzel |year=2001 |url=http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~witzel/EJVS-7-3.pdf |title=Autochthonous Aryans? The Evidence from Old Indian and Iranian Texts |journal=Electronic Journal of Vedic Studies (EJVS) |volume=7 |issue=3 |pages=1–93}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author-link=Shereen Ratnagar |first=Shereen |last=Ratnagar |year=2008 |contribution=The Aryan homeland debate in India |editor1=Kohl, P. L. |editor2=Kozelsky, M. |editor3=Ben-Yehuda, N. |title=Selective Remembrances: Archaeology in the construction, commemoration, and consecration of national pasts |pages=349–378}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author-link=Suraj Bhan (archaeologist) |first=Suraj |last=Bhan |year=2002 |contribution=Aryanization of the Indus Civilization |editor1=Panikkar, K. N. |editor2=Byres, T. J. |editor3=Patnaik, U. |title=The Making of History |pages=41–55}}</ref>{{sfn|Anthony|2007}}}}<!-- **END OF NOTE** --><!-- **START OF NOTE** -->{{efn|Some writers and archaeologists have opposed the notion of a migration of Indo-Aryans into India,{{sfn|Bryant|2001}}<ref>Bryant, Edwin. 2001. ''The Indo-Aryan Controversy'', p.&nbsp;342{{clarify|reason=title / year mismatch?|date=November 2010}}</ref>{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=33}}{{sfn|Singh|2008|p=186}} due to a lack of archaeological evidence and signs of cultural continuity,{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=33}} hypothesizing instead a slow process of acculturation{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=33}} or transformation.{{sfn|Flood|1996|pp=30–35}} According to Upinder Singh, "The original homeland of the Indo-Europeans and Indo-Aryans is the subject of continuing debate among philologists, linguists, historians, archaeologists, and others. The dominant view is that the Indo-Aryams came to the subcontinent as immigrants. Another view, advocated mainly by some Indian scholars, is that they were indigenous to the subcontinent."{{sfn|Singh|2008|p=186}} Edwin Bryant used the term "Indo-Aryan controversy" for an oversight of the Indo-Aryan migration theory, and some of its opponents.{{sfn|Bryant|Patton|2005}}<br>Mallory and Adams note that two types of models "enjoy significant international currency", namely the [[Anatolian hypothesis]], and a migration out of the Eurasian steppes.{{sfn|Mallory|Adams|2006|pp=460–461}} Linguistic and archaeological data clearly show a cultural change after 1750&nbsp;BCE,{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=33}} with the linguistic and religious data clearly showing links with Indo-European languages and religion.{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=33}} According to Singh, "The dominant view is that the Indo-Aryans came to the subcontinent as immigrants."{{sfn|Singh|2008|p=186}}<br>An overview of the "Indigenist position" can be obtained from Bryant & Patton (2005).{{sfn|Bryant|Patton|2005}} See also the article [[Indigenous Aryans]]}}<!-- **END OF NOTE** --> The commonly proposed period of earlier Vedic age is dated back to 2nd&nbsp;millennium BCE.<ref>{{cite book|title=The History of India|author=Pletcher, Kenneth|publisher=Britannica Educational Publishing|page=60|year=2010}}</ref>

The Vedic beliefs and practices of the pre-classical era were closely related to the hypothesised [[Proto-Indo-European religion]],<ref name="Woodard2006">{{cite book|author=Roger D. Woodard|title=Indo-European Sacred Space: Vedic and Roman Cult|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EB4fB0inNYEC&pg=FA242|date=18 August 2006|publisher=University of Illinois Press|isbn=978-0-252-09295-4|pages=242–}}</ref>{{efn|See Kuzʹmina (2007), ''The Origin of the Indo-Iranians'', p.&nbsp;339, for an overview of publications up to 1997 on this subject.}} and shows relations with rituals from the [[Andronovo culture]], from which the Indo-Aryan people descended.{{sfn|Kus'mina|2007|p=319}} According to Anthony, the Old Indic religion probably emerged among Indo-European immigrants in the contact zone between the [[Zeravshan River]] (present-day [[Uzbekistan]]) and (present-day) Iran.{{sfn|Anthony|2007|p=462}} It was "a syncretic mixture of old Central Asian and new Indo-European elements"{{sfn|Anthony|2007|p=462}} which borrowed "distinctive religious beliefs and practices"{{sfn|Beckwith|2011|p=32}} from the [[Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex|Bactria–Margiana Culture]] (BMAC).{{sfn|Beckwith|2011|p=32}} This syncretic influence is supported by at least [[Substratum in Vedic Sanskrit|383&nbsp;non-Indo-European words that were borrowed]] from this culture, including the god [[Indra]] and the ritual drink [[Soma (drink)|Soma]].{{sfn|Anthony|2007|pp=454–455}} According to Anthony,
{{blockquote|Many of the qualities of Indo-Iranian god of might/victory, [[Verethraghna]], were transferred to the adopted god Indra, who became the central deity of the developing Old Indic culture. Indra was the subject of 250&nbsp;hymns, a quarter of the ''Rig Veda''. He was associated more than any other deity with ''Soma'', a stimulant drug (perhaps derived from ''[[Ephedra (medicine)|Ephedra]]'') probably borrowed from the [[Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex|BMAC]] religion. His rise to prominence was a peculiar trait of the Old Indic speakers.{{sfn|Anthony|2007|p=454}}}}

The oldest inscriptions in Old Indic, the language of the ''Rig Veda'', are found not in northwestern India and Pakistan, but in northern Syria, the location of the [[Mitanni]] kingdom.{{sfn|Anthony|2007|p=49}} The Mitanni kings took Old Indic throne names, and Old Indic technical terms were used for horse-riding and chariot-driving.{{sfn|Anthony|2007|p=49}} The Old Indic term [[Ṛta|r'ta]], meaning "cosmic order and truth", the central concept of the ''Rig Veda'', was also employed in the Mitanni kingdom.{{sfn|Anthony|2007|p=49}} Old Indic gods, including [[Indra]], were also known in the Mitanni kingdom.{{sfn|Anthony|2007|p=50}}{{sfn|Flood|2008|p=68}}{{sfn|Melton|Baumann|2010|p=1412}}

The Vedic religion was the product of "a composite of the Indo-Aryan and Harappan cultures and civilizations".{{sfn|White|2006|p=28}} White (2003) cites three other scholars who "have emphatically demonstrated" that Vedic religion is partially derived from the [[Indus Valley Civilization]].{{sfn|White|2003|p=28}} The Vedic religion texts are cerebral, orderly and intellectual, but it is unclear if the theory in diverse Vedic texts actually reflect the folk practices, iconography and other practical aspects of the Vedic religion.

The Vedic religion changed when Indo-Aryan people migrated into the [[Indo-Gangetic Plain|Ganges Plain]] after c.&nbsp;1100&nbsp;BCE and became settled farmers,{{sfn|Witzel|1995}}{{sfn|Samuel|2010|pp=48–51, 61–93}}{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2007|pp=8–10}} further syncretising with the native cultures of northern India.{{sfn|Samuel|2010}}{{page needed|date=August 2018}}{{sfn|Heesterman|2005|pp=9552–9553}} The evidence suggests that the Vedic religion evolved in "two superficially contradictory directions", state Jamison and Witzel, namely an ever more "elaborate, expensive, and specialized system of rituals",<ref name=jamisonwitzel/> which survives in the present-day ''srauta''-ritual,<ref name="West2010"/> and "abstraction and internalization of the principles underlying ritual and cosmic speculation" within oneself,<ref name=jamisonwitzel>{{cite web |first1=Stephanie |last1=Jamison |first2=Michael |last2=Witzel |year=1992 |url=http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~witzel/vedica.pdf |title=Vedic Hinduism |publisher=Harvard University |pages=1–5, 47–52, 74–77 |access-date=4 August 2018 }}</ref>{{sfn|Samuel|2010|p=113}} akin to the Jain and Buddhist tradition.

