THE VEDIC «FEET» OF THE GREEK SPHINX

Object of the article: the riddle of the Sphinx and the Vedic riddles. Subject of the article: structural and semantic comparison between the riddle of the Sphinx and the riddles in “Rigveda” and “Yajurveda”. Purpose of research: to show that the scheme of the riddle of the Sphinx about “man”, based on the description of an allegorical creature which is “two-footed, three-footed and fourfooted”, has a structural correspondence in the Vedic ritual-offering formulas, which describe Vedic poetic metres, divided by number of padas (“feet”) in a verse. Research methods: methods of the structural and semantic analysis applied. Results: the author argues that the poetic scheme of the Vedic ritual-offering formulas reflects an Indo-European proto-text, on which the riddle of the Sphinx is based. Field of application: literary studies. Conclusion:The author argues that the description of the Vedic metres in ritual-offering formulas through the allegorical ”two-footed (dvipada), four-footed (catushpada) and three-footed (tripada)”creatures has a structural and semantic correspondence in the riddle of the Sphinx, based on the description of an allegorical creature which is “two-footed, three-footed and four-footed”. The essay suggests that this correspondence between the Vedic formulas and the riddle of the Sphinx allows an alternative interpretation of the Greek riddle on meta-literal level as an allegorical description of poetic forms. The author is indebted to Svetlana Gracheva and Dan Whitman for stimulating discussions and helpful advice.

Pragmalinguistic Aspect of Interrogative Speech Acts in Discourse of “Rig Veda”

The interrogative speech acts presented in the linguistic material of the “Rig Veda” — one of the most ancient and culturally significant works that were a manifestation of ritual and mythological discourse, are researched. The language of Vedic texts is considered from the standpoint of the functional approach as a pragmatic system for which such communicative characteristics as intentions and illocutionary power of utterances are relevant. The system of norms and ideas that govern speech activity in the Vedic ritual interaction is taken into account. It has been proven that interrogative speech acts are one of the most important pragmatic elements of this type of discourse. The novelty of the research lies in the fact that all the interrogative structures of the monument extracted as a result of a continuous sampling are studied for the first time from the point of view of pragmatics, taking into account communicative intentions. Various types of questions are described and analyzed, including interrogative constants, interrogative directives, including questions with secondary illocution, as well as proper interrogative sentences. The author comes to the conclusion that, in addition to non-specific pragmatics for a given linguistic material, interrogative sentences in the text of the Rig Veda contribute to the realization of the magic-incantatory function of speech. The results are valuable both for studying the named type of discourse and for clarifying the understanding of the text of the monument and Vedic culture as a whole.

Vaiṣṇava Practice

This chapter attempts to offer not a historical overview of Vaiṣṇava practice, but an overview of the ways Vaiṣṇavas have viewed their own practice. Given the enormous variety of Vaiṣṇava traditions and their very regional nature, any overview of Vaiṣṇava practice is necessarily selective. The chapter draws upon the writings of Vaiṣṇavas from most major traditions, and on a wide range of scriptural texts. After an analysis of the Vaiṣṇava understanding of bhakti, I discuss just four distinct Vaiṣṇava practices, which Vaiṣṇava Purāṇas proclaim to be the principal practices for the four cosmic ages (yuga): Vedic ritual, image worship, praising God, and meditation. Examining the various practices indicated by just these four, while not exhaustive, does demonstrate the great diversity of Vaiṣṇava practice, and also brings to light how these practices, despite their apparent differences, are all interconnected and, in the Vaiṣṇava mind, all have the same aim: constant remembrance of God.

Scientific rationale of Yagya: a review

Yagya is an ancient Hindu Vedic ritual aimed at ablution of the body and surroundings by reinforcing the natural equilibrium in various components of the body and ambient environment. Yagya is directed with selective medicinal preparation of herbs that is forfeited in the holy fire inflamed by specific woods along with the chant of distinct Vedic Hymes (mantras). Medicinal smoke significantly removes human pathogenic microbes. The vaporization and sublimation of ingredients of havan samagri in an inverted pyramid shaped yagya-kunda deliver vast amount of therapeutic and environmental benefits. The chemical transformation (into vapor or gaseous phase/ colloidal forms) of the herbal/ plant medicinal preparations in Hawan lead to release of medicinal phytochemicals; which affect many endogenous chemicals including hormonal axis. These fumes help in purifying the air and have anti-epileptic, anti-pyretic, anti-fungal, antibacterial effects amongst the numerous other benefits. Regular chanting of hyms helps in purifying the mind. Improvement has been noticed with respect to digestion, hypertension, mental agitation and sleep after chanting the Mantras.

