ELECTRONIC JOURNAL OF VEDIC STUDIES Volume 1, Issue 4 (December 1995) EDITORIAL ========= This issue contains some news and a short version of M. Witzel's longer paper of c. 160 pp. on the origin of the Kuru Realm in post-Rgvedic India, since he had received several requests for its publication in electronic form. It is hoped that this will create a lively discussion of the use of Vedic texts for an evaluation of the two great Epics of India, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana (and perhaps the Puranas), as well as on the importance on the Vedic texts for a reconstruction of the earliest history of the subcontinent. The file is sent in three sections because of its length. The transcription scheme follows the Kyoto-Harvard style. Since this paper contains many personal names, capitalization of such names has been retained wherever possible. (However. names beginning with S, T, D, N , J, G, S, A, I, U, etc. had to be given in lower case as to avoid ambiguity.) ------- In December, the membership of the Journal has crossed the 300-line. Starting with the next issue we will begin two special columns: - Discussion of papers published in the journal. You are welcome to send your observations, comments and criticism. The author will have a chance to reply. - Requently asked questions on the Vedas, Vedic tradition and its importance for modern Hinduism. Again, you are welcome to send in questions, observations, small "papers". Please, be specific and don't send general contributions such as "Vedic Tradition" or "The Ancient Rishis". Questions will be answered, in the next issue, as soon as the time of the editors allow. M.W. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- CONTENTS ======== PAPER: M. Witzel, EARLY SANSKRITIZATION. Origin and development of the Kuru state. (parts: (a) text, of 60 Kb and (b) notes, of 40 Kb) NEWS: The International Foundation for Studies in the Veda (part c: 4 Kb) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Michael Witzel Harvard University EARLY SANSKRITIZATION. ORIGINS AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE KURU STATE. SUMMARY The MahAbhArata is, by and large, the tale of a great battle between two sections of the ancient Kuru people of the Haryana/W. Uttar Pradesh region, as told at the snake sacrifice of the post-battle Kuru king ParIkSit. Since the Vedic texts are "tape recordings" of the Vedic period we can use them as basis for judging the less strict tradition of the Epics. To provide such a basis, the present paper is an investigation of the forces behind the formation of the Kuru realm at the end of the Rgvedic period. The emergence of the Kuru realm is of extraordinary importance as its civilization has influenced later Indian ritual, society and political formations, frequently even until today. Comments are welcome and will be published in a separate column of letters/discussion. KurukSetra,[1] the sacred land of Manu where even the gods perform their sacrifices, is the area between the two small rivers Sarsuti and Chautang,[2] situated about a hundred miles north-west of Delhi. It is here that the mahAbhArata battle took place.[ 3] Why has KurukSetra been regarded so highly ever since the early Vedic period? Actually, the Rgvedic archetype of the mahAbhArata, the "Ten Kings' Battle" (dAzarAjJa), took place further west on the ParuSNI (RavI). Due to the victory of the Bharata chieftain sudAs in this battle, the Bharata tribe was able to settle in the KurukSetra area.[4] The evolvement of the small tribal Bharata domination into that of a much larger Kuru realm is not recorded by our texts. The Kurus suddenly appear on the scene in the post-Rgvedic texts. As so often, the sanskrit texts record only the results of certain developments. I. THE MIDDLE VEDIC PERIOD AND THE MANTRA EPOCH This "gap" between the Rgveda and the other Vedic texts is one of the major dark periods of Indian history; in fact, it often is not even recognized as a separate period by the very scholars who deal with the Vedic texts. However, in my opinion, it is this period (together with the slightly earlier formation of the Bharata realm), which is of crucial importance for the development of all later Indian culture and civilization. It is at this moment that the social "raw material" present in Rgvedic time was intentionally transformed into what became the core and the pattern first of Vedic and, later on, of Hindu culture. What we have of this time are only the Vedic texts.[5] Archaeology has recently, and increasingly so, become another factor in describing this period, although the correlation between the texts and the archaeological facts is still a matter of much discussion. We have to rely on the texts, their form, their organisation, and their language in its historical development as well as in its synchronic dialectic spread, their internal chronology; furthermore we have to take into account the criteria such as that of text formation, that of the development and spread of the various Vedic schools of ritual interpretation, of the development of ritual and religious thought in general, and, of course, the occasional remarks in the texts about the tribes and peoples of the area, their history, their material culture and its gradual development in time, etc. In doing so, it is notable that apparently small observations, such as those on phonetic peculiarities, on intentional use of "high" Rgvedic forms in one of the two AV texts (PaippalAda saMhitA), the intentional use of outdated, archaic materials in ritual, the taking over of ancient materials into the final RV collection and into the YV texts, or the archaization of atharvaveda mantras by starting hymns with hieratic meters, help to create a framework for judging the historical developments and the trends in this early culture. In this procedure, special attention must be paid to the historical levels in the development of the texts, - and not just to their order in Indian tradition: one usually distinguishes saMhitAs, brAhmaNas, AraNyakas, upaniSads, and sUtras, in roughly that chronological order. The internal chronology of the texts helps to establish historical levels. Even more so, the development of the Vedic language is a secure guide in doing so: we have to distinguish five text layers [6] which do not always coincide with the traditional division given just now. These five linguistic and textual levels can conveniently be divided into three major periods which are distinct in language, habitat, and in their social, religious, and political features: the Old Vedic period (level 1: Rgveda), the Middle Vedic period (levels 2-4a) and the Late Vedic period (levels 4b, 5: the later brAhmaNas, AraNyakas, upaniSads, and most sUtras). However, when the Vedic texts are discussed by Vedic and other scholars, they usually are treated as poetry, as ritual handbooks or as early philosophy, that is -- only as texts.[7] Even after some 150 years of study, the Vedic period as a whole does not seem to have a history, and its texts are generally thought to have been composed in a geographical vacuum "somewhere in Northern India".[8] [B Against this vague background it is perhaps not surprising that the professional writers on older Indian History did not shed much light on the early and middle Vedic period until a few years ago. The communis op[Binio still is that the RV represents a fight of "everybody against everybody else".