The Inner Conflict of Tradition: Essays in Indian Ritual, Kingship, and Society c11.11

c11.11

At first sight, this may suggest a retreat from the transcendent breakthrough and its creativity and a movement toward ritualistic routinization.⁸ It could even be easily construed as a backsliding into a world of myth and magic. Such an appreciation would indeed be in line with the usual evaluation of Vedic ritual thought, which is at best qualified, in Hermann Oldenberg's words, as "vorwissenschaftliche Wissenschaft."⁹ While this qualification acknowledges a rationalistic impulse, Vedic ritualism is generally considered the hallmark of the magic-bound Hindu world.¹⁰ It cannot be denied that the Veda and its brahmin carriers gave much ground for such views. But even when we concede to these views their part of truth, the question is whether it can be the whole truth. For it leaves us with the obstinate problem of an ancient ritualism that has been kept alive and in exceptional esteem till the present day but that is and has always been at odds with the Hindu world and its values. We shall therefore have to look into the ritualistic content of the śruti.