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The Pre-Buddhist Background
by Peter Della Santina
Although
studies of Buddhism usually begin with the life of
the
Buddha, the historical founder of the faith, I would like
first
to examine the situation that prevailed in India before the
time
of the Buddha, that is to say, the pre-Buddhist background
of
Buddhism. I personally believe such an examination to be
particularly
helpful because it enables us to understand the life
and
teaching of the Buddha in a broader historical and cultural
context.
This sort of retrospective examination can help us better
understand
the nature of Buddhism in particular, and perhaps,
too,
the nature of Indian philosophy and religion.
I would like to begin our examination of
the origin and
development
of Indian philosophy and religion with a geographical analogy. In the north of
the Indian subcontinent are
two
great rivers, the Ganges and the Yamuna. These two great
rivers
have separate sources in the high Himalayas, and their
courses
remain quite separate for the better part of their great
length.
Gradually they draw nearer to each other and eventually
unite
in the plains of northern India, near the city now known as
Allahabad.
From their point of confluence they flow on together
until
they empty into the Bay of Bengal.
The
geography of these two great rivers exemplifies the origin
and
development of Indian philosophy and religion because
in
Indian culture, as in Indian geography, there are two great
currents
of thought that were originally quite different and distinct in character. For
many centuries the course of these two remained separate and distinct, but
eventually they drew closer
together,
merged, and continued to flow on together, almost
indistinguishable
from each other, right up to the present day.
Perhaps
as we proceed with our examination of the pre-Buddhist
culture
of India, we can bear in mind the image of these rivers
whose
origins were separate, but which at a certain point merged
and
continued together to the sea.
When
we look into the very early history of India, we find
that,
in the third millennium B.C.E., there was a very highly
developed
civilization on the subcontinent. This civilization was
easily
as old as those which are called the cradles of human culture, such as the
civilizations of Egypt and Babylon. It flourished from about 2800 to 1800
B.C.E. and was known as the Indus Valley, or the Harappan, civilization. It
extended from
what
is now western Pakistan south to a point near present-day
Bombay
and east to a point near Shimla, in the foothills of the
Himalayas.
If
you look at a map of Asia, you will at once realize that
the
geographical extent of the Indus Valley civilization was
immense.
And not only was this civilization stable for a thousand years, it was also
very advanced, both materially and spiritually.
.
Materially,
the Indus Valley civilization was agrarian and
exhibited
a great degree of skill in irrigation and urban planning.
There
is evidence that the people of this civilization had evolved
a
system of mathematics based on a binary model – the same
model
employed in modern computing. The Indus Valley civilization was literate and
developed a script that remains largely undeciphered to date. (The meaning of
the Indus Valley script is one of the great unsolved mysteries of linguistic
archaeology). In addition, there is ample evidence that the civilization
enjoyed a very highly developed spiritual culture. Archaeological discoveries at
two major sites, Mohenjo-daro and Harappa, bear witness to this.
The
peaceful unfolding of the life of this great ancient civilizationwas rather
abruptly interrupted sometime between 1800 and 1500 B.C.E. either by some
natural disaster or by an invasion.
What
is certain is that, simultaneous with or very soon after the
demise
of the Indus Valley civilization, the subcontinent was
invaded
from the northwest – just as, centuries later, Muslim
invaders
were to come from that direction.
The
invading people were known as Aryans. This term designated a people who
originally belonged to a region somewhere in Eastern Europe, perhaps the steppes
of modern Poland and the Ukraine. The Aryans were very different from the
people of the Indus Valley civilization.
Whereas
the latter had been agrarian and sedentary, the
Aryans
were nomadic and pastoral. They were unused to urban
life.
A warlike and expansionist people, they lived in large part
on
the spoils of conquest won from the peoples they subjugated
in
the course of their migrations. When the Aryans arrived in
India,
they very soon became the dominant civilization, and
after
the middle of the second millennium B.C.E., Indian society
was
largely dominated by Aryan values.
Let
us now look at the religious attitudes of the people of
the
Indus Valley civilization and of the Aryan civilization. This
is
of particular interest to us. As I have said, the Indus Valley
civilization
had a written language which we have thus far been
unable
to decipher. Nonetheless, our knowledge of the civilization is derived from two
reliable sources: the archaeological discoveries at Mohenjo-daro and Harappa,
and the written records of the Aryans, who described the religious behavior and
beliefs of the people they came to dominate.
Archaeological
excavations have revealed a number of symbols
important
to the people of the Indus Valley civilization.
These
symbols have religious significance and are also sacred
to
Buddhism. They include the pipal tree (later known as the
bodhi tree, or ficus religiosa),
and animals such as the elephant
and
deer. Perhaps most significant, the image of a human figure
has
been found that is seated in a cross-legged posture, hands
resting
on the knees and eyes narrowed – clearly suggestive of
the
attitude of meditation. With the help of these archaeological
discoveries
and other evidence, eminent scholars have concluded that the origins of the
practices of yoga and meditation can be traced to the Indus Valley
civilization.
