A brief history of Indian religion

The religious customs of early Aryans in India, known as Vedic religion (1500-500 BC), were recorded and later compiled into Samhitas, which is the norm of four hymns or spells called Vedas in ancient Sanskrit.

The late Vedas (9th-6th century BC) marked the beginning of Upanishads or Vedas. This era heralds the beginning of classical Hinduism, the composition of Upanishads, later Sanskrit epics and later ancient books. The Sanskrit word Upanishad comes from upa- (nearby), ni- (in proper position, downward) and? Ad (sit down), therefore: "sit down"), it is recommended to sit next to the teacher for guidance.

Upanishads are philosophical works considered as the earliest source of Hinduism. Of the more than 200 Upanishads, the first dozen are the oldest and most important. The Upanishads of Brihadaranyaka, Jaiminiya and Chandogya were written in the pre-Buddhist era, while Taitiriya, Aitareya and Kausitaki, which had Buddhist influence, were certainly written after the 5th century BC. All the Upanishads have been handed down orally.

The ancient history of the universe (meaning "ancient times") is an important religious text of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism, which records the historical story of the universe from creation to destruction, the genealogy of kings, heroes, sages and demigods, and the understanding of Hindu cosmology, philosophy and geography. Early references to the ancient history of the universe were found in the Upanishads of Qamdo (7. 1.2) (500 BC).

Vedic religion has strict ritual rules, and kings, nobles and wealthy businessmen will make contributions, because it is very expensive and time-consuming to organize this worship. The way of worship is to pray for fire, rivers and other elements, worship Indra and other heroic gods, sing hymns and make sacrifices. Sacrifice is an act of offering food, objects or animal life to God as a means of appeasement or worship. In Vedic times, Yagya usually included sacrifices of milk, ghee, curd, grains and somatic plants-animal sacrifices were very rare.

Prepare for the Vedic ceremony

Priests are trained in rituals, and they must be proficient in the practice of rituals. The specialization of roles focuses on the refinement and development of ritual corpus over time. Over time, the complete supplement of 16 priests became the practice of major ceremonies. The sixteen priests are composed of four priests and their assistants, and each of the four priests plays a unique role:

Holly is a reciter of prayers and speeches. These can include a poem extracted from Rigveda or a whole sukta. Since every stage of the ceremony requires a phone call, Hawtrey has a leading or presiding role.

Adeba is especially responsible for the specific details of the sacrifice. According to monier-Williams, adhvaryu "must survey the land, build altars, prepare sacrificial utensils, obtain wood and water, make a fire, bring animals and sacrifice them" and other duties. Every action is accompanied by the formula of prayer or blessing (yajus), which is taken from Yajur-Veda.

Udgātri is a hymn, and its melody comes from Sāma-Veda. This is a special role in the main sacrifice: a typical function of udgātri is to sing hymns to praise the energy characteristics of freshly squeezed main plant juice.

Brahman is the supervisor of the whole performance, who is responsible for correcting mistakes through supplementary summoning, usually from Avinava.

Those who pay and participate in this ceremony pray for future generations, rain, cattle (wealth), longevity and the afterlife in the paradise world of their ancestors.

Those who have paid and participated in this ceremony pray for future generations, rain, cattle (wealth), longevity and afterlife in the celestial world of their ancestors. Even today, this form of worship has been preserved in Hinduism, including the recitation of Vedas by purohita (a priest), representing prosperity, wealth and universal happiness.

There are several ways of offering sacrifices: first, it is simply offering sacrifices. In a sense, sacrifice is a way to give strength or perform something mentally through sacrifice, such as being beheaded by the gods. Compared with people who don't sacrifice, sacrifice is regarded as a way to please the gods and gain their favor (such as drilling rig1.1/kloc-0.7 "people who don't sacrifice"). In the sacrifice of Sommer, the priests offered fruit juice to the gods, making them happy and powerful, and winning wealth and help for those who provided Sommer.

Narration in Vedic Ritual Epic

In the royal tender of Kosara, the Vedic ceremony was described in a magnificent way. In the preface of Ramayana, King Dasaratha is preparing to give birth to a son for a great agna god.

After a while, when the sweet spring came, King Dasaratha thought of holding a ceremony to keep his sons in his blood.

King Dasala said to his Prime Minister, Oh Sumatra, please summon priests who are proficient in Vedas and Vedas. When they arrived, Dasaratha saluted them and said that my life would be unhappy without my son. Therefore, I intend to execute Aswamida Yagna. With the blessing of Saint Rishyasringa, I am sure I will realize my intention. They completely agree with what he said.