Aspects of the historical Vedic religion survived into modern times. The [[Nambudiri]] Brahmins continue the ancient Śrauta rituals. The complex Vedic rituals of [[Shrauta|Śrauta]] continue to be practiced in [[Kerala]] and [[coastal Andhra]].{{sfn|Knipe|2015|pp=1–50}} The [[Kalash people]] residing in northwest Pakistan also continue to practice a form of ancient Hinduism.<ref name="West2010"/><!-- **START OF NOTE** -->{{efn|Up to the late 19th century, the [[Nuristanis]] of Afghanistan observed a primitive form of Hinduism until they were [[forced conversion|forcibly converted]] to Islam under the rule of [[Abdur Rahman Khan]].<ref name="Minahan2014">{{cite book |last=Minahan |first=James B. |title=Ethnic Groups of North, East, and Central Asia: An Encyclopedia |year= 2014 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |language=en |isbn=9781610690188|page=205 |quote=Living in the high mountain valleys, the Nuristani retained their ancient culture and their religion, a form of ancient Hinduism with many customs and rituals developed locally. Certain deities were revered only by one tribe or community, but one deity was universally worshipped by all Nuristani as the Creator, the Hindu god Yama Raja, called ''imr'o'' or ''imra'' by the Nuristani tribes.}}</ref><ref name="BarringtonKendrick2006">{{cite book |last1=Barrington |first1=Nicholas |last2=Kendrick |first2=Joseph T. |last3=Schlagintweit |first3=Reinhard |title=A Passage to Nuristan: Exploring the mysterious Afghan hinterland |date=18 April 2006 |publisher=[[I.B. Tauris]] |language=en |isbn=9781845111755 |page=111 |quote=Prominent sites include Hadda, near Jalalabad, but Buddhism never seems to have penetrated the remote valleys of Nuristan, where the people continued to practice an early form of polytheistic Hinduism.}}</ref><ref name="WeissMaurer2012">{{cite book |last1=Weiss |first1=Mitch |last2=Maurer |first2=Kevin |title=No Way Out: A story of valor in the mountains of Afghanistan |date=31 December 2012 |publisher=Berkley Caliber |language=en |isbn=9780425253403 |page=299 |quote=Up until the late nineteenth century, many Nuristanis practiced a primitive form of Hinduism. It was the last area in Afghanistan to convert to Islam—and the conversion was accomplished by the sword.}}</ref> However, aspects of the historical Vedic religion survived in other corners of the Indian subcontinent, such as [[Kerala]], where the [[Nambudiri]] Brahmins continue the ancient Śrauta rituals. The [[Kalash people]] residing in northwest Pakistan also continue to practice a form of ancient Hinduism.<ref name="West2010">{{cite book |last=West |first=Barbara A. |title=Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Asia and Oceania |date=19 May 2010 |publisher=[[Infobase Publishing]] |language=en |isbn=9781438119137 |page=357 |quote=The Kalasha are a unique people living in just three valleys near Chitral, Pakistan, the capital of North-West Frontier Province, which borders Afghanistan. Unlike their neighbors in the Hindu Kush Mountains on both the Afghani and Pakistani sides of the border the Kalasha have not converted to Islam. During the mid-20th century a few Kalasha villages in Pakistan were forcibly converted to this dominant religion, but the people fought the conversion and once official pressure was removed the vast majority continued to practice their own religion. Their religion is a form of Hinduism that recognizes many gods and spirits&nbsp;... given their Indo-Aryan language,&nbsp;... the religion of the Kalasha is much more closely aligned to the Hinduism of their Indian neighbors that to the religion of Alexander the Great and his armies.}}</ref><ref name="Bezhan2017">{{cite web |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/28439107.html |title=Pakistan's Forgotten Pagans get their Due |last=Bezhan |first=Frud |date=19 April 2017 |publisher=[[Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty]] |language=en |access-date=31 July 2017 |quote=About half of the Kalash practice a form of ancient Hinduism infused with old pagan and animist beliefs.}}</ref>}}<!-- **END OF NOTE** -->

According to [[Heinrich von Stietencron]], in the 19th&nbsp;century, in western publications, the Vedic religion was believed to be different from and unrelated to Hinduism. The Hindu religion was thought to be linked to the [[Hindu epics]] and the [[Puranas]] through sects based on [[purohita]], [[tantra]]s and ''[[Bhakti]]''. In the 20th&nbsp;century, a better understanding of the Vedic religion and its shared heritage and theology with contemporary Hinduism has led scholars to view the historical Vedic religion as ancestral to modern Hinduism.{{sfn|von Stietencron|2005|pp=231–237 with footnotes}} The historical Vedic religion is now generally accepted to be a predecessor of [[Hinduism]], but they are not the same because the textual evidence suggests significant differences between the two,<!-- **START OF NOTE** -->{{efn|name="Vedic Hinduism"|Scholars such as Jan Gonda have used the term '''ancient Hinduism''', distinguishing it from "recent Hinduism". [[Stephanie W. Jamison]] and Michael Witzel (1992) "...&nbsp;to call this period Vedic Hinduism is a ''[[contradictio in terminis]]'' since Vedic religion is very different from what we generally call Hindu religion – at least as much as Old Hebrew religion is from medieval and modern Christian religion. However, Vedic religion is treatable as a predecessor of Hinduism".<ref name=jamisonwitzelp2>{{cite web |first1=Stephanie |last1=Jamison |first2=Michael |last2=Witzel |year=1992 |url=http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~witzel/vedica.pdf |title=Vedic Hinduism |publisher=Harvard University |pages=2–4 |access-date=4 August 2018 }}</ref><br>According to the ''Encyclopædia Britannica'', from the Vedic religion emerged '''Brahmanism''', a religious tradition of ancient India. It states, "Brahmanism emphasized the rites performed by, and the status of, the Brahman, or priestly, class as well as speculation about Brahman (the Absolute reality) as theorized in the Upanishads (speculative philosophical texts that are considered to be part of the Vedas, or scriptures)."<ref name=britannicabrahmanism>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/77141/Brahmanism |title=Brahmanism |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica}}</ref> From Brahmanism developed Hinduism, when it was synthesized with the non-Vedic Indo-Aryan religious heritage of the eastern Ganges plain and with local religious traditions.<ref name="Vedic religion" />{{sfn|Samuel|2010}}{{sfn|Bronkhorst|2007}}{{sfn|Witzel|1995}}}}<!-- **END OF NOTE** --> such as the belief in an [[afterlife]] instead of the later developed [[reincarnation]] and [[Saṃsāra|samsāra]] concepts.{{sfn|Laumakis|2008}}{{page needed|date=October 2021}} The [[Hindu reform movements]] and the [[Neo-Vedanta]] have emphasized the Vedic heritage and "ancient Hinduism", and this term has been co-opted by some Hindus.{{sfn|von Stietencron|2005|pp=231–237 with footnotes}}

