Vazihista

Vasiha: Religious Personality and Vedic Culture Author(s): Ellison Banks Findly Reviewed work(s): Source: Numen, Vol.
31, Fasc. 1 (Jul., 1984), pp. 74-105 Published by: BRILL Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3269890 . Accessed: 19/11/2012 19:11
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Vol.XXXI, Fasc. 1 Numen,
VASISTHA: RELIGIOUS PERSONALITY AND VEDIC CULTURE

ELLISON BANKS FINDLY
The Vasistha material in the Rgveda is among the most intriguing and complex of any found in the Family Books. Traditional analyses of these hymns have focused on several issues: the early of Vasistha's rivalrywith the priestVilvamitra,' the configuration historicaldetails of the ddsardjiid battle and Vasistha's role in Sudas' victory,2and the mythological ramificationsof the story of his have attempted,primarily, to do divine birth.3These investigations to piece togetherand clarify the descriptivedetails two things: first, of the traditionalaccounts and, second, to relate these accounts to the increasingly complex mythico-historical system as it evolved Vedic There have the and Hindu been, however, periods. during only a few attempts to examine the development of Vasistha, himselfa religiouspersonality,or to evaluate his religiouscontributions to Vedic culture. Of the more recent discussions of Vasistha and Aryan culture, that of K. R. Potdar describes the traditionof the Vasistha family as one which values, most often, what is conservative and theologicallynormativein nature. Potdar points out, forinstance, that in shaping early Indian culturethe Vasistha family encouraged "purity of behavior and means...[over against] end[s]," a "partiality for truthfulness," and a consequent firm belief "that [because] gods were on the side of truth" "the devotional approach" to the gods was optimal.4Consonant withthis emphasis on upright(and perhaps conformist) the behavior, Potdar interprets Vasisthas as a familywhich values "the fairnessof ... [the] family name remaining untarnished," "the continuityof the familyline and familytraditions" and a general sense of the optimism and happiness of familylifewhich could in turngive rise, perhaps out of a sense of noblesse oblige, to "the idea of sharing [one's own] mind and hand with othermembersof the with a liberal prosperity society." 5
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Potdar's vision of the Vasisthas as shaping an ethical and social elitism(a vision of considerable meritwhen taken in the contextof the familial contentionand scurryfor social status rife in ancient India) is complemented by Dandekar's work: first, Vasistha's in the seventhmandala delineation of the classical doctrineof bhakti him to attributed to his pivotal efforts second, and, hymns Varuna in the shaping of a compromisebetween an earlyVaruna-cult and a newer Indra-cult. Dandekar points out that the bhakti hymnsof the Vasistha cycle are importantfortwo reasons: first, theyundermine "the long out-dated theoryregardingthe doctrineof bhakti having been originallyborrowedfromsome non-Indian [sic] sources" and, second, they show "most of the essential characteristicsof the "6 According to Dandekar it was out of classical doctrineof bhakti. this experience of bhakti that Vasistha became essential in the conciliation of the Indra- and Varurna-cults and especially in "averting a schismin the Vedic community" by demonstrating "that Varuna and Indra were not antagonistic to each other but...essentially complementary. 'Indra conquers and Varuna rules.' "7 These two types of analyses, of the contributionof the Vasistha family(1961) and of the original ancestor (1969), are importantfor theirclarificationof the historyof the early religion. They do not, however, go far enough and could be easily extended by the whose insightshave conmethodologicalconcernsof psychohistory, siderable bearing on our assessment of the person Vasistha and the function of his storyas a centralreligiousnarrativewithinthe tradition. Although a traditional(Eriksonian) psychohistory of Vasistha is impossible because of the paucity of source material, and may be somewhat inappropriate given the traditionalHindu concerns for anonymity and ahistoricity, insights from psychohistorical literaturemay be helpfulin the on-going development of Vasistha studies. and Culture Personality The field now called psychohistory is relativelynew as a selfconscious methodologyand as it delineates an interdisciplinary terwith and yet sufficiently ritorythat is both consonant independent of other related fieldsto warrant its own journals and professional
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associations.8 Inaugurated in 1957-58 by an historian, Walter ofthe Langer, and a psychoanalyst,Erik Erikson,9and reminiscent which Bradford tried to of Gamaliel "capture the "psychography" a of in succinct statethe thematic relatively 'psychology' subject ment,"'0 psychohistory is "the utilization of a particular selectedpersonalitiesor eventsof psychologicaltheory...tointerpret the past." "
ofany eventtraumatic is that,in lifehistory, themeaning Its basic postulate meansbutcan be or otherwise, cannotbe ascertained by anyunidimensional
ina andsystematic ofthe event's consideration derived place bya careful only
back theme which recurrent motivational becomesclearbyconstantly moving and the his community, and forth betweenthe individual'slife history, community's history.'2
As a discipline, psychohistoryis not without its critics, but the debate between its major detractorsand proponents over the last several decades13 has produced a substantialvolume of literature14 out of which some importantcriticalconcernshave emerged. In the work of Erikson, for instance, one of the leading architectsof the field, materials are explained in terms of syndromesof conflict,'5 that is, as theyare related to each of Erikson's eightdevelopmental stages,'6 and as they follow the "epigenetic" principle: "that psychological functioning unfolds according to a biologically grounded master plan that is both evolutionary and social in character." 17 Moreover, followingErikson's lead, thereis much in the current literature that recognizes "recurrent motivational themes in the life historyof an original man,"'8" a type of analysis called the "theme-recurrence" approach. While there are other methodological and ideological concerns in psychohistorical literature, not the least of which deals with the normative rather than the explanatory issue (i.e., what man shouldbe),'9 this essay will focus primarilyon the use of recurrentthemes as explanatory tools in the life of Vasistha. Because of its scantynature, the Vasistha material ofthe Rgveda does not facilitatea straightforward nor even some psychohistory, good guesses as to the developmental placement of crises or epigenetic stages. We cannot even, as Pruyser has suggested for some cases, tolerate "certain gaps in the history" or rely discerningly on "unreliable informants"20 in constructing a
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psychoanalyticnarrative. We have, then, to turn to other areas of the psychohistoricalenterprise for an informativeevaluation of Vasistha, areas charted out by Freud in fact in his analyses of the between personal fulfilltensions between traditionand modernity, ment and an oppressive social order, and between religion and science.21 In Waud Kracke's analysis of Erikson's contributions, role, forcultureis, in the end, the anthropologyplays a significant essential contextin which personal developmenttakes place. Here Erikson's notion of identity becomes central: "How do people integratevalues and shared symbolsinto theirpersonalities?''22 As and ideologyare complementary Erikson notes, identity partsof the same process, for he defines ideology as "the tendencyat a given time to make factsamenable to ideas, and ideas to facts,in order to create a world image convincing enough to support the collective and the individual sense of identity."23 In understandingthe identityprocess as an adaptation ofthe developing personalityto its surrounding culture, we see on the one hand that "ideology emerges as a powerfullyconstructiveforce in the sustainingof identity,''24 but on the otherthat, in the case of a fewtimelyand gifted people, the identity on the shaping process can itselfhave a powerfuleffect of the contemporaryculture. It is here that Erikson's notion of the will become so important "religious actualist," the homoreligiosus, in the analysis of Vasistha, for The realimpact in thefact that what could be externalof...greatness...lies izedofhisowninner turmoil the became turmoil not ofhistory, butalso only andsuppressed andambivalences hostilities ofmany.25 doubts,
in thereligious reflected consciousness and experience ofcountless internally resonatedwiththe innerconflicts, millions...so...that [his] innerstruggle
While we must recognize, with Ruth Benedict, that culture contains a whole range of personalitiesand that "a culture cannot be portrayed on the basis of a single informant,"''26 there are as Erikson recognized those exceptional persons whose psychological development and cultural milieu are so harmonious that they can (and indeed must) become trulyinnovative. In examining such an '"actualist,'" that is, a man who makes "his inner voice consonant withthe trendof human history,'" we will be mindfulthatprocess is central to the interactionof personalityand culture,28 and that such interactionhas to be set withinhistoricaland developmental
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configurations. Even when there is, as Erikson notes, the "beginning of an officialidentity,the moment when life suddenly becomes biography,"'29the mythabout oneself(one's own or that with of others') must be seen as constantlychanging as it intersects the dynamic and continuingprocess of culture change. We findin Eriksonian analysis, as well, the use of psychohistory as narrative, and particularlyas religious narrative.Johnson has suggested that the psychohistorical account itself can be a theological systemin disguise, chartinga course of human development that carries with it a saga of mortal perfection.30 Johnson's has been to point out that in the Eriksonian case, as in contribution religiousnarrativesof the past, such storiesno matterhow scientific the past to an unusual degree forthe sake of theirintent,"do distort the present."31 The psychohistorianas storyteller, then, becomes lay theologian. In the case of the Vasistha narrative this will be especially true, for in their crypticdescriptions of the crises and events in the lives of Vasistha and the Vasistha family,the early and more texts reflecta stance that is less historicallydescriptive As in the case of Erikson's discussion of ideologicallyprescriptive. Luther and Gandhi, we will findthatthe Vasistha narrativetellsus less what was and more what should be. and theTen Kings' Battle with ViSvamitra and Stability: Rivalry Victory bringing to the Vasistha story some insights from especially fromits focus on personalityand culture, psychohistory, we will examine threethemes which indicate the presence of crises in the ancestral Vasistha's lifeto which he made successfulresolution and fromwhich there was not only successful adaptation for made by him and himself,but successful cultural transformation his familyfor others as well. These three themes-his role in the victoryof King Sudas over the Ten Kings, in shaping patternsof lineage and priestly ordination, and in the conciliation of the Varuna and Indra cults-do not falleasily into a chronologicalpatternbut are themescentralat least to the early Rgvedic material. In our discussion of each of these threethemes, we will focus not only on an understandingof the nature of the crisis and its resolution, but on the way in which the tradition'sunderstandingof the event reflects pivotal themes in the ideology of ancient India. In
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The details of the Ten Kings Battle, which the early tradition sees as essential to the understanding of Vasistha, fall against a background of hostilitywith Visvamitra that is only obliquely reflected in the Rgveda. Although important to evaluating the reasons forand alliances in the battle, the Visvamitra issue is, for whatever reason, not central to the Rgvedic narrative and hence than otherissues in consideringthe early tradition's less significant assessment of Vasistha's impact on itself. Nevertheless, the Visvamitra fragmentsare, as background, informativefor our concerns. While Oldenberg holds that the hostilityis not to be found in the Rgveda32 and that there is no organizational connection between storiesin different sources, it seems clear to Geldner, for instance, who lays more stress on the post-Rgvedic tradition, that 7.104 is Vasistha's counter attack, often word for word, to of Vilvamitra.33In both 3.53.21-24, the traditionalvasisthadvesitnyah instancesthe enemy is unnamed, but Lommel has correctly assessed the situation in 7.104 as follows: Der Ungenannte, aber den H6rern gewiss nicht Unbekannte, von dem die verleumderischen Vorwiirfe ausgehen, ist gemeint, wenn in Einzahl der Unhold wird; (7) verwiinscht (Str. 1) der Bisredende (2.4), der Ubertaiter of dass Sie words Str. dieses Gedicht 2) bestaitigen, gegen (the ... Vigvamitra gerichtetist.3 One of the overt issues in this textual mud-slingingis that of the religious technique: while each side has apparently called the other a sorcerer(ydtudh/na; 7.104.15-16),35 it seems that Vilvamitra is more likelyto have used magic to gain his ends than Vasistha, who relied primarily upon the high and solemn