The priests built a sacrificial fireplace with bricks. The fireplace consists of three sides of 18 brick, which looks like Vishnu's celestial carrier, Goluda with golden wings. Horses, wild animals and birds, reptiles and aquatic animals were collected for sacrifice. Hundreds of animals and the king's horses were tied to those Yupa people.

As part of the ceremony, animal sacrifice is very obvious in the Vedas. There are several explicit references to animal sacrifice in Rigveda. When it comes to goat sacrifice, it holds (1. 162.2) "the spotted sheep goes straight to heaven and baa baa to places cherished by Indra and Busan." In a hymn to horses (1.162.9-11), it is said, "Flies don't eat any part of the horse's flesh, nor do they stick to posts or axes, nor do they stick to the hands and nails of the slasher. The gods among them may be with you. Undigested food gives off hot air from his stomach, as well as any residual smell of raw meat, so that the sacrificial person can clean up and decorate the sacrifice with perfect cooking. When you are drunk with spirits and your body is baked by fire, don't ignore those things lying on the ground or on the grass. I hope everything is dedicated to the eager gods. " Similarly, it is obvious that when the horse is sacrificed, it is distributed to those who are eager to wait.

Test the meat with a test fork and then distribute it (drilling rig 1. 162.438+02ff). Yajurveda is full of references about animal sacrifice, which is obvious and often repeated, mainly related to the full moon ceremony, SOMA sacrifice and its supplement. A whole section of Yajur Veda is devoted to optional animal sacrifice (ii. 1): "He offered a dark color to Asvins, a ram to Sarasvati and a bull to Indra" (Yajur 1.8.2 1.e).

Aswamida Jagner

Ashvamedha, the sacrifice of a horse, is one of the most important royal ceremonies in Vedic religion, which is described in detail in Yajurveda. Ashvamedha can only be presided over by the king. Its purpose is to gain power and glory, for the general prosperity of neighboring provinces and kingdoms. The ceremony described in Ramayana runs counter to the Vedic classics, because the king wants to hold a ceremony to get his son's blessing.

The sacrificial horse must be a male horse, over 24 years old, but less than 100 years old. After drinking water for the horse, the high priest whispered a spell in its ear. Anyone who detains a horse will be cursed and kill a dog in the ceremony, symbolizing the punishment for the sinner. This horse and three other horses were put on a gilded chariot and read RV 1.6. 1, 2 (YV 23.5). Then the horse was driven into the water to bathe. After that, the Chief Queen and two other royal spouses smeared it with ghee (clarified butter). They also decorated the horse's head, neck and tail with gold ornaments.

Since then, horses, horned goats and bison have been tied to sacrificial stakes near the fire, and 17 kinds of animals have also been tied to horses. According to the commentator, a large number of domesticated and wild animals are related to other stakes, with a total of 609 species of animals.

The first queen interceded with the king's wives according to the ceremony. The queens chanted spells around the dead horse. Then, the first queen must imitate the dead horse, while the other queens use profanity in a ritual way.

The next morning, the priests lifted the queen from where she spent the night with the horse. Three queens are holding a hundred gold needles, silver needles and copper needles, pointing to the lines on the horse and dissecting it along the horse. The horse was dissected and its meat was roasted. Various parts are provided to many gods.

Now, back to the epic narrative: an academic analysis puts forward the following: "According to our existing written records, it seems that the Queen did not spend the night with Ma * * * *. Usually, she lies with the horse and is covered with a piece of cloth; At this time, she symbolically combined with the horse. Something was said about her and the dead horse, implying mating and bearing.

There are many ambiguities and disharmonies between different parts of the Vedas, which often cause conflicts among priests.

Wilson, a famous Vedic scholar, thinks: […] As detailed in Yajur-Veda 22.26, especially in Jia Ye Nirvana (Asvamedha 1-2 10), this object is the same as that of Ramayana or its descendants. As a step for the Queen to test Saglia, in this poem, she was instructed to lie in the nearest place to the dead horse all night. In the morning, when the Queen was freed from the nauseating, practically impossible continuity, a dialogue, as described in the Asvamedha section of Yajus and Satapatha Brahmana, took place between the Queen and the woman who accompanied or cared for her. The chief priest, though brief, was stupid and obscene […] However, we did not find these disgusting impurities in Rigveda […] Undoubtedly, India. At the same time, it should be pointed out that these two hymns are the only hymns that are particularly related to the theme in The Rich. It can be inferred that they belong to different periods […]. Because they appear solemnly on the rich, it allows less poetry and more savage character. It may be a relic of the pre-Vedic period, imported from some foreign countries. In scythia, an animal victim, especially a horse, is usually sacrificed (Herod IV 7 1).