===Brahmanism===
{{See also|Smarta tradition}}

====Historical Brahminism====
''Brahmanism'', also called ''Brahminism'', developed out of the Vedic religion, incorporating non-Vedic religious ideas, and expanding to a [[Aryavarta|region stretching from]] the northwest Indian subcontinent to the Ganges valley.{{sfn|Heesterman|2005|pp=9552–9553}}{{sfn|Witzel|1995}} Brahmanism included the Vedic corpus, but also post-Vedic texts such as the ''Dharmasutras'' and ''Dharmasastras'', which gave prominence to the priestly ([[Brahmin]]) class of the society,{{sfn|Heesterman|2005|pp=9552–9553}} Heesterman also mentions the post-Vedic [[Smriti]] ([[Puranas]] and the Epics),{{sfn|Heesterman|2005|pp=9552–9553}} which are also incorporated in the later [[Smarta tradition]]. The emphasis on ritual and the dominant position of Brahmans developed as an ideology developed in the [[Kuru Kingdom|Kuru-Pancala realm]], and expanded over a wider area after the demise of the Kuru-Pancala kingdom.{{sfn|Witzel|1995}} It co-existed with local religions, such as the [[Yaksha]] cults.{{sfn|Samuel|2010}}{{sfn|Basham|1989|pp=74–75}}<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/651312/yaksha |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |title=yaksha}}</ref>

The word ''Brahmanism'' was coined by Gonçalo Fernandes Trancoso (1520–1596) in the 16th century.<ref name="Županov2005">{{cite book |last=Županov |first=Ines G. |title=Missionary Tropics: The Catholic Frontier in India (16th–17th Centuries) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Nix4M4dy7nQC&pg=PA18 |year=2005 |publisher=University of Michigan Press |isbn=0-472-11490-5 |pages=18ff}}</ref> Historically, and still by some modern authors, the word 'Brahmanism' was used in English to refer to the [[Hinduism|Hindu religion]], treating the term Brahmanism as synonymous with [[Hinduism]], and using it interchangeably.<ref>{{cite book |first1=Jacques |last1=Maritain |first2=E. I. |last2=Watkin |title=An Introduction to Philosophy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n9GnOWELyRYC |year=2005|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-0-7425-5053-7 |page=7 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Catherine A. |last=Robinson |title=Interpretations of the Bhagavad-Gita and Images of the Hindu Tradition: The song of the Lord |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NKHKAgAAQBAJ |year=2014 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-27891-6 |at=page&nbsp;164, footnote&nbsp;9}}</ref> In the 18th and 19th centuries, Brahminism was the most common term used in English for Hinduism.
Brahmanism gave importance to Absolute Reality (Brahman) speculations in the early [[Upanishads]], as these terms are etymologically linked, which developed from post-Vedic ideas during the late Vedic era.<ref name="britannicavedic" /><ref name="Maritain2005p6">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n9GnOWELyRYC&pg=PA7 |title=An Introduction to Philosophy |first=Jacques |last=Maritain |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-7425-5053-7 |at=pages&nbsp;6–7 footnote&nbsp;1 |quote=This [the primitive religion of the Vedas] resulted, after a period of confusion, in the formation of a new system, Brahmanism (or Hinduism), which is essentially a philosophy, a metaphysic, a work of human speculation, ...; [footnote&nbsp;1]...&nbsp;the neuter, ''Brahman'', as the one impersonal substance.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FLuEAgAAQBAJ |title=Eastern Philosophy: Key Readings |first=Oliver |last=Leaman |publisher=Routledge |year=2002 |isbn=978-1-134-68918-7 |pages=64–65 |quote=The early Upanishads are primarily metaphysical treatises concerned with identifying the Brahman, the ground of the universe.&nbsp;... The essence of early Brahmanism is the search for the Absolute and its natural development is in Vedantin monism which claims that the soul is identical with the Absolute.}}</ref><ref name="Biardeau1994p17">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/hinduism00made |url-access=registration |title=Hinduism: The anthropology of a civilization |first=Madeleine |last=Biardeau |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1994 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/hinduism00made/page/17 17]–22}}</ref> The concept of Brahman is posited as that which existed before the creation of the universe, which constitutes all of existence thereafter, and into which the universe will dissolve, followed by similar endless creation-maintenance-destruction cycles.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/pli.kerala.rare.1673 |title=Brāhmanism and Hindūism: Or, Religious Thought and Life in India, as Based on the Veda and Other Sacred Books of the Hindūs |first=Monier |last=Monier-Williams |publisher=J. Murray |year=1891 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/pli.kerala.rare.1673/page/n27 2]–3}}</ref>{{sfn|Sullivan|2001|p=137}}<ref name="james122">{{cite book |first=James |last=Lochtefeld |article=Brahman |title=The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism |volume=1: A–M |publisher=Rosen Publishing |isbn=978-0823931798 |page=[https://archive.org/details/illustratedencyc0000loch/page/122 122] |date=2001 |url=https://archive.org/details/illustratedencyc0000loch/page/122 }}</ref>{{efn|For the metaphysical concept of Brahman, see: {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qv3fCgAAQBAJ|title=Hindus: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices |first=Julius |last=Lipner |author-link=Julius Lipner |publisher=Routledge |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-135-24061-5 |pages=251–252, 283, 366–369|postscript=;}} {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pv4jgvvAaQMC |title=Hindu Ethics: A Philosophical Study |first=Roy W. |last=Perrett |publisher=University of Hawaii Press |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-8248-2085-5 |pages=53–54}}}}

The post-Vedic period of the Second Urbanisation saw a decline of Brahmanism.{{sfn|Michaels|2004|pp=37–39}}{{sfn|Bronkhorst|2017|p=363}} With the growth of cities, which threatened the income and patronage of the rural Brahmins; the rise of Buddhism; and the [[Indian campaign of Alexander the Great]] (327–325 BCE), the rise of the [[Mauryan Empire]] (322–185 BCE), and the [[Indo-Scythians|Saka]] invasions and rule of northwestern India (2nd c. BC – 4th c. CE), Brahmanism faced a grave threat to its existence.{{sfn|Bronkhorst|2016|pp=9–10}}{{sfn|Michaels|2014}} This was overcome by providing new services{{sfn|Bronkhorst|2015|p=2}} and incorporating the non-Vedic Indo-Aryan religious heritage of the eastern Ganges plain and local religious traditions, giving rise to contemporary [[Hinduism]].{{sfn|Bronkhorst|2016|pp=9–10}}<ref name="Vedic religion" />{{sfn|Samuel|2010}}{{sfn|Bronkhorst|2007}}{{sfn|Witzel|1995}}{{sfn|Heesterman|2005|pp=9552–9553}}{{efn|name="Vedic Hinduism"}} This "new Brahmanism" appealed to rulers, who were attracted to the supernatural powers and the practical advice Brahmis could provide,{{sfn|Bronkhorst|2015|p=2}} and resulted in a resurgence of Brahmanical influence, dominating Indian society since the classical Age of Hinduism in the early centuries CE.{{sfn|Bronkhorst|2016|pp=9–10}}{{sfn|Michaels|2014}}

====As a polemical term====
Nowadays, the term Brahmanism, used interchangeably with ''Brahminism'', is used in several ways. It denotes the specific Brahmanical rituals and worldview as preserved in the [[Śrauta]] ritual, as distinct from the wide range of popular cultic activity with little connection with them. Brahminism also refers specifically to the Brahminical ideology, which sees Brahmins as naturally privileged people entitled to rule and dominate society.<ref>{{cite q|Q108732338|url=https://www.hindutvaharassmentfieldmanual.org/glossary#brahmanism}}</ref> The term may be used by [[Anti-Brahminism|anti-Brahminical opponents]], who object against their domination of Indian society and their exclusivist ideology.<ref>[http://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/hindutva-is-nothing-but-brahminism/215089 'Hindutva Is Nothing But Brahminism'], ''Outlook'', 5 April 2002.</ref> They follow the outline of 19th century colonial rulers, who viewed India's culture as corrupt and degenerate, and its population as irrational. In this view, derived from a Christian understanding of religion, the original "God-given religion" was corrupted by priests, in this case Brahmins, and their religion, "[[Brahminism]]", which was supposedly imposed on the Indian population.<ref name="Gelders_Delders_2003">Raf Gelders, Willem Delders (2003),[https://www.researchgate.net/publication/262123666_Mantras_of_Anti-Brahmanism_Colonial_Experience_of_Indian_Intellectuals Mantras of Anti-Brahmanism: Colonial Experience of Indian Intellectuals],     Economic and Political Weekly 38(43):4611-4617. DOI:10.2307/4414197</ref> Reformist Hindus, and others such as [[B. R. Ambedkar|Ambedkar]], structured their criticism along similar lines."<ref name="Gelders_Delders_2003"/>

==Textual history==
[[File:Isapur_sacrificial_pillar_of_Vasishka.jpg|thumb|upright=0.5|A [[Yupa]] sacrificial post of the time of [[Vasishka]], 3rd century CE. Isapur, near [[Mathura]]. [[Mathura Museum]].]]
Texts dating to the Vedic period, composed in [[Vedic Sanskrit]], are mainly the four Vedic [[Samhita]]s, but the [[Brahmana]]s, [[Aranyaka]]s, and some of the older [[Upanishads]]{{efn|Upanishads thought to date from the Vedic period are [[Brihadaranyaka Upanishad|Bṛhadāraṇyaka]], [[Chandogya Upanishad|Chāndogya]], [[Jaiminiya Upanishad Brahmana]].}} are also placed in this period. The Vedas record the [[liturgy]] connected with the rituals and sacrifices. These texts are also considered as a part of the scripture of contemporary Hinduism.<ref name="Goodall2001ix">{{cite book |first=Dominic |last=Goodall |title=Hindu Scriptures |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EKUteclXOK8C |year=2001 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-1770-8 |pages=ix–xx}}</ref>
<blockquote>
<poem>
Who really knows?
Who will here proclaim it?
Whence was it produced? Whence is this creation?
The gods came afterwards, with the creation of this universe.
Who then knows whence it has arisen?
— [[Nasadiya Sukta]], ''[[Rig Veda]]'', 10:129-6<ref name="Kramer1986">{{cite book |first=Kenneth |last=Kramer |title=World Scriptures: An Introduction to Comparative Religions |url=https://archive.org/details/worldscripturesi0000kram |url-access=registration |date=January 1986 |publisher=Paulist Press |isbn=978-0-8091-2781-8 |pages=34ff}}</ref><ref name="Christian2011">{{cite book |author=David Christian |title=Maps of Time: An Introduction to Big History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7RdVmDjwTtQC&pg=PA18 |date=1 September 2011 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-95067-2 |pages=18ff}}</ref>{{sfn|Singh|2008|pp=206ff}}
</poem>
</blockquote>

==Characteristics==
{{See also|Proto-Indo-Iranian religion}}

The idea of [[reincarnation]], or [[saṃsāra]], is not mentioned in the early layers of the historic Vedic religion texts such as the ''Rigveda''.<ref>{{cite journal |first=A. M. |last=Boyer |title=Etude sur l'origine de la doctrine du samsara |journal=Journal Asiatique |year=1901 |volume=9 |issue=18 |pages=451–453, 459–468}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Yuvraj |last=Krishan |title=Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan |year=1997 |isbn=978-81-208-1233-8}}</ref> The later layers of the ''Rigveda'' do mention ideas that suggest an approach towards the idea of rebirth, according to Ranade.{{sfn|Laumakis |2008|pp=90–99}}<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/stream/A.Constructive.Survey.of.Upanishadic.Philosophy.by.R.D.Ranade.1926.djvu/A.Constructive.Survey.of.Upanishadic.Philosophy.by.R.D.Ranade.1926#page/n181/mode/2up |title=A Constructive Survey of Upanishadic Philosophy |first=R. D. |last=Ranade |publisher=Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan |year=1926 |pages=147–148 |quote=...&nbsp;in certain other places [of Rigveda], an approach is being made to the idea of Transmigration. ... There we definitely know that the whole hymn is address to a departed spirit, and the poet [of the Rigvedic hymn] says that he is going to recall the departed soul in order that it may return again and live.}}</ref>

The early layers of the Vedas do not mention the doctrine of [[Karma]] and rebirth but mention the belief in an [[afterlife]].{{sfn|Laumakis|2008|p=90}}<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w7LtAgAAQBAJ |title=Circulation of Fire in the Veda |author=Atsushi Hayakawa |publisher=LIT Verlag Münster |year=2014 |isbn=978-3-643-90472-0 |pages=66–67, 101–103}}</ref> According to Sayers, these earliest layers of the Vedic literature show ancestor worship and rites such as ''sraddha'' (offering food to the ancestors). The later Vedic texts such as the ''Aranyakas'' and the ''Upanisads'' show a different soteriology based on reincarnation, they show little concern with ancestor rites, and they begin to philosophically interpret the earlier rituals.<ref>{{cite book |first=Matthew R. |last=Sayers |title=Feeding the Dead: Ancestor worship in ancient India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3AOBwiZBjRMC |year=2013 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-989643-1 |pages=1–9}}</ref><ref>{{cite thesis |first=Matthew Rae |last=Sayers |title=Feeding the ancestors: ancestor worship in ancient Hinduism and Buddhism |degree=PhD |publisher=University of Texas |url=https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/handle/2152/3945 |page=12}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |editor-last=McGovern |editor-first=Nathan |date=1 November 2015 |title=Feeding the Dead: Ancestor worship in ancient India |first=Matthew R. |last=Sayers |url=https://academic.oup.com/jhs/article/8/3/336/2358466| journal=The Journal of Hindu Studies |volume=8 |issue=3 |pages=336–338 |doi=10.1093/jhs/hiv034 |issn=1756-4255}}</ref> The idea of reincarnation and karma have roots in the [[Upanishads]] of the late [[Vedic period]], predating the [[Buddha]] and the [[Mahavira]].<ref name="damienkeown32">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_QXX0Uq29aoC |title=Buddhism: A very short introduction |first=Damien |last=Keown |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-19-966383-5|pages=28, 32–38}}</ref>{{sfn|Laumakis|2008}} Similarly, the later layers of the Vedic literature such as the ''Brihadaranyaka Upanishad'' (c.&nbsp;800&nbsp;BCE) – such as in section&nbsp;4.4 – discuss the earliest versions of the Karma doctrine as well as causality.<ref name="Tull1989p2">{{cite book |first=Herman Wayne |last=Tull |title=The Vedic Origins of Karma: Cosmos as man in ancient Indian myth and ritual |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=auqGWz2l9pYC |year=1989 |publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=978-0-7914-0094-4 |pages=1–3, 11–12}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/resources/quotes/brihadaranyaka-upanishad-4-4-5-6 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130413042723/http://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/resources/quotes/brihadaranyaka-upanishad-4-4-5-6 |archive-date=13 April 2013 |title=Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 4.4.5-6 |department=Berkley Center for Religion Peace & World Affairs |publisher=Georgetown University |year=2012}}</ref>