[9] It is only in the recent book on Indian history by H. Kulke and D. Rothermund [10] that the Vedic period is treated more adequately. In this work, recent progress both in archaeology and in Vedic studies has been made use of and an up-to-date, fairly detailed and quite reliable picture of the period emerges. However, in this paper, I propose to add some sigfnificant features to the evolving picture. *** The history of the earlier Vedic period can be summarized as follows. The first fixed dates in Indian history that are usually mentioned are that of the Buddha around 500 B.C. or rather 400 B. C. [11] and that of PANini. Both dates, in fact, presuppose the evolvement of the bulk of Vedic literature. The beginning of the Vedic period, however, is equally vague and uncertain. Recent findings in archaeology, however, put the disintegration of the Indus civilization at c. 1900 B.C. As the RV does not speak of cities but only of ruins (armaka),[12] even larger ones ([mahA-]vailasthAna), we may suppose that the Indo-Aryans immigrated,[13] or rather, gradually trickled in,[14] tribe by tribe[15] and clan by clan, after 1900 B.C.[16] As a possible date ad quem for the RV one usually adduces the Hittite-Mitanni agreement of the middle of the 14th cent. B.C. which mentions four of the major Rgvedic gods: mitra, varuNa, indra and the nAsatya (azvin).[17] The next major archaeological date available is that of the introduction of iron [18] at c. 1200 B.C. It is first mentioned in the second oldest text, the atharvaveda, as 'black metal' (kRSNa ayas, zyAma ayas) while the RV only knows of ayas itself "copper/bronze".[19] Of the three periods in Vedic history mentioned above, the Old Vedic (Rgveda) and the Late Vedic periods (brAhmaNas, upaniSads, etc.) differ from each other in many respects. It is necessary, first, to characterize the Old and the Late Vedic period briefly. THE OLD VEDIC PERIOD: THE LATE VEDIC PERIOD: Rgveda, the oldest text Late brAhmaNas/Early upaniSads ----------------------- ------------------------------ geographical area: Afghanistan, Panjab and all of Northern India, surroundings up to the from the Kabul river (gandhAra) to YamunA (once, the gaGgA); aGga, PuNDra (Bengal), and to Vidarbha (N. E. mahArASTra), andhra in the south political set-up: some 50 smaller tribes, two major groups, the Kuru-PaJcAla in constant conflict (gaviSTi) and Kosala-Videha; against each other and against at the borders of these units there are some the aboriginees (dasyu) some minor tribes: matsya, uzInara, etc.; The Vedic tribes are the area is divided into some 16 "kingdoms"; sometimes arranged into 5 the Kuru-PaJcAla form the center, "peoples" (kRSTi, jana), etc.: the minor tribes and "outsiders" 4 in the 4 directions, with (BAhIka, magadha etc.) constitute major tribe at the "center" the outward frames society: chieftains (rAjan) lord over front of the kSatriya and the fellow rAjanya/kSatriya Brahmins (brahma-kSatra) (nobility) and the viz against the "people" (viz); "the people", successively stricter stratification with the addition of the into the 3 Arya (twice-born) and the aboriginees and servants / additional zUdra (aboriginal) classes slaves (dAsa,dasyu, puruSa) (varNa) texts and ritual: gods are invited to often the ritual has been transformed into quite elaborate rituals, an elaborate framework of complicated, such as the soma ritual, they frame-like structures, set according to are treated as guests, fed and two major patterns (soma, iSTi); praised by poets who are in- poetry of ancient style is no longer spired and compose hymns in produced; most older poetry is collected the traditional (IIr./I.E.) in some major texts and used in the poetical language and in the ritual in a rather schematic way. traditional meters; the hymns New forms of literature dealing with the are collected in small sets by explanation of the ritual have the poets' families and clans developed. The intervening period, i.e. the Middle Vedic epoch, is represented by the Mantras and the expository prose of the YV saMhitAs (MS, KS/ KpS, TS) and by several older brAhmaNas[20] -- texts composed in the Kuru-PaJcAla area, between Eastern Panjab and Kausambi/Allahabad. The geographical center of Vedic civilization thus has spread from the the Gandhara/Panjab area to the Eastern border of the Panjab (KurukSetra, Haryana) and beyond, well into Uttar Pradesh. Both saMhitAs of the AV attest the borders of geographical knowledge of this period: they are Balhika (Bactria), and gandhAri in the north-west while the south-east is marked by the KAzi (PS) viz. aGga (in the somewhat later ZS).[21] II. EMERGENCE However, the origin of the new large Kuru tribe is still unclear: earlier tribes were remembered as forming parts of the new tribal union, such as the Krivi among the PaJcAla.[22] In fact the great chieftain of the Kuru still is called chief (rAjan) of the Bharata.[23] In addition, some very neglected passages in Middle Vedic texts suggest that even among the Kuru "dominion is threefold" [24] and it was six-fold [25] (originally threefold as well) [26] among the PaJcAla, which may suggest phyle/tribus- like divisions of these larger unions.[27] Both tribes, the Kurus and the PaJcAlas, form a "people", of two large "tribes" with separate chieftains whose families, however, intermarry.[28] In other respects as well, the two tribes form a ritual union within a large chiefdom; it is based on competition between two moieties: for example, they exchange their roving bands of vrAtyas (see below). Most interestingly, the pottery of the period seems to echo the tribal differences between the Kurus and PaJcAlas and it remains to be seen whether further distinguishing archaeological traits can be identified.[29] We now know that the linguistically defined period of the mantra language [30] (level 2) intervened between the RV (level 1) and the beginning of the Middle Vedic, which is first attested as the expository prose in the "brAhmaNa style" (level 3) of the earliest extant YV saMhitAs.[31] This dark age, the "gap" between the late RV and the mantras of the early YV saMhitAs, can be approached by asking such questions as: what was the reason for the shift in the geographical location of the tribes from the Panjab to KurukSetra and PaJcAla; for the shift of the political center; for the disppearance or unification of the 50-odd major clans and tribes into a few large tribes; for the importance of KurukSetra in general; for the development of the the new Vedic (Zrauta) ritual, such as the new order of priests, multiplication of ritual fires, development of new rituals, such as the agnicayana ritual; for certain changes in religion: development of new gods such as PrajApati, beginning already in RV 10; for the collection of the Rgvedic hymns and other texts; for the differences in language and order of the texts as preserved by different schools of the same Veda: AVZ : PS, KS : MS, TS; JS : KauthSV? The mantra period proper can be characterized as the time of the establishment of the Kuru realm. One or more persons had the ingenious idea to use whatever was present and prominent in the religion and society at the time and to reshape and tailor all these elements in order to establish and maintain Bharata/Kaurava and Kuru dominance.