01. INTRODUCTION
Strictly speaking, the concept of Brahma was not included in the original concept of the Aryan people. Their worship was mainly directed to Varuṇa along with Agni and Mitra before it branched into Mazdayasnians (Monotheists) and Devayasnians (Polytheists). An examination of the good deities as preached by Zarathustra and a glance through the hymn XI, 6 Prayer for deliverance from calamity, addressed to the entire pantheon of Atharvaveda are pointers to ascertain the influence of the Natural Forces in the early religions of the Āryan folk.
02 . THE CREATION OF THE WORLD BY AHURA-MAZDA AND CORRESPONDING EVILS BY ANGRO MAINYUS
Ahura-Mazda spake unto Spitama Zarathustra, saying:
“I have made every land dear to its dwellers, even though it had no charms whatever in it. Had I not made every land dear to its dwellers, even though it had no charms whatever in it, then the whole living world would have invaded the Airyana Vaêgô.”
COUNTRIES AND LANDS CREATED CORRESPONDING EVILS PLACED THERE BY
BY AHURA-MAZDA. ANGRO MAINYUS (THE EVIL SPIRIT).
1. Airyana Vaêgô by the good river Dâitya. 1. The serpent and winter.
2. The plains of Sughdha. 2. The fly Skaitya, which stings
and brings death to the cattle.
3. The land of Mourn (Merv). 3. Sinful lusts.
4. Bâkhdhi with high-lifted banners (Balkh). 4. Corn-eating ants.
5. The land of Nisâya. 5. The sin of unbelief.
6. Harôyu with its lakes (Herat). 6. The stained mosquito.
7. Vaêkereta (Cabul). 7. The Pairika Knāthaiti (meaning
an evil creature or a pari who
destroys mankind)
8. Urva of the rich pastures (land in Khorasan). 8. The sin of pride and tyranny.
9. Khnenta in Vehrkâna. 9. Unnatural sin.
10. Harahvaiti the beautiful. 10. Sin of defiling the virgin earth
by burying corpses.
11. The bright and glorious Haêtumant. 11. Witchcraft and wizards.
12. Ragha of the three races 12. Sin of utter unbelief (atheism).
(Rai, the birthplace of Zoroaster).
13. Holy Kakhra. 13. Sin of burning of corpses.
14. The four-cornered Varena. 14. Illness of women.
15. Country of the Seven Rivers. 15. Excessive heat.
16. The land by the floods of the Rangha. 16. Excessive frost.
“There are still other lands and countries, beautiful and deep, desirable and bright and thriving.”
03. WHO ARE DAITYAS OR ASURAS? WHO ARE PANIS?
There is a common misconception that Zarathustra, having admitted various superstitious powers both good and evil as existing cannot be said to be a promoter of monotheism. The answer for this question is that Zarathustra’s good and evil are various natural phenomena only. But the list gives a few tools for the interpretations of a few historical facts, the most important among which is the existence of a good river named Dâitya. Daitya is the common name given in the Vedas to the foes of the Devas. Thus these Daityas might have once inhabited the river valleys of Daitya. Other names equivalent to Daitya are Asura and Paṇi. The very Zarathustrian God Ahura can be a synonym of the word Asura. Thus the abode of the Asuras or Daityas is undoubtedly Persia. The name Paṇini of the celebrated Sanskrit grammarian also means the offspring of Paṇi. it is accepted fact that Paṇini belonged to a village in the Sindhu delta of present Pakistan. Thus Paṇis most probably could be the Dravidian people pertaining to Indus Valley Civilization, which later was destroyed by the Aryan people through a series of raids within a span of a few centuries, which, of course, an agrarian settlement in no case can survive. There is, therefore, no merit in the averment that the South Indians are the offsprings of the ancient Asuras or Daityas.
