Myth of The Great Tradition

Social Scientist
From 'Brahmanism' to 'Hinduism': Negotiating the Myth of the Great Tradition

Author(s): Vijay Nath
Source: Social Scientist, Vol. 29, No. 3/4 (Mar. - Apr., 2001), pp. 19-50
Published by: Social Scientist
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3518337
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19
VIJAY NATH*
From 'Brahmanism'to 'Hinduism':

Negotiating the Myth of the Great Tradition* *
I am indeed extremely grateful to the executive committee of the

Indian History Congress for the great honour they have done me by
asking me to preside over the Ancient Indian History section of the
present session of the Congress. This position has been occupied by
some of the most distinguished historians of our times and I am only
too conscious of my limitations. I consider this honour to be a
recognition of the little work I have done in this field and earnestly
hope that I will be able to prove worthy of the trust reposed in me.
In this address I intend to focus upon a subject on which I have
been working for the last so many years. A part of my findings have
just been published in the form of a book called Puranas and
Acculturation: A Historico-Anthropological Perspective. As can be
inferred from the title itself, my study reveals some linkage between
the forces of acculturation, which due to the demands and pressures
of an expanding agrarianorder,had gained unprecedented momentum
during Gupta/post-Gupta times, and the more or less parallel
phenomenon of composition of the Puranas. The latter appear to
have been composed for a very specific purpose, that of serving as
instruments of dissemination of mainstream religious ideology
amongst pre-literate and tribal groups undergoing acculturation.
A careful scrutiny of the Puranic content, moreover, shows that
Brahmanism of the Dharmasastras and the Smrtis underwent a
complete transformation at the hands of the Purana composers, so
that it came to acquire wholly new aspect, which can best be described
as Puranic Hinduism. I would like to seize this opportunity so
graciously offered to me by the organizers of the Indian History
*
Jankidevi College, University of Delhi, Delhi.
** Presidential Address for Ancient India Section of the 61st Session of the Indian
History Congress, Calcutta.
Social Scientist, Vol. 29, Nos. 3 - 4, March-April 2001
20 SOCIALSCIENTIST
Congress to share with you some of my findings related to this

development. Here I may, however, clarify that the two terms
'Brahmanism'and 'Hinduism'which I have used to juxtapose two
consecutivestages of developmentof a religious system that had its
source in the Vedas, reflect entirely the perception of later-day
historians.' Terms such as 'Hindu' or 'Hindutva' certainly do not
occur in the texts belongingto the period undersurvey.
The most remarkabledevelopmentin the field of religion during
Gupta/post-Guptatimes was the rise of 'Hinduism', which like a
colossus striding across the religious firmament soon came to
overshadow all other existent religions. Certain features which
distinguishedit from its Vedic Smartaroots were its ever widening
horizon and popularbase, its theologicaland sectarianpluralism,its
Tantricveneer and an extraordinarythrust on devotion or bhakti.
WhereasBrahmanismhad representedmore or less a single religious
strand drawing mainly upon Vedic ideology and throughout
manifesting an elitist outlook Puranic Hinduism proved to be a
multiplexbelief-systemwhich grew and expandedas it absorbedand
synthesized polaristic religious ideas and cultic traditions. So that
quite in contrast to Brahmanism,Puranic Hinduism through its
gargantuanpowers of assimilationand synthesiswas able to bring
within its vortex all possible classes and segmentsof society,literate
as well as preliterate.
The transition from 'Brahmanism'to 'Hinduism' was neither
sudden nor abrupt nor was it a complete breakingaway from the
past tradition.It was morethe outcomeof a slow andgradualprocess
of evolution and growth, reflectinga remarkablecontinuity along
with significant shift in ideological thrust and approach. What
however,is really noteworthyis the precisetime of its efforescence.
PuranicHinduismdevelopedat a timewhen societywas in the throes
of a changingeconomicand political order.The periodrepresenteda
watershedin Indianhistory,when a flourishingmarketeconomywas
giving way to a closed landed economic order; when foreign and
indigenoustribal groups had begun staking their claims to political
power, leading to its fragmentationand the eventualrise of a feudal
order.
The parallel rise and growth of PuranicHinduism on the one
hand and the politico-economicupheavaland changes taking place
on the other, definitelysuggestssome kind of symbioticconnection
between the two developments.But to fix the natureand degreeof
such a correlation, a more detailed investigationis certainlycalled
FROM'BRAHMANISM'TO 'HINDUISM' 21
for.Sucha studywould necessarilyentail addressingtwo basic issues:

(i) What factors led to the rise of PuranicHinduism in the later
half of the first millenniumAD?
(ii) How it came to shed its elitist aspect and developedfeatures,
which not only augmentedits popular base and character,but also
transformedit so completelyfrom Brahmanismof the dharmasutras
and the Smrtisthat it came to acquirean almost new identityand an
entirelyalteredvisage?
Our primaryconcernin this presentationis thereforeto look into
the factors responsiblefor the transformationof Brahmanisminto
PuranicHinduismand accountfor the genesisof some of the popular
religious beliefs and practicesthat became integralto the emergent
system.
FACTORS THAT LED TO SUCH A TRANSFORMATION
1. Religiousrivalry
A fact long acknowledged2 about the changes besetting
Brahmanismduringthe openingcenturiesof the Christianera is that
they were largelythe resultof sharpeningof conflictamongstvarious
religious systems fighting for space. The rivalry was as much
responsiblefor the changes occurringwithin these systems as it was
for theirproselytizingactivitiesin unchartedterritorieslyingin remote
tribal belts such as those in central India and the Deccan.3In fact,
Buddhistand Jaina monks may be regardedas pioneers in carrying
civilizational influences into culturally backward areas and thus
inaugurating the process of acculturation there. The rise of
Mahayanism,which providedto Buddhisma more popularbase and
immenselywidenedits popularappealseemto havefurtherdeepened
such a threat perceptionon the part of the brahmanas.
It was, therefore, the fear of losing ground to these more
enterprising rival systems, which led the brahmanical leaders to
unbend from their former elitist and almost inflexible stance and
take more notice of the needs of people standingon the lower rungs
or the extremeperipheryof society.Only such an attitudinalchange
can explainthe growingprojectionof Visnuas a compassionategod,4
who through intense devotion could be won over to alleviate the
sufferingsof the humblestof devotees. It explains also why through
the newly developedincarnationtheoryhope was soughto be instilled
in the heartsof the despairingand the destitute.It explainsmoreover
why suchpopularreligiouspracticesas makingdana,svisitingtirthas,
22 SOCIALSCIENTIST
observing vrata6 and japa7 which were within the means of the
ordinarypeople began to be widely recommendedfor all, including
women and sudrasandwere supposedto yield muchgreaterspiritual
merit than even the performanceof Vedic yajnas. But most of all it
explainswhy a specialgenreof Brahmanicaltexts, namelythe Puranas
beganto be composedfrom the third-fourthcenturiesAD onwards.8
The latterwere meantto be recitedat collective gatheringsand have
been rightlydescribedas "scripturesfor the common people". Even
the wider acceptancegiven to idol and temple-centricworship was
perhapsyet anothermove on the part of the Brahmanicalleadersto
counter the growing popularity of Buddhist and Jaina monastic
institutionsand shrines.The latterbecameobjectsof liberalpatronage
of kings and common folk and served as importantindices to the
growing popularityof their respectiveorders.
2. Socio-economic factors
But more than religious rivalry it was the exigent conditions
created by a fast changing socio-economic order which made it
incumbentfor the Brahmanicalideologuesto take due cognizanceof
the changesaffectingcontemporarysociety and makeadjustmentsof
a more existentialistnature.
Amongstotherfactorsit was the declineof tradewith the western
world following the collapse of the great Roman empire9which
adversely affected commodity production, internal trade and
eventually even monetary economy and urbanization.Mercantile
economysufferedconsequently,resultingin maximumpressurebeing
exertedon cultivablelandas chiefmeansof production.10Butagrarian
expansion on any extensive scale was possible only through
improvements in both agricultural technology and irrigational
methodsas well as reclamationof virgintractsand landlyingwaste.11
It is not surprising,therefore,that fromthis time onwardstexts such
as Krsi-parasarawhich dealt with the knowledge of plants and
agriculturaltechniques, began to be produced in large numbers.12
Even developments related to such allied subjects as astronomy,
metallurgyand evenveterinarysciencebecomequiteconspicuousfrom
this period onwards and considerablespace is devoted to them even
in such religioustexts as the Puranas.13
Reclamationof virgin or waste-land however was not possible
throughindividualinitiativealone. Some amount of state enterprise
and sponsorshipwas needed for such reclamationactivitiesto gain
momentum. But since large centralizedempires such as that of the
Mauryas had given way to smaller kingdoms with an extremely

decentralizedadministrativestructure,it was proving difficult for
the latter to mobilize resourcesfor the purpose. Even the imperial
Gupta rulers are not known to have displayed much initiative or
enthusiasm in this direction. The maximum we learn is about the
repair of the famous Sudarsana lake during the reign period of
Skandagupta.
Consequently,kings both big and petty had only one option open
to themthat of donatingsuchlandto individualsandcorporatebodies
who could be expectedand even motivatedto make them cultivable.
Besides being made in perpetuity,the land grants were made more
attractive for the recipients through the addition of major
administrativeconcessions and fiscal immunitiessuch as exemption
from payment of most taxes.14The beneficiariesbeing thus armed
with complete right of ownership as well as substantialautonomy
over the donated land, were bound to develop a keen vested interest
in makingthem agriculturallyprofitable.
That reclamationof virgintractswas a primarypurposeof such
gifts of land, at least during the initial phase, is more than evident
fromthe fact that duringGupta/post-Guptatimes, they are generally
found to be made in areas lying away from the Indo-Gangeticplain
sincethe latterhad alreadybeensubjectedto considerableagricultural
pressure.Majorityof landgrantsbelongingto this periodarereported
fromsuchoutlyingregionsas MadhyaPradesh,Gujarat,Maharashtra,
AndhraPradesh,and Orissa.s1In fact, the earliestepigraphicrecord
of a land grant occurs not in UP,Haryanaor Punjabbut in Western
Deccan.
Moreover,the fact that duringthis earlierphase land was being
donatednot by wealthymerchantsand landedmagnates,but by kings
and their royal kinsmen,16who expectedlyhad more to benefitfrom
any agricultural expansion undertaken within their territorial
boundaries,furtherstrengthensthe impressionabout reclamationof
waste land being their chief targetedgoal.
The practice of making land grants, therefore,proved to be of
such tremendousimportancethat the Brahmanalawgiverscould not
remain averse to it for long. Gift of land necessarilyentailed the
transferenceof a valuable form of wealth and an importantitem of
privatepropertyfrom one familyto anotheron a permanentbasis. It
naturally had long term legal and financial implications. It raised
certain key questions regardinga person'sright of ownership over
such donated land vis-a-visthat of his family'sas well as his right to
24 SOCIAL SCIENTIST
alienate it through gift. Other related issues involved its partition

