Because of the problematic source situation in the pre-Christian North, it is often necessary to make us of what Jens Peter Schjødt has termed genetic comparisons, in order to better ones ...understanding of the religious tradition. In this article, one such historically related myth about the creation of the world through a ritual process in which an anthropomorphic being if transformed into the cosmos through an act of sacrifice, is anlalysed. This myth is known in the Old Norse material as the myth of the jǫtunn Ymir and in the Indian material as the myth of Puruṣa. It is the latter which, through the well-known hymn from the Ṛgveda, forms the basis of an analysis focussing on how this myth establishes a mode of sacrifice which connects the primeval cosmogony with the existence of gods and life of humans in a perspective which reaches into and beyond death.
RESUME: Grundet den mangelfulde kildesituation til det førkristne Norden er det ofte nødvendigt at benytte sig af hvad Jens Peter Schjødt har kaldt genetiske komparationer, for at danne sig et bedre billede af den religiøse tradition. I denne artikel analyseres en sådan historisk beslægtet myte, nemlig myten om verdens skabelse gennem en rituel proces, hvor et antropomorft væsen gennem en offerhandling transformeres til kosmos. Denne myte kendes i det norrøne materiale som myten om jætten Ymir og i det indiske materiale som myten om Puruṣa. Det er sidstnævnte, der, gennem den kendte hymne i Ṛgveda, danner grundlag for en religionshistorisk analyse med fokus på, hvordan denne indiske myte indstifter en offertanke, der forbinder urtidens verdensskabelse med guders og menneskers liv og eksistens i et perspektiv, der rækker ud over og ind i døden.
The article looks at the Vedic pravargya ritual and associated mythology in light of recent studies on the ancient Indian vrātyas, consecrated warriors who were thought to impersonate the deities ...Rudra, Indra, the Maruts, and the Aśvins (also known as Rudras). It is argued that vrātya elements in pravargya include Rudra as Mahāvīra (a heroic character, also an epithet of the vessel containing the offering), the sattra (collective ritual) setting of the paradigm myth, the motif of the unstrung bow, the minimal presence of females in pravargya, and divinisation of man as a goal of the ritual. The superhuman status attributed to the Mahāvīra is comparable with that of Atharvavedic characters like the vrātya and the brahmacārin (celibate student); the affinity between these figures may be derived from a common ascetic ideology, the roots of which some are to be sought in the warrior society.
The definition of religion is not easy as the views on this point are very different. The Indian Sanātana Dharma, the “Eternal Order”, is how Indians call their system that has also a connotation ...that relates to what we call religion. What we understand as Yoga was defined by Patañjali, Svātmārāma, Gorakhnath, and other Yoga masters. Yoga is a part of Sanātana Dharma and is called Mukti Dharma, the “Dharma of Liberation”. Yoga as one of the six orthodox philosophies is free from religious traits. The difference between the Indian and Western understanding of Sanātana Dharma is investigated from a practical point of view reflected in the literature and in a dialogue with Indian pandits. The reflection of the Western (namely Christian) understanding of Indian Sanātana Dharma and its effect on the way how Christians look at Yoga is also mentioned.
The problematic identity of the deity Savitṛ in early Vedic religion has sparked more than a century of discussion. Harry Falk, for instance, argued that this god, whose name literally means the ...‘impeller’, can be identified with the Milky Way and associated with the rainy season. According to Falk, this association was also responsible for the employment of a verse addressing Savitṛ (a so-called sāvitrī) in the initiation of the Vedic student, whose studies originally began at the onset of the rainy season. The aims of this paper are (a) to review the various theories about Savitṛ’s manifestations in nature and (b) to explain how different natural phenomena and celestial luminaries could be associated with this god. In discussing the theories proposed so far, I not only consider the Vedic sources but also re-evaluate the archaeoastronomical arguments with reliable software. As it turns out, there is no conclusive evidence that Savitṛ was associated with any single phenomenon or luminary at all, nor can he be connected with the rainy season or water in general. Rather, he was an anthropomorphic deity essentially independent of the various natural phenomena and celestial luminaries he impelled.
Recent archaeological evidence and the comparative method of Indo-European historical linguistics now make it possible to reconstruct the Aryan migrations into India, two separate diffusions of which ...merge with elements of Harappan religion in Asko Parpola’s The Roots of Hinduism: The Early Aryans and the Indus Civilization (NY: Oxford University Press, 2015). This review of Parpola’s work emphasizes the acculturation of Rigvedic and Atharvavedic traditions as represented in the depiction of Vedic rites and worship of Indra and the Aśvins (Nāsatya). After identifying archaeological cultures prior to the breakup of Proto-Indo-European linguistic unity and demarcating the two branches of the Proto-Aryan community, the role of the Vrātyas leads back to mutual encounters with the Iranian Dāsas.
Because of the problematic source situation in the pre-Christian North, it is often necessary to make us of what Jens Peter Schjødt has termed genetic comparisons, in order to better ones ...understanding of the religious tradition. In this article, one such historically related myth about the creation of the world through a ritual process in which an anthropomorphic being if transformed into the cosmos through an act of sacrifice, is anlalysed. This myth is known in the Old Norse material as the myth of the jǫtunn Ymir and in the Indian material as the myth of Puruṣa. It is the latter which, through the well-known hymn from the Ṛgveda, forms the basis of an analysis focussing on how this myth establishes a mode of sacrifice which connects the primeval cosmogony with the existence of gods and life of humans in a perspective which reaches into and beyond death.
RESUME: Grundet den mangelfulde kildesituation til det førkristne Norden er det ofte nødvendigt at benytte sig af hvad Jens Peter Schjødt har kaldt genetiske komparationer, for at danne sig et bedre billede af den religiøse tradition. I denne artikel analyseres en sådan historisk beslægtet myte, nemlig myten om verdens skabelse gennem en rituel proces, hvor et antropomorft væsen gennem en offerhandling transformeres til kosmos. Denne myte kendes i det norrøne materiale som myten om jætten Ymir og i det indiske materiale som myten om Puruṣa. Det er sidstnævnte, der, gennem den kendte hymne i Ṛgveda, danner grundlag for en religionshistorisk analyse med fokus på, hvordan denne indiske myte indstifter en offertanke, der forbinder urtidens verdensskabelse med guders og menneskers liv og eksistens i et perspektiv, der rækker ud over og ind i døden.
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