— Origins —

N. Ross REAT
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 The Origins
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Indian Psychology
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 The Origins
of
Indian Psychology

N. Ross Reat

R
ASIAN HUMANITIES PRESS
Berkeley, California
I 1
 ASIAN HUMANITES PRESS/ AHP Paperbacks

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Reat, N. Ross, 1951-

The origins of Indian psychology/N. Ross Reat.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-89581-923-6 (cloth). —ISBN 0-89581-924-4 (pbk.)
1. Vedas. Rgveda—Psychology. 2. Upanishads—Psychology.
3. Hinduism—Psychology—History. 4. Buddhism—Psychology—
History. 5. Psychology—India—History. I. Title.
BL1112.57.R43 1990
150’.954—dc20 90-48484
CIP

Copyright © 1990 by Asian Humanities Press. All rights reserved. No part

of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted,
in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher
except for brief passages quoted in a review.
 Contents
FOREWORD vil

INTRODUCTION
Sources and Aims of the Present Study

~I. MONISM IN THE RG VEDA

Il. THE VEDIC CONCEPT OF AFTERLIFE

Recurrent Natural Phenomena
Multiple Identification
Hereditary Survival in Offspring
The Heavenly Afterlife
Possible Latent References to Rebirth

III. THE VEDIC CONCEPT OF THE HUMAN BEING

A) INDIVIDUAL IDENTITY
Tanu
Sarira
Rupa
Nama
B) VITAL FACULTIES
Jiva
Asu
Ayu
Vayas
Breath
C) MENTAL ORGANS AND FACULTIES
Verbal Roots
Citta 101
Manas 107
Hrd 120
Dhi 12
Kratu 135
Conclusions 141
IV. YOGA AND VEDA IN THE UPANISADS 144
Shamanism and Yoga 145
Archaic Yoga 149
The Development of Rebirth Theories 154
Release and Cosmology in the Upanisads 166
Soul and Cosmology in the Upanisads 169

V. UPANISADIC PSYCHOLOGY 185

Mind, Speech and Breath 191
Speech and Name 193
Breath and Vitality 197.
The Breath Faculties 203
Mind and Consciousness 207
Development and Differentiation of the Faculties 21
The Fifteen Vital, Perceptual and Volitional Faculties 214
The Five Classical Sense Faculties 227
Consciousness and Cosmogony 231
Hrd 238
Manas 243
Faculties Derived from vjaa 247
Citta 251
Hierarchies of Consciousness 254
Early Buddhism and the “Two Soul” Doctrine Za

VI. THE FUNDAMENTALS OF BUDDHIST PSYCHOLOGY 282

Denial of the Soul 288
Vitality 299
The Fundamental Concepts of Buddhist Psychology 301

CONCLUSION 330

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY 332

ABBREVIATIONS AND ORIGINAL TEXTS CITED 341

GLOSSARIAL INDEX 345

 Acknowledgements

I began the research for this volume under Professor Ninian Smart in
1973 as part of the M.A. and Ph.D. programs at the University of
Lancaster. This is my first opportunity to thank him in print for his
continuing support and encouragement since that time, and I wish to
do so profusely. Much of the research for this work was carried out
at the University of Sri Lanka at Peradeniya and at Sanskrit University
in Varanasi. In particular, I wish to thank Dr. P.D. Premasiri and Dr.
Lily De Silva of the former and my good friend Dr. Jita Sain Negi of
the latter. At the time, this research in England, Sri Lanka and India
would have been impossible without the financial support of my
mother, Genevieve H. Reat. I wish to thank M.K. Jain, the Director
of Asian Humanities Press, for his prompt attention to the manuscript
during the submission stage. I fondly hope that his considerate and
professional attitude toward authors will be rewarded with extravagant
financial success for this much needed specialist publishing house. An
equally heartfelt curse upon those publishers and reviewers who treat
submissions as supplications to be dealt with at their infinite leisure.
Finally, thanks to Alec Waskiw, the Wordperfect guru of the Prentice
Computer Centre, University of Queensland, Australia, for
masterminding the typesetting of this volume. This must be one of
the largest typesetting projects ever undertaken entirely on a personal
computer.
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 Foreword

Dr. N. Ross Reat is thorough and original in this volume. He sifts the
Rg Veda for all its psychological concepts, and contrasts and compares
these ideas with those exhibited in the classical or early Upanisads
and the Pali canon (especially the suttas). He delineates the subtle
relationships between them and thereby enriches and modifies Heinrich
Zimmer’s hypothesis of twin origins of Indian notions — Vedic and
non-Vedic. He knocks a final nail into the coffin of those who project
key Hindu concepts, other than monism, back into the early hymns.
He contrasts the empirical early Buddhist approach to later
Abhidhamma. All this represents an important contribution to the
debates and scholarship concerning ancient Indian thought.
I am proud to have been involved with Dr. Reat’s work at Lancaster.
He is one of a new generation of fine scholars of religion. I hope this
book will stimulate thought about the cosmoses which interacted more
than two millennia ago in India.

Ninian Smart
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 Introduction

Indian philosophy, Hindu and Buddhist, is remarkable for its

emphasis upon speculation regarding the nature of consciousness.
Starting around 500 B.C. these speculations were systemized into
coherent theoretical formulations which justify the term “psychology”.
Not until the nineteenth century in Europe was the world to see
similarly sophisticated treatments of the nature of human
consciousness, and most of the modern Western advances on ancient
Indian psychology have been in the clinical rather than the theoretical
realm. Increasingly, modern psychologists recognize the sophistication
of ancient Indian psychology and incorporate various of its aspects
into their own theories and even clinical practice.
Several modern works on Indian psychology, most notably those
of Jadunath Sinha and Rune Johansson, have rendered classical Indian
psychology available to the modern West. This general availability is
now such that some introductory psychology textbooks carry chapters
on Hindu and Buddhist psychology. Popular works on the subject are
numerous in alternative and occult bookshops. Though many of these
are best left there on the shelves, they attest the current popularity of
Indian psychology in the West.
The present work attempts to deepen existing scholarly
understanding of the origins and early development of this remarkable
aspect of Indian thought and to contribute to the understanding of the
origins of Indian thought in general. With regard to the origins and
early development of Indian thought in general, the present work
contributes to the school of thought associated primarily with Heinrich
Zimmer, which postulates an essentially dual origin of classical Indian
thought. The traditional Hindu view is that all properly Indian
thought — whether religious or secular, orthodox or heterodox —
derives ultimately from a single source: the four Vedas, with the Rg
Veda foremost among them. Zimmer’s view, now widely but far from
universally accepted in the West, is that the Vedic religious tradition,
2 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

brought into India in the second millennium B.C. by Indo-European

invaders, merged with an indigenous Indian tradition. This merger
resulted eventually in the classical, orthodox, Hindu religious systems.
According to this theory, the various heterodox religious systems —
like Jainism, the Ajivikas and Buddhism — represent survivals of the
ancient indigenous religious tradition of India. Traditional Hindus, by
contrast, regard these heterodox schools of thought as wayward
misinterpretations of the revealed wisdom of the Vedas.
According to the Zimmer school, the traditional Hindu theory fails
to account for what are arguably the three cardinal doctrines of
classical Hinduism — the doctrines of 1) the immortal soul, 2) rebirth,
and 3) spiritual release — for these beliefs are nowhere apparent in
the ancient Vedas. According to the traditional Hindu theory, these
doctrines are implicit in the Vedas, though perhaps not immediately
apparent. A great deal of scholarly effort, both ancient and modern,
has been expended in Vedic exegesis intended to reveal these
supposedly latent doctrines.
The present work participates in this debate at a crucial level. It
examines earliest Indian material relevant to the nature of human
consciousness. This examination concentrates on the Rg Veda, the
early Upanisads and the Pali Suttas of Buddhism. It attempts in each
case to reconstruct, without reliance upon later commentaries and
systematizations, the underlying theories of the nature of human
consciousness operating in these ancient texts. Such theories of
consciousness impinge directly and obviously upon doctrines of the
soul, rebirth and spiritual release. Because these doctrines are so
central in Indian religions, there are many commentarial exegeses
intended to bring the ancient and venerable scriptures into line with
Classical, systematic doctrine regarding the nature of human
consciousness. As the present work shows, the ancient texts
themselves — particularly the Rg Veda and the Upanisads — are not
nearly as univocal as classical commentaries urge. On the other hand,
careful analysis of the texts themselves reveals reasonably coherent
psychological theories operating in these ancient scriptures. This is
surprising in the case of the Rg Veda, and particularly surprising for
advocates of the Zimmer school of thought.
 INTRODUCTION B)

The present research weighs in heavily on the side of the Zimmer

school of dual origins of classical Indian thought. On the other hand,
it suggests a larger Vedic contribution to Indian psychology than has
heretofore been recognized by modern Western or traditional Indian
scholars. Though the following is not polemic in nature, it should
serve to dispel many of the erroneous interpretations of the ancient
scriptures which have arisen over the centuries and which continue to
arise as the modern West begins to take cognizance of the wisdom of
ancient India.

Sources and Aims of the Present Study

This study of the origins of Indian psychology begins with the Rg

Veda, the most ancient textual material bearing upon the topic in
question. The Rg Veda is of dual importance in this study, first as
the earliest expression of certain key psychological concepts, and
second as the earliest example of the language in which these ideas
and others were expressed and developed over the centuries. The Rg
Veda is not, however, the sole source of Indian religion and
philosophy. Therefore this study also involves examination of an
equally ancient tradition of knowledge which was non-Vedic in origin,
probably indigenous to India, and probably represented most purely in
the heterodox schools of Indian thought, most notably Jainism, the
Ajivikas and to some extent Buddhism. Certain aspects of this non-
Vedic tradition are pervasively influential in most of the so-called
orthodox schools of Hindu philosophy as well, though these orthodox
schools claim to have been inspired by purely Vedic ideas. In fact,
the Rg Veda itself was partly composed after the migrating Aryans had
reached the Indian sub-continent and therefore may not be altogether
devoid of non-Vedic influence in its latest hymns.
Given that even the latest hymns of the Rg Veda — and thus any
less ancient Indian textual material — may incorporate non-Vedic
material, and since one of the major goals of the present study is to
distinguish Vedic from non-Vedic characteristics in Indian psychology,
several otherwise important texts will be largely ignored. The Sama
and Yajur Vedas are not considered because they are for the most part
derived from the Rg Veda, and thus provide little additional Vedic
4 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

material. More importantly, the Atharva Veda and the various

Aranyakas and Brahmanas are ignored to a large extent. While these
texts contain much that is doubtlessly ancient and purely Vedic, they
also contain much that may be non-Vedic in origin and is probably
not as old as the most ancient Upanisadic material.’ Moreover, they
contain little material that relates to ancient Indian psychological
speculations. Of course, the Rg Veda too contains little psychology,
but is of vital importance here because it is the purest repository of
the world-view of the ancient Vedic Aryans.
After the Rg Veda, the ancient Upanisads are the next oldest texts
which this study considers in detail. These contain a wealth of
specifically psychological material which reveals the intermingling of
Vedic and non-Vedic psychological notions. There are, of course,
scores of later Upanisads, the traditional number being 108, but in the
present study, let “Upanisad” indicate the thirteen principal Upanisads
which comprise the contents of Hume’s translation and the bulk of
Radhakrishnan’s.”? Of these, the Maitri, Kausitaki and Svetaévatara
Upanisads in particular appear to contain late, even possibly post-
Buddhist material. Even though they use some of the terms of
Classical philosophy, they are concerned for the most part with
genuinely Upanisadic ideas and do not appear to be the work of self-
conscious systematists.
Shortly after the composition of the earliest Upanisads, around 500
B.C., the historical Buddha lived. His words, however, were not
written down immediately, but retained in the memories of his
followers for another 500 years before they were for the first time
scratched onto palm leaves on the Island of Sri Lanka.
Understandably, there is disagreement as to what the Buddha actually
said. Varying accounts of his words were retained in India, where the
so-called Mahayana or “Great Vehicle” came to dominate Buddhist
thought. The Mahdydna produced its first written versions of the
Buddha-word at about the same time it was written down in Sri

1. Belvalkar and Ranade, Jndian Philosophy, vol. 2, p. 135.

2. Hume, The Thirteen Principal Upanishads, 1931, Radhakrishnan, The Principal
Upanisads, 1953.
 INTRODUCTION 5

Lanka.’ It is probable, however, that the Sri Lankan Theravada or

“Elders’ Tradition”, by virtue of its isolation from the free flow of
philosophical speculation in India, contains the most literal rendition
of what the historical Buddha actually said. The archaic, repetitive
form of the Pali suttas shows that they are a written record of an
established oral tradition, and most of the more sophisticated
Mahayana ideas may be conveniently located in a more archaic form
in the Pali suttas.‘
It should be noted here that at the time of their migration into
India and for some time afterward, the Indo-Europeans were almost
certainly illiterate. After the demise of the Indus Valley civilization,
the first references to writing in India occur in Buddhist si&tras, and
the earliest surviving examples of writing in India are the inscriptions
of the Buddhist emperor Asoka in about 250 B.C. There is no
surviving example of writing in India from the time of the last, still
undeciphered, Indus Valley inscriptions, dating about 1,500 B.C., until
these ASokan inscriptions. It is possible, then, that what has been
spoken of above as pre-Buddhist literature was not actually written
down long, if at all, before the earliest Buddhist literature.
Nonetheless, Indologists conventionally rely upon the accuracy of oral
tradition in India, and are probably justified in speaking of the
chronological order of ancient compositions even in the absence of
actual written texts dating from the time of composition.
Other than the three ancient Vedas, most of the Brdhmanas and
Aranyakas, parts of the Atharva Veda and parts of the principal
Upanisads, no other texts belonging to the orthodox schools of Indian
philosophy may be said with any certainty to record pre-Buddhist
thought. Soon after the advent of Buddhism, Indian philosophy,
including psychology, enters a period of systematization and
consolidation of the several classical schools of thought. The
teachings of the historical Buddha, then, are a natural conclusion for
this study of the origins of Indian psychology. The principal

3. See Conze, Thirty Years of Buddhist Studies, p. 124, and Buddhism, pp. 123-24.
4. See Thomas, History of Buddhist Thought, pp. 261-64; Pande, Origins of
Buddhism, pp. 1-16.
6 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

Upanisads are the pivotal texts for this study. They contain at least
germinal expressions of most of the important themes in Indian
psychology. Some of these themes may be traced convincingly to
earlier origins in the Rg Veda, but many cannot. This situation directs
a study of earliest origins in Indian psychology beyond the verifiably
ancient Rg Veda into a consideration of the archaic non-Vedic
doctrines of the Jains and Ajivikas. Some of these non-Vedic notions
appear to be older than similar ideas found in the Upanisads and early
Buddhist scriptures. The earliest Jain writings are, however, quite
late, and the doctrines of the Ajivikas, which school died out
completely without leaving its own records, are only available in
hostile references to their system in the works of rival schools.
Nevertheless, unsatisfactory as this situation is, in order to explain
adequately the origins of most of Indian psychology, it is necessary
to advance the hypothesis that these schools represent the most ancient
discernible form of the non-Vedic tradition mentioned above. Why
this is so, and why these schools rather than Buddhism represent the
purest form of the postulated non-Vedic tradition will become clearer
in the course of this work. First, however, the Rg Veda demands
considerable attention.
The oldest parts of the Rg Veda speak across four millennia, from
an age so remote that we can scarcely hope to recreate a clear picture
of it. So enormous was the influence of the Vedic hymns that from
a many-centuried span of history, we have no trace of the thought of
the Indo-European race other than the six “family books” of the Rg
Veda, its oldest part. Before the beginning of the first millennium
B.C., the family books, books two through seven, had been collected
from the various traditions maintained by priestly Aryan families and
organized in the manner in which we find them today. To that
collection, the present eighth and ninth books were added at a slightly
later date. Books one and ten were added sometime before 800 B.C.,
and the Rg Veda had taken the shape in which we now have it. Thus
even a conservative historical estimate locates the composition of the
Rg Veda as extending from 1500 to 800 B.C., making it one of the
most ancient, and certainly the most extensive of the ancient religious
documents of the human race.
 INTRODUCTION v1

Traditionally, however, the Rg Veda is considered to be more than

ancient. Orthodox Hindus believe the hymns are eternal, revealed to
the ancient sages, exactly as they stand, at some unthinkably remote
period at the beginning of creation. The Vedas were ancient even to
the ancients, and as early as the time of Yaska, the first recorded
Vedic commentator, circa 500 B.C., there were those who lamented,
as modern scholars do, that the hymns were archaic, obscure and
mutually contradictory.” Ydaska himself is highly conjectural in his
. exegesis of the few hymns he undertook, basing his commentary
mostly on etymological grounds. He was often constrained to give
several alternative explanations for passages that had become
hopelessly obscure even in his time. Even the etymological Pada text,
probably pre-dating Ydaska, is demonstrably wrong in_ several
instances.° Parts of the original meaning of the Rg Veda, then, had
been forgotten even by the time of the most ancient commentators.
Modern Vedic scholarship assumes that often we today are better able
to determine the original meaning of the Rg Veda than were its
ancient interpreters.
At any rate, long before the Rg Veda had been written down, the
early Upanisads had already been composed, and Indian thought had
embarked on the course it was to follow until the present day, a
course radically different from anything foreshadowed in the Rg Veda.
Nonetheless, the Rg Veda has remained nominally the primary source
of authority in orthodox Indian religious tradition. As a result, it often
has been viewed and interpreted through the distorting lens of later
and much different thought. The orthodox schools of Hinduism
looked to the Rg Veda for authoritative support, reading into its hymns
not only alien interpretations, but even alien subject matter. In fact,
however, the two beliefs most obviously expressed in the Rg Veda, 1)
the existence of many gods, and 2) the efficacy of ritual, are denied
or seriously subverted in the Upanisads, which are nevertheless
traditionally considered to be derived from the Vedas. On the other
hand, three of the major Upanisadic concepts, 1) the soul as the

5. See Macdonnell, History of Sanskrit Literature, p. 49; Keith, Religion and

Philosophy, p. 20. Also Sabara-bhdsya 1.1.32, where even an ancient critic
says that the Veda is “like the utterance of lunatics and children”.
6. See Macdonnell, History of Sanskrit Literature, p. 41.
8 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

innermost essence of the human being, 2) repeated rebirth, and 3) the

possibility of spiritual release (moksa), are all lacking in the Rg Veda,
though the pious often claim to find them there. Monism, the fourth
major Upanisadic characteristic, occurs in a germinal form in a few
of the later hymns of the Rg Veda, and thus appears to be largely a
natural outgrowth of Vedic speculations.
Buddhism, which claims to be an independent, non-Vedic system,
also makes major doctrines of rebirth and release, while rejecting
belief in a soul of any sort. Though early Buddhism also rejects a
monistic universal essence, the Buddhist doctrine of release (nirvana)
is decidedly more universalistic in outlook than the doctrines of
release in the non-Vedic Jain and Ajivika systems. This situation
suggests that Vedic cosmological monism, which finds its clearest
early expression in the Upanisads, had some effect on the otherwise
non-Vedic, Buddhist system of thought, even though the philosophical
basis of monism itself was rejected in Buddhism.
These considerations indicate that the doctrinal relationships among
the Rg Veda, the Upanisads and early Buddhism are complex indeed.
In essence, these relationships involve theories of the nature of the
individual, of afterlife, of salvation and of cosmology. In the Indian
context, each of these issues impinges upon early psychological
speculation. Vedic cosmology and its relationship to Upanisadic
monism is generally well known. Nonetheless this topic is briefly
treated in Chapter 1 since it is directly relevant to the Upanisadic
psychology of Gtman and indirectly relevant to the Buddhist
psychology of nirvana. The Vedic concepts of afterlife and salvation
are generally understood inadequately, and so are treated in some
detail in Chapter 2 in order to differentiate them from apparently
similar Upanisadic concepts. The Vedic concept of the nature of the
human being is scarcely understood at all and extremely difficult to
determine. This problem will therefore be treated in minute detail in
Chapter 3. Chapters 4 and 5 build upon the preceding material and
attempt to reconstruct the development and original nature of ancient
Upanisadic theories of the nature of consciousness without relying
upon later, sectarian exegesis. Finally, Chapter 6 assesses the degree
to which this pre-Buddhist fund of psychological knowledge and
speculation may have influenced the theoretical psychology of early
Buddhism.
 Chapter 1

Monism in the Rg Veda

Upanisadic monism is often expressed in psychological terms which

equate the soul (Gtman) with the universal principle (brahman).
Buddhist psychology is based on the linguistically opposite doctrine
of non-soul (andtman). This study therefore begins with an
examination of the development, in the Rg Veda, of the concept of a
monistic absolute. This examination considers the extent to which this
absolute was conceived of in psychological terms. In so doing it lays
the groundwork for an informed estimate of the extent to which Vedic
monism may have influenced subsequent developments in Upanisads
and early Buddhism.
Despite obvious differences, early Buddhism is remarkably similar
to certain streams of Upanisadic thought with regard to doctrines of
individual identity, rebirth, release and ultimate reality. The
Upanisads and Buddhism both assert an ultimate reality in the light
of which mundane reality pales to insignificance. Both systems are
essentially pessimistic regarding mundane existence, which is seen as
inherently unsatisfactory. In both systems, the realization of ultimate
reality results in liberation from the vagaries of mundane existence,
which, in both systems entails the cessation of rebirth as a finite, self-
centered being. In both systems the path leading to the realization of
ultimate reality involves morality, meditation and wisdom. In the
Upanisadic system, however, @tman or brahman is regarded as the
monistic ontological basis of both the universe and the individual
psyche, whereas in Buddhism, nirvdna has no ontological function.
Later on this subtle, but important distinction between the early
Buddhist and Upanisadic concepts of ultimate reality will be examined
more closely. First, however, an examination of the nature and
development of Vedic monism is necessary from a historical point of
view.
10 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

Throughout the Rg Veda, even in the verifiably early family books,

which are probably devoid of non-Vedic influence, one encounters a
remarkable tendency to elevate whatever deity is being addressed to
the position of supreme deity, a tendency called henotheism by Max
Miiller. The term henotheism, however, suggests the worship of only
one god without denying the existence of other gods. In fact, all of
the gods in the Vedic pantheon are worshipped on different sacrificial
occasions, and several of them are praised as the supreme deity.
Passages revealing this tendency are often of a distinctly
anthropomorphic character and the god in question is represented as
embracing the universe, holding it in his hand or wearing it as an
adornment.

When thou, O Maghavan (Indra) didst grasp even these two boundless
worlds, they were but a handful to thee.
Rg 3.30.5 (M)

Him who surpasses heroes in his greatness; the earth and heavens
suffice not for his girdles. Indra endues the earth to be his garment,
and, God-like, wears the heaven as ’twere a frontlet.
Re LATS 69(G)

Of Savitr it is written:

Golden, sublime, and easy in their motion, his arms extend unto the
bounds of heaven.
Rg 7.45.2 (G)

A slight modification of the representation of a god as an

anthropomorphic titan locates the universe within the deity being
praised. Such a twist gives the following verse about Varuna more
monotheistic mood than the verses which merely ascribe to a
particular god a size larger than the universe.
 MONISM IN THE RG VEDA 11
Indeed, the three worlds are embraced within him; he made the golden
and revolving sun to shine in the firmament.
Rg 7.87.5 (M)

The all-encompassing natures of Aditi and Brahmanaspati are

especially interesting because of the survival of these two names in
the Upanisads as terms for the monistic essence of the universe.
Aditi appears in the Brhaddranyaka Upanisad with her own name,
and Brahmanaspati (or Brhaspati) is probably the precursor of the
Upanisadic Brahma.

Aditi is the sky; Aditi is the air; Aditi is the mother, and father and
son; Aditi is-all the gods and the five tribes; Aditi is whatever has
been bom; Aditi is whatever shall be bom.
Rg 1.89.10 (M)

Thou who in every way supreme in earthly power, rejoicing by thy

might and strength hast waxen great. He is the God spread forth in
breadth against the Gods: he Brahmanaspati, encompasseth this all.
Rg 2.24.11 (G)

Another common Vedic technique of awarding supremacy to one

particular god is to convey upon him sovereignty over men and gods.

Thou over all, O Varuna, art Sovran, be they Gods, Asura, or be they
mortals.
Rg 2.27.10 (G)

Agni Vaisvanara, both Earth and Heaven submit them to thy threefold
jurisdiction.
Rg 7.5.4 (G)
12 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

Him whose high law not Varuna nor Indra, not Mitra Aryaman nor
Rudra breaketh, nor evil hearted fiends, here for my welfare him I
invoke, God Savitar, with worship.
Rg 2.38.9 (G)

Not only, however, is universal sovereignty attributed to several

different gods, but creation itself is said in different passages to be
the single-handed feat of various deities.

Wonderful Mitra propped the heaven and earth apart, and covered and
concealed the darkness with his light. He made the two bowls part
asunder like two skins. Vaisvanara put forth all his creative power.
Rg 6.8.3 (G)

Lord of all wealth, the Asura propped the heavens, and measured out
the broad earth’s wide expanses. He, King supreme, approached all
living creatures. All these are Varuna’s holy operations.
Rg 8.42.1 (G)

Thou, Indra, art the Conqueror: thou gavest splendour to the Sun.
Maker of all things (Visvakarman), thou art Mighty and All-God.
Rg 8.87.2 (G)

Great are the deeds of thee, the great, O Agni; thou by thy power hast
spread out earth and heaven.
Re 3.6.5 (G)

Thus the earliest books of Rg Veda reveal a thoroughly polytheistic

religion which moves only vaguely in the direction of monotheism
by developing the mere concepts of creativity and supremacy and
assigning these attributes to several anthropomorphic gods without
 MONISM IN THE RG VEDA 13
any apparent hesitation.' Books one and ten retain the archaic
characteristics of the early family books, but move more positively
away from straightforward polytheism. This move, however, is in
the direction of impersonal monism rather than monotheism.
Book one is treated separately here, as in all probability it is later
than books two through nine, and earlier, in content if not in redaction
than the tenth. It is in the first book, if this assumption is correct,
that we first find the question posed within Vedic polytheism, “Which
- god is supreme?”. Such a question indicates a concept of creation as
the unique emergence of all that exists. This implies that universal
creatorship cannot be, as it is generally portrayed in the Rg Veda,
merely another laudatory epithet attached to several gods, but entails
a unique first cause from which all else follows.

4. Who hath beheld him as he sprang into being, seen how the
boneless one supports the bony? Where is the blood of earth, the life,
the spirit? Who may approach the man who knows, to ask it?...
6. I ask, unknowing, those who know, the sages, as one all
ignorant for the sake of knowledge. What was that one who in the
unborm’s image hath stablished and fixed firm these world’s six
regions?
Rg 1.164.4-6 (G)

The riddle is a common feature of Vedic poetry, but here, in the

famous “Asya-vamiya” hymn of the sage Dirghatamas (“Long-
darkness”), a series of rhetorical riddles is the motif in which a
coherent doctrine of monistic creation is set forth for the first time
in the Rg Veda. In one of the most famous passages of the Rg Veda,
Dirghatamas says:

1. But see Rg 5.3.1 & 2, where Agni is said to be Varuna, Mitra and Aryaman,
suggesting a more monistic concept.
14 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

They call him Indra, Mitra, Varuna, Agni, and he is heavenly nobly
winged Garutman. To what is one, sages give many a title; they call
it Agni, Yama, MatariSvan.
Rg 1.164.46 (G)

The obvious implication of these passages is that the polytheism

of the Vedas is worship only of the attributes of one absolute being.
This idea, by the time of the earliest Upanisads will have reduced
the all-important sacrificial ritual of the Vedas to the status of a mere
metaphor. The status of the many gods is further diminished in
another verse of the same hymn, where not only the creation, but also
the continued sustenance of the universe is attributed to this unique
principle.

From her (Gauri, the buffalo) descend in streams the seas of water;
thereby the world’s four regions have their being. Thence flows the
imperishable flood, and thence the universe hath life.
Rg 1.164.42 (G)

Thus, in the “Asya-vamiya” hymn, the sage Dirghatamas puts

forward the idea that the manifold universe is both created and
sustained by a unique absolute principle. This represents a distinct
philosophical advance over the naive creation hymns of the earlier
family books. It is also in this remarkable hymn, not in the later and
philosophically more sophisticated tenth book, that the Rg Veda makes
its closest approach to conceiving of this unitary absolute in terms of
consciousness, or in Vedantic terms, conceiving of brahman as cit
(consciousness) as well as sat (being). Thus, in this same hymn are
some of the earliest verses that connect humans intimately with the
absolute and seem to express the possibility of realizing that
connection through mystical experience.

20. Two birds with fair wings, knit with bonds of friendship,
in the same sheltering tree have found a refuge. One of the twain eats
the sweet fig-tree’s fruitage; the other eating not regardeth only.
 MONISM IN THE RG VEDA 15
21. Where those fine birds hymn ceaselessly their portion of
life eternal, and the sacred synods, there is the universe’s mighty
keeper, who, wise, hath entered into me the simple.
22. The tree whereon the fine birds eat the sweetness, where
they all rest and procreate their offspring, upon its top they say the
fig is luscious; none gaineth it who knoweth not the father.
Rg 1.164.20-22 (G)

According to Sayana, the two birds represent the individual soul

(jivatman) which eats, i.e. experiences the fruits of karma, and the
supreme soul (paramatman) which is aloof from samsara, both living
together in the same body, the tree. This classical Vedantic
explanation is doubtful though, in that Venkata, following Yaska,’
says that the two birds represent Aditi and Soma, or the sun and the
moon, the tree being the universal tree, a common cosmological motif
in Indian symbolism. According to Venkata, Aditi, the sun, is the one
which eats (atti). This etymological explanation finds some support
in an Upanisadic passage which, by the same pun, also links the deity
Aditi to the verb atti (“he eats”, B.U.1.2.5.). Thus, this may be a
rather simple riddle.’
Nonetheless, it would seem that the overall intent of this Vedic
passage is to state a relationship between “me the simple”, the human
being, and the absolute principle of the universe. Verse 22, though
it may elude precise explanation, almost certainly refers to the
possibility of mystical experience of this principle. Nothing in the
hymn, however, implies the identity of human consciousness and the
absolute principle. Dirghatamas’ hymn conceives of the absolute only
in terms of being (sat), not in terms of consciousness (cit).
Nothing else in the Rg Veda approaches this hymn in context or
coherence in expressing a relationship between absolute being and the
human being. Even so, it never formulates this relationship in
psychological terms. Throughout the Rg Veda, the human being is

2. Nirukta 3.12.
3. This explanation finds further support in Rg 10.114.3-5 where one of the "two
birds” is obviously the sun or the moon. See also Rg 10.85.18-19;10.123.6.
16 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

defined in terms of the divine, either by his servile relationship to

the many gods, or by a relationship of deficient participation in the
absolute principle. The Upanisadic concept of the absolute as
consciousness, on the other hand, seeks to define the absolute in terms
of human consciousness, and the human being’s relationship to the
absolute becomes one of identity rather than deficiency.
The monistic tendency established in Dirghatamas’ hymn is more
clearly formulated in a few outstanding hymns of the tenth book. In
these hymns, the ancient sages confronted more directly the unsettling
mythological and sacrificial implications of a monistic doctrine, but
they did not move any closer than Dirghatamas to Upanisadic,
psychological monism.

1. In the beginning rose Hiranyagarbha, bor only lord of all

created beings. He fixed and holdeth up this earth and heaven. What
god shall we adore with our oblation?
2. Giver of vital breath, of power and vigour, he whose
commandments all the gods acknowledge: the lord of death, whose
shade is life immortal. What god shall we adore with our oblation?
Rg 10.121.1-2 (G)

The question “What god shall we adore with our oblation?” clearly
expresses doubt concerning the polytheism of the early Rg Veda, a
doubt which becomes abundantly clear in perhaps the most famous
hymn of the Rg Veda.

6. Who verily knows and who can declare it, whence it was
bom and whence comes this creation? The gods are later than this
world’s production. Who knows then whence it first came into being?
7. He, the first origin of this creation, whether he formed it all
or did not form it, (he) whose eye controls this world in highest
heaven, he verily knows it, or perhaps he knows not.
Rg 10.129.6-7 (G)

The first few verses of this same hymn are perhaps the clearest
formulation of monism in the Rg Veda.
 MONISM IN THE RG VEDA 17
1. Then was not non-existent nor existent; there was no realm
of air, no sky beyond it. What covered in, and where? And what
gave shelter? Was water there, unfathomed depth of water?
2. Death was not then, nor was there aught immortal; no sign
was there, the day’s and night’s divider. That one thing, breathless,
breathed by its own nature; apart from it was nothing whatsoever.
3. Darkness there was; at first concealed in darkness this all
was indiscriminated chaos. All that existed then was void and
formless; by the great power of warmth (tapas) was born that unit.
Rg 10.129.1-3 (G)

This clear and beautiful postulation of an absolute unity which was

cause and apparently the original substance of the entire universe is
an important landmark in the development of philosophical thought in
India. The fact remains, however, that even in its latest and most
sophisticated hymns, the Vedic approach to absolute being is
cosmogonically oriented, an orientation which locates the absolute at
some inaccessible point in the distant past and stops far short of the
Upanisadic identification of the universal principle with the essence
of the human being.
Various passages describe the exhilarating effects of drinking soma
as making human beings like the gods in power and majesty. These
do not reflect psychological content of Upanisadic ilk in Vedic
monism, though they may well have provided authoritative referents
in Vedic orthodoxy for Upanisadic statements such as “I am
brahman”, as for example at B.U. 1.4.10. which refers to Rg 4.26.1.
The follwoing Vedic passage typefies this category of hymn.

7. The heavens and earth themselves have not grown equal to

one half of me. Have I not drunk of soma juice?
8. I in my grandeur have surpassed the heavens and all this
spacious earth. Have I not drunk of soma juice?
Rg 10.119.7-8 (G)

Most of this type of hymn are clearly instances of the poetic device
whereby the subject of the poem speaks through the poet. Indeed, the
author of this hymn, according to Sayana, is Indra himself. Even if
18 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

some of these ecstatic hymns are taken to be the human poet’s

reaction to an exhilarating drug, statements such as the preceding are
most naturally interpreted as hyperbole expressing a euphoric state in
which the poet feels like a god. This exhilarated state, even if it is
taken to be a sort of human divinity, bears no resemblance to the
Upanisadic concept of the utterly peaceful and inactive human
consciousness which resolves within itself the cosmos without
differentiation.
Though the Rg Veda lacks an overtly psychological orientation in
its approach to the absolute, two potentially psychological motifs are
employed in two creation hymns of the tenth book. The “Purusa
Sikta” declares that the universe originated from a cosmic person, and
the ”Nasadiya Sikta” asserts that desire was the original creative
force. These motifs must be borne in mind when evaluating the extent
to which Vedic monistic tendencies influenced the Upanisadic concept
of the absolute as consciousness and the Buddhist cosmology of
desire.
The “Purusa Sikta” narrates the creation of the universe by the
sacrifice and dismemberment of the cosmic person (purusa), who is
said to be “‘all this (universe) what has been and what is to be”.* The
unitary cosmological principle is depicted as a person, a motif
reminiscent of the Upanisadic identification of the self (4tman) with
the universal principle (brahman).

1. A thousand heads hath Purusa, a thousand eyes, a thousand

feet. On every side pervading earth he fills a space ten fingers wide.
2. This Purusa is all that yet hath been and all that is to be;
the lord of immortality which waxes greater still by food.
4. With three-fourths Purusa went up; one-fourth of him again
was here. Thence he strode out to every side over what eats not and
what eats.
Rg 10.90.1-4 (G)

4. Rg 10.90.2; cp. Rg 1.89.10.

 MONISM IN THE RG VEDA 19

Though the unique creative principle in this hymn is said to be a

person, the thrust of the hymn is to draw a sharp distinction between
the divine, the three-fourths that “went up”, and the mundane, the
one-fourth that encompasses “what eats not and what eats”, i.e.
inanimate and animate creation. Griffith’s translation of verse three
is misleading in this respect, and must be considered separately. He
renders the third verse as follows:

So mighty is he in his greatness; yea, greater than this is Purusa. All

creatures are one-fourth of him, three-fourths eternal life in heaven.
Rg 10.90.3 (G)

Muir’s translation of the same verse is altogether more accurate.

Such is his greatness; and Purusha is superior to this. All existing

things are a quarter of him, and that which is immortal in the sky is
three quarters of him.
Reg 10.90.3 (M)

Griffith’s translation implies that creatures are composed of one

quarter of Purusa and three quarters immortality in heaven, but the
hymn clearly states that mortal beings, though they share in the primal
substance of the universe, do not share in heavenly immortality, the
divine three fourths of Purusa that “went up”.° This point is further
clarified later in the same hymn:

11. When they divided Purusha, into how many parts did they
distribute him? What was his mouth? What were his arms? What
were called his thighs and feet?

5. Literal translation: “A quarter of him (pddo’sya) (is) all beings (visva bhutani).
Three quarters of him (tripdd asya) (is) immortality (amrtam) in heaven (divi)”.
20 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

12. The Brahman was his mouth; the Rajanya became his arms;
the Viasya was his thighs; the Sidra sprang from his feet.
Rg 10.90.11-12 (M)

Here the enumeration of the four castes of society obviously refers

to the creation of human beings, and from verse six onwards, if
Sayana’s interpretation in correct, the hymn deals with the sacrifice
and dismemberment of the one-fourth of the original Purusa which
forms the phenomenal universe. Sdyana’s interpretation is based on
a paradoxical statement in verse five to the effect that Viraj was born
from Purusa and Purusa was born from Viraj. According to Sayana,
Viraj is in fact the cosmic egg (brahmanda). Sayana explains this
passage along Vedantic lines, saying that after having produced out of
himself this cosmic egg, representing the material substance of the
universe, Purusa, the animating male principle entered into it and was
born again from it in the form of a son, the living, moving universe.*
This interpretation, it may be noted, offers a possible explanation
for the one-fourth/three-fourths division of Purusa. The second
Purusa, the son, the moving universe, if born from Viraj, the cosmic
egg which was half of the original Purusa, would be half of the
fertilized Viraj. He would be therefore, one-fourth of the original
Purusa, the quarter which is said to comprise the created universe.
Sayana’s explanation however, is doubtful. Yaska, commenting on a
similar passage about the reciprocal generation of Aditi and Daksa (Rg
10.72.4.5.), muses: “How can this be possible?” and is content to
offer alternative explanations: either they had the same origin, or they
were born from each other and derived their substance from each
other.’ It would seem then that Yaska, in the fifth century B.C., was
unaware of the Vedantic interpretationwith which Sayana explains the
reciprocal generation of Viraj and Purusa.
At any rate, whatever the correct interpretation of the hymn, the
monism of this passage is confined to cosmogony. Though the
anthropomorphic metaphor around which the “Purusa Sikta” is built

6. See T.U. 2.6.1; Mt.U. 2.6. Cp. Rg 10.72.4-5.

7. Nirukta 11.23.
 MONISM IN THE RG VEDA 2

imbues the hymn with Vedantic psychological overtones, these

overtones are not grounded in the actual text of the hymn. Contrary
to the Vedantic doctrine that human consciousness ultimately
encompasses the entire universe, the “Purusa Sikta” sharply delineates
the divine and the mundane without relating either to human
consciousness. This hymn, then, is not an adequate basis for the
Upanisadic doctrine of the absolute as consciousness (cit).
Even if one insists upon seeing psychological content in this
‘ancient cosmogony, the resemblance of the central motif of the
“Purusa Sikta” to the ancient and apparently non-Vedic, Jain concept
of the universe being in the shape of a giant person* may indicate
non-Vedic influence. Moreover, the delineation of the four varnas or
Classes (lit. colors) in verse twelve of the same hymn is the earliest
recorded reference to the sacred classes of Indian society. This
suggests that the Aryans had already come into close contact with the
indigenous inhabitants of India when this hymn was composed. The
dark skinned Indians, called Ddasas (lit. slaves) in the Rg Veda,
probably comprised the original Sadra or peasant class. This and other
textual evidence’ is corroborated by philological evidence of the
relative lateness of the “Purusa Sikta” and indeed the entire tenth
book of the Rg Veda.’° One must therefore be aware of the possibility
of non-Vedic influence in the tenth book when one evaluates the
extent to which the Rg Veda may be considered the basis of
subsequent Indian thought.
This same consideration must be borne in mind in the examination
of the second psychological motif found in the cosmogonic monism of
the late hymns, the remarkable statement in the “Nasadiya Sikta” that
desire was the original motive force behind the creation of the
universe from the original unit.