and inheritance.It became imperativetherefore, for the lawgivers
not only to take cognizanceof the developmentbut also to undertake
necessary legislation for regulating it. The newly promulgated
Dharmasastricinjunctionregardingking beingthe ownerof all land17
was one such rulingwhich had a directimpacton the practiceof land
grants. Even though our sources confirm the existence of private
ownershipof land, still such an injunctionby the lawgiversprovided
to the king the necessarymandateto undertakegifts of particularly
those categories of land, which had been lying waste and were
theoreticallyconsideredto be state owned.
The Brahmanicalideologuescould not help but capitalizeon the
new development. They began to recommend gift of land to
brahmanasas yieldingfar greaterspiritualmerit than that acquired
throughthe performanceof Vedicyajnas.18Gift of land began to be
considered a mahadana'9 or the greatest of gifts. The growing
importanceattached by the brahmanasto the gift of land not only
broughtabout a significantchange in the very tenor of Brahmanical
belief-systemwith gift-ritualismgaining importanceover sacrificial
ritualism,2?0 but also providedan additionalincentiveto the donorsin
the form of spiritualmeritto be earnedthroughit.
Butwhat reallyenhancedthe popularityof the practice,especially
with the royal donors, was the prestigeit was believed to confer21
and the religious sanction it gave to their ritual status and political
power.22Making gift of land to brahmanasnow served the same
function which Vedic yajnas had done in an earlier age, that of
providing ritual validation to the newly gained power of aspirant
chiefs and nobles.23The developmentbesides bringinga significant
shift in Brahmanicalritual beliefs also made the lawgivers active
collaboratorsof the rulingclass. The latterdid not correspondto the
ksatriya stratum alone24 but was much broader based and
comprehendedwithin it even foreignand tribal elements.
Butmorethan anythingelse it led to the emergenceof brahmanas
not only as the chief recipientsof landgrants,but also as a prominent
class of land owners25who were no longer dependent upon their
traditional vocation, namely, the performanceof intellectual and
priestlyduties alone for earningtheir livelihood. As a class of land-
ownersof substancetheycould naturallybe expectedto take to other
economic pursuits including agriculture.26The development was
bound to bring about certain structuralchanges in the brahmana
caste stratum.The rise of an affluentlandowningsegment,however
small, tended to fragment it on class lines.

But even a more important source of internal conflict was the
regional and cultural divide which set in over a period of several
centuries between midlandic brahmanas and their other counterparts
who as beneficiaries of land grants had to emigrate to far off regions
and send down roots afresh in their new settlements.27 A natural
corollary of such a development was the rise of numerous sub-castes
on the basis of their regional affiliations.28Thus we get references to
Govardhana brahmanas, who belonged to a place bearing the same
name and situated in the extremities of the Sahya mountains.29 In a
Rastrakuta charter of the time of Indra third [dated AD 926]30we get
reference to five classes of north Indian brahmanas namely Sarasvata,
Kanyakubja, Utkala, Maithila, and Gauda. Brahmanas of south India
are similarly classified into five sections collectively known as Panca-
Dravida.3"
Moreover as the number of land grants went on multiplying and
there was a greater tendency on the part of donors to make collective
donations to as many as at times a thousand brahmanas,32 it can
scarcely be expected that all the recipients were either of pure
Midlandic origin or bore the same high credentials based on learning
and ritual purity as the former.Whereas some of them may be expected
to be the descendants of the original immigrants, others no doubt
had a more mixed origin. Thus in the Markandeya Purana (135.7,
136.36) there are references to brahmanas who were sprung from
families of Raksasas. In fact, we get references to such categories of
brahmanas as Sudra brahmana, Mleccha brahmana, Candala
brahmana and even Nisada or Marjara brahmana.33 The latter is
described as one who is a thief/robber and is fond of fish and meat.
How far the labelling of brahmanas as Sudras, Candalas and Mlecchas
was done merely on qualitative grounds or such appellations were
used to signify those brahmanas who were forced to earn their living
by offering their priestly services to Nisadas, sudras, etc. or else they
denoted members of latter caste groups who had to be inducted into
the brahmana community, needs to be ascertained before we can
actually assess the degree of impact exercised by the practice of land
grants on the structural formation of the brahmana caste order.
Thus whereas references to Nisadagotra are available as early as
the time of Panini (4.1.100), H. Risley in his book Tribes and Castes
of Bengal (vol. 1, p. 21) has referred to a low group of brahmanas of
Bihar called Atharvas.34In fact, R.P. Chanda has35sought to establish
on ethnological grounds, the wide disparity in the shape of the head
26 SOCIALSCIENTIST
of Kanyakubjaand Maithila brahmanasof U.P.and north Biharon

the one hand and the Nagara brahmanasof Bengal on the other.
Accordingto Chandathe brahmanasof outer countriesof Gujarat,
Maharashtra,Orissa, and Bengal are more closely related to their
non-brahmananeighboursclassedas sudrasand antyajas.That such
brahmanaswere held in far lower esteem and were to be excluded
from ancestralrites is evident from a passage of the SauraPurana
quoted by Hemadri(thirteenthcent. AD) in his Sraddhakalpa.36
Moreover, the fact that the authors of the Puranasdeemed it
necessary to attribute to brahmanasof outlying regions mythical
origins furtherpoints to their doubtful antecedents.Thus according
to SkandaPurana,the Gitpavanabrahmanasof Konkanwerecreated
from the funeral pyre of sixty men by Parasurama in want of
brahmanasto perform for him a sraddha rite.37According to the
same PuranaParasuramain a similar mannercreated the Karhada
brahmanasfrom camel'sbones38and also conferredbrahmanahood
upon some Kaivartafamilies who later came to serve as priests to
that caste.39Local traditionsas recordedin the Bombay Gazetteer40
would seem to furtherbearthis out. Accordingto one of these local
traditionsLordRama on his returnfrom Lankain orderto perform
a sacrifice collected eighteen thousand hill tribes and made them
brahmanas.It is quiteprobabletherefore,thatthe Malavaor Malvika
brahmanasoriginallybelongedto the Malava tribe.4'Similarly,the
Boya brahmanasmentioned in the Koneki grant of Calukyanking
VinuvardhanaII (El, XXXI, pp. 74-80) actuallybelongedto the Boya
tribe of Andhra.42The PadmaPurana(SrstiKhanda)testifies to the
clash of interestsbetweenthe Maithilabrahmanasof Kamarupaand
those of local origin called Parvatiyas.43
Thereis thus enoughevidenceto suggestthat the brahmanacaste
stratumby earlymedievaltimeshad come to be hierarchicallygraded
and comprehendedelements other than those of strictly pure and
Midlandic origins. In fact the latter must have constituted only a
small fractionof the brahmanacommunitywhich was fast acquiring
a pan-India character and comprised a far more heterogeneous
conglomerationof region44and profession based groupings. Large
numberof tribaland aboriginalpriestlygroupsappearto havegained
entry into its fold as low-gradebrahmanas.Commandingvery poor
social esteem such brahmanaswere not even permittedto study the
Vedas or attend sraddhaceremonies.
The practice of making land grants, thereforedirectly affected
the composition of the brahmanavarna, providingit with a more
heterogeneousaspect.It was also largelyresponsiblefor bringingabout

a significantattitudinalchange on the part of brahmanaideologues
towards the marginalizedsections of society.
Thereare evidentsome otherrepercussionsof the practiceof land
grantson Brahmanism,which provedto be of a more seriousand far
reachingnature. Our study shows that brahmanabeneficiarieshad
to generallymore away from their native places to regions, some of
which were quite untouched by civilizational influences and were
mostly inhabited by preliterategroups practisingtheir traditional
mode of living and often sporting a somewhat belligerentattitude
towards stranigers.It was thus a ratherdisquietingexperiencefor the
brahmanabeneficiariesto be thrown into such close proximitywith
a people, who had until then remainedperipheralto the Brahmanical
order and whose presencein remote forested zones had in no way
impingedupontheirday to day life. The Brahmanicallawgiversearlier
had no compunctionthereforein brandingthemas Mlecchas,45 whose
very sightwas declaredto be pollutingand any physical contact with
whom had to be scrupulouslyavoided.
But with the growing incidenceof land grantsto brahmanas,the
situationchangedcompletely.As owners of brahmandeyaland, they
neededto makethem cultivable,in orderto be a sourceof incometo
them. This could be done only by mobilizingsufficientlabour force,
which was both willing and cooperative in making such a venture
successful. Since importing such labour from far off civilizational
zones was by no means economicallyviable, they had to necessarily
dependupon local people for providingit.46 Following the policy of
ethnic segregation and maintaining a stiff attitude of complete
aloofness,thereforewas becomingalmostimpossibleforthe brahmana
beneficiaries.It explains to a large extent the attitudinalchange on
the part of brahmanastowards people, who so far had been treated
as pariahasand outcastes.47The change in outlook is reflectedeven
in someDharmasastratextsandaccountsforthe numerousrelaxations
whichbeganto be madein favourof sudras.48 In fact,ritualformations
such as making dana, observing vrata and japa, visiting tirthas,
performingpuja and listeningto recitationof religioustexts such as
Puranas(katha)began to be favouredand widely recommendedas
much for the sudrasas membersof other varnas.
Such simple concessions were not enough, however,to appease
and win over the preliterategroups or even to make them give up
their belligerent stance49towards immigrant brahmanas, who
appearedmore as intrudersand encroachersupon their sacredland
28 SOCIAL SCIENTIST
than as peaceful settlers.It was perhapseven more difficultto make

the native residents adopt a submissiveattitude towards the same
people who were claiming to be the new proprietorsof the land.
Moreover,lack of adequateeconomic resourcesrenderedthe use of
force,50military or otherwise, for cowing down the natives equally
impossible.
But what made it into an absolutelyuphill task was the need to
makethe tribal groupsabandontheirtraditionalmethod of growing
food and insteadadopta systembasedon intensivefield cultivation.51
Hence to make a people firmlyrooted in tribal traditionto take to a
ploughsharebasedtechnologyfor which preservationof cattlewealth
was an importantprecondition,proved to be the greatestchallenge
which the brahmanarecipientsof landgrantshad to face and without
overcoming which they could not hope to reap the fruits of their
newly acquiredwealth in the form of their landedestates.
What added to the complexity of the problemwas the fact that
preliterate mode of earning livelihood had its roots in a firmly
entrenched and vibrantly alive religious tradition52which was
continually being reaffirmed and reinforced through ritual re-
enactmentof its mythicallore. The challengethereforehad to be met
essentiallyon a religiousplaneand in two successivestages,involving
first the erosion or deconstructionof theirexistent belief-systemand
then reconstructingin its place another system which could prove
more conduciveto such a transitionfrom a more predatoryform of
cultivationto field agriculture.
Thusthe problemwas not merelyone of establishingnew relations
of productionwith the original inhabitantsof the land but also of
developinga religioussystemwhich while cateringessentiallyto the
needs of the elite section of society, could still hold appeal for the
simple mindedtribal folk.
Therewas an urgentneedtherefore,to recastexistentBrahmanism
on moreliberallines and reorientit so completelyas to becomemore
amenableto the tribal collective ethos as well as become the main
frameof referencefor them. Withthe help of Puranicmythologyand
certainideologicalconstructssuchas thoserelatedto sin (mahapataka,
Agni Purana,ch. 168; VarahaPurana,chs. 131-36), hell, curse,etc.,53
which were meant to serveas strongmoral deterrents,the emergent
system aimed at makingthe nativesconform to a new set of moral
valuesand behaviouralnorms.This hadto be done by firstdisabusing
theirmindsof some fixednotionsrelatedto physicalcleanliness,ritual
purityand such practicesas ceremonialdrinkingof toddy54and ritual
killing of animals particularlycattle for food. The latter specially

came in the way of their adopting a new agriculturaltechnology.
It explains why the brahmanasadopting a more lenient stance
began to attach greater efficacy and spiritual merit to those ritual
performances,which requiredgroupparticipation.Forexamplesuch
ritual practices as bathing in holy rivers and tanks (snana), taking
out religious processions (ratha-yatra),celebratingfestivals (parb),
performingpuja in shrinesand temples, collective singing (kirtana)
and listening to recital of Puranictales now became integral to the
Brahmanicalbelief-systemandwere instrumentalin narrowingdown
the gap between the latter and its tribal counterpart.
Such an attitudinalchange on the part of brahmanapedagogues
could not have beeneasy,steepedas theywere in religiousorthodoxy.
No wonder thereforethey began to raise the bogey of 'kaliyuga'55s,
projectingit as a period of extreme crisis for explaining and even
justifyingthe need for resortingto suchexpedientmeasures.But from
their point of view these were indeed critical times, when the
Brahmanicalsystemwas being thrown out of gear due to more than
one reason. The problemsand pressurescaused by religious rivalry
and the arrivalof foreignhordeson the social firmamentappearedto
be furthercompoundedby the recalcitrantbehaviourof tribalgroups
who had so far been held in utmostcontemptby brahmanasand had
not been allowed accessinto the mainstreamof Brahmanicalorder.It
was the newly arisen need to acculturatethem and to make them
more compliant to the wishes of the new owners of brahmandeya
land, which forcedthe lawgiversto developa specialcode of conduct
to be validonly underdireandstressfulconditions(apatkaladharma).56
Howeverr underthe blanket coveringof exigent circumstances,the
lawgiverssoughtto providesanctionto most tribalusages,including
their peculiarfood habits. Thus duringtimes of emergencythe code
permitteda personto eat eventhe fleshof a dog or adoptoccupations
and crafts such as hunting or tilling soil,57 which were traditionally
forbiddenfor him.
Thus the 'apatkala'theorywas more a subterfugeon the part of
brahmanasto affectrapprochementbetweenttwo disparatereligious
traditions.The theory finds detailedexposition in some of the early
Mahapuranas,s8which were meant to give to Brahmanisma more
popularorientation.
The rise and growth of landed economy and the increasing
popularitygainedby the practiceof makinglandgrantsto brahmanas
in peripheralzones were factors which when combined with the
30 SOCIALSCIENTIST
pressures exercised by the rival religious systems became largely

responsiblefor some of the changesbesettingBrahmanismin the early
half of the first millenniumAD as well as for the adoption of a more
liberal attitude by its theoristsand ideologues.
PURANIC HINDUISM: SOME SALIENT FEATURES AND THEIR GENESIS
As notedabovea sea of changeis perceptiblebetweenBrahmanism
of the Dharmasastrasand 'Hinduism' as reflected in the Puranas.
Despite a prominentcontinuum,whereas the former representeda
moreor less a singlestreamfed mainlyby the Vedasandthe Vedangas,
PuranicHinduism on the contrarywas more like a vast ocean with
the Brahmanical stream no matter how big and forceful, still
representingonly one amongstnumerousothers flowing into it and
makingit an all encompassingmass of religiousbeliefsandpractices.
The source of its authorityand strengthlay not merelyin the Vedas
but was far more variegated,each one of them being as vibrantand
efficaciousas the other.Though Hinduismhas often been compared
to a banyantree which does not allow anythingto grow beneath or
nearit, yet it would be moreappropriateto describeit as a treewhich
has not one but multipleroots with each one of them nurturingand
resuscitating it, at the same time vesting it with remarkable
heterogeneityand popularappeal.And though it may not be easy to
determinethe exact source of some of its salient features, yet the
conditions underwhich these took shape may providesome clue to
their genesis.
A surveyof certainfeaturescharacterizingPuranicHinduismmay
be undertaken under the following heads: (i) pantheon related
developmentsleadingto sectarianplurality,(ii) new ritualformations
with pujaanda collectivemode of worshipgaininggreaterimportance
than the offering of homa or sacrificialoblations, (iii) mythological
overgrowthas reflectedin the Puranas,(iv) changed characterand
format of the new Brahmanicaltexts, (v) assimilation of Tantric
element,and(vi) the new ideological thrust on bhakti with Puranas
once again servingas its chief mediumof disseminaiton.Sinceweare
delvingonly into the popularaspectsof Hinduism,deepertheological
tenetsand otherrelateddevelopmentsdo not fall withinthe immediate
purview of our presentstudy.
1. Pantheonrelateddevelopments
The Hindu pantheon as reflected in the Puranassuffered from
what may best be describedas a demographicexplosion, for we come
acrossnamesof millionsfo deities,who weresometimeshierarchically

graded but can mostly be classified in terms of their sectarian
affiliations.Though all the majordeities are found to be integralto
the BrahmanicalpantheonrightfromlaterVedictimesor even earlier,
yet it is only duringthe first millenniumAD that the two principal
gods Visnu59and Siva,60while retainingtheir position in the Triadas
the Preserverand Destroyer of the universe,also became the focal
points of two emergentsectarianstreamsVisnuismand Sivaism.The
third dominant stream was representedby Sakti. The latter had
initially figuredin the Brahmanicalpantheonnot as an independent
deity but as the more activefemaleprincipleand consort of the three
principal gods,61Brahma,Visnu and Siva in her triple aspects of
Saraswati,Laksmi and Parvati/Durga.It is only from the opening
centuriesof the Christianera that Saktias Devi emergedas an object
of worship in her own rightand becamethe focus of an independent
cult named after her.62The new cult soon proved to be as centralto
Tantricbeliefsas it was to most existentpreliteratereligioussystems.
In fact, Mother-goddesscult has always been an inherentpart of the
latter,ever since man took first falteringsteps, towards civilization.
Visnuand Siva, on the other hand, as integralcomponentsof the
Triad while continuing to be a subject of theological speculation,
however, in their subsequent sectarian avataras began to absorb
countless local cults and deities within their folds. The latter were
either taken to representthe multiple facets of the same god or else
were supposed to denote differentforms and appellationsby which
the god came to be known and worshipped. Thus whereas Visnu
came to subsumethe cults of Narayana,Jagannatha,Venkateswara
and manyothers,Sivabecameidentifiedwith countlesslocal cults by
the sheersuffixingof Isa or Isvarato the name of the local deity,e.g.,
Bhutesvara,Hatakesvara,Chandesvara.The long lists of names of
Sakti or Devi furnished in the Puranas,63specially in the Devi
Bhagavata Purana, provide yet other examples of such pantheon
relatedovergrowth.In the case of Visnusuchabsorptionwas rendered
easy by the doctrine of incarnation,64propoundedand popularized
through the Puranas.That the doctrinewas meant to serve at least
partiallysuch a purposecan be inferredfrom the fact that the exact
numberof incarnationsnever remainedfixed at ten, but becamefar
more inflated in some of the later Puranas.We find that if some
incarnationsof Visnu such as Matsya, Kurma,Varahaand perhaps
even Nrsimha helped to incorporatecertain populartotem symbols
and creation myths, specially those related to wild boar,65which
32 SOCIALSCIENTIST
commonlypermeatepreliteratemythology,otherssuch as Krsnaand
Balaramabecameinstrumentalin assimilatinglocal cults and myths
centering around two popular pastoral and agriculturalgods.66An
example of tribal accretionsto Visnuism is provided by a Puranic
myth accordingto which Visnuin his incarnationas Narasimhawas
infatuatedwith and marrieda forest belle belongingto the Chenchu
tribe.67The latter ever since then came to regardNarasimhaas their
son-in-law.The recognitionof LordBuddha,the founderof a major
rival sect, as an incarnationof Visnu, was perhaps nothing more
than an astute attempt to subvert the existence of Buddhismas an
independentcreed.68
Visnu'stwo most popularincarnationsas Rama and Krsna,also
becamethe focus of a strongbhaktitradition,which foundexpression
particularlyin the BhagavataPurana.Thus Rama becamethe object
of complete devotion to some preliteratetribes which have been
mythicisedas vanaras. One of them Hanumana,who was perhaps
also a local monkeygod, becameso closelyinterwoveninto the Rama
tradition that he emergedas an importantHindu deity in his own
right and continues to be so to this day. Similarlythe ever widening
currentof Krsnatradition69deeply immersedin pastoralism,began
to subsumenumerousNaga, yaksa and even some hill and tree based
cults. Even the heroes and anti heroes of the Mahabharatawar due
to their close association with Krsnabecame integralto the latter's
everexpandinglore. However,out of the five Pandavas,it was chiefly
Bhimathe husbandof Hidimba,a she-demon,who becamea popular
cultic figurein some partsof the subcontinentsupplyingthe essential
link betweenthe newly developedHindupantheonand its preliterate
counterpart.70
The more indigenousorigins of Siva on the other hand made the
adoption of a differentmythicalframenecessary.It had to be one in
which collective ethos and close familial ties played a key role. In
fact, as is quite apparentfrom the Narasimha-Chenchu71 myth cited
are
above, preliterategroups generally known to shareclose familial
relations with their respectivegods and deities. It has therefore, in
keeping with such an ethos, that Siva was believed to be attended
upon by not one or two but a whole band or gana of Yaksas,72who
were regardedas his close kinsmen.The latter'sdescriptionas being
ungainlyand repulsivelooking would perhapsmake them out to be
mythicalcounterpartsof indigenoustribes.
The leaderof the ganas, the elephant-headedGandes,73who was
the centre of a major regional cult became Siva's older offspring.
Similarly,his second son Skanda or Kumaracame to be identified

