Aryo-Dravidian Synthesis

The post Vedic period saw the river Saraswati dry up with the centre of Aryan power shifting to the banks of the Ganga. This period (i.e. around 1200 b.c. to 700 b.c.) saw the synthesis of Aryan and Dravidian cultures. Modern day Hinduism is a product of these two cultures. The fusion took place in North India.

The Aryans were virile and aggressive but their material culture was not as advanced as that of the Dravidians. They readily adopted the good things. Marriages between aryans, dravidians, asuras and nagas were common. The rishis kept on spreading Aryan values, culture, institutions, traditions amongst all, developing in them a sense of unity, continuity and a collective action in social and cultural spheres.

Social groups who did not wholly conform to the Aryan way of life were called the Shudras. The belief that Shudras were wedded to social inferiority is a myth. Untouchability as we know in recent ages was unknown during this period. The four castes was not a rigid hereditary institution as is today. Many of the Mahabharata heroes had mixed parentage. Krishna attributed caste to qualities and action of men and not by birth.

At the end of article are links to Demystifying Caste and how Different regions of India contributed to Indian religious thought.

With the end of the Vedic age, the mantras were invested as divinity. Thus the Vedas became the source of inspiration and direction for future generations. The other institution that can be traced to Veda Vyas is the Tirth Cult, the magnetic force that attracts people from Kerala or Kashmir to have a dip in the holy Ganga. The concept of having a holy dip in the river Ganges was a tradition that carried on from generation to generation and served as a great unifying factor amongst all Indians. To Vyasa we also owe the Mahabharata. There might not be a single Indian child who has not heard of this epic. The T.V. serial on the same only increased its popularity. A number of children who were born between 1988 and 1990 were named Karan. In a sense the serial reminded us of our glorious tradition, culture, and became a unifying factor, a ‘sense of triumph’ as Munshiji put it.

The Bharata war happened around 1200 b.c. The battle of Kurushetra lasted for eighteen days. The epic has left two lasting memories on the Indian pshcye. Vyasa the learned seer, the savior of the Vedas and Krishna the warrior and statesmen. One taught Dharma and the other upheld it.

Now let’s look at Aryan Dravidian syntheses

The Aryan society was patriarchal like the Dravidian one. Polygamy was accepted as against monogamy favored by the Aryans. Shiva, the Dravidian god known to the Harappan culture was first identified with Vedic Rudra. Vedic gods Indra, Varuna, Agni, and Surya took a subordinate place. Ma, the mother goddess of the early Mediterranean people became the consort of Shiva assuming the name of Parvati in the process. On the other hand, the Vedic god Vishnu became popular and shared with Shiva the leadership of the Pantheon.

The Vedic homa got replaced with Dravidian puja, the offering of leaves, flowers to gods. Spirit of tolerance and non-violence were new values that evolved as a result of the impact and the tapas (explained above). The post Vedic period gave a new shape to Rita, Satya, Yajna and Tapas.

First, the Cosmic Order, Rita, had a new form ie the Supreme- Ishawara or Brahman, pervading as a Reality standing above all that is and that is not. In simple language it means, believing that the cosmic order was the mother of all creation. We started believing there was a Supreme ie God who was responsible for all that is and that is not.

Secondly, the cosmic order in one of its aspects is the Law of Evolution. Through it the supreme self passes from lower things to higher things till he achieves realization i.e. man’s attaining conscious oneness with it. In human beings it works through three important laws i.e. law of karma, law of moral causation and yoga.

According to the Law of Karma, the atman or soul takes several births on its way to realization. The Law of Causation is an elaboration of the yagna (one of the Aryan socio-religious institutions) aspect of Rita. Through it is possible for man to reduce the number of times he is reborn by offering to give up his ego and by taking vows of non-violence, truth, and non-possession amongst others.

Third, is Yoga, the elaboration of the Tapas aspect of Rita. It is practiced through intensely pursued self-discipline.

Man is a divine essence with supra physical destiny which he can realize and then achieve through truth and self-discipline. Self-realization implies two inter-dependant processes, one is surrendering of one’s ego and other the individual self is broadened into a universal self.

When we exercise self-control over mind and body, energy that would otherwise have been spent unproductively gets released and brings the individual in touch with the beautiful aspect of the absolute. This is when it takes the shape of love, bhakti. Faith in the spiritual power, generated by this energy of love, became one of the fundamental values of Indian culture.

The Absolute descend on earth in human form as an avatar; an aspirant by can attain him by complete surrender of ego. In the post–Vedic period, this faith appears to have grown. Thus at some point Naranya (sage), Vasudeva and Vishnu became Hari, the Supreme Lord. In chalpter 11 of the Gita, Arjuna sees in Krishna a god of gods, the protector of dharma, the presiding deity of the cosmic order etc. At the same time he sees in Krishna, Vasudeva who had taken birth to re-establish dharma. He is the love aspect of God in whom one can live only through single minded devotion.

In this way, the realization of the beauty aspect of the Cosmic Order through Love became one of the fundamental values of Indian culture. Now I understand why my temple pandit says, devotion to and faith in God are very important if you want to be close to him.

In order these values, revolving around the Central Idea, were translated into Life a whole superstructure of traditions, norms of conduct was reared. Social and economic life was molded in a manner to find fulfillment by living up to the Central Idea.

This chapter is important for all those politicians and individuals who have created the Aryan and Dravidian divide. Surely, they fought wars but the product of that synthesis is what modern day Hinduism is all about. Some scholars have tried to compare Islamic, Christian invasions with the so-called Aryan invasion. Even though invasions enriched us in many ways, they destroyed our culture and civilization. Conversely, the Aryan-Dravidian synthesis helped both grow and blossom. Note that Shivji is worshipped in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Kashmir, Tripura and even in Arunachal whilst Vishnu Bhagwan is worshipped at Tirupati and Trichy in Tamil Nadu. This north-south divide is a creation of vested interests.

There was racial fusion between Aryans and non-Aryans. Veda Vyas was the son of a fisher girl. Balarama, Krishna’s brother married the daughter of Kakudmin, who belonged to a race from Saurashtra that existed long before the Aryans came.

Importantly, the chapter explains the new shape of Rita, the cosmic order into Supreme Lord, the Law of Karma and Causation, Yoga; it also explains how did Faith become a fundamental value of Indian culture and the concept of Avatars.