The Philosophy of the

Brahmanas
By Herman Tull
Introduction
The exact history of the composition of the Brahmanas is unclear. However, certain significant
developmental elements can be found. Many scholars argue that the Brahmanas were composed in
1000-500 BCE.
The singular focus of the Brahmanas is the Vedic sacrifice.
Each Brahmana is attached to four Veda Samhitas.
The chief characteristics of the Brahmanas are the Vidhi (ritual; muted) and Arthavada (explication;
expansive).
Among the functionaries of the sacrifice is the Brahman, who is the “all-knowing ritualist”, who
performs the sacrifice mentally to see to it that there aren’t any errors.
He practices the “internalization of the sacrifice”, wherein, the physiological functions take the place
of libations.
European Indologists &
the Brahmanas
European Indologists & the Brahmanas
The European indologists dedicated most of their attention to the study of the Vedas, and relegated
the study of the Brahamanas to the background.
Thus, not much of the extant Brahmanas has been made available for our study in English.
The first generation of indologists who studied the Brahmanas almost universally disparaged them.
Max Muller- theological twaddle, raving of madmen.
The post enlightenment protestant Indologist was repulsed by the Vedic ritualists’ heavy fee, and,
them being characterised as “gods among men”.
The Brahmanas as
Philosophy
The Brahmanas as a Philosophy
It is popularly theorised that the Brahmanas only deal with ritual sacrifices and not ethics, judgement,
morality, etc.
However the Brahmanas have a systematic method of thought which offers substantial insight about ethics
situated in the realm of the Vedic sacrifice.
Quasi-Syllogistic Reasoning: innumerable declarative statements creating a series of equations. For eg: A=B,
B=C, thus, A=C. On a cursory glance, even the thinnest link between two entities could be exploited.
However, the Brahmanic system of thought is not just based on similarity, but also upon connections. This
connection or bandhu is the hallmark of the Brahmanic system of thought.
The concept of bandhu goes beyond identification and creates a sense of a shared being; it connects ritual
objects to ritual performers on the one hand, and ritual objects to the ritual act itself, on the other.
These connections are not meaningless, but specifically to the ritual space and throught it to the cosmos, as
a created and ordered space.
The Vedic Sacrifice
The Vedic Sacrifice: The Purusha Sukta
The Vedic sacrifice consists of a violent act, which causes death and/or destruction unto the victim, and this
destruction creates life anew.
Background: The gods sacrificed the limbs of the primeval Purusha as oblations for the first yajna.
This first great sacrifice was an act of creation and destruction at once. It created a series of hierarchichally
ranked beings to form the ordered cosmos, which arise from the Purusha’s dismembered body.
The Brahmanic sacrifice thus replicated the creation of the world. The sacrificial victim was a man, who
takes the onus of death and destruction upon himself.
Here, the eternal Purusha became the sacrificial victim, since he cannot be destroyed. If the sacrifice were to
be the victim then the ensuing result would be that of self-defeat.
To avoid this destruction, the sacrifice employs substitute victims, these may include domestic animals and
humans.
The Vedic Sacrifice
The need to avoid the sacrificers’ own death is a central premise of ritual performance.
The Shatapatha Brahmanas establish that the sacrifice must hold the victim in a mysterious (paro’ksha) way.
Thus, the sacrificial arena, the offering spoons, and the sacrificial stake are made to the proportions of the
sacrifice’s own body. The victim is equated, in a way, to the sacrifice himself.
This is the unique achievement of the Brahmanas- to see the identities between the entities that inhabit the
ritual world, and, through this knowledge to create a connection from the world of men and sacrifices to the
cosmos. It is thus, not an abstract connection, and defines the very being of a man- the sacrifice.
The Upanishads and the
brahmanas
The Upanishads and the Brahmanas
While the Upanishads are theorised as having “electrifying vivacity”, the Brahmanas are characterised as
having “ cold, stale, rigidity”.
The relationship between the texts is that of gradually merging- the symbolism of sacrifice (of the
Brahmanas) endures as the cornerstone of the Upanishads.
Thus, it is through the Upanishads that the Brahmanas continue to be heard.

In conclusion, the philosophy of the Brahmanas must be explored and cannot be dismissed. There
should be further enquiry as to the underlying philosophy of the Brahmanas, and they must be seen
from a holistic point of view and not from a narrow perspective.
The Fires of Stangers:
A Levinasian Approach
to Vedic Ethics
By Laurie L. Patton
"A Brahmin guest enters the house as the fire in all men."
(Katha 1.7)
 Methodology

The author adopts a phenomenological approach from the

Levinasian standpoint of being "in the presence of an other."
The author adds the Vedic setting and semantics.
The author explores the Vedic concept of the other, and, discusses
positive and negative encounters with this "other".
Themes Introduction

Levinasian Phenomenology
What we'll be discussing

Levinas and the Vedas

The Vedic Setting

The Vedic Other

 Introduction

Previously Hindu scholars have considered the law of

karma as an ethical category, linked to the question
of caste. Advaita Vedanta, ahimsa, etc (post
independence)
Increased focus on contextualization in Hindu
ethical thought, leading to a re-examination of
morality on scriptures.
Mimamsa philosophy helps in establishing a basic
Hindu Ethical System situated in the realm of the
Vedic sacrifice. (Prof. P. Bilimoria).
 Phenomenology

Phenomenology is the study of structures of

consciousness as experienced from the first-
person point of view.