ritual.36
The Anukramani refersto this hymn as a means for slaying demons (raksoh/dn), and certainlythe demonology presentis important to the historyof early Indian folkreligion," but there is more to 7.104 than a simple collectionof magical curses. In his analysis, Lommel has offereda reconstruction of the hostilitywhich relies accounts the Brhaddevata (4.112b ff.)and in, among others, upon the Mahabharata (1.166 ff.). While the early stories focus on a contentionover the office ofpur6hita (the personal and familypriest) under the patronage of King Sudas, the later ones describe an opposition arising out of the murder (by burning) of Vasistha's brightest,most pious, and most liturgicallyeminent son, Sakti,
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through the deviousness of Visvamitra. As Lommel reconstructs the whole narrative, the hostility began when this son of Vasistha won over the latterthen thepurdhita of Sudis, during a Vivvamitra, speaking contest at a great sacrifice. As a consequence, Lommel and, when the king chose infers,Visvamitra lost his purdhita-office as his next priestthe fatherof the gifted young brahman, Vasistha, Visvamitra's hostility to fatherand son began in earnest.38During under Sudas, he helped the king to Vasistha's ensuing pur6hita-ship In time, however,Vasistha fellout in Ten the Battle. victory Kings with King Sudas reflected,if we believe (as Lommel does)39 the lively and realisticaccount in the Mahabharata, in Sakti puttinga curse on the king because he refusedto move out of the way on a narrow forestpath (MBh. 1.166.1-10). With the hostility between the two families still brewing, Vigsvamitra eventually contrived, through the actual handiwork of the Saudasas (members of the Sudas family), to bring about the burning death of Sakti as he in a spoke, according to Sarvanukramani 7.32 ff.,the last pragdtha sacrifice.40 The death of his son, and later of "one hundred sons," so saddened Vasistha (whose griefwas to be assuaged perhaps by the malevolent power of 7.104) that he eventually attempted, unsuccessfullybecause of the interventionof the gods, death by suicide on several occasions. Secondary to this reconstructednarrative account, but central to the psychological development of Vasistha as depicted by tradition, is the somewhat apocryphal accusation by Vilvamitra that it was Vasistha himselfwho brought about the burningof his own son41--an accusation so powerfulthat Lommel sees in any number of places Vasistha's attemptto defend himselfagainst such slander.42 While most of this "hostility narrative" is unknown or at least in the Rgveda, we do have in the early texta relatively unreflected of material about Vasistha's role in King Sudas' amount generous in Ten the victory Kings Battle. This victorytheme is essential to tradition not the only because it representsthe rise and stabilizing of one of the prominentVedic families,43 but because it acts as a of the dominance and symbol superiorityof Aryanism both in in and ritual physical strength efficiency.The ddiardjiid4was a contest between the Trtsu clan, led by Sudas Paijavana of North Paficala,45 and a confederation of ten tribes who opposed his
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westward progress46(a reclamation of lands, it seems, once conquered to the west ratherthan new victoriesto the east). The real power among the Trtsus, however, was not King Sudas but his pur6hita Vasistha,47 who because of his eloquence and liturgical skills was able to successfullyengage the help of Indra. Because Visvamitra, under Vasistha had superseded in the officeofpurohita in whose guidance the Trtsus had fought other battles,48it was apparently out of revenge that Vilvamitra allied the ten tribes togetheragainst his old patron King Sudas. The war as a whole consisted of a number of battles and skirmishes, including a later one on the banks of the Yamuna River, but the decisive battle took place on the banks of the Parusni River where the ten tribes and their leaders surrounded Sudas and his Trtsus.49 Vasistha called upon Indra for aid; Indra parted the Parusni River; the Trtsus went across; the ten tribesfollowed; and the Parusni swallowed them up and drowned them. The following to King Sudas, describes in hymnto Indra, 7.18, a typeof ddndstuti detail the events of this battle. The author obviously wanted to record all aspects of the event which made him and his family victorious and, even though Vasistha must have been relatively aged at the time, forhis grandson Parliara (vs. 21) was old enough his observationalpowers and memoryseem to have been in to fight, optimal condition.
1. the singers Indeed, O Indra, our fathers, won all theirgoodsfrom you, foryoursare thegood-milking cows,yoursthehorses. forthepious. You bringin manyprovisions forever. For, likea kingwithhis wives,you live comfortably seer! Be gracious(to us) witheach (new) day, O watchful liberal one! cows and with horses, songs Acknowledge (our) O on to riches! Urge us, yourfollowers These pleasing,god-bound songsgo to you, in this(our) place.50 havingcontended Let theway ofyourrichescome hereto us. In yourfavor, O Indra, may we findrefuge. cow in a beautiful Like (a calflet loose) to a nursing meadow, to you. Vasisthareleasedhis formulations tellsme, are thelordof cows. Only you, everyone Let Indra come to us in good favor!
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4.
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Indra made theever-widening floods intopassablefords forSudas. For theboastful Simyuhe made (a curse)ofthe newestsong, his insulting on therivers. speech,(he made like) a timber-drift Turvada,theYaksu, was thefirst offering,51 The Matsyas52 wereoverly eagerforricheslike(fishforbait) in water; The Bhrgusand theDruhyuscomplied willingly! The friend was his helpedhim over,who, ofthetwo opponents, friend.53 The Pakthas,theBhalanas,theAlinas,and theVisdnins54 cheeredon theirgood friends. The feastcompanion (= Indra) of theAryan(= Sudas), who led his men in battle,55 came to theTrtsus'(aid) lusting forcattle. Because theunwisewithevil intention violatedAditi, the Parusni.56 theydiverted thewholeearth. Possessedof power,(Sudas) embraced animalhe57lay there, a seer. Like a sacrificial who thought himself truegoal: theParusnri. They came to a falsegoal as ifit weretheir In their lodging. hurry, theydid notreachtheir night Indra delivered up to Sudas in (the place called) Manusa58 the fugitive speech. enemyofunmanly a shepherd a field, from They wentlikecowswithout assembledas was usual fora treaty.59 The Prinigus,struck down to theearth, withtheir teamsand possessions compliedwillingly (in tribute). bothVaikarnatribes peoplesfrom Twenty-one fame. the king(= Indra) smashing down,desiring them As an expert on theritualground, places strew (he struck down). The hero Indra made a rushamongthem. struck theold and famousKavasa Then thecudgel-bearer intothewater;theDruhyu(king)followed, whileyourfollowers, forfriendship, friendship choosing intoxicated you (withSoma). In one day Indra splitopen all their forts, the sevencitadels, by force. He dividedup theproperty of theenemyfortheTrtsu. who uses abusivespeechat the ritual. May we conquerthe PUiru The Anus and Druhyus,eagerforcows, six thousand hundred, sixty sixty, and again six men died as payment. All theseheroicdeeds weredone by Indra.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
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15. Fullyenabledby Indra, thoseTrtsus brokeforth likewatersreleaseddownwards. The enemies,(now) fewin number, handedoverall their to Sudas. possessions He smashedthepresumptuous to theground, Indra drinks thecooked(milk). thathalfa man who without Indra thwarted theintention oftheintention-thwarter. fleeswhilestillhavinga traceoftheway. (The deserter) Withtheweak he did thissingular deed. Witha ramhe slewthelionness. Witha needleIndra splitopen thepeaks. he sentto Sudas. All their possessions "All enemiesare subjectto you. Bheda intobondage! Bringthepresumptuous He who sinsagainstthepraising mortals, on himbringdownyoursharpcudgel,O Indra!" The Yamuna (River) and theTrtsusweretherebesideIndra, and therehe deprived Bheda ofeverything. The Ajas, theSigrus,and theYaksus theheads oftheir horsesas tribute. brought
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16.
17.
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Neither noryourriches, yourfavors O Indra, or latest(deeds) are to be numberedas few as the nor your first dawns. For you slewthe godling, arrogance. down Sambara from on high. By yourown self,you struck Para~ara, Satayatu,Vasistha,60 who forlove of you wentout from their home, did notforget thefriendship ofyou, thehospitable. Now happydays shineout to theritualpatrons. Two hundred thegrandson cows from ofDevavat, twowagonstogether withtheir teamsfrom Sudasin orderto be worthy of thesegifts from Paijavana, O Agni, I circlethem,praising likea Hotar theritualseat. Four horsesgivenby Paijavana (lead) meadornedwithpearls,and forpersonaluse only. well-schooled, theseruddy horsesof Sudas, stepping on theearth, firmly bear me and mychildren on to fameformychildren. He whosefame(spreads)between thetwobroad worlds. who as dispenser handsout (booty)to each and everyhead, him theypraise,as thesevenstreams did Indra. He has struck in theconfrontation downYudhyamadhi ofbattle. him,O men! O Maruts! Accompanying as you did Divodasa, thefather of Sudas! Out of esteem,promote thedesireof thePaijavana: an imperishable, unagingsovereignty!
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Structurally,the hymn can be divided into the followingsections: vss. 1-4, a standard liturgical introductionpraising Indra for his wondrous deeds and requesting in return riches and prosperous lives;61 vss. 5-20, an historicaldescriptionof the battle, the Trtsu comrades, and their enemies; vs. 21, a generational salute to the Vasistha family's close relationshipwith Indra;62 and vss. 22-25, in which Vasistha describes the priestly fee King the ddndstuti, Sudas paid to him as a result of the battle (vs. 22-23) and praises Sudas as the most righteous, heroic and generous of all royal patrons (vss. 24-25). The most importantpart of the hymn forour purposes is the central section which, in its detailing of the battle, develops a theme pivotal to our understandingof Vasistha's role in Vedic culture: Aryan ritual superiority. The eloquence of the priestly Vasisthas is described in clear contrast to the coarse, speech of theirenemies (5cd). The Trtsu inelegant and ineffective (= Aryan) enemy does not know the proper ritual language, formulation,(9d) and the strong especially the use of the brdhman, and clearlyreaffirmed alliance withIndra is tellingfor,as the Trtsu he has the trulyAryan god, proper, expert knowledge of the ritual which the Trtsus have just so aptlyput to use (11 cd). Moreover, the battle is seen, at least by the Vasistha composers, not simply as a secular contestbetween enemy tribes,but as a contestbetween the powers of truth(rtc) and those of the unwise (acetds)and in which a Trtsu victorywill vindicate Aditi, truth's guardian (8ab). The ten tribes appear to have a great lack ofjudgment-the Trtsus would never have miscalculated so badly as to be swallowed up by a river (9ab)-and the "shepherd" Visvamitra is depicted as hardly the thatwas Sudas' enemy; in fact, leader needed forthe confederation "in all the threehymnsof the seventhMandala, narratingthe events of the Daiarajfia War, Visvamitra is completely out of [the] ritual leader and seer. The central porpicture,"63 as an effective tion of the hymn, then, is a detailed delineation of why the Trtsus are the favoredand chosen people of Indra and thus destinedto rule India. One of the psychohistoricalthemes64Erikson develops in his to Gandhi, is discussion of the religiousman, especially in reference the clear sense of moral dominance. Central to the lives of spiritual innovators, says Erikson, is a "precocious and relentless