[32] As will be detailed below, this affected and involved traditional ritual, the institutions of priests, including their number and character, their traditional poetry and ritual texts; furthermore, whatever was amenable to change in the other tribal elites, such as the families of the high aristocracy and the gentry, the poets and bards, and even the leadership of the settled aboriginal population (niSAda). When and where did this take place and who were the main actor(s)? The clue to the enigma is traceable by an investigation into the KuntApa ritual (RVKh 5, ZS 20.127). The KuntApa section of the Rgveda Khilas is a very enigmatic but intriguing small collection of hymns and a few prose mantras (yajuS). It forms part of the mahAvrata day, i.e. the culmination point of the one-year gavAm ayana rite at winter solstice. The main idea seems to be that of helping the sun around its 'turning point' at winter solstice. The procedure is assisted by sympathetic magic, such as chariot races imitating the elliptic course of the sun around its turning point. But the KuntApa rite also is a fertility rite [33] and some of the hymns have a curious relation to royal fame and power.[34] The name Kuru occurs first as part of the name of a person in the late RV,[35] and then, independently, in the KuntApa section as the Kaurava clan/tribe (Kaurama [36]), where the reign of one of their chiefs is described [37] as the golden age of the Kaurava / Kuru people under their Great Chief (Kaurava, ruzama, cf. Kauravya pati). The verses themselves tell us when they were composed: their language is that of the mantra period. This important yearly ritual transports us into the center of early Kuru power, to KurukSetra.[38] In these stanzas, the ritual is mentioned as taking place with the +Kaurava (Kaurama) among the ruzama, in Kuru territory. At 5.10.2 a member of this tribe is called a KauravyaH patiH. His king's reign apparently constitutes the high point in the history of the tribe. It is clearly described as such:[39] "Listen to the good praise of the King belonging to all people, who, (like) a god, is above men, (listen to the the praise) of ParikSit! - 'ParikSit has just now made us peaceful dwelling;[40] darkness has just now run to its dwelling.' The Kuru householder, preparing (grains) for milling, speaks (thus) with his wife. - 'What shall I bring you, sour milk, the mantha [a barley/milk drink], (or) the Parisrut [liquor]?' the wife keeps asking in the Realm of King ParikSit. - By itself, the ripe barley bends heavily (iva) over the deep track of the path. The tribe thrives auspiciously in the Realm of King ParikSit."[41] The hymn sums up the good life of this period: peaceful settlement (kSema), not strife and war; a variety of food and drink: barley flour, sour milk, the mixture of barley and milk (mantha), a sort of herbal alcohol (parisrut), and a rich harvest of barley.[42] Even the exact timeframe is indicated: after sudAs' Ten Kings' Battle, which is mentioned at RVKh 5.14.1 as dAzarAjJe' mAnuSam, the mAnuSa (locality) [43] at the Ten Kings' Battle. The language of the stanzas affirms this date.[44] The Rgvedic social institution of vidatha (5.12.1 vidathya`) [45] is still known: The Kuru king must have regularly distributed the booty of raids and wars. The most important point, however, is the early post-Rgvedic praise of the golden age of the Kurus under their King ParikSit, the ancestor of the well-known Janemejaya PArikSita of brAhmaNa and mahAbhArata fame and of the PArikSita dynasty of the Kurus. The most important political result of the reform carried out by the dynasty of ParikSit was the formation of the Kuru tribe and the permanent establishment of the BhArata-Kuru chiefdom. The formation of the Kuru state and the establishment of its new socio-religious basis is a lasting feature of the Vedic period, and not a transient one like that of the PUru or Bharata realms in Rgvedic times. In fact, as we shall see, the "new order" has its distant effects until today. III. STRATEGIES The changes were carried out in the center of political power and of contemporary culture, in KurukSetra, which now also became the center of the newly emerging Vedic orthopraxy and "orthodoxy".[46] At this time, various Rgvedic tribes in eastern Panjab , Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh first fused into one tribe, the Kuru, which later expanded into two major tribes, the Kuru-PaJcAla. The Kuru union and the realm of their BhArata/Kaurava kings represents the first larger polity or "early state" [47] on Indian soil. Its sheer size among the few other surviving Rgvedic tribes would have insured their dominance. The Kuru realm matches many of the characteristics of early states which emerged from traditional tribal chiefdoms or from the larger aggregation of such chiefdoms. [48] The new Kuru king, in fact, may often still be characterized as a Great Chief.[49] He is only the primus inter pares (zreSThaH svAnAm) among the high nobility of the Kuru confederation which is characterized as having three subtribes.[50] However, the new powerful kingship is at least semi-hereditary,[51] bolstered by a claim of ultimately divine ancestry [52] re-enacted in ritual. This claim is supported by the royal priest (purohita) and by a retinue of ratnins, royal officials who are bound to the Kuru lord by loyalty and liberal gifts. The new order is further sustained by some major changes in society, such the incipient stratification into four "classes" (varNa), first met with in the late RV (10.90), the establishment of the new priestly corporations representing the Four Vedas, and especially by the ever-increasing dominance of the BrAhma-KSatra alliance.[53] It was created, as some brAhmaNa texts clearly say with Marxist analysis before its day, in order to exploit the rest of the population.[54] The establishment of the new Kuru order differed qualitatively from the more gradual Rgvedic political and social developments. In Rgvedic times, there clearly were some "non-Aryan" [55] chiefs such as Varo suzAman, BalbUtha, BRbu [56] who followed Indo-Aryan religion. They represent examples of an early wave of acculturation.[57] Even the hieratic poetic language of the RV hymns shows the increasing influence of the local substrate.[58] Now, under the Kuru kings, acculturation was followed by well-planned sanskritization [59] representing major changes in social format.[60] It included, in a strategically advantageous way for the Kuru, the older (Rgvedic) elements of ritual with its priests, texts, and language, while exceedingly stressing its traditional character by being overly archaic [61] and restrictive. The new class ("caste") system introduced non-Aryans such as the ZUdras into the Vedic society [62] but, at the same time, barred them from ritual (and thus, from heaven). Only by way of exception, prominent non-Aryans such as the niSAda-sthapati and a "border line" artisan, the rathakAra,[63] were allowed to sponsor sacrifices [64] -- early forms of the inclusionism which later on characterizes Hinduism, in fact, until today.