8. See Smart, Doctrine and Argument, p. 63; Zimmer, Philosophies of India, p.

295;
9. In fact the Indian seasons enumerated in verse six may also be an indication
of lateness. See Griffith’s note and Velankar, Rksuktasati, p. 279, n. 6.
10. Macdonell opines without proof that the “Purusa Sikta” is the “latest hymn
in the Rg Veda”. History of Sanskrit Literature, p. 113.
a THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

3. In the beginning darkness existed, enveloped in darkness. All

this was undistinguishable water. That one which lay void, and wrapped
in nothingness, was developed by power of fervour (tapas).
4. Desire first arose in it, which was the primal germ of mind;
(and which) sages, searching with their intellect, have discovered in
their heart to be the bond which connects entity with nonentity.
Rg 10.129.3-4 (M)

Desire (kdma) as a cosmogonic force, even more than the purusa

motif of Rg 10.90, imparts a psychological tone to the present hymn,
for the impulse behind the creation of the universe is here said to be
a familiar human emotion occurring in the divine mind. This same
human desire under a different name (trsna) is, in Buddhism, said to
be the cause of suffering (duhkha), and thus is, in a way, the Buddhist
universal cause. The Buddha was not concerned with the substantial
essence of the universe, but rather with the essence of one’s
experience of the universe, which, he said, is suffering. This suffering
is caused by desire, the impulse behind the psychological universe
with which the Buddha chose to deal, as opposed to the material
universe which the Vedic sages are concerned with explaining.
Several important characteristics, however, make the role of desire
in the psychologically oriented Buddhist “cosmology of suffering”
strikingly different from the role of desire in the Vedic passage under
consideration. First, the universe which is being explained is, in the
Buddhist context, samsdra. This term implies, rather than the physical
universe, the ongoing, tedious, unsatisfactory experience of life after
life in the form of a limited selfish consciousness. Second, the cause
of this “universe” of suffering is individual human desire, rather than
a divine parallel. Third, the creation of this psychological universe by
desire is not located at some distant, inaccessible point in
mythological time, but is continuous, as active in the present moment
as ever, and therefore reversible. Suffering may be overcome.
The Upanisadic concept of desire as a cosmogonic force shows
similarities to and differences from both the Vedic and the Buddhist
concepts, as the following passage illustrates.
 MONISM IN THE RG VEDA 23
1. In the Beginning this (world) was only the self (datman) in
the shape of a person...
3. He, verily, had no delight. Therefore he who is alone has
no delight. He desired (aicchat) a second. He caused that self to fall
into two parts. From that arose husband and wife.
10. Brahman, indeed, was this in the beginning. It knew itself
only as "I am Brahman”. Therefore it became all. Whoever among the
gods became awakened (pratyabudhyata) to this, he, indeed, became
that. It is the same in the case of seers, same in the case of men.
Seeing this, indeed, the seer Vama-deva knew, “I was Manu and the
sun too”. This is so even now. Whoever knows thus, "I am Brahman,
becomes this all.
B.U. 1.4.1.-10 (R)

Here, though Vedic mythological elements are prominent, the personal

nature of the cosmogonic principle is emphasized. Using a sexual
metaphor, the universal principle is pictured as being subject to the
same fear and loneliness that plagues the ordinary person. As a result
of this principle’s desire to escape loneliness, the universe came into
being. In the Upanisadic context the process of creation remains
contemporary in human desire, and is therefore reversible. In the
Upanisads, individual enlightenment, which may be taken as a
conquering of desire, is depicted as a return to a pre-creation state of
pristine unity, a state which, before the original act of desire, had
been the universal situation. In the Upanisadic system, individual
spiritual attainment is seen as a verification of the speculative monistic
doctrine that “all is one”. The reversal of the creative process started
by desire involves a merging into ontological being. The Upanisadic
sages may well have learned the concept of cosmogonic monism from
the Vedas, but Upanisadic monism takes on overtly psychological
overtones in that the process of creation is seen as an ongoing
function of the human mind.
When a few passages of doubtful interpretation are laid aside, it is
clear that Vedic monism, unlike Upanisadic monism, was primarily
concerned with cosmogony, and was ontological rather than
psychological in its approach. In accounting for the origin of matter
and motion in the universe, the Rg Veda vacillates even at its most
sophisticated level of cosmogonic speculation, between a purely
24 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

monistic position and a quasi-monistic position. The “Nasadiya Sikta”

attempts, within the limits of available terms and concepts, to resolve
matter and energy to a single source. Some quasi-monistic hymns,
however, allow that these two absolutes existed separately in the
beginning, or at least do not attempt to explain the origin of the
matter upon which the original creative agent exerted itself. Others,
like the “Purusa Sikta”, do not explain the original agent. This
inconsistency seems to reflect a lack of philosophical sophistication
rather than divergent views on the nature of creation. The culmination
of the Rg Veda’s cosmogonic speculation in the tenth book points
toward a monistic concept of a unitary material and efficient cause of
the universe. However, this monistic essence of the universe is
conceived of in cosmogonic rather than, as in the Upanisads,
psychological terms. In the Rg Veda, the nature and place of the
human being in the universe is considerably less important than it
came to be in the Upanisads, where the human consciousness usurps
the position of even the highest gods and comes to be thought of as
ultimately identical with the unitary absolute principle of the universe.
 Chapter 2

The Vedic Concept of Afterlife

and Salvation

This chapter and the following examine the Vedic concept of the
nature and potential of the human being. The previous chapter pointed
out some of the differences between the Vedic and Upanisadic
treatments of monism. In the present study, the most important of
these differences is that whereas Vedic monism is confined to
cosmogony, Upanisadic monism extends into the realm of psychology.
Though still involved in cosmogony, monism in the Upanisads
becomes an integral part of psychological speculations regarding the
essential nature of human consciousness. This psychological monism
is also the primary mode of expressing the nature of spiritual release
or moksa, the ultimate potential of the human being. The root of these
Upanisadic theories, as well as most other Indian psychological
notions, is the theory of rebirth.
The Rg Veda lacks both the concept of rebirth and the notion of
mystical release. Scrutiny of the text reveals instead the concept of
a single afterlife in heaven or in hell. The concept of the identity
strand linking the earthly person with the afterlife entity is a complex
affair involving heredity and ritual. There is no indication in the Rg
Veda of the concept of a unitary and essential human soul which
inevitably survives death and establishes one’s identity in the afterlife.
Instead, the person is depicted as a conglomeration of more or less
equally important vital and mental faculties, several of which play a
role in the afterlife. Thus, the Rg Veda lacks three of the essential
concepts of Upanisadic psychology: (1) the concept of a unitary and
essential soul or Gtman which (2) necessarily survives death and is
reborn in the normal course of events and which (3) ultimately may
be released from the vagaries of rebirth through mystical union with
the essence of the universe.
26 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

The general Vedic concept of the afterlife is that after death, upon
the performance of a proper funeral,’ one would hopefully enter an
exceptionally pleasant paradise,’ the abode of the ancestors (pitr),
where one could conceivably live forever.* An everlasting afterlife,
however, was thought to be contingent upon the continued
performance of sustaining rites by one’s descendants.* The excellence
of one’s position in the heavenly hierarchy would be determined
primarily on the basis of one’s ritual activity while alive* and to some
extent by the ritual activity of descendants on behalf of the deceased.°
There is some indication that ritual was not thought to be the only
requirement for entrance into this paradise. The Rg Veda implies that
the performance of ritual austerity (tapas), heroism in battle, the
promotion of sacred rites and great knowledge might also be
instrumental in winning a place in the abode of the ancestors.’
Morality and generosity are encouraged as being of practical
expedience in one’s earthly life,* and there is some indication that
such positive social virtues also conduce to a heavenly afterlife.” There
was also thought to be an exceedingly unpleasant afterlife in an
“abyss” of “blind darkness” awaiting the wicked and irreligious after
death,” but an effective curse might also condemn one to an afterlife
in hell.'' Thus, on the basis of scant information on the Vedic concept
of the afterlife, derived mostly from a few funeral hymns in the tenth
book, their belief seems to have been that after a single earthly life,

1. Normally cremation (Rg 10.15; 10.16; 10.17), though apparently burial was also
practiced (Rg 10.18.11; 10.15.14).
oRe 911327-1 111545:
ote, 9.113.015 91.125:67.5, 4.1 055.065.2501 10.
. See Keith, Religion and Philosophy, pp. 425-32. Also Rg 10.15.6; 10.16.2.
. Rg 10.14.8. See Muir’s translation, vol. 5, p. 293.
. Rg 10.15.1-2, discussed further below.
. Rg 10.154.2-5.
. Rg 10.117.
NY
NA
KH. Rg 1.125.5; 10.107.
FLW
O©OmMmOANI

10. Rg 4.5.5; 9.73.8; 10.103.12.

11. Rg 10.152.4; 10.103.12.
 THE VEDIC CONCEPT OF AFTERLIFE AND SALVATION Pf|

one enters heaven or hell for ever, the primary criterion being one’s
ritual activity during the earthly life. The extent to which a moral life
was considered to be conducive to a heavenly afterlife is difficult to
determine on the basis of the material available in the Rg Veda. Its
priestly concerns naturally tend to emphasize the ritual rather than
the moral aspects of securing for oneself a blessed life after death.
Regardless of the possible role of morality, it is abundantly clear that
proper ritual preparation was thought of as being indispensable, a view
contrasting vividly with the predominant Upanisadic and Buddhist
views of an afterlife determined exclusively by one’s moral merit.
An even more striking contrast between the afterlife belief outlined
in the Rg Veda and that of the Upanisads and Buddhism is the
absence in the Rg Veda of the concept of rebirth, which forms the
core of practically all post-Upanisadic speculation on the destiny of
the individual after death. Clear as this lack of a doctrine of rebirth
is, from the time of the Upanisads there have been those who claim
to find references to rebirth in the Rg Veda. This false attribution
probably occurs because of the undisputed position of the Rg Veda as
the supreme authority of Hindu orthodoxy. At any rate, the search for
references to rebirth in the Rg Veda has been going on for 2,500 years
now, and is still being pursued by modern scholars.” It is perhaps
advisable at this point to examine in their proper context all the Vedic
passages that have been construed as referring to rebirth as well as
some that have not been so construed as referring to rebirth as well
as some that have not been so construed but will doubtless be ferreted
out sooner or later. Most of these passages may be grouped into four
categories according to their actual meanings. References to rebirth
have been imagined in Vedic passages which 1) refer to recurrent,
personified natural phenomena, 2) are typical Vedic expressions of
expansive and multiple identification of one deity with other deities
and natural phenomena, 3) refer to hereditary survival in one’s
offspring and 4) passages which refer to the normal Vedic concept of
a single afterlife in heaven.

12. See Keith, Religion and Philosophy, pp. 570-571, for a discussion of various
attempts to locate rebirth in the Rg Veda. More recently, Jeanine Miller, The
Vedas, Rider, London, 1974, pp. 184-5, and note 65 thereto.
28 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

Recurrent Natural Phenomena

Vedic passages referring to recurrent natural phenomena are often

expressed metaphorically with the adverb punar, “again” and the
verbal root Vjan “to be born”. Deities which personify such
phenomena are said to be born again. This has led many to see in
these passages references to the later Indian afterlife theory of rebirth
(punar-janma). Significantly, deities who are not associated with
recurrent natural phenomena are never said to be born again. This
suggests that these references to rebirth are incidental to the
construction of poetic metaphors, not indicative of an afterlife theory.
In one passage cited by Radhakrishnan” the moon" is said to be born
again in a poetic reference either to its monthly reappearance from its
absence on the night of the new moon, or to its nightly reappearance
when the sun goes down.

18. By their own power these twain in close succession move;

they go as playing children round the sacrifice. One (the sun) of the
pair beholdeth all existing things; the other (the moon) is born again
(jayate punah).
19. He, born afresh, is new and new forever, ensign of days he
goes before the mornings.’*®
Rg 10.85.18-19 (G)

A similar passage refers to the dawn, personified as the goddess Usas.

13. Principal Upanisads, p. 44, n. 1. Though he admits that no direct reference

to rebirth is found in the Rg Veda he implies that the elements from which
the theory was derived are found therein.
14. Radhakrishnan mistakenly says it is Mitra who is born again, giving the
passage: mitro jayate punah as occurring at Rg 10.85.19. The reference is
wrong, as is the quotation. Thus, at Rg 10.85.18 is the line: anyo (referring to
the moon) vidadhaj-jayate punah.
15. navonavo bhavati jayamdano' hnam keturusasdmetyagram, literally, “He becomes
new and new, born the banner of days, he goes before the dawn”.
 THE VEDIC CONCEPT OF AFTERLIFE AND SALVATION 29

Ancient of days, again and again born newly (punah punar-jayamanda),

decking her beauty with the selfsame raiment. The goddess wastes away
the life of mortals, like a skilled hunter cutting birds in pieces.
Rg 1.92.10 (G)

According to Sayana, another passage of this sort refers to the

seasonal reappearance of the storm gods (Maruts) who, after the
violent rainstorms of the monsoon, return to their wombs in the clouds
whence they will be born again the next year.

Afterward you again took on, according to (your) power (or will), the
embryonic form, assuming sacrificial names."
. Rg 1.6.4

In similar passages with a slightly different theme, Agni, the fire god
is said to be born daily and monthly, which, according to Sayana,
refers to the daily kindling of the sacrificial fire at the agnihotra
sacrifice, and at the monthly pitryajna sacrifice for the ancestors.”

He springs to life (jayate) each month, each day that passes; so gods
have made him their oblation bearer.
Rg 10.52.3 (G)

Such metaphorical descriptions of recurrent natural phenomena as

being repetitively born do not necessarily indicate that humans too
were thought to be reborn in the Vedic context. The assertion, for
example, that Agni (fire), when born, devours his parents, the fire-
making sticks, does not indicate that humans devour their parents upon
birth; nor does the assertion that certain gods, such as Aditi and Daksa
or Viraj and Purusa, may be reciprocally generative indicate that

16. Gdadaha svadhamanu punar garbhatvamerire, dadhana nama yajhiyam.

17. See also Rg 10.5.1, where Agni is said to be “born many times” (bhurijanma),
which according to Sayana, refers to “many types of birth, at various sacrifices,
oblations, etc.”
30 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

humans may be produced in such a manner. If there were no Vedic

theory of afterlife, references to the repetitive births of natural
phenomena could provide grounds for the speculation that perhaps
humans also were thought to be reborn. The Rg Veda, however, yields
a fairly clear picture of the Vedic concept of afterlife. An examination
of this concept, later in this chapter, shows that it has nothing to do
with rebirth.

Multiple Identification

In the deceptive light of post-Vedic tradition, the expansive and

multiple identification of one deity with other deities and natural
phenomena, which is common in the Rg Veda, is sometimes taken as
reference to rebirth. Thus, in a persona poem, Indra speaks through
the poet Vamadeva saying:

I was aforetime Manu, I was Surya: I am the sage Kaksivan, the holy
singer. Kutsa the son of Arjuni I master. I am the sapient USana behold
me.
Rg 4.26.1 (G)

Here, Indra expresses his ubiquitous influence in the affairs of people

and the workings of the universe; it is not a reference to rebirth. This
hymn is cited in the Brhaddranyaka Upanisad and taken there as a
Vedic reference to monism of the Vedantic sort, but not as a reference
to rebirth. Contrary to what Keith says,’ Sankara also takes the hymn
as a reference to monism and does not suggest that the words of
Vamadeva refer to rebirth.” This Upanisadic quotation and the

18. Kaksivan, Kutsa and Kavi USanas are all semi-mythological sages thought of
as belonging to the ancient past.
19. Keith, Religion and Philosophy, p. 571.
20. “The sage called Vamadeva, in that state of realization of the identity of the
self and Brahman, visualised these Mantras, ‘I was Manu and the Sun’, etc.,
(and these words) refer to its result, identity with all.”
 THE VEDIC CONCEPT OF AFTERLIFE AND SALVATION 31

explanation of Sankara, however, both alter what was probably the

original intent of the Vedic passage by construing this grandiose
Statement of identity with manu etc. as being a declaration by the
mortal Vamadeva that he had attained moksa by realizing the identity
of the self (@tman) and the universal principle (brahman).”'
A similar pantheistically inclined hymn to Agni, which, out of
context might be taken as a reference to rebirth, obviously represents
instead the beginnings of the idea of a universal principle.

He stirs with life in wombs dissimilar in kind, born as a lion or a

loudly-bellowing bull.
Re 3211 G)

Other passages of this sort need not be considered individually here,

as it is clear that such passages, taken in context as the words of
deities, refer to the presence of gods in many different phenomena,
and not to the concept of rebirth.”

Hereditary Survival in Offspring

The third class of Vedic passages which might be mistakenly

construed as referring to rebirth, those referring to genetic continuity
between successive generations, surprisingly, have rarely been
advanced in support of the argument that belief in rebirth may be
found in the Rg Veda. In many ways these passages represent the
strongest evidence in the Rg Veda of at least a rudimentary form of
a rebirth belief. The simplest case of this genetic carry-over is found
in the plant kingdom, in which reproduction occurs without apparent
sexual contact. In the absence of copulation, Agni (fire) dwelling
within plants, is said to be the force behind vegetable reproduction.
That Agni dwells within plants is demonstrated by their

21. Sayana also explains the verse this way, but allows the alternative that Indra
is the speaker.
22. Rg 3.53.8; 7.101.3; 9.85.12;99.64:8; 3.56.3.
a2 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

inflammability, and it is further postulated in the Rg Veda that this

indwelling fire is also the invisible impregnator of plants.

Dwelling in old (plants) he is attracted to their offspring, entering

newly born (sadyah jatasu) saplings. He makes them (plants) pregnant
though they are not fertilized.”
Rg 3.55.)

In this connection it is well to mention the famous cucumber passage,

which, though it refers to immortality and not rebirth, is often
advanced as an indication of a rebirth belief in the Rg Veda,
presumably because of the similar phrasing of an Upanisadic passage
which does refer to rebirth.

As from its stem (bandhana) the cucumber, so may I be released

(muksiya) from death, not reft of immortality.
Rg 7.59.12 (G)

Just as a mango or a fig or a fruit of the peepul tree releases itself

(pramucyate) from it bond (bandhana) even so this person frees himself
(sampramucya) from these limbs and returns again as he came to the
place from which he started back to a new life.
B.U. 4.3.36 (R)

Oddly, Sayana does not mention the Upanisadic passage in his

exposition of this hymn, nor does Sankara mention the Vedic passage
in his commentary. It is perhaps obvious to both of them that these
similarly worded passages actually do not express similar ideas, for
the Vedic passage is a simple poetic simile intended to illustrate the
desire for release from death, i.e. for heavenly immortality. If the
passage referred to rebirth, the prayer for immortality would be
contradictory. What is probably meant is that the sacrificer wishes to
be granted immortality in heaven at the end of a full life at a ripe old

23. This translation follows Sayana’s interpretation.

 THE VEDIC CONCEPT OF AFTERLIFE AND SALVATION 33

age, just as the fruit of a tree will fall free of its stem when it is
ripe.”
Parallel to the concept of Agni, dwelling in plants, being born
anew in their offspring, is the concept of the father being born again
in his son. This belief is the closest thing in the Rg Veda to a
genuine concept of rebirth, but a belief in a hereditary carry-over
between father and son is so universally common that its presence in
the Rg Veda establishes nothing. This same belief may be seen in the
European tendency to name children after direct blood ancestors.

He (the pious father) is procreated (pra + jdyate) through his progeny

(prajabhir) according to law (dharmanaspari), (whereby) your
(Heaven’s and Earth’s) diverse forms (of beings) are ruled alike.
Rg 6.70.3

He is procreated through his progeny according to law (pra prajabhir

jJayate dharmanaspari), unharmed, he prospers completely.
Rg 8.27.16

This Vedic belief in the hereditary carry-over of identity, though

perhaps occasionally appearing to prefigure a doctrine of rebirth, is
recognized explicitly in the Upanisads as being altogether different
from the mechanism of rebirth.

1. As is a mighty tree, so, indeed is a man ....

4. A tree when it is felled springs up from its root in newer
form; from what root does a man spring forth when he is cut off by
death?
5. Do not say “from the semen”, for that is produced from what
is alive. A tree springs also from the seed. After it is dead, it certainly
springs again.
B.U. 3.9.28 (R)
34 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

Here, the continuity between parent and offspring is recognized as

different from the continuity between rebirths. Both men and trees,
while living, produce seed from which offspring arise, but they are
also both subject to rebirth when they are cut down by death. The
tree, in other words, sprouts up from the cut off stump. Nothing,
however, in the two Vedic passages cited indicates that their authors
were aware of the doctrine of rebirth. Nothing in either passage gives
the meaning “born again” or “born anew” as Griffith translates. The
evident word play in pra prajabhirjayate — literally “He is procreated
by his offspring”** — emphasizes the paradoxical nature of being born
through the agency of one’s children, a concept which preoccupied the
Vedic mind.”

The son who is a sage hath comprehended; who knows this rightly is
his father’s father.
Rg 1.164.16 (G)

The two hymns cited above offer some insight into the meaning
and importance of this idea to the authors of the Rg Veda. Both of
these passages begin identically with: pra _ prajdbhirjdyate
dharmanaspari (“he is procreated by his progeny according to kaw”).
This indicates that dharmanaspari (‘according to law”)”’ in both cases
should be read with pra prajabhirjayate, rather than, as is
grammatically feasible in the first passage, read with yuvoh (“your”,
dual, i.e. Heaven’s and Earth’s). In this case, dharma probably
connotes “duty” as well as “law”, suggesting: “He is procreated by his
progeny according to (the performance of) ritual duty”. This broadened
interpretation is in perfect accord with the Vedic belief that the
ancestors (pitr) are fed and maintained in heaven by the sacrificial

25. The separable prefix pra- should be read with jdyate, thus giving prajabhir
prajayate.
26. Note also the reciprocal generation of Aditi and Daksa (Rg 10.72.4) and of
Purusa and Viraj (Rg 10.90.5).
27. See Monier-Williams, p. 591, col. 2.
 THE VEDIC CONCEPT OF AFTERLIFE AND SALVATION 35

offerings of their offspring,” just as the gods are said to be supported

by the offerings of men.”
The concept of surviving death through one’s offspring is complex
and will be examined in some detail in this chapter and parts of the
next chapter. A preliminary explanation at this point, however, may
help to clarify the immediately following material. The Vedic Aryan
was preoccupied with the production of offspring, as frequent prayers
for many sons indicate. One of the most important roles of these many
offspring was the role they were thought to play in assuring a pleasant
afterlife for their parents. The first aspect of this role was to provide
a proper funeral, through which the deceased could hope to enter
heaven. Once in heaven, the deceased would continue to require
sustenance, normally depicted as feeding, which was thought to be
provided by one’s offspring in the form of the monthly pitryajna or
“ancestral sacrifice”. In addition to sustaining the dead ancestor in
heaven, the offspring also played an important role by procreating
further offspring on earth. The Vedic Aryan imagined that in addition
to surviving death in heaven as one of the “ancestors” (pitr), he also
survived on earth, in some sense, in the form of his descendants. The
vedic concept of afterlife, then, involved dual survival in heaven and
on earth, both dependant upon the filial piety of one’s offspring.
The human parallel to the innate immortality of the gods is possible
immortality in the afterlife, contingent upon the faithful performance
of supportive rituals by one’s descendants and upon their vigor in
producing more offspring in the family line. As a result, references to
being born and attaining immortality through the agency of one’s
offspring, in addition to indicating the universal belief that one
somehow lives on in one’s children, also imply that the father’s
continued existence in the afterlife depends upon the filial piety of his
offspring in performing ritual duties. In the period of the Brahmanas
the full implications of this type of belief were drawn out, and there

28. See Keith, Religion and Philosophy, pp. 425-32. Also Rg 10.15.6; 10.16.12.
See also A.U. 2.1.4. for a reference to this type of belief.
29. See Rg 10.14.14.
36 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

arose the concept of the possibility of death from heaven (punar-

mrtyu), an idea which will be examined further below.
The idea that human immortality depends on the filial piety of
succeeding generations is probably also the basis of the next passage
to be considered, a passage which Karel Werner makes much of in his
arguments to establish the presence of rebirth theory in the Rg Veda.
The following is his translation.”

For at first you bestowed on gods worthy of offerings, immortality,

the supreme lot. Then as a gift, Savitr, you opened up successive lives
(anucina jivita) for men.
Rg 4.54.2

The verbal root Vjiv, and grammatical modifications thereof, is used

throughout the Rg Veda to designate the possession of vitality. It is
often found in conjunction with the term dyu (life span),”’ the two
being conterminal, ideally lasting a hundred years. As nouns, the
derivatives of Vjiv normally refer to “the living”, “living beings”,
although they occasionally designate individual vitality, primarily in
the later hymns.” The only other use of the identical term, jivitd, is
at Rg 1.113.6, in the context: “different kinds (visadrfa) of creatures
(jivita)” or “different forms of life”. In no instance in the Rg Veda
are terms based on Vjiv used to refer to soul or life principle as is the
term jiva in post-Vedic philosophy. Instead, these terms invariably
refer to simple animation, opposed to sleep™ and death.** These terms
designate the simple state of being alive, not an entity. They are, in
fact, used almost exactly like the English terms “life, alive”, etc. It is,

30. Werner, “The Vedic Concept of Human Personality”, see Bibliography. See
also Jeanine Miller, The Vedas, Rider, London, 1974, pp. 184-5, and note 65
thereto.
31. Rg 1.37.15; 1.44.6; 1.48.10; 1.79.9; 1.89.2; 1.94.4; 8.18.18; 8.18.22; 10.14.14;
10.59.1 & 5.
32. Rg 3.36.10; 10.18.4; 10.161.4.
33. Rg 1.48.10; 1.113.16; 1.140.8; 1.164.30; 10.27.4; 10.97.11.
34. Re 1.113.16.
35. Rg 1.140.8; 10.18.3; 10.60.8; 1.91.6.
 THE VEDIC CONCEPT OF AFTERLIFE AND SALVATION ei)

however, doubtful that the phrase “successive lives” in the Rg Veda

Carries the same meaning it does in English, i.e. that of rebirth. There
is no other reference in the entire Rg Veda to indicate that one person
could have more than one life. The living, in fact, are said to be
Strictly separate from the dead.*
In the context of what seems to be the general Vedic belief it is
more reasonable to take the preceding passage as a reference to
successive generations. This is precisely how Sayana explains the
term anucind, saying that it means “the succession of father, son,
descendants”. In the Vedic context, this is the human parallel to
divine immortality, the supreme lot. Humans may survive death by
proxy in the form of their offspring and may obtain individual
immortality in heaven contingent upon filial piety in the performance
of rituals of sustenance for deceased ancestors.” This survival in the
form of one’s offspring is clearly the intent of a passage similar to
the one under examination, which obviously refers to the ancestors
(pitr) and their offspring.

5. They (the ancestors) compassed in their bodies (tanisu) all

existing things, and streamed forth offspring in many successive forms.
(pra asarayata purudha praja anu).
6. In two ways have the sons established in his place the Asura
who finds the light, by the third act, as fathers, they have set their
heritage on earth, their offspring, as a thread (tantum) continuously
spun out.
Rg 10.56.5-6 (G)

As will become clearer below, tani, in verse five, is perhaps better

translated here as “form” or “appearance”. That is to say, the assertion
that the ancestors have encompassed in their tanvah all existing things
is in fact an assertion that they are archetypal, rather than the

36. Rg 10.18.3.
37. pitrputrapautra ityanukramah.
38. Several passages mention progeny in connection with derivatives of the root
Viiv: Rg 1.36.6; 3.53.8; 5.78.9; 8.18.18; 8.67.12.
38 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

substantial origin of creation. While the English translation

“successive” is derived here solely on the basis of the separable prefix
anu-, the meaning of the passage is nevertheless very similar to that
of the passage above, which, viewed through the distorting lens of
later tradition, in English translation, and taken out of context may
seem to refer to rebirth. The fact is, however, that if rebirth is meant,

the Vedic Aryans were in no way short on vocabulary or expressive

ability, the only reasonable alternative is to construe the passage as a
statement in accordance with the general Vedic concept that one lives
on after death vicariously in the form of one’s offspring, a concept
clearly expressed in the following verse.

As I, remembering thee with grateful spirit, a mortal, call with might

on thee immortal, vouchsafe us high renown, O Jatavedas, and may I
be immortal by my children (prajabhis).”
Rg 5.4.10 (G)

The Heavenly Afterlife

The most important class of Vedic passages mistakenly taken as

referring to rebirth, the class most often cited, are passages which
actually do refer to a post-mortem birth of sorts, but a birth into
heaven, the world of the ancestors. The identity link through which
this transference of the dead person to heaven occurs is the tani,
often translated “body”, but better translated “form”. The term tana
is consistently used in the Rg Veda to refer to an element of personal
identity less substantial than the physical body, which is designated by
the term farira or sometimes ripa. Nonetheless, the tani is conceived
of as a quasi-physical phenomenon.*® Other elements of personal
identity and vitality are said to be dispersed into the universe upon
death, or more precisely, upon performance of the funeral ritual. The
funeral apparently was thought to act as a catalyst in the process of

39. Cp. Rg 1.68.8; 1.89.9; 1.136.6; 7.57.6.

40. For a detailed analysis of the use of tani in the Rg Veda, see chapter III.
 THE VEDIC CONCEPT OF AFTERLIFE AND SALVATION 39

re-absorption of the individual’s vital forces into their universal

counterparts. Thus, in the following series of three verses from a
funeral hymn of the tenth book, two things transpire: 1) the dispersion
of the vital forces of the deceased into their universal origins, and 2)
the transference of personal identity to heaven by means of the tani.
As Muir’s and Griffith’s translations both suffer inaccuracies, they
will be compared verse by verse and evaluated on the basis of
relevant material from other passages and from the Rg Veda at large.

Let his eye go to the sun, his breath (@tman) to the wind (vayu). Go
to the sky and to the earth, according to (the) nature (of thy several
parts); or go to the waters if that is suitable for thee, enter into the
plants with thy members.
; Rg 10.16.3 (M)

Griffith’s translation of this same passage misses the sense of

dispersion conveyed in the original and imbues the passage with the
unwarranted sense of a transmigrating entity.

The sun receive thine eye, the wind thy spirit, go, as thy merit is, to
earth or heaven. Go, if it be thy lot, unto the waters; go, make thine
home in plants with all thy members.
Rg 10.16.3 (G)

Muir’s rendering of this verse is, as is often the case, more accurate
than Griffith’s translation, as a comparison to the original passage will
immediately confirm.*' Several points of translation in this passage,
however, are of particular importance with regard to a correct
understanding of the verses which follow, and therefore deserve to be
considered in some detail. First, nothing in the original text of this
2 42
verse justifies the use of “his” or “thine”,** and it would seem that the
various vital faculties are being commanded separately to enter sky

41. su&ryam caksurgacchatu vatamatma dyam ca gaccha prthivim ca dharmana,

apo va gaccha yadi tatra te hitamosadhisu prati tistha Sarirath. (Rg 10.16.3).
42. Although Sayana says the dead person’s spirit is addressed (he preta).
40 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

and earth. The phrase dydm ca gaccha prtivim ca certainly means “go
to the sky and to the earth”. Though dyadm might be justifiably taken
as “to heaven”, svar is the more common term for the heavenly abode,
dyu referring more generally to the celestial realm as a spacial
phenomenon. Be that as it may, dyu and prthivi are both prescribed
as destinations, as in Muir’s: “to the sky and to the earth”. They
clearly are not intended as alternatives, as Griffith’s rendition “earth
or heaven” wrongly implies.”
Second, dharmand should probably be taken as “according to
(natural) law”. The use of dharma (masc.) to signify “nature” or
“merit” is primarily if not wholly post-Vedic. The Vedic dharman
(neut.) is derived directly from the verbal root Vdhr (to bear), and
means “bearer” or “supporter”, thence the usage “natural law”, that
which supports and maintains the orderly cosmos. Griffith’s
unwarranted translation would seem to be based on Sayana’s
exposition of the passage which, also unjustified, explains dharmana
as “according to good deeds” (sukrtena). Both construe the root Vdhr
as expressing the meaning of the root Vkr, though the term karmana
in the sense of “according to action or deeds” is used elsewhere“ and
would doubtless have been used here if that meaning were intended.
Here, yadi tatra te hitam probably means literally “if that is ordained
of you”, hita being a past participle of the same root Vdhr, from
which dharmana is derived. Osadhisu prati tistha Sariraih means
literally “in plants stand separately with bodies”, though Sarira is
used both for the body and in plural for the limbs of the body in
other Rg Vedic passages.”
In addition to this strong internal evidence that this passage is to
be construed as referring to dispersion of the vital faculties, several
other Rg Vedic passages indicate that dispersion of life faculties was
thought to accompany death. In a prayer for lengthened life,‘

43. Although Sayana says, without justification, that the word ca should be taken
here in the sense of an alternative (atra cagabdo vikalparthe).
44. Rg 8.31.17; 8.39.5; 10.56.6.
45. Rg 1.32.10; 1.163.11; 6.25.4; 10.16.1; 10.99.8; 10.1136.2. Sdyana takes it as
referring here to the “parts of the body” (Sariravayavah).
46. Rg 10.59.5-7.
 THE VEDIC CONCEPT OF AFTERLIFE AND SALVATION 41

apparently intended to overcome a potentially fatal disease, the

goddess Asuniti*’ is asked to return the mind (manas), sight (caksu)
and breath (prdna) of the dying man. Earth, heaven and atmosphere
(antariksa) are asked to return the vital spirit (asu), and Soma is
asked for the tani or subtle body.” In another prayer to save the life
of a dying man, the mind (manas) is called back from earth, heaven,
the sea, plants, the sun, “from all that lives and moves, from all that
is and is to be”.” Reversal of this process of dispersion is also
referred to in another hymn, where the dying man is said to be
returned and renewed (punarnava) with all his parts (sarvdnga).”
References to this type of theory are also found in the Upanisads,”'
but there the implication is that the dispersed elements are unessential
components of the true person (purusa) which is reborn according to
its deeds.
Thus it is clear — on the basis of internal evidence and external
corroboration — that Rg 10.16.3 refers to the dispersion of the
individual’s life faculties. The next verse in this hymn, however,
indicates that some form of individual identity is retained and
conveyed to heaven. In this instance, Griffith’s translation probably
conveys better than Muir’s the original meaning of the passage.

Thy (Agni’s) portion is the goat (aja); with heat consume him; let thy
fierce flame, thy glowing splendour, burn him. With thine suspicious
forms, O Jatavedas bear this man to the region of the pious.
Rg 10.16.4 (G)

47. According to Griffith’s note asuniti is a funeral deity, but in Rg 10.16.2 he

translates the same term as “life that awaits him’, while Muir translates “‘state
of vitality”. Cp. Rg 10.15.1 & 14: “world of spirits” (G) “(higher) vitality” (M).
Roth thinks it is an epithet of Yama, and Mueller renders it “guide of life”. See
Muir, vol. 5, p. 297, n. 445.
48. This probably refers to the belief that the moon was an intermediate phase on
the journey to heaven, as the tan is that which enters heaven. See Keith,
Religion and Philosophy, pp. 576, 583. See also Rg 10.85.5; Ks. U. 1.2 and
2,8; /B.U. 6.215 & 16.
49. Rg 10.58.
50. Rg 10.161.5.
51. See B.U. 3.2.13.
42 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

Muir’s translation of this passage is substantially the same, except

that he translates ajo bhagas as “his unborn part”. This is also how
Sayana construes the phrase,” but if this rendition is correct, this is
the only passage in the entire Rg Veda, where the term aja means
“unborn individual essence”, as the term is sometimes used in the
Upanisads.* Normally, aja simply means “goat” in the Rg Veda.™
Though it occasionally represents the compound a-ja (“not born”),
this refers in every case to the universal unborn principle, that
which, like the three-fourths of Purusa which “went up”, is not
involved in the mundane universe, or at least nor affected by the
affairs of the world.
With a proper understanding of these two verses, the reference in
the next verse of this hymn to joining a body (tanu) is clearly a
reference to the normal Vedic afterlife theory, which holds that a
person survives in heaven in the form of a subtle body which is
maintained by the sacrifices of one’s descendants.

Give up again, Agni, to the Fathers, him who comes offered to thee
with oblations. Putting on life (ayu), let him approach (his) remains
(Sesa); let him meet with his body (tani), O Jatavedas.
Rg 10.16.5 (M)

Only in the light of Griffith’s mistranslation of verse three does the

reference in verse five to joining the tani seem to be a deviation
from the normal Vedic belief expressed in other verses which
invariably refer to joining a subtle body in heaven, the world of the
fathers.

52. jananrahitah Sarirendriyadibhagavyatirikto 'ntarapurusalaksamo.

53. B.U: 4.4.22 24 & 25.
54. Rg 1.138.4; 1.162.2 & 4; 1.163.12; 6.55.3,4 & 6; 6.57.3; 6.58.2; 7.103.6;
8.70.15; 9.67.10; 10.90.10; 10.134.6. See also Rg 2.10.6 where Agni is asked
“recognize thy portion (bhaga)” meaning the burnt offering. In Rg 1.162.3-4
the goat is Pusan’s portion (pusno bhdgo).
55. Rg 1.67.3; 1.164.6; 5.15.2; 8.41.10; 10.82.6.
 THE VEDIC CONCEPT OF AFTERLIFE AND SALVATION 43

Uniting with a body (tani) be thou welcome, dear to the gods in their
sublimest birthplace.
Rg 10.56.1 (G)

This tanu, it seems, in addition to being sustained by the sacrifices

of one’s descendants, is created or at least strengthened by one’s own
sacrifices during life on earth.

Meet with the Fathers, meet with Yama, meet with the (recompense
of ) the sacrifices thou hast offered in the highest heaven. Throwing
off all imperfection again go to thy home. Become united to a body
(tanz), and clothed in a shining form.*®
Rg 10.14.8 (M)

Do thou, O self-resplendent god — along with those (Fathers) who,

whether they have undergone cremation or not, are gladdened by our
oblation — grant us this (higher) vitality (asuniti) and a body (tani)
according to our desire.*’
Rg 10.15.14 (M)

These verses seem to foreshadow the belief expressed in the Satapatha

Bradhmana that the highest reward after death is to be born in heaven
with a complete tanu, which is created by one’s sacrifices during life.

This sacrifice becomes in the next world the soul (@tman) of the
sacrificer. The sacrificer who, knowing this, sacrifices with an expiation,
is born with his whole body (sarva tani) in the next world.
S.B. 11.1.8.6. (M)

56. Cp. Rg 10.68.11, where the ancestors, apparently with the “shining forms”
mentioned here, are said to have “‘adorned the sky with stars”.
57. Griffith translates kalpayasva ‘“‘as thy (Agni’s) pleasure wills it”. But see Rg
10.184.1 (which Griffith puts in his appendix, p. 654) Visnur yonim kalpayatu,
“May Visnu form and mould the womb”. (G)
44 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

Some have sought a Vedic reference to rebirth in another passage

which, in all probability, also refers to a simple afterlife in heaven.*

When Mitra and Varuna saw thee quitting the flame of the lightning,
that was thy birth; and thou hadst one (other birth), O Vasistha, when
Agastya brought you to the people (visa).
Rg 7.33.10 (M)

Griffith thinks that only one birth is mentioned here, translating tatte
janmotaikam as “thy one and only birth was then”. This is also a
feasible rendition, and in this case, the passage would refer to the
miraculous birth of the sage Vasistha orchestrated by the sage Agastya
at a sacrifice.” If Muir is right, however, and a second rebirth is
intended, the passage would refer to birth in heaven, since Indra is
said to be the speaker from verse seven onward.” This is how Sayana
construes the passage, taking vifa as an ablative form meaning “from
(your) previous station (among people)” (purvavasthadnat), thus
supporting Griffith’s phrase: “from thy stock Agastya brought you
hither”.
Another Vedic passage which probably has nothing whatsoever to
do with rebirth or birth in heaven is nonetheless cited in the Aitareya
Upanisad®' as a Vedic verse referring to the three births of the self.
According to the Upanisadic theory, the first birth is conception of a
child, which takes on part of the identity of its father; the second
birth is the actual birth of this child from its mother’s womb, and the
third birth is the rebirth (punar jdyate) of the father when he dies. At

58. See Keith, Religion and Philosophy, pp. 570-71; Geldner, Vedische Studien
vol. 2, p. 142.
59. See verse 13 of the same hymn, where Vasistha is said to be “born at the
sacrifice” (G) & (M). Geldner advances the alternative theory that what is
described in this hymn is a political alliance which Agastya forged between
Vasistha and the Trtsus. See Vedic Index vol. 1, pp. 6-7, 320-22; Geldner
Vedische Studien vol. 2, pp. 136, 138, 143.
60. Griffith p. 351, note 7.
61A.U 2.15. Seecaleo, S:B511-251-1-
 THE VEDIC CONCEPT OF AFTERLIFE AND SALVATION 45

the endof this explanation of the three births of the self, the
following Vedic verse, attributed to Vamadeva, is cited.

I, as I lay within the womb, considered all generations of these gods

in order. A hundred iron fortresses confined me but forth I flew with
rapid speed a falcon.
Rg 4.27.1 (G)

It is not at all certain, however, that even the Upanisadic passage

refers to rebirth in the phrase punar jdyate. In fact, the last verse of
the section seems to refer to entrance into heaven, in which case the
Upanisad is propounding a Vedic afterlife theory. If this is so, the
period in the womb mentioned in the quoted Vedic verse would refer
to the first or embryonic birth; the flying forth like a falcon, would
refer to the second birth from the womb, and the Upanisadic verse
which follows the Vedic citation would be meant to complete the
exposition of the doctrine by describing the third birth in heaven.