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conscience,"65 a conscience to which the man is inordinately responsible, but fromwhich he develops an overweening sense of moral superiority.There is, on the one hand, a strongemotional necessityto remain morallyunblemished and, on the other,such a conviction of his own superiority,bound in some extraordinary, almost covenantal, way to the transcendenttruth, that he places himself in a position of obligatory mediatorship with regard to others.66Throughout his life, this sense of moral dominance is intellectualizedas a pre-emptivesearch forethical clarityabout not only who is right,but what is right,and what it means to be right. We findthis sense of moral dominance-this firmbeliefin one's own unblemished state, in one's consistentethical superiority and in one's obligatory mediatorship when it comes to judging and others-in Vasistha foras an exemplar of ancient Indian correcting sagehood, he sees himself as the bearer and transmitterof a superior way of life. The early cultural distinction,so evident in 7.18, is that of Aryan over Dasyu, and the centralissue here is that ofthe Dasyu's irreligion.67 ofthe decisive battlein As chiefarchitect the Aryan conquest of India, at least as recorded in the Rgveda, Vasistha is held by the tradition(and perhaps even by his contemporaries) to be one of the prime movers in the establishmentof Vedic culture. There is forhim, as forhis time, no otherway than the Aryan way (7.18.16d), effected in this case not by the conversion of deviants, as forGandhi, but by dominance over them. of Sudas' Aryan victoryover the Dasyu and the ensuing stability over Bharata India with the of Vasistha and his sovereignty help familyis reflectedin Vasistha's own personal life. Erikson points out thatthe hallmarkofthe homo ofthe spiritually sensitive religiosus, man turned great innovator, is the capacity to impose on his own time what most personally concerns him, a capacity Erikson calls re-enactment.The great man has the giftto re-enactin himselfthe crises of his era and to bring, in a meaningfulway, his own solutions to contemporary culture; by actualizing what is most appropriate forhimselfhe brings into being, in part by giftand in part by circumstance,what is most appropriate forand needed by others. A man of genius, he takes upon himself"an evolutionary and existentialcurse shared by all'68 and finds
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theone wayin which he (and he alone!) can re-enact thepastand create a new futurein the rightmedium at the rightmomenton a sufficiently large the scale...(the real) questionis notonlyhow such men come to experience of an existential have curse,but how it comesaboutthatthey inescapability thepertinacity to re-enact itin a medium and thegiftedness communicable to their fellow men and meaningful in their stageofhistory.60
Of Vasistha's inner struggles we know, among others,one thing: however he there of that, got (even accepting the reconstruction Sakti's role in his father'sascendance), it was significant to him and to his family to win out over Visvamitra as the chosen personal priest of Sudas. For Vasistha, as Lommel's exegesis of 7.104 so aptly shows, one of the most personal issues was that of his own "election," of his being especially chosen because of certaininnate qualities, to hold what came to be the most prominentintellectual post ofhis time.70 Justas forthe Aryans, forwhom the issue oftheir their of "election," being the specially chosen of the Vedic gods, was at the heart of theirconquest of India, so also was "rightness" of his a significant issue forVasistha, not only in the solidification own vocation but in the exact patternthat vocation would take as well. In thisway the Ten King's Battle became symbolic.Although it was not the event which actually gave Vasistha his position as Sudas' purdhita, throughphrases such as 7.83.4d which describe the results of the battle--"The purdhita-office of the Trtsus (i.e. of Vasistha) proved true (satyd)"-it is clear that the battle validated The outcome Vasistha's own claim to and retentionof the office.71 of the battle, then, brought two arenas into accord, for it showed that if Vasistha could actualize the basis for his own "election" with Sudas (i.e., his priestlyeloquence and abilityto call upon the gods), then the election of the Aryans would become clear as well. And both, in fact,were once again established in the course of the ddiaradjild. and Status:Hereditary and DivineBirth Ordination Continuity The historical events of 7.18 are reflectedin a second hymn, 7.33, writtensome time (perhaps a generation) afterthe first.7.33 is not, as the earlierhymnwas, a praise of Indra, but a praise ofthe original Vasistha priest, now dead, made at the ordination of the new Vasistha priest. In the intervening time between the composition of 7.18 and 33, three significantchanges have taken place. First, the Vasistha tradition's understanding of itselfhas become
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mythologized.In 7.18 the account of the battle is as "historical" as the overwhelming quality of the anything in the narrativeis as ifan.Rgveda;72 were describingthe event in person. eyewitness Note the detailed list of enemies, the itemized account of who fell into the water and who fled, and the particularsof the tributethat was paid; the descriptionis immediate, specific,and fastmoving. In 7.33, however, the account of the battle is not in thejournalistic present, but is instead a recollection from memory, a projection into the (mythic) past of a now idealized event. Verses 1-6 below have few details of the battle but stresseven more the special favor Indra showed the Vasisthas over other peoples. It is this sense of election, amplified as the Vasisthas increasinglyview themselves withinhistory,which distinguishesthe 7.33 account fromthe more narrativeone of 7.18. Furthermore, the Vasistha of 7.18 is like any otherhistoricalfigure:as one of the main participantsin the event, he exhibitsthe broad range of human strengths and weaknesses. By the time of the compositionof 7.33, however,the ancestralVasistha has become a superhuman figure,the object around whom legends of divinity grow. Although still remembered as the heroic protagonistof the battle, he has become separate and apart from other men and is now newly discovered to be of divine birth. There are, secondly, socio-cultural changes which have taken place during the interval, particularlyan elevation of the priest over the warrior(ksatrzya). 7.18 reflects an earlier time in (brahmadn) the Aryan conquest ofIndia when the warrior,and war, were dominant for7.18 is concerned with winning a battle, with overcoming enemies, and with procuringthe physical blessings of a prosperous life. Man's enemies at this time are external: human threatsto his physical livelihood and well-being. In 7.33, however, it is the priest who is dominant, as is his main concern, peace. The latterhymn, as we will see, is concerned with establishing the longevityand continuityof a priestlyline, and with the preservationof a family priestlytradition.Here, man's enemies are internal:the chaos and disorder which threatena society if it were to become devoid of a sense of historyand of the uniqueness of its own tradition. Again, Indra in 7.18 is a war god, a doer of wonderfuldeeds, a divine actor who miraculouslyappears at times of stressto save his worshippers."7In 7.33, however, Indra still does great deeds, but
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he is increasingly endowed with his own thoughts and even, perhaps, with a conscience (7.33.1). The attributionof mind to indicates the Indra, over and above his legendary brute strength, of the infiltration concerns into myth-making increasing priestly process, a development that will culminate in the Upanisad's self. The growingspecialization of singular focus on the intelligent roles forkingsand seers seen in 7.33 reflects the intensified preoccuwith of settled countries and towns, and of seers pation kings ruling with attendingto spiritual mattersin the forest.7.33 also reflects, however, a solidificationof socio-ritual status with the increasing prominence of the priest over the king.?4 The real issue, however, is that during the interveninggeneration there has been an internalizationof spiritual qualities in the sage. In 7.18, the fsi is merely a technician of the sacred who, throughhis technical knowledge of imagery, meter, and liturgical procedure, can manipulate the gods by proper performanceof the ritual and ritual speech. The focus here is primarilyon the god's deeds; we see littleof the priestexcept that he is the one who called upon Indra. In 7.33, however, the sage is not only a technician,but as a maker of speech his is the verypower of salvation itself.It is not just Indra's strengthbut Vasistha's skilled formulation(brdhman) Indra would, or which saves the Trtsus. Without the formulation, rathercould, not have been impelled into service on behalf of King Sudas. Most important, however, is that religious consciousness has In 7.18, the sage focuseson the division been radicallytransformed. of people into "good" and "bad," with the decisive issue being who has and knows the proper use of the ritual. Note that in 7.18.5cd, 9d, 13d, 16ab, 18c, and in such other verses as 7.83.1, Aryan is divided fromDasyu, the Trtsus fromthe ten tribes,on the basis of the knowledgeable eloquence of one and the arrogant yet ignorantbabble of the other. The centralconcern of 7.33, however, is no longer the simplycomprehended and easily concluded issue of a world divided into good and evil, but ratherthe internalcohesion of the priestlytradition. As the warrior's fear of physical threat is replaced by the priest's fear of social and religiouschaos, spirituality is internalized, with a most remarkable growthof priestlyselfconsciousness: a consciousness thatit is the priesthimselfwho must
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be the bearer of tradition.This new evaluation of the priestlyrole goes hand in hand with the new self-awarenessthe sage has of himself,symbolized most obviously in verses such as 7.33.1 below with the affirmationof the peculiar physical qualities of the in 7.33, Vasistha family.The development of religious sensitivity most is linked with the therefore, intricately development of a and with the establishmentand presercertain self-consciousness, vation of a newly clarifiedsense of who the sage is and must be. 7.33 belongs to a ritual forthe installationof a new priestin the Vasistha line and functionsthereto renew and restorepride in the Vasistha familytradition.In order to do so, the author(s) has interwoven past (mythical) time with present(historical)time, in such a way that the past is recreated(or at least remembered) in the ritual present,and the participantsare able to move withease throughthe events of both eras. To facilitatethis process, the hymn employs a repertoireof sophisticated images and a dramatic structurequite unlike the purely narrativeone of 7.18. The main event in 7.33 is not the Ten Kings Battle, which is by now considered old news, but the birth of the ancestral Vasistha from the two great philosophical gods, Mitra and Varuna. According to the tale, Mitra and Varuna both saw the Asparas themselvesand let theirseed fallinto Urvasi at a ritual. They forgot a jar. From out of thejar Vasistha and his youngerbrotherAgastya were born.75 It is this focus on Vasistha, and not the battle and Indra's aid, which establishesthe Anukramani dedication of 7.33 to the Vasistha and not to Indra.76
Indra: 1. "The white-clad of (pious) thoughts withhair braidedon awakeners theright77 have indeedcome (farfrom their to me. house) on a pilgrimage thestrew, As I standup from I announceto themen: 'I cannothelp myVasisthasfrom afar.' "78 led Indra herewiththeirSoma, Out ofthedistance they past (others' Soma) pouring into pools, beyond (others') strong (Soma) drink. To thepressedSoma of Pasadyumna Vayata Indra preferred thatoftheVasisthas.79 withthem? Indeed, did he notcrosstheriver downBheda withthem? Indeed, did he not strike Indeed, at theTen Kings Battledid notIndra help Sudas because ofyourformulation, O Vasisthas?
2.
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"Out oflove foryourforefathers, O men! I tiedup theaxelshaft withyourformulation. come to no harm! Saying'You shallcertainly witha loud roarin Sakvarimeter80 in Indra." you Vasisthasput strength In their at theTen Kings Battle need, thosesurrounded lookedup likethirsty animalstoward heaven. Indra heardthepraising Vasisthaand freeda passage fortheTrtsus. Like sticks fordriving cattle theweak Bharataswerebroken. As VasiSthawas their leader, theTrtsuclans spreadout. Three make seed amongthecreatures. There are three whichgiveoff Aryancreations light. Three heatsaccompany dawn: all thesetheVasisthasknow."' Their lightis liketheincreaseof thesun (at dawn), their is bottomless likethatof thesea. greatness Like the swiftness of thewindis yourpraise,O Vasisthas! notto be overtaken by anyoneelse. Withinsights from their heart thethousand-branched theypenetrate secret.82 Weavingagain theenclosure spannedby Yama theVasisthasreverence theApsaras. When Mitraand Varuna saw you as lightspringing forth from lightning, thatwas yourbirth, O Vasistha,and yettherewas another: whenAgastyapresented you to the(Trtsu) clans. And you, Vasistha,are the son of Mitra and Varuna, bornfrom the(mere) thought of Urvasi,O formulator! As thedrop sprinkled downduring thedivineformulation, all the gods caughtyou in a lotus. thedouble(birth), knewbeforehand; He, suspecting he has a thousandgifts, has alwayshad gifts. theApsaras Vasisthawas bornfrom in orderto weave theenclosure spannedby Yama. At a long Soma festival, and excitedby thehomages, theybothspilledtheirseed intoa jar. Fromout ofthemiddleMana (= Agastya)came forth; then,theysay, the sage Vasisthawas born.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
Agastya: 14. "He supports thehymn-bearer, theverse-bearer.