[65] The effect was the creation of a permament, and now, after all the liberal Rgvedic intermingling and acculturation, of an artificial boundary between Aryans and non-Aryans (zUdra-Arya). The changes in the social formation, from semi-nomadic tribe to a larger tribal union, need a definite expression in order to be able to function as a "new order." This is frequently expressed as antagonism between classes and groups both in language and ritual, and is first met with in the "first constitution of India," [66] the puruSa hymn of RV 10.90. Such demarcations are, as can also be observed elsewhere,[67] a typical reaction to an initial stage of free and wide-spread acculturation. The dominant brahma-kSatra elite, already thoroughly mixed with local and aboriginal elements, now encapsuled itself vis-a`-vis the "third estate", the Vaizyas, and stressed its superiority with regard to them, as well religious and racial "purity" over the non-Aryan ZUdras. One of the strategies of the Kuru kings by which they achieved their new status was the traditional gaining of booty in their external expeditions (see below) and its distribution, but this is now supplemented by the collection of "taxes", or rather, the coercion of "tribute", bali. The Kuru king is the ideal type of a "benevolent lord" who seems to give more than he takes from his subjects and who supports his nobles and other subjects.[68] Sociologically speaking, this is typical for many early societies, whether based on collecting/hunting, simple horticulture or agriculture, or on (semi-)nomadic pastoralism. However, since the Kuru period, this kind of exchange, implemented throughout the realm, has been institutionalized in Indian society in a semi-religious fashion. As W. Rau has pointed out, the mutual relationship is expressed in the Vedic period by the concept of bhartR :: bhArya "supporter/supported one" = attR :: annam "eater/food". The form of exchange follows a complicated pattern, a "social contract" that cannot be detailed here.[69] The RVKh KuntApa hymns still reflect something of the old ideal in their description of the golden age of ParikSit with the distribution of booty (vidatha) at a great festival about the time of the winter solstice. But the Rgvedic pattern of a ritual exchange of goods and booty within a small tribe is now replaced by complicated (Zrauta) ritual and social exchange within the larger Kuru realm, in which, nevertheless, tribal sub-units survive. As has been pointed out, the Kurus had three, and their neighbors, the PaJcAla, six (originally three only). The great royal rituals underline the new and strengthened position of the king: Vedic ritual is not always as private as some think.[70] The power of the Kuru king was qualitatively different from that and much greater than that of a chieftain, say of the Yadu tribe, in the RV (see below). The expanded rituals are supported by the increasing stratification of society during the mantra and YV saMhitA period. It is visible, apart from the establishment of the four classes (varNa), in the formation of a large number of artisan specialists who are mentioned in the more complicated royal rituals such as the azvamedha.[71] This development coincides with an increasing production of goods: now, also the land between the rivers is settled and production increases;[72] later on, the east is 'reformed' by the Kuru-PaJcAla Brahmins, whose 'culture hero', agni VaizvAnara, "sweetened the country as to make it suitable for agriculture". Excess production apparently took place only after the establishment of a central power, such as that of the Kuru, that of the legendary Videha king, as well as that of the better attested Kosala and magadha realms. Centralized power also brought about the perceived necessity of specialized crafts, best visible at the occasion of the great state rituals. As far as the rest of the nobility and gentry was concerned, competition for superiority (zreSThaH svAnAm, ahaMzreSTha) among them was stimulated when it did not interfere with the role of the supreme chieftain, the king of the Kuru. All important positions in society were occupied by the alliance of Brahmins and KSatriyas (brahma-kSatra), which exploited -- according to their own words -- the rest of the population; but within this new system competition was possible and indeed persistant.[73] But rivalry and competition are also clearly visible in the newly developed Zrauta ritual. Indeed, one of the strategies of achieving their goal of an internal competition without peril was the setting up by the Kuru kings of the complicated Zrauta ritual, which once and for all divided the people into four classes, and forged a new unity based on exchange between Brahmins and KSatriyas (brahmakSatra).[74] The Kuru kings also succeeded in controlling, in turn, the older, amorphous groups of priests [75] by a clear subdivision of their ritual labor. This was now re-distributed into *four* field s of specialization, i.e. the four Vedas and their ritual use. These four groups of priests (RV: hotR, SV: udgAtR, YV: adhvaryu, AV: brahman) [76] had quite specified duties during the solemn (Zrauta) rituals. The priestly occupations were even further divided, for good measure, into sub-specializations of 16 or 17 types [77] -- something not unlike the increasing specialization among the craftsmen and artisans. In both cases, centralized power stimulated specialization. With a political master stroke, the Kuru kings also succeeded in controling the aristocracy, that is their fellow rAjanyas and KSatriyas, by giving them something else, new, and fashionable to 'worry about': the complicated Zrauta ritual. In evaluating this one should disregard, for the moment, the usual phenomenological, pseudo-historical, and "philosophical" approaches to Vedic ritual and concentrate on its social effects. It is surprising that even the contemporary specialists of Vedic ritual have not noticed that the Zrauta ritual - while often having one and the same aim, namely reaching heaven - is set up in such a way as to satisfy various levels of solemnity and stat us. A not (very wealthy) Vaizya might have been content with the domestic (gRhya) rituals of passage that are executed for him and his family. However, a lower rank KSatriya might have attempted to go on to the next step on the socio-religious ladder and become a dIkSita, that is an initiated "sacrificer" (yajamAna), after having learnt more of the Veda than a Vaizya (such as a grAmaNI, a "trek leader") [78] or a lower rank KSatriya owner of such a wagon train (a grAmin), or a simple kSatriyabandhu. After he had established the three sacred fires, he could then perform the agnihotra, the New and Full Moon sacrifices, etc. If he wished for more, he could add the seasonal rituals (CAturmAsya) and the yearly soma ritual. If he was still not content with this and wished to impress his rivals further (who would often come to interfer with or destroy his rituals),[79] he could go on with seven more types of soma rituals (soma-saMsthA). While violent interference with one's ritual may have been a remnant of a more agonistic period, as Heesterman believes, (this would be the one of the RV, not of a nebulous past!), ritual violence was still visible but tamed. Nobody takes the trouble to disturb a simple agnihotra or New- and Full Moon ritual. It is the more important rituals, especially the azvamedha (capturing the horse), which bring out the rivals