There are many ambiguities and disharmonies between different parts of the Vedas, which often cause conflicts among priests. In addition, they talked about the rewards of performing expensive ceremonies and ceremonies. Different parts of the Vedas often contradict each other, so that ordinary people don't know what to believe.

In a word, the Vedic Aryans' attitude towards invisible power is simple and primitive. God was thirty-three at first. They have no icons. Fire is their messenger. The Aryans killed a cow, a sheep, a goat and sometimes a horse, and offered their meat and fat to his god along with milk and butter, barley bread and intoxicating sumo wine. The gods were satisfied with the supply of these foods and drinks, and in return, they gave the worshippers what they wanted, namely. Wealth, son, longevity, defeating the enemy. This is a Vedic Aryan ritual of Vedas or fire worship.

The Basic Concepts of Religion in Vedas

Most of the gods in Rigveda are anthropomorphic concepts, which can be divided into two categories: gods-gods of nature-such as Indra, the weather god (he is also the king of gods), Agni (fire), Usha (dawn), suglia (sun) and Apas (water), and on the other hand, Bhaga and Asura-gods of moral concepts-such as Mitter. Although the devas in the Rigveda are applied to most gods in different ways, including many Asura, devas are described as young gods, and Asura is old gods. In later Vedic literature, Asura became a demon.

There are 10 mandalas (books) in Rigveda. Older letters from home (RV Books 2-7), Book 8, SOMA Datura (RV 9) and newer books 1, 10 are essentially different in language and style. Old books have something in common in many ways. Indo-Iranian religion is an important source of rebuilding the early tradition with India and Europe. In particular, RV 8 is strikingly similar to Avesta, which contains hints to Afghan flora and fauna, such as Camel U? tra- = Avestan u？ Tra). Many key religious terms in Vedic Sanskrit have cognates (deva: Latin deus；; Hotar: Germanic god; Asura: Germanic Ansuz; ; Yaina: Greek saint; Brahman: Nordic blatch or Latin Flamengo, etc. ). Most notably, it is called good in Asura (Ahura) in Avisto and evil entity in Diva (Dawa), which is completely opposite to Rigveda.

Aside from the main religious problems of Hindus in the second half of this article, let's make it clear that the Vedas do not discuss religion alone in the whole volume. The favorite view of many scholars is that when the Vedic hymns were written, there was a nomadic people. This opinion depends entirely on the demands for food, horses and cows that often appear in hymns. These people are not nomads, which is obvious from the repeated references to fixed residences, villages and towns. It is also mentioned that after a long battle, the enemy was overthrown and their city was destroyed. Not only are poems familiar with the ocean, but businessmen also sail for food. A naval expedition against the mainland was frustrated by a shipwreck. The strangest thing is the prayer in Rigveda (I. 1 1.7. 14), which comes from a special expression used more than once to pray for longevity. When admirers ask for a hundred winters, an incredible favor has been given to local people in hot climate, such as northwest India and Iran. People who came to India in that distant era all looked fair-skinned, because a hymn (I. 15.7. 18) claimed that Indra, the supreme god, after destroying the local barbarians, gave the conquered land to his white-skinned people, called the big fish.

The synthesis of Harappa, Veda and Hinduism

Hinduism is the label of various related religious traditions in India. Historically, it includes the development of Indian religions since the Iron Age, which can be traced back to prehistoric religions, such as indus valley civilization in the Bronze Age and Vedic religions in the Iron Age.

Indus valley civilization (IVC) is a bronze age civilization (3300- 1300 BC; Maturity 2600- 1900). The mature stage is called Halapan civilization. As the first city to be excavated, it was located in Harappa, that is, modern Pakistan, in A.D. 1920. Around 1800 BC, it began to show signs of gradual decline, and by 1700 BC, most cities were abandoned. In A.D. 1953, Sir mortimer wheeler suggested that the decline of Indus civilization was caused by the Aryan invasion of Indo-European tribes in Central Asia. Because of their similar languages, these Aryans are especially associated with Iranians and can even be traced back to the origin of Indo-European language family. The general knowledge seems to be that this culture must have started somewhere in Russian grasslands and Central Asia around 2000 BC. The branch of these speakers who came to India in the name of Aryans (meaning noble people) is the India-Iran Group. In fact, "Iran" comes from the Persian cognate Aryan.

