Chattopadhyaya, Debiprasad (ed);
Studies in the History of Indian Philosophy, Volume 1
K. P. Bagchi And Company, Calcutta, 1960, 275 pages
topics: | history | philosophy | india
memoirs of the archaeological survey of india, no. 31, 1926
many of the stanzas of the rgveda contain references to pura and pur both
of which terms mean nagara, 'town', in classical sanskrit [but it is not
clear if it means the same in vedic].
in one stanza (7, 15, 4) an extensive (shatabhuji) pur made of copper or
iron (ayas) is referred to. in another stanza (i, 58, 8) prayer is
offered to agni to protect the worshipper with purs of ayas. in such
passages ayas is evidently used in a metaphorical sense to denote strength.
shuSNa, a demon, is said to have a moveable (cariSNva) pura (8, 1, 28).
in the rgveda, pura is much oftener connected with the enemies of the aryas
than with the arya rSis and warriors. two of the famous rgvedic kings,
divodasa, the chief of the bharatas. and purukutsa, the chief of the purus,
are found engaged in war with hostile owners of puras. divodasa was the
son of vadhryasva and grandfather of the more famous sUdas who defeated a
confederacy of ten tribes including the yadus, turvasas and purus on "the
western bank of the paruSNI river (ravi).
it is said (4, 30, 20) that indra overthrew a hundred puras made of stone
(ashmanmayI) for his worshipper divodasa:
shatam ashmanmayInAm purAm indro vy Asyat |
divodAsAya dAshuShe ||
the puras that indra overthrew for divodasa evidently belonged to sambara
who is called a dAsa (non-arya or demon) of the mountain {6, 26, 5). in one
stanza (9. 60, 2), among the enemies of divodasa are mentioned the yadu
(the chief of the yadus) and turvasha (the chief of the turvashas) with
sambara. the greatest feat that indra performed on behalf of purukutsa,
the chief of the purus, is thus described in a stanza (6, 20, 10),
may we, o indra, gain new (wealth) through your favour.
the purus worship thee with this hymn and sacrifices.
you destroyed the seven autumnal (saradi) puras with thunder
weapon, slew dAsas and gave wealth to purukutsa.
sanema te .avasA navya indra pra pUravaH stavanta enA yaj~naiH .
sapta yat puraH sharma shAradIr dard dhan dAsIH purukutsAya shikShan
the epithet sharadi, usually translated as 'autumnal', is explained by
sAyaNa in different ways. in his commentary on the above stanza he explains
the term saradi as 'belonging to a demon named sarat'. but in other
places (1, 131, 4 etc.) he explains it as 'annual puras of the enemies
strengthened for a year with ramparts, ditches etc'. the authors of the
vedic index are of opinion that saradi or autumnal puras 'may refer to the
forts in that season being occupied against arya attacks or against
inundations caused by overflowing rivers.' the same exploit performed by
lndra on behalf of the chief of the purus is also referred to in certain
other stanzas.
modern scholars interpret the term pur or pura as a temporary place of
refuge. the authors of the vedic index write:
it would probably be a mistake to regard these forts (pur) as
permanently occupied fortified places like the fortresses of the
mediaeval barony. they were probably mere places of refuge against
attack, ramparts of hardened earth with palisades and a
ditch. pischel and geldner, however, think that there were towns
with wooden walls and ditches like the indian town of pATaliputra
known to megasthenes and the pali texts. this is possible, but
hardly susceptible of proof, and it is not without significance
that the work nagara is of late occurrence.'
the terms pur and pura mean nagara, 'city', 'town', and not fort. the
sanskrit equivalent of 'fort' is durga which also occurs in the rgveda (5,
34, 7; 7, 25, 2). in one stanza (1, 41, 3) not noticed by the authors of
the vedic index durga and pura occur side by side. sayaNa here takes pura
as an epithet of durga meaning 'neighbouring'. but if we can shake off our
bias relating to the absence of towns in the rgvedic period we can
recognise in this stanza references to both fort and town.
the recovery of the ruins of cities at harappa and mohen-jodaro leaves no
room for doubt that the rgvedic aryas were familiar with towns and cities
of aliens. it is futile to seek any more historical elements in the legends
of divodasa and purukutsa than perhaps the names of these heroes. but if
we eliminate the mythical and fanciful additions there is no reason to
doubt the possibility of the nucleus. there existed and the folk memory
remembered that there once existed Arya worshippers of indra who waged wars
against civilized aboriginal neighbours living in towns and fighting from
within strong-holds.
who, then, were these enemies of the Aryas? do the hymns of the rgveda
give us any more information about them?
it appears to me that the aboriginal towns folk with whom the aryas came
into collision in the indus valley are callled paNis in the hymns of all
the books of the rgveda. yaska (nirukta 6, 27) in his comment on rgveda
8.66.10 says, 'the paNis are merchants', and in his comment on
r.v. 10.108.1 (nirukta 11, 25) he calls the paNis demons. the distinction
between the human and the superhuman paNi is also recognised by sayaNa, the
author of the commentary on the rgveda. and the context justifies the
distinction. the word paNi is evidently derived from paNa, 'price'.
the human paNis of the rgveda are wealthy merchants who do not offer
sacrifice and do not give gifts to priests. in r.v. l.124.10 the poet
addressing dawn (UShAs) says, 'let the paNis who do not perform sacrifice
and do not give gifts sleep unwakened (for ever)'.
another poet sings,
ye mighty ones (ashvins) what do you do there :
why do you stay there among people who are held in
high esteem though not offering sacrifices ;
ignore them, destroy the life of the paNis' (r.v. 1.83.3).
a poet prays to indra (1.33.3). 'do not hehave like paNi' (mA paNIbabhUH),
which according to the scholiast means, 'do not demand the price of kine.'