of the sponsor. What is important here is that these - only natural - rivalries were cleverly channeled in the new, Zrauta way of stratification. Beyond the KSatriyas, the next level is that of the nobility of royal blood, i.e. of men who are "fit to be ordained as kings" (abhiSecanIya [80]), then that of the rAjans themselves, not "kings" but rather "chieftains"; for example one of the 3 among the Kurus or one of the 6 of the PaJcAla. And, finally, there is the Great Chief, the King of the Kurus. The nobility had the means - and apparently also the leisure - to perform such rituals as the agnicayana, a complicated rite taking a whole year, or -- instead of the seasonal offerings (cAturmAsya), -- the gavAm ayana which also takes a year. In similar gradation, a low rank ruler could receive, as pointed out above, the consecration as chieftain through the simple royal abhiSeka,[81] the more complicated rAjAbhiSeka [82] and ekarAjAbhiSeka,[83] or the solemn aindrAbhiSeka,[84] and finally, there was the solemn Zrauta option of the rAjasUya. Later on, a revised, complicated Zrauta version of the Rgvedic, originally even Indo-European,[85] horse sacrifice (azvamedha), was added for especially powerful supreme kings who claimed "world domination,"[86] which nevertheless only encompassed parts of (northern) India. In the case of ParikSit and his dynasty we can see the process of Zrauta adaptation happen before our eyes: It has not been noticed so far [87] that another mantra time text, PaippalAda saMhitA 10, was composed to serve as "coronation" text of the early Kuru kings. It is here that we get for the first time the mentioning of typical Zrauta terms such as sava. More importantly, there is the connection, established by H. Falk, of the rAjasUya and royal adoption, which is actually hinted at already in an older text, the rohita book of AV (ZS 13, PS 18.15-26). The son of the AikSvAku King Harizcandra also was called "the Red One" (rohita, AB 7.13 sqq. in a story discussing the rAjasUya); he apparently was added to this story in order to show his descendence from rohita, the Sun (i.e. Vivasvant/mArtANDa, one of the great Aditya gods; note the "solar" lineage of the Raghu/RAma dynasty in the rAMAyaNa; in fact, rohita was engendered with the help of another Aditya god, VaruNa). The term rohita also hints at the close connection of the "brilliance of the sun" and of royal glory (varcas, Avest. xvarena). This whole complex, too, is in need of further investigation.[88] Summing up the discussion of ritual it can be said that by the time of the mantra period, there were, on all levels of Indo-Aryan society, several ritual options available to each man if he wished to attain fame and glory, kIrti and (brahma)varcas. Every rAjanya, KSatriya and Vaizya could perform such solemn rites on an offering ground near his home.[89] The new Zrauta ritual thus put everyone in his proper station and at his proper place: in the life cycle and in society, both during the period of one's Veda study and the roaming about as vrAtya as well as during one's time as "settled" householder (gRhastha). There was opportunity for each and everyone to gain higher status by having the Brahmins perform more and more elaborate rituals -- instead of simply raiding one's neighbors. In order to carry out many of the religious and social reforms mentioned so far and as to achieve the general purpose of overlordship in northern India,[90] the Kuru kings initiated also a collection of the major poetic and ritual texts, -- certainly intended to show their care for traditional lore and knowledge. The "trick" was to preserve the old but to institute some, often minute changes as to serve the new ruler's goals. In the case of traditional Aryan lore, the aim was not only to collect all (suitable) texts but also to re-arrange them in a fashion suitable for the new goals. The old ritual hymns and some poetry were assembled in the Rgveda-saMhitA, the major ritual mantras and early (now lost) explanatory prose texts in an Ur-Yajurveda-saMhitA, the melodies sung during the soma sacrifice in an Ur-SV-saMhitA, and the healing and other charms as well as speculative hymns, though all reworked by AGgirasa Brahmins, in an Ur-AV-saMhitA. What could have motivated the late Rgvedic and early mantra time poets and "copyright owners" and priests to make major changes in text transmission and ritual performance? The 'extraction' of the often secret Rc and mantra texts from their authors' and owners' clans of poets and priests cannot have happened without a certain amount of pressure. Traditional owners of the "copyright" to a certain hymn were not likely to divulge the exact text or to voluntarily give up all their exclusive rights to the collection of texts composed and customarily also transmitted by their family or clan. Therefore, the carrot of "joint ownership" by the newly formed brAhmaNa class (RV 10.90) or, at least by those Brahmins learning just one Veda by heart, had to be offered as well. Indeed, the tradition of individual and clan-wise origin of each hymn was preserved by a complicated system of arrangement of the Rgvedic hymns in the "collection" (saMhitA), which also took into account the author whose name must be mentioned to this very day before reciting a hymn.[91] Thus, the goal of having a new text collection fit for Zrauta ritual was achieved by preserving much of the traditional status of the poets/priests, their rights, and their "ownership" of compositions in sacred speech. The collection of texts was not only made from the poets' clans closely allied with the Bharata royal family, such as the VAsiSTha, but in order not to lose continuity, also with hymns linked to the glorious past of the PUru (and occasionally, even the Yadu-turvaza, anu-druhyu tribes). Many if not most of the traditionally remembered old hymns were included in the "national" collection of hymns, the Rgveda, though the hymns of the Bharata and the PUru clearly dominate the collection. Once the collection was fixed, there was no need, of course, to create new hymns -- which was a major goal of poets/priests (brahma'n) in Rgvedic times. What was still carried on was the composition of new speculative hymns: in the late RV, under the Bha ratas, and especially in the AV under the Kurus. Note that the poet (brahma'n) of the RV now reappeared as author of (part of the) AV, which was at first called Atharva-AGgirasa, "the (collection of hymns) of the atharvans and aGgiras." [92] Many of these new hymns deal with the ritual and its "philosophical" underpinnings, such as yajJa, "food" (brahma-)odana, ucchiSTa, etc. which are in need of a detailed investigation. In all these cases one can notice that one means to bring about continuity in spite of the great changes carried out under the Kurus, was the artificial archaization of certain parts of the new Zrauta ritual, [93] the use of artificial, archaic forms [94 ] in the poetic and learned language of the poets, priests and "theologians" of the mantra and YV [BsaMhitA periods, and of text formation and their collection.