Levinasian Standpoint
Emmanuel Levinas focusses on concrete, daily events as
the basis of ethics. (Hebrew Bible Study by) Levinas looks
at moments- narrative, poetic, and ritual. wherein the
presence of the other is invoked and the obligation to
the other is accounted for, forming the basis for Levinasian
Ethics.
 Levinasian Ethics

Levinas places ethics in the interlocutionary relation to the other. For Levinas, ethics is a
comportment in which the other, who is strange and indifferent to you, who belongs neither
to the order of your interest nor to your affections at the same time matters to you. It is
precisely the strangeness of the other which links that person to you ethically, and
provides a relationship.

The Face

For Levinas, this comportment is primarily regulated

by the face, or the appearance of the face- " to
encounter a face is straightaway to hear a demand
and an order"
 Levinas & the Vedas

While there has been a gradually deepening focus on contextualization of situations and
vocabulary in Hindu ethics, both the terms Hindu Ethics and Hindu Dharma are
uncomfortably abstract and uneasy misfits, respectively.
Hindu Dharma is better portrayed through experience (Ariel Glucklich). [Phenomenology]
From symbols to living images- Phenomenology raises images, with their structures and
relations, to an equal footing with the structure of metaphysical realities. The same must
be true of ethics. Otherwise, ethics is simply descriptive.
Harken to Levinas' analysis of the Hebrew Bible.
Ethics as daily comportment is quite close to the idea of dharma, in its concrete focus on
situations and intercaste relationships.
The Vedic mise en scene provides an opportunity to have a face-to-face interaction with
the divine and the other.
The Vedas- negate alterity, the wish to make the other disappear, and to make the other
appear when it is relevant. (complex approach).
The Arya vs Dasa (-ve Other)

Etymologically, nobility vs enslaved.

Aryans-Sophisticated, wealth and status, elaborate
Vedic worship.
Division of the 4 Samhitas-verses, chants, ritual
directions, procedure for everyday life. Division of
labour- even among the priestly elite.
The Vedic The Vedas are the words and chants accompanying
the actions and served to augment and vitalize the

Sacrifice actions into having cosmic power. Thus, the priests

are made essential for functioning.
Mandala=Family-> Hereditary collection and
division of labour. (hotr, adhvaryu, udgatr, brahmana).
The Vedic division of labour caters to deities too!
Dharma, here signifies sacrificial boundary. It limits
sacrificial action and thus rules on what is moral or
immoral.
The Yajamana- sponsor and his Wife.
While the Vedic sacrifices lead to an upscale in
violence (Harken to Tuller in RHIP), Upanishads
posited an internalized sacrifice.
Rishis and Pitris.
Two-fold Mutuality: between humans and gods,
priestly actors in the sacrifice.
Sakshi-internal witness testament and part of face-
to-face interaction.
 Hymns to
Varuna
Varuna-Storm God, arbiter of moral exchange, depicted as the
sacrificial priest.
His moral authority comes from his prowess as the cosmic
sacrificer. Varuna’ has’ the power of creation) and of forgiveness.
Affected parties include sacrificial and moral alliances- humans,
gods, etc.
Seeks pardon from intentional, unintentional, conscious and
unconsciously caused harms.
Moral offences are likened to a bond which must be loosened.
Harken to Levinas' definition of moral offence which creates a
bond with the other.
Reflection upon transgression. (No matter the actor-could still be
responsible.
Sins committed by forefathers. Sins caused by forces that interfere
with free will.
This breach of moral accountability by myriad causes is similar to
the Levinasian concept- failure to diminish oneself for the other.
Exchange of moral goods for sacrificial goods.
 Levinas on Disappearance of the Other

The process of becoming one for another is a complex act, wherein one must
suppress theirimperial tendencies so as to accommodate the existence of
the other. Levinas advocates for overcoming our tendencies to wage war
against the other. We must acknowledge its existence and overcome it.

