The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v2.c32.s9.12

v2.c32.s9.12

This description is curiously isolated in the Rigveda and later, not unnaturally, since this aspect of religious life does not fall within the normal outlook of our texts. In the Atharvaveda,⁶ however, we find the curious and enigmatical figure of the Vrātya, exalted into a cosmic power, and therefore of obscure origin. It has been suggested that we are to find in him the type of Yogin, produced in the eastern lands under the aegis of the Kṣatriyas, who wandered about the country, received with friendship in the courts, bringing prosperity in his train by reason of his ecstatic practices, in which a part was taken by the hetaera, who is made part of his retinue, and the Māgadha whose loud cries doubtless played a part in his rites. The suggestion is ingenious, but unfortunately it lacks any probative value. The references to the year long standing of the Vrātya and his other actions are too indistinct to enable us to discern with any certainty the outlines of an ancient seeker after ecstatic trances, and the elaboration of his retinue, though it may be paralleled in other lands,⁷ is strange to Indian usage.