[95] The new ritual and its language appeared to be more elaborate and impressive but at the same time, had to give the appearance of having come down from a hallowed past. The formation of early states such as that of the Kurus usually brings about important changes in ideology, religion and mythology. The new religious and political ideology necessary for the expanded dimension in tribal organization included many elements of the older, Rgvedic beliefs about mankind's descent from the gods, their access to heaven and to eternal "happiness" after death: for example, warriors who died in battle were taken to heaven by the apsaras (the rather unnoticed sisters of the Norse Walkyries), and they were readily accepted there by the gods -- a topic found from the Rgveda [96] onwards.[97] Access to heaven is one of the major topics of all Zrauta ritual. Next to sons, rain, cattle, long life (Ayus) it is a prolonged (theoretically, but only by exception, eternal) stay in heaven that one strives for, after a stint on earth characterized by constant strife and frequent hunger, as has been described in detail by W. Rau.[98] It is in the KurukSetra area that the heavenly river (SarasvatI, the Milky Way) was regarded as flowing down from heaven about the time of the winter solstice: it thus opened, with its two branches touching the north-eastern horizon, the "gate" to heaven.[99] An important, if not the chief one among the religious developments is that the new royal center in KurukSetra gave rise to a new mythology of the region. It is here and not elsewhere that the gods traditionally sacrifice and hold their long sattra rites to overcome their perpetual foes, the asuras.[100] Further, the river sarasvatI itself is the personification on Earth of the goddess sarasvatI, the name of the Milky Way in the Vedic texts; this falls down on earth at the PlakSa PrAsravaNa, the world tree at the center of heaven and earth,[101] and then continues to flow through the land of the Kuru people,[102] -- which is identified with the whole earth.[103] The area was conceived as the "cen[Bter of the world", a trait first visible after the victory of the Bharata king sudAs and his settling on the sarasvatI (located according to RV 3.53.11 vara A pRthivyAH "at the best place of the earth."[104]) Such identifications of one's habitat with the center of the world are common among many peoples, and in such cases the place of the ritual always is regarded as the center;[105] However, KurukSetra now also became the place where even the gods offer (devayajana).[106] IV. STRUCTURE The immediate outcome of the establishment of the new system of Zrauta ritual for a king of the Kurus was: his "reform" unified various smaller tribes by a single, but complicated network of mutual ritual relations; this frequently was of a dualistic and partly antagonistic nature (note especially the Kuru-PaJcAla vrAtya relationship which imitates the deva :: asura strife in myth, and the Arya :: zUdra competition in society).[107] The older dual organization of the Five Peoples of Rgvedic times (anu-druhyu, Yadu-turvaza) was probably echoed in the Kuru Kingdom, originally, by that of the Bharata-PUru. This pattern emerges more clearly when the Kurus started to spread eastwards. The new territories (up to Kausambi / Allahabad) were settled by groups who then organized themselves as the PaJcAla tribe [108] which was explicitly divided into six sub-units, -- a fact which should lay to rest all speculation about the origin of the name in the number "five".[109] The (PUru-)ikSvAku are mentioned to have settled on their eastern border near Benares.[110] The relationship between Kurus and PaJcAlas was ambiguous. On the one hand, both royal families intermarried.[111] This, actually, was one of the strategies of the supreme Kuru king aiming at asserting his authority at this highest level, and has been a favorite method in all early states which cannot rely on paid bureaucrats but must rely on various types of relations built on personal loyalty between the ruler and his nobles. Polygamy, which is well attested for Vedic kings, [112] helped to establish multiple relationships with important external and internal noble families, something which certainly was necessary as the Kurus and PaJcAlas still were divided into three viz. six powerful subgroups. The device, in fact, was one of the means to for ge alliances between various exogamic units of gotras even for the richer ones among the KSatriyas and Brahmins.[113] On the other hand, the union (of ritual [114] moieties) of the Kurus and PaJcAlas was stressed by the custom of sending their Maennerbund associations (vrAtya) into each other's territory: note the KS 10.6 story about king dhRtarASTra VaicitravIrya,[115] and also the story in BZS 18.26 about the vrAtyas of the Kurus in the land of the PaJcAlas.[116] Most telling, perhaps, is the note about the Southern (Madhya Pradesh) people at JB 3.146 who send their sons northwards to the Kurus.[117] It is important to note that these young men associations do not enter new, "virgin" territory south of the Vindhya but go, in their vrAtya excursions, just as the Kurus and PaJcAlas respectively, to the land of their closest orthoprax neighbors. This clearly indicates that vrAtya exchange is carried out between (nominal, ritual) allies,[118] and not between, for example, the Aryans and the aboriginal tribes of the south. -- At the same time, these stories indicate something of the traditional aggression resulting in cattle rustling, fighting and small scale warfare existing with one's neighbors which was now canalized by the new (vrAtya) ritual. Through the ritualization of these relationships, all social and political energy could now be projected either towards a common goal, namely expansion to the east and south,[119] or otherwise towards more or less innocuous, often petty rituals which enabled ambitious KSatriyas to compete with their neighbors and rivals. This sort of rivalry always existed, even within the clan, where one wanted to become zreSThaH svAnAm. While the stategies described so far were successful in the establishment and enlargement of Kuru power, the rather minute origins of the Kuru realm are still reflected by the terms used for its incipient "administration." The titles of the royal functionaries [120] are designations such as 'butcher', or 'dice-thrower', 'meat cutter', etc. At first glance, these seem to be rather minor servants at the home of the king. The originally quite small nucleus of Kuru power is also visible in the (royal) ritual itself. Most of the older, Rgvedic and tribal rituals were linked to the course of the days and nights, the phases of the moon, the seasons, and the course of the sun. They are "rites of passage" of the year. However, the new unified and rearranged Zrauta ritual, with its highly archaizing tendency,[121] not only included all aspects and all officiants of the older rituals, but it also included some major new royal and 'national' rituals. These took place, just as their counterparts performed by the gods, at the Kurus' spiritual and political center in KurukSetra, at Asandivat 'the (place) having the throne', obviously a (temporary) seat of the frequently travelling Kuru kings;[122] other names for their royal settlement (sAdana) are naDapit and rohItakUla.