with some more well-known deities such as KarttikeyaMahasena,74
a war god and Murugan and Subrahmanyatwo popular deities
worshippedin south India. Moreover,some light on Skanda'stribal
antecedentsmay be thrown by the Puranictale, which recountshow
he was bornin a forestundera thicket.Siva'swife Parvati,the mother
of Ganesa and Skanda,was herself a prominentmountain goddess
who was also worshippedin her more aggressiveaspect of Durga.
While another river Goddess Ganga was believed to be trapped in
Siva'stresses, which were also adornedby a crescent moon. It was
his formerwife Sati,the daughterof PrajapatiDaksa, who protesting
against the insult done to her husband, immolated herself in her
father'ssacrificialfire.75Accordingto the same Puranicmyth, as her
body was being carriedby her distraughthusbandpieces from it fell
at differentplaces, transformingthe latter into Sakta-pithas.76
Moreover,suchprimordialfertilitysymbolsas snake and bull are
also found to penetratethe mythicallore centeringaroundSiva, one
as his chief body adornmentand the other as his favourite mount
Nandi, whose worshipbecameintegralto Sivaism.Someotheranimals
and birds who found their way into Siva'sfold mainly as personal
mounts of differentmembersof the family included lion, peacock
and even a rodent specie, namely mouse.
Butperhapseven more significantwere the developmentsrelated
to Siva'siconic manifestation.Sivawas depictedin what appearedto
by a typical tribalgarb attiredin deer-skinand sportingmatted hair.
Moreover,the adoptionof phallicsymbol for Sivafurtherforgedthe
links betweenSivaismand fertilitycult as practisedby the preliterate
groups.77 Worshipof Sivain his lingaformgainedsuchwide popularity
specially in peripheralzones that shrinesdedicatedto it came up in
very largenumbers78 and an entirePuranacame to be namedafterit.
Thus pantheon related developments clearly reveal that
proliferationin the numberof Puranicdeities was mainly due to the
absorption of local and regional cults, but the need for such
assimilation lay essentially in the emergenteconomic order,which
made it necessaryfor the brahmanasparticularlythe recipientsof
land grantsto activelywoo preliterategroupsdwellingin and around
brahmadeyalands. And therewas no betweenway of doing so than
givingrecognitionto the gods andgoddessesworshippedby the latter.79
Thoughone historian80 is inclinedto regardsuchculticassimilation
specially in the context Bhakti movement in south India to be
of
more in the nature of 'hegemonic appropriation'which 'invilved
34 SOCIALSCIENTIST
assimilation of the cults but rejection of their non-confirmist practices,'

yet this may not be entirely correct, specially when viewed in the
light of developments marking Puranic ritual formations, which we
shall presently consider.
Moreover it needs to be also ascertained as to how far such
absorption was mainly due to Brahmanical recognition being given
to tribal deities, and was not instead a corollary of the penetration of
tribal elements into the brahmana caste stratum; in which case
brahmanas of doubtful origin and exhibiting prominent tribal
affiliations could easily be expected to have inducted at least a few of
their more popular tribal gods and goddesses into the Puranic
pantheon. If the latter is found to be true then instead of it being a
case of brahmanisation of a 'hegemonic' kind, it could very well prove
to be more a case of the Brahmanical pantheon getting tribalized
through not only the incorporation of tribal deities but also the
adoption of some of their prominent physical traits and iconic features
along with some ritual and mythical beliefs connected with them.
Thus if the image of Lord Jagannatha of Puri is known to manifest
distinctly tribal features and continues to be crafted of wood,81
Dattatreye one of the many incarnations of Visnu is found to be
represented in the Puranas as a forester given to strong spirituous
liquor and who, according to the Markandeya Purana (XIX.10-12)
has to be worshipped with the offerings of meat, wine, perfume and
garlands to the accompaniment of music. Spirituous liquor is said to
be a weakness of yet another incarnation of Visnu namely Balarama.
2. Some new ritual formations

Certain prominent developments related to ritual growth took
place during first millennium AD. The most outstanding amongst them
pertained to ritual gift-making which began to override and supercede
Vedic sacrificial ritualism,82despite attempts on the part of Satavahana
and Gupta kings to revive the latter. Granting land to religious
beneficiaries became a common practice which not only received due
recognition and sanction of the brahmana theorists but had as
observed earlier some far reaching repercussions for the brahmana
varna itself.
Besides gift of land, certain other more innovative forms of gift-
making also appeared for the first time in the Puranas. These include
the sixteen mahadanas83or great gifts, which find earliest mention in
the Matsya Purana (dated around fourth century AD) and the numerous
Dhenu and Meru danas (Agni Purana, ch. 21.2), in which various
FROM 'BRAHMANISM'TO 'HINDUISM' 35
types of gift-itemssuch as differentkinds of cerealswere heaped up

in the shape of a cow or a hillock and then gifted to deserving
brahmanas.The occasions for makinggifts also multiplied.Besides
such occasions as observanceof vratas, ritual gift-makingat places
of pilgrimagewas imbuedwith great spiritualmerit and became an
importantmeansof sin expiation. Sincesuch gift-makingwas widely
recommendedto membersof even lower varnas,it helpedin diluting
the elitist characterof Brahmanicalritualism.
The growing importanceof the institution of tirthas84was yet
anothersignificantdevelopmentwhichmarkedBrahmanicalritualism
during Gupta/post-Guptatimes. Thereis evident duringthis period
not only a remarkableextension of its definitionalscope and ritual
formatbutalso an unprecedented increasein its numbers.The Puranas
abound with names of thousandsof tirthas distributedall over the
country.However what is really significantis not just their sudden
proliferationbutthe fact that suchgrowthis foundto be concentrated
more in areas which were far removedfrom the core Brahmanical
zone. This is amplyborneout also by sourcesotherthan the Puranas
as we have tried to show elsewhere.There is thus perceptiblea clear
linkage between the growing popularityof the institution of tirthas
andthe spreadof Brahmanicalculturalinfluencesin peripheralregions
such as Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Gujarat, Maharashtraand the
Andhracountry.But whether such a developmentwas the result of
the spread of Brahmanicalinfluencesinto tribal areas or it was the
outcome of alreadyexistent tribalshrinesand cultic centresfindinga
place in the Puranic tradition may not be so easy to ascertain.
Nevertheless,the inclusionof such tirthasas Kurkuritirtha (Skanda
Purana, V.3.205), Bhilla tirtha (Brahma Purana, 169.4), and
Hatakesvara(SkandaPurana,VI. 108) in the Puraniclists does very
stronglysuggestthe latter.
Anotherritualformationveryclosely relatedto the institutionof
tirthaswas that of observingfestivalsor parb85which were marked
by group participation.The practiceof taking out images of gods
kept in chariotsin huge processionscalled ratha-yatrawas definitely
one which does not reveal Vedic antecedentsbut which became an
annual featureat many prominentpilgrimagecentresfrom the time
of the Puranas.The annualratha-yatraat JagannathaPuriis specially
famous and is known to attractlargecrowds.86
Collectivebathingin sacredriversandtanks87on specialoccasions
such as twelve and six yearlyKumbhaand ardha-Kumbha88 became
fromthis time onwardsyet anotherfeatureof tirtha-centricactivities,
36 SOCIALSCIENTIST
which gained wide popularity. Some other forms of tirtha

ceremonialism which involved group participation included
circumambulationor parikramaand listening to Puranic tales or
katha. That such ritual formations were meant to heighten the
collectiveethos and popularappealof placesof pilgrimageis no doubt
muchtoo apparent,thoughthe real sourcefrom which some of these
ritual practiceswere derivedneeds a more carefulprobing.
Anotherparalleldevelopmentverycloselyrelatedto the institution
of tirthas was the practice of installing images of deities and the
building of temples89and shrines which gained momentummainly
from the opening centuries of the Christianera. The practice had
alreadybecome widely popularwith Buddhismand Jainism.It was
therefore becoming exigent for the Brahmanicalleaders to follow
suit in order to cope with the pressuresexercised by the growing
religious rivalry.But this could not have been the only reason why
image and temple worship suddenlygained so much importancein
the Brahmanicalsystem. Perhapsa far more importantreason may
be soughtin the close interactionbetweenthe latterand its preliterate
counterpart,to which some form of idol-worshiphad been integral
right from the very beginning.90Hence for preparingsome sort of
meeting ground between the two antithetical systems it became
necessary for the brahmanas to attach greater importance to
idolworship (VarahaPurana,chs.179.83; Matsya Purana,chs. 258-
61) as well as the practice of enshriningthem in temples. This is
fairlyevidentfrom the Puranas,which contain largesectionsdealing
with the subjectof temple-buildingand the installationof images of
Brahmanicaldeities (pratima-pratisha). The Agni Purana,containsa
chapter (327) on 'devalayamahatmya'.Accordingto a verse of the
VisnudharmottaraPurana (III) 'buildingof temple is auspicious in
the Kaliage as is also the installationof divineimages.'In the Puranas
rules regardingtemple architecturalplanning and style have been
posited for the first time.91That from Gupta period onwards
constructionof templesby membersof the rulingelite becamea widely
prevalent practice is amply borne out by archaeological and
inscriptionalevidence.Our data backedby anthropologicalresearch
moreover,points to the practicebecomingan importantinstrument
of providingreligiousvalidationfor the ritual and political status of
the donors.92Thus epigraphicrecordstestify to the constructionof
templesdedicatedto tribaldeities by local chieftanswho had staked
their claims to political power.93 For instance an inscription from
Chittorbelongingto the eighthcenturyrecordsthe erectionof a temple
of Kukkuresvara Mahadeva by King Kukkuresvara.94 The Kanas

copperplate belonging to sixth-seventh centuries ADalludes to a temple
in Orissa, which was dedicated to Yaksa Manibhadra.9s What is
specially noteworthy is the fact that most of such temple-building
activities are found to be concentrated in far flung tribal-belts. Thus
temples of this period are reported from such places as Osia, Kholvi,
Poladungari, Binaika, Khejariao, and Dhamanar in Rajasthan, Ter in
Andhra Pradesh, Mandhol in Maharashtra, Benusagar in the
Singbhum district of Bihar and Dahparbatia in Assam.96
Another significant development in Brahmanical ritualism during
this period was related to temple-ceremonialism,97 which reveals a
close temple-tribe nexus. The Soligas for example are traditionally
entrusted with the task of carrying the utsava-murti of Lord
Rangaswamy and his consort in Karanataka.98Similarly the Chenchus
performed special temple duties at the Srisailam temple of Siva and
were even entitled to receive endowments.99 As pointed out by James
Preston the Rauts who were once a tribal people but are now regarded
as a sudra sub-caste, are by tradition temple servants at the temple of
Goddess Sarala in Orissa.100They work in the temple along with the
brahmana priests but with different functions. Similarly the temple
of Lord Venkatesvara at Tirupati is known to be closely associated
with the Kuruba tribe,101the Jagannatha temple at Puri with the
Savaras,102and the Surpanesvara temple in Gujarat with the Bhilas
and the Tadavis.103The tribal priests variously called Bhopa, Munda-
pahan, etc., are known to perform certain specific functions in the
temple ceremonialism such as offering animal sacrifices'04or pulling
the chariot of the temple deity. Such a close temple-tribe nexus thus
not only gave rise to a distinct cadre of functionaries attached to
different temples and generally graded hierarchically'05 but it was
also responsible for the brahmana priests (pujari) being relegated to
a very low social status in the brahmana hierarchy.
But more than anything else, it was the adoption of the puja mode
of worship (Agni Purana, chs. XXI; XXIII) which undermined the
Vedic practice of offering homa or oblations into the sacred fire and
cast Brahmanism into a more popular mould. The composition of
the puja ingredients such as flowers, leaves and fruits of specially
those trees which grew in forests such as the Bilva (or Bela) tree,
would point to a certain dependence upon and proximity to the natural
environment. The latter in its turn may reflect a more primitive form
of worship which became an integral feature of Puranic Hinduism.
Moreover the inclusion of such items as masks or mukha-kosa and
38 SOCIALSCIENTIST
even animal flesh and intoxicant drinks amongst puja offeringsfor

