DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.636#0033
Ritualistic Brahmanism.
21
vague spiritual Power and Presence, which was wholly un-
bound by limitations of personality and individuality, became
at last a reality. This Breath of Life (Atman) received a
name. They called it Brahman (nominative neuter Brahma,
from the root brik, ' to expand'), because it expanded itself
through all space. It was a pure essence which not only
diffused itself everywhere, but constituted their own being.
Men and gods were merely manifestations of that Spirit.
Such was the fundamental doctrine of Brahmanism. Such
was Brahmanism in its earliest origin. As a complex system
it may be regarded as possessing four sides, or, more properly
speaking, four phases which run into each other and are
nowhere separable by sharply defined lines. These four
phases may be called (i) Ritualistic, (2) Philosophical, (3)
Mythological, (4) Nomistic.
Ritualistic Brahmanism.
This phase of the Brahmanical system has for its special
bible the sacred treatises called Brahmanas, added to the
Mantra or Hymn portion of each Veda (for example, the
Aitareya, Satapatha, Tandya, and Gopatha Brahmanas
added to the Rig, Yajur, Sama, and Atharva Vedas respect-
ively). They consist of a series of rambling prose compo-
sitions, the oldest of which may have been written seven
or eight centuries B.C. Their relationship to the Vedic
hymns resembles in some respects that of the book of
Leviticus to the Psalms in our own sacred Scriptures. They
are an integral portion of the Veda, and are supposed to
contain that portion of divine knowledge or revelation par-
ticularly adapted to serve as a directory for the Brahmans
in the conduct of the complicated sacrificial ceremonies.
For if it was deemed necessary in the early Vedic period
to propitiate and maintain the energies of nature by means
of invigorating offerings of food, it was not likely that such
21
vague spiritual Power and Presence, which was wholly un-
bound by limitations of personality and individuality, became
at last a reality. This Breath of Life (Atman) received a
name. They called it Brahman (nominative neuter Brahma,
from the root brik, ' to expand'), because it expanded itself
through all space. It was a pure essence which not only
diffused itself everywhere, but constituted their own being.
Men and gods were merely manifestations of that Spirit.
Such was the fundamental doctrine of Brahmanism. Such
was Brahmanism in its earliest origin. As a complex system
it may be regarded as possessing four sides, or, more properly
speaking, four phases which run into each other and are
nowhere separable by sharply defined lines. These four
phases may be called (i) Ritualistic, (2) Philosophical, (3)
Mythological, (4) Nomistic.
Ritualistic Brahmanism.
This phase of the Brahmanical system has for its special
bible the sacred treatises called Brahmanas, added to the
Mantra or Hymn portion of each Veda (for example, the
Aitareya, Satapatha, Tandya, and Gopatha Brahmanas
added to the Rig, Yajur, Sama, and Atharva Vedas respect-
ively). They consist of a series of rambling prose compo-
sitions, the oldest of which may have been written seven
or eight centuries B.C. Their relationship to the Vedic
hymns resembles in some respects that of the book of
Leviticus to the Psalms in our own sacred Scriptures. They
are an integral portion of the Veda, and are supposed to
contain that portion of divine knowledge or revelation par-
ticularly adapted to serve as a directory for the Brahmans
in the conduct of the complicated sacrificial ceremonies.
For if it was deemed necessary in the early Vedic period
to propitiate and maintain the energies of nature by means
of invigorating offerings of food, it was not likely that such