However, indus valley civilization did not suddenly disappear, and many elements of indus valley civilization can be found in later cultures. Richard Mei Duo, an archaeologist at Harvard University, pointed out the Pirak settlement in the late Harappa, which flourished during the invasion of Alexander the Great from 1800 BC to 325 BC. Pirak is located in Balochistan province. After IVC was discovered in A.D. 1920, it was immediately associated with indigenous overhaul, which was unfavorable to the Rigvedic tribe in many Rigvedic hymns.

Religion in indus valley civilization is a theme that can't be found in any ancient records. Various archaeologists excavated seals, images and other materials. Scholars can't make any inferences about these people.

More than 400 different Indus symbols (some say 600) were found on seals, small stone tablets or ceramic pots, and more than a dozen other materials, including a "signboard" obviously hanging above the gate of the Indus city of Duo Lavila. It is located in Kuchi Desert Wildlife Sanctuary in Gujarat, India, and is one of the largest and most famous archaeological sites in India.

The typical length of the inscription on the phoenix tree is no more than four or five words, and most of them (except Dholavira "signboard") are very small; The square with the longest length less than 1 inch (2.54 cm) on a single surface is 17 signs; The longest on any object (found on three different faces of mass-produced objects) has a length of 26 symbols. Every script is written from right to left. However, this kind of writing has not been deciphered. People think they use ideographs, that is, graphic symbols or characters to convey ideas directly.

Indus valley civilization is generally regarded as a cultured society, and this kind of writing is evidence. Even so, Farmer, Sproat and Witzel (2004) think that the Indus system has no coding language. On the contrary, it is similar to various nonverbal symbol systems widely used in the Near East and other societies. Others sometimes claim that these symbols are used for economic transactions, but this statement cannot explain the appearance of symbols on many ceremonial objects, many of which are mass-produced in molds. There are no similarities with these mass-produced inscriptions in any other early ancient civilization.

Several terracotta figures are reminiscent of the worship of the goddess. Probably represents the ancient goddess worshipped in the Near East and Middle East. Clay figurines resemble the horns of goats or bulls, which shows that animal worship is very common. The seals, amulets and amulets of stone tools and pottery truly show the religious attitude of the Halapa people. The image of a naked god with horns and three faces, sitting on a stool, healing and pressing together, pointing to some kind of ritual posture. Deer, antelopes, rhinoceros, elephants, tigers, buffaloes and other animals surround him. The arm is decorated with many bracelets.

Another seal amulet shows a horned goddess in the middle of a bodhi tree or a sacred fig tree, and another horned god is bowing. A row of goddesses occupies the lower position of the whole seal symbol, and everyone wears a spring with a long braid behind them. Stone products show the worship of * * * symbols.

Gregory Possehl, an archaeologist in the Indus Valley, said that several talc seals found at the site of indus valley civilization (3300 BC-65438 BC+0700 BC) depict people's postures similar to yoga or meditation, which is "a form of ritual discipline, suggesting the predecessor of yoga". He pointed out that there are 65,438+06 kinds of specific "yoga hieroglyphs" in the mature cultural relics of Harappa, which shows Harappa's love for "ritual discipline and concentration" and that yoga postures "may have been used by gods and humans". Some connections between seals in the Indus Valley and later yoga and meditation exercises have been supported by many other scholars.

Karel Werner believes that "archaeological findings give us reason to speculate that pre-Aryan Indians have known about a wide range of yoga activities." Dr. Farzand Masih, head of the Department of Archaeology at Punjab University, described the seal (2008) recently discovered in the Jolistan Desert as depicting a "yogi". Thomas McVeigh pointed out, "Six mysterious seal images in the Indian valley ... all the postures are called mulabhandasana or utkatasana or baddha konasana, which may be closely related to Hada Yoga ..."

