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IGNOU HISTORY NOTES : India Earliest Times to the 8th Century A.D - Developments in Religion

IGNOU HISTORY Study Notes for IAS, UPSC Exams

India Earliest Times to the 8th Century A.D

Developments in Religion

Structure

39.0 Objectives
39.1 Introduction
39.2 Emergence of Bhakti in Brahmanism
39.2.1 Syncretism of Deities
39.2.2 Adaptation of Tribal Rituals
39.2.3 Royal Support to Temples and Theism.
39.3 Spread of Bh&ti to South India
39.4 Bhakti Movement in South India
39.5 Protest and Reform in the Bhakti Movement of the South and later Transformation of the Bhakti Movement
39.6 Emergence of Tantrism
39.6.1 some Main Features of Tantrism
39.6.2 Tantrism and the Heterodox Religions
39.7 Let Us Sum Up
39.8 Key Words
39.9 Answers to Check Your Progress Exercises

39.0 OBJECTIVES

The purpose of this Unit is to briefly discuss the major features of Eligious developments in
the early medieval period with focus on the shape which Bhakti ideology and Tantrism
took. After going through this Unit you should be able to :
know about the origins of Bhakti in Brahmanical religious order,
know the character and social context of the characteristic of later Brahmanism,
know how the character and social context of Bhakti changed in the e&ly medieval
period,
realise how royal support to.Bhakti cults gave them wealthy institutional bases,
know about the origin and role of Tantrism and its character in the early medieval
period, and
know hbw Tantrism penetrated into Buddhism and Jainism.

39.1 INTRODUCTION

You are by now familiar with certain broad stages of the religious history of early India.
While archaeological material suggests that certain elements of Indian religions were present
in the archaeological cultures dating prior to the Vedas, the hymns of the Rig Veda give
us for the first time, an idea of how prayers were offered tc deities to please them. However, '
the simple.prayers of the Rig Veda gave place gradually to complex rituals dominated by
Brahmanas and one can notice the growth of a close relationship between the Brahmanas and
the rulers and warriors on this situation. Not only the wandering ascetics who moved away
from the established society but also the Buddhist and the Jainas did not accept the
dominance of the Brahrnanas and the rigid social and moral order which the Brahmanas
advocated. There thus grew the heterodox movements which received support not only from
rulers and rich merchants but also from other sections of people. In the pre-Gupta period
Buddbism reached the height of its glory, spread to countries outside India and Buddhist
centres were constructed on a large scale. Meanwhile certain changes were taking place
within Brahmanism as well as within heterodox sects. From the religious point of view the
most important change was that the devotee was considered as being bound to the supreme
god head by devotion (bhakti) and the god head was worshipped in the fonn of images.
Vaishnavism and Saivism as parts of Brahrnanical religion attracted many devotees; image
worship became widespread among the Buddhists who worshipped not only the Buddha or