Studies in the Puranic Records on Hindu Rites and Customs c9.87

c9.87

The different sects and systems of religion that we have just reviewed created an atmosphere which did not in an orthodox way conform to Vedic or Brahmanical ideas. This atmosphere was further disturbed by the advent of the casteless foreigners such as the Greeks, Śakas, Pahlavas, Kushans, Ābhīras and others, who founded extensive kingdoms and settled in this country. Though these foreigners accepted Buddhism, Śaivism or Vaiṣṇavism and were soon Indianised, their anti-Brahmanic manners and customs could not but influence the people, especially their co-religionists. Most of these alien tribes being originally nomadic, they can be expected to have had a variable standard of morality which also certainly affected the people.