thepressing stone,he shallspeak first. Carrying Reverencehimsympathetically; foruntoyou, Pratrds,83 may Vasisthacome!"
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Verses 1-6 are a projectioninto the past oftheTen Kings Battle and Indra's aid, in which the "voice" of Indra alternateswitha priestly chorus describing exactly how Indra responded to the original Vasistha's call forhelp. This section emphasizes Indra's electionof the Trtsus on the basis of theireloquence. Verses 7-9 are a series of ritual riddles, importantin thishymnbecause correctknowledgeof ritual technique and symbolismis what makes theVasisthas eligible fordivine favorand is what is at the core of the familytraditionto be passed on at this installation.Moreover, we see evidence here of the rapid growthin ritualpraxis withspecificreference in verse 7 to the three fires, called the Ahavaniya, the Garhapatya and the Daksin~gni in later literature.84The Vasisthas, as other Vedic priests, attributethe maintenance of the natural world to proper care of these fireswithin "the enclosure spanned by Yama" (9c), that is, within the ritual ground. Finally, verses 10-14 detail the new Vasistha mythand the installationof the new priest. In verse 10, the poet lays the ground forthe "double birth" of everypriest by describing the two birthsof the original Vasistha: his original, though clearly mythical,birth fromdivine parents, and his ritual rebirthinto the priestlyvocation. Verse 14 is spoken by Vasistha's mythicalbrotheras the new priest is presentedto the clans he will now serve.85 7.33 is an excellent hymn forpsychohistorical examination for, although we may see little of the ancestral Vasistha's own inner struggles,we see a great deal of the strugglesamong the Vasisthas of the next generationas they,in theirformation of a corporateperto the of the culture around them. sonality,respond growingpains Erikson identifiestwo elements which are particularlyappropriate to the evidence of 7.33. First, there is an acute and immediate consciousness of one's own death which forcesthe homo to religiosus live continuouslybeforethisfactand to make his own lifechoices in light of it. Furthermore, because it is death "which gives all of these men is based, humanitya joint identity,"'86 the religiosity as well, on a love for all men as equally mortal. Quite often,and this is the case withthe Vasisthas, man experiences thismovement
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between lifeand death, past and future,as a matterofthe turnover of generations.87 The safetyand optimisticreaffirmation of man's skills that is afforded the procreative by "generational complex" is, as a resolution to the problem of death, eminentlyappropriate to Vedic cultureand is uniquely reflected in the immortalization ofthe Vasistha family. of great men bound to their Second, Erikson findsthe religiosity appropriation of themes of fatherhoodand sonship, by which one faces the problem of not only whose son one is, but also whose father.The father-son theme, "found at criticaltimes in the lives of all great innovators as an intrinsicpart of their inner transformation,"88 brings a man abruptlybeforethose whom he must replace and surpass as an adult and is, forthis reason, the factormost torn with conflict. with inten...a highly uncommon manexperiences filial such conflicts mortal inhimself inchildhood healready senses some kind of sity early justbecause topoint that seems with the beyond competition originality personal father.89 For Gandhi, as forothers,one's vocation is the vehicle by which to surpass and replace the fatheras well as to renew and revitalize "90 As he "the professionalheritageof ... fatherand ... forefathers. moves beyond a resolutionwiththe immediatelypreceding generafather and searches, as Erikson says, "for the tion, the homo religiosus theson who might match the enormityof existence,"9' that is, he must come to terms not only with the problem of spiritual and psychic authority but also with that of intellectual and cultural inheritance. These two themes find acute expression in 7.33. Although surrounded by the fact of death in conflictssuch as the Ten Kings Battle and in the daily hardships of building up a settled civilization, Vasistha and his familycome to termswithdeath not only by acknowledging the succession of generations, but also by making the continuity of familya special concern, and by tyingthatconcern to the vocational patternsof priesthood. As early as 7.18.1-4, for instance, Vasistha remindsIndra ofthe traditionof aid he has given to the ancestral singersin the family92 coda of and, in the ddndstuti 7.18 (vss. 22-25), Vasistha takes pride in his priestly fee not only for himselfbut also on behalf of his descendants who stand to share in
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the fame of his priestlyheroics, as well as in the wealth he has brought them. By 7.33, however, as perhaps in 3.53 of the the Visvamitras, 5.40 of the Atris and 6.47 of the Bharadvaijas,93 focus on the permanence of the familyis more than just a strong desire forits continuityand consistencyover time, it approaches a ritual divinizationof the whole Vasistha line. By coupling a sense of the uniqueness of the Vasisthas94 with an unusual dramatic structure, the author(s) has created a means by which the Vasisthas can at a ritual. be (re-)immortalizedevery time the hymn is performed Death is conquered, then, not just by the reverencing of the or by the procreation of new aspirants to the priestly forefathers, art, but by a continual reminder of familial singularityand by a ritual effectuation, time and time again, of those thingswhich have made the Vasistha family immortal: the relationship with Indra and the divine birthof its ancestor. Adaptation to Vedic culturehas meant, then, thatas the culturesettlesinto more fixedand complex socio-economic patterns, Vasistha family identity will not only remain in tact but will be a model forfamily(and priestly)patterns throughoutthe countryside. The theme of fatherhoodand sonship by which great men deal with authorityand generativity is expressed in 7.33 in a concern over the ancestral Vasistha's births. Most of the mythologizing which surrounds Vasistha focuses on the issue of who his parents were. According to the myth,Vasistha has two fatherswho were both great gods and no mother, despite the fact that Urvasi was responsible for and present at his birth. Throughout his life Vasistha was obliged, then, like any good son, to carryout the will of these great parents: the preservationofrtdor moral truthamong the peoples of the Aryan nation. 7.33 records, however, another birth: by his ordination into the priesthood,Vasistha is thoughtto be "born again" (vs. 10). The focus here is not just on who his fatheror parentswere or on the glorification of the Vasistha lineage and its extraordinaryties to the gods of morality,particularlyto Varuna.95 Instead, it is on Vasistha's priesthood and his role as ritual servant to the Aryans. We have, then, on the one hand, Vasistha's physicalbirth:first, fromhis real parents of the Vasistha familyand, second, fromhis instance, spiritualparents, the gods Mitra and Varuna. In the first
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he is beholden to the Vasistha family to be a "good son" by tradition;in the second instance,he becomes preservingthe priestly a "good son" to Mitra and Varuna by preservingrtd. It is also importantto the ancestralVasistha, as well as to his descendants,to improve on the past, not to be bound by the weaknesses of the but continuallyto heal the tradition: "From the sins of forefathers, our fathersrelease us! And from those which we ourselves have done!" (7.86.5ab). On the otherhand, however,thereis Vasistha's spiritual rebirth:a second birthwhich occurs at his ordinationand throughwhich he becomes a true and proper "father" to those who need his religiousservices,that is, to the trueAryan worshipper.As Dange says, "if the birth is to be for the benefit of the earthly It is this people, it has to be had in the sacrificialatmosphere."''96 second birth which, more than any other, unites the lineage of Vasistha priests,forin each new generationthe spiritualrebirthis re-enacted and this special mode of "fathering" is renewed.97In ordinationof the priesthooda resolutionto findingin the hereditary the father-sontheme, Vasistha and his familyalso move beyond ordinaryselfish familyconcernsfor,like Gandhi, theynow minister unto the culture at large. In our earlier review of the theme of victoryand stabilityin the life of Vasistha, we focused on the notion of moral (and ritual) dominance as central to the distinction between Aryan and Dasyu. Moral dominance is also important as the Vasisthas establish patternsof continuity,and particularlyas they develop notions of of sage over king, of the status. In 7.33 we find an affirmation over the active of the knowledge of contemplativelifestyle lifestyle, ritual and language over the knowledge of chariots and horses. Often enough the Vasistha hymnspraise priestlyknowledge of the ritual, celebrate the wise insightsof the early poet which fathom and preservertd,"truth," and describe the new fame of those who follow the priestly way.98 This elevation of the contemplative and the subsequent beliefin one's personal closeness to the lifestyle transcendenttruth,is symbolizedin the facttheVasisthas frequently mention themselvesin the last verse of theirhymns-reminding the gods that it is the Vasisthas, and none others, who have sent such beautiful praises and who deserve the most bountifulblessings.99 Again as with Gandhi, the development of a sense of
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"rightness" has more to do with the dominance of a certain set of mores or customs, namely Aryan and subsequently priestlyones, than it has with the dominance of individual values. The Indra-and Varuna-cults over Conciliation Rejection: In Dandekar's discussion of Vasistha's role as a religious conciliator in the encounterbetween the ancient Varuna-cult and the were made to how deliberate efforts new Indra-cult,he notes, first, spheres of the two gods emphasize the separate yet complementary and, second, how in the process of conciliation Varuna was into the kind of god India needed at the time. Of the transformed in devoted to the dual divinity the hymns Indravarunau,10oo in understandingthe relationshipbetween the two the most helpful .Rgveda gods are, according to Dandekar, those in the Vasistha mandala.In these hymns, particularlyin 7.82, Indra is characterized as "the national war-god...invoked for help in battles and wars" while Varuna is "the upholder of law and order... [invoked] in connection with the promotion of the activities of peace."101 Both together,then, "promote the world-process,"102 for while Indra conquers, Varuna rules (7.83.9ab). Not only do these hymns functionsto each god, but special separate and allocate different ofVaruna forhe is "responsible for attentionis paid to the function law and order not only in the cosmic sense but also in the socioethical sense." 103Moreover,
withthe establishment of more or less exclusively Varuna was concerned the Vedic Aryancommunity but also peace and good will not onlywithin to thatcomand thosewho were strangers betweenthe Vedic community to thecomforone reasonor another, be acceptable but who might, munity munity.104
Of Varuna, for instance, these hymns say:

of peace." (7.82.4b) "You [we call] fortheattainment "Mitra presents Varuna withpeace." (7.82.5c) overthelaws." (7.83.9b) constantly "[He] presides "[He] keepsthechosenpeople in order." (7.85.3c)
Vasistha's assistance in the delineation of separate spheres for each god comes at the expense, however, of moving beyond the
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singular promotionof a god with whom he has had a personal and intimate relationship. We know, also from Dandekar, that it is around Varuna that many of the early panegyricswith bhaktic contentare spun, and that it is Vasistha who, at least fromthe Rgvedic evidence, is one of the central figures in this early confessional cult.105 Hymns like 7.86, forinstance, demonstratethat Vasistha's tendstoward the contemplativeexperience own religiouspreference which has at its core an intenseand oftenheated relationshipwitha morally demanding god.106From all indications, Vasistha's personal propensitiestowards a heightenedconscience and terrorizing thoughtsof sin are central to our understandingof a type of early Indian religiosity not highlydeveloped as the Vedic period becomes more complex:
fora communion Vasistha was...deeplyconsciousof his moralineligibility with Varuna. He knew that he was a sinner-the wise ones whom he approached unanimouslytold him that Varuna disliked him on that triedto explainaway his sins...[in]a stanza (VII.86.6), account...Vasistha whichgivesone of thefinest to a sinner'spsychology.'07 expressions
Vasistha says to Varuna, for instance:

whatthatsin was, Varuna forI wantto understand; I ask myself I go to thewise to ask them. The poetstellme theverysame thing:
with "This Varunais angry you."
What was thatterrible crime,Varuna, who praisesyou? forwhichyou would slayyourfriend Tell me it, you who are hardto deceiveand self-ruled. so thatI may hurry to you withhomageand be freeof sin. (7.86.3-4)
Erikson has found that a sense of one's nature as sinfuland corin the development of the religiousman, forjust rupt is significant as it is "only in ill health... [that one realizes] the intricacyof the thathuman nature opens body," 108 so it is only in a state of conflict itselfup to serious examination. In describing Luther as a man "with a precocious, sensitive, and intense conscience" who "subject[s] himself to a scrupulous and relentless form of Erikson points out a pattern oddly similar to self-criticism,''"09 what we findin Vasistha. Just as "Luther limit[s]our knowledgeof God to our individual experience of temptation,"110so also when Vasistha gets particular about what went wrong in his relationship
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with Varuna the list of sins can easily be described as perversionsof the will: "wine, anger, dice, or carelessness" (7.86.6b). In fact Vasistha even says as much in a subsequent hymn: Ifoutofweakness ofwill, (7.89.3)
I have gone againstthecurrent, O pure one, Be gracious,good ruler, be gracious!
Whether or not Vasistha's experience of such moral demands on the inner workings of his conscience is due to a concern over culpability in Sakti's murder,"' to some other unknown personal laxity, or to some unique empathywith the sins of his culture, it is clear he suffersintenselyfrom their effectsupon his relationship with his god. Given his moral sensitivity and its necessaryties to the old cult of withthe new military efforts cult of Vasistha's conciliatory Varuna, Indra must have cost him a dear price. Confrontedwiththe obvious strengthof the Indra cult, Vasistha must have, at some point, found himselffaced with three options: to reject the new cult in regressivesupport of a paternally authoritariangod; to reject the supportof the new religiouspatternand Varuna cult in conformist with the subsequent denial of his own religious needs; or to work out some kind of conciliationwhichwould both meet his own needs and not require him to withdrawfromcontemporarysociety. Conciliation of the two cults was the only adaptive response Vasistha could make. For spiritualreasons he could not deny Varuna; but a personal styleevidentin Varuna cult on its own and in the intensely would not have worked out in an India Vasistha's Varuna hymns concerned less with the leisure activityof introspectionand more with the workaday problems of secure borders and political and economic stability.Indeed, in times to come introspective religiosity would be in demand, but not for a few more centuries. For someone like Vasistha, whose patternof success-orienteddecisions should be clear, conciliationwas the only progressiveconclusion he could make to the dilemma. The price for conciliation was compounded, moreover, by the fact that Varuna could no longer but provide him a continued contextforself-indulgent introspection froma god who could had, forthe culture's sake, to be transformed
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religious potency. We have, in thismovementtowardsa grandervision of societyto which Vasistha contributes, several commentarial reflectionson Eriksonian themes. Moral dominance is evident here, but not because we encounterthe typesof resolutionsmade in thisdirection seen earlier in the victoryand continuitythemes, but because we find clearly reflectedin the material the sense of moral dilemma Vasistha must have faced, though in different forms, in all his the of his personal anxiety relationshipto Varuna, and struggles: the personal and cultural frustrations of the conjoining of the two cults. The successful experience of such inner labors would doubtless have given rise to a sense of moral superiorityas these issues came to closure, and to a sense that because of his suffering he was not only righteousbut truthful (rtavan)112as well. Fatherhood and sonship are reflectedhere also. In making the conciliatoryresolution he did between the two gods Vasistha, in part, addressed Erikson's issue of generativity: concern for "establishing and guiding the next generation." 113 By focusingon new religious patterns, even if these somehow violated or compromised his earlier religiosity,Vasistha's interest was directed towards not only the most adaptive resolutionforhimselfbut also the best step forward for his time and for that of his children's generation. In describing "man's relationshipto his productionas well as to his progeny,"114 the generative stage focuses on the and maintenance of institutions,as "all creation, transformation institutionscodify the ethics of generative succession." 115 In the developmentof an Indravarunau cult, Vasistha provides not only a new theology for the world to come-whereby the two goals "promote the properlyintegratedsocio-political life of the Vedic
ensure moralitythroughindividual intimidation-"May the anger of Varuna spare us." (7.84.2c)-to one who, in acquiring a functions within specialized large pantheon and in belonging to an increasinglycomplex ritual system,could ensure moralityonly withinthe networkof the othergods and only by means of the concerted efforts of an increasingnumber of priests. As we know from the religious historyof India (though Vasistha certainlycould not have anticipated it), this would effectively undermine Varuna's
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Aryans" "6-but also a new view of an old god, a Varuna who now is "responsible forlaw and order...in the socio-ethical sense." 114 The "fathering" implicitin this adaptive concern forthe culture of his time is bound to the "sonship" suggestedin Vasistha's ties to Varuna. We may only speculate as to how Vasistha, in the end, felt about this god. Although he never actually calls Varuna "father"'--unlike Indra, who is ofteninvoked by the Vasistha "as sons do the father""8-the reference to the "great father" (pita ... in to 7.52.3c may, according mahlzn) Sayana, be to Varuna as father of Vasistha.119Nevertheless,we findin the Vasisthas' Varuna collection (7.82-85), all the ambivalence appropriate to a father-son of a strongyet sensitiveand oberelationship: all the frustrations dient devotee respondingto what he perceives as his god's random authority. Moreover, in Erikson's discussion of the father-son theme, particularlyin referenceto Gandhi, it becomes clear that one of the great achievementsof the homo is, in his producreligiosus tive years, to take the accomplishmentsof his fatherand not only move beyond them but also apply them in creative ways for his fellowmen: "To betterthe parentthus means to replace him..." 120 In his reworking of the prevailingreligiouspatterns,then,Vasistha does just this: retaininghis allegiance to the old god and the moral nature of his thought,yet reshaping it for a larger social context, and therebybridgingthe gap between the old ways of his "father" and the quickly changing patternsof the rest of his culture. As one of several leading religious personalities of his time, in givingshape to Vasistha would certainlyhave been instrumental the religious life of Vedic India. Rgvedic hymns writtenby and about him and his family,however, are more thanjust accounts of the contributions he made to his era or, forthat matter,more than just personal memoirs of his struggles.Materials attributedto him reveal instead a man so perceptivelyattuned to his surroundings that, because of special communicative gifts,he could match the inner workingsof his mind with the outer movementsof his social milieu. That his story, fragmented as the extant remains are, epitomizes (and advocates) Aryanism over barbarism, priestcraft over secularism, and moral probity over self-indulgence and therebyprovides a symbolic narrative for the founding of Vedic
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civilization is clear; that it so totallyreflectsthe life experience of one man and his familyis testimony to the power of trulyreligious men.
Trinity College, Hartford CT 06106, U.S.A.
Dept. ofReligion,
ELLISON BANKS FINDLY
E.g., N. G. Chapekar, "The Rgvedic Rsis: Vilvamitra and Ku*ika in Commemorative SurendraNath Sen, ed., D.V. Potdar Volume (1950), pp. 59-62; HermanLommel,"Vasistha und Vilvamitra,"Oriens, 18-19(1965-66): 200-227; Berriedale Index Arthur MacDonnelland Arthur Names and Keith,Vedic Anthony of 2 vols. (1st ed. 1912; Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1967), 2:274-277, Subjects, Sanskrit 2 vols. (London: Triibner& Co., 310-312;John Muir, Original Texts, Ancient Indian Historical Tradition 1868), 1:317-375;F. E. Pargiter, (1st ed. 1922; & Delhi: MotilalBanarsidass,1972), pp. 205-206;V. G. Rahurkar,"Visvamitra theVisvamitras in theRgveda," Oriental 5.1 (January Thought 1961): 25-56;H. D. in theFamily-Mandalas," Velankar,"The Family-Hymns Branch, Bombay Journal, Asiatic 18 (1942): 1-22; H. D. Velankar,"A FamilyHymn of the Royal Society, Oriental Agastyas,"XII All-India Conference, (1943-44): 223-231. 2 R. N. Dandekar, "The Dasarajiia," in R. N. Dandekar, ed., CASS Studies #1 (Poona: 1973): 127-129; Abinas Chandra Das, "A Chapter of Rigvedic 9 (November1923): 154-169;Alfred Review, Hillebrandt, History," TheCalcutta Vedische 2 vols. (2nd rev. ed.; Breslau: 1927), 1:519-523;MacDonnell Mythologie, and Keith, Vedic Index,1:355-356;Pargiter, op. cit.,pp. 207-11,236-7; Manilal Patel, "A Historical Hymn of the Rgveda (RV. VII. 33)," Journal ofthe Gujarat 1 (October1939): 143-148;C. KunhanRaja, "DaSaraijfia Research Society, Bombay, 37.4 (December 1961): Quarterly, (Battle of the Ten Kings)," IndianHistorical War," in Dandekar,ed., CASSStudies: 261-278;U. C. Sharma,"The Da-iarajfia 101-126. ofVasistha,"The QuarterlyJournal ofthe 3 E.g., SadashivaA. Dange, "The Birth LV. 3 & 4 (October1964andJanuary op.cit., Mythic 1965):83-91;Pargiter, Society, pp. 214-217. of the Vasisthafamily,"Oriental 5.4 Thought, 4 K. R. Potdar,"Contribution (December 1961): 2, 3. 5 Ibid., 2, 5, 4. 6 R. N. Dandekar,"Varuna, Vasisthaand Bhakti" ed., Afijali: inJ. Tilakasiri, Felicitation Volume Volume (Peradeniya:The Felicitation O.H. de A. Wijesekera Editorial of Ceylon, 1970), p. 77. Committee, University 7 Ibid.; R. N. Dandekar, "Vasistha as ReligiousConciliator,"in K.R. Cama Oriental Institute Golden Volume (Bombay: 1969), 237-248. Jubilee 8 See Roger A. Johnson, "Introduction," in Roger A. Johnson, ed., andReligion: TheCaseofYoung ManLuther Fortress Press, (Philadelphia: Psychohistory discussion of developments in thefield. 1977), esp. p. 3 fora brief and Donald Capps, "Psychohistory and Historical Genres:The 9 Ibid.,pp. 1 ff. ofEriksonian in PeterHomans,ed., Childhood and Promise and Plight Biography,"
andculture personality Vasis.tha:

10 Ibid., p. 210. 11 Roger A. Johnson,"Psychohistory as
101
Erik H. Erikson on Tradition, andModernity inthe Religion, Psychology of Essays Selfhood: Press, 1978), pp. 189 ff. University (Lewisburg:Bucknell Religious Narrative:The Demonic Role ofHans Luther in Erikson's op.cit., Saga ofHuman Evolution,"inJohnson, p. 127. 12 SudhirKakar, "The Logic of Psychohistory," The Journal ofInterdisciplinary 1.1. (Autumn1970): 193. History, inJohnson, "Introduction," pp. 1-5. 13 See, forexample,thediscussion 14 See thebibliography to 1974in History compiled Quarterly, ofChildhood Journal 2.4 (Spring1975): 517-562. ofPsychohistory, 15 Capps, op. cit.,pp. 210-211. 16 Erik H. Erikson,Childhood and Society (1st ed. 1950; New York: W. W. Norton& Co., 1963), pp. 247-274. 17 Peter Homans, "The Significance for Modern of Erikson's Psychology of Religion," in Homans, op. cit.,p. 236. Understandings 18 Kakar, op. cit.,pp. 189-190. 19 Don Browning, "Eriksonand theSearchfor a Normative ImageofMan," in Homans, op. cit.,pp. 264-292. 20 Paul W. Pruyser, in Psychology of "From Freudto Erikson:Developments in 90. cit., op. p. Religion," Johnson, 21 See PeterHomans, "Introduction," in Homans, op. cit.,p. 17. 22 in theField: Erikson's Contributions to Waud H. Kracke,"A Psychoanalyst in Homans, op. cit.,p. 173. Anthropology," 23 ErikH. Erikson, inPsychoanalysis andHistory, Man Luther: A Study Young (New York: W. W. Norton& Co., Inc. 1958), p. 22. 24 inJohnson, WilliamMeissner,"Faith and Identity," op.cit., pp. 108-109. 25 Ibid., pp. 97, 107. 26 Kracke,op. cit.,p. 166. 27 Erik On theOrigins H. Erikson,Gandhi's Truth: Nonviolence, ofMilitant (New York: W. W. Norton& Co., Inc., 1969), p. 401. 28 See Fred Weinstein and Gerald M. Platt, "The Coming Crisis in The 47.2 (June1975): 226. Psychohistory," ofModern Journal History 29 Man Luther, Erikson,Young p. 54. This passageis quotedin Meissner, op. cit., with theinteresting "an official to "an artificial pp. 106-107 changefrom identity" identity." 30 See Capps, op. cit.,pp. 218-220. as ReligiousNarrative,"p. 161. "Psychohistory 31 Johnson, 32 Edward Washburn Hopkins, "ProblematicPassages in the Rig-Veda," 15 (1893): 252-283.Lommelthinks, Oriental American however, ofthe Society, Journal thatthisskepticism ofhisteacher is "unfruchtbar" and "zu nichts fiihrt," op. cit', pp. 208, 223. 4.117-118. See also Karl Friedrich Geldner,trans.,Der Rig3 Brhaddevatd 4. vols. (HOS, vols. 33-36; Cambridge,Mass.: HarvardUniversity Veda, Press, 1951-7),1:395n; 2:273. 34 Lommel,op. cit.,p. 206. trans., 35 Lommel,op. cit.,pp. 206-207.See also WendyDonigerO'Flaherty, An Anthology, TheRig Veda: (New York: PenguinBooks 1981), pp. 292-296,for in thishymn, noteson the sorcery and Potdar,op. cit.,p. 2. 36 Note,for thesympathetic behind themagicalimagesin the instance, principle verse3.53.22, in contrast to theVasisthide use of a sacrificial Visvamitra animal
102
EllisonBanksFindly
Oriental Research 22 (1941): 120-122. Animals,Bhandarkar Institute,
3.53.23b), and theVasisthide chargeofthemisuseofSoma, a god whowill (paid; certainlyuse his power against the sacrificially ignorant(7.104.12d, 13a). is called,moreover, a Brahman-hater Vasistha'senemy (brahmadvizs; 7.104.2c),and theSatapatha-brahmana thattheVasisthas"were once (12.6.1.41) has a tradition theonlypriests to act as Brahmans, butthatlateranypriest couldserveas such." ofVi*vamitra's Das, op. cit.,p. 160. See also Lommel'sdiscussion poweroverthe and demons,op. cit., p. 213, and Rahurkar'sdiscussionof the special efficacy magicalpowerof theVilvamitramantra, op. cit.,p. 40. 37 Lommel,op. cit.,p. 207. Viivamitra's 38 Ibid.,p. 211. It is notclearhowimportant Ksatriya background was in thisousterand ifthe ousterreflects contention at all, Brahman-Ksatriya and thesociology of his family see Chapekar,op. cit.,pp. 59-62. On Vivivamitra ofthepossibiliin support Rahurkar, op. cit.Rahurkar quotesHuttonand Ghurye betweenthesetwo families reflects inter-caste ty thatthe hostility (and possibly rivalries, op. cit.,pp. 34, 36. On thissee also Sharma,op. cit.,pp. inter-cultural) 107-108,whichsuggeststhatcaste is less an issue than ritualskillor political allegiance. 39 Lommel,op. cit.,p. 221. 40 Ibid., p. 212. 41 Note, forinstance, the strong themeof sin and guiltfoundin the so-called "bhakti"cycle, 7.86-89. Dandekar, "Varuna, Vasistha, and Bhakti,"op. cit., "Vasistha's RemorseOver theDeath ofhis Son," pp. 78-79; A. P. Karmarkar,
hereon theBrhaddevata tradi42 Lommel, op. cit.,pp. 213, 221. Lommelrelies tionwhichsaysthata demontooktheform ofVasisthaand was thusresponsible fortheburning.
43
Press, 1953), pp. 172-187,and Pargiter, bridge:University op. cit.,pp. 203-217. for a discussion ofthe 44 7.33.3c, 5b; 7.83.8a. See Sharma,op. cit.,pp. 116-124 on thisbattle. literature secondary Dandekarbelieves 45 7.20.2c; 7.25.3a; 7.32.10a; 7.33.3c; 7.64.3c; 7.83.1d ff. that Sudas, leader of the large tribecalled the Bharatas(= the secondwave of intoIndia) was a very ambitious manwhowanted to bring both Aryanimmigrants settlements underhis control and military Aryanand non-Aryan by diplomacy "The Dasarajinia," strategy. pp. 127-128. 46 Herman des Rigveda," rpt. in H. Oldenberg,"Ueber die Liedverfasser 1 (Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Schriften, Oldenberg,Kleine Verlag GMBH, 1967), of the fivestatesof the earlyAryan consisted pp. 573-578. This Confederation settlers(pdficajdndh) and some neighboring but the non-Aryan principalities, numberten has to be understood as "only generally ratherthan descriptive that there were definitive," Dandekar,"The Daiara-jfia," p. 128. Sharmabelieves actuallymanymorethanten,op. cit.,p. 101. the singular"Vasistha" refersto one 47 There is some question whether or simply ancestral to "a Vasistha." On theissueoftheuse ofsingulars and figure des Rigveda," pp. plurals in names see Oldenberg"Ueber die Liedverfasser 570-571. Dandekar has suggested thatthe alliancebetweenSudas and Vasistha Sudas' desireto bring thefairly stateof mayreflect, amongother things, powerful theTrtsustohissideso thatBharatasovereignty inAryandom wouldbe that much moresecure."The Da-arajiia," p. 128. 48 3.33, 53 (3.53.21-24beingthefamous verses).See Chapekar, vasis.thadvesinyah
op. cit., p. 60; Rahurkar, op. cit., pp. 27-28.
See John Brough, The Early Brahmanical System of Gotraand Pravara (Cam-
103
is "no evidence to suggest out, there 49 See 7.83.8. As Dandekar points thetwogroups] extended overseveral between contest generations." that...[the "The Daisara-jfia," p. 129. 50 Thatis, the between thefruit areoften ofpoetic songs competitions priests. toa sacrifice, both and battle islikened 51 As Geldner, points out,the byimage in terminology. 2:195n. Geldner, op.cit., 52 Note word for thepunhere: is thecommon "fish." mdtsya Sudas-theopponents helped beingSudasand Bheda.See 53 Thatis, Indra Confederation. Bhedawastheleader oftheTen Kings RV.7.83.4.Presumably, "The Da-sara-jfia," Dandekar, p. 129. See Sharma, for a gooddiscussion enemies. op.cit., pp. 109-116 54 E.g., Trtsu ofthese andtheother in thewar. peoples prominent 2:196n. op.cit., 55 See Geldner, 56 Thatis, from benefit tothemselves. Visvamitra. 57 Presumably, 2:196n. 58 See Geldner, op.cit., theparticipants theintense still abideby the despite 59 Notethat animosity, civilized rules ofwarfare. It seems clear that with this in Sudassucceeded victory in theregion thesovereignty oftheBharatas ofthesaptd the st'ndhu, establishing main at the areaofAryan andDandekar hassaid"I believe that time, occupation thesource ofthenameBharatavarsa is tobe Indiacameto be known bywhich in this historical "The DiAarlajfia," event," sought great p. 129. 60 Important theeffectiveness for oftheritual is thegenerational of continuity thepious-here we havea kind ofprocession ofpilgrims toIndra. 61 See also7.23.6;7.37.4;7.88.1. 62 This versecontains a short one of the first in the Rgveda: geneology, his grandson; his son; and of course Paradara, Vasistha. Satayatu, Pargiter, pp. 192,209. op.cit., 63 Sharma, op.cit., p. 107. 64 Developmental themes which recur thegreat man's continually throughout often at times or theresurgence oftrauma oftraumatic and which life, stress, focal for thematuration Gandhi's Erikson, provide Truth, points process. pp.. 98, 128.
65 66 67 69
Ibid., p. 128.
Ibid., pp. 109,117-118.
68 Erikson, Gandhi's
Seealso7.83.1, 6-7.
70 Evenifwe were to accept thesuggestion ofDandekar p. 128)and (op.cit., others that Sudas' alliance with and hisTrtsus was madefor Vasistha political than rather ritual theargument for still selection would reasons, Vasistha's special hold. late literature caststheVasisthas as theverybestexamples of 71 In fact, The A. B. Keith, and the andUpanishads, Veda 2 vols. purdhitas. Philosophy of Religion Harvard Press, Cambridge: University (HOS, vols.31-32; 1925),1:293. 72 Keith, Religion, 1:131, 228; A. A. MacDonnell,Vedic Mythology (rpt. Delhi:Indological Book "Ueber Varanasi, House,1971), pp.96, 147;Oldenberg, die Liedverfasser desRigveda," pp. 574-575. 73 7.83.1. 2:249ff; Ritual andRenouncer," Index, "Brahmin, 74 Vedic J. C. Heesterman, Wiener die Kunde 8 (1964):1-31. Ostasiens, Zeitschriftfiir Siid-und
133. Ibid., pp.132,
Truth, p. 129.
104
EllisonBanksFindly
ofbirth fallsintothecategory ofan dyonija notbornfrom the birth, 75 This type mother's womb. See Dange, op. cit.,pp. 84, 89. family hymns, (3.53; 5.40; 6.47), itoccursat theend of 76 Like someoftheother the Indra section.Velankar,"Family Hymns," pp. 1-2. aid to Sudas, surrounded on all sidesin theTen Kings 77 7.83.8: "You offered their hairbraidbentin Battle,Indraand Varuna, whenthewhite-clad Trtsuswith homage,piouslyreverenced you withprayer." 78 "Indra wandersfaraway at a Soma-sacrifice, by Paiadyumna. performed There appear the Vasisthas,withthe purposeof takinghim...to the succourof Suda-s.Indra at once declareshis readinessto rushwiththe Vasisthasto help Sudas." Patel, op. cit.,p. 144. his way together withtheVasisthas,Indra seemsto have passed 79 In making otherSoma offerings taking place at thesame time. to be sungin battles. 80 A "group ofstanzas Sayana (on TBr. II, 4, 3, 1) would referto X.133, whichbegins withthe Sakvari-metre and whichis ascribedto Sudas." Patel, op. cit.,p. 145. 81 See Ibid., p. 146 on the symbolism ofthevariousthrees. 82 This secretis the greattree of humanity, later interpreted by Sayana as While c "the successionof Patel, cit., 146, p. interprets op. by saying sainsdra. referred is there to in another ofa cloth tobe woven," itseems generations picture more likelyto refer, as thisimage usuallydoes, to ritualactivity. Cf., 12c; and 1.110.1a; 10.130.lad. ofSudas. "The stanzacontains 83 The Trtsus, i.e., thefamily Agastya'swords withwhichhe brings up Vasisthato manhood." Patel, op. cit.,p. 148. of lightthemes witha discussion ofthisbattlecan also be 84 The conjunction foundin 7.83.2 ff. thatthislastverserepresents theadoption of 85 MacDonnell and Keithsuggest Vasistha into the Trtsu tribe-an act necessitated by his divine birthwhich, it placed himin specialrelationship himof a very to thegods,deprived although "social location." Vedic 2:277. Index, necessary 86 Erikson,Gandhi's Truth, p. 194. 87 Ibid., p. 132. Ibid., p. 132; see also p. 125. 90 Ibid., p. 158. 91 Ibid., p. 253. 92 And in verses likeRV.10.15.8 and 10.66.14 we findreminders thatthisaid has been continuous have continued traditheeloquent onlybecausetheVasisthas tionsof their forefathers. 93 See Velankar,"Family-Hymns"and "A FamilyHymnoftheAgastyas." the"election" oftheVasisthas with bytheVedic godsis a certainty 94 Although other families are acknowledged to participate in a personal them, bytheVasisthas withthesegods as well. See forexample,10.150.5. relationship 95 See 7.12.3; 7.39.7; 7.86.5; 7.88.1, 4. 96 Dange, op. cit.,p. 86. 97 Ibid., p. 91. 98 E.g., 7.23.1; 7.73.3; 7.80.1; 7.88.4; 7.90.7; 7.95.6. 99 E.g., 7.23.6; 7.9.6; 7.26.5; 7.42.6; 7.95.6; 7.7.7; 7.12.3; 7.76.7; 7.77.6; 7.90.7; 7.39.7; and 10.65.15; 10.122.8; 10.150.5. 1001.17; 3.62.1-3; 4.41; 4.42.7-10; 6.68; 7.82-85; 8.59. 101Dandekar, "Vasistha as ReligiousConciliator,"p. 240.
89 88
Ibid., pp. 320-321.
andculture Vasistha: personality