The ancient Vedic religion lacked the belief in reincarnation and concepts such as [[Saṃsāra]] or [[Nirvana]]. It was a complex [[Animism|animistic]] religion with [[polytheistic]] and [[pantheistic]] aspects. [[Ancestor worship]] was an important, maybe the central component, of the ancient Vedic religion. Elements of the ancestors cult are still common in modern Hinduism in the form of [[Śrāddha]].{{sfn|Laumakis|2008}}{{page needed|date=October 2021}}<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Sayers|first=Matthew R.|date=2015|title=The Śrāddha: The Development of Ancestor Worship in Classical Hinduism|journal=Religion Compass|language=en|volume=9|issue=6|pages=182–197|doi=10.1111/rec3.12155|issn=1749-8171}}</ref>

According to Olivelle, some scholars state that the renouncer tradition was an "organic and logical development of ideas found in the Vedic religious culture", while others state that these emerged from the "indigenous non-Aryan population". This scholarly debate is a longstanding one, and is ongoing.{{sfn|Flood|2008|p=273}}

===Rituals===
{{Main|Yajurveda|yajna}}
[[Image:Yajna1.jpg|thumb|A [[Śrauta]] yajna being performed in [[Kerala]]]]

Specific rituals and sacrifices of the Vedic religion include, among others:<ref name="Prasoon">{{cite book |last=Prasoon |first=Shrikant |title=Indian Scriptures |publisher=Pustak Mahal |date=11 August 2010 |chapter=Ch.&nbsp;2, Vedang, Kalp |isbn=978-81-223-1007-8}}</ref>{{vn|date=August 2018}}
*[[Fire ritual]]s involving oblations ([[Homa (ritual)|havir]]):
**The Agnyadheya, or installation of the fire<ref name=":12">{{Cite book|last=Renou|first=Louis |author-link=Louis Renou|title=Vedic India|publisher=Susil Gupta|year=1947|pages=101–110}}</ref>
**The [[Agnihotra]] or oblation to [[Agni]], a sun charm<ref name=":12" />
**The Darshapurnamsa, the new and full moon sacrifices<ref name=":12" />
**The four seasonal ([[Chaturmas|Cāturmāsya]]) sacrifices<ref name=":12" />
**The [[Agnicayana]], the sophisticated ritual of piling the [[Vedic fire altar|fire altar]]<ref name=":12" />
*The Pashubandhu, the (semi-)annual animal sacrifice<ref name=":12" />
*The [[Soma (drink)|Soma]] rituals, which involved the extraction, utility and consumption of Soma:<ref name=":12" />
**The Jyotishtoma<ref name=":12" />
***The Agnishtoma<ref name=":12" />
****The [[Pravargya]] (originally an independent rite, later absorbed into the soma rituals)<ref>{{Cite book|last=Jamison|first=Stephanie|title=The Rigveda: The Earliest Religious Poetry of India|last2=Brereton|first2=Joel|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2014|pages=32}}</ref>
***The Ukthya<ref name=":12" />
***The Sodashin<ref name=":12" />
***The Atyagnishtoma<ref name=":12" />
***The Atiratra<ref name=":12" />
***The Aptoryama<ref name=":12" />
***The Vajapeya<ref name=":12" />
*The royal consecration ([[Rajasuya]]) sacrifice
*The [[Ashvamedha]] ([[horse sacrifice]]) or a Yajna dedicated to the glory, wellbeing and prosperity of the kingdom or empire<ref name="Griffith 1987"/>
*The [[Purushamedha]]<ref name=":12" />
*The rituals and [[Spell (paranormal)|charms]] referred to in the [[Atharvaveda]] are concerned with medicine and healing practices<ref>{{cite book |last=Bloomfield |first=Maurice |title=Hymns of the Atharva Veda |publisher=Kessinger Publishing |date=1 June 2004 |pages=1–8 |isbn=1419125087}}</ref>
*The Gomedha or cow sacrifice:
**The Taittiriya Brahmana of the Yajur Veda gives instructions for selecting the cow for the sacrifice depending on the deity.<ref name=gomedha>{{cite book|title=The Vedas: With Illustrative Extracts|translator1=Ralph Thomas Hotchkin Griffith |translator2=T. B. Griffith|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BtpcpsZEiYMC&pg=PA52|publisher=Book Tree, 2003|pages=56–57|isbn=9781585092239 |year=2003 }}</ref>
**Panchasaradiya sava – celebration where 17 cows are immolated once every five years. The Taittiriya Brahmana advocates the Panchasaradiya for those who want to be great.<ref name=gomedha/>
**Sulagava – sacrifice where roast beef is offered. It is mentioned in the Grihya Sutra<ref name=gomedha/>
**According to Dr. R. Mitra, the offered animal was intended for consumption as detailed in the Asvalayana Sutra. The Gopatha Brahmana lists the different individuals who are to receive the various parts like Pratiharta (neck and hump), the Udgatr, the Neshta, the Sadasya, the householder who performs the sacrifice (the two right feet), his wife (the two left feet) and so on.<ref name=gomedha/>

The Hindu rites of [[cremation]] are seen since the Rigvedic period; while they are attested from early times in the [[Cemetery H culture]], there is a late Rigvedic reference invoking forefathers "both cremated (''agnidagdhá-'') and uncremated (''ánagnidagdha-'')". (RV&nbsp;10.15.14)

===Pantheon===
{{Main|Rigvedic deities}}
[[File:Bangkok Wat Arun Phra Prang Indra Erawan.jpg|thumb|right|Detail of the Phra Prang, the central tower of the [[Wat Arun]] ("Temple of Dawn") in [[Bangkok]], [[Thailand]], showing the ancient Vedic god [[Indra]] and three-headed Erawan ([[Airavata]]).]]

Though a large number of names for [[Deva (Hinduism)|deva]]s occur in the Rigveda, only 33&nbsp;devas are counted, eleven each of earth, space, and heaven.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Singhal, K. C. |author2=Gupta, Roshan |title=The Ancient History of India |chapter=Vedic period: A new interpretation |publisher=Atlantic Publishers and Distributors |isbn=8126902868 |page=150|year=2003 }}</ref> The Vedic pantheon knows two classes, Devas and [[Asura]]s. The Devas ([[Mitra]], [[Varuna]], [[Aryaman]], [[Bhaga]], Amsa, etc.) are deities of cosmic and social order, from the universe and kingdoms down to the individual. The [[Rigveda]] is a collection of hymns to various deities, most notably heroic [[Indra]], [[Agni]] the sacrificial fire and messenger of the gods, and [[Soma (drink)|Soma]], the deified sacred drink of the Indo-Iranians.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |article-url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/haoma-i |article=Haoma i. Botany |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Iranica]] }}</ref> Also prominent is [[Varuna]] (often paired with Mitra) and the group of "All-gods", the [[Vishvadevas]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Renou, Louis |title=L'Inde Classique |volume=1 |page=328 |series=Librairie d'Ameriqe et d'Orient |place=Paris |orig-year=1947 |year=1985 |isbn=2-7200-1035-9}}</ref>

===Sages===
{{See also|Timeline of Eastern philosophers#Vedic Period}}

In the Hindu tradition, the revered sages of this era were [[Yajnavalkya]],<ref name=staal3>{{cite book |first=Frits |last=Staal |author-link=Frits Staal |title=Discovering the Vedas: Origins, mantras, rituals, insights |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HcE23SjLX8sC&pg=PA3 |year=2008 |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=978-0-14-309986-4 |pages=3, 365}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Patrick |last=Olivelle |title=The Samnyasa Upanisads: Hindu scriptures on asceticism and renunciation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fB8uneM7q1cC |year=1992 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-536137-7|pages=92, 140–146}}</ref> [[Atharvan]],<ref>{{cite book |first=Roshen |last=Dalal |title=Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DH0vmD8ghdMC |year=2010 |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=978-0-14-341421-6 |page=48}}</ref> [[Atri]],<ref>{{cite book |first=Roshen |last=Dalal |title=Hinduism: An alphabetical guide |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DH0vmD8ghdMC |year=2010 |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=978-0-14-341421-6 |page=49}}</ref> [[Bharadvaja]],<ref>{{cite book |first=Roshen |last=Dalal |title=Hinduism: An alphabetical guide |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DH0vmD8ghdMC |year=2010 |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=978-0-14-341421-6 |pages=66–67}}</ref> [[Gautama Maharishi]], [[Jamadagni]],<ref>{{cite book |first=Roshen |last=Dalal |title=Hinduism: An alphabetical guide |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DH0vmD8ghdMC |year=2010 |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=978-0-14-341421-6 |page=175}}</ref> [[Kashyapa]],<ref>{{cite book |first=Roshen |last=Dalal |title=Hinduism: An alphabetical guide |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DH0vmD8ghdMC |year=2010 |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=978-0-14-341421-6 |pages=200–201}}</ref> [[Vasistha]],<ref>{{cite book |first=Roshen |last=Dalal |title=Hinduism: An alphabetical guide |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DH0vmD8ghdMC |year=2010 |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=978-0-14-341421-6 |pages=447–448}}</ref> [[Bhrigu]],<ref>{{cite book |first=Roshen |last=Dalal |title=Hinduism: An alphabetical guide |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DH0vmD8ghdMC |year=2010 |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=978-0-14-341421-6 |page=74}}</ref> [[Kutsa]],<ref>{{cite book |first=Roshen |last=Dalal |title=Hinduism: An alphabetical guide |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DH0vmD8ghdMC|year=2010 |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=978-0-14-341421-6 |page=218}}</ref> [[Pulastya]], [[Kratu]], [[Pulaha]], [[Vishwamitra]] Narayana, Kanva, [[Rishabha (Hinduism)|Rishabha]], [[Vamadeva]], and [[Angiras (sage)|Angiras]].{{citation needed|date=March 2020}}

===Ethics – satya and rta===
{{See also|Asha|ṛta}}

Ethics in the Vedas are based on concepts like ''[[satya]]'' and ''[[ṛta]]''.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=us79wQEACAAJ&q=ethics+and+vedic|title=Vedic Cosmology and Ethics: Selected Studies|last=Bodewitz|first=Henk W.|date=2019|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-39864-1|language=en}}</ref>

In the [[Vedas]] and later [[sutra]]s, the meaning of the word satya ({{linktext|सत्य}}) evolves into an ethical concept about truthfulness and is considered an important virtue.<ref name="knt">{{cite book |first=K. N. |last=Tiwari |year=1998 |title=Classical Indian Ethical Thought |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-8120816077 |page=87}}</ref><ref>A Dhand (2002), The dharma of ethics, the ethics of dharma: Quizzing the ideals of Hinduism, Journal of Religious Ethics, 30(3), pages 347–372</ref> It means being true and consistent with reality in one's thought, speech and action.<ref name="knt" />

[[Vedic Sanskrit|Vedic]] {{IAST|ṛtá}} and its [[Avestan]] equivalent ''{{lang|ae|[[asha|aša]]}}'' are both thought by some to derive from [[Proto-Indo-Iranian]] [[wiktionary:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-Iranian/Hr̥tás|''*Hr̥tás'']] "truth",<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/asa-means-truth-in-avestan |title=AṦA (Asha "Truth") |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Iranica|access-date=21 February 2013 }}</ref> which in turn may continue from a possible [[PIE|Proto-Indo-European]] ''*{{PIE|h<sub>2</sub>r-tós}}'' "properly joined, right, true", from a presumed root ''*{{PIE|h<sub>2</sub>er-}}''. The derivative noun ''ṛta'' is defined as "fixed or settled order, rule, divine law or truth".<ref>Monier-Williams (1899:223b)</ref> As Mahony (1998) notes, however, the term can be translated as "that which has moved in a fitting manner" – although this meaning is not actually cited by authoritative Sanskrit dictionaries it is a regular derivation from the verbal root -, and abstractly as "universal law" or "cosmic order", or simply as "truth".<ref>Mahony (1998:3).</ref> The latter meaning dominates in the [[Avestan language|Avestan]] cognate to ''Ṛta'', ''[[Asha|aša]]''.<ref>Oldenberg (1894) p&nbsp;30. Cf. also Thieme (1960) p&nbsp;308.</ref>

Owing to the nature of [[Vedic Sanskrit]], the term ''Ṛta'' can be used to indicate numerous things, either directly or indirectly, and both Indian and European scholars have experienced difficulty in arriving at fitting interpretations for ''Ṛta'' in all of its various usages in the [[Vedas]], though the underlying sense of "ordered action" remains universally evident.<ref>Cf. Ramakrishna (1965) pp.&nbsp;45–46</ref>

The term is also found in the [[Proto-Indo-Iranian religion]], the religion of the [[Indo-Iranians|Indo-Iranian peoples]].<ref name="DG_1963_46">{{harvnb|Duchesne-Guillemin|1963|p=46}}.</ref> The term ''[[dharma]]'' was already used in the later Brahmanical thoughts, where it was conceived as an aspect of ''ṛta''.<ref>{{cite book |author=Day, Terence P. |year=1982 |title=The Conception of Punishment in Early Indian Literature |place=Ontario |publisher=Wilfrid Laurier University Press |pages=42–45 |isbn=0-919812-15-5}}</ref>

===Vedic mythology===
The central myth at the base of Vedic ritual surrounds [[Indra]] who, inebriated by [[Soma (drink)|Soma]], slays the dragon (''ahi'') [[Vrtra|Vritra]], freeing the [[Rigvedic rivers|rivers]], the cows, and [[Ushas|Dawn]].

Vedic mythology contains numerous elements which are common to Indo-European mythological traditions, like the mythologies of [[Persian mythology|Persia]], [[Greek mythology|Greece]], and [[Roman mythology|Rome]], and those of the Celtic, Germanic, Baltic, and Slavic peoples. The Vedic god [[Indra]] in part corresponds to [[Dyaus Pita]]r, the Sky Father, [[Zeus]], [[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter]], [[Thor]] and [[Tyr]], or [[Perun]]. The deity [[Yama]], the lord of the dead, is hypothesized to be related to [[Jamshid|Yima]] of [[Persia]]n mythology. Vedic hymns refer to these and other deities, often 33, consisting of 8&nbsp;Vasus, 11&nbsp;Rudras, 12&nbsp;Adityas, and in the late Rigvedas, [[Prajapati]]. These deities belong to the 3&nbsp;regions of the universe or heavens, the earth, and the intermediate space.