[123] Some other rites took place "at the back of KurukSetra" at Parisaraka or ParInah [124] where the river sarasvatI disappeared in the desert. All of these strategies and the changes brought about underline the increased power of the supreme rAjan of the Kuru as a new "great chief". The relation between the royal court, the subtribes (jana, janatA), the clans (gotra), and the individual families (kula) was characterized by the ability of the higher levels in the social hierarchy to extract tribute (bali) from the lower levels. These tributes (in kind) still were to some degree "recycled" during the great rituals just as they had been in Rgvedic times (during the vidatha [125]). However, the royal officials of the budding administration of the Kuru kings also took their "fair" share. That this was not always acquired in genial fashion can be noticed already in a mantra time text, at atharvaveda 3.29.1, which describes the other world as one where one has to give up *just* one sixteenth [126] as tribute. The mantra and brAhmaNa texts bear frequent witness to the relatively undetermined and arbitrary nature of this kind of "tax".[127] Sahlins has described this type of society in some detail.[128] The royal officals were "paid" by the king from his bali. They did not hold just ceremonial offices (such as the govikartA, etc. [129]) but had real administrative functions as well: as army leader (senAnI), herold (kAru) or emisssary (dUta, sUta), and as royal priest (purohita) who was closely linked to the actual carrying out of government and who was very closely allied to the King also on a personal level, sometimes as his chariot driver). The various levels of authority within the new Kuru super-tribe are discernable to some degree: At the top was the king (ekarAjan [130] as a JB 2.275 and later an atharvavedic text have it), his relatives and his peers (the high aristocray), from which a lone the king could be chosen (rAjya).[131] Below this ranged the smaller chiefs (rAjan, three in the Kuru, and six in the PaJcAla tribe).[132] Then came the leaders of the various clans who strove to become "the best" (bhrAtRvya, ahaMzreSTha); for them a title is not found. They may, however, often have been identical with the owner (grAmin) viz. the leader of a wagon train [133] (grAmaNI). Significantly, this term was first introduced in RV 10, thus under the Bharata chieftains. Finally, there is the head of the extended family (dampati, pitA(mahA), pati).[134] The king could exert his will by a ready band of "terrible [warriors]" (ugra) [135] or henchmen. He also relied on a network of spies, known since Rgvedic times as spaz, in the brAhmaNa perhaps as pizuna; this institution was perfected under the early empires, as described in detail by KauTalya (as cAra). Nevertheless, the chieftain and even the great chief of the Kuru, was not yet, by any means, an absolute monarch. He could be disposed by a rebellion among his peers or by the people. This happened fairly frequently; the person of the exiled king is a recurrent in the texts of the YV saMhitA and the brAhmaNas, and special rituals were created to let him regain his kingdom.[136] The new concentration of power created, as Sahlins notes, [137] at the same time, the roots for its destruction, of revolution. Absolute power was realized only in the first great states, with aspirations of empire, such as magadha about 500 B.C. [138] The Vedic Kuru realm still resembles that of a large Polynesian chieftainship [139] such as that of Hawai'i -- and with a similar ideology.[140] In its origin and size, though not in its ideology,[141] it may be compared with another early state, the realm of the Franks under the Merowingian kings. The new arrangement of the Vedic society -- superficially united in a diversity of four classes -- did not only provide each member of the new Kuru super-tribe with a clear and fixed identity but it also allowed society to eliminate much of intra-tribal and inter-tribal strife, such as the constant cattle rustling, and to turn the KSatriyas' activities outwards. Military expansion quickly established the new Kuru tribe as the only major force among the few remaining smaller tribes of Northern India, such as the matsya, satvant, uzInara. While the nuclear area of the Kuru was the eastern Panjab, Haryana and the western part of Uttar Pradesh, the Kurus soon made their presence felt beyond this. The military expansion of the Kurus may have been limited to the periodic raiding and looting of new agricultural crops,[142] taken from the pockets of aboriginal agricultural populations (niSAda, "those sitting at their proper places"), and may have occurred as recurrent parts of the yearly transhumance movements. But in other cases [143] we notice a long-range advance. The texts clearly describe this as happening in two directions: eastwards (KS 26.2:123.17; including the victory over the KAzi [144]) and southwards (MS 4.7.9:104.14).[145] This means, expansion into the territories of the materially little progressed, chalcolithic cultures of the east and into the lands of the aboriginal agricultural peoples of the south, the Banas/Malwa cultures along the Chambal river. As confirmed by the development of the Vedic dialects,[146] the newly stratified society of the Kurus with its model of orthopraxy emerged from a fairly small territorial nucleus and the new pattern spread quickly in all directions, as far as the natural conditions of the subcontinent would allow. The testimony of the texts, their language, and archaeology indicate the expansion of these traits from a small nucleus centering around KurukSetra. Considerable re-organization of texts, rituals and social functions therefore were the hallmark of the strategies underlying the establishment of the Kuru realm. Especially the introduction of the Zrauta type ritual, the division of labor between the King and his brahmins, the close cooperation between KSatriyas and Brahmins (brahmakSatra), and even more so, the establishment of the system of four "classes" (varNa) was to become seminal for the development of Indian society ever since. *** The Kuru realm survived under ParikSit's descendant, janamejaya PArikSita, janamejaya's sons, his grandson augrasainya, and probably beyond this.[147] A closer reading of the texts yields more results for this still very hazy picture of Vedic history: the Kurus were overcome by the (probably non-Vedic) salvas [148] who "dispersed the Kurus from KurukSetra" (JB 2.206, ZZS 15.16.11-12, [149]) -- a fact completely overlooked by the historians of old India. The salva (or salvi), mentioned at ApMp 2.11.12 as Yaugandhara, settle opposite or near the matsyas on the YamunA. By that time, the former and by now defeated Kuru tribe and the salvas had apparently coalesced and they therefore re-appear in a late brAhmaNa [150] as a standard Vedic people, and then, in the Epic and Buddhist literature also as ZUrasena.[151] The name of the Kurus was kept alive during the Vedic period, and, in fact, the area appears to have been thoroughly (re-) sanskritized [152] already by the time of ZB: the Kurus are not reckoned with the despised BAhIkas ("the Outsiders") of the Panjab but are again regarded as belonging to the heartland of orthopraxy.