He, knowing thus and springing upward, when the body is dissolved,
enjoyed all desires in that world of heaven and became immortal, yes,
became immortal.
A.U.62:1:67 (8)

The intent of the Upanisadic passage is not, however, clear. The

“He” in A.U. 2.1.6 seems to refer to the seer Vamadeva in the form
of a child, whereas it ought to refer to Vamadeva’s father. Sankara
explains, however, that “this fact which is stated with regard to
another (the father) is implied here (with regard to the son) also; for
the father and the son have the same self”.” Thus, according to
Sankara, the death of the father, which will result in his third birth,
implies the death and rebirth of his child Vamadeva also. At any rate,
it seems that Vamadeva, having provided the occasion for his father’s
first two births, will also undergo these first two births as a father,
and eventually die himself, thus accomplishing his third birth. But, as

62. A.U. 2.1.4, Sankara-bhasya.

46 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

we have seen, this third birth seems to be thought of as a heavenly

birth in the Upanisad, which, if this is the case, would be describing
a primarily Vedic theory of afterlife.
Sankara, however, explains the Upanisadic passage and the Vedic
quotation as being references to the standard doctrine of repeated
rebirth.” This explanation is acceptable, with regard to the Upanisad,
but entirely improbable with regard to the original intent of the Vedic
citation. Sankara’s assertion that the hundred iron fortresses refer to
previous bodies, which confined the seer to samsdra until he escaped
through knowledge of the self, is entirely unwarranted. Sayana agrees
with Sankara’s interpretation, but an altogether more convincing
exegesis of the Vedic verse is offered by Bloomfield,“ who says Agni,
born within the wombs of clouds, is the speaker of this verse, and in
the form of an eagle or falcon, brings Soma to earth, in the form of
rain.
Karel Werner® cites a touching hymn on the death of a child in
support of his view that the doctrine of rebirth is to be found in the
Rg Veda, but here too, nothing indicates that anything other than the
normal Vedic afterlife theory is intended.

I looked reluctantly on him who cherishes those men of old, on him

who treads that evil path, and then I yearmed for this again.
Rg 10.135.2 (G)

Even if Griffith’s doubtful translation of this obscure passage is

correct, and the meaning is that the dead child wishes to return to
life on earth, there is no indication that he got his wish. The rest

63. A.U. 2.1.5, Sankara-bhasya. See also Brahma-sitra, Sankara-bhasya, 3.4.51.

64. “The Myth of Soma and the Eagle”, Festgruss an Rudolf von Roth, 1893, pp.
149-155. Also in JAOS, vol. 16, p. 3ff. See Whitney’s Atharva Veda 6.48.1,
and JAOS, vol. 19, p. 11. See also Rg 9.68.6.
65. In his unpublished paper “The Vedic Concept of Human Personality”, see
Bibliography.
66. Sayana’s equally doubtful explanation is that the hymn refers to Naciketas, the
protagonist in the Katha Upanisad, who desires the death his father has
sentenced him to.
 THE VEDIC CONCEPT OF AFTERLIFE AND SALVATION 47

of the hymn describes the cremation of the deceased and his journey
to heaven. This journey is metaphorically said to be accomplished in
a chariot” and a ship.®

Thou mountest, though thou dost not see, O child, the new and wheel-
less car Which thou hast fashioned mentally (manasakrnoh), one-poled
but tuming every way.”
Rg 10.135.3 (G)

Werner sees in this description a reference to the same type of idea

as that found at B.U. 4.4.2-5, where it is said that as someone dies,
his vital forces (prdna) consolidate, and “becoming one, he does not
See... siticll <... taste: etc:

And as a goldsmith, taking a piece of gold tums it into another, newer

and more beautiful shape, even so does this self, after having thrown
away this body and dispelled its ignorance, make unto himself another,
newer and more beautiful shape.
B.U. 4.4.4 (R)

There is, however, not near enough similarity in these two passages
to warrant interpreting one on the basis of the other. In the absence
of external evidence, the Vedic reference to a wheel-less chariot is
most convincingly explained as reference to a vehicle which will carry
the deceased to heaven. Though it is relevant to his argument, Werner
does not mention a passage in the Katha Upanisad (1.3.3), to be
examined in detail below, in which the individual is likened to a
chariot, the various faculties being the driver, reigns, horses etc.”
Even if all these passages are taken as being related somehow, the
fact remains that in the Vedic funeral hymn under examination, every

67. In verse 3.
68. In verse 4. See Rg 7.88.3 where Varuna and a sage embark together on a boat.
69. Cp. Rg 9.75.1 where the sun’s car “moves on every side” (G).
70. See Rg 6.75.6-7; B.U. 4.3.10.
48 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

indication is that the chariot bears the deceased to the world of Yama.
There is nothing which suggests a doctrine of rebirth.
One passage in the Brhadadranyaka Upanisad, in a reference to
“the two paths of the gods and ancestors”, looks to the Rg Veda for
justification of its rebirth doctrine, but the Upanisadic passage itself
goes on to show that the Upanisadic understanding of these two paths
is altogether unfamiliar to the Vedic tradition. In this passage, the
brahmin youth Svetaketu, educated in the traditional manner,
approaches the ksatriya king Pravahana Jaivali and is asked by the
king five questions, the last of which relates to the two paths
mentioned at Rg 10.88.15.

“Do you know the means of access to the path leading to the
gods or of the one leading to the fathers? i.e. by doing what the people
go to the path of the gods or the path of the fathers? For we have
heard even the saying of the seer: ‘I have heard of two paths for men,
the one that leads to fathers and the one that leads to the gods. By
these two all that lives moves on, whatever there is between father
(heaven) and mother (earth)’”.
“Not a single one of them do I know,” said he.”
Be 6:22 sy)

In the rest of the Upanisadic passage, it becomes obvious that the

path of the fathers (pitrydna) refers to rebirth, and the path of the
gods (devaydna) refers to liberation (moksa), non-return to rebirth in
samsdra. But when Svetaketu’s father Gautama approaches the king
for answers to these questions, before explaining the doctrine of
rebirth and release, the king hesitates, saying, “This knowledge has
never hitherto dwelt with any Brahmana whatsoever”.” On this basis
alone, it should be obvious that the Rg Veda passage, composed by
members of the priestly caste, was not originally intended as an

71. This Upanisadic passage is referred to in the Bhagavad Gita (8.23-28) but
without reference to the Rg Veda. Sayana takes the Gitd passage into account,
but ignores the Upanisadic citation. Venkata notes the Upanisad, but not the
Gitd. Both the Gita and the Upanisad refer to rebirth in these passages.
12. BLU 26.2.8 (R):
 THE VEDIC CONCEPT OF AFTERLIFE AND SALVATION 49

expression of rebirth as opposed to liberation, and was not regarded

as such an expression in Upanisadic times. The question remains,
however, “What does the Vedic passage mean?” Keith, for no obvious
reason, says the “two paths” refer to day and night.” The passage
probably intends, however, the belief mentioned above that innate
divine immortality is paralleled in the human sphere by survival of
death in the form of one’s offspring. It is not clear, why the path of
the gods, in the Vedic hymn, is said to be a possible path for mortals.
Perhaps what is meant is that some exceptional mortals, like Yama,
the first person to die,“ or the Rbhus,”* are thought to have been
raised to the status of gods, i.e. they enjoy immortality not contingent
upon the continuation of one’s familial line and their good faith in
performing rituals of ancestral maintenance.
Yet another passage which might mistakenly be construed as a
reference to rebirth, in fact serves to emphasize the strict separation
between the status of gods and men.

None lives, even had he hundred lives (Gtma), beyond the statute of
the gods; so am I parted from my friend.
Rg 10.33.9 (G)

Griffith’s translation of the plural term d@tmd as “lives” is probably

wrong, since the term dyu is normally used in the sense “duration of
life”. Instead, the term atman should probably be taken in the normal
Vedic sense of “vital essence”, in which case, the meaning would be
that even with a hundred times the vital force normally allotted to a
human being, one cannot live beyond the time appointed by the gods

73. Keith, Religion and Philosophy, p. 571. Apparently he refers to Deussen’s

interpretation (Philosophy of the Upanishads, p. 318.) which is based on the
supposition that the hymn in question (which he mistakenly labels X.83.15) is
“a hymn celebrating Agni in his twofold character as sun by day and fire by
night”. The hymn states, however, that Agni is three-fold in essence, probably
meaning celestial fire, earthly fire and life fire (10.88.8), so Deussen’s
interpretation is not, as he puts it, “hardly doubtful”.
74. Rg 10.14.2.
75. Rg 1.161.2; 4.35.3 & 8. See Muir, vol. 5, p. 284.
50 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

for his death. This second interpretation is better in accord with the
overall nature of the hymn, which is a eulogy of a dead friend, and
friends, as we all know, often seem to be too much alive to die. At
any rate, the passage certainly does not refer to rebirth, though some
might argue on the basis of Griffith’s translation that it reflects an
awareness of such a doctrine. Given the wording of the phrase,
however, such an argument would be unconvincing, since rebirth is
never described as a series of souls but as a single soul going through
a series of incarnations.
Another passage must be considered as a possible reference to
rebirth in the Rg Veda, primarily because of Radhakrishnan’s
misleading translation of it in the introduction to his Principal
Upanisads, though others have also seen the possibility of a belief in
rebirth expressed in the passage.”®

30. That which hath breath and speed and life and motion lies
firmly stablished in the midst of houses. Living, by offerings to the
dead he moveth, immortal one, the brother of the mortal. (anacchaye
turagatu jivamejaddhruvam madhya a pastyanam, jivo mrtasya carati
svadhabhiramartyo martyena sayonih.)
38. Back forward goes he, grasped by strength inherent, the
immortal born the brother of the mortal. Ceaseless they move in
opposite directions; men mark the one and fail to mark the other.(apan
praneti svadhaya grbhito’martyo martyena sayonih, ta SaSvanta
visucina viyanta nyanyam cikyurna ni cikyuranyam).
Rg 1.164.30 & 38 (G)

Given the overall sophistication of this famous hymn of Dirghatamas,

it is possible that these two verses do indeed refer to a body/soul
dichotomy, as Sayana states in his commentary. Griffith, however,
conjectures that the first sentence of verse 30 refers to Agni, the
second to the moon, and that verse 38 refers to the sun, visible on its
daytime journey from east to west, but invisible on its nightly return
from the west to the east. This interpretation is not as unreasonable

76. See Keith, Religion and Philosophy, p. 570. Werner also cites the passage in
his unpublished paper “The Vedic Concept of the Human Personality”, see
Bibliography.
 THE VEDIC CONCEPT OF AFTERLIFE AND SALVATION 51

as it first sounds, for Agni is often spoken of as dwelling on the

hearth in the houses of people. The moon is often associated with the
spirits of the dead, and another passage in the Rg Veda mentions the
visible westward journey of the sun, and its invisible eastward journey
back to the point where it rises.” Apparently on this or some such
basis, Griffith says that the “they” in verse 38 refers to the sun by
day and the sun by night, but this is grammatically rather hard to
swallow. It is also difficult to believe that two phrases so similarly
worded and found in the same hymn refer to totally different things,
i.e. the sun and the moon, and to understand why they should be
called “brother (sayoni, lit. ‘of common womb or origin’) of the
mortal”. All things considered, Sayana’s interpretation is thus far the
more reasonable, but he goes on to link the verses with rebirth. He
refers to a passage in the Svetasvatara Upanisad, which does refer to
rebirth, but has no formal similarity to the Vedic verses in question.”
There is nothing in the original to justify Griffith’s inclusion of
“born” in verse 38, and, in all, nothing which suggests the doctrine of
rebirth in either of these verses. On the contrary, if an individual
survival factor is indicated by the term “the immortal” (amartya), then
verse 30 contains a clear reference to what has been described as the
typical Vedic afterlife belief, i.e. that the surviving factor of a dead
person is kept alive by the offerings (svadha) of his descendants.”
One more verse needs to be considered here. Though it obviously
has absolutely nothing to do with rebirth or afterlife in any form, the
juxtaposition in a single verse of words meaning “release and return”

77. Rg 10.111.7.
78.. S.U. 5.8. Sayana also refers to C.U. 6.11.3.
79. The term svadha may mean “oblation”, “power” or “will”. It appears once in
both of these verses, and apparently means “oblations” in verse 30, since it
occurs in the plural, and “power” in verse 38 where it is in the singular
number. Whitney’s translation of A.V. 9.10.8, which is almost exactly similar
to Rg 1.164.30, is generally better than Griffith’s translation, but he ignores
grammar and common sense by using the phrase “the living one moves at the
will (svadhabhis) of the dead one”. Sayana’s interpretation agrees with that of
Griffith, assigning two separate meanings to the term in these two verses.
52 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

has led some scholars to the conclusion that rebirth and liberation are
meant.®°

Well knowing have I bound me, horse-like, to the pole; I carry that
which bears us on and gives us help. I seek for no release (vimuca),
no turning back (dvrtam punar) therefrom. May he who knows the
way, the leader, guide me straight.
Rg 5.46.1 (G)

Griffith’s translation, in accord with Sayana’s explanation, is doubtless

correct, and the verse is a simple reference to dedication to ritual
duties.

Possible Latent References to Rebirth

Most of the passages in the Rg Veda which have been or might

be construed as direct references to rebirth have been examined above.
In every case they fit more comfortably into the overall scheme of
Vedic belief. More plausible than direct references to rebirth is the
proposition that the Rg Veda contains germinal concepts which
eventually developed into the classical Indian rebirth theory. The case
for latent Vedic origins of the theory of rebirth is argued from two
diametrically opposed standpoints. 1) Belief in rebirth was first an
element of folk belief in the lower strata of Vedic society which
gradually became accepted in more sophisticated circles.*' 2) The idea
of rebirth evolved first as an esoteric doctrine of the priestly elite,
was alluded to obscurely in Vedic verses, and finally diffused
downward through the social structure to become a popularly held
belief.”

80. Radhakrishnan, Principal Upanisads, p. 44. Werner “The Vedic Concept of

Human Personality”, see Bibliography.
81. See Keith, Religion and Philosophy, pp. 571-2, 581. Bloomfield, Religion of
the Veda, pp. 255ff, Deussen, Philosophy of the Upanisads, p. 316.
82. Wemer, “The Vedic Concept of Human Personality”, see Bibliography. Cp.
Radhakrishnan, Principal Upanisads, p. 43-4.
 THE VEDIC CONCEPT OF AFTERLIFE AND SALVATION 55

The first argument suffers from grave faults, as Keith points out.”
Not only are the Brahmanic references to beliefs that might be
regarded as precursors of a theory of rebirth quite late, but also the
type of belief advanced as evidence is widespread and cannot be
correlated specifically with belief in rebirth. When it is said in a late
Brahmanic text that the ancestors may visit a sacrifice in the forms of
birds,” what is in fact referred to is transmutation of the dead. Similar
beliefs are common, and do not necessarily indicate a theory of
rebirth. The Egyptian Book of the Dead, for example, contains spells
to give a dead person power to assume various forms at will.** In the
Rg Veda itself, the gods are said to have the magical power (maya)
to take on different forms.“ There is indication that this type of
transmutation was accepted, though despised, as a power accessible to
humans as well.” Beliefs in the transmutation of the dead or of the
living differ in several obvious respects from belief in rebirth. The
most obvious of these is that transmutation is normally voluntary,
whereas rebirth, at least as the theory developed in India, is thought
to function on the basis of moral necessity.
The more plausible second argument for the origins of rebirth in
the Rg Veda hinges on the idea of “re-death” (punar mrtyu) which is
first mentioned in the Bradhmanas.* Some argue that since in the Rg
Veda, prayers for immortality are expressed alongside prayers for
eritrance into heaven, the concept of a possible death from heaven also
existed in the time of the ancient hymns.” Actually, the only hymn in
which a prayer for immortality is combined with a prayer for entrance
into heaven does not make a clear distinction between the two

83. Keith, Religion and Philosophy, pp. 415-16; 571-72.

84. Baudhayana Dharma Sutra 2.14.9-10.
85. Chapters 76-89. See also ERE vol. 12, p. 431 and Deussen, Philosophy of the
Upanishads, p. 316.
86. Rg 3.53.8. See also Rg 3.56.3; 7.101.3; 9.85.12; 9.64.8.
87. Rg 10.100.7; 7.104.17.
88. S.B. 233.9; 10.14.14; 10.26.19; 10.43.10; 10.5.1.4; 10.6.5.8; 11.4.3.20;
115.6:9712.9.3.12)1.B. 3:118:6;,Ks.B. 25:1.
89. Belvalkar and Ranade, History of Indian Philosophy, vol. 2, p. 81.
54 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

rewards, and in fact suggests that they go hand in hand, heaven being
described as the deathless world.

7. O Pavamana, place me in that deathless, undecaying world

wherein the light of heaven is set, and everlasting lustre shines. Flow,
Indu, flow for Indra’s sake.
8. Make me immortal in that realm where dwells the king,
Vivasvan’s son, where is the secret shrine of heaven, where are those
waters young and fresh. Flow, Indu, Flow for Indra’s sake.
Rg 9.113.7-8 (G)

One other verse may be taken as implying that entrance into heaven
does not necessarily guarantee immortality.

Offer to Yama an oblation with butter, and be active. May he grant

us to live a long life (dirgham dyu) among the gods.
Rg 10.14.14 (M)

Neither of these passages, however, explicitly states that being born

in heaven is not considered to be commensurate with attaining
immortality. The large majority of the Vedic passages relating to
heaven and immortality make no distinction between the two.”
There are, however, as noted above, ample indications that human
immortality was thought of as being contingent upon the performance
of sustaining rituals by one’s progeny. There are indications that
food” and wealth” will be needed in heaven even as they are on
earth. Whether or not the Vedic thinkers actually made a clear
doctrinal distinction on this point, it is clear that heaven was thought
of as a slightly insecure place. The Brahmanic doctrine of re-death is
thus a natural development from concepts found in the most ancient
Vedic hymns. Still, there is no indication, even in the Bradhmanas, that
this repetition of death was considered to be multiple or to result in

90. Rg 1.31.7; 1.125.6; 5.55.4; 5.633.2; 7.57.6; 7.59.12: 8.48.3.

91. Rg 9.113.10.
92. Rg 1.91.1 & 18.
 THE VEDIC CONCEPT OF AFTERLIFE AND SALVATION 55

another life in the mundane sphere. It is more likely that re-death

refers to total annihilation of one’s identity, which is the subject of
the following Vedic curse.

10. The fiend, O Agni, who designs to injure the essence of our
food kine, steeds, or bodies, may he, the adversary, thief, robber, sink
to destruction, both himself and offspring.
11. May he be swept away, himself and children; may all the
_ three earths press him down beneath them. May his fair glory, O ye
gods, be blighted, who in the day or night would fain destroy us.
Rg 7.104.10-11 (G)

Note that the passage calls for the destruction of both the enemy and
his offspring. This is probably because of the concept that one lives
on in the form of one’s children after death, but possibly also because
there would always be the chance of sacrificial redemption of the
cursed enemy if his descendants survived. One verse suggests that the
Status of the ancestors may be enhanced by the offerings of their
descendants, although it is not explicitly stated.

1. May they ascend, the lowest, highest, midmost, the fathers

who deserve a share of soma. May they who have attained the life of
spirits (asu), gentle and righteous, aid us when we call them.
2. Now let us pay this homage to the fathers, to those who
passed of old and those who followed, those who have rested in the
earthly region (parthive rajasi), and those who dwell among the mighty
races (suvrjandasu viksu).
Rg 10.15.1-2 (G)

Almost certainly some sort of hierarchy among the ancestors is stated

here, but it is not clear whether ud iratam means “may they ascend”,
as Griffith has it, or simply “let (them) arise”, i.e. to participate in the
offerings, as Muir translates. At any rate, if it is suggested that the
ancestors may be elevated in status by the offerings of their offspring,
this change of status is not expressed in terms of dying and being
reborn. In fact, it is not expressed clearly here or elsewhere in any
terms at all. It is at most an afterthought occurring in one hymn and
56 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

not a fundamental concept of the Vedic theory of afterlife. The

“earthly region” in this passage does not refer to earth per se, but to
the lower celestial region (rajas), there being six of these regions in
all.” Sayana explains suvrjandsu viksu as referring to life in the form
of one’s progeny, although Griffith may be correct in saying it refers
to the gods.
In sum, that there is any reference to the idea of re-death in the
Rg Veda is doubtful, though some such undesirable possibility in the
afterlife is vaguely implied. It is also doubtful that the concept of re-
death in the Bradhmanas has anything to do with rebirth. Though the
fear of re-death is mentioned in several Bradhmana passages,” rebirth
itself is not mentioned. Re-death in the Brahmanas probably represents
only the vaguely threatening possibility of total annihilation awaiting
those whose descendants neglect to perform the sustaining pitryajna.
Of course, even if reference to rebirth in the Bradhmanas were
demonstrated, these texts are not demonstrably purely Vedic. They are
just as likely to have been influenced from outside the Vedic tradition
as the Upanisadic passages which state clearly the doctrine of rebirth.
This detailed and hopefully not too tedious refutation of the
proposition that the Rg Veda contains a concept of rebirth or the germ
of such a concept has been necessary in this study of the origins of
Indian psychology. The absence of a Vedic theory of rebirth highlights
the difference between the Vedic concept of the ultimate potential of
the human being — eternal individual existence in a hedonistic
paradise — and the Upanisadic concept of supra-personal liberation
(moksa). The latter concept dominated Indian thought from the time
of the earliest Upanisads onward. Zimmer’s theory that the doctrines
of souls, rebirth and release (moksa) are non-Aryan®’ hinges upon the
question of the existence of the doctrine of rebirth in the Rg Veda.

93. Rg 1.164.6. See also 8.88.5. (in Griffith’s enumeration 8.77.5). In Rg 7.87.5
three earthly regions and three heavens are enumerated.
94. See S.B. 2.3.3.9; 10.1.4.14; 10.2.6.19; 10.5.1.4; 10.6.5.8 (cp. B.U. 1.2.7);
11,4.3.205115.6:9;7129:3.1225 TB. 311-864 Ks Bice Anes 5)
95. Zimmer, Philosophies of India, p. 280. See Smart, Doctrine and Argument, p.
a2)
 THE VEDIC CONCEPT OF AFTERLIFE AND SALVATION J?

A negative answer to that question establishes that the Rg Veda

lacks concepts of 1) a soul which necessarily survives death, 2) rebirth
of this soul on the basis of ethical merit, and 3) the possibility of
release from rebirth through mystical union of the soul with the
universal absolute. It is clear that the Vedic idea of the nature, destiny
and ultimate potential of the human being is altogether different from
the ideas expressed in the Upanisads and early Buddhism. Before
turning to these two systems, however, it is necessary to examine the
actual Vedic theory of the nature of the human being. This
examination proceeds by means of a detailed analysis of
psychologically significant terms found scattered throughout the Rg
Veda without any overt systematic theory. Having examined the
meanings of psychological terms in the Rg Veda, it will be possible
to gain a more complete understanding of these terms as they are used
in the Upanisads and Buddhism, as well as a clearer understanding of
the Vedic theory of the nature of the human being.
 Chapter 3

The Vedic Concept of the

Human Being

The primary concern of the Vedas is with gods and ritual. There
is no clear-cut treatment of the nature of the human being, but it is
possible to glean from the sacrificial hymns of the Rg Veda a fairly
coherent picture of the Vedic concept of the human being: his place
in the universe, and to some extent, his psychological make-up. In
the first place, in Vedic thought, human people, though decidedly less
important in the universal scheme than divine people, are nonetheless
like them. The gods, generally speaking, are conceived of in
anthropomorphic terms as having legs and arms, minds and emotions.
Earth, moreover, is a reflection of heaven, human actions mirroring
those of the gods. The gods, like people, derive their sustenance and
personal power from sacrifice and drinking soma. In fact, sacrifices
offered by humans actually help sustain the gods by supplying them
with food, wealth, and soma to enliven their spirits and inspire them
to heroic deeds.’
Not only are humans like gods; they are intimately linked to them,
and to the cosmos in general, in origin and essence. The “Purusa
Sukta”, for example, attributes the origin of the universe, both
mundane and divine, to the sacrificial dismemberment of the cosmic
person, and though the mundane is sharply distinguished from the
divine by the phenomenon of death, part of the original essence of
creation is thought to be shared by all. This originally shared essence
remains contemporary in two great universal forces, fire and wind,
which flow down from their divine sources and infuse the earth and

1. Rg 3.32.12. See Eliade, Yoga, Immortality and Freedom p. 109.

 THE VEDIC CONCEPT OF THE HUMAN BEING 59

its creatures with life. The god of fire, Agni, is thought of as being
manifest wherever there is heat and burning,” from the blaze of a
wood fire’ to the warmth of a living body.‘

Through various dwellings, through entire existence, spreads manifest,

the household light of Agni.
Rg 2.38.5 (G)

Agni is said to be the progenitor of the human race,’ indeed, of all

that lives. The term Gyu (life) is an epithet of Agni, who is known
as the “living one”,’ and in many passages is called upon as “universal
life” (vifva-dyu).*
Wind (vayu), which, like fire, became one of the universal elements
in the Upanisads and Buddhism, was another great link, to the Vedic
mind, between people, gods and the universe. The term dtman, which
attained such great significance in the Upanisads, meant primarily
“breath” in the Rg Veda, though in later hymns it came to mean “vital
spirit”. Upon the death of a person the individual dtman is said to
mingle with the wind.’ the breath of the gods."°
Vedic people saw themselves as being like the gods in origin and
essence. They maintained a close bond with the gods by performing
ritual acts which simultaneously imitated and sustained their heavenly
colleagues. They saw the forces of life within them extending into the
world around them and ultimately up to heaven itself.

5 1G (SIMO
. Rg 6.12.14.
. Rg 6.4.2; 6.9.4.
. Rg 1.96.2; 10.53.6.
. Rg 3.16.4; 3.2.10-11.
. Rg 1.96.2; 6.11.4; 10.20.7.
. Reg 6.4.2.
NA
KH. Rg
AON
oO
LY
FW 10.16.3.
10. Rg 10.168.4.
60 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

10. Kinship have I with you, and close alliance, O ye gods,

destroyers of our foes.
14. For of one spirit (manas) are the gods with mortal man, co-
sharers all of gracious gifts.
Rg 8.27.10.14 (G)

7. Regard us, Indra, Visnu, here, ye ASvins and the Marut host,
us who are kith and kin to you.
8. Ye bounteous ones, from time of old we here set forth our
brotherhood, our kinship in the mother’s womb.
Rg 8.83.7-8'' (G)

This original and essential relationship between humans and gods

may, moreover, be realized in mystical experience. The nature of this
experience with the divine is never clearly described in the Rg Veda,
but there can be little doubt that passages such as the following refer
to some sort of divine-human encounter.

By holy law they kept supporting order, by help of sacrifice, in loftiest

heaven, they who attained with born men to the unborn, men seated on
that stay, heaven’s firm sustainer.
Rg 5.15.2 (G)

One of the most evocative passages in the Rg Veda, examined

critically above in Chapter 2, a passage from Dirghatamas’ famous
“Asya Vamiya” hymn, bears repetition:

The tree whereon the fine birds eat the sweetness, where they all rest
and procreate their offspring, upon its top they say the fig is luscious;
none gaineth it who knoweth not the father.
Rg 1.164.22 (G)

11. In Griffith’s enumeration, Rg 8.72.7-8. See also Rg 1.164.33; 8-31.12.

 THE VEDIC CONCEPT OF THE HUMAN BEING 61

Regardless of this mystical connection, the position of the human

being in the universe is inherently inferior to that of the gods, not
only because humans are subject to death, but also because, while the
gods are said to be omniscient, humans suffer the curse of a limited
intellect. Dirghatamas’ hymn also contains the clearest formulation in
the Rg Veda of the epistemological limitations of the human mind and
the unsatisfactory effects attendant thereon.”

Speech hath been measured out in four divisions, the Brahmanas who
have understanding know them. Three kept in close concealment cause
no motion; of speech, men speak only the fourth division.
Rg 1.164.45 (G)

Here, that human beings have obtained only a portion of speech is in

fact a statement of their limited conceptual capabilities. The link, in
Indian thought, between speech and conceptual ability plays an
important role in the proper understanding of the Buddhist technical
term “name-and-form” (ndma-ripa). For now, suffice it to say that
in later Indian thought, that which can be conceptually known is that
which can be spoken.” In this verse, the limited access of humans to
speech represents the world’s earliest surviving formulation of an
epistemological theory.
The inadequacy of speech to deal with the absolute becomes an
important doctrine in the Upanisads and Buddhism. There, it is
founded on the premise that words are qualitatively inadequate to
capture ultimate truth. In the present Vedic passage, human speech
is represented as quantitatively inadequate because it is only a part

12. See also Rg 1.164.4-7; 10.121.10; 10.129.6-7.

13. See Mimamsadargana 1.7.26: Loke sanniyamatprayoga-samnikarsah syat. =
“In regard to the ordinary (worldly) things — inasmuch as there is contact (of
the thing with the organs of perception) — it is possible for sentences to be
composed in usage.” (Ganganatha Jha, Sabara Bhasya, vol. I, Oriental Institute,
Baroda, 1973.) See also Nydya-bindu 1.4.5: Abhilapa-samsarga-yogya-
pratibhdasa-pratitih kalpana. = “The distinct cognition of a (mental) appearance
capable of being associated with a verbal designation is (called)
conceptualization.” (See Stcherbatsky, Buddhist Logic, vol. 2, pp. 19ff.)
62 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

of divine speech. The important point here, though, is the recognition

of the epistemological limitations of the human mind, an idea more
explicitly stated by Dirghatamas in another verse of this same hymn:

What thing I truly am I know not clearly; mysterious, fettered in my

mind I wander. When the first born of holy law approached me, then
of this speech I first obtained a portion.
Rg 1.164.37 (G)

Humans, having obtained in speech only a portion of holy law, are

confused. As a result of limited access to truth, we occupy an
uncertain position between the bliss of animal ignorance and the bliss
of divine omniscience. The human being alone is tormented by the
question, “What am I?”, a question which is a primary concern of the
Upanisads and Buddhism.
The formulation of the problem in later Indian philosophy is similar
to this Vedic verse, which portrays the human as an inscrutable
creature trapped within the tangle of his own mind. But there is no
hint in the Rg Veda of a remedial system whereby one may overcome
this situation and conquer the ignorance which fetters the mind.
circumscribes the exercise of a truly free will and stunts the
development of a complete personality able to take full responsibility
for its actions, for its consciousness. The recognition of human
ignorance in the Rg Veda is an admission of inadequacy, encouraging
an attitude of submission before the divine rather than the self-
sufficient striving for release that one finds in the Upanisads and
Buddhism.
Other than these general observations, there is very little material
in the Rg Veda which might reveal the Vedic concept of the nature
and structure of human consciousness. There are however, in the
Vedic language as in all languages, many words expressive of the
various facets of the mind, but there is no explicit statement in the
Rg Veda of the Vedic theory of the relationship among these various
facets in the whole, functioning human consciousness. Therefore, it is
necessary to examine these terms as they are found scattered
throughout the Vedic hymns in order to formulate some idea of their
 THE VEDIC CONCEPT OF THE HUMAN BEING 63

meaning and to extrapolate some idea of the psychological concepts

which underlie them.
The method followed in this examination will be to seek an
adequate, comprehensive, conceptual definition of the terms considered
rather than merely to enumerate the variety of contexts and meanings
in which they occur. One difficulty facing such an approach is that the
terms considered are not used precisely in the Rg Veda. Their
meanings often overlap consiuerably, as would be expected in any
non-technical vocabulary. Another difficulty is that in translation it
may be necessary to render a single Sanskrit term into several
different English words in various contexts. To do so without an
adequate awareness of the associations in the mind of the original
author — which caused him to use a single word to express apparently
different meanings — is to risk a grave misunderstanding of the
author’s iritent. Though it is perhaps somewhat tedious, an examination
of Vedic psychological terms in their various contexts and in relation
to one another is the only scientific method for determining first, the
meanings of the terms, and second, the nature of the Vedic concept
of the human being. This concept, though inconsistent and
unsystematic, represents the earliest surviving thought on the structure
of human consciousness.
The relevant Vedic terms will be examined under three headings:
A) terms concerned primarily with individual identity, B) vital
faculties, and C) mental faculties. These headings reflect the concerns
of later Indian theories regarding the nature of the human being more
than they reflect any overt Vedic concern with these specific topics.
This procedure, however, facilitates comparison of the largely implicit
Vedic material with the more explicit psychological concerns of the
Upanisads and early Buddhism.

A) INDIVIDUAL IDENTITY

Tani:
On the basis of the foregoing examination of the Vedic theory of
the afterlife, it should be clear that in Vedic thought the most essential
element of the human being is his individual identity, which resides
primarily in the quasi-material tanud. In the Rg Veda, the term tani,
64 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

much like the term a@tman and its abbreviated form tman, is used often
as a reflexive pronoun in the sense of “oneself”. In slightly different
contexts, the term is used in the sense of “in person” or
“personally”, and sometimes in the sense “personified” or
“embodied”.'® Agni, for example, is said to have a triple tana, which
probably refers to his manifestation or embodiment as the sun,
lightning, and earthly fire.’ As noted above in Chapter 3, according
to the Vedic theory, the vital and mental faculties of a person — the
Gtman, the manas, etc. — are dispersed into the universe upon death,
but the tani, the individuating survival factor, is rejoined in heaven.
This Vedic belief, it should be noted, is somewhat contrary to the
Upanisadic belief that the most essential part of the person is the
immaterial and ultimately impersonal soul. Though the Upanisads are
by no means consistently monistic in outlook, the overall import of
these scriptures resides in the notion that individuality is but an
illusory distinction in the essential unity of the entire cosmos. The
Vedas played an important part in the development of this monistic
idea, but they did not go so far as to resolve individual identity into
the monistic principle. Instead they conceived of earthly life as being
the functioning of a genuinely personal identity into the monistic
principle. Instead they conceived of earthly life as being the
functioning of a genuinely personal identity which could continue in
an afterlife thought of as being quite similar to this earthly life.
As noted above, the tand is the identity link through which this
carry-over into an afterlife was thought to be accomplished. The tanu
is also involved in the Vedic theory of hereditary survival in the form
of one’s offspring. In most instances, though, it seems to mean simply
“the body”. There is no instance in which the term obviously means
“appearance” as opposed to “body” or “form” as opposed to

14. Rg 7.104.10-11; 8.46.15; 10.7.6; 10.8.4; 10.81.5; 10.83.5.

15. Rg 8.100.1; 10.28.2; 10.120.9.
16. Rg 10.65.7; 10.66.9.
17. Sayana is inconsistent in exegesis on this point. In his comment on Rg 3.20.2,
he says that the three tana of Agni are three minor deities, whereas at Rg
10.107.6 he explains them as I have. See also Rg 10.88.10 and above, Ch. 2 ’
iM (8)
 THE VEDIC CONCEPT OF THE HUMAN BEING 65

“substance”. In order to reconcile the various implications of the word

and its etymological relatives, however, it is necessary to think of
tani as implying a sort of subtle body which serves as a template for
the physical body without actually being distinct from it. Tius, the
most consistently workable translation is probably “form”.
The material aspect of the tani is obvious in a charming passage
said to be the prayer of a young girl, Apala by name.

Make all these grow crops of hair, this cultivated field of ours, my
body (fanz), and my father’s head.
Rg 8.91.6" (G)

An equally explicit hymn with regard to the materiality of the tanu

reveals a less charming side of the Vedic Aryan, whom we find in
this case hacking a horse to pieces in a gory sacrifice.

Let not thy dear soul (Gtman) bum thee as thou comest; let not the
hatchet linger in thy body (tani). Let not a greedy clumsy immolator,
missing the joints, mangle thy limbs unduly.
Rg 1.162.20 (G)

Tani in other passages, though obviously referring to a primarily

physical entity, connotes a subtle body which seems to function more
or less as a template for the material body. Passages which mention
disease in the tana,’ and medicine for the tana,” in a society not
aware of the germ theory of disease, do not necessarily refer to a
purely material body, nor do passages in which sin” and blessings”
are spoken of as adhering to the tanu. This situation probably

18. According to Griffith’s enumeration, Rg 8.80.6.

19. Rg 10.97.10.
20. Rg 6.74.3; 10.97.10.
21. Rg 6.74.3; 7.34.13; 7.86.5.
22. Rg 1.84.17.
66 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

indicates not, as Keith suggests,” a materialistic concept of sin, but

rather a non-material concept of disease, both of which were thought
to affect the quasi-material tana. Passages which speak of performing
sex with the tani may also intend a less physical entity than one
would expect, particularly given the association of the tana with
survival in the form of one’s offspring.“ Passages which mention
risking or losing the tana in battle’ are also amenable to a quasi-
physical interpretation of the term particularly when considered in
relation to prayers intended to strengthen or transform the nature of
the tana and guarantee success in battle.** The following verse is a
charm addressed to the arrow.

Avoid us thou whose flight is straight, and let our bodies (tani) be as
stone. May Soma kindly speak to us, and Aditi protect us well.
Rg 6.75.12 (G)

Such charms obviously have no tangible effect on the physical body.

They were doubtlessly thought of as fortifying one by rendering an
intangible aspect of the body immune to attack. On the basis of such
passages, it appears that the tani was thought of as being coextensive
with the physical body. It was thought to be susceptible to the
influence of magic spells which could, by operating on the subtle
tanu, render the physical body safe from harm.
The immaterial aspect of the tani is even more obvious in passages
which assert that communion with the gods and entrance into heaven
after death are accomplished through the agency of the tana. In one
such passage, the poet expresses the desire to join Varuna by means
of the tanu.”’ Several passages, as noted above in Chapter 2, state that
one meets the tanu in heaven after the death and cremation or burial

23. Keith, Religion and Philosophy, p. 245.

24. Re 10.10.7 & 12; 10.95.5; 10.85.27.
25. Rg 4.24.3; 6.75.1; 10.4.6; 10.128.5; 10.154.3.
26. See also Rg 7.95.3; 2.17.2; 2.36.5.
21 RE UTOOe.
 THE VEDIC CONCEPT OF THE HUMAN BEING 67

of the earthly body,” though it should be noted that one passage states
that the tana decays in 100 years, considered to be the optimum extent
of human life.”
Tani as the survival factor by means of which one exists in heaven
after death, is related to several terms deriving from the verbal root
Vtan. These denote the offspring, the family line. The root Vtan means
primarily “to spread or extend”, but is also used in the sense “to
weave, to spin out” (as thread), and finally “to propagate”, i.e. to
extend or spin out a family line.” This suggests that the term tani
implies “that by which one’s family line is maintained and
extended”.”?

Give us, where heroes exert their bodies (tani) in the battle, the
protection that our fathers loved. To us (tanve, lit. “to our forms”) and
to our family line (tane) give refuge; keep afar all unobserved hostility.
Rg 6.46.12

Or ne’er may we, O wondrous strong, enjoy another’s solemn feast,

ourselves (tani), our sons (Sesas), or progeny (tanas).
Rg 5.70.4 (G)

That these derivatives of Vtan do not denote simply “children” or

“sons” as Griffith often translates, is clear in a number of passages
which differentiate between immediate offspring (Sesa, tuca, or toka)
and the family line (tan, tana, or tanas)” It should be noted also that
the term tanaya, which is used often in conjunction with the term toka

28. Rg 10.14.8; 10.15.4; 10.16.5; 10.65.1 & 2.

29. Rg 1.89.9.
30. Thus, tanti means “thread”. and tantu may mean “thread” or “propagator of a
family line”, while tantra, in addition to its mystical connotation, may simply
refer to propagation.
31. Other passages use the reflexive pronoun tman, instead of tand, in conjunction
with derivatives of Vtan, to mean “oneself and one’s offspring”. See Rg 1.114.6;
1.183.3.
32. Rg 1.114.6; 5.70.4; 8.18.18.
68 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

(children), should probably be translated as an adjective modifying

toka and meaning “propagating or belonging to a family”. Thus, the
common phrase tokas tanaya probably means “children of our line” or
“children who propagate the family line”, rather than, as Griffith
translates, “children and progeny” or “seed and offspring”.”
Two passages, one of which has already been examined above with
reference to the Vedic afterlife theory,” explicitly state the
relationship between the tana and survival of death in the form of
one’s offspring. It will be remembered that in the passage quoted
above, the ancestors (pitr) are said to have encompassed within their
bodies (tana) all things, and to have “streamed forth” (pra as@rayanta)
progeny (praja). These progeny in turn, as fathers, maintain the family
line “as a thread continuously spun out” (tantumatatam). The term
tantu (thread), derived from Vtan, may also mean, in later Sanskrit,
“one who propagates a family” or “a line of descendants”.* The past
participle tata is also derived from Van. Thus, this passage
demonstrates clearly the etymological connection between tanu
meaning “body” and other derivatives of the root Van, which refer to
descendants. It is, in fact, indicative of the Vedic concept of an actual
identity carry-over, via the tani, from parents to offspring. The family
line (tantu) is propagated (tata) from out of and by means of the tani.
Griffith mistranslates the second important passage relevant
to the relationship between the tana and offspring, presumably under
the influence of a misplaced sense of sexual propriety. The passage
should probably be translated:

Sperm commingled, non-fools, desiring it, are bom by their own

potency in the bodies (tani) of their offspring.*
Rg 1.68.8

33. Rg 3.53.18; 4.24.3; 6.25.4; 8.9.11.

34. Rg 10.56.5-6.
35. See Monier-Williams and A.B. 7.17.
36. icchanta reto mithastanisu sam janata svairdaksairamurah.
 THE VEDIC CONCEPT OF THE HUMAN BEING 69

The precise meaning of the passage is doubtful, but it is clear that

one’s identity, which somehow crosses over into one’s offspring, is
enshrined in the tana.