Reaction to serious religious ceremonies

From the early days, some people denied their belief in God. Even the Vedic hymns pointedly refer to scoffers and unbelievers. These hymns are usually attributed to the son of Loka, Brihaspati, who expressed the first * * * who only studied the Vedas and insisted that a person who tried to absorb them was far better than a priest who recited them. Although there are no special animal fables in the Vedic literature, there are various stories in Rigveda. It points out the love of the Vedic Aryans for all kinds of stories. There is a song in Rigveda, in which Brahmins sing in the Eucharist and are compared to croaking frogs. Professor Marxmuller said that this famous hymn is a satire on the Vedic priests, or better yet, it is a satire on the way of hymn. Aitereya Aranyaka asked, Why should we repeat the Vedas or offer such sacrifices? In order to offset this negative analysis, cynics adopted svabhava (nature) theory as the next stage. This theory holds that everything is self-existent. They didn't create themselves, nor did they create for any reason. For example, the slender net structure of the lotus and the eye-shaped mark on the peacock's tail have no reason. Because the reasons do not exist, they do exist independently. This is the case in this ever-changing universe. Similarly, the feelings of happiness and pain have no reason, because they are fleeting.

Because it claims that pratyaksa or perception is the only means of learning, and physical pleasure is the central goal of life, this system is very common in ancient India. Therefore, its name is Rokaya Tower, which literally means the doctrine spread among the people (Loka).

Later, the Aryan Vratyas who migrated slowly entered this belief. Like Lokayatikas, they ignore everything, including caste system, sacrifice and Vedas. With such generous support, the Buddha advised people to do their best for the immediate secular welfare, instead of fighting for a paradise that could not be proved to exist. The satisfaction of desire is the central theme of human life. The result of this activity is the desire for freedom-personal and social freedom, male and female freedom, freedom of the poor and the rich. A unique result of this struggle for freedom is the rise of Buddhist culture. Buddha's views on opposing Vedic sacrifice, chanting and repeating Vedic incantations, bloody animal sacrifice, caste system, Vedic authority, worship of gods and magical rituals are all in Lokayatikas.

Information of Upanishads

Vedanta is a word used in early Indian philosophy, which is synonymous with the part called Upanishads in Vedic texts. This name is a form of Veda-Anta = Veda -end = Veda hymn appendix. It is inferred that Vedanta represents the purpose or goal of Vedas. Vedanta is not limited to a book, nor does it have the only source of Vedanta philosophy.

Vedic religion gradually evolved into Vedanta, which is considered by some as the main institution of Hinduism. Vedanta thinks he is the "essence" of Vedas.

All forms of Vedanta mainly come from Upanishads, a set of philosophical and instructive Vedic classics. Upanishads are comments on Vedas. They are considered to be the basic elements of all Vedas. Some parts of Vedanta thought also originated from the early Alanya card.

Aranyakas is called the forest text, because ascetic monks retreat to the forest to study spiritual teachings with their students, which leads to less attention to the sacrificial ceremonies still going on in towns. These works are the transition between Brahman and Upanishads, because they still discuss rituals and have magical contents, boring formula lists and some hymns from Vedas. Saints who live in seclusion in the forest and receive students are not as rich as priests who serve the royal family and other rich patrons in the town.

The main philosophy in Upanishads is an absolute reality called Brahma, which is the main creed of Vedanta. Saint Visa is one of the main supporters of this philosophy and the author of Brahma Sutra based on Upanishads. The concept of Brahman-the highest and final reality of eternity, self-existence, inner and transcendence, is the sacred view of all existence-is the core of most schools of Vedanta. The concept of God or Isvara is also there. The difference between the Vedanta schools lies mainly in how they equate God with Brahmins.

Upanishads are the works of different authors living in different times. If they are spiritual people, they get a glimpse of the highest truth through observation, which is not necessarily part of the consistent philosophical system. Their way is intuition rather than logic, and they deal with topics such as God, man, fate and soul. There are so many hints, suggestions and meanings in the Upanishads that the founders of almost all religions and religious sects in India can cite one or more of them as authority.

Although these ideas are beautiful, they are not enough to meet people's religious needs. Their appeal lies in intellectuals, not ordinary people, and it seems out of reach to acquire such profound knowledge. Upanishads philosophers soared to a dizzying height, which laid the foundation for the later refinement of Indian thought.

India has aroused the idea of free thought, and the Buddha is the result of this freedom. No one has ever lived such a sacred life without talking about God. Vishnu's Book of the Past records this stage of the school. It means that a group of people from very ancient times can live freely wherever they like, without worrying about tradition, with pure hearts and impeccable actions. They have no virtue or evil; They live in a completely free atmosphere, and people can move freely without worrying about violating traditional religious and social habits and dogmas. Nevertheless, ordinary faithful are not only satisfied with social and religious freedom. Because Lokayatikas captured the hearts of educated people and ordinary people, everyone began to solve the immediate secular welfare.

