Short communication, Note
VEDIC RITUAL IN NEO-HINDUIST CONTEXT
Zdravka Matišić
; Filozofski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Abstract
Vedas, the sacred books in which the religion of the Indo-European tribes which came to
India is preserved in minute detail, gave their name to an era more than 3000 years old.
This is not to say that the Vedic ritual which arose during that time disappeared with the
Vedic Age. Quite the contrary, due to precise instructions in the texts as well as the
uninterrupted oral tradition, Vedic rites, a relic of a long-dead era, continue to be performed
in India even in the present day as the most sacred part of Hindu tradition. As might be
expected, the tradition is now carried on only by scattered groups of brahmins throughout
the country, so that for a given sacrifice, those brahmins who specialize in that sacrifice or
a part of it will be called for, from whatever part of the country they live in. In Poona
(Pune) from Monday, April 29, to Saturday, May 3, 1969 (a day of full moon), one of these
Vedic sacrifices, a soma sacrifice (jyotištoma) was held. The article discusses this sacrifice
at Poona, not from the standpoint of describing the ritual, but for the purpose of trying to
convey to the reader an idea of the atmosphere of the ritual, the impressions it leaves on
the observer, and perhaps something of the spirit of the ritual. On Friday morning, May 2,
the Sankaracarya of Satara appeared in order that he might be paid homage. The dias on
which he sat, was west to the sacrificial ground. After a group of priests who were also
taking part in the sacrifice, chanted some Vedic mantras, another priest performed puja (act
of worship of modern Hinduism). There was no integration of modern symbols of Hindu
worship with the Vedic ritual. Even though they took place at the same time and the same
place, and even the same priests were participating in both, foreign observers felt them as
entirely alien to each other.
Keywords
neo-hinduism; vedic ritual; jyotištoma; Sankaracarya; Poona
Hrčak ID:
33391
URI
Publication date:
4.12.2000.
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