Sarira:
The term Sarira, on the other hand, is in the Rg Veda used
exclusively in the sense of the physical body.” In the plural, the term
sometimes refers to the limbs of the body,* in which case it is
Synonymous with the term anga (limb or part). There is one instance
in which §Sarira in the plural might be taken as referring to non-
material parts or constituents of the individual, but it probably means
simply “bodies”, as suggested above in Chapter 3.” The seven
references cited-in the preceding footnotes are the only occurrences of
the term Sarira in the Rg Veda, which serves to emphasize that the
term tanu, even though it carries connotations of a non-material entity,
is in fact the most common term for simply “body” in the Rg Veda.
Still, a verse in the “Kesin Hymn” demonstrates the purely physical
nature of the Sarira.

Transported with our munihood” we have pressed into the winds. You
therefore, mortal men, behold our natural bodies (Sarira) and no more.
Rg 10.136.3 (G)

This may be contrasted to the use of tand to denote the intangible

body of the dawn.

37. Re 132.109 1163.11; °10.16.37°10.136.3-

38. Rg 6.25.4; 10.99.8; 10.16.3. Rg 10.16.3 may refer simply to “bodies” in the
plural, although Sayana explains it as: Sariravayavaih = “by parts of the body”.
39. The term afga denotes the non-material constituents of the individual at Rg
10.161.5.
40. Muni = “‘a sage”. Four of the six occurrences of the term in the Rg Veda are
in this hymn (Rg 10.136.2, 3, 4 & 5), where it seems to connote inspiration or
ecstasy. The other occurrences (Rg 7.56.8; 8.17.14) provide little insight into its
intended meaning, which may differ from classical Sanskrit.
70 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

Fair as a bride embellished by her mother thou showest forth thy form
(tani) that all may see it.
Rg 1.123.012 4G)

Ripa:
Another synonym of tana and Sarira is rupa, which term in later
Sanskrit, came to be commonly used in the sense of “body”. This
usage is, however, rare in the Rg Veda,*' and in these few passages,
it is not certain that rapa should be understood as “body”. The most
explicit usage of this kind occurs in a very late hymn, which Griffith
banishes to an appendix.

May Visnu form and mould the womb, may Tvastar duly shape the
forms (ripa), Prajapati infuse the stream and Dhatar lay the germ for
thee.
Rg 10.184.1 (G)

Normally in the Rg Veda, ripa denotes visible form in general,

and in almost every case the term may be understood as referring to
“appearance” rather than, as farira and tani, to the individual body.
While §Sarira is never specifically distinguished from tanu in the Rg
Veda, two verses provide some hint as to the difference between tani
and riipa by juxtaposing the two terms.

Deck out thy body (tanz) with the fairest colours (répa), with golden
splendour of the sun adorn it.
Re 10.1423 4G)

41. See also Rg 1.71.10, where it is said that old age impairs the rapa; and Rg
2.13.3, where the forms (ripa), of animals apparently, are dismembered and
distributed at a sacrifice.
 THE VEDIC CONCEPT OF THE HUMAN BEING 71

Though ripa may refer to color in some passages, and in some cases
is associated with specific colors,” it is clear from other contexts that
color is only one of the characteristics of rapa, the most general
characteristic of which is visibility. Thus, in the above passage, the
tanu of Indra, his quasi-physical “embodiment”, is to be decorated, i.e.
made visibly manifest, with various visible characteristics. Ripa is
never spoken of as being felt, but it is often spoken of with specific
reference to verbs of seeing,*® even as being an essential condition of
- visibility.

In the sky’s lap the sun this form (répa) assumeth that Varuna and
Mitra may behold it.
Rg 1.115.5 (G)

In most cases “appearance” would be an appropriate translation of

rupa,”“ which is often said to be dazzling or beautiful, and in some
cases, seems to denote beauty itself.** When the ripa is not seen, it
is an Oddity, an occasion for wonder. This situation occurs only twice
in the Rg Veda, both times with reference to the wind, the rupa of
which is invisible, though its effects may be seen.**
The second passage in which rapa and tanu are juxtaposed employs
a common metaphor in which the rupa is spoken of as being worn or
assumed, as a costume.”’

42. White: Rg 9.74.7; 10.21.3. Red: Rg 1.114.5; 7.97.6; 8.101.3. Black: Rg 10.21.3
Yellow: Rg 10.96.3. Rupa is also spoken of as radiant: Rg 1.114.5; 9.65.18;
Sh ilaes:
43, Rg 1,108.5; 1.115.5; 1.163.7;°5.52.11; 6.47.18; 9.85.12; .10.136.4;, 10.139.3.
440Re 1,114.5;'4,11.1; 9.16.6; 9:25.4;.9.65,18;9.71.8;.9,.95.15;-10.85.1.
45. Rg 4.11.1; 9.16.6; 10.62.5.
46. Rg 1.164.44; 10.168.4.
47. See also Rg 1.115.5; 1.160.2; 1.164.9; 2.13.3; 7.55.1; 9.71.8; 9.74.7; 9.34.4;
10.85.35; 10.112.3.
Ww THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

Maghavan weareth every shape (ripamripam) at pleasure, effecting

magic changes (mdayd) in his body (tani).
Rg 3.53.8 (G)

Note here the characteristically Vedic usage of the term maya as

“magical transformation” rather than as “illusion”, which is how the
term is used in classical Indian philosophy. As shown above, the tanu
is particularly susceptible to magical operations, which may, for
example, fortify it for battle. This passage seems to suggest that
another way in which magical operations may work upon the tani is
to alter its appearance or riupa. Thus, it appears that the tanu remains
essentially the same but that certain of its characteristics, such as
appearance or vulnerability, may be changed through the agency of
magic. In this connection, it is interesting to note the role of mayd in
the following passage where it is said to operate directly upon the
rapa.

In every figure (ripamripam) he hath been the model (pratirupa); this

is the only form (rapa) for us to look on. Indra moves multiform
(pururupa) by his illusions (maya), for his bay steeds are yoked, ten
times a hundred.
Rg 6.47.18 (G)

When, as in the above passage, mdyd is said to operate upon

appearance, the meaning of the term comes surprisingly close to the
Vedantic usage of maya as “illusion”. This entire passage is
surprisingly monistic in flavor. It is, in fact, quoted at B.U. 2.5.19
with a monistic explanation suggesting that a single, unchanging
entity, brahman or Indra, appears to be diverse in the manifested
universe by the process of mdyd.“* This passage, in which Indra is
said to be the model (pratiruipa) of the universe, should doubtlessly
be compared to the famous verse in the “Asya Vamiya” hymn where
it is in the image or form (riépa) of the unborn principle (aja) that the

48. Cp. K.U. 2.2.9.

 THE VEDIC CONCEPT OF THE HUMAN BEING 73

universe is fashioned.” Another passage of this type exhorts warriors

to march forward taking the irresistible advance of fire as their model,
the phrase being “in the form of fire” (agniriipa).*° In each of these
passages, the term rapa seems to imply the existence of a more
essential entity, a model, as it were, of which the riipa is a visible
approximation, a form or an appearance. Ripa, then, denotes
nonessential, changeable characteristics, primarily visible
characteristics, which “refer back”, as the word pratiripa suggests, to
a prototype.
In the Upanisads, however, the term rapa came to designate a
much more personal or individual phenomenon than it does in the Rg
Veda. It was thought of as that which, in conjunction with the name
(nama), imparts individuality to discrete objects. Thus, in the
Upanisads, the manifold universe is said to have been precipitated
from original homogeneity by means of names and _ forms
(ndmaripa).”’ In this cosmological context, it is useful to consider
the use in the Rg Veda of the phrase vifva-ripa, which departs in
some contexts from the normal Vedic sense of the term rupa and
seems to denote form as an element of identity. In many contexts,
vi§varipa means simply “all kinds of”, or perhaps “of all colors”, as
in plants” or horses® of every form or color. Otherwise, as would be
expected on the basis of the passages cited above, where rupa means
appearance, the phrase vifvaripa may indicate all forms of an
essentially single entity which is variable in appearance, for example
Soma™ or the universal cow.” In the majority of contexts, however,
the phrase vifvaripa seems to indicate the universal set of all
individual forms (ripa). Thus, it is said that Tvastr made all forms;*

49. Rg 1.164.6.
50. Rg 10.84.1.
See i 7.
52. Rg 10.88.10.
53. Rg 10.70.2.
54. Rg 9.85.12.
55. Rg 1.164.9.
56. Rg 1.188.9.
74 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

Vastospati enters all forms;*’ Soma flows to and encompasses all

forms;® and the Kesin muni® and Savitr®® are said to look upon all
forms. Such passages almost certainly indicate omnipresence or
omniscience, being present in or knowing all of the individual forms
(ripa) in the universe. In most cases the term rupa, in the Rg Veda,
seems to refer to the variable appearance or form of something single.
In a few passages, however, the term vifvarupa seems to mean, not
all forms of something, but the totality of individual entities. Rupa is
never spoken of specifically as an element of individual identity in the
Rg Veda. In later texts, in conjunction with ndma (name), rupa
became an essential constituent of individuality, both of persons and
things.

Nama:
The last element of individual identity to be considered is the
name, nama, which in the Rg Veda, as in Indian thought in general,
is considered an essential, innate characteristic rather than a mere
designation. Buddhist linguistic philosophy denies this general Indian
notion, but in early Buddhist literature, the term nama denotes a great
deal more than merely “name”. In the early Buddhist context, as
shown below in Chapter 4, the term nama, when associated with the
term rupa, designates the conceptual content of one’s experience of an
object (ripa). The association of ndma with rapa is rare and of little
importance in the Rg Veda. The few contexts in which the terms are
used together are nonetheless worth examining because of the
importance of the Buddhist technical term ndma-ripa, and the
importance of the same term in the Upanisads. There, in contrast to
the Buddhist term, ndma-ripa denotes the two aspects of any discrete
entity’s identity, namely its form (rapa) and its innate name (nama),
which imparts genuine individuality to the form.

57. Rg 7.55.1.
58. Rg 9.64.8; 9.111.1.
59. Rg 10.136.4.
60. Rg 10.139.3.
 THE VEDIC CONCEPT OF THE HUMAN BEING 75

The two terms occur together in only four passages in the Rg Veda.
In two of these, the juxtaposition seems insignificant.’ In two
passages, however, the terms are deliberately used together.

Invoked by us bring hither, Jatavedas, the Maruts all under their names
(nama) and figures (riipa).
Rg 5.43.10 (G)

10. Whether as wanderers from the way or speeders on or to the

path, under these names (ndma) the spreading band tend well the
sacrifice for me.
11. To this the heroes well attend, well do their teams attend to
this. Visible are their varied forms (répa). Behold, they are Paravatas.
Rg 5.52.10-11 (G)

In both of these passages, particularly the first, the association of

nama with ripa is specific, the implication being that the names
identify the forms by a one-to-one correspondence with them. These
passages may be another instance, in addition to the phrase vifva-rupa,
of a deviation from the common Vedic usage of rapa, a deviation
which comes close to the Upanisadic usage of ripa as an element of
individual identity. It is not clear above whether each Marut has his
own form and name, or if each of them has various names and forms.
At any rate, the one-to-one correspondence between names and forms
is clear enough. In the second passage, the primary intent of verse
eleven, in which the term rupa occurs, seems to be to indicate that the
Maruts are literally present at the sacrifice, and supposedly visible.
This may be the intent of the first passage as well, though in the
absence of similar passages for comparison, the precise meaning of
these juxtapositions of ndma and ripa is impossible to determine.
Also noteworthy in this connection is the direct association in one
passage of ndma and tani, it being said that the ASvins have been
born with their own names and forms (tanud).?

61. Rg 8.41.5; 10.169.2. See also Rg 10.84.1 & 5.

62. Rg 1.181.4.
76 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

At any rate, the role of the name in Vedic ritual is abundantly

clear. In the first of the above passages, the Maruts are to be brought
by their names (ndmabhih) because it is by knowing the names of the
gods that the sacrificer gains the power to summon them to the
sacrificer gains the power to summon them to the sacrifice and
thereby press their powers into the service of his ends. The name is
not a mere designation, but an essential element of one’s identity, and
knowledge of the name empowers one with influence upon the bearer
of that name. Knowledge of the gods’ names is an important quality
of the sage,” their names being secret (guhya), not known by all.“It
is also essential that hymns bear the names of gods,*° not only because
the names afford access to the gods, but also because in bestowing
names on the gods, one enhances their majesty. This is no doubt
related to the concept that one wins names by heroic deeds, as for
instance when Indra is said to have earned the name Vrtra-slayer by
killing the dragon Vrtra.” Thus, the name reveals one’s nature, and in
some cases nama is virtually synonymous with “individual nature”.®
In all cases, knowledge of the name connotes knowledge of the nature.
One may bear more than one name, which is particularly likely if one
is a god, but the connection of the name with one’s individual nature
and identity is not lessened by this situation. Obeisance is paid® and
praise sung” to the names of gods. It is thought significant that Soma,
having been crushed to juice from the plant, reaches the filter bearing
his name, i.e. his personal power and identity.”’ Agni is said to take

63: Re 1.1563; '5.5:10;-105.2:10 45.2; 10823.

64. Rg 5.3.2; 9.95.2; 9.96.15;
10.45.2; 10.55.1 & 2. See also Rg 1.84.15, where
amanvata nama = “mystic name” (G).
65. Rg 8.80.9; 9.99.4; 10.63.2; 10.64.1.
66. Rg 5.3.10; 9.75.1. See also Rg 10.61.14.
67. Rg 10.74.6. See also Rg 9.75.1.
68. Rg 1.123.9 & 12; 10.28.12; 10.73.6; 10.97.9.
69. Rg 10.63.2.
70. Rg 7.57.6; 10.84.5.
71. Rg 9.92.2. Cp. Rg 9.14.4 and 9.78.1, where it is said that the tana of Soma,
but not the name, is left in the strainer used to purify the drug.
 THE VEDIC CONCEPT OF THE HUMAN BEING 77

on a name after his metaphorical birth from the fire-making sticks.”

This is to say that the blaze reveals the nature of fire. As a universal
principle, fire is latently present in all phenomena, but it only
becomes manifest in a specific, individual instance of burning to
which the name fire (agni) may be attached.
This essential connection between the name and the individual
identity makes knowledge of one’s name, in the hands of others, a
potential instrument of one’s weal or woe, depending upon the intent
with which the supernatural susceptibility of the name is used. Thus,
the priest sends the sacrificer’s name to heaven,” and telling forth
someone’s name not only has the effect to making him famous,” but
also the effect of preserving his identity in the remembrance of his
name.

7. He in his might, with name (nama) that lives forever, hath

far surpassed all human generations. ...
8. Stranger to guile, who never was false or faithless, bearing
a name that may be well remembered.
Rg 6.18.7 (G)

In another verse, Indra is said to have been established among the

gods through the agency of the name.” Apparently out of a wish to
avoid inducing some such immortality, in one passage a neglected
wife refuses to speak her rival’s name.”* This may also be the intent
of a verse in which the destruction of the enemy’s name is called
for,”” but it may also refer to the possibility of wrecking magical
malevolence by means of the name. This latter possibility is clearly
implied in a verse praising Indra for not having revealed the Aryans’

T22 Re AGO.115.2) See Re 1.123.172.

73. Rg 5.44.8.
74. Rg 10.69.5.
75. Rg 10.49.2.
76. Rg 10.145.4. See Rg 1.3.10, where “Vrtra’s nameless (ninya) body (Sarira)”
apparently refers to annihilation of the identity.
77. Rg 10.23.2.
78 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

name to their foes.” In several passages, knowing the names of cows

apparently gives one the power to attain them,” cattle being an
important commodity in the Aryan economic system.
The intimate connection between the name and individual identity,
which, in the Rg Veda, is based on the supposed magical potency of
the name, was, in the Upanisads, abstracted philosophically into a
cosmological concept, for, as mentioned above, the ndma, in
conjunction with the rapa, was that which was thought of as imparting
individuality to discrete objects.

At that time this (universe) was undifferentiated. It became

differentiated by name and form (ndma-ripa) (so that it is said) he
has such a name, such a shape.”
B.U. 1.4.7 (R)

It is this individuality which blinds one, it is said, to realization of

one’s essential unity with the unitary principle of the universe, the
brahman or atman, or, as it is expressed in the following passage,
the purusa.

Just as the flowing rivers disappear in the ocean casting off name and
shape (ndma-ripa), even so the knower, freed from name and] shape,
attains to the divine person (purusa), higher than the high.*!
Mu.U. 3.2.8 (R)

The concept expressed by the phrase ndma-ripa was further

abstracted in Buddhist writings which rejected the idea of innate
identity. Though the last passage makes it clear that the Upanisadic
sages considered this so-called individuality to be ultimately illusory,
it was nonetheless thought of in cosmological terms. The nadma was

78. Rg 10.493.
79. Rg 4.1.16; 7.87.4; 9.87.3; 10.68.7.
80. See also B.U. 1.6.4; C.U. 6.3.2-3; 8.14.1.
81. Cp. P.U. 6.5.
 THE VEDIC CONCEPT OF THE HUMAN BEING ag

thought to be the individuating factor, belonging inherently to the

object (rupa) from the time of creation. In the early Buddhist context,
the nama refers to a set of subjective thought constructions which one
associates with the so-called objective forms (rapa) that one
experiences, thereby projecting upon them an imagined independent
existence. Since this point has been often misunderstood, a detailed
discussion of ndma-riipa in early Buddhism is better postponed until
the last chapter, where it will be examined in its proper context.

B) VITAL FACULTIES

The terms discussed thus far deal with the concept of individual
identity and its perpetuation after death. In the Vedic context,
individual identity is expressed primarily with recourse to the term
tanu, and to some extent, to the term nama. Around this nucleus of
individual identity, several vital and mental faculties are thought to
cluster during one’s lifetime. Upon death, these faculties are said to
disperse and rejoin the macrocosmic sources from which they derive.
They are only temporarily individualized in a microcosmic entity.
Correspondences between the macrocosmic universe and_ the
microcosmic individual are not as exhaustively listed in the Rg Veda
as they are in the Upanisads, but the concept is clearly revealed in the
“Purusa Sikta”.

The moon was gendered from his mind (manas), and from his eye the
sun had birth; Indra and Agni from his mouth were bor, and Vayu
(the wind god) from his breath (atman).
Rg 10.90.13 (G)

Here, the various universal vital forces are conceived of as being

derived from the sacrificial dispersion of the original, unitary principle
of creation, which is represented as a person (purusa). The universe
is regarded as being alive, like a person. Individual people derive their
vital faculties from universal sources, and upon death, these faculties
are reabsorbed into the universe at large.
80 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

Let his eye go to the sun, his breath (dtman) to the wind (vayu). Go
to the sky and to the earth, according to (the) nature (of thy several
parts); or go to the waters if that is suitable for thee, enter into the
plants with all thy members.
Rg 10.16.3 (M)

Several passages, as noted above in Chapter 3, are designed to save

a person from death by summoning his various vital faculties back
from the universal sources into which they have begun to disperse as
death approaches.” Thus, most of the various vital and mental
faculties to be discussed below are not, strictly speaking, individual,
personal phenomena. They belong to a person only for the duration
of life, on loan as it were from the living universe. This general
concept, it must be stressed, does not attain the status of a doctrine
in the Rg Veda. It is never precisely formulated, nor are the hymns
consistent in their approach to the nature of the human being. There
are instances of vital faculties accompanying the tanu in heaven, and
instances in which vital or mental faculties seem to be confined to
mundane life. The overall tendency in the Rg Veda, however, is to
associate mundane and supra-mundane individuality with the tanu.
Around this nucleus of individuality, various universal life forces are
thought to become individualized temporarily to make up a complete,
living human being.
The most striking characteristics of the human being are life and
consciousness. As broad, general categories, these are referred to in
the Rg Veda with derivatives of the verbal roots Vjiv (to live) and
Vcit (to think, to perceive). The hymns are not entirely consistent in
distinguishing vital faculties from mental faculties, but these two roots
provide a convenient division under which the human faculties
mentioned in Rg Veda may be considered. Thus, the terms dyu, asu,
vayas, prana, and atman will be considered with reference to vitality
and the terms manas, hrd, dhi, and kratu with reference to
consciousness.

82. See Rg 10.169.1, where the waters are said to be rich in life (jiva).
83. Rg 10.57; 10.58; 10.59; 10.60; 10.158.2; 10.161.5.
 THE VEDIC CONCEPT OF THE HUMAN BEING 81

Jiva:
The verbal root vVjiv, and its grammatical modifications, as noted
above, are used in the Rg Veda to denote life in general. As nouns,
they usually refer to living beings in general. In the few cases where
they are used with reference to a single individual, they refer to life
or vitality in general, and not, as in later Indian literature, to an
individual vital faculty or life principle.“ The root Vjiv occasionally
occurs in an adjectival sense meaning simply “alive”, but in the
majority of cases it occurs in a verbal form The derivatives of the
root Vjiv not only denote life as opposed to death,** but also activity
as opposed to sleep.**

Dawn, at her rising, urges forth the living (jivam); him who is dead
she wakes not from his slumber.
Ke 1113.8 4G)

Derivatives of Vjiv are often used in conjunction with terms which

do denote vital faculties. In most of these cases, it is clear that the
presence of the various life faculties is a necessary condition for life,
represented by derivatives of Vjiv, to continue. These derivatives of
Vjiv occur most frequently in conjunction with the term dyu, which
normally denotes “life duration”. In most of these passages, the
sacrificer asks that the dyu be extended, strengthened or retained so
that he may continue to live (Vjiv)." The terms dtman and prana,

84. For nominal instances of Vjiv which might be taken as referring to an

individual entity, see: Rg 1.113.6; 1.164.30 (jivah). Rg 10.97.11; 10.36.8 (jiva-
compound). Rg 1.140.8; 10.57.5 (jivam). Rg 10.19.6 (jivabhih). Rg 8.8.23;
10.18.4 (jivebhyah). These may be compared to the following nominal forms
which obviously refer to life in general or to “the living”: Rg 1.68.2; 5.44.5;
5.78.9 (jivah). Rg 1.31.15; 10.80.4; 1.149.2; 10.30.14; 10.169.1 (iva-
compound). Rg 1.113.8; 4.51.5; 7.77.1 (jivam). Rg 7.32.26; 10.18.3; 10.36.9;
10.37.7 & 8 (jivah).
85. Rg 1.91.6; 1.140.6; 7.32.26; 10.18.3; 10.60.7-10; 10.97.11; 10.137.1.
86. Rg 1.113.16; 7.77.1. See also Rg 1.164.30; 1.36.30; 1.36.14.
87. Rg 1.44.6; 1.89.2; 1.94.4; 8.18.18 & 22; 10.14.14; 10.18.6; 10.59.1 & 5;
10.85.39; 10.144.5; 10.161.4.
82 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

both of which are connected with the breath, also occur as conditions
necessary for the continuation of life.** Only in a concentrated group
of three hymns in the tenth book, is manas (mind) said to be a
condition for life.” In one of these passages, there is an interesting
listing of several vital and mental faculties with reference to the desire
that they not be dispersed into the universe, and that life (Vjiv) may
thereby continue.

5. O Asuniti, keep the mind (manas) within us, and extend the
life (ayu) that we may live (jivatave). ...
6. Give us our sight again, O Asuniti, give us again our breath
(prana) and our enjoyment. ...
7. May Earth restore to us our vitality (asu); may heaven, the
sky and the mid-air restore it.
Rg 10.59.5-7

Asu:
In addition to verse seven above, the term asu (vitality) occurs
twice again in conjunction with Vjiv. In neither instance is asu
specifically stated to be a condition for life as expressed by a
derivative of Vjiv. Nonetheless, the relationship of asu to the state
of vitality designated by Vjiv is obvious, in that asu, like Vjiv is
represented as being opposed to both sleep and death. In a hymn to
Dawn, the rise from slumber which she induces is represented as the
return of life and vitality.

Arise! Life (jiva) and vitality (asu) have come to us, darkness has
departed; light approaches.
Rg 1.113.16

88. Re 10.33.9; 1.48.10.

89. Rg 10.57.4-5; 10.58.1-2; 10.59.5; 10.60.8-10.
90. Rg 1.113.16; 1.140.8.
 THE VEDIC CONCEPT OF THE HUMAN BEING 83

Asu and jiva are opposed to death in a metaphorical passage in which

Agni, the fire god, is said to revive the flames, personified as long-
haired maidens, which lie dead or asleep in the firewood.

Dead, the long-haired maidens chatter to him and rise up again for the
living one (ayave). Releasing them of their decrepitude, he comes
chanting, producing vitality (asu) and undissipated life (jiva).
Rg 1.140.8

It is also noteworthy that in some passages asu is apparently

thought to accompany the tand in the afterlife. The two dogs of Yama,
messengers of death, are said to take possession of the vitality (asu-
trpa), presumably to take it to the next world, and are begged to
restore it “that we may see the sunlight”, i.e. continue to live.”’ This
idea is inconsistent with the passage quoted above (Rg 10.59.7) in
which the asu is represented as going to earth, sky and mid-air upon
death. In a funeral hymn in the tenth book, however, the departed
ancestors (pitr) are specifically said to have gone to or attained life
(asum iyuh)” Thus, asu (vitality) is frequently though inconsistently
associated with the afterlife. This association is probably responsible
for the name of the funeral deity, Asuniti, mentioned in four hymns
of the tenth book.” Of the various interpretations of this name which
Muir notes,” Miiller’s “guide of life” is probably the best, in that this
deity was probably thought of as guiding (Vni) the vitality (asu) to
heaven. The term asu is probably also the basis of the word asura,
which initially meant “spiritual, incorporeal life” but came to be used
to denote “a ghost or spirit”, and finally became a proper name

91. Rg 10.14.12. There is little doubt that this is the correct interpretation of
asutrpa in this context. Both the Pdda text and Sayana construe the compound
as asu + Vtrp. Griffith, however, seems to read a-sutrpa in his translation
“insatiate”’.
92. Rg 10.15.1.
93. Rg 10.12.4; 10.15.15; 10.16.2; 10.59.5 & 6.
94. Muir, vol. 5, p. 297, n. 445.
84 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

indicating a particular class of supernatural beings thought to be the

opponents of the gods.
The term asu, then, seems to denote mere vitality. In comparison
to the vital faculties which will be examined below, asu is not
associated with personal power (bala) as is Gtman; nor, as vayas, is
it associated with will power (kratu) or inspiration (kavi) nor as ayu,
is it associated with the primary mental faculties manas (mind) and
hrd (heart).
On the basis of the admittedly insufficient evidence in the Rg Veda,
it appears that asu is the subtlest and most passive of the vital
faculties. It is the faculty farthest removed from the actual process of
living and least susceptible to adventitious influence. The asu is never
pictured as doing anything, nor, generally speaking, may anything be
done to it. The inevitable exception to this observation is a curse to
make the niggard’s asu decay.” It survives death, and there is some
indication that, like dyu, it is thought of as accompanying the tana in
heaven rather than being dispersed into the universe with the other
vital faculties. Again though, inconsistencies may be noted.”

Ayu:
Next on a descending scale of subtlety and passivity would be dyu.
Ayu is a curious term to the modern Western mind. It designates the
duration of one’s life conceived of as an entity and a vital faculty.
The most common context in which the term occurs is in prayers that
ayu be lengthened so that one may live (Vjiv) longer, the optimum
extent of human life being a hundred years.” In contrast to asu, adyu
is specifically said to be a direct condition for the continuation of
active life (jiva).* The fact that the state of the dyu may be
influenced also serves to distinguish it from asu. Normally, this
influence is pictured as lengthening, usually expressed by the verbal
root Vir, which literally means “to cross over or accomplish”. The

95. Rg 1.182.3.
96. Rg 10.59.7, quoted above.
97. Rg 1.89.9; 3.35.10; 10.18.4; 10.161.4.
98. See references in note 88 above.
 THE VEDIC CONCEPT OF THE HUMAN BEING 85

wish expressed is that the ayu be fully accomplished, that the

sacrificer may live a hundred years. The dyu is also spoken of as
being influenced from without by being shortened,” strengthened,’”
destroyed,’ and moulded.'’” Regardless of these influences upon the
ayu, however, the effect of passing time on it is inexorable, an effect
hauntingly portrayed in a hymn to the dawn.

Ancient of days, again and again born newly, decking her beauty with
the self-same raiment, the goddess wastes away the life (ayu) of
mortals, like a skilled hunter cutting birds in pieces.
Rg 1.92.10 (G)

By contrast, the adyu of the gods are said not to be subject to decay,”
this being. an expression of immortality. The god most often associated
with adyu is Agni, the terms dyu, dyava and especially vifva-ayu being
epithets of the fire god.'* The presence of Agni in all life, which has
been noted above, is represented primarily by his association with the
ayu of all creatures. In one passage, Agni is said to be the “one life”
or “unifying life” (eka-dyu).'* In another, he is called the “pillar of
life” (@yoh skambha).'* The conterminal association between dyu and
jiva noted above is borne out in the similar usage of adyu and jiva to
denote life in general, living beings.’” In many instances the term
vifva-dyu occurs in this sense, though in a few cases it means “the

99. Rg 3.49.2; 7.1.24.

100. Rg 3.62.15.
101. Rg 10.161.2.
102. Rg 10.18.5.
103. Rg 1.84.16; 10.45.8; 10.51.7.
104. Indra (Rg 5.34.5), Soma (Rg 9.23.2 & 4; 9.64.17; 9.107.14), and Sarasvati
(Rg 5.49.7) also bear epithets based on ayu.
105. Rg 1.31.5.
106. Rg 10.5.6.
107. Rg 4.4.7; 7.104.5; 9.66.19; 10.53.3.
86 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

full extent of life”,’® in which case it is synonymous with sarva-

ayu.'”
Again like Vjiv, and in this case like asu, dyu is associated with
wakefulness and activity as opposed to sleep. The goddess Dawn,
who, in the passage quoted above is said to waste away the dyu, is
also said to give new Gyu, i.e. to invigorate sleeping creatures.

Giving fresh life (navyam ayu) when she hath hid the darkness, this
Dawn hath wakened there with new-born lustre.
Rg 7.80.2 (G)

The goddess Sasarpari, who according to Sayana represents Vak, the

goddess of speech, is also said to give new life, although this is
apparently in relation to a famine.'’®
The principal distinction between dyu and other vital faculties,
then, is the association of dyu with the duration of life. However, the
term does not denote primarily a time span, but is pictured as a true
vital faculty, the potency of which is lessened by the passing of time.
To be young is to be in the beginning of life (purva-dyuni).'"' Ayu,
more than asu, is manifest in the actual phenomenon of living, and the
natural lessening of vitality in an aging person would be thought of
as the visible result of the deterioration of dyu. As would be expected
on the basis of this observation, adyu is represented as being related to
other components of the individual more often than asu.
The (earthly) tana is also said to be subject to decay in a hundred
years, and like the ayu, is subject to calamity which may curtail its
natural duration. It is @yu, however, which imparts life to the tanu. A
natural death at the end of a hundred years, or a premature death, are
both primarily results of the natural deterioration or adventitious
curtailment of @yu, the continuation of which is the immediate
condition for the vitality of the tana.

108. Rg 8.31.8; 10.85.42.

109. Rg 10.161.5.
110. Rg 3.53.15-16.
111. Rg 9.100.1; 10.5.7.
 THE VEDIC CONCEPT OF THE HUMAN BEING 87

A hundred autumns stand before us, O ye gods, within whose space

ye bring our bodies (tani) to decay; within whose space our sons
become fathers in tum. Break ye not in the middle our course of
fleeting life (a@yur-gantoh = lit. “life in the middle of (its) course”.
Rg 1.89.9 (G)

Ayu is also that which invigorates the heavenly aspect of the tanu,
although, as noted above, the asu also seems to play a part in
heavenly life after death.

Again, O Agni, to the fathers send him who, offered in thee, goes with
our oblations. Wearing life (@yur-vasan) let him increase his offspring.
Let him join a body (sam gacchatam tanva), Jatavedas.'”
: Rg 10.16.5

In one passage, dyu is said to be like breath (dyur na prana),'”

which apparently indicates that these two vital faculties were
considered to be of equal importance. Elsewhere, however, it is
suggested that dyu is dependent upon vayas, which, therefore, may
have been thought of as a more essential life force than ayu.

Like gold to look on, far he shone refulgent, beaming imperishable

life (ayu) for glory. Agni by vital powers (vayobhih) became immortal
when his prolific father Dayus begat him.
Rg 10.45.8 (G)

Elsewhere again, vayas, which is more characteristically found in the

singular number, seems to be represented as being on an equal footing
with dayu.

112. The bracketed Sanskrit phrases indicate where I have modified Griffith’s
translation.
113. Rg 1.66.1. Cp. Ks.U. 3.2.
88 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

Through this (soma?)'™ came life force (vayas), through this, lengthened
life (a@yu) to live, and relations.
Rg 10.144.5

Griffith’s translation, without grammatical justification, suggests that

here too, dyu is represented as dependent upon vayas.

Through this came vital power which lengthens out our days, and
kinship through its help awoke.
Rg 10.144.5 (G)

Regardless of this point of translation, there can be no doubt that in

the following verse, kratu (mental power) is represented as being
basic to both vayas and dyu. Kratu, as will be seen below, is often
associated with soma, which seems to be the agent through which
vayas and dyu are reinforced in the previous verse.

Through mental power (kratu) (there is) life force (vayas) and
lengthened life (@yu), O Sukratu (Indra). From us, by mental power
this (soma) is pressed our.'’®
Rg 10.144.6

It is also implied that manas (mind)'"* and Ard (heart)'” are thought
of as fundamental conditions for the continuation of dyu. Thus, it is
clear that the vital faculties do not operate in isolation from the
mental faculties, though the relationship between them is vaguely and
inconsistently expressed in the Rg Veda.

114. See Rg 6.40.4, where Indra’s vayas is said to be increased by soma.

115. Griffith, of course, reiterates his interpretation of the previous verse: “Wisdom,
most sapient one, brings force that lengthens life. May wisdom bring juice to
”
us.

116. Rg 10.59.5.
117. Rg 10.186.1.
 THE VEDIC CONCEPT OF THE HUMAN BEING 89

Vayas:
Vayas, on a descending scale of subtlety, is represented as being
less subtle than asu and dyu, though there is reason to believe that it
was considered a more essential life force than either of these. In
many contexts, vayas may be rendered convincingly in translation as
“food”, which is how Sayana often explains the term,'* even in
passages where it is inappropriate to the context.’”® Vayas, of course,
actually means food in the later language, but Sdyana was no doubt
aware that its usage in the Rg Veda did not correspond to its usage in
his day. One should probably understand Sayana’s explanation of
vayas as food (anna) with reference to the Upanisadic concept of the
threefold nature of food.

Food, when eaten, becomes threefold; its coarsest portion becomes the
feces, its middle (portion) flesh and its subtlest (portion) mind (manas).
C.U. 6.5.1 (R)

It is clear that vayas represents power, but in various contexts it

may be taken as physical power, vital power or mental power. The
possession of vayas is often associated with heroism in battle,’ and
most prayers which seek to affect the vayas ask for strengthening
(Vvrdh)'! The association of vayas with life has been noted above in
what seems to be its role as the foundation of ayu. In some passages,
however, vayas is apparently used in the same sense as dyu, as in a
prayer asking for vayas “so that we may live” (jivase).'” In one
hymn, vayas as vital power and as mental power occurs in successive
verses.

1. The Rbhus for their parents made life (vayas) young again,
and fashioned for the calf a mother by its side.

118. Rg 1.127.8; 1.136.2; 1.178.2; 1.183.4; 2.23.10.

119. Rg 1.111.2; 6.45.2; 10.45.8.
120. Rg 1.151.9; 2.3.9; 2.4.9; 2.13.11; 5.55.1; 7.58.3.
121. Rg 3.51.6; 5.5.6; 5.15.5; 5.54.2; 8.60.11.
122. Re 9.86.38.
90 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

2. For sacrifice make us active vital power (vayas) for skill

(daksa) and wisdom (kratu), food (isam) with noble progeny.
Rg 1.111.1-2 (G)

Sayana explains the first instance of vayas by offering the synonym

Gyu, and the second he explains as “food in the form of an oblation”
(havir-laksanam-annam). Sayana’s intent in this latter explanation is
uncertain, but the association of vayas with mental phenomena is
clear. Here again, an inconsistency in the representation of this
relationship will be noted in that above, in Rg 10.144.6, kratu seems
to be the basis of vayas. At any rate, that there is some relationship
between the two faculties is clear, as is some relationship between
poetic inspiration (kavi) and vayas.'”
The precise role of vayas in the Vedic concept of the human being,
unfortunately, cannot be more accurately determined. The vague
picture that emerges from the foregoing observations is that the Vedic
concept of the basis of human life is surprisingly materialistic when
considered in relation to later Indian psychology. The association of
vayas with food is beyond doubt. Though “food” is obviously not an
adequate translation of vayas, vayas may be conceived of as that vigor
of body and mind which is present in a well-fed person, but absent in
a malnourished person.'* In almost every case, vayas is pictured as
something obtained as opposed to an inherent faculty. Nonetheless if
a hierarchy may be established among the vital faculties on the basis
of the scant information available, vayas would seem to be the most
fundamental.
In summary, it appears that the Vedic Aryan saw life pragmatically,
as a phenomenon based on nutrition. The universe itself is alive, but
individual vitality is maintained only by funneling the life forces in
the universe at large into the individual. This is the case even in the
afterlife, where the ancestors’ tani are thought to be maintained by
ritually feeding them by means of the ancestral sacrifice (pitryajfa).
It is true even of the gods, who are represented as being, like humans,

123. Rg 2.4.9; 9.9.1. See also Rg 6.6.7.

124. See C.U. 6.7.
 THE VEDIC CONCEPT OF THE HUMAN BEING 91

dependent upon a continued supply of nourishment. Individuality

seems to have been thought of as a precious and fragile possession,
wrested from the universe at large, and retained only by continuous
effort in localizing the universal vital forces around oneself. The most
important mechanism through which this funneling process was
thought to be accomplished was the sacrificial ritual.
The similarity between these Vedic concepts and certain later
Upanisadic concepts is immediately obvious, as is the difference. In
the Upanisads too, individual identity is often seen as deriving from
the universe at large, specifically from the unitary universal principle
(brahman), but in the Upanisads this individuality was thought of as
a curse. The ultimate spiritual goal was, rather than to maintain the
individuality, fo merge it with the universal principle upon which it
was thought to be founded. The possibility of this merger is expressed
in the doctrine that the dtman (soul) is identical to brahman (the
universal principle). In the Rg Veda too the term atman has universal
connections, but in a sense that is far removed from this Upanisadic
idea. In the Rg Veda Gtman is directly associated with the phenomenon
of breath.