Moreover,
when we study the descriptions of the religious practices of the people of the
Indus Valley civilization found in the written records of the early Aryans, the
Vedas, we find the figure of the wandering ascetic frequently
mentioned.These ascetics are said to have practiced methods of mind training,
to have been celibate, naked or clothed in the most meager of garments, to have
had no fixed abode, and to have taught the way beyond birth and death.
Putting
together the evidence gathered from the archaeological
findings
at the major sites of the Indus Valley civilization
and
that found in the early records of the Aryans, the picture
that
emerges of the religious attitudes and practices of the people
of
the Indus Valley civilization, while sketchy, is clear enough
in
its essentials. The religion of the Indus Valley civilization evidently contained
several important elements. First of all, meditation, or the practice of
training the mind, was clearly present.
Second,
the practice of renunciation – that is to say, abandoning
household
life and living the life of a homeless ascetic,
or
mendicant – was also common. Third, it is clear that there
was
some conception of rebirth or reincarnation occurring over
the
course of a countless number of lives, and, fourth, a sense
of
moral responsibility extending beyond this life – that is to say, some form of
the conception of karma. Last, there was a paramount goal of religious life –
namely, the goal of liberation, of freedom from the endless cycle of birth and
death. These were the outstanding features of the religion of the earliest
civilization of India.
Next,
let us look at the religion of the early Aryan people,
which
contrasted sharply with that of the Indus Valley civilization.
Indeed,
it would be difficult to find two religious cultures
more
radically different. Constructing a complete picture
of
the religious attitudes and practices of the early Aryans is
much
simpler than doing so for the Indus Valley people. When
the
Aryans arrived in India, they brought with them a religion that was completely
secular in nature. As I have said, they were an expansionist society – a
pioneer society, if you like. Their origins lay in Eastern Europe, and their
religion in many ways resembled that of the ancient Greeks.
If
you look at descriptions of the gods who composed the Greek pantheon, you will not
fail to notice striking parallels between the two. The Aryans revered a number
of gods who were personifications of natural phenomena, including Indra (not
unlike Zeus) the god of thunder and lightning; Agni, the god of fire, and
Varanu, the god of water, to name just a few.
Whereas
in the religious value system of the Indus Valley civilization, the ascetic was
the preeminent religious figure, in the Aryan religious establishment the
priest was by far the most important. Whereas in the religious value system of
the Indus Valley civilization renunciation was paramount, in the value system
of the early Aryans the most worthy state was that of the family man, or
householder. Whereas in the religious culture of the Indus Valley civilization
the value of progeny was not emphasized, for the early Aryans progeny,
particularly sons, was the highest priority.
The
religion of the Indus Valley civilization emphasized the practice of
meditation, while the Aryan faith relied on the practice of sacrifice, which
was its primary means of communicating with the gods, securing victory in war,
obtaining sons and wealth, and finally reaching heaven. While the religion of
the Indus Valley civilization included the conceptions of rebirth and karma,
the early Aryans had no such conceptions. The notion of moral responsibility
extending beyond the present life appears to have been unknown to the Aryans,
for whom the highest social value was loyalty to the group, a virtue calculated
to contribute to the power and cohesion of the tribe. Finally, the ultimate
goal of religious life for the people of the Indus Valley civilization was liberation,
a state that transcended birth and death, whereas for the early Aryans the goal
was simply heaven – and a heaven that looked very much like a perfected version
of this world, in fact.
In
brief, while the religion of the Indus Valley civilization
stressed
renunciation, meditation, rebirth, karma, and the final
goal
of liberation, the Aryan religion stressed this life, ritual
sacrifice,
loyalty, wealth, progeny, power, and heaven. Thus it
is
clear that the sets of religious attitudes, practices, and values
professed
by these two ancient civilizations of India were almost
diametrically
opposed to each other. And yet, over the course
of
centuries of cohabitation, these two religious traditions did
manage
to merge and become, in many instances, practically
indistinguishable.
Before
concluding our review of the salient features of the
Indus
Valley and early Aryan religions, it should be mentioned
that
the religious culture of the Aryans was characterized by
two
further elements unknown and foreign to the religion of
the
Indus Valley people. The two elements I have in mind are
caste
– that is to say, the division of society into social strata – and belief in
the authority and infallibility of revelation, in this case the ancient
scriptures known as the Vedas. The religious culture of the Indus Valley civilization
did not accept these conceptions, and they remained constant points of
contention dividing the two major religious traditions of India.
The
history of Indian religion from 1500 B.C.E.to the sixth
century
B.C.E.. (i.e., the time of the Buddha) is the history of the
interaction
between these two originally opposed traditions. As
the
Aryan people gradually moved eastward and southward, settling and spreading
their influence over most of the Indian subcontinent, they adopted a more
sedentary pattern of life. Little by little, the opposing religious cultures of
the two peoples began to interact, influence, and even merge with each other. This
is precisely the phenomenon I had in mind earlier when I referred to the
merging of the two great rivers of India, the Ganges andthe Yamuna.