very definitelysuggesttribal influences.
particulardeities106
Most ritualformationsduringGupta/post-Guptatimesarefound
to share certain common features.Most of them encouragedgroup
participationand requiredthe use of minimalresourcesthus bringing
them within the means of the lowest substratumof society.They are
moreoverknown to impose lesser degree of genderand caste based
restrictionsand also tended to narrow down the gap between the
functionsperformedby the officiatingpriestsandtheguruor preceptor
whose presencein ritualperformancesnow becamemoreprominent.
3. Mythologicalovergrowth
A significantdevelopmentwhich distinguishedPuranicHinduism
from Brahmanismwas an ever expandingmythicaltraditionwhich
permeatedthe entirecontent of the Puranaslendingto them a more
popular base and appeal. Besides its sheer quantum, what is most
remarkableabout Hindu mythologyis the fact that it is derivednot
merelyfromVedicand Smartatraditionsbutfromfarmorevariegated
sources, ranging from Tantricto highly diversifiedtribal and folk
traditions.
It may be noted that whereas myths help to express, enhance,
codifyandprovidereligioussanctionto beliefs,107 folkloreis essentially
an effective for
system projecting definitecultural valuesandgoals.t08
An extensive use of myth and folklore thereforecould proveto be a
suremeansof developingan alternatesocio-religioustradition.Hence
the adoption of a structuralframeworkfor the Puranaswhichwas so
heavilyladenwith mythologymaygive us someidea aboutthe specific
purpose for which these texts were composed. The fact that their
composers so heavily relied on mythology for achieving it, clearly
shows that they were not only addressingan audiencewhich may not
have beenwholly literatebut were also seekingto bringaboutcertain
fundamentalchanges in the existent Brahmanicaltradition.
By using the languageof myth the Brahmanicalideologueswere
able to transform current happenings and developments into
mythologicalevents of great antiquityjust as some local usages and
tribal practiceswere investedwith ritual sanctityand becamemeans
of earningspiritualmerit. This is particularlyevident in the case of
such ritual performancesas listening to katha'09recital or offering
puja or even collective participationin festivals held at places of
pilgrimagesuch as the ratha-yatraat JagannathaPuri. As already
mentionedit was only with the help of mythsthat the idea of curseor
hell could be madeto evoke suchawe and fearin the heartsof simple-
mindedcommon folk, that they could be made to conform to a new
set of moral values and behaviouralconduct.110
What is most strikingabout Puranicmythologyis that muchof it
cannot claim any genuine antiquity.In fact, in order to cast current
events, developments,local legendsand tales into a mythicalframe,
Vedic deities and ancient seers had to be introducedas their chief
dramatis personae. For example, the story about the ten Praceta
brotherswho were out to destroythe forest treesbut were dissuaded
from doing so by the god Soma himself"1'is clearly an attempt to
mythicisethe widespreadphenomenonof deforestationwhich must
have followed in the wake of agriculturalexpansion taking place
duringGupta/post-Guptatimes. Similarlythe story about how Asura
king Bali was trickedinto partingwith his whole kingdom by Visnu
in the guise of a brahmanaVamana12could very well be interpreted
as an allegoricalrepresentationof the ongoing phenomenonof land
acquisition by the agents of Brahmanisation.The same holds true
also of some tirtharelatedlegends,in which Vedicgods and sages are
describedas sanctifyingplacesof pilgrimageby theirmiraculousdeeds,
austeritiesand sacrificialperformances.113
An importantmyth used to great advantagein the Puranaswas
that relatedto the four yugas.114As we have tried to show elsewhere
it was chiefly with the help of Kaliyuga myth that the challenges
posed by changingsocial ordercouldbe placedin a properperspective
and dealt with greatdexterityby the Brahmanicalideologues.51The
myth was largely responsible for giving a new dimension and
expandingthe horizon of existent Brahmanism.
As already mentioned myths related to creation and the
Brahmanicaltriad were equally instrumentalin assimilatingtribal
creation myths16and local cults and deities and transformingand
integratingthem into the Hindu belief system.In fact it was through
mythssuchas the one relatedto Sati'simmolationin herfatherDaksa's
sacrificialfire that innumerabletribal goddesses with their strange
physical features, attributes and names such as Vidali, Uluki,
Gokarnika,Pilapacchikacouldbe absorbedinto the Hindupantheon.
The rise of a distinctsect centeringround Sakti-worshipwas a direct
corollary of the incorporationof countless tribal female deities into
the Puranicpantheon.
Myth seems to have been used in the Puranasalso to reducethe
varna/tribehiatusand smoothenthe processof culturalassimilation.
Certainmyths such as the one about Vena and his two unnaturally
40 SOCIALSCIENTIST
created posthumous sons Nisada and Prthu appear to have been

specially woven into the Puranickernel for the specific purpose of
redefining the exact nature of relationship shared by the two
juxtaposedsocial ordersas well as their respectivesocial duties and
ritualstatusvis-a-visone another.Significantlythe mythwhich has it
roots in Vedic mythologyappearsin maximumnumberof Purnas117
and is found to undergo several stages of elaboration and change
which I have tried to analyse at length elsewhere.
4. Changedcharacterof new religioustexts

The transformationfrom Brahmanismto PuranicHinduism is
best reflectedin the changedcharacterand format of the new genre
of scripturaltexts that beganto be composedfromthis time onwards.
Even a cursory scrutiny of their contents shows that they contain
minimalof didacticmaterialand areinsteadrepletewith mythological
tales and legends with far greater popular appeal. The Puranas
specially contain a lot of other kinds of material of a more wide
rangingand eclectic nature.This has both inflated their size as well
as investedthem with an encyclopaediccharacter.Their composers
have moreover adopted a new style of writing based on narration
and story-tellingwith frequentinterrogatoryinterjectionsby Puranic
charactersseeking clarification and further elaboration. This was
apparentlydone to cast these texts into a more popular mould so
that they could be easily comprehensibleeven to the non-literate
segmentsof society.The only reasonwhy the composersshouldhave
opted for such a style could be becausethey were targetinga totally
differentset of audience.The latternot only lackedintellectualfinesse
but was wholly rooted in folk tradition,in which myths and rituals
play a seminalrole in augmentinggroupidentityand in definingand
reaffirmingsocial role and status.
Unlikethe Vedas,the Dharmasutrasand the Smrtitexts, the new
genreof Brahmanicalliteraturewas meantnot so muchto be studied
and deliberatedalone as for public recitaland collective listening.18
Listeningwas in fact a very importantpart of Puranicculture.Thus
according to the Vayu (103.58), Brahma (175.89-90), Matsya
(290.20), and the Visnu(VI.8.3)PuranasreadingPuranasor listening
to their recital would destroy all sins. Banabhattaalludes to the
recitation of the VayuPurana in his native village.119The Puranas
also contain referencesto the popular practiceof holding saptah or
seven days readingsessions of a Purana,which was consideredto be
as importantand meritoriousas a vedicsacrifice.120Butperhapswhat
is even more significantis that duringsuch recitalsessions there had

to be present by the side of the reader or vacaka another person
whose main duty was to go on explainingthe difficult passagesand
ideas occurringin the text.121Such a practiceclearly underlinesthe
fact that the Puranas as a genre of literaturewere meant for the
edificationnot so much of the intelligentsiaas of the simple-minded
common folk with limitedpowers of graspingabstractconceptsand
deeperphilosophicaltenets.
5. Tantricelementsgainingprominencein PuranicHinduism
Another significant development that distinguished Puranic
Hinduism from Brahmanism of the Dharmasutras and the
Dharmasastraswas the growingabsorptionof Tantricelement.122 In
fact in all later Puranaspurificatoryrites as well as those connected
with the constructionof templesor with the processesof clearanceof
forestsand otheragriculturaloperationsarefoundto be heavilylaced
with Tantricritualism.The BhavisyaPurana (II. .11.11.1) recognizes
the Tantrasas an authorityon consecrationof trees,tanks,etc. Tantric
elements are found to abound in the initiation ceremony (diksa) as
describedin the GarudaPurana(I.9), PadmaPurana(SrstiKhanda,
31.8.75) and AgniPurana(1.17.2).Tantricelementsfoundveryfertile
grounds speciallyin such sectarianHindu systems as Saktism123 and
Sivaismwhich are known to draw heavilyupon Tantric ritual beliefs
and practices.This is speciallyevident from such sectarianPuranic
texts as the Linga Puranaand the Devi BhagavataPurana.
Significantlythe roots of Tantrismare believedto lie in preliterate
magicaland fertilityritesconnectedwith agriculturaloperations.The
assimilationof Tantricrites and practicesduringGupta/post-Gupta
centuriesinto not only Hinduismbut almostall otherprevailingcreeds
will have to be attributedthereforeto the growingimportancegained
by agrariansystemcombinedwith the acceleratedpace of interaction
between the established religions and the preliterate tradition as
embodiedin tribalcults and ritualpractices.'24 Suchinteractionmust
havebeenlargelysteppedup by the penetrationof mainstreamcultural
forcesinto remotertribalbeltsfor purposesof agriculturalexpansion.
The increasingtilt towardsTantrismthus not ony distancedPuranic
Hinduism from Brahmanismbut also lessened the hiatus between
the former and the preliteratetradition. In fact some of the tribal
ritualpracticessuch as ritualdrinkingand dancingand even offering
of animalsacrificeas partof fertilityriteswere incorporatedinto the
Sakta belief system via Tantrism.125
42 SOCIAL SCIENTIST
6. Focus on bhakti
The extraordinary thrust laid on bhakti or devotion as a means
and end of all religious thought and action was yet another feature
which distinguished Puranic Hinduism from Brahmanism. Bhakti as
a theistic construct revolved essentially around (a) an object of
devotion who could be Bhagavan or some personal god, (b) the
supplicant or the bhakta (i.e., devotee) and (c) the guru who guided
as well as initiated the latter on the path of devotion. It is significant
that all these constituents of bhakti are known to receive the earliest
and perhaps the most exhaustive treatment in the Puranas, especially
in the Bhagavata Purana (11.3;III.29; XI.14).126It mentions as many
as nineteen different classifications of bhakti, ranging from a threefold
devotion to thirty-six fold devotion, although a ninefold devotion
comprising (a) sravana (or hearing), (b) kirtana (or collective
chanting), (c) smarana (or remembering), (d) padasevana (or service
at god's feet), (e) areanam (or offering worship) (f) vandana (or
praising), (g) dasyam (or displaying feeling of servitude), (h) sakhyam
(or friendship), (i) atma-nivedanam (or self-surrender) is more
frequently recognized and recommended. It is apparent that one of
the chief elements of bhakti which is continually emphasized in the
Puranas is that of self-surrender and humility manifesting itself in
the servile demeanour of the supplicant. Although criticisms are
levelled against an overtly feudalistic approach to bhakti, yet it can
scarcely be denied that at least some of its elements such as padasevana
and atmanivedana or prapatti can be understood and appreciated
better against a certain contextual background. Thus it is remarkable
how the manifestation of a similar spirit of abject surrender towards
the brahmana beneficiary by the people residing over the donated
land could effect material change and improvement in the dialectical
relationship shared by the two, making the latter more compliant
and quiescent to the wishes of the former.
It is moreover significant that the Bhakti movement is known to
have its origin and development mainly in the outlying regions away
from the Brahmanical heartland.127This is admitted in a frequently
occuring verse in the Puranas, according to which Bhakti originated
in the Dravida country, flourished in Karnataka and had sporadic
success in Maharashtra. Hence whatever the nature and degree of
diversification which beset the bhakti ideology at a later stage, two
facts which stand out prominently are (i) bhakti per se specially at
the ideational level signified only the dual qualities of devotion and
loyalty and (ii) it served as a double edged ideological mechanism
which was used by two opposite social segments to achieve two