Breath:
Prana, and the similar term ana, both derived from the verbal root
Van, “to breathe”, denote breath as a physical phenomenon.’”
Breathing, however, appears to be regarded as the functioning of an
entity, so that in a prayer for renewed life, Asuniti is begged to return
the prana.’** Another passage expresses the wish that the prdna should
abandon an enemy.’ Like the other vital faculties, prana connotes
primarily life. It is, in fact, equated with dyu in one passage.'* In
another, in the form ana, it is represented as the criterion whereby the
inanimate may be distinguished from the animate.'” Again, like the

125. Rg 10.189.2.
126. Rg 10.59.6.
127. Rg 3.53.21.
128. Rg 1.66.1.
129. Rg 10.120.2.
92 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

other vital faculties examined so far, prdna also connotes

wakefulness’ and activity,’ as opposed to sleep and inertia.
Macrocosmically, it corresponds to the wind.'”
The term vata came to designate a “vital air” or “subtle breath”
in later Indian thought, but in the Rg Veda it seems to denote simply
meteorological wind. The term merits consideration here, though,
because it is identified with Gtman in three passages. In one, the wind
(vata) is said to be the dtman of Varuna,'”and in another, vata is said
to be the dtman of the Aévins.' The third passage Rg 1.34.7. is
obscure. Griffith translates the phrase, addressed to the ASvins, atmeva
vatah svasaradni gacchatam, as “come, like vital air to bodies”. This
translation expresses the intent of Sayana’s vague explanation,
construing vata as a vital faculty, but does not account for all of the
words in the original passage. The literal meaning of the text,
considering the numerous other contexts in which vdta obviously
means wind, is probably more accurately rendered as “come to our
homes (in the form of) wind (which is) like (your) atman”. Wind
under the name of vdyu is said to be the Gtman of the gods.'” The
atman of a dead person, as noted above, is said to disperse into the
wind (vata) upon the performance of the cremation ritual.'** In the Rg
Veda, vata means simply wind, it became an important vitalistic term
in later Indian literature, but it is of importance in the Rg Veda
primarily because, as meteorological wind it is linked to the term
adtman, the microcosmic manifestation of wind.
In Vedic passages in which atman is represented as being related
to the wind, the most obvious translation would be simply “breath”.
Like prdna, dtman is represented as a vital faculty which, on a

130. Rg 1.48.10; 10.121.3.

131. Rg 1.101.5.
132. Rg 10.90.14. See also Rg 10.125.8.
1332 Ro'7:87.2.
134. Rg 10.92.13. Griffith’s translation, based on Sayana, is misleading, rendering
the single word dtman as “breath of all”.
135. Rg 10.168.4.
136. Rg 10.16.3.
 THE VEDIC CONCEPT OF THE HUMAN BEING 93

macrocosmic scale, corresponds to wind. In other Vedic contexts,

however, it is clear that the term dtman represents a more complex
psychological concept than does prdna. Nonetheless, the fundamental
connection of dtman with respiration is beyond doubt, a situation
which suggests translation of the Vedic term dtman with the English
“spirit” because of the etymological connections of spirit with breath.
Just as the possession of prdna distinguishes the animate from the
inanimate, so the term dtman-vant (“having spirit”) apparently means
“animated, living” when applied to normally inanimate objects, like
boats and clouds.’” In passages which describe Soma as the “spirit of
the sacrifice” (dtma-yajnasya),’* the term should probably again be
taken as implying an animating principle rather than in the Vedantic
sense as “essence of the sacrifice”. Atman, like vdyas, is associated
with food, food being the source of dtman.'” One interesting passage
in this connection seems to imply that the dtman is more essential
than the tani, for it is said, “Spirit (@tman) is food (pitu), body (tani)
is raiment (vdsa)”."° This passage should probably be understood,
however, as descriptive of the natures of tanud and dtman rather than
indicating a hierarchical relationship between the two terms.
In addition to the vitalistic function of dtman, a few passages imply
a more psychological connotation of the term. One passage indicates
that Gtman is a source of joy,“ another identifies is as a source of
torment.” Yet another passage represents dtman as a repository of
strength (balam).”” These, however, are not typical usages of the term
atman, which, it is clear, denotes primarily a subtle form of breath
which functions as an individual vital faculty. The dependence of the
Gtman upon food indicates that it was not conceived of in Upanisadic

137. Rg 1.116.3; 1.182.5; 9.74.4.

138. Rg 9.2.10.
139. Rg 10.107.7.
140. Rg 8.3.24.
141. Rg 1.73.2.
142. Rg 1.162.20.
143. Rg 9.113.1. Note that the verbal root Vbal, from which bala is derived, may
also mean “‘to breathe”.
94 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

terms as the imperishable innermost essence of the individual. This

point becomes even clearer in a passage in which the priest, by means
of medicinal herbs, seeks to restore the dtman of a dying man."
Two passages which contain the phrase atmd jagatas-tasthusaS-ca,
“the spirit of (all) that moves and stands”.'** These suggest the concept
of a universal spirit which encompasses all individual spirits, but this
concept is still far removed from the Vedantic idea of the innermost
individual essence being ultimately identical to the unitary essence of
the universe. In the Rg Veda, the atman is merely one of several vital
faculties, standing on a more or less equal footing with the others.
The term Gyu, it will be remembered, also has universal connections
in the Rg Veda, usually with reference to the god Agni, who is often
said to be “universal life” (vifva-dyu). It is not difficult to see,
however, why the term dtman, out of all the vital faculties mentioned
above, was chosen in later writings for expansion into a term denoting
the innermost essence of human life and consciousness, and ultimately
the unitary essence of the entire universe. The tanu, which, in the Rg
Veda, was considered the most essential element of individual identity,
was a term too much associated with corporeal individuality to denote
a comprehensive universal principle. Moreover, its association with the
Vedic theory of afterlife probably explains why, in, later Indian
psychological literature, the term tanu never attained the status of a
technical term, since the Vedic theory was superseded by the
conflicting theory of repetitive rebirth. The term dyu, which does have
universal implications in the Rg Veda, is too much associated with
finite duration to denote an everlasting entity. The term dtman,
however, is amenable to expansion into a word denoting “individual
cum universal essence” and the correspondence between breath and
wind is a particularly evocative symbol for the correspondence of
individual essence to universal essence. The Upanisads are not entirely
consistent in expressing this monistic connection, and in some cases

144. Re 10.97.4 & 8.

145. Rg 1.115.5, where the sun is said to be this universal spirit,““‘the atman of all
that moves and stands”, and Rg 7.101.6, where Pusan is said to contain this
atman within himself.
 THE VEDIC CONCEPT OF THE HUMAN BEING 95

the term Gtman seems to denote a purely individual, reincarnating

entity."* Still, aGtman is also a particularly apt choice to denote
individual essence, even without universal connotations, because of its
common Vedic usage in the abbreviated form tman in a wide range of
reflexive senses ranging from “oneself” as in “know oneself”,'”’ “turn
oneself to a task”,"* to “one’s own possession”, “one’s own
power”,’® “own nature”,'® “in person”,’ and “by one’s own choice,
freely, spontaneously”.'* The term tman is far more common than
tanu in the reflexive sense, and again, does not suffer the disadvantage
of being associated with the Vedic afterlife theory. Thus, though the
development in meaning of the term Gtman from its Vedic usage to its
Upanisadic usage is natural, it must be remembered that development
did occur, and that reading the Upanisadic dtman retrospectively into
the Vedic dtman distorts the meaning of the Vedic texts. Even in the
Vedic passages which imply a universalized concept of G@tman, its
primary Vedic sense, a vital faculty, should be emphasized. The
universal @tman of the Rg Veda refers to the life force, the spirit if
you will, of the universe, which is conceived of as a living being.
It is interesting that while several of the vital faculties, namely
dyu, asu, and dGtman, have universal connotations, none of the mental
faculties mentioned in the Rg Veda are applied to the universe at
large. The universe lives, but apparently is not conscious, further
indication than the Vedic sages did not arrive at a concept of
psychological monism of Upanisadic ilk. The vitalistic orientation of
Vedic speculations relating to the nature of the human being does,
however, have an effect upon Upanisadic psychology. Conceptually,
the Upanisads, on the whole, stress consciousness rather than vitality

146) B.Us 443-4" C.U. 81231. Cpr S.B, 10°5.1.4:

147. Rg 10.176.3.
148. Rg 1.183.3.
149. Rg 4.41.6.
150. Rg 1.79.6; 1.139.10; 10.64.6.
151. Rg 8.94.8.
152. Rg 10.171.1.
153. Rg 1.151.6; 4.4.9; 8.6.8.
96 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

as the essence of the human being, but they are not, as is often
assumed, consistent in this orientation. Many Upanisadic passages
represent vitality as the monistic essence of the human being and the
universe. Vitalistic terminology, most notably the terms dtman and
prana, is often retained even in Upanisadic passages which obviously
advance a psychological theory of the nature of the human being. The
Rg Veda contains scattered references to several mental faculties
which also appear in Upanisadic psychological material, but as the
following section shows, the roles and relationships of these faculties
in the Rg Veda are quite different from those found in the Upanisads.

C) MENTAL ORGANS AND FACULTIES

Whereas the Buddhist and Upanisadic treatments of human

consciousness tend to arrange the various mental faculties in ascending
layers, there is no real tendency in this direction in the Rg Veda.
Instead, the Rg Veda deals with different types of consciousness rather
than different levels of consciousness. Psychological terminology in
these ancient hymns is imprecise, and the characteristics of these
various types of consciousness overlap considerably. Nevertheless, this
section differentiates between mental organs on the one hand and
mental faculties on the other. The mental organs considered are manas
(mind) and hArd (heart), and the mental faculties are citta (thought),
dhi (mental vision) and kratu (mental power).
Even the distinction between organs and faculties is somewhat
artificial, there being insufficient precision in the usage of the terms
to justify even such a broad division. The distinction here is based
on two considerations. First, manas and hrd, much more often than
the other terms mentioned, are depicted as loci or agents of mental
activity. Second, an overview of the passages of psychological import
in the Rg Veda leaves the impression that manas and hrd are thought
of as being innate in any given human being. The so-called faculties,
on the other hand, seem to be thought of as the functioning of these
two organs. These faculties are not necessarily innate, at least not in
their full potency, but must be developed, stimulated, increased, etc.
In relation to this distinction between organ and faculty, it may be
useful to note at this point that the manas is depicted as the
 THE VEDIC CONCEPT OF THE HUMAN BEING 97

immediate agent of each of the mental processes to be examined, with

the exception of kratu (mental power. Kratu is depicted, however, as
indirectly dependent upon the manas in a few passages.'“ Otherwise,
manas is said to perform the processes indicated by the verbal roots
Vit,’ Vdhi,' and its own verbal root Vman.'” The heart (hrd), on the
other hand, is depicted only as performing the process denoted by
Vman.'* Although the heart is the locus of dhi (mental vision)!” and
kratu (mental power),’® the association of the verbal root Vcit with
hrd is indirect and infrequent.’ The term Ard, however, is infrequent
in the Rg Veda, and it is difficult to evaluate its relationship to manas
and the faculties on the basis of the very few passages in which they
are mentioned together. Nevertheless, in the Vedic context hrd plays
an essential role in human consciousness. This in conjunction with the
fact that it is the only one of the terms examined which does not have
a corresponding verbal form, dictates that if a distinction be drawn
between mental organs and faculties, the Ard must be labelled an
organ. The following passage provides an illustration of the distinction
between organs and faculties.

The thoughtful (vipascitah) perceive (paSyanti) with heart (hrd) and

mind (manas) the bird adourned with the magic (maya) of an Asura
(a class of heavenly being).
Re Uli

Here, manas an hrd are represented as agents of the mental faculty

of perception, which is represented by the root Vpas (to see). This
mental perception is, however, apparently available only to “the

154. Rg 6.9.5; 10.57.2.

155. Rg 8.13.20 (mano cetati); 10.183.1 (manasa cekitanam).
156. Rg 10.181.3; 10.183.2 (manasa didhyanam).
157. Rg 7.4.8 (manasa mantavai).
158. Rg 5.4.10 (hrda manyamana); 5.56.2 (hrda manyasa).
159. Rg 1.61.2; 10.64.2.
160. Rg 5.85.2; 10.64.2.
161. Rg 7.33.9; 10.103.12.
98 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

thoughtful” (vipascita). The term vipaScita is composed of the roots

Vvip (to vibrate, quiver) and Vcit (to think); or alternatively from the
prefix vi- and the verbal roots Vpas and Vcit, i.e. “insightful in
thought”.'? Thus, the thought process (citta) is a mental faculty, and
the degree to which this faculty is developed indicates the
effectiveness of the organs hrd and manas, the agents of the mental
process. Here, the thought process (citta) is represented as being
insightful or vibrant. The faculty denoted by Vcit is highly developed,
and as a result, hrd and manas can “see”. Presumably, if these
faculties were not so developed, a lesser person, though having the
organs Ard and manas, could not see the magical bird.
The root Vcit and its derivatives, as used in the Rg Veda, represent
in the most general way the activity of the essential mental organs
manas and hrd, while the terms dhi and kratu represent more specific
activities of these basic organs. It bears repeating, however, that a
distinction between mental organs and faculties is not consistently
observed or even recognized in the Rg Veda, where one finds such
phrases as dhiyd cetati (thinks with mental vision)' and cetasa
cetayate (thinks with thought),'“ as well as many more examples that
tend to blur this distinction. This twofold division is proposed here
solely as an attempt to differentiate broadly between terms which are
otherwise difficult to separate.
The following analysis, though based on this twofold distinction,
organ and faculty, begins with an overview of the most important
verbal roots in ancient Indian psychology as they are used in the Rg
Veda. Of these, Vcit and Vman are by far the most important with
regard to vedic psychology. It is therefore convenient to treat first
their derivatives citta (a faculty) and manas (an organ) before moving
on to the less common terms hArd (an organ) and dhi and kratu
(faculties). In this way, the analysis moves from very general to more
specific concepts.

162. See Monier-Williams, p. 972, col. 3 under Wip.

163. Rg 3.11.3.
164. Rg 9.86.42.
 THE VEDIC CONCEPT OF THE HUMAN BEING 99

Verbal Roots:
The most important verbal roots denoting mental processes in the
Rg Veda are Vcit, Vman, Vind, Vvid, and Vdhi. Of these, Vcit is the
most general in meaning, so general in fact, that it refers simply to
the functioning of any of the mental organs and faculties. The most
common nouns derived from this verbal root, citta, citti and cetas,
are for all intents and purposes synonymous, and refer very generally
to “thought” or in some cases “mind”. Nouns and verbs derived from
the root Vcit are so broad in meaning as to be capable of being
substituted for virtually any of the more precise terms for mental
organs and faculties. The verbal root Vman and its derivatives are
almost as broad in meaning as the derivatives of Vcit. Generally
speaking, they imply more specifically than vVcit the process of
intellectual cogitation. Other than this very vague and inconsistent
distinction, the derivatives of Vcit and Vman, in the Rg Veda, are
practically indistinguishable in meaning. Verbal forms of Vcit,
however, are more common than nominal forms, while the opposite is
true of derivatives of Vman. It is probably best therefore to translate
nominal forms of Vcit with “thought”, and the term manas with
“mind”. Such translation construes manas as a mental organ and citta
etc. as mental faculties, even tough admittedly there is no clear
distinction between these terms in actual usage in the Rg Veda. This,
at any rate, is the distinction between these terms in later Indian
psychology, particularly in Buddhism, where citta represents
consciousness in general while manas refers to mind as the mental
sense organ.
On the other hand, the later Indian, particularly Buddhist, technical
terms vedand (feelings) samjnad (perception) and _ vijndna
(consciousness) are scarcely similar in meaning at all to their Vedic
counterparts. In the Rg Veda, the roots Vjrid and Vvid are practically
interchangeable, meaning “to know, understand, be acquainted with”.
They imply knowledge of or familiarity with an objective fact or
circumstance rather than the process of cogitation, which is associated
more with the roots Vcit and Vman, especially Vman. The root Vvid,
100 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

however, is sometimes used in the sense “to find”, or even “to

obtain”,'® where VjfAd would be inappropriate. This may be a vague
point of similarity between the usage of the root Vvid in the Rg Veda
and the later, particularly Buddhist usage of the term vedand, derived
from vid, to denote mere hedonistic feelings without
conceptualization. As used in the Rg Veda, neither Vjfa nor Vvid are
the source of any nouns with independent psychological importance,
terms like vijidna, samjfd or vedand. The term vedand in the Rg
Veda normally means “possessions, wealth”, i.e. that which one has
found or obtained.’ Normally, the prefix vi- plus the root VjAd
conveys no different meaning, or at most a slightly more intensive
meaning, than the root Vjfd by itself.’ In some cases, the word thus
formed seems to imply discrimination or discernment’® as opposed to
knowledge, which makes this compound vaguely similar to the
Buddhist and Upanisadic use of vijfidna as a technical term denoting
consciousness. In the Rg Veda, sam- plus Vjfd in most cases seems to
mean “one-minded, accordant, in agreement”.'” In the early Buddhist
Sutras, the term samjna refers to the mental faculty of perception, the
faculty which constructs meaningful experience out of what has been
felt hedonistically and non-conceptually by the faculty of vedand. In
the Upanisads, the term samjna is infrequent, but usually appears to
be associated with the functioning of manas, and as a psychological
term appears to be more or less similar in meaning to its Buddhist
counterpart. Of these verbal roots, only the derivatives of Vcit, Vman
and Vdhi will be examined in the present chapter, since the others,
though important in later Indian psychology, are of little psychological
import in the Rg Veda.

165. Rg 1.67.2; 5.46.1; 10.53.3; 10.107.4; 10.161.4.

166. Rg 1.143.4; 5.67.3.
167. Rg 1.33.15; 1.176.4; 4.30.13; 7.32.7; 10.34.4.
168. Rg 1.164.5, 16, 36; 5.49.2; 10.2.2; 10.77.1; 10.107.2 & 7.
GOR gele69'2-55 3977 042:
170. Rg 1.72.5; 7.76.5; 7.104.12; 10.30.6; 10.191.2.
 THE VEDIC CONCEPT OF THE HUMAN BEING 101

Citta:
The verbal root Vcit,'"' being the psychological term applicable to
the broadest range of contexts, is a good point of departure in an
inquiry into the Vedic concept of human consciousness. The
derivatives of Vcit in the Rg Veda, like the term citta in Buddhism,
refer in the broadest way possible to mental processes whether
perceptive, intellectual, emotional or imaginative. It is, then, the most
general of the mental faculties.
The association of derivatives of Vcit with vision is in some cases
quite literal, as when Agni is said to be observant (cetistham) with the
eyes (aksabhir),’” or in a wartime curse in which the wish is
expressed that the perception (citta) of those foes who stand watch be
destroyed.'” In other contexts, the term citta seems to mean simply
“visible”, as. in the phrase citta-garbha, which Griffith translates
“visibly pregnant”.!” In still other cases, derivatives of Vcit refer to
mental perception, as when it is said that Mitra and Varuna perceive
(cikyatuh) even with their eyes closed,” or where it is said with
relation to a riddle that those who have eyes, obviously mental eyes,
can see while the blind do not perceive (na vicetad andhah),'” or
again where it is asked, “who discerns (ciketa) the workings of Mitra
and Varuna?”'” Relevant also to the use of derivatives of Vcit used to
denote vision, particularly mental vision, is the association in several

171. There is no point in distinguishing between derivatives of Vcit and those of

the related verbal root Vci, which are often indistinguishable, and have the
same meanings with reference to consciousness. See Gonda, Vision, pp. 56-57;
99-100.
172. Rg 10.21.7. Gonda suggests, as the general meaning of the root Veit:
“perceiving, being attentive, distinguishing, observing, taking notice of.” See
Vision, p. 99, and note 174 below.
173. Rg 10.128.6.
174. See Vision, pp. 99-100, where Gonda suggests “appearing, becoming
conspicuous” as an additional meaning of Vcit, citing as examples: Rg 1.113.4;
WG) 2eIe4; 197212" 6.50.0; 0.12.55 10.3.47.5.59.5; 10.915:
175. Rg 8.25.9.
176. Rg 1.164.16.
177. Rg 1.152.3. See also Rg 10.177.1.
102 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

passages of Vcit with Vdhi,'" which term, as shown below, denotes

visualization in the Rg Veda.
Related to both the intellectual and the emotional functions of Vcit
is the property of motion which is often associated with this root.
Thus, when it is said that thought (citta) is as swift as wind,'” its
intellectual or perceptive properties are probably intended. In other
contexts, derivatives based on Vcit are said to be moved by an
external force, as when the sacrifice stirs the thought (cetana).'*°
These derivatives are also said to be the moving force which incites
various gods to action, as when Soma™' and Agni’ are said to be
moved or stirred into action by the thought of the sacrificer. In these
contexts, the implication of motion seems to be emotional more than
intellectual.
The intellectual connotation of derivatives of Vcit is predominant
in the majority of the instances of their occurrence, but it is rarely
entirely separable from the implication of perception which in most
cases is also conveyed. The intellectual connotation is obviously
predominant in the phrase “to solve (dciketam) a riddle”,'” or when
it is said that the citta may be deluded (pratilobhayati),'™ or that
Soma grasps all things with thought (cetasd).'** But where it is said
that Vak, the goddess of speech, spoke words that are
incomprehensible (avicetanani),'*° it is not so easy to separate the
intellectual connotation from the perceptual. The compound could
conceivably imply “unmanifest or imperceptible” words. This is again
the case in a passage stating that what the Dawn knows (yac-ciketa)

178. Rg 1.67.5; 1.68.3; 1.159.1; 1.164.36; 3.11.2; 8.34.19; 10.183.2.

179. Rg 1.163.11.
180. Rg 8.13.18; 8.92.21.
181. Re 9.16.4.
182. Re 8.44.19.
183. Rg 10.28.5.
184. Rg 10.103.12.
185. Rg 9.20.3.
186. Rg 8.100.10.
 THE VEDIC CONCEPT OF THE HUMAN BEING 103

is true (satya) not false (mogha),'*’ which could just as easily mean,
“what she perceives is accurate, not mistaken”.
The intellectual connotation of these derivatives is again evident,
though not exclusive, in several compounds which denote some sort
of development or excellence of the faculty of thought or perception,
as in the term vipaScita'* meaning “wise or insightful”, or sucetas
(thoughtful),’” gambiira-cetas (deep thoughted),’*° praceta (wise).'”'
These terms are matched by terms indicating deficiency in the faculty
of thought or perception, terms such as apracetas (foolish, ignorant),'”
dabhracetas (weak-minded),'” or acit (foolish, thoughtless, a fool).'”
The emotional connotation of derivatives of Vcit is most evident
in passages of the type already pointed out above where the thought
is said to be moved or stirred by worship and sacrifice. There is also
note emotional content in passages such as the one where Atri is said
to “think with a friendly mind” (ciketati ... sumnena cetasd),’” or in
another beautiful hymn to Dawn:

Youthful and unrestrained she cometh forward; she hath tumed thoughts
(acikitat) to sun and fire and worship.
Rg 7.80.2 (G)

There may be further indication of an emotional connotation of these

derivatives in passages in which they are associated with the heart

187. Rg 10.55.6.
188. Rg 1.164.36; 8.43.19; 10.177.1.
189. Rg 1.61.10; 4.36.2; 7.60.6.
190. Rg 8.8.2.
191. Rg 8.100.16.
192. Rg 9.98.11.
193. Rg 8.101.16.
194. Rg 7.86.7; 7.104.1. See Rg 4.54.3; 7.86.6; 7.89.5 for the related terms acitta
and acitti.
1952. Re-5; 13.6.
104 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

(hrd),’*® though the heart, like the manas, is depicted as an organ of

thought and perception as well as emotion.
Far more frequent than the association of terms derived from Vcit
with the Ard (heart), is the association of these terms with the manas
(mind). The manas is often depicted as the agent of the process of
thought as represented by derivatives of Vcit, as in the phrases manasa
cekitanam, “thinking or perceiving with the mind”,’” or mano cetati,
“the mind thinks”.' In other contexts, a derivative of Vcit may qualify
the mind in an adjectival sense, as in the phrase cikitvin-manas,
“thoughtful or perceptive mind”.’” In still other contexts, derivatives
of Vcit are apparently indicative of a faculty or process which is
independent of the manas but parallel to it, as in the phrase
“accordant (sam janate) in mind (manas4@) and thought (cikitre)”.?° In
a similar context the assembled worshipers are said to be joined in
mind (samdnam manas) and thought (saha citta).”' In yet another
context, the manas and “excellent thought” (sucetas) are said to be the
source of the creation of a miraculous chariot by the Rbhus.””
Derivatives of Vcit in many cases carry also the connotation of
morality, which in these passages is depicted as following upon a
correct perception or understanding of the universal order, the rta or
dharma. Thus, it is said that through thoughtlessness or lack of
perception, through negligence (acitti) one breaks the law (dharma)
of Varuna.’ This same negligence (acitti), it is said, causes sin?
and leads one astray with wine, dice and anger.*” This same gambling
drunkard, the victim of acitti, is labeled a fool (acit), which term thus

196. Rg 7.33.9; 10.83.5; 10.103.12; 10.177.1; 10.191.3-4.

197. Rg 10.183.1.
198. Rg 8.13.20.
199. Rg 5.22.3; 8.95.5.
200. Rg 10.30.6.
201. Rg 10.101.3.
202. Rg 4.36.2.
203. Reg 4.36.2.
204. Re 7.89.5.
205. Re 7.86.6.
 THE VEDIC CONCEPT OF THE HUMAN BEING 105

carries the connotation of lack of moral as well as intellectual

development, and it is through the agency of Varuna, the ethical god,
that this fool may be made wise (acetayat), i.e. awakened to or made
to perceive the ethical law of the universe.” This moral connotation
must also be understood in a passage calling for the annihilation of
fools (acit),*” who presumably are roughly equivalent to the evil-
minded (huras-cit).?* It is because of citti (intelligence) that Indra is
said to drive away the sinner.” Agni, it is said, distinguishes between
sense and folly, and apparently rewards the sensible.

May he who knows (vidvdn) distinguish (vicinavat) sense (citti) and

folly (acitti), like straight and crooked backs of horses. Lead us, O
god, to wealth and noble offspring; keep penury afar and grant us
plenty.
Rg 4.2.11 (G)

Thus derivatives of Vcit connote both perception of fact and

intellectual ability. The effectiveness of this faculty is judged with
reference to objective truth and good, which are functions of the
underlying moral law of the universe, as when Agni is said to be
truthful (satya) because he is a knower of law (rta-cit).”° The moral
desirability of knowledge or perception of this universal law is, it
would seem, paralleled by an attendant practical advantage.

Indra, bestow on us the best of treasures, the spirit (citti) of ability

and fortune; increase of riches, safety of our bodies, charm of sweet
speech, and days of pleasant weather.
Rg 2.21.6 (G)

206. Rg 7.86.7.
207. Rg 7.104.1.
208. Rg 1.42.3; 9.89.11.
209. Rg 8.79.4 in Griffith’s enumeration.
210. Rg 1.145.5.
106 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

In another passage, this perception or knowledge is said to accompany

fame and splendor as gifts to mortals from Agni,” and elsewhere it
is suggested that if this citta is deluded (pratilobhayanti) it will lead
to one’s downfall.”
Thus, in the wide range of applications of the verbal root Vcit,
there emerges from the obscure hymns of the Rg Veda, an ethical
concept of the highest order. Namely: knowledge and perception of
the order of the universe necessarily leads to moral behavior, which
brings in its wake the blessings of the gods in this very life. This
knowledge or perceptiveness is the greatest treasure, and all other
treasures follow upon it automatically.
Before moving on to an examination of the more specific mental
organs and faculties, one more aspect of the general term Vcit bears
mentioning, the creative aspect. This creativity is not confined to
artistic composition, as when it is said that the hymn springs from
the thoughtful mind (cikitvin-manas).’” It may also refer to the idea
of spontaneous creation of an entity, as in a hymn stating that the
gods created fire with citti,”* or as noted above where the Rbhus are
said to have created a miraculous chariot by means of “excellent
thought” (sucetas) and mind (manas).”"*
The association of dhi with Vcit and the general association of
mental “vision” with the intellect, which has already been noted
above, is probably the most important key to understanding this
creative aspect of thought as represented by the general term Vcit. As
will become clearer in the examination of dhi in a following section,
creation of a mental image of an object was considered tantamount to
the creation of the object itself for ritual purposes of offerings to the
gods. Since commerce with the gods was thought to be a give and
take affair, the gods were thought to return gifts to humans by means
of the creative power of their mental vision. The following point will

211. Rg 5.7.9.
212. Rg 10.103.12.
213. Rg 8.95.5.
214. Rg 3.23.
215. Rg 4.36.2.
 THE VEDIC CONCEPT OF THE HUMAN BEING 107

also be examined in greater detail below, but at present, for the sake
of complete coverage of the term Vcit, the association of Vcit with the
term kratu, “will or mental power”, should be noted. Kratu is
sometimes represented as the faculty which performs the process of
thought, as in the phrase, “think with the mental power” (kratva
cetati).”'* Sometimes derivatives of Vcit may qualify the term kratu as
in the phrase “wise (cetistha) with mental power (kratu)”.”"” As will
be seen below, kratu also plays an important role in the creative
aspect of mind, in that it is conceived of as the motive force which
actualizes the creation of objects visualized in the creative
imagination.
By way of summary; the derivatives of the verbal root Vcit occur
in relation to all. of the mental organs and faculties which will be
considered in the remainder of this chapter. They cover such a wide
range of meanings and connotations that it may be said that these
derivatives denote the functioning of any one of the several mental
organs and faculties mentioned in the Rg Veda. Used with the term
manas, Vcit indicates mental perception or intellectual thought. With
hrd (heart) it refers to emotional or intuitive thought. With Vdhi it
refers to imaginative, visionary thought. With kratu it refers to
volitional thought. It is this broad, general nature of Vcit and its
derivatives that constitutes the most distinctive characteristic of this
family of terms. Similarly it is this applicability to all mental
processes that sets the important term citta apart from other terms
designating the mind in later Indian thought, particularly in Buddhist
psychology.

Manas:
The term manas, like citta, derives from a verbal root, the root
Vman. As nouns, the words manas and citta are practically
synonymous in the Rg Veda. The verbal forms of Vman, however,
carry a decidedly more intellectual connotation than derivatives of
Vcit or even the term manas itself. Though not adequate in all cases,

216. Rg 1.128.4.
217. Rg 1.65.5. See also Rg 6.5.3; 7.3.10.
108 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

the English “to consider” is an attractive translation for verbal forms

of Vman because it corresponds to the two most prominent verbal
meanings of this root. These are: (1) to ponder or cogitate upon, as
in the phrase to consider a plan”,”* and (2) to evaluate, judge, deem,
as in the phrase “to consider wealth sufficient”.”” In some cases,
however, the visual, imaginative implication is also present in this
verb, as with the root Vcit.2° To draw too sharp a distinction between
these two roots would lead to misunderstandings. Two common
nominal derivatives of Vman, namely mati and manisa, seem to denote
primarily inspired, visual thought in the Rg Veda, and are used in
contexts very similar to the term dhi (mental vision).”' These terms
will therefore be considered below in the discussion of dhi.
As a noun, the manas (mind), more than any other term in the Rg
Veda, is represented as being the locus or agent of mental activity. On
this basis, it will be dealt with here, along with the heart (hrd), as a
mental organ as opposed to citta and its etymological relatives, which
have been labeled as a mental faculty, along with dhi and kratu. The
function of manas itself, when it is not represented merely as the
agent of one of the mental faculties, is distinguished from the general
term citta and relatives by being less specifically associated with
intellect and imagination. Manas is associated more with the emotions
and particularly the essential character of the person. Unlike the verbal
forms of Vman, manas seldom refers to abstract intellectual thought,
which it may be noted, is represented mainly by the verbal roots
Vman, Vjfd, and Vvid without being associated with any specific
mental organ or faculty. Like the intellectual connotations, the moral
connotations of manas are also less pronounced than those of the
derivatives of Vcit, but again, not altogether absent. On the other
hand, the creative function of manas is more pronounced than that of
the derivatives of Vcit, and it is apparently for this reason that manas
is extremely important in sacrifice.

218. Rg 10.12.8. See also Rg 1.159.2 & 5; 5.48.1; 5.50.5; 10.12.6.

219. Rg 10.34.13. See also Rg 5.39.2; 6.30.2.
220) R2)5:6.145:35:8:
221. See Gonda, Vision, pp. 13, 47, 51ff, 57, 70, 109.
 THE VEDIC CONCEPT OF THE HUMAN BEING 109

As one might expect, having noted the emotional orientation of

manas Clearly expressed in the “Nasadiya” hymn — where it is said
that desire (kama) is the original seed of manas*? — the most
common function of manas in the Rg Veda is its function as the locus
of a wide range of emotions. These may be grouped into the following
general categories: desire,’ fear and disturbance, anxiety, love,
devotion, adoration,”* anger, rage, hatred,”* joy and pleasure,”
generosity and kindness.” In several of these passages, the heart (hrd)
is represented as a co-experiencer, along with manas, of these
emotions.”
No doubt related to its function as the primary locus of emotions
is the frequent portrayal of the manas as the repository of the
individual’s personality and character traits. A frequent epithet
indicating character is the term “hero-minded” (nrmanas).”® Several
passages contain phrases in which the manas is depicted as the seat
of various types of good and bad character,” and it is in this sense
too that the moral facet of manas finds expression, mostly in the
phrase satya-manas (truthful mind).”” Some are even said to have a
god-like mind (deva-manas).”” It is probably also in this connection
that one should understand the function noted above of manas as a
semi-vital faculty, implored not to desert the dying man so that his

222. Rg 10.129.4.
223. Rg 1.164.27; 2.32.2; 3.31.9; 4.1.15; 6.46.10; 10.129.4; 10.147.2.
224 Khe 1el216595:30:3509 511.2; LOZ,
D2 5eeRe lplee-s 1.712. 1.99.8; 1,182.0° 25,5), 514-5; 4.24.0, 6403; 7,100.15
10.10.3, 13, 14; 10.145.6.
220. Re'4:273; 7.20.6;°7.67.7; 10:95.1; 10,103.10:
277 Re Volts tobe; 15517 1197.0; 3.1.21; 3:35,87 3.94.22; 410,35. 5.39.3;
6.63.1; 10.51.5; 10.53.12; 10.70.4; 10.85.44; 10.117.2.
278) Rel. 73:10; 4-372), 6:.21.4;°6,63.4¢ 6.75.8; 7-33.14; 7.98.2; 8.48.7, 8.71.3;
8.82.3; 10.20.1; 10.25.1; 10.50.7; 10.116.2.
229. Rg 1.61.2; 1.73.10; 4.37.2; 8.71.3; 8.82.3.
230. Rg 1.51.5 & 10; 1.167.5; 10.45.1 & 3.
231. Rg 1.52.12; 1.63.4; 1.54.3; 2.23.12; 3.38.2; 4.22.6; 5.44.7; 7.104.8; 10.103.9.
232. Rg 1.73.2; 7.90.5; 10.67.8.
233. Rg 1.91.23; 1.164.18.
110 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

life might continue.“ Manas, then, is an even more essential element

of the human being than the term “mental organ” might suggest. It is
portrayed as the basis of one’s emotional life, and therefore one’s
character and temperament. A further extension of this tendency to see
manas aS a deep-seated source of one’s most intimate feelings,
probably accounts for the use of the term to denote the basis of life
itself. It should be remembered, however, that the apparent use of
manas as a vital faculty is confined to a late series of four
consecutive hymns in the tenth book.”*
Again, more than any other mental organ or faculty, manas is
represented as being creative, a function which it retains throughout
the history of Indian thought. In the famous “Nasadiya Sikta”, a
hymn to creation examined above, it is implied that the manas of the
original universal principle was the motive force behind creation out
of chaos. In another passage, the Rbhus, mortals who, by virtue of
their supreme artistry, were granted the status of gods, are said to
have performed the miraculous deed of extracting a cow (apparently
living) from out of its hide by means of manas.”*® More to the point
is a verse stating obliquely that wherever the power of Agni’s mind
is applied, fire will be produced.

Wherever your mind (manas) applies (its) supreme power, there you
make a seat (for yourself)
Rg 6.16.17

The creative power of the manas is most clearly revealed in the

term manas-maya, “mind-made”. In the form manomaya, this phrase
is of great psychological importance in the Upanisads, where it is the
name of one of the subtle layers of the soul.”’ The term is also used
to describe the universal principles dtman** and brahman,”” as well

234. Rg 10.57.3-6; 10.58.1-10; 10.59.5; 10.60.7-9.

235. See note 234, above.
236. Rg 3.60.2.
PEsfs,WAU, ASER RY:Ihe
PRS VV, sve Chale
 THE VEDIC CONCEPT OF THE HUMAN BEING 111

as the individual soul (purusa),”° Oddly, the Vedic sense of the phrase
— ie. “made by mind” rather than “made of mind” as in these
Upanisadic passages — is more faithfully retained in Buddhist
literature. There, the mano-maya-kadya™' is a miraculous body made
and projected by the mind of one who has developed super-normal
psychic powers. In the Vedic context, chariots are especially often
mentioned as being created by manas.

Clean, as thou wentest, were thy wheels; wind was the axle fastened
there. Surya (the sun), proceeding to her lord, mounted a spirit-
fashioned (manasmaya) car ..
Rg 10.85.12 (G)

These “mind-made chariots” not only denote the vehicles of gods, as

in the above passage,”” but also indicate the vehicles by which
sacrificial offerings are conveyed to the gods,” and the vehicles
which convey the deceased to the next world.“* So common is this
association between manas and chariot, that in later literature the term
mano-ratha (mind-chariot) came to denote any wish, fantasy or
illusion.
As suggested by the predominantly sacrificial roles of the “mind-
made chariots” of the Rg Veda, the creative power of manas is
particularly important in the context of the sacrifice. Messages, goods
and services were thought to be exchanged between gods and humans
via the medium of imaginative visualization. In addition to chariots,
hymns and prayers are sometimes said to be made by the mind,’ or

239. C.U. 3.14.2; 4.4.5.

740), BU 5:6.15 4.0; 1.6.1.
241. D1: 17, 34, 77, 186; M1: 410; S4: 71; Al: 24; A3: 122, 192; A4: 235; AS:
60. See Buddhaghosa’s definition of manomaya at Vsm. 405.
242. See also Rg 3.31.5; 4.36.2.
243. Rg 1.94.1; 7.64.4; 10.114.6.
244. Rg 10.135.3.
245. Rg 1.94.1.
112 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

sometimes by the mind and heart (hrd) together,”° and manas is often
said to be the agent which performs the sacrifice.” In fact, the term
mantra, which means, in the Vedic context, a hymn or incantation, is
derived from the verbal root Vman.
Gaining the aid and blessings of the gods was not, then, thought
of as the result of merely performing mechanically the proper ritual.
It involved also visualization of the sacrificial offering and of the
prayers themselves, a point which will become clearer in the
examination of the term vVdhi below. This visualization or
“mentalization” of the sacrifice and prayers apparently was thought
of as making earthly products and language accessible and acceptable
to the gods. The manas, then, in the sacrificial context, is represented
as being something like a television transmitter which transforms the
scene in the studio into a subtle form which may be sent to a distant
place and received there. Lacking electronic communication with
which to compare this process, the Vedic Aryans conceived of it as
a sort of mental pony express operating between gods and humans,
thus the association between manas and the chariot.
Also related to the vehicular connections of the creative power of
manas in the sacrificial context, is the frequent association of manas
with the verbal root Vyuj, “to yoke”. This connection which is
doubtlessly relevant to the origins of the use of the term yoga to
denote a spiritual discipline. In this context, it would appear that
manas is thought of as being the motive force behind the sacrificial
communication between heaven and earth, or at least as some sort of
essential link in this communication. The precise meaning of the
common term mano-yuja is not clear, but several examples of its
occurrence will make the general intent obvious.

O Indra, caster of the stone, thou helpest him who praises thee. From
sacrifice I send thee a mind-yoked hymn (dhiyam manoyuja)
Rg 8.13.26 (G)

246. Rg 1.61.2; 1.171.2.

247. Rg 1.76.1; 1.157.6; 10.5.3; 10.20.2; 10.47.4; 10.63.7.
 THE VEDIC CONCEPT OF THE HUMAN BEING 113

It would seem here that dhi, literally a vision rather than a hymn
— a hymn transformed into a vision — is yoked to manas as a cart
to a horse, manas being the motive force. This would seem to be the
most obvious intent of another passage which states that the priests
“yoke the mind and yoke the visions” (yufjate mana uta yunjate
dhiyo),™* i.e. that the two are yoked together so that the motive power
of the mind may carry the visualization of the hymn to heaven. In
other cases, however, the horses of gods, which obviously represent
the motive force of their transportation, are said to be manoyuja,””
which would in this case seem to mean “yoked by mind” rather than
“yoked to mind” as in the previous passages. Be that as it may, the
process of communication implied by this “mind-yoking” is said to
operate in both directions, from humans to gods and from gods to
humans.

Let the swift steeds who carry thee, thought-yoked (manoyuja) and
dropping holy oil, bring the gods to the soma draught.
Rg 1.14.6 (G)

In a similar verse, the same term is used with reference to the

horses of the ASvins which bring them to the sacrifice so that they
may drink.” In other verses, the yoking is specifically said to be
done “by the mind”, which appears in the instrumental case (manasa),
rather than “to the mind”.?*’ Thus, the overall intent of the compound
manoyuja is probably “made mobile or functional by the mind”. This
is almost certainly the meaning of a verse in which Soma is asked to
release or pour forth the vision (dhi) that is mind-yoked, as thunder
releases and causes to pour fourth the rain.”

248. Rg 5.81.1.
249. Rg 1.14.6; 5.75.5.
250. Rg 5.75.6.
251. Rg 2.40.3; 7.69.2;
252. Rg 9.100.3. See Gonda, Vision, p. 75.
114 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

The role of manas in the sacrificial process is not limited, however,

to transportation of the vision (dhi). In several passages, manas is
represented as the mental organ responsible for the mystical vision of
the seer. In addition to its function as the mobilizer of visions, in
various passages manas is represented as the agent of verbal forms of
the verbal root Vdhi,”® the locus of visions denoted by nominal forms
of Vdhi,”* and the organ through the development of which one may
become “visionary” (dhira).?*
Aside from creativity, manas is represented as being generally
capable of causing results, as when the priests are said to have driven
forth the dawn with manas.’* This effective power is sometimes more
akin to persuasion, as when the gods are said to be provoked into
action by manas,*’ or when it is said that their hearts (Ard) are
touched by hymns spoken by the mind (manasa vacya).’* That
persuasion is not the full extent of the mind’s power is obvious in a
passage stating that curses from the manas pierce the hearts (hrd) of
demons.?”
It is this powerful aspect of manas which, no doubt, accounts for
its frequent association with kratu, “mental power”, Kratu, more
specifically than manas, represents will or volition. In some passages,
the manas itself is depicted as a willful faculty, as when it is said that
the reigns of a chariot declare the manas, i.e. the will or intent, of the
driver.’ In other passages, manas is mentioned in conjunction with

253. Rg 7.90.5; 10.181.3; 10.183.2; 4.33.9.

254. Rg 1.61.2; 1.164.36; 7.64.4; 8.102.22.
255. Rg 1.64.1; 10.71.2; 10.82.1.
250, Re 3515:
257. Re 10:37,12:
258. Rg 10.47.7.
259. Rg 10.87.13.
260. In addition to the passages cited below, see Rg 7.90.5; 10.25.1.
261. Rg 6.75.6-7. See also Rg 6.16.43 and 10.27.5, where manas and the verbal
form manasye seem to indicate volition. Cp. K.U. 1.3.3.
 THE VEDIC CONCEPT OF THE HUMAN BEING 115

kratu as being productive of some desirable result such as wealth,””

or protection.”®
The functions of manas and kratu are distinguished in an
unfortunately sexist passage stating that since the manas of a woman
is without discipline, the feminine kratu is of little weight, i.e.
incapable of bringing about results. Sexism aside, the association of
mental discipline, i.e. concentration, with mental power is a marked
feature of Buddhism, and indeed all Indian systems involving yogic
techniques of mental training, it being on the basis of mental
concentration that the various psychic powers are said to evolve.
As noted above, the visual connotations of the term manas are less
pronounced than those of the derivatives of Vcit. There is nonetheless
a distinct and important visual aspect of the manas. It has been noted
above that those who are endowed with thoughtfulness, who have
become vipaScita, see (pafyanti) the sun-bird with the manas and the
heart (hrd).°“ Another passage which apparently refers to the sun
depicted as a bird, also names manas as the agent of the process of
supra-normal seeing denoted by the verbal root vpas.”*

One of these birds hath passed into the sea of air; thence he looks
round and views this universal world. With simple heart (manas) I
have beheld him from anear; his mother kisses him and he returns her
kisses.
Rg 10.114.4 (G)

In these verses, the metaphorical representation of the sun as a

bird apparently indicates that some mystical aspect of the sun as seen
rather than the star itself. That the sight of the mind is a supra-normal
vision is abundantly clear in the following passage, in which one may
also note the distinction between the verb Vman and the mental organ

262. Rg 10.31.2.
263. Rg 1.73.2.
264. Rg 10.177.1.
265. Reg 10.114.4.
116 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

manas, which is less associated with intellectual thought than its

verbal root.

