The Inner Conflict of Tradition: Essays in Indian Ritual, Kingship, and Society c9.13

c9.13

In these passages we can, however, observe the transition from the preclassical sphere, where truth and order are subjectively dependent on the antithetical relations of the partners, to the classical clarity of the objective truth of doctrine and the objective order of ritual procedure. On the one hand, the moment of silence still has its full impact as culminating and turning point in the essentially personal relations; on the other, however, these ritualistic brahmodyas function as mere hulls for the imparting of specific teachings about cosmos and ritual. They are in some cases described as taking place at a sacrifice offered by a particular So-and-So, but one would look in vain for their places in the universalized classical ritual. They deal with specific points of ritual, but they are no longer part of it. The *brahmavādin* is no longer a versatile manipulator of words, but a ritual “scientist.” Similarly, the elaborate brahmodya which has kept its place in the aśvamedha ritual, though preserving its quality of enigma, is no longer a real contest, the parts being unalterably fixed.