diametricallyopposedends.If bhaktiduringthe earlymedievalperiod
served as an effective ideological instrument in the hands of the
mainstreamideologuesseekingto indoctrinatethe marginalizedsocial
segments by inculcatingin them the principlesof devotion, loyalty
and self-surrender; in the subsequent period it helped more to
articulateprotests against social injusticeand religious bigotry. So
that whereas in the initial stages it was utilized chiefly by the elite
group to bolster and augmentthe emergentfeudal social order,at a
later stage it served more as a tool in the hands of the depressed
sections to fight against social inequalities and religious
fundamentalism.It is significanthow the earlierexponentsof bbakti
rightfromRamanujato Vallabhacaryaandeventhe majorityof Alvar
saints belongedchiefly to the upperstratumof society.128 Duringthe
late medievalphase on the contrarythe leadersof Bhaktimovement,
such as Raidasa and Kabirawere generallydrawn from the lower
rungs of society,mainlythe working class. The ideological potential
of bhaktiis, in fact, immensejustas'itsdimensionalscopeis extremely
vast and thoughthe subjecthas all along evokedgreatinterestamong
scholars,129 the most recentstudyhavingbeenundertakenby Professor
SuviraJaiswal,130 who considersthe Bhaktimovementto have been
instrumental'in forging of a broader cultural unity by integrating
tribal and local or regionalcults within a Brahmanicalframework',
yet as she also admitsthereis a need to carryon furtherinvestigations
speciallywith regardto the origins of bhakti.
My own study,which is however of a macro nature,shows that
the growing thrust on bhakti in PuranicHinduism was directly in
responseto the demandsof a changingsocial order and the need to
meetthe challengeon a religiousplane.Moreoverpantheonandritual-
centricovergrowthin existentBrahmanismwas the resultnot so much
of 'hegemonicculticappropriation'by its agentsas it was the outcome
of a syncretisticfusion of the latterwith severaldisparatebut equally
vibrantculturaltraditions.It led to such a mass absorptionof tribal
and folk elementsthat Brahmanismchangedbeyondrecognitionand
becameso broadbasedthat it threatenedto wipe out of existenceall
other rivalcreeds.But most of all the developmentforevererasedthe
monolithic structureand characterof Hinduism.
In the end I wish to reiteratethe need to view the Puranasafresh
in order to gain throughthem new insights into the forces of social
changeoperatingduringthe periodof theircomposition.I once again
thank the organizersof the Congressfor giving me this wonderful
44 SOCIAL SCIENTIST
opportunity for sharing some of my researchfindings with all the

learnedhistoriansgatheredhere today.
NOTES
1. Romila Thapar, Interpreting Early India, Delhi, 1992, chapter on 'Imagined

Religious Communities? Ancient History and the Modern Search for a Hindu
Identity', p. 65.
2. P.V. Kane, HD, V, ii, p. 913; R.C. Hazra, Studies in the Puranic Records on
Hindu Rites and Customs, sec. ed., Delhi, 1975, p. 208.
3. B.S. Hanumantha Rao, 'Religion and Society in the Vengi Chalukyan
Kingdom', in Sriramacandrika, ed., A.V.N. Murthy and I.K. Sarma, Delhi,
1993, p. 419; H.P. Ray, 'Early Buddhist Monachism and Its Socio-economic
Implications', The Age of the Satavahanas, vol.I, ed., A.M. Shastri, New
Delhi, 1999, pp. 199-204.
4. Suvira Jaiswal, The Origin and Development of Vaisnavism, sec., rev., ed.,
New Delhi, 1981, p. 130.
5. Vijay Nath, Dana: Gift-system in Ancient India c, 600 BC-C, AD 300. A
Socio-economic Perspective, New Delhi, 1987.
6. S.C. Banerji, 'Puranic Basis of Vratas Mentioned in Bengal Smrtis' Indian
Culture, XIII, 1946-47, pp. 35-44,; P.M. Upadhye, 'Vows in the Purana
Literature', Bharatiya Vidya, XXXII, 1972, pp. 13-19; K.K. Gupta, A Socio-
Religious Study of Visnudharmottara Purana, New Delhi, 1994, pp. 175-78.
7. N.N. Sengupta, 'The Practice of Religious Recital (japa), Journal of UP
Historical Society, XII, 1939, pp. 22-48.
8. Vijay Nath, Puranas and Acculturation: A Historico-Anthropological
Perspective, New Delhi, 1001, ch. 1.
9. R.S. Sharma Indian Feudalismn,Delhi, 1980, pp. 54-55; H.G. Rawlinson,
Intercourse between India and the Western World: From the Earliest Times
to the Fall of Rome, reprint, Delhi, 1977, p. 151.
10. R.N. Nandi, 'Growth of Rural Economy in Early Feudal India', Presidential
Address, PIHC, 1984.
11. K.S. Singh, 'Technology and Acculturation: The Brahmanical Model
Reconsidered', Social Science Probings, I, II, 1985.
12. Vide Lallanji Gopal, Aspects of History of Agriculture in Ancient India,
Varanasi, 1980, pp. 2, 26-29.
13. Agni Purana, ch. 121.44-52; contains reference to some interesting
astronomical considerations to be observed in connection with six agricultural
operations. A summary of the Parasara Smrti in thirty-nine verses was
incorporated into the Garuda Purana (ch. 107); vide R.C. Hazra, Studies ill
the Puranic Records on Hindu Rites and Customs, p. 142.
14. Saroj Dutta, Land System in Northern India (c. AD 400-700), New Delhi,
1995, p. 100; R.S. Sharma, Indian Feudalism, p. 39.
15. K.M. Shrimali, Agrarian Structure in Central India and the Northern Deccan,
New Delhi, 1987; Saroj Dutta, op. cit., p. 101; S.K. Panda, 'Socio-economic
condition in South Orissa: A Survey from Earliest Times to AD 1568', JAIH,
XVII, i-ii, 1987-88, pp. 135-63; N.K. Bhattasali, 'New Lights on the History
of Assam - The Empire - Builders of Assam', IHQ, XXI, 1945, pp. 19-25;
FROM 'BRAHMANISM' TO 'HINDUISM' 45
Puspa Niyogi, Brahmanic Settlement in Different Sub-divisions of Ancient

Bengal, Calcutta, 1967.
16. EI, I, pp. 32, 36; IX, p. 166; X, p. 25; XI, p. 281; XXIV, p. 180.
17. R.S. Sharma, Aspects of Political Ideas and Institutions in Ancient India,
third edition, Delhi, 1991, pp. 80-81.
18. V.S. Pathak, 'Vedic Rituals in Early Medieval Period: An Epigraphic Study',
ABORI, XI, 1959, pp. 218-19.
19. Vijay Nath, 'Mahadana: The Dynamics of Gift Economy and the Feudal
Milieu', The Feudal Order: State, Society and Ideology in Early Medieval
India, ed., D.N. Jha, Delhi, 2000, pp. 411-40.
20. Even the epigraphs from sixth century AD onwards occasionally mention
the decline of Vedic activities in the Kali age, EI, I, viii, pp. 229-307.
21. Vijay Nath, 'Ritual Symbolism and Status Conferring Role of Dana', PIHC,
1989-90, pp. 80-87.
22. Hermann Kulke, Kings and Cults: State Formation and Legitimation in India
and Southeast Asia, Delhi, 1993, p. 11; Romila Thapar and M.H. Siddiqui,
'Tribals in History: The case of Chhotanagpur', in Social Stratification, ed.,
Dipankar Gupta, 1991, p. 423; Vijay Nath, 'Mahadana', The Feudal Order,
p. 419.
23. V.S. Pathak, op. cit.
24. R.C. Hazra, op. cit., p. 209.
25. R.K. Dikshit, 'Land Grants of the Candella Kings', Journal of Uttar Pradesh
Historical Society, 1950, p. 237; A.P. Shah, 'Feudatories and Beneficiaries in
Medieval Orissa (AD 600-1200)', JIH, LIV, 1976, p. 552; R. Vajpeyi,
'Brhaspati on the Emergenceof Landowning Brahmana Community', ABORI,
LVII, 1976, pp. 181-87.
26. Parasara Smrti, II, 2, 'Brahmana devoted to six fold duties should resort to
cultivation', Brhat parasara, V.118; 150, provides for brahmanas to do
cultivation work. Vide Lallanji Gopal, op. cit., p. 27; reference to 'ksetra-
karan brahmanan', in Contributions to the Economic History of Northern
India, Calcutta, 1962, pp. 17-18.
27. EI, II, p. 180; VI, pp. 40-54; R.K. Mohanty, 'Migrations of Brahmanas to
Orissa', in Sriramacandrika, ed., A.V.N. Murthy and I.K. Sarma, Delhi,
1993, pp. 387-95; Vasudeva Upadhyaya, 'Migration of Brahmanas from
Madhyadesa', JBRS, XLV, 1959, p. 310' K.M. Gupta, 'On some Castes and
Caste-origins in Svlhet', IHQ, VII, iii-iv, pp. 178-19.
28. B.N.S. Yadava, Society and Culture in Northern India During the Twelfth
Century AD, Allahabad, 1973, p. 22.
29. Vide Brahmanda Purana, translated and annotated by G.V. Tagore, Delhi,
1983, Introduction.
30. El, XXXII, iv; IHQ, XXVIII, p, 133; B.N.S. Yadava, op. cit., pp. 19-22.
31. Vide D.G. Sircar, Studies in the Geography of Ancient and Medieval India,
Delhi, 1960, p. 16.
32. CH, V, no. vi, B.P. Majumdar, 'Collective Land Grants in Early Medieval
Inscriptions', JASB, X, 1968, pp. 7-17.
33. Varaha Purana, ch. 139; Atri Smrti, vv. 373-83; vide Kane, HD, II, i, p. 131;
B.N.S. Yadava, op. cit., p. 21.
34. Significantly the Visnu Purana (III, 6, 28) and the Visnu Purana (61, 79)
associate the Atharvaveda brahmanas with some sciences such as Ayurveda,
Dhanurveda (military science), Gandharvaveda, Arthaveda, etc.; vide
46 SOCIAL SCIENTIST
Chitraleks Gupta, 'The Atharvavedic Brahmanas of Inida', in Man in India,