So by this knowledge men were raised to rsis, when ancient sacrifice

sprang up, our fathers. With the mind’s eye (manasa caksasa) | think
(manye) that I behold (paSyan) them who first performed this sacrificial
worship.
Rg 10.130.6 (G)

Another passage makes even clearer the distinction between the

sight of the eye (caksu) and the sight of the mind, representing the
two forms of vision with different verbs and assigning to them
different objects, or rather different aspects of the same object, a
horse.

6. From afar I recognized (ajanam) your spirit (a4tman) with

(my) mind (manasa), a bird flying below heaven. ...
7. Here, I saw (apasyam) your supreme form (riépa). ...
Rg 1.163.6-7

The spirit (@tman), the essential nature of the horse, is known (Vjnd)
by the manas even at a distance, i.e. when the horse is not physically
present, while the literally visible form (ripa) is seen (Vpas) only
when the horse is present in the range of vision.
Another interesting passage relevant to this visual aspect of manas
is a verse depicting a nightmare as the “master of the mind” (manasas
pati),’** which would seem to indicate that manas is thought of as the
mental organ which perceives dreams. In the light of the foregoing, it
is probable that Griffith’s translation of Rg 3.38.6 is wrong,” and that
the intended meaning of the second half of the verse is another
instance of the manas as an organ of supra-normal perception.

266. Rg 10.164.1.
267. apaSyam-atra manasa jaganvanvrate gandharvan api vayu-kesan. “There saw
I, going thither in the spirit Gandharvas in this course with wind-blown tresses.”
(G)
 THE VEDIC CONCEPT OF THE HUMAN BEING iply

Here, in the (fulfillment of my) vow (vrate), with (my) mind (manas)
I saw the wind-haired Gandharvas in motion.
Rg 3.38.6

Clearly, the common term manojave, “mind-swift’,’* implies an

intellectual quickness of mind. Nonetheless the primary sense of the
qualities of motion and swiftness as applied to the manas should
probably be thought of as indicative of imaginative quickness in
conjuring up mental perceptions or vision. It appears that the Vedic
sages thought of the mind as functioning primarily by means of
perceptions rather than intellectual concepts. They did, however,
distinguish betweén sensual perceptions and mental perceptions, as in
the following passage.

Unequal in the quickness of their spirit (manojavesu) are friends

endowed alike with eyes and hearing
Ke 107 7G)

Though here manojava represents a quality of the mind, in most

instances, the term is an adjective meaning “as swift as mind”, mind
being, it is said, “the swiftest of flying things”.29 269

5. A firm light hath been set for men to look on; among all
things that fly the mind (manas) is swiftest. ...
6. Mine ears unclose to hear, mine eye to see him (Agni); the
light that harbours in my spirit (hrd) broadens. Far roams my mind
(vi me mana§-carati) whose thoughts (a@dhi) are in the distance. What
shall I speak,what shall I now imagine (manisye)?
Rg 6.9.5-6 (G)

Q6Se Re ele2s.2 701,7409, P63 Ort ISL 2recoo ison 186:57" 5.7723; 6.22.6;
6:6233.6:63.7) 7.68.3;-10.39.12; 10161.37.10'31.7; 10.112:2.
269. Re 6.9.5.
118 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

The swiftness of the mind is no doubt related to the role of manas

in the Vedic sacrifice as the mobilizer of the visualizations (dht)
which are to be transported to heaven. Thus, the Aévins are said to
carry the visualizations (dhi) of the sacrificer with horses that are as
swift as mind (manojava).””° The swiftness and mobility of the mind,
so movingly expressed in the previous passage, immediately call to
mind the Buddhist characterization of the mind as a fantastically swift
phenomenon. In the Buddhist context, however, the mobility of the
mind is an undesirable quality which the sage must subdue, as the
following passage indicates

35. The mind (citta) is hard to check, swift, flits wherever it

listeth; to control it is good. A controlled mind is conducive to
happiness.
36. The mind is very hard to perceive, extremely subtle, flits
wherever it listeth. Let the wise person guard it; a guarded mind is
conducive to happiness.
37. Faring far, wandering alone, bodiless, lying in a cave, is the
mind. Those who subdue it are freed from the bond of Mara.””
Dhp. #35-37

This swiftness of mind, in the Vedic and to some extent the

Buddhist contexts, indicates a different concept than what probably
comes to the mind of a modern reader confronted with this term. It
does not represent quickness in coming to intellectual conclusions,
but rather imaginative quickness in perceiving mental images. This is
not to say, of course, that the process of thought itself was different
in Vedic times than today, but merely that in Vedic times the thought
process seems to have been conceived of in different terms, primarily
visual and emotional terms.
After having gone through all of these various connotations,
implications and associations of the term manas, none will fail to
agree that the Rg Veda portrays the mind as a fantastically complex

270. Rg 6.62.3.
271. Translation by Narada Maha Thera, The Dhammapada, Maha Bodhi Society,
Calcutta, 1970.
 THE VEDIC CONCEPT OF THE HUMAN BEING 119

phenomenon. The following charm designed to ward off bad dreams

is emphatic in this regard.

1. Avaunt, thou master of the mind (manasas-pate)! Depart, and

vanish far away. Look on destruction far from hence. The live man’s
mind (manas) is manifold.
2. A happy boon do men elect, a mighty boon they obtain. Bliss
with Vaivasvata they see. The live man’s mind seeks many a place.
Rg 10.164.1-2 (G)

The last three verses of the Rg Veda provide a good review of the
terms considered so far. These verses provide one of the largest
groupings of psychological terms in the entire work. They also offer
some further insight into the Vedic concept of the nature of the human
consciousness and its relation to sacrificial ritual, as well as an
entrance into the examination of hrd (heart) which will be the next
mental organ to be considered.

2. Come together, speak together, let your minds (mandamsi)

accord together (sam ... janatam), as the ancient gods (who) sit down
accordant (samjandana) to their share.
3. The hymn (mantra) is common, common the assembly,
common the mind (manas), united the thought (citta) of these. I sing
(mantraye) your common hymn (mantra), with your common oblation
I sacrifice.
4. Common your resolve, common your hearts (hrd), common
be your mind (manas), as (when) you are happily together.
Rg 10.191.2-4

With reference to the theme of mental discipline as being

conducive to mental power, noted in the sexist passage above, the
present passage extends the concept of concentration and makes it a
communal desideratum in order to maximize the power of the
sacrifice. Not only is the individual expected to discipline thought
and funnel mental energy into the sacrificial ritual, but apparently,
the success of the sacrifice depends also upon the simultaneous,
collective, coordinated mental concentration of all present. This
120 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

collective coordination is represented primarily as the establishment

of a common manas. This explains to some extent the use of
derivatives of Vman to denote the hymn and the singing of the hymn,
which are respectively the (mentally) visual and the audible
representations of the single-mindedness of all present at the sacrifice.
Conversely, the singing of the hymn and its visualization by all
present would serve to evoke the single-mindedness necessary to
render the power of the ritual sufficient to move the gods to action on
behalf of the sacrificers. On the one hand, the hymn is created by the
power of manas; on the other hand it serves to channel the power of
manas into an effective ritual visualization.
The singing of the hymn, also denoted by a derivative of Vman,
obviously denotes more than a mere verbalization of a ritual formula.
It indicates as well as concentrated mental recitation, which seems to
involve primarily the visualization of the contents of the hymn and the
accompanying sacrifice. In this whole process, manas obviously plays
the key role. In the last verse of the above hymn, the last verse of the
Rg Veda in fact, the heart (hrd) is represented as being a partner of
the manas in this process, and the Vedic sages sign off from the early
years of the first millennium B.C. with the timeless injunction that
people should harmonize their hearts and minds. The next task in this
study of the Vedic concept of human consciousness is an examination
of the term Ard, a mental organ similar in many ways to manas, but
nonetheless distinguishable from it.

Hrd:
The coordination of heart (hrd) and mind (manas) is a fairly
common theme in the Rg Veda, occurring most often in the context
of the sacrifice. Prayers are said to be fashioned with the heart and
mind,” visions (dhi) polished, i.e. clarified, by heart and mind,””
and libations purified, i.e. made fit for the gods, probably by being
visualized, in heart and mind.“ Moreover, prayers etc. which are

272 RehAgi2,
273. Rg 1.61.2.
274. Rg 4.58.6.
 THE VEDIC CONCEPT OF THE HUMAN BEING 121

conceived, clarified and purified in the hearts and minds of humans

are said to satisfy and please the hearts and minds of gods.” The
ritual, then, seems to be thought of as some sort of communication
between the hearts and minds of humans and those of the gods. The
respective roles of these two mental organs in the sacrificial process
will be clarified by recalling a passage quoted above with reference
to the distinction between sensual perception and mental perception
and considering it in the context of the verses which follow it.

7. Colleagues (sakhaya) having (similar) eyes and ears are

(nevertheless) unequal in swiftness of mind (manojavesu). Some are
like (deficient pools) reaching the mouth or armpit, others look like
pools fit for bathing.’
8. In (régard to) that which is fashioned by the heart (Ard), in
the swiftness of mind (manaso javesu), colleagues sacrifice together.
Here, indeed, some, the worthy Brahmanas, by (virtue of their) wisdom
(vedyabhih) leave you and wander (vi caranti).
Rg 10.71.7-8

Yaska’” and Sayana, in their explanations of these verses, propose

an interesting and perhaps not completely unfounded etymological
definition for sakhdya, literally “friend”. They say that the term
intends “those having common perceptions” (samanakhydna). At any
rate, in this context, “that which is fashioned by the heart” obviously
refers to the hymn (mantra). The “swiftness of mind” which serves to
distinguish the adequate sacrificers from the inadequate seems to refer
to the ability to actualize or communicate to the gods the intent of the
hymn. The adequate leave behind the impotent worshiper, the one who
fails to participate in the communal mind and heart which the last

275. Rg 1.73.10; 4.37.2; 8.82.3 (= 8.71.3 in Griffith’s enumeration).

276. The precise meaning of the second pdda is not clear. Sayana, following Yaska
(Nirukta 13.13), suggests the translation I adopt, saying that armpit-level water
represents those with little wisdom, and mouth-level represents those with
middling wisdom, while “pools fit for bathing” (hradd-iva-sndatvah) represent the
truly wise. Whatever the literal translation, the sense of the passage is obviously
that some are deficient in knowledge and some adequate.
277. Nirukta, 13.13.
122 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

hymn of the Rg Veda enjoins as being conducive to a successful

sacrifice. The role of the verbal root Vcar (to move) in the above
passage becomes clearer in the next verse of the same hymn.

Those who do not move (caranti) back and forth are not Brahmanas,
are not performers of liberation. Having approached speech with sin,
they spin out the thread (of sacrifice) (tantram tanvate) in ignorance
(aprajnayah), like (mere) weavers.
Rg 10.71.9

Here, movement as represented by the root Vcar, seems to indicate

some form of communication with the gods. It is the mind, apparently
by virtue of its swiftness, which is represented as being primarily
responsible for this ““movement” between earth and heaven. This same
mobile, communicative function of manas, again denoted by the root
Vcar, occurs in the following passage, which also serves to clarify the
distinct role of the heart (Ard) in the sacrificial process.

5. A steady light is set for to see. Mind (manas) is the swiftest

(javistham) of flying things. All the gods, single-minded (samanas),
with one intention (saketa), move well toward a single purpose (ekam
kratum).
6. Opened is my ear, my eye, and this light set in (my) heart
(hrd). (Opened also is) my mind (manas); it wanders (carati), visions
(adhih) in the distance. What shall I say, what imagine (manisye)?
Rg 6.9.5-6

In both this passage and Rg 10.71.8, the heart (hrd) seems to be

thought of as the primary locus of the inspiration of the worshiper,
represented here by light. It is the central basis of the religious
impulse, which is conceptualized in a visualization and transported to
heaven by the powerful, mobile manas. Here again, as in the last
hymn of the Rg Veda, the coordination of several minds is thought
to increase the effectiveness of the ritual. In the following passage
as well, the term sakhaya probably indicates that the collective mind
of the sacrificial community communicates the needs of the
 THE VEDIC CONCEPT OF THE HUMAN BEING 123

worshipers, represented by children, to the heart of Indra, who is

supposed to be the speaker.

When the lovers of holy law (rta) ascended to me sitting alone on the
dear (sky’s) summit, the mind (manas) spoke to my heart (hrd),
colleagues (sakhaya) with children, crying out.
Rg 8.100.5

The impression left by these passages — i.e. that the heart is

thought of as being a more intimate, more essential organ of human
consciousness than the manas — is in general borne out in the rest
of the Rg Veda, though as always, inconsistencies do crop up. Several
passages represent the heart as the locus or agent of terms derived
from the root Vman,”" although as mentioned above, the verbal forms
of Vman do not have much in common with the noun manas. The
terms mati and manisa (denoting a mental perception), which are
similar to dhi (a vision), in several passages are said to originate in
or by the agency of the heart.”” The mantra (hymn) which is a
verbalization of these mental perceptions and visions is also said to be
fashioned in or by the heart in several verses.”
It is difficult to say more about the relationship of the heart and
mind as conceived in the Rg Veda. The two terms do not often occur
together in these ancient and obscure hymns. The two terms as they
are found scattered throughout the Rg Veda are to a large extent
interchangeable.’ The heart, like the mind, is portrayed as the locus
and agent not only of derivatives of Vman and Vcit, but also of

278. Rg 5.4.10 (hrda manyamana); 5.56.2 (hrda manyasa). See next two notes for
nominal derivatives.
279. Rg 1.105.15; 3.26.8; 3.39.1; 8.76.8; 10.91.14; 10.119.5; 10.129.4.
280. Rg 1.60.3; 1.67.4; 2.35.2; 3.39.1. See also Gonda, Vision, pp. 277-78.
281. In his discussion of hrd, Gonda proposes several definitions, each of which
could just as well apply to manas: “The heart is the organ by means of which
one comes into touch with the gods ... with which one is able to see what is
denied to the physical eye.” (Vision, p. 276) “It is in, or by, the heart that the
visions are fashioned into words.” (Vision, p. 278).
282. Rg 7.33.9. See also Rg 10.103.12; 10.177.1.
124 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

kratu (mental power), and of dhi (vision). Like manas, the heart
is characterized as being endowed with mystical vision,”* and the
heart is represented as the seat of an assortment of emotions very
similar to those associated with the mind: desire,”° fear,’ love,”
kindness and generosity,” joy,’ and dejection.”'
The intellectual connotations of the term Ard are vague and
confined primarily to its role as the agent of verbal derivatives of
Vman. This has been dealt with above, but in this specific connection
two interesting passages suggest that the heart was thought to function
as an intellectual organ, although again, it is difficult to separate
intellect from mental perception in these verses. In the famous
“Nasadiya Sikta”, the sages are said to have discovered within their
hearts the relationship between being and non-being.”* Elsewhere it is
said that with the perceptions (praketa) of their heart the sages
penetrate into (abhi sam caranti) the thousand-branched mystery.”
The heart shares with manas the capacity for creativity, though the
creativity of the heart seems to be confined to hymns and prayers etc.
in the context of sacrifice.
Even though the heart, in different contexts, shares practically all
of the characteristics of manas and the other mental faculties, it stands
apart from these terms in that it is so frequently portrayed as the most

283. Rg 5.85.2; 10.64.2.

284. Rg 1.61.2; 1.146.4; 3.26.8; 10.64.2.
285. Rg 7.33.9; 10.123.6; 10.177.1.
286. Rg 10.11.6; 10.40.12; 10.123.6; 10.151.4.
287. Rg 1.32.14; 2.29.6; 5.44.9; 6.53.8; 9.53.2; 10.103.12.
288. Rg 1.43.1; 5.11.5; 6.53.6; 10.10.13; 10.91.3, and notably 10.95.15, where it
is claimed by a rejected lover that the hearts of women are like the hearts of
hyenas.
289. Rg 8.20.18.
290. Rg 1.73.10; 7.98.2; 7.101.5; 8.43.31; 8.82.3; 9.72.7; 10.186.1.
291. Rg 10.34.9; 10.84.7; 10.95.17.
292. Rg 10.129.4.
293. Rg 7.33.9.
294. Rg 1.60.3; 1.61.2; 1.67.1; 1.71.2; 2.35.2; 339.1-°458.6:> 6.16.47; 8.76.8;
10.91.4.
 THE VEDIC CONCEPT OF THE HUMAN BEING 125

essential seat of one’s character and consciousness. Thus, it is said of

Agni,

He only is the sea (samudra), holder of treasures; born many a time

he views (vi-caste) the hearts (hrdah) within us.?%
Rg 10.5.1 (G)

The role of the heart as the primary seat of consciousness is most

vividly revealed in the frequent association of the heart with soma,
an intoxicating, probably hallucinogenic”*® drug ingested in the course
of some Vedic rituals. The powerful psychotropic effects of soma are
frequently described in the Rg Veda.

5. As a wright bends a chariot seat, so round my heart (Ard) I

bend the hymn (mati). Have I not drunk of soma juice?
6. Not as a mote within the eye count the five tribes of men
with me. Have I not drunk of soma juice?
7. The heavens and earth themselves have not grown equal to
one half of me. Have I not drunk of soma juice?
Rg 10.119.5-7 (G)

In many verses, the drug soma is said to enter the heart””’ and exert
its profoundly moving influence upon the heart.”* The heart is, in
fact, portrayed as the primary locus of operation of soma.

295. See Gonda’s discussion in Vision, p. 281 on the relationship of the heart and
the ocean. Cp. Rg 8.18.15.
296. See R. Gordon Wasson, Soma: The Divine Mushroom of Immortality, Harcourt
Brace and Jovanovich, New York, 1971, a somewhat overdrawn but nonetheless
convincing attempt to identify soma with the hallucinogenic Amanita mascaria
mushroom.
297. Rg 1.91.13; 1.168.3; 1.179.5; 3.42.8; 8.48.4 & 12; 9.60.3; 9.70.9; 9.84.4;
9.86.19; 9.108.16; 10.32.9; 10.97.18.
298. Rg 8.48.4; 8.79.8; 9.8.3; 9.72.7; 10.25.2.
126 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

4. Absorbed into the heart, be sweet, O Indu, as a kind father

to his son, O Soma, as a wise friend to friend (sakheva sakhye), do
thou wise ruler, O Soma lengthen out our days for living.
5. These glorious drops that give me freedom have I drunk.
Closely they knit my joints as straps secure a car. Let them protect
my foot from slipping on the way, yea, let the drops I drink preserve
me from disease.
6. Make me shine bright like fire produced by friction; give us
a clearer sight (caksu) and make us better, for in carouse (made, lit. “in
exhilaration’) I think of thee, O Soma. Shall I, as a rich man, attain to
comfort?
7. May we enjoy with an enlivened spirit (manas) the juice thou
givest, like ancestral riches. O Soma, king, prolong thou our existence
as Surya makes the shining days grow longer.
Rg 8.48.4-7 (G)

It should not be necessary to emphasize that the intoxicating effects

of soma were not thought of as a frivolous diversion by the Vedic
sages. They were considered conducive to spiritual enlightenment,
insight and even mundane blessings. In the above translation,
Griffith’s depiction of the soma rite as a drinking bout is
reprehensible. The psychotropic effects of soma are represented as
being so powerful as to be potentially terrifying, as in the following
passage in which the deity Soma is begged, as it were, not to cause
a bad trip.

7. Gracious, displaying tender love, unconquered, gentle in thy

thoughts (kratu) be sweet, O Soma, to our heart (hrd).
8. O Soma, terrify us not; strike us not with alarm, O king.
Wound not our heart (hrd) with dazzling flame.
Rg 8.79.7-8 (G)?”

Even independently of the effects of soma, the heart is represented

as being the locus of spiritual light. In the passage quoted above, “a
steady light” is said to have opened out or dawned within the heart.

299. In Griffith’s enumeration, Rg 8.68.7-8.

 THE VEDIC CONCEPT OF THE HUMAN BEING 127

On the basis of this light, the manas becomes active (carati) in the
ritual process.*” Elsewhere, Indra is said to chase darkness from the
heart, and Agni, “the sun of men”, is said to dwell within the hearts
of visionary (dhirdsa) sages.*” Agni himself is said to hold within his
heart a mental image (mati) in the form of light.

Because he had, with three strainers, clarified the hymn of praise,

tracing with (in) the heart the ‘thought’ (mati), the light (jyoti), he
has made himself, according to his own nature, the highest gem; then
he beheld heaven and earth.*?
Rg 3.26.8

In relation to this passage, Gonda notes that the manual purification

of soma by straining the juice through a sieve is paralleled
subjectively by the purification of clarification of the worshiper’s
visions in the heart and their transformation into the ritually effective
hymn.’
Finally, it is noteworthy that only one passage in the Rg Veda
seems to employ the term hrd with reference to the heart as a
biological organ.** The heart is nonetheless thought of as a vital organ
to a much greater extent than the manas, which, as noted above, is
represented as a vital organ only in a concentration of four hymns in
the tenth book.** In the following hymn, Agni is addressed in his
aspect as the power of life.

300. Rg 6.9.5-6.
301. Rg 5.31.9.
302. Rg 1.146.4.
303. Gonda, Vision, p. 279.
304. Gonda, Vision pp. 278-82.
305. Rg 10.163.3, but this still may not be the beating heart.
306. Hymns 57-60.
128 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

The universe depends upon thy power and might within the sea
(samudra),*” within the heart (Ard), within all life (ayus).
Rg 4.58.11 (G)

The heart as an organ of vitality is obviously intended in several

passages which speak of disease as residing in the heart, and
probably in passages which speak of curses directed against the hearts
of enemies.” The implication in both cases is that an affliction of the
heart will affect the entire being on both the vital and mental fronts.
This central, essential nature of the heart is again evident in
Numerous passages which pictures hymns and rites as moving or
touching the hearts of gods.* It is the heart, more than any other
organ or faculty, which is associated with both emotions and life
itself. In the following passage, the effect of the rite upon the heart
of Agni is likened to the visceral effect of sexual love.

This newest eulogy will I speak forth to him the ancient one who loves
it. May he hear our voice. May it come near his heart and make it stir
with love, as a fond matron clings about her lord.
Re 10.91.13; (G)

The hearts of the gods are represented as being susceptible to entreaty

as well as seduction as in the following verse where the hymns are
likened to envoys."

307. On the relationship of the ocean to the heart, see Gonda, Vision, p. 281.
308. Rg 1.50.11; 1.122.9; 8.48.4; 10.163.3.
309. Rg 6.53.5 & 7; 10.87.4 & 13; 10.103.2.
310. Rg 1.16.7; 4.10.1; 4.37.2; 4.41.1; 4.43.1; 7.86.8; 7.101.5; 10.47.7; 10.91.13;
10.1195:
311. Cp. Rg 8.100.5, quoted above, where the collective mind of the sacrificial
community (sakhdya) speaks to the heart of Indra.
 THE VEDIC CONCEPT OF THE HUMAN BEING 129

My lauds, like envoys, craving loving kindness, go forth (caranti) to

Indra with their strong entreaty, moving his heart (hrdisprsa) and
uttered by my spirit (manas); vouchsafe us mighty and resplendent
riches.
Rg 10.47.7 (G)

To say that the Ard is central is largely a truism. As Gonda notes,

in Sanskrit hrd practically means “center or middle”, even “bowels”.?”
Thus, though it may be said for the sake of making a distinction that
hrd is a more central or essential organ than manas, it is never
suggested in the Rg Veda that the manas operates at the beck and call
of the hrd. Nor is there any specific relationship between the actions
of hrd and those of manas. They have only slightly different
functions, but not interdependent functions as do the various faculties
in the post-Vedic theory of a layered consciousness. Nonetheless,
Gonda is probably right in asserting that the hrd of the Rg Veda is a
concept related to the hrd of the Upanisads, and even possibly the hrd
which appears with psychological importance in the Pali
Abhidhamma.’”

Dhi:
The visionary function of the human mind has been noted as an
aspect of each of the mental organs and faculties examined thus far,
but the terms most specifically representative of this function are the
derivatives of the verbal root Vdhi, primarily the nouns dhi and dhiti.
Jan Gonda’s exhaustive examination of these terms in The Vision of
the Vedic Poets renders further detailed contextual analysis
unnecessary, and a few sentences here will suffice to summarize his
findings and incorporate them into the present scheme.
Gonda’s well-considered, albeit vague and somewhat inconsistent
conclusions with regard to the meaning of the dhi family of terms
are for the most part accepted here. The primary reservation is that
Gonda fails to distinguish between vision as a phenomenon, “a
“ec

312. Gonda, Vision, p. 282.

313. Ibid. pp. 283-88.
130 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

vision”, and vision as a mental faculty. Thus, in one place he suggests

that dhi is:

“the exceptional and supranormal faculty, proper to ‘seers’, of ‘seeing’,

in the mind, things, causes, connections as they really are, the faculty
of acquiring sudden knowledge of the truth, of the functions and
influence of the divine powers, of man’s relations to them etc. etc. It
is this ‘vision’ which they attempt to give shape, to put into words, to
develop into intelligible speech, to ‘translate’ into stanzas and ‘hymns’
of liturgical value”.99 314

Later, he says that dhi is “a flash of divine omniscience striking the

human mind and the normal sphere of human thought”.*’* Though
Gonda devotes a separate chapter to the noun dhiti, it is not clear
how he means to distinguish it from dhi, or whether he considers
either or both of these terms to mean “vision” as a faculty, or “a
vision” as a phenomenon.
A careful examination of the Vedic passages cites in his chapters
on dhi and dhiti confirms that these two nouns refer indistinguishably
to “a vision” rather than to the mental faculty which perceives vision.
Gonda himself points out that these visions are often represented as
being bestowed upon receptive people by the gods.”’® Moreover, both
terms frequently occur in the plural where this would be inappropriate
if they were to be thought of as referring to a mental faculty in an
individual. In fact, Gonda’s theory of the role of dhi in the sacrifice
hinges upon interpreting dhi as “a vision”.
Before moving on to a closer examination of this point, however,
it is necessary to pause for a moment with Gonda’s definitions.
Though probably a bit overdrawn, they no doubt reflect the great
importance that the Vedic seers themselves placed upon their visions.
In the present analytical study of psychological terms in the Rg Veda,
there is no basis upon which to evaluate the truth value of these
visions, which Gonda implies is very great indeed. The Vedic sages

314. Ibid. pp. 68-69.

315. Ibid. p. 130.
316. Ibid. pp. 69-94. See the discussion of the phrase dhiyam Vdhd, “to bestow a
vision”, on pp. 87ff.
 THE VEDIC CONCEPT OF THE HUMAN BEING isi

certainly thought that their visions were real and accurate. Most of the
philosophizing in the above definitions, however, appears to be
Gonda’s own, based on concepts and concerns that are later than
genuine Vedic thought. There is, for example, little indication in the
Rg Veda that the Vedic Aryan was concerned with seeing things “as
they really are”. Such an ambition presupposes a critical attitude
toward overt sensual experience, and there is very little evidence of
such an attitude in the Rg Veda. Instead dhi, a mental vision, was
thought to extend rather than to override normal sensual perception.
Gonda notes, in fact, that the verbal root Vdhi may denote simple
vision, as in the phrase “‘as far as men see (didhydnah) with the eye
(caksasa)”.*” In other cases, however, it obviously refers to mental
seeing, and is, in fact, in one verse, used interchangeably with the
root Vcit,"* the mental and visual connotations of which have been
examined above.

1. I saw you thinking with the mind (apaSyam tva manasa

cekitanam). ...
2. I saw you having visions with the mind (apasyam tva manasa
didhyanam).
Rg 10.183.1-2

As the above verse suggests, in most cases when the verbal root Vdhi
and its derivatives are associated specifically with a mental faculty,
manas is usually the faculty which performs the action denoted by
Vdhi.”
It is fairly clear that all of the nominal derivatives of dhi represent
the occurrence of a mental image of some sort, and that these visions,
at least in their advanced, ritually effective form, occur only in
exceptionally gifted individuals. As noted above, the manas is
considered to be the most important agent or locus of these visions.”

317. Ibid. p. 202, citing Rg 7.91.4. See also Rg 7.33.5; 5.40.5.

318. Ibid. p. 207, and on Vcit, pp. 99ff.
319. Rg 1.71.5; 1.139.2; 1.163.12; 4.33.9; 10.18.3.
320. Rg 1.139.2; 3.60.2; 5.81.1; 7.64.4; 7.90.5; 8.102.22; 9.100.3; 10.71.2.
152 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

The heart (hrd) too is sometimes represented as the agent of visions,”

but most often it is mentioned in this context in conjunction with
manas as a partner in the perception and refinement of a vision.”
Apparently, one becomes capable of experiencing dhi by virtue of the
development of these two mental organs, particularly manas. This
development, as we have seen is denoted primarily by means of
various derivatives of the verbal root Vcit, which refers to mental
activity in general.
It was noted above that verbal derivatives of Vdhi and Vcit in
some cases indicate similar and apparently interchangeable functions
of the manas. In the majority of instances where these two roots occur
together, however, highly developed thought, indicated by terms like
vipascita,” pracetas,;™ or cikitvin-manas**® — all derived from Vcit
— is represented as being a prerequisite condition for the experience
of dhi. Strictly speaking, then, dhi is not a mental faculty, but a
phenomenon occurring in minds with well developed faculties. Its
relevance in the study of Vedic psychology is not so much as an
indication of the nature of human consciousness as it is an indication
of the potential of the mind. The ability to perceive mental visions is
represented in the Rg Veda as a function of the special development
of the normal mental organs and faculties examined thus far, namely
thought (citta), mind (manas), and heart (hrd).
Admittedly, some passages do seem to represent dhi as a mental
faculty like citta (thought) or kratu (will). Usually such passages may
be as comfortably translated or even more comfortably translated by
adhering to the more circumscribed definition of dhi as “‘a vision”,
the phenomenon of a mental! image. Two examples follow. The phrase
dhiyad cetati* might immediately seem to mean “thinks with the
mental faculty of vision”, if it is construed as analogous to the phrase

321. Rg 10.64.2.
322. Rg 1.61.2; 2.20.1; 6.9.6.
323. Rg 1.164.36; 9.22.3.
324. Rg 1.159.1.
325. Rg 8.98.5.
326. Rg 3.11.3.
 THE VEDIC CONCEPT OF THE HUMAN BEING 133

manasa cetati, “thinks with the mind”. However, a translation more in

line with the usual meaning of dhi would be “thinks or is mentally
active with a vision”.
The second passage to be considered is: apasyama hiranyayam
dhibhi§ cana manasa svebhir aksabhih somasya svebhir aksabhih.”
Gonda translates: “we saw something golden with our power of vision
— in whatever way (that is) — with our mind, through our own eyes,
through eyes proper to Soma”. The translation suggested by the
present interpretation of dhi would be: “we saw something golden
through our vision, by the mind, with our won eyes, with Soma’s own
eyes”. In this case, the latter translation is not only more accurate
grammatically, since dhibhis is a plural form, but it also has the
virtue of preserving the lack of parallelism between manasa and
dhibhis in the original. If the terms had been intended as parallel
phrases indicating analogous faculties, as Gonda construes them they
would probably occur in the same number.
Gonda’s interpretation of the role of dhi in the sacrifice also
depends upon understanding dhi as meaning “a vision”. Gonda notes
that the gods, having great facility in the realm of dhi, are thought to
aid humans in achieving visions, and may even bestow vision upon
their favorites. The mere experience of a vision, however, is only the
first step. Once apprehended, the vision, in order to be of lasting
value, must be cast into a liturgical hymn which, when chanted, has
the power to recall and evoke the original vision again and again.”
The vision thus evoked in liturgical hymn chanting was thought to
have power to influence the gods and procure for humans the objects
of their desires, from wealth to victory in battle to long life and a
large family.” This bringing of the vision to fruition in the attainment
of some human goal is most commonly represented by the phrase

327-Re 1139-2,
328. Gonda, Vision, p. 69.
329. Ibid. pp. 106-130.
330. Ibid. pp. 123-69.
134 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

dhiyam \sadh, “to accomplish the vision”, in the sense of putting it

to use rather than realizing or attaining its specific contents.”
Gonda notes that “the close connection of dhitih and kratuh is
worth noticing”*” without mentioning the similar connection between
dhi and kratu, and without explaining why this connection is
important. His intent seems to be that kratu is instrumental in the
process of bringing a vision to fruition. Rather than the standard
translation “will”, Gonda understands kratu as “effective mental power
or intelligence, mental energy and determination, which enables its
possessor to have solutions to preponderantly practical difficulties”.*”
That kratu means “mental power” more than merely “will” is accepted
here, but the second part of Gonda’s definition regarding “practical
difficulties” has little basis in the actual usage of the term. His
suggestion elsewhere of the translation “resourcefulness or
inventiveness”’™ is also without support in actual usage.
The function of kratu in developing or bringing visions to fruition
is indicated most clearly in a passage where little else is clear.

He, the first seer of the great ones, by (their) mental powers (kratubhir)
consecrated (dnaje); father Manu consecrated visions (dhiya dnaje)
which are a door to the gods.
Rg 8.63.1

Another passage speaks of “mental powers (kratavah) and visions

(dhitayah) functioning with mental power (kratiyanti) in hearts
(hrtsu).”** In another, the vision (dhiti) is said to reach Agni by
means of kratu.** The role of kratu in actualizing visions is borne
out in the general function of this mental faculty in channeling and

331. Ibid. pp. 131-33.

332. Ibid. p. 183.
333. Ibid. p. 183.
334. Ibid. p. 111.
335. Re 10.64.2.
336. Re 4.5.7.
 THE VEDIC CONCEPT OF THE HUMAN BEING 155

making effective any of the mind’s imagining.” Further clarification

of the term dhi requires a consideration of the term kratu and its role
in actualizing visions.

Kratu:
The term kratu in the Upanisads and later Indian literature in
general indicates volition or will. For the purposes of Vedic translation
this standard meaning is somewhat misleading. Gonda proposes
replacing the standard translation “will” with something like
“inventiveness or resourcefulness”,’* unfortunate suggestions which
correspond to the actual Vedic usage of the term kratu even less than
the standard translation “will”. Apparently, Gonda is thinking in terms
of the largely accurate definition quoted above, “effective mental
power or intelligence, mental energy and determination”, That this
mental power implies resourcefulness in overcoming practical
difficulties,“° however, misses the mark entirely. Kratu is conceived
as a self-actualizing mental power, more like the “power of positive
thinking”. The translation adopted here will be “mental power”, and
the rest of this section will be an attempt to note the various
connotations of the term kratu and relate them to this central concept.
In several Vedic passage, kratu is obviously used in the sense of
“will”.*! In various passages it is said that the kratu of the father is
obeyed by his son,” that the gods obey Varuna’s kratu,”’ and that
Indra is submissive to his wife’s kratu,“* though it is said elsewhere,

337. See Gonda, Vision, pp. 72, 111, 183-84 for discussions on kratu. See also Rg
7.90.5; 9.86.13; 10.8.7.
338. Gonda, Vision, p. 111.
339. Ibid. p. 183.
340. Ibid. p. 183.
341. In addition to the passages in the next four notes, see Rg 5.29.5; 6.9.5; 8.61.4;
8.66.4; 10.83.5.
342. Rg 1.68.5.
343. Re 4.42.2.
344. Rg 10.159.2.
136 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

as noted above, that a woman’s kratu has little weight.*° Volition,

however, is only an aspect of the more central meaning of the term
kratu. In some ambiguous contexts kratu may or may not indicate
simple will power, as when the kratu of Brhaspati is said to be as
strong as a wild beast,”* or when the great kratu of Indra is said to
be irresistible.*’ In other contexts kratu appears to indicate the brute
psychological force associated with aggressive machismo, as when it
is said that the gods yield to Indra by virtue of his manly might
(virya) and his kratu. Here kratu seems to represent the mental
attitude of a fierce warrior.™* The role of kratu as sheer force is more
explicit in the following passage in which Indra is said to be vrsa-
kratu, literally “having the mental power of a macho male”.

May the strong (vrsa) heaven make thee the strong (vrsa) wax stronger.
Strong (vrsa) thou art borne by thy two strong (vrsa) bay horses. So,
fair of cheek, with mighty (vrsa) chariot, mighty (vrsa), uphold us,
strong-willed (vrsa-kratu), thunder-armed in battle.
Rg 5.36.5 (G)

The basis meaning of the term kratu may well be an assertive

mental attitude. This meaning is overshadowed in the Rg Veda,
however, by the more frequent use of the word to denote a mental
power which is generally instrumental in gaining one’s ends, whether
or not the attainment of these ends depends on the outcome of some
sort of strife. This, no doubt, is the meaning which Gonda intends to
convey with “inventiveness or resourcefulness”. In this sense,
however, the term has a much more magical implication than either
Gonda’s suggestions or the more acceptable translations “will power
or determination” would suggest. Often it is through the kratu of the
gods that human and divine ends are attained.” In these contexts, the

345. Re 8.33.17.
346. Rg 1.190.3.
347. Rg 8.66.10.
348. Re 8.62.7.
349. Rg 6.5.3; 6.7.2; 6.16.26; 8.19.29; 9.4.3-6; 10.83.5.
 THE VEDIC CONCEPT OF THE HUMAN BEING 137

term might be taken as the self-actualizing will of the gods. In several

instances, however, it is this same self-actualizing kratu in humans,
often bestowed upon them by gods, which is said to be conducive to
the attainment of one’s goals.** it is primarily in this sense that kratu
plays an important role in the ritual. “Mental power” is an important
possession of the visionary poet and the hymn singer,**' apparently
because, as in the following verse, kratu is instrumental in rendering
the vision into an effective communication to the gods.

Indeed, may the purifying vision (dhiti), by means of mental power

(kratu), reach him (Agni), the universal, at once.
Rg 4.5.7

Why the vision is said to be purifying (punati) becomes clearer in

the light of the following passage, in which it is said to purify or
clarify the kratu. Gonda translates:

10. Here goes, in proper time, a vision (dhitih), rather new,

worshipping, dear to many, it is realized in the phenomenal world
(mimita)...
11. The new-born child of the act of worship (garbho jaynasya)
who is devoted to the gods (tries to reach the gods), clarifies (punita)
the (seer’s) inventiveness (kratu) uninterruptedly.*”
Rg 8.12.10-11

I would suggest “mental power” for kratu in verse eleven, and

would prefer “womb or embryo of sacrifice” for garbho yajnasya, but
the general meaning is clear enough. The vision, which is doubtlessly
identified with the “embryo of sacrifice”, purifies or clarifies the
kratu,*® and is, in some sense realized (mimita). Gonda suggests that
this realization refers to the development of the initial vision into a

350. Rg 10.25.4; 10.57.4; 10.144.6.

3515 Reet 3 S21,1512559.9.1; 9.25.55410.100.11-12,
352. Gonda, Vision, pp. 182-83.
353. See Rg 8.13.1 and 8.93.6 for other instances of purifying the kratu.
138 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

complete hymn. It could just as well refer to the realization of the

sacrificial request as a blessing granted to humans by the gods, for,
as noted below, the kratu, both divine and human, plays an important
part in actualizing the contents of the sacrifice and the gods’
intentions. It is by virtue of his kratu that Agni is said to be the
“charioteer of blessings”, and through the kratu and dhi of Indra
that soma flows between heaven and earth.** The sun, in another
passage, is said to have been created by the kratu of the gods.**
Thus, there seems to be a reciprocal relationship between the vision
(dhi) and the kratu. The vision clarifies or purifies the kratu, and the
kratu helps make the vision effective. Kratu, particularly in the
sacrificial context in which it is most often found, should be thought
of specifically as that type of mental power which is based upon
concentration, single-mindedness and determination, as noted above,
something like the proverbial “power of positive thinking”. Visions
(dhi and dhiti) purify this mental power by giving it something to
concentrate upon, and kratu, in turn, serves to energize the vision and
transform it into an effective ritual force. It must be emphasized,
however, that this transformation is accomplished not by mundane
means, as Gonda’s translations “inventiveness” or “resourcefulness”
suggest, but through numinous, magical channels.
“Inventiveness” and “resourcefulness” would be better reserved for
the term daksa. This term is often used in conjunction with kratu, and
seems to denote a more mundane faculty specifically involved with the
execution or actualization of the intentions which are enshrined in the
kratu. Thus, it is said in the Satapatha Bradhmana, “When a man
wishes, ‘May I do that; may I have that’, that is kratu. When he
attains it, that is daksa.”?*’ Most of the passages which mention these
two terms together do not distinguish kratu from daksa, both being
represented as qualities which are in an unspecified way advantageous

354. Rg 6.5.3. See also Rg 8.19.29, where wealth is gained through the agency of
Agni’s kratu.
355. Re 9.86.13.
356. Rg 7.76.1. See also Rg 6.71.1, where Savitr is the creator of life and is called
sukratu.
357. S.B. 4.1.4.1. See Keith, Religion and Philosophy, p. 484.
 THE VEDIC CONCEPT OF THE HUMAN BEING 139

to the attainment of one’s ends.** The following passage, however,

which does distinguish the two terms, fits the definitions given in the
Satapatha Brahmana, although it does not contain conclusive support
for them.