चोष्कूयमाण इन्द्र भूरि वामं मा पणिर्भूरस्मदधि प्रवृद्ध ॥३॥
choShkUyamANa indra bhUri vAmam mA paNir bhUr asmad adhi pravR^iddha
another poet, expecting a suitable reward for his offering of soma drink,
addresses the same deity as paNi (8.45.14). the somadrinker lndra does not
like to make friends with the rich paNi who does not offer soma sacrifice
(4.28.7). a poet prays (3.58.2). 'destroy in us the mentality of the paNi'
(jaretham asmat vipaNeH manISAm).
sometimes the rSi (poet) betrays a conciliatory mood. in one hymn (6.53)
the god pUSan is repeatedly requested 'to soften the heart of the paNi' and
make the paNis obedient. this hymn occurs in a book (6) of the rgveda
composed by rSis of the family of bharadvaja.
in one hymn of the book (6.45.31-33) the poet, a bharadvaja, praises br^bu,
a paNi chief, for giving thousands and a thousands and a thousand liberal
gifts.
indian tradition long remembered this acceptance of gifts by bharadvaja
from the paNi br^bu as an exceptional case, an example of the special rule
that a brahman who has fallen into distress may accept gifts from
despicable men without being tainted by sin. we are told in the code of
manu (10, 107) 'bharadvaja, a performer of great austerities, accepted many
cows from the carpenter br^bu, when he was starving together with his sons
in a lonely forest', (buehler). shayaNa in his commentary on r.v. 6.45.31
describes br^bu as the carpenter of the paNis. p.4
it is evident from the hymns of the rgveda that the Aryas were divided into
two main classes, the priests and the warriors. cattle breeding appears to
be the main source of their livelihood, cows being the chief
wealth. agriculture was practised to a limited extent. a hymn (9.112)
refers to the different professions followed and the crafts practised by
the Aryas. trade finds no place in the list. so the conclusion that the
much maligned paNis were the representatives of an earlier commercial
civilisation seems irresistible.
among the antiquities unearthed at mohen-jo-daro are coins with
pictographic legends that indicate the very early development of commercial
life in the indus valley. the paNis probably represented this prehistoric
civilisation of the indus valley in its last phase when it came into
contact with the invading Arya civilisation. during the second millennium
b.c. there occurred in the indus valley events analogous to those that
occurred in the aegean world at about the same time, that is to say,
successive waves of invaders of Aryan speech poured from the
north-west. these invaders who in the rgveda call themselves Arya met in
the southern part of the valley a civilised people who lived in cities and
castles and mainly depended on commerce for their livelihood. the Arya
conquerors who were inferior in material culture either destroyed the
cities or allowed them to fall into ruin. their great god indra is called
puroha or purandara, 'sacker of cities'.
like the pre-historic civilisation of the aegean, the pre-historic
civilisation of the indus valley also failed to survive the shock of the
aryan invasion.
excepting a few, the articles reprinted here are taken from periodicals, access to the copies of some of which is becoming increasingly difficult. the exceptions are: * schools of vedanta by s. k. maitra (taken from his studies in philosophy and religion, 2nd edition, calcutta 1956), * nyaya-vaiseSika by s. kuppuswami sastri (the author's introduction to a primer of indian logic. madras 1951) * dignAga and dharmakIrti by th. stcherbatsky (from his buddhist logic, vol. i). besides these, two articles are taken from the encyclopaedia of religion and ethics (ed. hastings). these are * mahAyAna by l. de la vallee poussin and * indian atomism by h. jacobi. the rest taken from the following periodicals (abbreviations) : ABORI : annals of the bhandarkar oriental research institute. IA : indian antiquary IHQ : indian historical quarterly ISPP : lndian studies : past & present JAOS : journal of the american oriental society JASB : ··journal of the asiatic society, calcutta JRAS : journal of the royal asiatic society of great britain & ireland MASI : memoirs of the archaeological survey of india. sometimes the views expressed on the same problem - and sometimes even the basic understanding of the position of the same philosophers - in the different papers do not necessarily concur. here is an example. the philosophical position of uddAlaka aruNi, as understood by edgerton (the upaniSads : what do they seek and why?) widely differs from the same as understood by ruben (uddAlaka and yAjnavalkya: materialism and idealism). it is felt by the compiler of the present collection that on this particular point, the latter is much more true to the texts, besides being immensely important for the historical understanding of the ideological situation of the upaniSadic age. but, then, why include the former paper also ? the reason is that edgerton's paper gives us an outstanding analysis of another aspect of the general drift of the upaniSadic speculations about which ruben is silent. it is the strong spell of primitive magical belief on a very wide range of upaniSadic thinkers.
introduction i the indus valley in the vedic period : r. p. chanda 1 survival of the prehistoric civilization of the indus valley : : r. p. chanda 5 yoga technique in the great epic : e. w. hopkins 20 twenty-five years of vedic studies : r. n. dandekar 77 upaniSads: what do they seek and why? f. edgerton 110 uddAloka and yAj~navalkya: materialism and idealism : w. ruben 141 a brief sketch of pUrvamimAMsA : p. v. kane 157 the mimAMsA doctrine of works : k. a. nilakanta shastry 185 modifications of the karma doctrine : e. w. hopkins 217 vedic and epic kr^SNa : s. k. de 237 rhe historical development of bhagavad-gItA : d. d. kosambi 243 schools of vedAnta philosophy : s. k. maitra
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