Time in the Upaniṣads

The Upaniṣads (ca. 800 BCE) were composed during a transitional time period in Hinduism when Vedic ritual and cosmogonic ideas began to give way to new worldviews. The intriguing Upaniṣadic notions of time have received little attention in the scholarly literature compared to the elaborate models of cyclical time that develop in later texts. I propose, however, that the Upaniṣads represent a seminal reorientation in Hindu conceptions of time. We still find an older view of time in the Upaniṣads as something that marks the rhythms of the ritual year, but later Upaniṣadic texts begin to explore entirely new ways of thinking about time. I propose that the movement away from the more integrated view of the material and immaterial as one reality in the Vedas towards a radical dualism between the spiritual and the material in later Hindu thought informs many of the new ideas of time that emerge in the Upaniṣads, including that of time as an abstract construct. The authors of the Upaniṣads investigate—and ultimately reject—the notion of time itself as the cause of the visible world, ponder the idea that time is something that is created by a divine being in order to structure the world, speculate that time may be a mere intellectual construct, and postulate that the highest reality may be situated in a realm that is outside of time altogether.

Illocutionary Force of Questions in Hymn of “Rigveda” bravavrttam

The topicality of the appeal to the language material of the “Rigveda” is conditioned by its significance for the study of the role of the archaic ritual in the formation of human communication. The point of issue of the paper is the questions contained in the cosmogonic hymn of the «Rigveda» bravavrttam where they are left unanswered. The work aims to throw light onto the illocutionary force of these questions against the background of a communicative in nature Vedic ritual practice. To achieve this aim the author deals not only with the meaning content of the hymn but also its pragmatics, the part it plays in the ritual communication as well as involved cognitive mechanism and traits of its phonetic, musical and poetic form. The research makes it possible to verify our ideas on the nature of the Vedic ritual and enhances the understanding of its texts. The work shows impossibility of an adequate interpretation of the Vedic text elements regardless to the pragmatics and communicative intents of the ritual speech. The main result of the research is the assumption of presumed by the Vedic mindset a divine verbal contribution to the magic practice of the ritual cosmogony.

Vrātyas

Attempts to identify, locate, and generally clarify the name “Vrātya,” as well as their social and religious role and localization, have been made many times, but such matters have not been completely resolved. Early scholars, such as Held and Hauer, considered the Vrātyas to be part of Vedic society, though a little tentively. As no direct identification has been detected, a number of other scholars settled on the hypothesis that the Vrātyas were outside of the Vedic fold or at least on the fringes of it. The scholarly community falls roughly into two categories: one studies the Vedic ritual texts, draws on the inconsistencies and changes in the rules, and practices to reconstruct the assimilation of Vrātya practice into the śrauta ritual; the other category, although studying material that is directly labeled Vrātya—material that was recorded later than the ritual texts—considers them heterodox. In the recent research, Pontillo and colleague drawing on the work of Hauer, Heesterman, Falk, etc., concur that the Vrātyas date back to pre–Rig Vedic Indo-Āryan culture, including that from geographical locations other than South Asia. They focused on possible traces found in that culture, though there is no explicit evidence. The clearest explanation of the name “Vrā́tya,” signifying a member of a sodality, is derived from vrā́ta, “sodality,” whose leader observes a particular behavior vratá, cf. Falk 1986 (cited under General Overviews), p. 17. The Vrātyas as a sodality were identified as a warrior band, mostly on the move. When they performed a ritual session (sattra) in secret in a wilderness spot, they would approach in a crouching position, holding on to each other, as they likely could not see in the darkness of the thicket. When they got up from the sattra, they would resume their accustomed wandering. They have been compared to the Maruts, who had for their leader Rudra. An early, but not explicit, resemblance is found in the Rig Veda, where Dārbhya is named the leader. (Cf. Rig Veda 5.61.17; the name Dārbhya can be taken as a clue for the comparison.) Dārbhya/Dālbhya, known also as the king of the Pañcālas and as a leader of a raiding expedition, is found in various texts. The Vrātyas’ religious aspirations were to reconnect to the divine, having lost access. It seems that they had hope. The gods to whom they appealed were Indra, Agni, and Savitṛ.

Social Status and Marriages: An Investigation of Concepts and Practices in the Buddhist Textual Traditions

The production of the early Buddhist texts had a significant purpose of treasuring the teachings of the Buddha. The texts were in oral form and developed over a long time span. The period of composition and compilation of the texts witnessed magnanimous changes in terms of historical evolution and socio-political development in India. Several ethical principles in the form of the Buddha’s teachings made Buddhism popular heretical sect of the sixth century BCE. Buddhism propagated against the complex Vedic ritual practices but in no way tried to reform the Vedic structural framework. If carefully studied, the Buddhist ethos reveal an all pervasive attempt to create a resolution to the conflicts of the conventional society This becomes clear in light of many instances depicted in the early Buddhist texts. In this article, I would interrogate the role played by ‘social status’ in negotiating marriages and how that has been represented in the Jᾱtakas, Therīgāthā and Theragᾱthᾱ. How nuptial ties has been dealt in the Buddhist texts is significant because the description of the rituals which forms the central aspect in the occasion of the marriage between two individuals has been completely absent in the Buddhist textual narratives. Whereas most of the narratives in the Jᾱtakas are based on the description of householder’s life, the nuptial ties and complexities developed out of it. This article maps a comparative analysis of the Jᾱtakas, Therīgāthā and Theragᾱthᾱ for a better understanding of our shared past.