He must converse (and agree) with his own kratu and must gain, with
his manas, daksa, which is conducive to welfare.*®
Rg 10.31.2

It is clear, at any rate, that kratu is in some sense instrumental in

the attainment of human ends, probably as the power of single-
mindedness. On the one hand, it sets in motion daksa, practical skill
or resourcefulness directed toward the attainment of these ends. On
the other hand, it energizes the visions (dhi) and puts these to work
in the magical, numinous realm for the attainment of the same goals.
Thus, unlike dhi, kratu is best conceived of as a mental faculty based
on a special mode of functioning of the more basic mental organs hrd
and manas. One characteristic of this special mode of functioning, as
mentioned above, seems to be concentration. This notion finds direct
support in two passages which suggest that the unified kratu of the
gods apparently has enhanced power.

United in thought (sacita), united in thinking (sacetas) those (gods),

by the stimulation of the god Savitr, participate (sacante) in the kratu.
Rg 10.64.7

All the gods, united in mind (samanas), united in intention (saketa)

move well toward a single kratu.
Rg 6.9.5

358. Rg 7.62.1; 9.100.5; 9.102.2 & 10; 10.25.1; 10.57.4; 10.91.3.

359. The translation follows that offered in Vision, p. 184, but the Sanskrit terms
have been substituted where Gonda’s translations would have been confusing
in the present context.
140 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

Other than the particular association of concentration with a

powerful kratu, the term is generally associated with a vigorous, active
mind. Kratu is often associated with derivatives of the verbal root
Vcit, which denote general mental activity. Kratu, like the ability to
perceive visions, is associated with excellent or highly active thought
as denoted by the root Vcit. Thus, the phrase kratvd cetati*® probably
means “is mentally active with the faculty of will power”. The phrase
kratva cetistho,' probably means: “most mentally active with the
kratu”; and the phrase api kratum sucetasam vatema:*” “may we
attain (or comprehend) the kratu characterized by excellent mental
activity”.
Kratu is normally represented as being located in the heart (hrd)
and performed by the mind (manas).*° Indeed, if any distinction may
be made between these two so-called “organs”, it is, as the following
examples suggest, that the heart is primarily a locus of various forms
of mental activity, while the mind is primarily an agent. In a hymn
already discussed, which is intended to revive a dying person, the
manas is begged to return so that the dying man may once again have
kratu and daksa, and that he may live.

May your manas return to you for mental power (kratu) and skill
(daksa) so that you may live, so that you may long behold the sun.
Rg 10.57.4

The next passage too, though less directly, suggests that manas is
somehow basic to kratu and daksa.

360. Rg 1.128.4.
361. Rg 1.65.10.
362. Rg 7.3.10. See also Rg 10.83.5.
363. In addition to the passages quoted below, see Rg 6.9.5; 10.31.2.
 THE VEDIC CONCEPT OF THE HUMAN BEING 141

Send us a good and happy mind, send energy (daksa) and mental power
(kratu).
Rg 10.25.1 (G)

Two passages explicitly state that the locus of kratu is the heart (Ard).
One says that Varuna set the kratu in the heart as he set fire in water
and the sun in the sky. The other passage, already discussed above,
says that kratu and dhi, located in hearts (hrtsu) exert themselves,
this activity being indicated by a verbal form of the noun kratu
(kratuyanti)°*

Conclusions:
On the basis of the foregoing analysis of psychological terms in
the Rg Veda, only the broadest of conclusions are justified, most of
them negative with regard to the origins of classical Indian
psychology. Hrd and manas are the most basic and essential
psychological phenomena mentioned in the Rg Veda. For this reason,
it seems reasonable to label them “organs” so as to distinguish them
from the less essential “faculties”, citta and kratu. General mental
activity is designated by the verbal root Vcit and its derivatives. None
of these words, even nominal forms, can be specifically associated
with any particular form of mental activity or experience.
Indeed, throughout the Rg Veda, intellectual mental functions are
not clearly distinguished from perceptual functions. Regarding
perception itself, all that can be said is that it is recognized as a
means of knowledge,*® as the following passage.

364. Rg 5.85.2.
365. Rg 10.64.2. See Gonda, Vision, p. 183.
366. The bare germ of a self-conscious concept of inference may be seen in a
passage in which it is noted that the effects of the wind are seen, but not its
form (rapa), which suggests that the wind is known by inference from
perceiving its effects (Rg 1.164.1).
142 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

Who knows that earliest day whereof thou speakest? Who hath beheld
(dadar§a) it? Who can here declare it?
Rg 10.10.6 (G)

Sensual perception is to some extent distinguished from mental

perceptiveness, as in the following passages from a hymn to the
goddess Vak, speech personified.

4. One man hath ne’er seen Vak, and yet he seeth. One man
hath hearing but hath never heard her. ...
7. Unequal in the quickness of their spirit (manas) are friends
endowed alike with eyes and hearing.
Rg 10.71.4-7 (G)

Mental activity as denoted by Vcit and its derivatives is usually

represented as merely an extension of perception.
To summarize, thought, in the Rg Veda, is represented as primarily
a perceptual phenomenon. Generally speaking, its locus is the heart
(hrd), and the agent or instrument of thought is the manas. Derivatives
of the verbal root Vcit denote simply mental activity in general, and
this primarily perceptual mental faculty may be applied to the
achievement of ends by being channeled through the mental faculty
kratu, “mental power”. These faculties function primarily in the
context of ritual to encode the contents of the sacrificer’s vision (dhi)
into an effective message and transmit this message to the gods, who,
it is hoped, will help the sacrificer to actualize his desires.
Roughly speaking, the entire human psychological complex, as
represented in the Rg Veda, may be conceived in terms of electronic
communications. In such a model, hrd would be the transmitting room,
manas the transmitter itself, and derivatives of Vcit would be the
various forms of current and electrical activity in the transmitter.
Kratu would be the antenna, which focuses and directs the signal, and
dhi would be the message sent, hopefully to be received by the gods.
Ultimately, the power source for all this would be the sacrificial ritual.
The scant psychological material to be gleaned from these ancient
hymns points to and outlines a vague set of beliefs primarily relevant
 THE VEDIC CONCEPT OF THE HUMAN BEING 143

to the supernatural mechanism of the sacrifice. This, of course, is not

surprising, since the Rg Veda is, after all, a hymnal. Not only,
however, is a systematic approach to psychology as such lacking in
the Rg Veda. Vedic psychological terms, when isolated from their
liturgical context do not reveal even an unstated concern with human
psychology. What material there is of true psychological insight is
confined to a random scattering of folksy observations which are
incidental to the main Vedic corpus. As the following chapters show,
certain aspects of Vedic thought are of significant influence in the
development of later Indian psychology. The Rg Veda alone, however,
does not account for the proliferation of sophisticated theoretical
psychology in the Upanisads, Buddhism, and later Indian thought in
general. In particular, Upanisadic and Buddhist psychological concepts
seem to have been worked out on the basis of a synthesis of two
world-views, one Vedic, the other non-Vedic, or more specifically,
yogic.
 Chapter 4

Yoga and Veda in the

Upanisads

The previous chapters have consisted of a detailed examination of

the ancient hymns of the Rg Veda with reference to the origins of
psychological speculation in India. On the one hand, this has been an
attempt to show as accurately as possible the actual Vedic position on
matters relevant to the question of the nature of human consciousness.
On the other hand, the foregoing shows that Vedic psychological
speculation is not only an extremely small seed, but also a seed of the
wrong variety to account for the luxuriant growth of psychological
speculation in post-Vedic India. From the Upanisads onward,
psychological speculation is based on premises and concerns
fundamentally different from those of the Vedic texts.
The only psychologically significant theory of post-Vedic Indian
philosophy which can be convincingly traced back to the Rg Veda is
the idea of monism. Chapter 1, demonstrated, however, that incipient
Vedic monism was almost entirely cosmological in orientation. It
showed little tendency or potential to move toward the psychological,
consciousness-orientated monism which is so eloquently expressed in
even the earliest Upanisads. Chapter 2 showed that the Vedic afterlife
theory lacks a concept of rebirth, and Chapter 3 showed that the Rg
Veda lacks any theory of the nature of human consciousness other
than scattered and disconnected references to a limited set of ill-
defined concepts which are primarily of relevance to the theory of
sacrifice.
It should be clear by this point that none of the various Vedic
psychological concepts correspond to a simple, necessarily immortal
soul standing at the base of human life and consciousness. Instead, a
contingent immortality was thought to be possible with reference to a
complex concept of a post-mortem identity perpetuated through the
 YOGA AND VEDA IN THE UPANISADS 145

hereditary and sacrificial aspects of the tan. Tani as a technical term

is abandoned in post-Vedic Indian thought, whether orthodox or
heterodox. Those Vedic terms which do come to represent the
ubiquitous concept of the soul are pressed into the service of
representing concepts alien to the original Vedic context of these
terms. Purusa, for example, meant only “person” in the Rg Veda. Jiva
referred to life in general, and dtman was a relatively rare Vedic term
denoting a subtle form of breath. None of these terms which later
came to be applied to the essential, individual soul were associated
with the Vedic theory of the survival of one’s identity after death.
Atman, in particular, is specifically said to disperse into the wind
when one dies, and the Vedic theory of afterlife is usually stated with
specific reference to the tani, and occasionally to asu and dyu.
In short, the foregoing chapters offer negative evidence in support
of the theory associated primarily with Heinrich Zimmer which holds
that several essential characteristics of Indian philosophy are non-
Vedic, and in fact, non-Indo-European in origin. The most important
of these characteristics are the interrelated theories of individual souls,
rebirth and release. All three of these theories must be understood in
the overarching context of yogic practice, whereby the soul may be
released from the trials of repeated rebirth. It is to this archaic theory
of yoga in its various forms that one must look for the origins of
much of Indian psychology.

Shamanism and Yoga:

Several attempts have been made to locate the origins of yoga in

the Rg Veda. It is well known that the Rg Veda contains references
to certain shamanistic practices centering around the concept of tapas
(“mystical heat”) and the ingestion of the drug soma, and that these
bear some resemblance to the practice of yoga. Shamanism and
ecstatic mysticism are, however, universal elements in human religious
experience, and all instances of their occurrence must necessarily
resemble each other to some extent. It would be a misuse of the more
specific term yoga to apply it to shamanistic or mystical practices
which are not geared specifically toward the release of the soul from
rebirth. It is in the context of these three beliefs that the term yoga
146 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

acquires its specific meaning and its specifically Indian context. All
instances of yoga in post-Vedic India, and these are not necessarily
confined to the classical Yoga school, involve these _ three
characteristics, the primary characteristics which distinguish Vedic
from non-Vedic in the history of ideas in India.
It must be admitted that, properly speaking, Buddhists may be said
to practice yoga even though they do not accept existence of a soul,
one of the essential characteristics in the above definition. The
Buddhist position, however, represents a self-conscious discarding of
some of the philosophical baggage of the general yoga complex
without changing the destination, namely release from rebirth. It may
be noted as well that even some of the materialist (Carvaka) schools
seem to have accepted the immediate hedonistic or practical utility of
yoga practice while rejecting all of the essential elements proposed
here,, much in the same way that modern day executives are
encouraged to engage in certain varieties of yogic practices without
necessarily buying into the traditional belief structure.
Nevertheless, such instances may legitimately be called yoga
because they can be demonstrated to have developed out of the typical
Indian yoga practice described above, while rejecting or simply
ignoring the theoretical concepts which underlie the practical
discipline. The alleged Vedic references to yoga, however, do not
satisfy the criteria of either conceptual similarity or derivation, and
may not properly be called instances of yoga. Briefly, there are three
classes of Vedic hymns in which the origins of Indian yoga have been
mistakenly seen: (1) hymns dealing with the ritual ingestion of the
drug soma, (2) Hymns dealing with tapas (“mystical heat”), and (3)
the single “Kesin Hymn” in Book Ten’? which describes the attributes
and feats of a “long-haired” (kefin) shaman. All of these Vedic
examples, however, resemble Indian yoga only insofar as any
examples of shamanisic mysticism must necessarily resemble yoga.

1. See Brahmdjala-sutta, D1: 34-36, where the seven types of annihilationists may
entertain concepts of a soul and may undergo yogic discipline sufficient to attain
the eighth jhana, although they all agree that the soul perishes inevitably and
completely when the body dies.
2. Rg 10.136.
 YOGA AND VEDA IN THE UPANISADS 147

That the yogic techniques of fasting, breath control, postures and

in some cases asceticism alter the brain chemistry in a manner roughly
analogous to the ingestion of intoxicating drugs cannot be denied.’ But
to propose, as does the mycologist R. Gordon Wasson, that yogic
practice developed as a replacement for the hallucinogenic soma is a
speculation without any basis other than the fertile imagination of an
enthusiastic mycophile.* The exhilarated ecstasies of the soma eater
have nothing in common with the serene meditation of the yogin, and
the soma eater’s boast of universal sovereignty is altogether different
from the yogin’s claim to have transcended the universe.
Chauncy Blair’s thorough analysis of the concept of tapas in the
Rg Veda demonstrates vividly that tapas, or “mystical heat” is, in its
fundamental and- original conception, a purely shamanistic
phenomenon.*. He notes that, of a total of twenty-one instances in the
Rg Veda of significant derivatives of the verbal root Vtap (to heat),
only six occur before the tenth book. Of these six instances, four refer
to “magical heat” used as a weapon against enemies and demons,
while two are confined to the context of ritual.® In fact, all derivatives
of Vtap which occur before Rg 10.87 are used in one of these senses.’
It is only in verses 10.109 and after that tapas denotes the special
power of the sage which is both conducive to the attainment of
heaven® and in some sense creative,’ tapas being that which in one
verse is said to be the creative principle of the universe.’® Thus, it is
clear, as Blair concludes, that the meaning and application of the term
tapas has changed in later hymns from the original, basic meaning

3. R.E.L. Masters and Jean Houston, The Varieties of Psychedelic Experience, Holt
Rinehart and Winston, New York, 1966, pp. 247-49.
4. R.G. Wasson, Soma: The Divine Mushroom of Immortality, Harcourt Brace and
Jovanovich, New York, 1971, p. 70.
5. Chauncy Blair, Heat in the Rg and Atharva Vedas, American Oriental Society,
New Haven, 1961.
_ Blair, Heat, Ch. 12.
_ Ibid. Ch. 12.
_ Ibid. Ch. 12. See Rg 10.109.4; 10.154.2.
Oo
DN
on_ Ibid. Ch. 12. See Rg 10.154.5; 10.181.3.
10. Rg 10.129.4.
148 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

found in the earlier passages. It should be noted as well that the term
is used more often in the later hymns of the Rg Veda. All of this
supports Eliade’s theory that tapas, though originally an example of
the typical shamanistic practice of “creative sweating”, was later
emphasized by representatives of the Vedic tradition for the purpose
of “the assimilation of yogic techniques to orthodox Brahmanic
methods”, and that this assimilation represents “the homologization of
extra-Brahmanic and even extra-Aryan religious values”.'’ Furthermore,
Eliade notes that the “‘interiorization” of the Vedic sacrifice, which
is begun in the Bradhmanas and emphasized in the Upanisads, is a
further concession of the Vedic tradition to an increasingly influential
non-Vedic tradition based on contemplative yogic techniques rather
than upon ritual.'? These concessions, it will be noted, seem to have
begun in the latest hymns of the Rg Veda itself.
Finally, the protagonist of the famous “Kesin Hymn” (Rg 10.136)
is, in the same vein, recognized by Eliade as “an ecstatic who only
vaguely resembles the yogin”. The kesin may well be an example of
the mysterious ascetic vratyas who appear in the Atharva Veda, but,
as Eliade notes, it is by no means clear whether the kefin and the
vratyas are representatives of the Indo-European population or of an
indigenous, pre-Aryan Indian population.”* Thus, the case that can be
made for the development of Indian yoga from these few vague
concepts found in the Rg Veda is extremely weak. An equal or better
argument can be advanced in favor of the theory that many of these
Vedic concepts, if they have any relationship to yoga at all, derive
from contact with non-Vedic thought. Thus, not only is the conceptual
framework of yoga absent in the Rg Veda, but also the supposedly
yoga-like shamanism described in the ancient hymns bears little actual
resemblance to the phenomenon of yoga. The doctrines of souls,
rebirth and release, however, are fundamental in most of the non-
Vedic heterodox schools. Indeed, their doctrines cannot be imagined
without this yogic triad of beliefs.

11. M. Eliade, Yoga, Immortality and Freedom, pp. 106-111.

12. Ibid. pp. 111-114.
13. Ibid. pp. 101-105.
 YOGA AND VEDA IN THE UPANISADS 149

Archaic Yoga:

The evidence for the extremely ancient status of certain of these

non-Vedic schools, particularly Jainism, has been thoroughly stated,
and even over-stated by Heinrich Zimmer. He cites sociological
evidence, such as the absence of considerations of caste in the
fundamental structures of these systems, as well as_ historico-
mythological evidence based on clan names and the reputed
geographical origins of various legendary and_ semi-historical
personages in the schools.’ The most persuasive evidence, however,
is that the verifiably ancient Buddhist texts mention various thriving
schools, most notably Jainism and Ajivikism, whose leaders claim to
be conservative heirs of even more ancient doctrines independent of
Vedic influence. There is no reason to discount this information at
face value. The doctrines of these heterodox schools cannot be traced
back to Vedic concerns. In addition, they provide a convincing source
for the several essentially non-Vedic doctrines which appear
unexpectedly in the Upanisads without Vedic antecedents. These
doctrines of souls, rebirth and release centered around yogic practice,
have been overwhelmingly dominant in Indian thought since the time
of the Upanisads.
It is arguable, though not perhaps demonstrable, that this religious
tradition was not only non-vedic, but non-Aryan as well, that is to
say, indigenous to India.’* The argument in favor of this indigenous
tradition admittedly has very little hope of ever being conclusively
verified. An analogous situation would be to attempt to unravel the
origins of Christianity on the basis of Columbus’ Bible. Nonetheless,
it is a speculation worth making. If it is true — and it is at present
more likely than any rival speculation — then the hitherto mute voice
of an independent wellspring of human thought identifies itself,
however feebly, across the ages, and credits the Indian sub-continent

14. Heinrich Zimmer, Philosophies of India, pp. 59-60, 218-225.

15. Ibid. p. 60, ed. note 23.
150 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

with the birth of one of the most influential religious traditions ever
conceived by the human race.
Difficulties abound in reconstructing the archaic doctrines of
ancient Jainism and Ajivikism. At any rate, it is clear that they are
based on the conviction that there is an inner, essential, individual
soul which undergoes rebirth, and may attain release, a conviction
which encourages the practice of introspective yoga. In short, all of
the major characteristics of Indian philosophy which are lacking in
the ancient Vedas may be accounted for with reference to ancient,
coherent, self-contained, non-Vedic systems.
The most ancient surviving form of this tradition is probably the
heterodox, non-Vedic Jain religion, the doctrinal basis of Jainism,
though relatively late in its earliest recorded forms, harks back to an
archaic world-view of doubtlessly great antiquity. The ancient Jain
cosmology pictures the universe as being in the form of a giant
person,’ which is to say basically that it has a top and a bottom.
There is no evidence in Jainism of any attempt to inquire into the
origin of this universe. The transmigration, ascent and ultimate
liberation of individual souls, was thought to occur within the context
of the given cosmos, and the status of the soul at any particular stage
of development was related to its vertical position within this given
cosmos.
According to classical Jainism, individual souls are said to be finite
in extent, though they expand to fill whatever body they may inhabit.
They are everlasting, though not eternal, for they are changed in the
course of their transmigration from body to body. Infinite numbers of
these souls exist in a primitive state of bare animation in the lower
reaches of the cosmos. These primitive souls constitute an
inexhaustible fund of beings who, in the middle region of the cosmos,
undergo repeated birth and death until they become individually
liberated. The liberated soul rises to the top of the cosmos where it
exists forever deathless, omniscient and blissful.

16. Ibid. p. 275. Smart, Doctrine and Argument, p. 63. Jacobi, “Jain Cosmology”,
ERE, vol. 4, p. 161.
 YOGA AND VEDA IN THE UPANISADS 15k

The tendency of souls to rise is innate, but they are weighed down
through the agency of their actions (karma). Actions accrue to the soul
a very subtle defiling matter that prevents it from rising. When this
karmic matter is removed from the soul by the practice of strict moral
discipline and ascetic sensual restraint, it naturally rises to the top of
the universe where in a state of liberation it lives forever blissful and
omniscient.
When a liberated soul leaves samms@ra in this manner, another of
the innumerable primitive souls in the lower cosmos enters into the
realm of karmic transmigration. It begins its transmigratory journey
with life as one of the so-called material elements, which are
conceived of as very primitive living beings. Eventually it will pass
through reincarnations as mineral, vegetable and animal life. A being’s
level in the hierarchy of samsdra is indicated by the number of senses
it possesses. The primitive souls in the bottom of the cosmos have no
senses at all, the material atoms of earth, water, fire and air have only
the sense of touch, they can actually feel pressure. Air molecules, for
instance, are hurt by violent movements, so that even quick motions
are strictly speaking violations of the Jain principle of non-violence.
Lower animals, worms, etc., have the senses of touch and taste, and
so on up to the higher animals with the five senses. Human beings,
gods and the tortured denizens of the hells have all five senses plus
mind (manas).
The liberated souls at the top of the universe, however, have no
sense faculties, and do not perceive or think, though they are said to
be omniscient, i.e. directly aware of reality as it is without the
intervention of the senses and mind.’ Thus, the soul undergoes the
odd process of first struggling to acquire the full array of five senses
and mind, and then to free itself from their influence and thereby
effectively lose them again. But through this process, the soul attains

17. Ibid. p. 260. See Tattvartha-sutra, Ch. 10, on the liberated soul, and 1.30,
where omniscience is defined as “cognition which grasps all the aspects of
even a single object (and thus) can grasp all aspects of all objects”.
152 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

perfection by undergoing an actual transformation."* The soul is

everlasting but not eternal.
The doctrines of the Ajivikas are known to modern scholarship
only through hostile references to the system of the literature of rival
schools. Thanks to the patient efforts of A.L. Basham, who extracted
“every possible hint from the material available” we have at our
disposal a “faint outline” of the ancient doctrine of the mysterious
Ajivikas.’ Basically, their presuppositions seem to have been very
similar to those of the Jains. The universe is a given. Though it is
said to have existed through the enormous time spans so characteristic
of Indian mythology,” there is no hint of speculation regarding its
origin.”’ _Innumerable individual souls are assumed. Like Jain souls,
they are finite in size, though they are extremely large, said to extend,
in the form of an aura, for 500 yojanas, over a thousand miles. Like
the Jains, the Ajivikas held that the soul transmigrates through
numerous rebirths, changes in the process, and is finally liberated
from the suffering of samsdara.
In the Ajivika system, however, every detail of the soul’s
experience is rigidly predetermined including its inevitable liberation
at the end of 8,400,000 mahdkalpas (great ages) of transmigration.”
As in Jainism, this liberation entails a cessation of rebirth and thereby
release from the suffering of samsdara. The Ajivika system, however
conceives of release as an absolute extinction of the soul. According
to a classical Ajivika simile, the soul is like a ball of string
unraveling in samsdara until it inevitably reaches its end. One’s actions
do not cause a better or worse birth, they are only of one’s position
in the hierarchy of the universe. Asceticism, for example, is not the
cause of liberation, but only a symptom indicating that the completion
of one’s 8,400,000 mahdkalpas is coming up soon.

18. See Pramdnanaya-tattvaloka 7.56: caitanya-svaripah paranami karta

saksadbhokta. See M.L. Metha, Jaina Philosophy, p. 95.
19. A.L. Basham, History and Doctrines of the Ajivikas, Luzac, London, 1951.
20. Basham, Ajivikas, p. 253.
21. Ibid. p. 240.
22. Ibid. p. 225.
 YOGA AND VEDA IN THE UPANISADS 153

Despite the decidedly amoral tone of the Ajivika theory of

transmigration, it resembles the Jain theory in that both assume a
changing soul. The soul of the Ajivika system is limited in lifespan.
The Jain soul is everlasting. Nonetheless, both systems agree that the
soul evolves in the course of its transmigratory journey from a state
of bondage to a state of liberation. The importance of the concept of
the evolution of the soul from an original state of bondage to a final
state of release becomes important in distinguishing the liberation
doctrines of the heterodox schools of Indian philosophy from those of
the Upanisads and related orthodox schools of classical Hinduism.
Though these orthodox schools accepted souls, rebirth and release,
they conceived of liberation as the realization of the pre-existing,
innate purity of the soul. That is to say that in line with their Vedic
orthodoxy they conceived of liberation in terms of a cosmological
model in which the state of release is thought of as a return to an
original state of purity, analogous to the state of cosmic purity which
existed before the universe was created. The distinctively non-Vedic
concept of the evolving, changing soul, on the other hand, is less
cosmological in orientation. In Jainism and Ajivikism, liberation is
conceived of as an individual attainment achieved, or arrived at as the
case may be, in the context of the given universe.
In the Upanisads the universe is not taken for granted, but is
assumed to be the result of the creative activity of the unitary
cosmogonic principle postulated in the Vedas. The Upanisads also
contain much that is obviously not Vedic material, but probably
originates instead in the beliefs of non-Vedic systems of thought such
as the archaic Jain and Ajivika systems outlined above.
The Upanisads are the earliest surviving texts which propound the
non-Vedic concepts of: 1) a soul which necessarily survives death as
the basis of individual identity, 2) the repeated transmigration of the
soul, and 3) release of the soul from transmigration as the summum
bonum. On the other hand, there is a Vedic trend in the Upanisadic
doctrine of the soul, rebirth and release. The Upanisads are concerned
with resolving Vedic questions about the origin and nature of the
universe. On the basis of Vedic speculations, some Upanisadic
passages hold that yogic release is not only a realization and
participation in the essential nature of the soul, but also a realization
154 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

and participation in the essential nature of the universe. In such

passages the soul is regarded as an ultimate or the ultimate
cosmological principle, and yogic psychology is thus bound up with
Vedic cosmology.
A large part of the impetus behind the original Upanisadic
syntheses of these concepts must have been a desire to maintain
inherited Vedic cosmological doctrines against the onslaught of the
persuasive, practical and no doubt popular yogic teachings. The nature
of yogic meditation may have been an equally important factor. Yogic
samadhi reveals unity and changelessness at the root of human
consciousness, and a passive, utterly subjective state in the light of
which the manifold, changing universe seems, if not positively
illusory, at most insignificant. The equation of this state with the
Vedic concept of the universal principle may be an attempt to
verbalize the indescribable yogic experience by resorting to the
evocative images of ancient mythology.
At any rate, the outcome of the Upanisadic synthesis was a genuine
transformation of both Vedic and non-Vedic thought. This synthesis
was influential not only in almost all subsequent orthodox
psychological thought, and probably in heterodox psychology as well,
Buddhism in particular. Let us proceed now to an examination of the
development of some of the Upanisadic treatments of rebirth, release
and the soul to see how this synthesis was worked out in the ancient
texts themselves.

The Development of Rebirth Theories in the Upanisads:

The Vedic theory of afterlife outlined above in Chapter 2 is not

completely abandoned in the Upanisads, though in most cases
reference to the Vedic theory are vestigial remnants incorporated into
some form of rebirth theory. The Upanisads carry on enthusiastically
with the Vedic practice of proposing correspondences between the
individual’s vital and mental faculties and the elements of the
universe. The following passage even suggests the Vedic theory of the
 YOGA AND VEDA IN THE UPANISADS 155

dispersion at death of these faculties into their universal counterparts.”

In this passage the pupil Arthabhaga asks, citing an extended list of
correspondences:

When the speech (voice) of this dead person enters into fire, the breath
into air, the eye into the sun, the mind into the moon, hearing into the
quarters, the self (@tman) into the ether (akafa), the hairs of the body
into the herbs, the hairs on the head into the trees and the blood and
the semen are deposited in water, what then becomes of this person
(purusa)?
BeUaS 2am dR)

The question is essentially Vedic, but the sage Yajfiavalkya goes on

to answer with the non-Vedic doctrine conditioned by karma.

‘Arthabhaga, my dear, take my hand. We two alone shall know of this,

this is not for us two (to speak of) in public.’ The two went away and
deliberated. What they said was karman and what they praised was
Karman. Verily one becomes good by good action (karma), bad by bad
action.
B.Us 3.243: 4R)

Yajfidvalkya’s secrecy has been taken as an indication that early

in the Upanisadic period the doctrine of rebirth was considered a
dangerously unorthodox belief. By and large, though, rebirth is the
predominant afterlife theory in the Upanisads. The Upanisads allude
to both of the Vedic modes of survival of death, but such allusions
usually occur in the course of propounding typically Upanisadic
theories of rebirth and release. It will be remembered that according
to the Vedic theory of afterlife, which centers around the concept of
the tana, there are two modes of survival after death: 1) in heaven,
where one creates for himself a tana by means of ritual acts while
alive, and 2) on earth in the form of one’s offspring, an aspect of

23. Cp. Rg 10.16.3; 10.59.5-7; 10.58; 10.161.5. Cp. Ia U. 17.

156 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

one’s tanu, who must continue to maintain the deceased ancestor’s

heavenly tanu by performing further rituals.
At one point in a protracted discourse on the nature of brahman,
Yajfiavalkya, perhaps in order to demonstrate his competence as a
priest, states that death may be overcome by performing a certain
type of ritual.” Such ritual performance supposedly would result in
a heavenly afterlife along Vedic lines, but it becomes clear in the
course of his teaching that Yajfiavalkya considers yogic release to be
the only final escape from death.”
More to the point is a comparison of the Naciketas stories in the
Katha Upanisad and the Taittiriya Brahmana. In both accounts,
Naciketas’ second wish, granted by Yama the king of the realm of
the dead, is to know the exact procedure of the ritual that will secure
for its performer an afterlife in heaven.” In the Taittiriya Brahmana,
Naciketas’ third wish is to learn how to gain freedom from punar
mrtyu (re-death).” In the Upanisadic version his third wish is to know
whether or not one exists after having attained yogic release.” This
has the effect of relegating the attainment of heaven through ritual,
the second wish, to a secondary level of importance. The implication
of the Upanisad is that attainment of heaven is not final salvation, a
common assertion in the Upanisads.
The Vedic theory of survival in heaven and in one’s offspring is
elaborated upon in the Aitareya Upanisad in a passage already
considered above in Chapter 2. As noted there, it is possible that the
entire second section of this Upanisad, which deals with the three
births of the soul (conception, birth, and heavenly birth) contains no

24 BU 3, ls
25. B.U. 3.9.26-28.
26. K.U. 1.1.12-19.
27. Punar-mrtyu, “death again (from heaven)”. See T.B. 3.11.8 and Keith, Religion
and Philosophy, pp. 440-41.
28. K.U. 1.1.20. Though prete means only “with regard to one who has departed”,
there is little doubt that the reference is to liberation rather than mere death,
since Naciketas has already asked how to attain an afterlife in heaven, and since
the explanation given by Yama involves the practice of yoga (K.U. 1.2.12) and
discovery of the true soul (K.U. 1.3.15).
 YOGA AND VEDA IN THE UPANISADS LS?

reference to rebirth, and is entirely an exposition of the Vedic afterlife

theory. In this passage, heavenly immortality, the third birth of the
soul, is apparently presented as the summum bonum of human
existence. Other portions of this Upanisad imply a monistic concept
of release, though the universal principle is often spoken of
theistically as Brahma. At any rate, the first two births in this passage,
the conception and physical birth of one’s child, refer to survival in
the form of one’s offspring, who are expected to perform, on behalf
of the father, “meritorious rituals” (punyebhyah karmabhyah), or less
likely, “pious deeds”, as Radhakrinan translates:

He (the son) who is one self of his (father) is made his substitute for
(performing) pious deeds. Then the other self of his (father’s) having
accomplished his work, having reached his age, departs. So departing
hence, he is,indeed, born again. That is the third birth.
A.U. 2.4 (R)

Here, the third birth, whereby the father is born again (punar jayate),
could refer to rebirth, but the third birth is described as birth into an
immortal heavenly life.

He, knowing thus and springing upward, when the body is dissolved,
enjoyed all desires in that world of heaven and became immortal, yea,
became (immortal).
A.U. 2.6 (R)

Be that as it may, on the whole, the second Vedic mode of

survival, survival in the form of one’s offspring, is taken more
seriously in the Upanisads than heavenly survival. In the Kausitaki
Upanisad, the son is said to be the dtman of his father,” and later in
the same passage this theme is elaborated upon in a description of the
pita-putriyam or “father-son ceremony”, to be performed when the
father is on his death bed. In this ceremony the father’s vital and
mental faculties, along with his karma, pleasure, pain and procreation,

29. Ks.U. 2.11.

158 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

are ritually transferred to the son.” A similar ceremony is described

in the Brhadaramyaka Upanisad, where it is said:

When a man thinks that he is about to depart, he says to his son, ‘You
are Brahman, you are the sacrifice and you are the world.’ ... Being
thus the all, let him (the son) preserve me from (the ties of) this world,
thus, (the father thinks) ... When one who knows this departs from this
world, he enters into his son together with his breaths. Whatever wrong
has been done by him, his son frees him from it all, therefore he is
called a son. By his son a father stands firm in this world.
Be eas 17 (RY

In general, hereditary survival in the for of one’s offspring retains

more independent importance in the Upanisads than does heavenly
survival. Overall, the Upanisads degrade the Vedic heavenly mode of
survival in the world of the ancestors to a possibly pleasant but
insecure situation from which one is certain to undergo “death again”
(punar-mrtyu). In the Brdhmanas there is no clear concept of what
happens after this punar-mrtyu, which is presented there as a vague
threat against one who neglects his ritual duties. Several Upanisadic
passages speculate that death from the world of the ancestors, which
is inevitable, results in birth again in the mundane sphere.

9. The immature, living manifoldly in ignorance, think ‘we have

accomplished our aim’. Since those who perform rituals do not
understand (the truth) because of attachment, therefore they sink down,
wretched, when their worlds (i.e. the fruits of their merits) are
exhausted.
10. These deluded men, regarding sacrifices and works of merits
as most important, do not know any other good. Having enjoyed in the
high place of heaven won by good deeds, they enter again this world
or a still lower one.
Mu.U. 1.2.9-10 (R)

30. Ks.U. 2.15.

 YOGA AND VEDA IN THE UPANISADS 159

Thus, one Upanisadic rebirth theory, combining elements of both

Vedic and yogic afterlife theories, pictures rebirth as a cyclical
process alternating between this world, the human world (manusya-
loka) and the Vedic ancestral world (pitr-loka). A third possibility,
gained through wisdom, is the divine world (deva-loka), in most cases
a metaphorical reference to yogic release. Similar passages in the
Brhadaranyaka and Chandogya Upanisads, deal extensively with this
cyclical process of rebirth.*’ Both passages present an account of the
“five fires” and the two alternative paths after death: the divine path
(deva-yana) and the path of the ancestors (pitr-yana).”” Both the “five
fires doctrine” and the “two paths doctrine” converge upon the
cremation ceremony, which is depicted as a sacrifice.

They carry him to (be offered in) fire. His fire itself becomes the fire,
fuel the fuel, smoke the smoke flame the flame coals the coals, sparks
the sparks. In this fire the gods offer a person (purusa). Out of this
offering the person, having the colour of light, arises.
B.U. 6.2.14 (R)

In order to understand the present passage fully, it must be

remembered that in the Vedic sacrificial context, fire is thought to
both consume and transform that which it burns. Mundane offerings,
burned in the sacrificial fire are thought to be transformed into a form
accessible to the gods. The burned offerings become, in fact, the
sustenance of the gods. Agni, the god of fire, is thought of as the
messenger or oblation bearer of the gods, since fire serves as the
intermediary between the mundane and divine spheres. Similarly, the
cremation fire in the above passage transforms the deceased, the
offering as it were, into a purified essence acceptable to the gods. In
the Upanisad, however, this purified essence is the soul (purusa, lit.
“person”). Alluding to Vedic sacrificial theory, this soul, like any

31. B.U. 6.2.9-16 and C.U. 5.4.10. Less extensive versions of the same occur at
CURA S SKS U23 sande. e 19 10:
32. These two paths are mentioned at Rg 10.88.5, but apparently refer to a different
belief. Cp. Rg 1.72.7.
160 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

other offering, is said to become food for the gods. To this end, it
enters the path of the ancestors, a desirable fate in the Vedas, but here
a rather gruesome alternative.

But those who by sacrificial offerings, charity and austerity conquer

the worlds, they pass into the smoke (of the cremation fire), from the
smoke into the night, from the night into the half-month of the waning
moon, from the half-month of the waning moon into the six months
during which the sun travels southward, from these months into the
world of the fathers (pitr-loka), from the world of the fathers into the
moon. Reaching the moon they become food. There the gods, as they
say to king Soma, increase, decrease, even so feed upon them there.
BaWeG241 Omak)

It will be remembered that in the Vedic context the gods, like

humans, are thought to perform sacrifices, and are thought to be
sustained by the sacrifices of humans. Similarly, in this Upanisadic
passage, the gods, sustained by the offerings of humans, in this case
the souls of the deceased, perform the heavenly fire sacrifice. Their
offering is faith (§raddha), which, apparently along with the human
souls they have eaten, is transformed in the heavenly fire into soma.
This is the first of the five great sacrificial fires, the fire of “that
world”.

Yonder world, Gautama, is (sacrificial) fire. The sun itself is its fuel,
the rays its smoke; the day the flame, the quarters the coals, the
intermediate quarters the sparks. In this fire the gods offer faith. Out
of that offering King Soma arises.
B.U. 6.2.9 (R)

Soma, a plant god, in the Vedic context is thought to be brought

from heaven to the earth by rain. For this reason, the second great
fire in the Upanisadic passage is the fire of Parjanya the rain god. In
it the offering, soma, along with the souls that it now contains, is
transformed into rain.
 YOGA AND VEDA IN THE UPANISADS 161

Parjanya (the god of rain), Gautama, is fire. The year itself is its fuel,
the clouds its smoke, the lightning the flame, the thunder-bolt the coals,
the thundering the sparks. In this fire the gods offer the king Soma.
Out of that offering rain arises.
B.U. 6.2.10 (R)

This rain, the essence of soma, divine food, falls upon the earth
carrying the souls of the deceased, and is there transformed into
vegetation in the third great sacrificial fire, the fire of “this world”.

This world, verily, Gautama, is fire. The earth itself is its fuel, fire
the smoke, night the flame, the moon the coals, the stars the sparks.
In this fire the gods offer rain. Out of that offering food arises.
B.U. 6.2.11 (R)

When these food plants, containing souls, are eaten, they are offered
in the fourth sacrificial fire, the ““man-fire”, the digestive fire, and are
transformed into semen.

The person (man) verily, Gautama, is fire. The open mouth itself is
its fuel, vital breath (prdna) the smoke, speech the flame, the eye the
coals, the ear the sparks. In this fire the gods offer food. Out of that
offering semen arises.
BW. 6.2.12 (R)

This semen, offered in the “woman fire”, the fifth great sacrificial
fire, the sexual fire, is transformed into a person (purusa) in the
Brhadaranyaka version, or an embryo (garbha) in the Chdndogya
version.

The woman, verily, Gautama, is fire. The sexual organ itself is its fuel;
the hairs the smoke, the vulva the flame, when one inserts, the coals;
the pleasurable feelings the sparks. In this fire, the gods offer semen.
Out of that offering a person arises. He lives as long as he lives. Then
when he dies, they carry him to (be offered in) fire.
B.U. 6.2.13-14 (R)
162 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

Returning to B.U. 6.2.16, it is clear that the “path of the

ancestors”, the path of the reincarnating soul, is in fact a journey
through the five fires.

When that (being food) passes away from them, they pass forth into
this space, from space into air, from air into rain, from rain into the
earth. Reaching the earth they become food. Again, they are offered
in the fire of man. Thence they are born in the fire of woman with a
view to going to other worlds. Thus do they rotate.
B.U. 6.2.16 (R)

Those who do not find such prospects in the afterlife particularly

appalling should take note of the Chandogya Upanisad’s version of
the two paths. The Chdndogya observes that, obviously, an animal
rather than a person might eat the plant containing one’s soul, in
which case, one would be reborn as an animal.”
In the Upanisadic context, the world of the ancestors is not even
a potentially immortal condition as it is in the Vedic context. Instead,
it is a Strictly temporary stage in the endless revolving of the soul
through the universal fire. The similarity of this idea to the Jain
notion of the transmigration of the soul through mineral, vegetable and
animal life is striking, though possibly coincidental. At any rate, the
Upanisadic cyclical theory of rebirth simultaneously preserves and
transforms several Vedic concepts in a synthesis with the non- Vedic
belief in rebirth.
The perpetual consumption of the transmigrating soul by the gods
and the universal fire is a common mode of expression for Upanisadic
pessimism regarding mundane life. Early in the Brhaddranyaka
Upanisad it is said that death or hunger, which are equivalent, created
the universe as food for himself.“ Later in the same Upanisad, death
is equated with fire, the universal consumer.