Some major deities of the Vedic tradition include [[Indra]], [[Dyaus]], [[Surya]], [[Agni]], [[Ushas]], [[Vayu]], [[Varuna]], [[Mitra (Vedic)|Mitra]], [[Aditi]], [[Yama (Hinduism)|Yama]], [[Soma (deity)|Soma]], [[Sarasvati]], [[Prithvi]], and [[Rudra]].<ref name = AAM>{{cite book |author=[[Arthur Anthony Macdonell|Macdonell, A.A.]] |title=Vedic Mythology |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |location=Delhi |year=1995 |isbn=81-208-1113-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b7Meabtj8mcC& |via=Google Books}}</ref>

==Post-Vedic religions==
[[File:1500-1200 BCE, Vivaha sukta, Rigveda 10.85.16-27, Sanskrit, Devanagari, manuscript page.jpg|thumb|The hymn&nbsp;10.85 of the ''Rigveda'' includes the Vivaha-sukta (above). Its recitation continues to be a part of Hindu wedding rituals.<ref>{{cite journal |first=N. |last=Singh |year=1992 |title=The vivaha (marriage) Samskara as a paradigm for religio-cultural integration in Hinduism |journal=Journal for the Study of Religion |volume=5 |number=1 |pages=31–40|jstor=24764135 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Swami |last=Vivekananda |title=Prabuddha Bharata |trans-title=Awakened India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pJjXAAAAMAAJ|year=2005 |publisher=Prabuddha Bharata Press |pages=362, 594}}</ref>]]

The Vedic period is held to have ended around 500&nbsp;BCE. The period between 800 BCE and 200 BCE is the formative period for later [[Hinduism]], [[Jainism]] and [[Buddhism]].{{sfn|Michaels|2004|pp=36-38}}{{sfn|Flood|1996|pp=82, 224–49}} According to Michaels, the period between 500 BCE and 200 BCE is a time of "ascetic reformism",{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=36}} while the period between 200&nbsp;BCE and 1100&nbsp;CE is the time of "classical Hinduism", since there is "a turning point between the Vedic religion and Hindu religions".{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=38}} Muesse discerns a longer period of change, namely between 800 BCE and 200&nbsp;BCE, which he calls the "Classical Period", when "traditional religious practices and beliefs were reassessed. The Brahmins and the rituals they performed no longer enjoyed the same prestige they had in the Vedic period".{{sfn|Muesse|2003|p=115}}

Brahmanism evolved into Hinduism, which is significantly different from the preceding Brahmanism,<!-- **START OF NOTE** -->{{refn|group=note|name="Michaels-legacy"|{{harvtxt|Michaels|2004|p=38}}: "The legacy of the Vedic religion in Hinduism is generally overestimated. The influence of the mythology is indeed great, but the religious terminology changed considerably: all the key terms of Hinduism either do not exist in Vedic or have a completely different meaning. The religion of the Veda does not know the ethicised migration of the soul with retribution for acts (''karma''), the cyclical destruction of the world, or the idea of salvation during one's lifetime (''jivanmukti; moksa; nirvana''); the idea of the world as illusion (''maya'') must have gone against the grain of ancient India, and an omnipotent creator god emerges only in the late hymns of the rgveda. Nor did the Vedic religion know a caste system, the burning of widows, the ban on remarriage, images of gods and temples, Puja worship, Yoga, pilgrimages, vegetarianism, the holiness of cows, the doctrine of stages of life (''asrama''), or knew them only at their inception. Thus, it is justified to see a turning point between the Vedic religion and Hindu religions."<br>{{cite web |first1=Stephanie |last1=Jamison |first2=Michael |last2=Witzel |year=1992 |url=http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~witzel/vedica.pdf |title=Vedic Hinduism |publisher=Harvard University |pages=3}}: "... to call this period Vedic Hinduism is a contradictio in terminis since Vedic religion is very different from what we generally call Hindu religion – at least as much as Old Hebrew religion is from medieval and modern Christian religion. However, Vedic religion is treatable as a predecessor of Hinduism."<br>See also {{harvnb|Halbfass|1991|pp=1–2}}}}<!-- **END OF NOTE** --> though "it is also convenient to have a single term for the whole complex of interrelated traditions."{{sfn|Sullivan |2001|p=9}} The transition from ancient Brahmanism into schools of Hinduism was a form of evolution in interaction with non-Vedic traditions, one that preserved many of the central ideas and theosophy in the Vedas, and synergistically integrated non-Vedic ideas.<ref>{{cite book |first=Mircea |last=Eliade |series=History of Religious Ideas |volume=2 |title=From Gautama Buddha to the Triumph of Christianity |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EumnAwAAQBAJ |year=2011|publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-02735-7 |pages=44–46 }}</ref>{{sfn|Samuel|2010}}{{sfn|Bronkhorst|2007}}{{sfn|Witzel|1995}}<!-- **START OF NOTE** -->{{refn|group=note|name="Synthesis"|Scholars regard Hinduism as a synthesis{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=12}}{{sfn|Samuel|2010|p=193}} of various Indian cultures and traditions,{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=12}}{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=16}} with diverse roots and no single founder.{{sfn|Osborne|2005|p=9}} Among its roots are the Vedic religion{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=16}} of the late [[Vedic period]] and its emphasis on the status of Brahmans,{{sfn|Samuel|2010|p=48-53}} but also the religions of the [[Indus Valley Civilisation]],{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=3}} the [[Sramana]]{{sfn|Gomez|2013|p=42}} or renouncer traditions{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=16}} of [[Maurya Empire|east India]],{{sfn|Gomez|2013|p=42}} and "popular or [[Adivasi|local traditions]]".{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=16}} This [[Hindu synthesis]] emerged after the Vedic period, between ca. 500{{sfn|Hiltebeitel |2007|p=12}}–200{{sfn|Larson|2009}} BCE and ca. 300 CE,{{sfn|Hiltebeitel |2007|p=12}} in the period of the [[Second Urbanisation]] and the early [[History of Hinduism#Hindu synthesis and Classical Hinduism (c. 200 BCE – 1200 CE)|classical period of Hinduism]], when the [[Indian epic poetry|Epics]] and the first Purānas were composed.{{sfn|Hiltebeitel |2007|p=12}}{{sfn|Larson|2009}}}}<!-- **END OF NOTE** --> While part of Hinduism, [[Vedanta]], [[Samkhya]] and [[Yoga]] schools of Hinduism share their concern with escape from the suffering of existence with Buddhism.<ref>{{cite book |first=Mircea |last=Eliade |series=History of Religious Ideas |volume=2 |title=From Gautama Buddha to the Triumph of Christianity |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EumnAwAAQBAJ |year=2011 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-02735-7 |pages=49–54 }}</ref>

===Continuation of orthodox ritual===
{{Main|Śrauta}}

According to German Professor [[Axel Michaels]], the Vedic gods declined but did not disappear, and local cults were assimilated into the Vedic-brahmanic pantheon, which changed into the Hindu pantheon. Deities such as [[Shiva]] and [[Vishnu]] became more prominent and gave rise to [[Shaivism]] and [[Vaishnavism]].{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=40}}

According to David Knipe, some communities in India have preserved and continue to practice portions of the historical Vedic religion, such as in [[Kerala]] and [[Andhra Pradesh]] state of India and elsewhere.{{sfn|Knipe|2015|pp=41-45, 220-223}} According to the historian and [[Sanskrit]] linguist [[Michael Witzel]], some of the rituals of the [[Kalash people]] have elements of the historical Vedic religion, but there are also some differences such as the presence of fire next to the altar instead of "in the altar" as in the Vedic religion.<ref name=Witzel2004>{{cite book |author=Witzel, Michael |year=2004 |article=Kalash Religion (extract from 'The Ṛgvedic Religious System and its Central Asian and Hindukush Antecedents |editor1-first=A. |editor1-last=Griffiths |editor2-first=J.E.M. |editor2-last=Houben |title=The Vedas: Texts, language, and ritual |place=Groningen |publisher=Forsten |pages=581–636}}</ref><ref name=Witzel_Kalasha>{{cite web |title=Kalasha religion |url=http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~witzel/KalashaReligion.pdf |at=section&nbsp;1.5.2}}</ref>