By
the time of the Buddha, a very heterogeneous religious
culture
flourished in India. This is clear even from a superficial look at some of the
prominent facts about the Buddha’s life. For
example,
after his birth, two distinct types of people made predictions about his future
greatness. The first prophesy was pronounced by Asita, who was a hermit and
ascetic living in the
mountains,
although the biographies of the Buddha insist that
Asita
was a Brahmin, a member of the priestly caste of Aryan
society.
This in itself is clear evidence of the interaction of the
two
ancient religious traditions, for it indicates that, by the sixth
century
B.C.E.., even Brahmins had begun to abandon household life and adopt the life
of homeless ascetics, something unheard of a thousand years before. A little
later, we are told that 108 Brahmins were invited to the ceremony for bestowing
a name on the young Buddha. There, they also prophesied the future greatness of
the child. These men were evidently priests who had not renounced household
life and who thus represented the original, orthodox practice accepted in the
Aryan fold.
How
is it that two traditions initially so different were able to
merge?
I think the answer may be found in the dramatic changes
that
occurred in the life of the Indian people between the middle
of
the second millennium B.C.E. and the time of the Buddha.
Aryan
expansion came to an end when the Aryans had spread
across
the plains of India. The end of this expansion brought
about
many social, economic, and political changes.
First
of all, the tribal, nomadic, and pastoral way of life of the early Aryans gradually
changed into a more sedentary, agrarian, and eventually urban pattern of
existence. Before long, the majority of the population was living in urban
settlements where the people were somewhat removed from the natural forces
which had been personified in the gods of the early Aryans.
Second,
commerce became increasingly important. Whereas priests and warriors had been
the dominant figures in early Aryan society – priests because they communicated
with the gods, and warriors because they waged war against the enemies of the
tribe and brought home the spoils of battle – now merchants became ascendant.
In the time of the Buddha, this trend is evident in the famous disciples who
belonged to the merchant class – Anathapindika, to name just one example.
Last,
the organization of society along tribal lines gradually
became
obsolete, and the territorial state began to evolve.
No
longer was society organized into tribes within which there
were
very close sets of personal loyalties. The tribal pattern of
social
organization was replaced by the territorial state, in which
many
people of different tribes existed together. The kingdom
of
Magadha, ruled by King Bimbisara, the famous patron and
disciple
of the Buddha, is an example of such an emerging territorial state.
These
social, economic, and political changes contributed
to
a growing willingness on the part of the Aryan people to
accept
and adopt the religious ideas of the Indus Valley civilization.
Although
the Aryans had materially dominated the earlier,
indigenous
civilization of the subcontinent, the next thousand
to
two thousand years saw them come increasingly under
the
influence of religious attitudes, practices, and values adopted
from
the religion of the Indus Valley civilization. Consequently,
by
the beginning of the common era, the distinction between
the
Aryan tradition and that of the Indus Valley civilization was
more
and more difficult to draw. In fact, this historical reality
is
responsible for the misconception expressed in the claim that Buddhism was a
protest against, or an offshoot of, Hinduism.
Buddhism
is a religion that draws most of its inspiration from the religious culture of
the Indus Valley civilization. The
elements
of renunciation, meditation, rebirth, karma, and liberation, which were
important components of the religious culture of the Indus Valley people, are
also important in Buddhism. The Buddha himself very probably meant to indicate
that the origins of the religion he proclaimed lay in the Indus Valley
civilization when he said that the path he taught was an ancient path, and that
the goal to which he pointed was an ancient goal. Buddhism also maintains a
tradition of six prehistoric Buddhas who are believed to have flourished before
the Buddha Shakyamuni. All this, I believe, points to a certain continuity
between the religious culture and traditions of the Indus Valley civilization
and the teaching of the Buddha.
.
When
we examine the two religious phenomena we call
Buddhism
and Hinduism, we find a greater or smaller proportion
or
preponderance of elements inherited from each of the
two
great religious traditions of ancient India. In Buddhism
the
greater proportion of significant elements is clearly inherited
from
the religion of the Indus Valley civilization, while a
far
smaller proportion may be traced to the religion of the early
Aryans.
There are undoubtedly elements in Buddhism inherited
from
the religion of the Aryans, such as the presence of the gods
of
the Vedas, but their role is peripheral.
Conversely,
many schools of Hinduism retain a greater
proportion
of elements of religious culture inherited from the
Aryan
tradition and a much smaller proportion that can be
traced
back to the religion of the Indus Valley. Many schools of Hinduism still
emphasize caste, the authority of revelation in
the
shape of the Vedas, and the efficacy of the practice of sacrifice.
Notwithstanding
these clearly Aryan elements, a place is
also
made in Hinduism for important elements of the culture of
the
Indus Valley civilization, such as renunciation, meditation,
rebirth,
karma, and liberation.
Chico
Dharma Study Group U.S.A.
Source: The Tree of Enlightenment
(downloadable)