Before discussing this topic further, it is necessary to review some basic principles touched so far in order to relate to the development of some major religions in India in the next few centuries.

Upanishads are like a breath of fresh air, blowing through the sultry power corridor of Vedic Sanskrit. Monk authorities pay attention to them because yogis are not loyal to any established religion or mode of thought. To a large extent, they talked about what might be popular among other fanatical groups at that time. This atheism theory is obviously easily accepted by the authors of Upanishads, who used many of its concepts.

The end of the Vedanta period was about the second century AD. Later, some texts were written as abstracts/annexes of Upanishads. These documents, collectively known as the ancient history of the universe, allow sacred and mythical interpretations of the world, which is different from the religions of ancient Greece or Rome. Many legends and epics of gods and goddesses with human characteristics have been formed. The two most respected epics of Hinduism, Mahabharata and Ramayana, are works of this period. The love for specific gods is reflected in the works written for their worship. For example, The Book of the Past of Ganapati was written to dedicate himself to Ganapati (or Ganesha). The popular deities in this era are Shiva, Vishnu, Miserable Mother, Suya, Skanda and Ganesh (including their forms/incarnations). )

Unlike the early Vedic religions, neither Brahman rituals nor Upanishads' idealism can be popular in some way. A religion needs a simple and unified creed, a lot of myths and some simple worship practices for it to become popular. The failure of Vedic Brahmins and Upanishads in this respect led to indirect support for non-Vedic religious thoughts. Non-Vedic religious systems such as Buddhism and Jainism spread rapidly. They adopted all kinds of Upanishads' myths, gods worship and wisdom speculation. At the same time, they avoided their own weaknesses.

Samoan tradition

Vedic religion existed in the Iron Age of India and closely interacted with the parallel tradition of non-Vedic Samanas. These are not the direct products of Veda, but the independent movements that affect it and are influenced by it. Shaman is an ascetic monk wandering around. Buddhism and Jainism are the continuation of shaman customs, and the early Upanishads movement was also influenced by them.

Usually, a shaman is a person who gives up the world for spiritual development and liberation and lives an ascetic life.

Usually, a shaman is a person who gives up the world for spiritual development and liberation and lives an ascetic life. They assert that human beings should be responsible for their own actions and reap good or bad fruits from them. No matter what caste, belief, color and culture, anyone can be liberated from this anxiety. Yoga is probably by far the most important practice of Samana. The detailed process of yoga outlines the realization of personal liberation through breathing skills (pranayama), body posture (asana) and meditation (Zen).

This movement was later popularized in the era of Mahavia and Buddha, when the Vedic ritual became the main belief in some parts of India. Shramanas adopted the way of replacing Vedic rituals to get relief, and at the same time gave up family life. They usually engage in three kinds of activities: asceticism, meditation and related theories (or opinions). Sometimes, Saman runs counter to traditional authority, and he often recruits members from monks. Mahapilo, the 24th Channa and Sakyamuni Buddha are the leaders of their Samoan order. According to Jain literature and Buddhist Pali classics, there were some Samoan leaders at that time.

Indian philosophy combines shaman (self-reliance) tradition, Bhakti tradition, idolatry and Vedic ritual nature worship. These * * * coexist and influence each other. Saman believes that samsara is full of pain (or bitterness). They pursue non-killing and strict asceticism. They believe in karma and wormwood, and think reincarnation is not desirable.

On the contrary, the Vedas believe that rituals and sacrifices are performed by a group of privileged people who can improve their lives by pleasing certain gods. Slam's ideal of begging and abandoning, that is, secular life is full of pain, and liberation requires giving up desire and returning to a lonely contemplative life, which is in sharp contrast with Brahmin's positive and ritualistic ideal of sexual life. According to the traditional Vedic belief, men are born with the obligation to learn Vedas, bear and raise male offspring, and make sacrifices. Only in his later years will he think about the mystery of life. The idea of devoting one's life to begging seems to belittle the whole process of Vedic social life and obligation. Because Saman rejected the Vedas,

Astika and Nastika are sometimes used to divide Indian religions. Those religions that believe that God is the central role in this world are called Astika. Religions that don't believe in God are classified as Na Stica. From this perspective, the Vedic religion (and Hinduism) is an Astika religion, while Buddhism and Jainism are Nastika religions.