102 103
104 105
105
Ibid., p. 242.
Ibid., p. 240.
in the later The emphasison the singleindividualin thiscult is reflected in an interiorization oftheritual and an increasing selfbrahminical ritualsystem of theritualpatron,Heesterman, op. cit.,pp. 14-22. sufficiency 106 Dandekar, "Varuna, Vasistha,and Bhakti," p. 78. See also Hillebrandt, op. cit.,2:33. 107 Ibid., p. 78. 108 Erikson,Young Man Luther, p. 14. 109Ibid., p. 73. 110 Ibid., p. 253. op. cit.;Lommel,op. cit. 11 Karmarkar,
112
Ibid., p. 244.
E.g., 7.61.2a;7.87.3c.
113
115
116
114 Ibid., p.
Dandekar,"Vasistha as ReligiousConciliator,"p. 246. 240. 118 E.g., 7.26.2c; 7.29.4d; 7.32.3b, 26b. 119Geldner,op. cit.,2:228n; Karmarkar, op. cit.,p. 121. 120 Erikson,Gandhi's Truth, p. 129.
117 Ibid., p.
Ibid., p. 267.
andSociety, Erikson,Childhood p. 267. 268.

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Vasiha: Religious Personality and Vedic Culture Author(s): Ellison Banks Findly Reviewed work(s): Source: Numen, Vol.

Vol.XXXI, Fasc. 1 Numen,

VASISTHA: RELIGIOUS PERSONALITY AND VEDIC CULTURE

andculture personality Vasi.stha:

and culture Vasisytha: personality

andculture VasiYstha: personality

andculture Vasis.tha: personality

andculture personality Vasis.tha:

andculture Vasis.tha: personality

andculture personality Vasi.stha:

andculture Vasi.s.tha: personality

Agastya: 14. "He supports thehymn-bearer, theverse-bearer.

andculture Vasis.tha: personality

andculture Vasisytha: personality

andculture Vasi.stha: personality

Of Varuna, for instance, these hymns say:

Vasistha says to Varuna, for instance:

with "This Varunais angry you."

andculture personality Vasi.s.tha:

andculture personality Vasi.s.tha:

Trinity College, Hartford CT 06106, U.S.A.

ELLISON BANKS FINDLY

andculture personality Vasis.tha:

Oriental Research 22 (1941): 120-122. Animals,Bhandarkar Institute,

andculture Vasis.tha: personality

Ibid., pp. 109,117-118.

133. Ibid., pp.132,

Ibid., pp. 320-321.

andculture Vasistha: personality

andSociety, Erikson,Childhood p. 267. 268.

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