===Mīmāṃsā and Vedanta===
[[Mīmāṃsā]] philosophers argue that there was no need to postulate a maker for the world, just as there was no need for an author to compose the Vedas or a god to validate the rituals.<ref>{{cite book |title=Religious Truth |first=Robert |last=Neville |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ThLR13JpCWsC |page=51|isbn=9780791447789 |date=2001}}</ref> Mīmāṃsā argues that the gods named in the Vedas have no existence apart from the ''[[mantra]]s'' that speak their names. To that regard, the power of the mantras is what is seen as the power of gods.<ref>{{cite book |title=The perfectibility of human nature in eastern and western thought |author-first=Harold |author-last=Coward |author-link=Harold Coward |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LkE_8uch5P0C |page=114|isbn=9780791473368 |date=2008}}</ref>

Of the continuation of the Vedic tradition in the Upanishads, Fowler writes the following:
{{cquote|Despite the radically different nature of the Upanishads in relation to the ''Vedas'' it has to be remembered that the material of both form the ''Veda'' or "knowledge" which is ''sruti'' literature. So the ''Upanishads'' develop the ideas of the ''Vedas'' beyond their ritual formalism and should not be seen as isolated from them. The fact that the Vedas that are more particularly emphasized in the Vedanta: the efficacy of the Vedic ritual is not rejected, it is just that there is a search for the Reality that informs it.<ref>{{cite book |page=46 |title=Perspectives of Reality: An introduction to the philosophy of Hinduism |first=Jeaneane D. |last=Fowler}}</ref>}}

The [[Upanishads]] gradually evolved into [[Vedanta]], which is regarded by some as the primary institution of [[Hinduism]]. [[Vedanta]] considers itself "the purpose or goal [end] of the Vedas".<ref>{{cite book |first=Robert E. |last=Hume <!-- Professor Emeritus of History of Religions at the [[Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York|Union Theological Seminary]] --> |publisher=[[Random House]] |title=The American College Dictionary |year=1966 |quote=[Vedānta] is concerned with the end of the Vedas, both chronologically and teleologically.}}</ref>

===Sramana tradition===
{{Main|Śramaṇa|Jainism|Buddhism}}

The non-Vedic śramaṇa traditions existed alongside Brahmanism.<ref name="S. Cromwell Crawford 1972">{{cite book |first=S. Cromwell |last=Crawford |chapter=review of L. M. Joshi, ''Brahmanism, Buddhism and Hinduism'' |title=Philosophy East and West |year=1972}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Kalghatgi, Dr. T.G. |year=1988 |title=Study of Jainism |publisher=Prakrit Bharti Academy |place=Jaipur}}</ref>{{efn|Cromwell: "Alongside Brahmanism was the non-Aryan Shramanic culture with its roots going back to prehistoric times."<ref name="S. Cromwell Crawford 1972" />}}<ref>{{cite book |first=Y. |last=Masih |year=2000 |title=A Comparative Study of Religions |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |place=Delhi, IN |isbn=81-208-0815-0 |page=18 |quote=There is no evidence to show that Jainism and Buddhism ever subscribed to Vedic sacrifices, Vedic deities or caste. They are parallel or native religions of India and have contributed ... much to the growth of even classical Hinduism of the present times.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=P.S. |last=Jaini |year=1979 |title=The Jaina Path to Purification |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |place=Delhi, IN |page=169 |quote=Jainas themselves have no memory of a time when they fell within the Vedic fold. Any theory that attempts to link the two traditions, moreover fails to appreciate rather distinctive and very non-Vedic character of Jaina cosmology, soul theory, karmic doctrine and atheism.}}</ref> These were not direct outgrowths of Vedism, but movements with mutual influences with Brahmanical traditions,<ref name="S. Cromwell Crawford 1972"/> reflecting "the cosmology and anthropology of a much older, pre-Aryan upper class of northeastern India".{{sfn|Zimmer|1989|p=217}} Jainism and Buddhism evolved out of the Shramana tradition.<ref>{{cite book |author=Svarghese, Alexander P. |year=2008 |title=India : History, religion, vision and contribution to the world |pages=259–260}}</ref>

There are Jaina references to 22 prehistoric [[tirthankara]]s. In this view, Jainism peaked at the time of [[Mahavira]] (traditionally put in the 6th century BCE).<ref>Helmuth von Glasenapp, Shridhar B. Shrotri. 1999. Jainism: an Indian religion of salvation. P.24. "Thus not only nothing, from the philosophical and the historical point of view, comes in the way of the supposition that Jainism was established by Parsva around 800&nbsp;BCE, but it is rather confirmed in everything that we know of the spiritual life of that period."</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Dundas, Paul |year=2002 |title=The Jains |page=17 |quote=Jainism, then, was in origin merely one component of a north Indian ascetic culture that flourished in the Ganges basin from around the eighth or seventh centuries&nbsp;BCE.}}</ref> [[Buddhism]], traditionally put from c.&nbsp;500&nbsp;BCE, [[decline of Buddhism in India|declined]] in India over the 5th to 12th&nbsp;centuries in favor of Puranic Hinduism<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Buddhism |year=2009 |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica <!-- Retrieved 26 November 2009 --> |edition=Online Library}}</ref> and Islam.<ref>{{cite book |pages=78–83 |title=Freeing the Buddha: Diversity on a sacred path – large scale concerns |first=Brian |last=Ruhe}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |page=110 |title=A text book of the history of Theravāda Buddhism |first=K.T.S. |last=Sarao |publisher=University of Delhi |department=Dept. of Buddhist Studies}}</ref>

==See also==
{{EB1911 poster|Brahmanism}}
{{col div|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Pushyamitra Shunga]]
* [[Ancient Iranian religion]]
* [[Hinduism in Iran]]
* [[Persian mythology|Iranian mythology]]
* [[Rishikesh Complex of Ruru Kshetra]] – Vedic ritual site in Nepal
* [[Vedic mythology]]
* [[Vedic priesthood]]
* ''[[A Vedic Word Concordance]]''
* [[Zoroastrianism]]
{{colend}}

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note|35em}}
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

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<!-- W -->
* {{cite book|last=White|first=David Gordon|title=Kiss of the Yogini|year=2003|publisher=University of Chicago Press|location=Chicago|isbn=0-226-89483-5}}
** {{cite book |last=White |first=David Gordon |year=2006 |title=Kiss of the Yogini: "Tantric Sex" in its South Asian Contexts |publisher=University of Chicago Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5RwARVMg2_4C|isbn=9780226027838 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Witzel |first=Michael |year=1995 |title=Early Sanskritization: Origin and Development of the Kuru state |journal=EJVS |volume=1 |number=4 |url=http://www.ejvs.laurasianacademy.com/ejvs0104/ejvs0104article.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070611142934/http://www.ejvs.laurasianacademy.com/ejvs0104/ejvs0104article.pdf |archive-date=11 June 2007 }}
* {{cite book |last=Zimmer |first=Heinrich |year=1989 |title=Phiosophies of India |publisher=Princeton University Press }}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
* {{Citation | last =Bronkhorst | first =Johannes | title =Brahmanism: Its place in ancient Indian society | journal =Contributions to Indian Sociology |volume=51 |issue=3 |year=2017 |pages=361–369| doi =10.1177/0069966717717587 | url =https://serval.unil.ch/notice/serval:BIB_9E92BE209619 |author-link=Johannes Bronkhorst |ref=none}}

==External links==
* {{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Vedic-religion |title=Vedic religion |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica}}
* {{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/The_Vedas/ |title=The Vedas |encyclopedia=[[World History Encyclopedia]]}}

{{Hindudharma}}
{{Religion topics}}{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Ancient Hinduism]]
[[Category:Hindu denominations]]
[[Category:Vedas]]
[[Category:Vedic period]]
[[Category:Indo-European religion|Vedic]]