Parallels in the Arya-Dasa Relationship

The defeat of the Dasa is said to strengthen the Arya. The Dasa is said
to be amanushya or non-human or mleccha or enslaved. The arya
seeks to conquer the "dark" ones in certain instances.
 The Vedic Other

The term Anya bears more philosophical depth than the English word "other" upon
which Levinas relies.
While several references to anya mean enemy, hostile strangers, other references
like the anya-vrata--> Dasyus, one who has chosen a non-Vedic faith.
As per the commentator Sayana, the anya-vrata becomes the enemy due to a lack
of face-to-face interaction which plays right into the Levinasian standpoint.
Prati- in front of or in the presence of (used for Agni).
Agni is "present before all beings"--> Levinas- presence as a lucidity, a "watching
over being".
Prati implies not just being in the presence of the other, but also the other having a
binding effect over oneself (just as Levinas might).
Levinas posits that the divine word is inscribed in the face of the other and is heard
the moment the encounter with the other takes place.--> a double expression of
weakness and demand.
Thus the Vedic mantra and the Levinasian understanding of language have affinity.
In Levinasian language- in interlocutory relation to the other.
The Face
The Mukha in RV may refer to the mouth, head of a
god, the head, front or foremost part of the sacrifice,
point of an arrow, mouth of the ladle pouring ghee.
The Vedas have a straightforward meaning and a
second metaphorical meaning (Tatiana
Elizarenkova).
As per the Ashvalayana Grihya Sutras, the mukha may
be an indicator of the ritual itself.
This idea of the facehas been invoked in the
Manusmriti.
Teacher student relationship- the student must face
his Guru with chastity, purity, etc.
In the case of the Arya- the face is a sign of wisdom
and knowledge. Chandogyopanishat- Satyakama
Jabala.
Indra's example- the colour and other characteristics
of the face remain unperturbed even in the face of
sin. Thus, one's personhood and dignity aren't lost.
Harken to the Levinasian notion that in face-to-face
interactions, human dignity is already given.
The all-knowing and all-seeing cosmic being.
 The Atithi
(The guest)
The comportment towards the Atithi or the guest provides a
significant insight into Hindu ethics. (eg- Agni is referred as Atithi.
He plays all the roles expected of a domestic guest).
Agni makes moral demands not because of his greediness, but due
to his role as the preserver of moral order.
Harken to Levinas' idea that the stranger makes moral demands
on those who receive him.
Levinas does not, however, describe the strangers' obligation to us
Etymology of Atithi- A+Tithi= one who goes to the families or
houses of others on a specified date.
The Upanishads treats guests like gods. While the Vedas gods are
likened to guests.
The story of Nachiketas.
In the Dharma Sutras, the guest has cosmological implications.
Thus, as Levinas argues, the sense of obligation towards the guest
is inexhaustible.
 Conclusion
There are several instances where the Levinasian
vocabulary simply does not gel with the Vedic
setting.:
1. The creation of the sacrificial realm as opposed to
the daily comportment in daily life.
2. Institutionalization and regulations with respect to
who receives a guest does not allow completely
acceding to the demands of the stranger.
Levinas' attitude of complexity in daily comportment
is reflected in the hymns to Varuna as well as the
Brahmanas (Harken to the RHIP).
Arya has implications of moral superiority over the
Dasas.
The overcoming of the blood relationships to make
space for the other finds a poignant example in
Guru-Shishya Sambandha.
Conclusion...Continued
The infinite moral obligations to the guest find an
appropriate allegory in the example of the guest as
an all consuming fire.
Dasas are excluded from being guests, since guests
are expected to follow Vaidika Dharma.
The Grihya Sutras also posit that the other can be
located within oneself positively-teacher student
example.
While examples of negative disposition also abound.
The positive disposition provides a complex imagery
of the Vedic ethical thought in India.
 Our Critique...
As Michel Foucault posits in "The Order of Things", that being confronted with a taxonomy
like that of the Chinese Dictionary, which can't be processed by our own system of
thought, makes us realise that our own system of thought is limited.

Similarly, the inability to process the complex notion of Dharma, Vedas, etc., may stem
from limitations in the Western framework, despite an assumption of soft relativism and
moral complexity.
 Our Critique...
Etymology of Dharma:
धारक वात् धमः - One who saves the fallen
धारयती त धमः- That which endures
ा यतया धम वात् धमः- One who is the very embodiment of Dharma.
+ 97 other meanings that we haven't included :)

Adhibhautika, Adhidaivika, Adhyatmika layers of meaning.

The alleged obscurity can very well be attributed to a failure in the
frameworks of Western thought.

Sources:
Routledge Hisstory of Indian Ethics
plato.stanford.edu
 Our Critique...
Ethno-centricism - observing different cultures through the lens of one's
own culture
Cultural relativism- observing different cultures from their own perspective.

We are of the opinion that the Brahmanic practices have been seen through
the lens of ethno-centricism rather than cultural relativism. We are of the
opinion that the moral complexity perspective should have been explored
further

Sources:
Routledge Hisstory of Indian Ethics
plato.stanford.edu