04. THE VEDIC PANTHEON
The following deities are praised in hymn. XI, 6. Prayer for deliverance from calamity, addressed to the entire pantheon of the Atharvaveda
1. Agni, the trees, the plants, the herbs, Indra, Bṛhaspati, and Sūrya
2. Varuṇa, Mitra, Viṣṇu, Bhaga, Amśa and Vivasvant
3. Savitar, Dhātar, Pūṣan, Tvaṣṭar
4. Gandharvas , Apsarases, Aśvins and to Brahmaṇaspati, and Āryamān
5. Sūrya, Candramas, the twain and the Ādityas
6. Vāta (wind) Parjanya, the atmosphere, the directions of space and all the regions
7. Day and night, Uṣas, and Soma (Candramas)
8. The animals of the earth and of heaven, the wild beasts of the forest, and the winged birds
9. Bhava and Sarva, Rudra and Paśupati
10. The heavens, stars, earth, Yakshas, mountains, seas, rivers, and lakes
11. The seven Ṛṣis, the divine waters, Prajāpati, the Fathers with Yama at their head
12. The gods that dwell in heaven, in the atmosphere and the mighty (gods) upon the earth
13. The Ādityas, Rudras, Vasus, the divine Atharvans in heaven, and the wise Aṅgiras
14. The sacrifice and the sacrificer, the ṛks, the sāmans, and the healing (Atharvan) charms, the yajus-formulas and the invocations (to the gods)
15. The five kingdoms of the plants with soma the most excellent among them, the Darbha-grass, hemp, and mighty barley
16. The Arāyas (demons of grudge), Rakṣas, serpents, pious men, Fathers and the one and a hundred deaths
17. The seasons we speak, the lords of the seasons, the sections of the year, the half years, years, and months
18. gods from the south, the west, the east and the north
05. HISTORICITY AND NEED OF A BRAHMAN CONCEPT
Unlike the Zarathustrian Universal Souls representing natural phenomena, the Vedic pantheon by nature is Polytheistic, but it does not hide its affinity to the worship of natural phenomena, revealing its common origin with the Persian monotheism. But such common aspects did not act between these two major religions as a harmonizing factor. Instead they fostered common hatred to each other until and after the followers of the Vedic religion were gradually driven and banished out of the Iranian Plate. The unfortunate victims then warred against the Paṇis and after suppressing and victimizing those people as slaves, expanded their control to the East and South and controlled the entire defeated by a social system evolved by them by continuous attacks and a synthesis of cultural identities for the greatest period the world ever has known the slavery of an entire nation; suffice it to say that the process of this existential issue brought forth resistance not only by using weapons but also by a tsunami of intellectual endeavors founding a strong philosophical background capable of promoting both liberty for the able and slavery for the meek. The basic concept of this philosophy was an undefined variable named Brahma.
06. THE KEYS TO BRAHMAN
Thus we are now forced to study the evolution of the concept of Brahma. The key words to Brahma are found in the Vedic literature itself, though with a floating and plastic nature in its application, usage and meaning. The seers Atharvan and Brahman of the Atharvaveda, the gods Bṛhaspati, Brahmaṇaspati, the creator god Brahman, the abstract concept Brahma, the priestly class Brāhmaṇa, the life styles and qualities like Brahmacārin, Brahma varcas, brahmacaryaṁ, Brāhmaṇyaṁ etc are the key words to study the nature of evolution of the word Brahma. However an appreciation of the evolutionary nature of the unification concepts of the original Āryan religion shall also be considered.
07. THE INCONSISTENCIES IN MONOTHEIC RELIGIONS
As the Āryan concept of Religion was Nature centered, there was no chance in its earlier phase to uphold the natural rhythm of all things. In Zend Avesta, Ahura Mazda tells “You shall therefore hearken to the Soul of Nature. Contemplate the beams of fire with a most pious mind.” The Vedic concept of Natural harmony called Ṛta is well known. As an equivalent of Ṛta, Cosmic Order in Zarathustra preaches Aṣa as, “There is only one path, the path of Aṣa, all the rest are no paths." Aṣa also denotes purity of mind and body, truth, justice and righteousness.
But the religion of Zarathustra has an internal inconsistency; which is none other than Ahura Mazda himself. Ahura Mazda in no case a natural phenomena, it is but an invention of human hallucinations and aspirations of a single but almighty God. This inconsistency is common to almost all religions supporting truth and reason within its premises. But to surpass this demerit, Zarathustra attempts to define his various names as attributes of logical conclusions fir for a monotheistic religion. But when his hatred against the polytheists which he had acquired from the declarations of many past generations of his religion, crept into his orations, Ahura Mazda is no better than a wrathful Demon.
08. THE HATRED BETWEEN THE ARYAN RELIGIONS
In Chapter I. THE PROCLAMATION OF SALVATION it is stated “I (Zarathustra) make known to Ahura-Mazda the Great God, that I am about to offer him my prayers and sacrifices. (Yasnas) He is the greatest and best, the most powerful and wise. I pay homage, also, to the bountiful immortals (the Amensha-Spentas), the guardians of the world, and to the body of the sacred cow and its soul; (i) to Ahura (Jupiter), Mithra (the sun), to the star Sirius; and to the Fravashis (guardian angels of the saints).
I declare myself to be a Mazdaist, a Zarathustrian, a sworn foe to the Daevas (2) and a worshipper of Ahura-Mazda.” It is evident from the above that earlier Āryan religion as practiced in Persia contained sacrifices, beliefs in immortals, cow worship, belief in souls and ancestors etc. It is more or less similar in Vedic religion also. But alas, the most generous among the believers of such a religion states, “I drive away the Daêvas, I profess myself a Zarathrustrian, an expeller of the Daêvas, a follower of the teachings of Ahura.” Also, “When barley is coming forth, the Daêvas start up; when corn is growing ripe, then faint the Daêvas’ hearts; when the corn is being ground, the Daêvas groan; when wheat is coming forth, the Daêvas are destroyed. In that house they can no longer stay; from that house they are beaten away, wherein wheat is thus coming forth.” Zarathustra once asked “Zarathustra asked Ahura-Mazda: “O thou all-knowing Ahura-Mazda, should I urge upon the godly man, should I urge upon the godly man, should I urge upon the godly woman, should I urge upon the wicked Daêva-worshipper who lives in sin, that they have once to leave behind them the earth made by Ahura, that they have to leave the water that runs, the corn that grows, and all the rest of their wealth?” Another example is “They run away, the wicked, evil-doing Daêvas; they run away, casting the evil eye, the wicked, evildoing Daêvas.”
09. THE ATHARVANS AND BRAHMANS
The common name for early priests of the Āryan folk was “Atharvan” both in Persian and Vedic religions. That is how the fourth Veda was named Atharvaveda. There is no merit in the speculation that Atharvaveda is younger than Ṛgveda. There is every possibility that the contrary is true as it contains the ancient traditional medicinal and customary information which no people shall depart when writing was not common and reciting by memory was the most common practice. As far as the common man is concerned chanting a hymn on the praise of a particular God is always less important than the eradication of mosquitoes and vermin and of diseases.
When the conflict between the Monotheists and Polytheists of the Persian Āryans was settled in favor of the former, and the latter were banished, the banished had not settled their own internal differences. There upsurged two prominent clans of Brahmins namely Atharvans and the Brahmans. They are the most prominent among the seers of Atharvaveda. Atharvans practiced their ancient wizardry efficiently where as the Brahmans ventured to further the metaphysics in their religion. We do not know exactly which among the many Brahmans first introduced the concept of Brahma into their religion. Most probably it was only an ancestral God that they have introduced into religion namely Brahmaṇaspati who was equated with then existing Bṛhaspati, the preceptor of Indra. They dared to state that everything is and has originated from Brahma. Others mocked at these propagators of Brahman as jokers and gave a nickname to them as Brāhmaṇas. They would remark, “There goes the one following the path of Brahma, a Brāhmaṇa who worships his own ancestors as equal or superior to Indra.” But history proved that their foolishness brought them the most beneficial boon of predominance to their successors for more than three millenniums.
10. CAUSES OF EVOLUTION OF BRAHMAN
The evolution of the concept of Brahma was the result of a theological inquiry to unify the concept of the numerous gods, as the up-surging political power of the Aryan ranchers demanded to suppress the collective defense of the indigenous agriculturists. A creating god was necessary to include the entire pantheon into a single unit, the immediate result of which shall be the unification of the conflicting Aryan clans. Thus an anonymous Brahman philosopher introduced his ancestral God Brahmaṇaspati into the Vedic literature and an astonishing dawn of philosophical speculations followed him to blossom an abstract Indian garden of refined thought.
11. BRAHMANASPATI IN THE VEDAS
Brahmaṇaspati is mentioned in many occasions in the Ṛgveda such as 01-018 Brahmaṇaspati 1, 3, 4, 5 and 01-040 Brahmaṇaspati 1, 2,3,4,5 and 02-001 Agni 3 and 02-023 Brahmaṇaspati 1,2,3,4,9,11,19 and 02-024 Brahmaṇaspati 1, 2, 4, 5, 8,9,10,11,12, 13,14,15,16 and 02-025 Brahmaṇaspati 1, 2,3,4,5 and 02-026 Brahmaṇaspati 1,2,3,4 and 04-050 Bṛhaspati 8, 9 and 05-046 Viśvadevas 3 and 06-075 Weapons of War 10, 17 and 07-041 Bhaga 1 and 07-044 Dadhikras 1 and 07-097 Bṛhaspati 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 and 08-027 Viśvadevas 1 and 09-083 Soma Pavamāna 1 and 10-053 Agni Śaucika Gods. 9 and 10-065 Viśvadevas 1 and 10-072 The Gods 1,2,3,4,5 and 10-155 Various 1, 2 and 10-164 Dream-charm 4 and 10-173 The King 3 and 10-174 The King 1 etc. He is also praised in Atharvaveda in IV, 4 Charm to promote virility 6 and VI, 140 Expiation for the irregular appearance of the first pair of teeth 1 and XI, 9 Prayer to Arbudi and Nyarbudi for help in battle 25 and VI, 74 Charm to allay discord 1 and XI, 6 Prayer for deliverance from calamity, addressed to the entire pantheon 4 and VI, 45 Prayer against mental delinquency 3 and XIII, 1 Prayer for sovereign power addressed to the god Rohita and his female Rohinî 9, 33 and 51 etc. Let us consider the attributes of God Brahmaṇaspati next.
