Vaishnavism, Shaivism and Minor Religious Systems v1.c4.s2: II. The Rise of a New Theistic System
Vaiṣṇavism, Śaivism and Minor Religious Systems v1.c4.s2
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II. The Rise of a New Theistic System
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§ 2. The tide of free speculations culminated in the east into such systems as those of Buddhism and Jainism and, though they denied the existence of God as a creator or did not use the idea for the promotion of righteousness, and the former practically denied the existence of the human soul as a substance, still these systems had the needful personal element in the shape of their founders. In the west, however, a theistic system with a god who had come to dwell among men arose. The various religious systems and superstitions that prevailed in the fourth century B. C. are given in the following passage, occurring in the Niddesa, which though of the nature of a commentary is regarded as one of the books of the Pāli Buddhistic Canon¹: "The deity of the lay followers of the Ājīvakas is the Ājīvakas, of those of the Nighaṇṭhas is the Nighaṇṭhas, of those of the Jaṭilas (ascetics wearing long matted hair) is the Jaṭilas, of those of the Paribbājakas is the Paribbājakas, of those of the Avaruddhakas is the Avaruddhakas, and the deity of those who are devoted to an elephant, a horse, a cow, a dog, a crow, Vāsudeva, Baladeva, Puṇṇabhadda, Maṇibhadda, Aggi, Nāgas, Supaṇṇas, Yakkhas, Asuras, Gandhabbas, Mahārājas, Canda, Suriya, Inda, Brahmā, Deva, Disā is the elephant, the horse, the cow, the dog, the crow, Vāsudeva, Baladeva, Puṇṇabhadda, Maṇibhadda, etc., respectively." Here a Buddhist who cannot but be expected to show scant courtesy to religious systems other than his own, places the worshippers of Vāsudeva and Baladeva on the same level with those of fire, moon, sun and Brahmā, and even elephants, crows, dogs, etc. But the worship of Vāsudeva was destined to become the predominant religion of a large part of India even to the supersession of that of fire, sun, moon and Brahmā and, of course, of the superstitious adoration of the lower animals. And it will be now our duty to trace its rise and progress.
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¹ This passage has been furnished to me by Mr. Dharmanand Kosambi.
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§ 3. In his comment on Pāṇini IV, 3, 98, Patañjali distinctly states that the Vāsudeva contained in the Sūtra is the name of the "worshipful", i. e. of one who is pre-eminently worshipful, i. e. God²). The worship of Vāsudeva must be regarded to be as old as Pāṇini.
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² See JRAS. 1910, p. 168. [^3): Lüders, List of Brāhmī Inscriptions, No. 6. [^4): Ibid. No. 669.
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In an inscription found at Ghosuṇḍi in Rājputāna[^3) which unfortunately is in a mutilated condition, the construction of a wall round the hall of worship of Saṃkarṣaṇa and Vāsudeva is mentioned. From the form of the characters in the inscription it appears to have been engraved at least two hundred years B. C.
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In another inscription recently discovered at Besnagar[^4), Heliodora represents himself to have erected a Garuḍadhvaja or a column with the image of Garuḍa at the top in honour of Vāsudeva, the god of gods. Heliodora calls himself a Bhāgavata, was the son of Diya, was a native of Takṣaśilā and is spoken of as an ambassador of the Yavana and as such came on a political mission from Aṃtalikita to Bhāgabhadra who must have ruled over Eastern Mālwa. In this inscription occurs the name Aṃtalikita which in all likelihood is the same as Antialkidas of the Bactro-Greek coins. This name as well as the form of the characters show that it belongs to the earlier part of the second century before the Christian era. At that time Vāsudeva was worshipped as the god of gods and his worshippers were called Bhāgavatas. The Bhāgavata religion prevailed in the northwestern part of India and was adopted even by the Greeks.
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In the inscription No. I in the large cave at Nānāghāṭ¹), the names of Saṃkarṣaṇa and Vāsudeva, in a Dvandva compound, occur along with those of other deities in the opening invocation. This inscription appears from the form of the characters to belong to the first century before the Christian era.
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¹ Ibid. No. 1112.
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In the passage in the Mahābhāṣya in which Patañjali, to account for the appearance of the name Vāsudeva in P. IV, 3, 98, says that this is not the name of a Kṣatriya, but that of the Worshipful One, the question to be considered is whether Patañjali means this Vāsudeva to be quite unconnected with the Vāsudeva of the Vṛṣṇi race. From the occurrence of the names Vāsudeva and Baladeva close to each other in the passage from the Niddesa referred to above, and that of Saṃkarṣaṇa and Vāsudeva as worshipful or divine persons in a Dvandva compound in two of the three above inscriptions, it appears that the Vāsudeva referred to by Patañjali as the Worshipful One must be the Vāsudeva of the Vṛṣṇi race. But to account for the appearance of the name in the Sūtra, though the required form can be made up in accordance with the next Sūtra (P. IV, 3, 99), Patañjali says that Pāṇini looks at Vāsudeva in his capacity as a divine person and not as a Kṣatriya. One must take it in this sense, since the Ghosuṇḍi inscription noticed above, in which Saṃkarṣaṇa and Vāsudeva are associated as worshipful persons, must be older than Patañjali himself. Besides, Patañjali begins the discussion of the Sūtra by first taking Vāsudeva as the name of a Kṣatriya and raising an objection against it. This objection is answered in one way, Vāsudeva being still regarded as a Kṣatriya, and it is only optionally that he gives another explanation, that that name is not the name of a Kṣatriya, but of a divine person. This optional explanation given in the last resort must, therefore, be understood in the sense given above. And from all the accounts of the Bhāgavata school contained in the whole literature it is clear that the worshipful Vāsudeva belonged to the Vṛṣṇi race.
Cites (1)
- Mahāniddesa — Pāli