The Religion of the Veda: The Ancient Religion of India (from Rig-Veda to Upanishads) c6.s1.77

c6.s1.77

At the end of the Brāhmaṇas appears a class of texts known as Āraṇyakas, or "Forest Treatises." The meaning of this name is not altogether clear. It seems probable that these works were recited by hermits living in the forest, or, more precisely, those who went to the forest to live, at the time when they entered the third stage of Hindu life, preparatory to final emancipation.¹ According to another, less likely, view they are texts which were taught by teacher to pupil in the solitude of the forest, rather than in the profaner surroundings of the town or village: this because the quiet of the forest harmonised better with the sanctity of their contents. In either view it is difficult to see why so much ado should have been made about them. The Āraṇyakas are later than the Brāhmaṇas; this follows from the position they occupy at the end of these texts, and from their contents. On top of descriptions of sacrificial ceremonies we have here symbolism of the sacrifice and priestly philosophy of the most fantastic order. The real ritual performance seems for the most part to be supplanted by allegorical disquisition. But the themes of the Āranyakas are by no means of one sort only; on the contrary they are heterogeneous and haphazard. Thus the Taittirīya Āranyaka deals in its first book with the Ārunaketuka Agni, a particular method of building the fire-altar; its second book makes the rather astounding leap over to Brahmanical education and Veda study; its third, fourth, and fifth books deal with parts of the Vedic sacrificial ceremonial; and its sixth book describes the old Vedic funeral ceremonies (*piṭṛmedha*). Still more variegated are the contents of the Aitareya Āranyaka. What governs the choice of these "forest themes" escapes our notice almost altogether. In any case these books are of lesser importance from the point of view of Vedic literature and religion, except for the following fact, which is of paramount importance: