The Inner Conflict of Tradition: Essays in Indian Ritual, Kingship, and Society c11.5

c11.5

Vedic ritualism, then—even when taking its Upaniṣadic extension into account—does not appear to present a prima facie case for the axial breakthrough. Its indecisive position vis-à-vis the world, as well as the restriction of its access, gives it a marginal place that seems to deny any such contention from the start. In postaxial Hinduism the Veda, and even more its ritual, is for all its high prestige controversial, that is, if it is not just treated as an idol that only rates a bow in passing, as Louis Renou has graphically put it.⁴ The classical proposition that the whole of the dharma rests on or is already contained in the Veda is a pious axiom that vanishes into thin air as soon as one tries to pin down their supposedly intimate connection.⁵ In one point at least, Veda and dharma are disturbingly at odds with each other. The very attempts to harmonize Vedic animal sacrifice with the dharma's ideal requirement of *ahiṃsā*, or at least to give sacrifice a secure place of its own, show that the relationship of Veda and dharma is a highly problematic one.