LVII, iii, 1977, p. 223.
35. R.P. Chanda, The Indo-Aryan Races, reprint, Calcutta, 1969, pp. 86-88.
36. Ibid., p. 102.
37. Vide John Wilson, Indian Caste, vol, II, Bombay, 1887, p. 9.
38. Ibid., p. 21.
39. Skanda Purana, Sahyadri Khanda, Uttarardha, 1.36.
40. Bombay Gazetteer, IX, i: vide R.P. Chanda, op. cit.
41. Vide Tribes and Tribal Life, ed., A.K. Singh, New Delhi, 1993, p. 277.
42. Vide B. Rajendra Prasad, 'Boyas in Ancient Andhra Society', JIH, LVI, 1978,
p. 22.
43. Vide Joydev Ganguly, 'The Social and Religious Background of the Study of
Smrti in Mithila,' pt. I, Our Culture, IV, 1956, pp. 239-51.
44. Upinder Singh, Kings, Brahmanas and Temples in Orissa, New Delhi, 1994,
p. 125; V.G. Pandey, 'Gujarat Brahmanas: Are they the descendants of
Kanaujiyas?' Bharatiya Vidya, vol. XVII, 1956, pp. 33-36.
45. Aloka Parasher, Mlecchas in Early India, New Delhi, 1991, pp. 119-20.
46. Ifran Habib, 'The Peasant in Indian History', General Presidential Address,
PIHC, 1982; Joan P. Mencher, 'Agricultural Labourers in Peasant Societies:
The Case of South Asia', in Social Anthropology of Peasantry, ed., Joan P.
Mencher, Bombay, 1983, p. 295.
47. Vayu Purana, LVIII, 38-49; Brahmanda Purana, II, xxxi. 39-49; vide R.S.
Sharma, Sudras in Ancient India, sec. rev. ed., Delhi, 1980, pp. 243-44.
48. R.S. Sharma, Sudras in Ancient India, p. 246.
49. An inscription of Chedi King Jaggaladeva in Madhya Pradesh mentions the
ferocious Dhiru tribe, EI, XIX, p. 210.
50. El, I, pp. 334, 337; II, pp. 15, 194; IV, xxxiv; XIX, p. 210; V.S. Upadhyaya,
'A Note on the Tribes Mentioned in Medieval Records', JBRS, XLVII, 1961.
51. N. Gopala Rao, 'Diffusion of Agricultural Innovation among the Tribal
People: A Case Study in Andhra Pradesh', Vanyajati, XXIX, 1981, pp. 33-
36; Bhupinder Singh, 'Deepening Dilemmas of Tribals and Technology', Tribal
Transformation in India, II, ed., Buddhadeb Chaudhary, New Delhi, 1992,
pp. 305-315; K.S. Singh, 'Environment Technology and Management', Man
in India, LXX, ii, pp. 123-30.
52. D.N. Majumdar, 'Tribal Cultures and Acculturation', Man in India, XIX,
1939, pp. 99-172.
53. Vijay Nath, Puranas and Acculturation, ch. 6, 'Certain Ideological Constructs
as Mechanisms of Social Control.'
54. S.V.V. Satyanarayana Rao, 'Drinking in the Tribal World: A Cross Cultural
Study in 'Culture Theme' Approach,' Man in India, LVII, ii, 1977, pp. 97-
113.
55. Matsya Purana, ch. 273.
56. Visnu Purana, III.8.
57. Agni Purana, 162.2.
58. Visnu Purana, III.8.
59. Pranabanand Jash, History and Evolution of Vaisnavism in Eastern India,
Calcutta, 1982.
60. Sukumari Bhattacharji, The Indian Theogony, Cambridge, 1970, pp. 178-
207; 284-300.
61. Ibid., pp. 158-77; N.N. Bhattacharyya, History of Sakta Religion, New Delhi,
1974, p. 47; W.C. Beane, Myth, Cult and Symbols in Sakta Hinduism: A
Study on the Indian Mother-Goddess, Leiden, 1977; R.C. Hazra, Studies in
the Upapuranas, Calcutta, 1958.
62. N.N. Bhattacharyya, op. cit., p. 65; C.M. Brown, God as Mother: An
Historical and Theological Study of the Brahma-Vaivarta Purana, Hartford,
1974; Usha Dev, The Concept of Sakti in the Puranas, Delhi, 1987; Varaha
Purana, chs. 91-94.
63. Kurma Purana, 1.12.
64. Agni Purana, II-V; XVI: D.D. Kosambi, 'The Sources of the Bhagavad Gita
and the Avatara Syncretism',JBBRAS, V, 1948-49, pp. 24-25; Suvira Jaiswal,
op. cit., pp. 132-47.
65. Maheshwari Prasad, Some Aspects of the Varaha-Katha in the Epics and
Puranas, Delhi, pp. 13-18, 70-79.
66. Sukumari Bhattacharji, op. cit., p. 290.
67. Vide K.S. Singh, 'Hinduism and Tribal Religion: An Anthropological
Perspective', Man in India, LXXIII, i, 1993, pp. 1-16; M.L.K. Murthy, 'The
God Narasimha in the Folk Religion of Andhra Pradesh, South India', South
Asian Studies, XIII, 1997, New Delhi, pp. 179-88.
68. Bhagavata Purana, 1.3.24; vide Suvira Jaiswal, op. cit., p. 146.
69. Benjamin P. Soli, 'The Krsna Cycle in the Puranas', Themes and Motives in a
Heroic Saga, Delhi, 1984.
70. B.R. Sharma, 'Impact of the Mahabharata on Folk and Tribal Culture of
Himachal Pradesh', The Mahabharata in the Tribal and Folk Traditions of
India, ed., K.S. Singh, New Delhi, 1993, pp. 34, 38; B.R. Sharma, 'Tribal
Myth and Legends and Their Role in Development in Himachal Pradesh', in
Tribal Development Appraisal and Alternative, ed., S.K. Gupta, New Delhi,
1998, pp. 23-24.
71. K.S. Singh, 'Hinduism and Tribal Religion: An Anthropological Perspective',
Man in India, LXXIII, i, 1993, pp. 6-7.
72. V.S. Agrawala and Moti Chandra, 'Yaksa Worship in Varanasi', Purana, I,
ii, 1960, pp. 198-201; Diana L. Eck, Banaras: City of Light, London, 1983,
p. 69.
73. Varaha Purana, XXIII; Agni Purana, ch. LXXI; Sukumari Bhattacharji, op.
cit., pp. 183-84; G. Satyanarayana Rao, Myth and Deities: Some Aspects of
Hindu Iconographic Traditions, Madras, 1993, pp. 79-86.
74. G. Satyanarayana Roa, Myths and Devities, pp. 87-97; Sukumari
Bhattacharji, op. cit., pp. 18-82; P.K. Agrawala, 'Skanda in the Puranas and
Classical Literature', Purana, VIII, I, 1966, pp. 135-58; association of Skanda
with the Yaudheya tribe has been discussed by A.K. Chatterjee, The Cult of
Skanda Karttikeya in Ancient India, Calcutta, 1970, p. 35; Varaha Purana,
XXV; Matsya Purana, ch. V; Brahmanda Purana, 11.3.
75. Matsya Purana, ch. XII; Padma Purana, Srsti Khanda, ch. V; Kurma Purana,
XV; Vayu Purana, 1.30; Skanda Purana, VI.70; Devi Bhagavata Purana,
VII.30.
76. D.C. Sircar, The Sakta Pithas, p. 6; References to one hundred and eight
scared places of Sakti are found in the Matsya Purana (XIII.26-53); Padma
Purana (Srsti Khanda, XVII.184-211); Skanda Purana, (Avanti Khanda,
XCVIII, 64-92); Devi Bhagavata Purana, (VII. 30.55-83); Brahaddharma
Purana (II, chs. 1-11); J.N. Tiwari, Goddess Cults in Ancient India (with
special reference to the first seven centuries AD), Delhi, 1985, p. 31.
48 SOCIAL SCIENTIST
77. Sukumari Bhattacharji, op. cit., p. 179.