[153] Against this background it is not surprising that a late Vedic text, BAU 3.3.1, can look back at the royal family of the Kuru as belonging to the distant past. The passage (ZB 14.6.3 = BAUK 3.3.1-2) mentions the fate of the PArikSitas, the royal family of the Kurus, and asks: "what has become of the PArikSitas?" -- The answer is: "they have, in truth, gone whither the offerers of horse sacrifice go" -- and this is a 'heaven', a place beyond the ends of the world, and the ring ocean around it. Apparently they have gained a firm place in heaven which is otherwise granted only to such extra-ordinary persons such as the Seven RSis. These few passages might, ultimately, provide the clue for the prominence, in the later YV-saMhitA and the brAhmaNa period, of the PaJcAlas with their taittirIya, KauSItaki, ZATyAyana schools. The political and cultural center now had shifted from the Kuru to this tribe which lived more towards the East, in what is now Uttar Pradesh. The PaJcAla king Kezin dAlbhya and his successors are prominent in a later YV-saMhitA, TS, and beyond.[154] According to JB 2.278-9, however, Kezin was closely related to the ro[Byal family of the Kuru: his maternal uncle was Ucchaizravas, son of Kuvaya, the King of Kurus (kauravya rAjA). Apparently he simply took over when the Kuru line was in decline (or without heirs?), due to the salva invasion. Kezin is also credited with the 'invention' of the dIkSA of the soma sacrifice.[155] He is both the new political as well as "spiritual" leader. The power of this dynasty lasted much longer than that of the original PArikSita dynasty. His descendants are reported as being numerous even in the comparatively late ZB where they are called dAlbhya/dArbhya Kaizina.[156] The mysterious ikSvAkus, which already appear at RV 10.60.4 may help to explain the developments in the Eastern part of the PaJcAla area. They are mentioned already in the AV 19.39.9 = PS 7.10.9 as one of the Eastern groups (with the KAzi and matsya) living at the edge of Indo-Aryan settlements.[157] In the PAli texts (DN 3.1.15 sqq.), OkkAka (Skt. ikSvAku) is the forefather of the ZAkyas, who lived in the Central Tarai of Southern Nepal. A connection of the ikSvAku territory with that of the KANvas (of the brAhmaNa period and their ZBK texts) is highly probable. The rAmAyaNa, of course, takes the ikSvAku ancestry of the Kosala dynasty of rAma for granted. Its appearence in the East may be directly correlated with the movement of the King Videgha mAthava into the country East of the sadAnIrA. (To the KANva, this is the country East of the Kuru-PAJcAlas, i.e. Kosala).[158] The famous Videgha mAthava legend of ZB 1.4.1.10 sqq. tells the story of the "civilization process of the East" in terms of its Brahmanical authors, and not, as usally termed, as the tale of "the Aryan move eastwards.[159] For it is not only Videgha mAthava, a king living on the sarasvatI, but also his priest gotama rahUgaNa who move towards the east. Not only is the starting point of this "expedition" the holy land of KurukSetra; the royal priest, gotama rahUgaNa, is a well known poet of Rgvedic poems as well, -- and thus, completely anachronistic.[160] Further, the story expressively mentions the role of agni VaizvAnara, the ritual fire, in making the marshy country of the East arable and or rather, Brahmanization) and KSatriyazation [161] rather than to military expansion.[162] The mAthavas, about whom nothing is known outside the ZB, may be identical with the ma'thai of Megasthenes (c. 300 B.C.), who places them East of the Paza'lai (PaJcAla), at the confluence of the Ere'nnesis (Son) with the Ganges.[163] The movement of some clans, with their king Videgha and his Purohita, eastwards from the River sarasvatI in KurukSetra towards Bihar thus represents the 'ritual occupation' of Kosala(-Videha) by the bearers of orthoprax (and orthodox) Kuru culture, but it does *not* represent an account of the first settlement of the East by Indo-Aryan speaking tribes which must have taken place much earlier as the (still scanty) materials of archaeology indeed indicate.[164] V. SUMMARY It can be said that the BhArata/Kaurava/PArikSita dynasty of the Kurus sucessfully carried out and institutionalized a large scale re-organization of the old Rgvedic society. Many aspects of the new ritual, of the learned speech, of the texts and their formation reflect the wish of the royal Kuru lineage and their Brahmins to be more archaic [165] than much of the texts and rites they inherited. In this fashion, the new PArikSita kings of the Kurus betray themselves as typical newcomers and upstarts who wanted to enhance their position in society through the well-known process of "Sanskritization." In fact, to use this modern term out of its usual context, the establishment of the Kuru realm was accompanied by the First Sanskritization.[166] Incipient state formation can only be aided if it is not combined with the overthrow of all inherited institutions, rituals, customs, and beliefs. The process is much more successful if one rather tries to bend them to one's goals or tries to introduce smaller or la rger modifications resulting in a totally new set-up. The new orthopraxy (and its accompanying belief system, "Kuru orthodoxy") quickly expanded all over Northern India, and subsequently, across the Vindhya, to South India and later to S.E. Asia, up to Bali. This procedure is visible in the Bharata/Kaurava dynasty's large scale collection of older and more recent religious texts: In all aspects of ritual, language and text collection, these texts tend to be more archaic than much of the inherited older texts and rites.[167] On the other hand, the new dynasty was effective in re-shaping society [168] and its structure by stratification into the four classes (varNa), with an internal opposition between Arya and zUdra which effectively camouflaged the really existing social conflict between brahma-kSatra and the rest, the vaizya and zUdra; further, the BhArata/PArikSita dynasty was successful in reorganizing much of the traditional ritual and the texts concerned with it. (It must not be forgotten that public ritual included many of the functions of our modern administration, providing exchanges of goods, forging unity and underlining the power of the elite.) The small tribal chieftainships of the Rgvedic period with their shifting alliances and their history of constant warfare, though often not more than cattle rustling expeditions, were united in the single "large chiefdom" of the Kuru realm. With some justification, we may now call the great chief (rAjA) [169] of the Kurus "the Kuru king". His power no longer depended simply on ritual relationships such as exchange of goods (vidatha) [170] but on the extraction of tribute (bali) [171] from an increasingly suppressed third estate (viz) and from dependent subtribes and weak neighbors; this was often camouflaged as ritual tribute, such as in the azvamedha. In view of the data presented in this paper, we are, I believe, entitled to call the Kuru realm the first state in India.[172] To quote W. Rau, who has described the social and political conditions of the YV saMhitA and brAhmaNa period in such detail: "... the Indians of the brAhmaNa period lived in political organizations which, with good reasons, can be called states." It must be underlined, again, that the developments which brought about the the Kuru realm were lasting and not transient ones as those under the Rgvedic PUru or Bharata. In effect, many of the changes in religion and society then carried out shape Indian society even TODAY.