78. Reference to sixty-eight Svayambhuva Lingas occurs in the Skanda Purana,
vide A.B. Awasthi, Studies in the Skanda Purana, pt. II, Lucknow, 1978, p.
130.
79. Romila Thapar, Interpreting Early India, p. 66.
80. Suvira Jaiswal, 'Change and Continuity in Brahmanical Religion with
Particular Reference to Vaisnava Bhakti, Social Scientist, XXIX, Nos.5-6,
2000, p. 14.
81. J.P.Singh Deo, Origin ofJagannatha Deity, Delhi, 1991, p. 8; Binayak Mishra,
'folklore and Pauranic Tradition of God jagannatha', IHQ, XIII, 1937, pp.
600-609.
82. Skanda Purana (i.II.13.59-60) proclaims 'I have no use for sacrificial rites
that are declared by the Vedas, that have no life in them, that are within the
domain of ignorance and that entail injury (to animals)'.
83. Vijay Nath, 'Mahadana: The Dynamics of Gift Economy and the Feudal
Order', The Feudal Order, 411-40.
84. Vijay Nath, 'Tirthas and Acculturation: An Anthropological Study', Social
Science Probings, X, I-iv, 1993, pp. 28-54; E.A. Morris, Pilgrimage in the
Hindu Tradition, Delhi, 1984; B.N. Saraswati, 'Traditions of Tirthas in India',
Man in India, III, i, 1983.
85. MakhanJha, Readings in Tribal Culture, ch. V, Religious Beliefs and Practices,
New Delhi, p. 119; A.M. Kurup, 'Tribal Festivals of Central India', Folklore,
May, 1970, pp. 159-65; V.S. Agrawala, Ancient Indian Folk Cults, Varanasi,
1970, pp. 39-48.
86. Hermann Kulke, 'Rathas and Rajas: The Car Festival at Puri', Car Festival
of Lord Jagannatha Puri, ed., S.C. Mahapatra, Puri, pp. 81-97.
87. SAvitri V. Kumar, The Puranic Love of Holy Water Places, New Delhi, 1983.
88. Vijay Nath, 'Tirthas and Acculturation', Social Science Probings, p. 34; D.P.
Dubey, 'Kumbha-Mela: Origin and Historicity of India's greatest Pilgrimage
Fair', National Geographical Journal of India, XXXIII, iv, 1985, pp. 467-
92.
89. Skanda Purana, I, i.5.56; Tahsildar Singh, 'Matsya Purana and Early Medieval
Temple Architecture', Purana, XXV, I, 1983, p. 54; Vijay Nath, 'Tirthas and
Acculturation', Social Science Probings, pp. 31.32.
90. James J. Preston, 'The Evolution of an Orissan Goddess Temple', Folk Culture,
vol. II, Institute of Oriental and Orissan Studies, pp. 116-19.
91. Matsya Purana, 186.11.
92. Hermann Lulke, 'Tribal Deities at Princely Courts: The Feudatory Rajas of
Central Orissa and their Tutleary Deities', Folk Culture, vol. II, pp. 13-24;
Michael W. Meister, 'Temples, Tirthas and Pilgrimage: The Case of Osian',
Folk, Faith and Feudalism, ed., N.K. Singhi and Rajendra Joshi, New Delhi,
1995, pp. 68-70; Karma Oraon, 'Impact of Hindu Pilgrimage on Tribes of
Chhotanagpur', Social Anthropology of Pilgrimage, ed., Makhan Jha, Delhi,
pp. 118-29.
93. El, XI, p. 18; S. Tripathy, 'Folk Elements in Indian Inscriptions', Folk Culture,
I, p. 136; R.A. Sharma 'The Temple of Barahed', Pracya Pratibha, XIV, i-ii,
1989-90, p. 18; R.R. Halder, ed., Samoli Inscription (AD 646), El, XX, pp.
97-99.
94. Vide Dasaratha Sharma, Rajasthan Through the Ages, Bikaner, 1966, I, p.
240.
95. El, XXVIII, p. 328.

96. K.C. Jain, 'Ancient Temples of Rajasthan', History aiid Culture, B.P. Sinha
Felicitation Volume, ed., B. Sahai, Delhi, 1987, pp. 119-25; D.P. Sharma,
'Decorated Brick Temples of Post-Gupta Period', ibid., pp. 112-18; R.K.
Mishra, 'Traditions of Temples and Shrines in Ancient Sea-ports of Kalinga',
Orissa Historical Research Journal, XXIII, 1968, pp. 80-85.
97. Vijay Nath, 'Tirthas and Acculturation', Social Science Probings, p. 50.
98. K.S. Singh, 'Hinduism and Tribal Religion: An Anthropological Perspective',
Man in India,LXXIII, i, 1993, p. 7.
99. Ibid., p. 8.
100. James J. Preston, op. cit., p. 116.
101. K.S. Singh, 'Hinduism and Tribal Religion', op. cit., p. 7.
102. S. Patnaik, Brahmanical Religion in Ancient Orissa, New Delhi, p. 53.
103. L.S. Viswanath, 'Pilgrimage Centre in a Tribal Area', Malnin India, LXV, iii,
1985.
104. Karma Oraon, 'Impact of Hindu Pilgrimage on Tribes of Chhotanagpur',
Social Anthropology of Pilgrimage, ed., Makhan Jha, Delhi, p. 120; C.J.
Fuller, 'Sacrifice (Bali), in the South Indian Temple', Religion and Society itn
South India: A Volume in Honour of Prof. N. Subha Reddy, ed., Sudersen,
Delhi, 1987, p. 21; Usha Dev, 'Reference to Animal and Human Sacrifices in
the Kalika Purana, Charudev Sastri Felicitation Volume, Delhi, 1974, pp.
424-28.
105. P.V. Kane, HD, IV, p. 699.
106. Kalika Purana, chs. 57 and 71; P. Shah, Pauranic Ritualism of the Fifth
Century, Calcutta, 1993, p. xiii.
107. G.K. Kirk, Myth: Its Meaning and Functions in Ancient and Other Cultures,
Cambridge, 1970, pp. 253-59.
108. William R. Boscom, 'Four Functions of Folklore', The Study of Folklore,
ed., Allan Dundes, Englewood-Cliffs, 1965, pp. 279-78; S.L. Srivastava, Folk
Culture and Oral Tradition, New Delhi, 1994.
109. G.C. Mishra, 'Vrata-Kathas of Orissa', Folk Culture, vol. I, op. cit., pp. 33-
38.
110. Vijay Nath, Puranas and Acculturation.
111. Visnu Purana, 1.15.
112. Bhavata Purana, VIII.15.23.
113. Vijay Nath, 'Tirthas and Acculturation', Social Science Probings, pp. 35-36.
114. Brahmanda Purana, 1.2; Varaha Purana, ch. 68. Cornelia dimmitt Church,
'The Myth of the Four Yugas in the Sanskrit Puranas: A Dimensional Study',
Purana, XVI, i, 1974, pp. 5-25; J.J. Chemburkar, 'Historical and Religious
Background of the Concept of Four Yugas in the Mahabharata and the
Bhagavata Purana', Purana, XVI, i, 1974, pp. 67-76.
115. Vijay Nath, Puranas and Acculturation, ch. IV.
116. H. Blackburn, 'Creation Myth in India', Man in India, LVII, iii, 1977, pp.
191-207.
117. The story of Vena and his two unnaturally created posthumous sons Nisada
and Prthu is reproduced in almost all major Puranas such as the Mdtsya
Purana (1.10); Visnu Purana (i.13.68-87); Vayu Purana (Uttara Khanda,
1.107-111); Padma Purana (Bhumi Khanda, XXVII.18-49; 91-106); Garuda
Purana (1.6.5); Bhagavata Purana (IV.17-18); Brahma Purania(IV.70): Skanda
Purana (V.2.49.5).
50 SOCIALSCIENTIST
118. P.V. Kane, HD, V, ii, pp. 915-916; V. Narayana Rao, 'Purana as Brahmana
Ideology', Purana Perennis: Reciprocity and Transformation in Hindu and
Jaina Texts, ed., Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty, Delhi, 1993, pp. 94-95.
119. Vide V.R.R. Dikshitar, The Purana Index, 1951, p. xiv.
120. S.A. Dange, Glimpses of Puranic Myth and Culture, Delhi, 1987, p. 3.
121. Vijay Nath, Puranas and Acculturation, ch. II.
122. J.N. Banerjea, Pauranic and Tantric Religion, Calcutta, 1966.
123. M.C. Joshi, 'Sakta-Tantrism in the Gupta Age', Aruna Bharati, Professor
A.N. Jani Felicitation Volume, Baroda, pp. 77-81.
124. R.S. Sharma, 'Material Milieu of Tantrism', The Feudal Order, ed., D.N.Jha,
Delhi, 2000, p. 441.
125. M.C. Joshi, op. cit., pp. 77-81.
126. Rukmani Rajamani, A Critical Study of the Bhagavata Purana, Varanasi,
1970, ch. V, 'The Origin and Development of the Conception of bhakti with
special reference to the Bhagavata cult', pp. 174-213.
127. N.M. Kansara, 'Early Bhakti Movement in Gujarat (fifth century AD to
fifteenth century AD),' New Dimensions of Ilndology,ed., R.N. Mehta, Delhi,
1997, pp. 48-64; B.K. Majumdar, 'Emergence of the Bhakti Cult: Early
History of Vaisnavism in Bengal', The Bhakti Cult and Ancient Indian
Geography, ed., C.D. Sircar, Calcutta, 1970, pp. 24-35; Tradition and
Modernity in Bhakti Movement, ed., Jayant Lele, Leiden, 1981; M.G.S.
Narayana and K. Veluthat, 'Bhakti Movement in South India', The Feudal
Order, ed., D.N. Jha, Delhi, 2000, pp. 339-400.
128. A.K. Majumdar, Bhakti Renaissance, Supplement to Bharatiya Vidya, XXIV,
i-iv, 1964, p. 18.
129. V.K. Thakur, 'Social Roots of the Bhagavata Gita: A Note on the Role of
Ideology in the Early Medieval Feudal Complex', Historiography of Indian
Feudalism, New Delhi, 1989, pp. 67-69,104-18; Friedhelm Hardy, Viraha-
bhakti, The Early History of Krsna Devotion in South India, Delhi, 1983;
R. Champakalakshmi, 'From Devotion and Dissent to Dominance: The Bhakti
of the Tamil Alvars and Nayanars', Tradition, Dissent and Ideology, ed., S.
Gopal and R. Champakalakshmi, Delhi.
130. Suvira Jaiswal, 'Change and Continuity in Brahmanical Religion', op. cit.,
pp. 3-23.

Myth of The Great Tradition

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Myth of The Great Tradition

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Social Scientist

From 'Brahmanism' to 'Hinduism': Negotiating the Myth of the Great Tradition

From 'Brahmanism'to 'Hinduism':

I am indeed extremely grateful to the executive committee of the

Congress to share with you some of my findings related to this

for.Sucha studywould necessarilyentail addressingtwo basic issues:

Mauryas had given way to smaller kingdoms with an extremely

alienate it through gift. Other related issues involved its partition

small, tended to fragment it on class lines.

of Kanyakubjaand Maithila brahmanasof U.P.and north Biharon

heterogeneousaspect.It was also largelyresponsiblefor bringingabout

than as peaceful settlers.It was perhapseven more difficultto make

killing of animals particularlycattle for food. The latter specially

pressures exercised by the rival religious systems became largely

acrossnamesof millionsfo deities,who weresometimeshierarchically

Similarly,his second son Skanda or Kumaracame to be identified

assimilation of the cults but rejection of their non-confirmist practices,'

2. Some new ritual formations

types of gift-itemssuch as differentkinds of cerealswere heaped up

which gained wide popularity. Some other forms of tirtha

of Kukkuresvara Mahadeva by King Kukkuresvara.94 The Kanas

even animal flesh and intoxicant drinks amongst puja offeringsfor

created posthumous sons Nisada and Prthu appear to have been

4. Changedcharacterof new religioustexts

is even more significantis that duringsuch recitalsessions there had

which was used by two opposite social segments to achieve two

opportunity for sharing some of my researchfindings with all the

1. Romila Thapar, Interpreting Early India, Delhi, 1992, chapter on 'Imagined

Puspa Niyogi, Brahmanic Settlement in Different Sub-divisions of Ancient

Chitraleks Gupta, 'The Atharvavedic Brahmanas of Inida', in Man in India,

77. Sukumari Bhattacharji, op. cit., p. 179.

95. El, XXVIII, p. 328.

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