33,,C.U.5.10:6-7.
34, BU 121-5;
 YOGA AND VEDA IN THE UPANISADS 163

“Yajfiavalkya’, said he, ‘since everything here is food for death, what,
pray, is that divinity for whom death is food?’ ‘Fire, verily, is death.
It is the food of water. He (who knows this) overcomes further death
(punar-mrtyu).’
BAUS 2s Om CR)

It is seemingly a paradox that this same universal fire which is

equated with death, is also equated with life.

This fire which is here within a person is the Vaisvanara (the universal
fire) by means of which the food that is eaten is cooked (digested). It
is the sound thereof that one hears by covering the ears thus. When one
is about to depart (from this life) one does not hear this sound.
‘ B.U. 5.9.1 (R)

Only the ignorant person, however, fails to perceive that the digestive
fire consuming food within him is only an aspect of the universal fire
in which he himself is consumed as the food of the living universe.
Thus, the Vedic doctrine that the gods are sustained by sacrifice
is subtly transformed in the Upanisads. The Vedas assert that ritual
is vital in maintaining the cosmic order. The Upanisads, by and large,
condemn ritual as an inadequate mode of spirituality whereby human
beings are kept in ignorance of their true divine nature, and thereby
continue to serve the gods by remaining within their food chain.”

Whoever knows thus, ‘I am Brahman, becomes this all. Even the gods
cannot prevent his becoming thus, for he becomes their self. So
whoever worships another divinity (than his self) thinking that he is
one and (Brahman) another, he knows not. He is like an animal to the
gods. Even if one animal is taken away, it causes displeasure, what
should one say of many (animals)? Therefore it is not pleasing to those
(gods) that men should know this.
B.U. 1.4.10 (R)

35. See also B.U. 4.4.6; Mu. U. 1.2.10.

164 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

Needless to say, the Vedic doctrine of ritual as a means of

attaining salvation is seriously undermined by the cyclical rebirth
theory, even though it preserves certain Vedic characteristics. The
Chandogya version of the cyclical rebirth theory specifies morality
as the criterion which determines one’s fate. In the future life conduct
in this life will result in a favorable rebirth, which will follow after
a cyclical celestial interlude.

Those whose conduct here has been good will quickly attain a good
birth (literally womb), the birth of a Brahmin, the birth of a Ksatriya
or the birth of a Vaisya. But those whose conduct here has been evil,
will quickly attain an evil birth, the birth of a dog, the birth of a hog,
or the birth of a Candala.
CU SOLO UR)

Other passages expounding cyclical rebirth suggest that one’s reward

or punishment for actions in this life consist of a longer or shorter
stay in the heavenly world before being born again in the mundane
world.*®

Exhausting the results of whatever works he did in this world, he

comes again from that world, to this world for (fresh) work.
B.U. 4.4.6 (R)

The cyclical theory de-emphasizes but retains Vedic concerns with

the influence of ritual upon the afterlife. A second form of rebirth
theory found in the Upanisads does away with the role of ritual
altogether. For want of a better term, this may be called the linear
theory of rebirth. According to this theory the soul transmigrates
directly, without a repetitive celestial interlude, to another body, the
excellence of which is determined solely by the moral quality of one’s
actions. The following passage graphically depicts the direct transition
of the soul to another body.

36. See again B.U. 4.4.6; Mu.U. 1.2.10.

 YOGA AND VEDA IN THE UPANISADS 165

Just as a leech (or caterpillar) when it has come to the end of a blade
of grass, after having made another approach (to another blade) draws
itself together towards it, so does this self (@tman), after having thrown
away this body, and dispelled ignorance, after having another approach
(to another body) draw itself together (for making the transition to
another body).
B.U. 4.4.3 (R)

A later verse in the same passage indicates that not only actions,
but also desires and intentions play a role in determining one’s destiny
after death.

Others, however, say that a person consists of desires. As is his desire

so is his will; as is his will, so the deed he does, whatever deed he
does, that he attains.
B.U. 4.4.5 (R)

This passage shows a striking resemblance to Buddhist ideas about

karma and rebirth, in that here karma (action) is only a symptom of
the deeper psychological tendencies which actually determine one’s
fate in samsdra.
In neither the Upanisads nor Buddhism, however, is a pleasant
rebirth particularly to be desired in itself. It should not be imagined
that the designation linear is meant to imply that this type of rebirth
is conceived of in the Upanisads as a mode of progress toward the
summum bonum. The ultimate goal, like the mechanism of rebirth, is
conceived of in different ways in the Upanisads. The texts are
unanimous, however, in the opinion that knowledge, not goodness, is
the criterion for ultimate salvation, the complete cessation of rebirth
forever. Preoccupation with merit may even be a severe disadvantage
with respect to attaining release.

These deluded men, regarding sacrifices and works of merits as most

important, do not know any other good. Having enjoyed in the high
place of heaven won by good deeds, they enter again this world or a
still lower one.
Musi ie2r110) 1G)
166 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

This is an important point of distinction between the linear rebirth

theories of archaic Jainism or Ajivikism and the linear theory of the
Upanisads. In the Ajivika theory, the soul progresses along a
predetermined course until it reaches its inevitable extinction. The
Jains, even in the classical system, conceive of the soul as progressing
toward the top of the universe as the various karmic defilements
which prevent it from rising are “burned off” by severe ascetic
practices and the extreme observance of non-violence. Knowledge, in
the Jain theory of salvation, plays a secondary role to morality and
asceticism, and is thought to evolve naturally as the soul is
unburdened of its karma. On this point, the doctrines of Buddhism are
closer to those of the Upanisads than they are to those of the
heterodox traditions. In both the Upanisads and Buddhism, some form
of wisdom, rather than morality, is the ultimate criterion of salvation.

Release and Cosmology in the Upanisads:

The Upanisads are unanimous regarding the primacy of wisdom

in attaining release, and in all cases this saving knowledge involves
a radical departure from the transmigratory path of rituals and works.
The nature of this saving knowledge, however, is characterized in
several different ways. Normally it is mystical knowledge of the unity
of the soul and the universal principle, but in some cases it is
knowledge of a theistic god*’ or even knowledge of the esoteric
meaning of certain rituals or doctrines.*
As might be expected, the precise nature of release is itself not
consistently described in the Upanisads. The various concepts of final
liberation fall into two broad categories: 1) concepts similar to the
archaic Jain idea, where release is the attainment of a permanent
heavenly existence by an individual soul, and 2) concepts more in line
with Vedic cosmological concerns, in which release is not only a
cessation of rebirth, but also a revelation of the origin and nature of

37,.9:U 22.157 5.19-1456:13:

38. A.U,-3.6; CU. 5241-400, 51010-1017 8,03. 612.15)
 YOGA AND VEDA IN THE UPANISADS 167

the cosmos and a return to the original principle underlying creation.

Let us deal briefly with the first category, as it is of far less
importance in the general scheme of the Upanisads than the second.
In the previously examined passage propounding cyclical theory
of rebirth, release is depicted as a simple ascent via the divine path
(deva-ydna) to a permanent heaven called the world of Brahma. Thus,
when the liberated person is laid on the funeral pyre:

’ Those who know this as such and those too who meditate with faith
in the forest on the truth, pass into the light, from the light into the
day, from the day into the half-month of the waxing moon, from the
half-month of the waxing moon into the six months during which the
sun travels northward, from these months into the world of the gods,
from the world of the gods into the sun, from the sun into the lightning
(fire). Then a person consisting (born) of mind goes to those regions
of lighting and leads them to the worlds of Brahma. In those worlds
of Brahma they live for long periods. Of these there is no return.
BiUPG:245 CR)

This concept of heavenly release is not limited to the cyclical rebirth

theory, and in addition to the world of Brahma,” the heavenly region
is also called simply “heaven” (svarga),*° the “divine world” (deva-
loka)*’ or even left unnamed.*? Some passages of this category are
overtly theistic and the knowledge required for release is knowledge
of a personified god.** Some descriptions of release in a heavenly
realm may be metaphorical treatments of monistic or quasi-monistic
material.“ Other Upanisadic passages refer to a simple concept of
release of the soul very similar to the Jain notion of ascent to the top

BOMB UNA:4:32-3774.4,254 6 25l5-1C.Uno 0.2- 855) 612-05 b.Us lO 55:

40. Kena U. 4.9; B.U. 4.4.8; K.U. 1.1.13.
41. B.U. 1.53.
42. C.U. 8.6.5-6; B.U. 5.10.
43. S.U. 3.7; 5.13-14; 6.13; Mu.U. 3.1.2-3, where self and lord (I§a) are
distinguished.
44. See B.U. 4.1; 4.3.32-3; 4.4.6; 4.4.23-5; 5.15. C.U. 3.12.7-9 compared to C.U.
3.6-11. Ks.U. 1.6 compared to Ks.U. 1.2-3. See also C.U. 4.15.5; 8.3; 8.13-14.
168 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

of the given universe. Of course, Vedic mythological notions are often

retained in such treatments.
We may note in passing that Buddhism, though denying the soul,
contains a similar notion with regard to the “non-returner” (anadgamin).
Upon death the non-returner is reborn in the “pure abodes”
(suddhavasa), which guarantees his eventual attainment of nirvana
without returning from that world to the mundane sphere.** Similarly,
in the Upanisads those who pass into the light of the cremation fire
are said not to return from the worlds of Brahma.** In _ these
Upanisadic passages, however, heavenly rebirth seems to be thought
of as the summum bonum rather than an intermediate stage before
ultimate release as in the Buddhist theory of the non-returner.
Some Upanisadic passages, on the other hand, take a critical
attitude toward the possibility of attaining permanent heavenly release
while retaining individual identity.*’ These passages seem _ to
foreshadow Sankara’s view that a heavenly release, such as that
described as the culmination of the divine path in the Brhaddranyaka
Upanisad, may be called permanent only in the sense that it may last
until the end of the present world cycle.** Other passages which may
originally have been intended to refer to a similar heavenly
immortality are interpreted by Sankara as being metaphorical
treatments of monistic release,” and again, several Upanisadic
passages foreshadow Sankara’s interpretation.
Perhaps the clearest example of this is the description in the
Kausitaki Upanisad of the path to the world of Brahma. As in the
mythological description of the two paths after death, the moon is
depicted as the door to heaven or rebirth. But here, the moon poses
a question to the deceased: “Who are you?” A wrong answer results
in rebirth, but the correct answer, “I am you”, wins entry into the
divine path. Reaching the world of Brahma by this path, after having

45. See Puggala Panfatti, para. 42-46 (PTS).

46. As at B.U. 6.2.15: tesém na punar avrttih.
AT... €.0;, 8.1.65 K.U2 4.210:
48. See Sankara’s commentary on B.U. 6.2.15; K.U. 1.1.13; 1.2.10.
49. See Sankara’s commentary on B.U. 4.3.32; 4.4.23; 4.4.8; Kena U. 4.9.
 YOGA AND VEDA IN THE UPANISADS 169

met several of the gods and been garlanded by nymphs, the deceased
finds Brahma reclining on a couch an is asked again, “Who are you?”
He should answer:

I am season, I am connected with the seasons. From space as the

source I am produced as the seed for a wife, as the light of the year,
as the self of every single being. You are the self of every single
. being. What you are, that am I.
Ks.U. 1.6 (R)

Thus, some Upanisadic passages seem content to adopt a basically

Jain theory of release as the simple ascent of the individual soul to a
heavenly realm which is presided over, in the Upanisadic context, by
the deity Brahma. This tendency represents a synthesis of the archaic
yogic notion of the rebirth and release of the soul and the Vedic
mythology of heaven. There is, however, evidence in the Upanisads
themselves of dissatisfaction with this concept. The result is a
tendency to represent heavenly salvation as a metaphorical expression
of the monistic unity of the essence of the individual with the essence
of the cosmos, an idea which neither the Vedic nor the non-Vedic
antecedents of the Upanisads can adequately account for alone. Thus,
an examination of the second category of concepts of release in the
Upanisads — in which release represents monistic union with the
universal principle — necessitates an examination of the expansion in
the Upanisads of the non-Vedic concept of the individual soul into a
cosmological principle.

Soul and Cosmology in the Upanisads:

In the Indian context, the concept of individual identity inhering

in an immortal soul which necessarily survives death is traced to its
earliest form in ancient, non-Vedic systems such as Jainism. Similarly
simple concepts of the soul, more or less independent of cosmological
concerns, also occur in several Upanisadic passages. Some of the
rebirth passages cited above, in which an individual soul transmigrates
170 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

from body to body and may attain release within the context of the
given cosmos, are examples of such a concept. Even Yajfiavlkya’s
famous discourse to Janaka of Videha,*° — in which he expounds
upon the soul (dtman) as the “person (purusa) made of awareness
(vijidna) among the breaths (prdna), the light in the heart” —
contains little that suggests a universalistic interpretation of the soul.
Of course, other passages attributed to Yajfiavalkya are explicitly
monistic.
Interestingly, the fact that the discourse to Janaka lacks any overt
universalism, and is at the same time a penetrating treatment of the
nature and scope of individual consciousness, brings it to the brink of
solipsism. In the following passage from that discourse, the universe
is not given, but rather is presented as a projection by the soul in the
state of dreaming:

There are no chariots there, nor animals to be yoked to them, no roads,

but he creates (projects for himself) chariots, animals to be yoked to
them and roads. ... He, indeed is the agent (maker or creator).
B.U 4325107 (R)

The implication is that the soul which creates the dream world may
also create the waking world. Indeed no specific ontological
distinction is drawn between the two worlds of waking and dreaming.

After having tasted enjoyment in this state of deep sleep ... dream ...
waking, after having roamed about and seen good and evil, he returns
again as he came to the place from which he started to the state of
dream.
B.U43:15-17, <n)

Later in this section, a haunting repetition of the description of the

transition between these three states of consciousness is applied to
the transition between rebirths.

a0. BU 43:
 YOGA AND VEDA IN THE UPANISADS 171

When this (body) gets to thinness, whether he gets to thinness through

old age or disease, just as a mango or a fig or a fruit of the peepul
tree releases itself from its bond (gets detached from its stalk), even so
this person frees himself from these limbs and returns again as he came
to the place from which he started back to (new) life.
B.U. 4.3.36 (R)

Indeed, in the section immediately following the above passages, one

of the descriptions of the mechanism of rebirth assigns a creative
function to the soul that is reminiscent of the creative capabilities of
the dreaming soul.

And as a goldsmith, taking a piece of gold tums it into another, newer

and more beautiful shape, even so does this self, after having thrown
away this body and dispelled its ignorance, make unto himself another,
newer and more beautiful shape like that of the fathers or of the
gandharvas, or of the gods or of Prajapati or of Brahma or of other
beings.
B.U. 4.4.4 (R)

It is noteworthy too, in this group of passages, that the reabsorption

of the sense faculties into the soul is also described in similar terms
with reference to deep sleep and death, both of which are portrayed
as unconscious states from which the soul eventually emerges
unharmed. Thus, when a person goes to sleep, it is said:

Verily, when there (in the state of deep sleep) he does not see, he is,
verily seeing, though he does not see, for there is no cessation of the
seeing of a seer, because of the imperishability (of the seer). there is
not, however, a second, nothing else separate from him that he could
see.
BU :24:5.23 o{R)

At the point of death, a similar retraction of the senses it is said to

occur.
4 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

He is becoming one, he does not see ... smell ... taste ... speak ... hear
.. think ... touch ... know, they say. ... And when he thus departs, life
departs after him.
B.U. 4.4.2 (R)

The eventual re-projection of the sense faculties after the

intermediate states of deep sleep or death is represented in the
Upanisads as being tantamount to re-creation of the universe. In the
preceding passages, which do not specify that the soul concerned is
universal, creation of the universe in the dreaming and waking states
is tantamount to solipsism.
Normally it is clearer than it is in the preceding passages that it
is the universal, monistic aspect of the soul that is the ultimate source
of the psychological projection of the universe through the senses.*' In
every case, though, the individual is thought to have an actual role in
the creation and maintenance of the universe by virtue of the ultimate
equality of the cosmic essence and the individual soul. Thus, as the
afterlife and soteriological concerns of the yogic and Vedic traditions
are combined in the Upanisads, so are their respective doctrines of the
soul and the cosmos combined. “That one”, the monistic principle of
the Vedas, is equated with the individual soul of the yogic tradition.
This identity, moreover, is said to be realized in the state of yogic
release. The ultimate essence of the universe is thus equated with the
ultimate essence of the individual, and the yogic realization of the true
nature of the soul, resulting in release, is held to be a participation in
and verification of a monistic cosmological doctrine inherited from the
Vedas.

51. Other references to sleep and dreaming are obviously employed to teach the
implications of monism. See C.U. 6.8; 8.10-12; P.U. 4; Ks.U. 3.3; 4.15; 4.19,
and in particular, the entire Ma.U., all of which deals with sleep and dream,
and which adds a fourth state, said to be higher than deep sleep, and equated
with monistic release.
 YOGA AND VEDA IN THE UPANISADS 173

That which is the subtle essence (the root of all) this whole world has
for its self (atman). That is the true. That is the self. That art thou,
Svetaketu.
GU, 6.8,7 “{R)

On this there is the following verse: ‘When all the desires that dwell
in the heart are cast away, then does the mortal become immortal, then
he attains Brahman here (in this very body).’ Just as the slough of a
- snake lies on an anthill, dead, cast off, even so lies this body. But this
disembodied, immortal life (prana) is Brahman only, is light indeed,
Your Majesty.
B.U. 4.4.7. (R)

Vedic monism was mostly concerned with cosmogony. The monistic

unity of the universe was confined to that time “in the beginning”
when all was one and as yet undifferentiated. Vedic monism was a
search for a unitary material and efficient cause of the universe,
Upanisadic monism became an inquiry into the psychological creation
of the universe by the universal self, the world soul, which is not only
analogous to the individual soul, but actually identical to it. A cosmic
analogy of desire as a cosmogonic force occurs at Rg 10.129. In the
Upanisads, though, human desire itself, along with ignorance, is held
directly responsible for the “creation” of the universe. The continued
sustenance of the universe is also thought to be a result of the
perpetuation of human psychological shortcomings.
As one would expect, a universe viewed in such a way is regarded
pessimistically as a fundamentally unsatisfactory state of affairs. Just
as ignorance and desire are defilements of the soul, so is the
existential universe thought to be a defilement of the universal soul.
Since the individual and universal soul are held to be ultimately
identical, however, it is thought that one may, by dispelling human
ignorance and desire, in effect reverse the cosmogonic process and
return to the original state of purity and unity that existed “in the
beginning”. At this point it is useful to examine more closely this
Upanisadic psychological cosmogony and its reversal in the attainment
of release.
174 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

1. In the beginning this (world) was only the self, in the shape
of a person. Looking around he saw nothing else than the self. He first
said, ‘I am’. Therefore arose the name of I. Therefore, even to this day
when one is addressed he says first ‘This is I’ and then speaks
whatever other name he may have. ...
3. He, verily, had no delight. Therefore he who is alone has no
delight. He desired a second. He became as large as a woman and a
man in close embrace. He caused that self to fall into two parts. From
that arose husband and wife. Therefore, as Yajfiavalkya used to say,
this (body) is one half of oneself, like one of the two halves of a split
pea. Therefore this space is filled by a wife. He became united with
her. From that human beings were produced.
4. She thought, ‘How can he united with me after having
produced me from himself? Well, let me hide myself’. She became a
cow ... mare ... she-ass ... she-goat ... ewe, the other became a bull
. Stallion ... he-ass ... he-goat ... ram and was united with her and
from that ... he produced everything whatever exists in pairs, down to
the ants.
B.U. 1.4.1-4 (R)

In this, the mythological section of the present account of

creation, it should be noted that at every point, care is taken to link
the universal self with the individual self. One’s consciousness of self
is identified with the original, universal self-consciousness. One’s
sexual urge is identified with the original desire for a second, and as
a result of that desire, creation occurred then just as it does now,
sexually. The preceding account is, however, quite obviously a
metaphorical treatment of a theme which is in essence psychological.
The psychological nature of the present cosmogony is more explicit
in the following passage, a continuation of the previous passage,
which states more directly the identity of the universal soul and the
individual soul. Moreover, the following passage presents that identity
as being more than merely an identity of origin. It is a real,
contemporary identity which may be realized at any time if certain
spiritual requirements are fulfilled.

7. At that time this (universe) was undifferentiated. It became

differentiated by name and form (ndma-riipa) (so that it is said) he
 YOGA AND VEDA IN THE UPANISADS 175

has such a name, such a shape. Therefore even today this (universe)
is differentiated by name and shape (ndma-ripa) (so that it is said) he
has such a name, such a shape. He (the self) entered in here even to
the tips of the nails, as a razor is (hidden) in the razor-case, or as fire
in the fire-source. Him they see not for (as seen) he is incomplete,
when breathing he is called the vital force (prana), when speaking
voice, when seeing the eye, when hearing the ear, when thinking the
mind (manas). These are merely the names of his acts. He who
meditates on one or another of them (aspects) he does not know for he
is incomplete, with one or another of these (characteristics). The self
is to be meditated upon for in it all these become one. This self is the
foot-trace of all this, for by it one knows all this, just as one can find
again by footprints (what was lost). He who knows this finds fame and
praise. ..
9. They say, since men think that, by the knowledge of
Brahman, they become all, what, pray, was it that Brahman knew by
which it became all?
10. Brahman, indeed, was this in the beginning. It knew itself
only as ‘I am Brahman’. Therefore it became all. ... This is so even
now. Whoever knows thus, ‘I am Brahman,’ becomes this all. ...
15. One should meditate only on the self as his (true) world.
The work of him who meditates on the self alone as his world is not
exhausted for, out of that very self he creates whatsoever he desires.
17. In the beginning this (world) was just the self, one only. He
desired, ‘Would that I had a wife, then I may have offspring. Would
that I had wealth, then I would perform rites’. ... Therefore, to this day,
a man who is single desires, ‘Would that I had a wife, etc.’ So long
as he does not obtain each one of these, he thinks himself to be
incomplete.
B.U. 1.4.7-17 (R)

In Vedic cosmogony, the postulated universal principle was pressed

to account for both the material and the efficient causes of creation.
Given this duality of creative force and material upon which to exert
itself, it was thought that the origin of the present manifold universe
would be adequately explained. In the present Upanisadic passage,
however, the situation is somewhat different in that the original
176 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

duality, characterized as sexual in verse three,” is approached

psychologically in verse seven as “name and form”.”
Even in the Rg Veda, name (ndma) was more than a mere verbal
designation; it was one of the components of individual identity.” In
the Vedas, ripa meant primarily “visible characteristics” or even
“color”, and generally did not connote substance or individuality as
the term “form” might suggest. In the present passage, then, the
cosmogonic differentiation of the monistic universal principle by
name-and-form does not indicate the operation of its force aspect
upon its material aspect. Instead, ndma-rupa indicates the illusory
distinction created by the assignment of names to appearances. Thus
in verse seven, the true, unitary reality of the self is not seen. Only
its apparent activities, its forms, are given names, so that its true
nature remains unknown. This ignorance, which creates multiplicity
by assigning names to forms, is depicted in verse seventeen as being
reinforced by desire, the objects of which are precisely these illusory
distinctions in the innately complete self. And so the vicious cycle
goes on until, by knowledge and the cessation of desire, which are
also mutually supporting, one is able to stop the creative process. By
implication, the creative process remains contemporary in the human
mind.
The psychological nature of the creative duality may be clarified
by an examination of the various metaphors, in addition to name and
form, with which the concept is approached. The mythological male-
female dichotomy has been noted above.” In several passages this
sexual imagery is applied to mind (manas) and speech (vak), mind
being male and speech female.* In a late passage in the Sataptha
Brahmana, mind is directly equated with form, and speech with name.

52. See Rg 10.90.5, where it is said: “From him Viraj was born, and from Viraj,
Purusa”, referring to reciprocal generation. See also Rg 10.72.4: “Daksa sprang
from Aditi, and Aditi from Daksa”. Cp. B.U. 2.2.3.
53. See also C.U. 6.2-4; 8.14.
54. Cp. B.U. 3.2.12.
Soe sceralsous Wale 4-aleoe ele
Sieh SIMUL eee ALG SI.
 YOGA AND VEDA IN THE UPANISADS 177

Now, when he makes the libation to mind — form being mind,

inasmuch as it is by mind that one knows, ‘This is form’ — he thereby
obtains form; and when he makes the libation to speech — name being
speech, inasmuch as it is by speech that he seizes (mentions) the name;
— as far as there are form and name, so far, indeed extends this whole
(universe); all this he obtains.
S.B. 11.2.3.6 (SBE)

In the Upanisads, eye, an agent of the manas, is said to be the source

and perceiver of forms, while the source and perceiver of names is
still speech,” also regarded as a “sensual” agent of the mind.* There
will be occasion in the next chapter to examine further the
development of the concepts of mental and sensual faculties. For now,
suffice it to say that in several passages the fundamental sensual pair
is mind and speech, which correspond roughly with form and name,”
male and female.
In a similar vein, the fundamental duality is presented in an even
more overtly psychological form in which the mythological male-
female imagery is abandoned and the two aspects of the monistic
principle are characterized as perceiver and perceived,” internal
(antara) and external (bdhya), i.e. subject and object,®' or eater and
food,” food being the object and the eater the subject. Though these
two sets of creative dualities are not specifically coordinated in the
texts themselves, a table of correspondences may be set up as follows.
In this table, a + sign indicates a fundamental duality, and arrows
indicate an evolutionary correspondence, horizontal arrows showing

57. See B.U. 1.6.1-2; 3.2.3 & 5. Cp. C.U. 5.18.2.

Dea ce 8.0, 1 355050, 3.18.2.
59. Cp. B.U. 2.2.3, where the head contains all forms (visva-rupa). Other texts
pair speech with breath (prana) (B.U. 6.4.20; C.U. 1.1.5). Elsewhere breath is
the child of mind and speech (B.U. 1.2.4; 1.5.7 & 12; 1.4.17); @tman consists
of mind, speech and breath (B.U. 1.5.3); and breath is superior to speech and
mind (B.U. 6.8.7-13; C.U. 4.3.3; 5.1.1-16).
60. B.U. 1.4.14; 3.2.3-9; 4.3.23-30.
61. B.U. 2.5.19; 4.3.21; C.U. 4.12.7-8.
Glee U1 258 e246 1.5515 3:88) 9.48.1 TU. 3.7F 3.105.
178 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

cosmogonic correspondence and _ vertical arrows indicating

psychological correspondence.

male aca mind (or eye) > form

+ + +
female ae speech 2 name
uy L
perceiver + perceived
L
subject + object
L L
eater + food

These correspondences are not so extensively drawn out in the

Upanisads, the horizontal (cosmogonic) and vertical (psychological)
parts of the table being more or less independent in actual usage. The
ideas are related nonetheless. Consciousness and object are said to be
mutually interdependent for the maintenance of individuality of any
sort. In other words, cosmogony cannot proceed until both the
subjective and objective elements of creation have evolved from the
original duality (male/female, mind/speech, form/name). The clearest
statement of this interdependence is found in the Kausitaki Upanisad,
in a passage which is probably late and may even betray Buddhist
influence.

For truly, if there were no elements of being (name, form, odor, etc.),
there would be no elements of intelligence (speech, eye, smell, etc.).
Verily, if there would be no elements of intelligence, there would be
no elements of being. For truly from either alone, no appearance (ripa)
whatsoever would be effected.
Ks.U. 3.8 (H)

Thus, unlike Vedic cosmology, which explained the manifold

universe as being the result of force acting upon matter, the
Upanisadic cosmology employs the concept of subject operating on
 YOGA AND VEDA IN THE UPANISADS 179

object and vice versa. Furthermore, creation in the Vedas was regarded
as a good thing, whereas the Upanisads view it pessimistically as the
occasion for suffering in a potentially endless round of rebirths.
Release from rebirth may be gained only by resolving within the soul
the creative duality and, as it were, reversing cosmogony. In the
Upanisads, this resolution may be represented as a collapsing of the
above table of correspondences.

Just as the flowing rivers disappear in the ocean casting off name and
shape (nadma-ripa), even so the knower, freed from name and shape,
attains to the divine person, higher than the high.
Mu.U. 3.2.8 (R)

For where there is duality as it were, there one sees the other, one
smells the other, one tastes the other, one speaks to the other, one
hears the other, one thinks of the other, one touches the other, one
knows the other. But where everything has become just one’s own
self, by what and whom should one speak ... hear ... think ... touch ...
know? By what should one know him by whom all this is known? That
self is (to be described as ) not this, not this (neti, neti).
BOL, ALS) IIS) (ORS)

In the synthetic psychological cosmogony of the Upanisads, the

innermost essence of the individual, the soul or self, is the unitary
cause of creation, and that is bad. The soul or self is also the focal
point of the resolution of the apparently manifold universe back into
its essential unity, and that is good. On the other hand, the soul is
said to undergo within this universe suffering and transmigration,
which is bad. But is may also attain release from transmigration and
suffering, and that, of course, is good. Creation and resolution of the
cosmos are fundamentally Vedic concern. Rebirth and release are
originally the concerns of the non-Vedic yoga tradition. In the
synthetic Upanisadic philosophy, all these concerns center around the
nature of the soul, which given the nature of monism, must account
for both the “good” and the “bad”, or in a word, the eternal and
changeable aspects of existence. Witness the confusion that may result
from this overburdening of the concept of the soul:
180 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

I know this undecaying, ancient ((primeval) self of all, present in

everything on account of infinity. Of whom they declare, there is
stoppage of birth. The expounders of Brahman proclaim him to be
eternal.
S.U53.214(R)

Here, the soul (dtman) is universal and eternal on the one hand,
but on the other hand it is this same soul which is to be released
from the bondage of rebirth. In other words, the soul is both universal
and individual. In some passages, these apparently contradictory
aspects of the soul are intentionally juxtaposed in order to convey the
inexpressibility of ultimate reality.

This is my self within the heart, smaller than a grain of rice, than a
barley corn, than a mustard seed, than a grain of millet or than the
kernel of a grain of millet. This is my self within the heart, greater
than the earth, greater than the atmosphere, greater than the sky, greater
than these worlds.
GUN 1437 (8)

In the end, however, it was thought necessary to impose conceptual

consistency upon the Upanisadic teachings. These apparently
contradictory attributes of the soul are reconciled in both the Advaita
Vedanta system and the Samkhya-Yoga system by adopting the
expedient of declaring that there are actually two souls. One of these
— the linga-Sarira, jivatman, etc. — is active, involved in the world,
transmigrating, and ultimately illusory. The other is aloof, inactive,
unchanging and eternal: the purusa of Samkhya-Yoga or the
paramatman of Advaita Vedanta. There is little evidence that a
genuine, individual and eternal purusa of Samkhya ilk is to be found
in the Upanisads.° There are, however, a number of proto-Samkhya

63. Though Anima Sen Gupta has published two volumes, Chdndogya Upanisad:
Samkhya Point of View and Katha Upanisad: Samkhya Point of View, M. Sen
Publishing Co. Kanpur, which propose an exegesis of these Upanisads according
to Sarnkhya doctrines.
 YOGA AND VEDA IN THE UPANISADS 181

passages,” and the strict purusa-prakrti dualism of the classical system

is probably proposed as an answer to the present conceptual problem
regarding the dual nature of the soul as individual and universal. The
two soul doctrine of Advaita Vedanta, which addresses this same
problem, is anticipated in various passages in the Upanisads
themselves.
In the Advaita Vedanta system, the released soul is said to realize
its essential identity with the unitary principle of the universe, which
only appears to be diverse because of illusion (mdya). Sankara
compares this process to the reflection of the sun in a puddle
“returning” to the sun when the water dries up.*’ In the Samkhya-Yoga
system, the liberated soul (purusa) realizes that it is individual and
absolutely separate-from matter (prakrti), and by nature perfectly
calm, aloof, blissful, inactive and eternal. Matter, which evolves only
in the presence of the purusa, is also stilled when the soul attains
liberation.
Classical Samkhya, retains the non-Vedic concept of a plurality of
individual souls, but it is nonetheless cosmological in orientation. In
the first place, in the classical system the soul (purusa) is eternal. It
stands outside time and is absolutely changeless. It is an observer
only, absolutely inactive; although it is individual, it is omnipresent.
More importantly, as in the Advaita Vedanta system, the soul, strictly
speaking, does not transmigrate. It merely observes the transmigration
of certain mental aspects of prakrti. The transmigratory self is an
epiphenomenon of matter. In the last analysis, both the subject and the
object evolve out of prakrti solely for the sake of the enlightenment
of the purusa, and both subject and object cease when the purusa
realizes its own innate purity. In the classical Samkhya system,

64. See K.U. 1.3.10-11 and 2.3.7-8, where several of the Samkhya tattvas are
named. S.U. 6 mentions Sarnkhya and Yoga by name (vs. 13) and speaks of
pradhdna, a synonym of prakrti (vs. 10), the gunas (vs. 4) and contrasts the
ksetrajna and pradhdna (vs. 16), but there is little doubt that the passage
expresses the doctrine of an all-embracing creator god rather than the strict
duality of Sarmkhya.
65. See Sankara’s commentary on P.U. 4.9.
182 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

however, this evolution and cessation of the universe takes place with
reference to an individual purusa.
Sankara’s system is one step closer to Vedic concerns in that it
denies the individuality of the soul. For Sankara the Gtman is, in
effect, a subjectivized Hiranyagarbha which accounts for the entire
cosmos. Both Sankara and Samkhya borrow from the Vedic and the
non-Vedic traditions. Essentially, both classical systems integrate
Vedic cosmogonic concerns with the non-Vedic theory of the soul.
Moreover, the borrowed doctrine of yogic release is advanced, in the
orthodox context, as a verification of essentially Vedic cosmological
speculations.
In this complex tangle of origins, the position of Buddhism,
fundamentally a heterodox yogic system, is not what might be
immediately expected. In several surprising ways, Buddhism shares
the concerns of the orthodox systems. Buddhism accepts the doctrine
of rebirth, but due to its denial of the individual soul, there can be no
transmigrating entity. This situation is roughly analogous to the
situation in Samkhya or Advaita Vedanta, where the transmigrating
entity is ultimately illusory. Unlike these orthodox systems, however,
Buddhism denied any entity — individual or universal — standing
behind the process of rebirth. Though denying the soul, Buddhism
accepts the yogic concept of liberation in its doctrine of nirvana.
Realization of nirvana is regarded as final verification of the doctrine
of no soul, ironically the antithesis of the doctrine said to be verified
by yogic experience in the Samkhya and Advaita Vedanta systems.
Because there is no soul in Buddhism, nirvana cannot be like the
Jain or Samkhya concepts of the eternal survival of an individual
entity; nor can it be like the Ajivika concept of the extinction of an
individual entity; nor can it be like the Advaita concept of merging
with a universal entity. Thus, due to its no-soul doctrine, with regard
to the question of the nature of release, Buddhism is as much cut off
from its heterodox sister traditions as it is from orthodox system of
philosophy.
This would seem to be the result of its having made use of, and
having further transformed, the Upanisadic synthesis of Vedic and
non-Vedic material. Of course, the Buddha need not have been directly
aware of the Upanisads in order to have been influenced by ideas that
 YOGA AND VEDA IN THE UPANISADS 183

are first expressed in them. The point is that such ideas were current
at the time of the Buddha, and cannot be adequately explained as
being developments entirely within either orthodox or heterodox
thought.
The Buddha’s denial of the soul may also have been influenced
by the heterodox materialist schools (Carvaka or Lokayata) which
flourished in his time. These schools left no texts and survive only
in the hostile references of their opponents. According to these
sources, the ancient Indian materialists either denied the soul
altogether or asserted that the soul perished with the body.® In any
case, the materialists denied rebirth or afterlife in any form. In some
ways, the Ajivikas propounded a doctrine of delayed materialism, in
that they held that-the soul inevitably would perish after an extremely
long but nonetheless finite period of transmigration. In the ancient
Indian context, both the Carvakas and the Ajivikas regarded the final
extinction of the soul as tantamount to liberation from the trials of
mundane existence.
Such notions are in some ways similar to the Buddhist concept of
nirvana. Both are concepts of liberation without individual survival or
merging with a universal essence. Buddhist nirvana, however, aside
from not representing the extinction of an entity, is in no sense
inevitable, but is the result of tremendous effort.
On the other hand, Buddhist nirvana is also similar in some ways
to salvation in the orthodox systems of Samkhya or Advaita Vedanta.
In all three systems the immediate requirement for release is
knowledge of the nature of reality rather than, as in the Jain system,
an ascetic “burning up” of karmic impurities. Furthermore the
Buddhists, concept of nirvana has cosmological overtones which
resemble Upanisadic notions. According to early Buddhism knowledge
of the nature of reality is attainable through introspection. Successful
introspection reveals that in each individual’s case, the universe he
experiences whether it exists or not, unfolds because of his own
psychological activity. In the deluded person, this psychological
activity is a manifestation of ignorance and desire, the two points at

66. See D1: 34-6.

184 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

which the chain of dependent origination (paticcasamuppdda) may be

broken. Such Buddhist concepts are remarkably similar to the
contemporary, reversible cosmogonies of Samkhya and Advaita
Vedanta. The following chapters examine some more specific points
of similarity between Buddhist psychology and the synthetic
speculations of the Upanisads. In many cases, early Buddhism seems
to have availed itself of psychological concepts similar to those which
appear to have been laboriously worked out in the Upanisads in the
course of synthesizing Vedic and non-Vedic material.
Buddhism, from its very inception, stands astride an array of
diverse, pre-Buddhist speculations. It survives more successfully than
any single system of Indian philosophy on a bare minimum of
conceptual intake from these antecedent speculations. Aside from his
alleged spiritual excellence, the historical Buddha exhibited remarkable
religious genius in his acute sensitivity to both the problems and the
insight of the religious traditions of his time. The Buddha’s system of
thought, though highly original in many ways, also appears to have
taken into account both the successes and the failures of religious and
philosophical thought current at his time. This fund of thought,
particularly rich in the area of psychological theory, represented many
centuries of cumulative human experience funneled together from a
remarkably wide range of sources.
Not in spite of, but because of their internal inconsistency, the
Upanisads are an invaluable repository of the fund of cumulative
human knowledge available at this pivotal point in the history of India
and of the human race as a whole. In this regard, psychological
speculations recorded in the Upanisads are of particular importance.
These speculations record, however vaguely, the intellectual state of
flux which resolved into the most sophisticated assessments of human
consciousness the world would see for some two thousand years.
 Chapter 5

Upanisadic Psychology

In the foregoing attempt to unravel the Vedic concept of the nature

of the human being, the method employed was to try to discern the
intent of several psychological terms by examining the contexts in
which they are employed. What emerged from this examination was
a fairly consistent, if rather vague picture of the natures and functions
of various organs and faculties of the individual human being. The
Upanisads, by contrast, present more explicit but widely varying
concepts of what comprises the human being. The meanings of the
psychological terms themselves are easier to ascertain in the
Upanisads than they were in the Rg Veda, and in most cases where
Upanisadic terms are similar to Vedic terms, their relationship to
antecedent Vedic terms is clear. Many new terms appear in the
Upanisads, however, Upanisadic psychology is even _ further
complicated by a tendency to arrange and rearrange this enhanced list
of the faculties of the individual into a welter of schemes and
hierarchies which will be the primary subject matter of the present
chapter.
Whereas individual identity was a rather complex matter in the Rg
Veda, in the Upanisads the doctrine of the soul provides a relatively
simple concept of human identity. This Upanisadic teaching appears
to represent an appropriation of the even simpler yogic concept of the
soul current among the Jains and Ajivikas. Though perhaps somewhat
unsophisticated, the Jain and Ajivika doctrines of the soul functioned
admirably to explain both personal identity and the mechanism of
rebirth. The Upanisadic concept is complicated somewhat by the
notion that this soul is also the monistic principle of the universe.
Consideration of this complication may be postponed until the end of
this chapter. Regardless of the metaphysical problems which plague
the Upanisadic concept of the soul, psychologically speaking it
186 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

provides a clear reference point around which the various vital and
mental faculties may be arranged. Upanisadic terminology concerning
the soul, however, is confused. This confusion is probably the result
of a gradual shift in the Upanisads away from the vitalistic, Vedic
notion of the human being, and toward the more psychological yogic
concept. As a result of this gradual shift, conflicting vitalistic and
psychological concepts of the soul are recorded side by side without
apparent hesitation.
The term tani, which represents the nearest approach to a concept
of individuality in the Vedic context, is practically abandoned in the
Upanisads, where tanud is more or less synonymous with rupa,
meaning “form or appearance”.' The individual, immortal soul in
which personal identity inheres is usually designated by one of the
three terms Gtman, purusa and prdna.’ Due to the incorporation of
Vedic monism into the theory of the soul, each of these terms may
also denote the universal principle. None of these terms, however, not
even dtman, always has universal connotations. Atman, for example,
sometimes seems to mean “body”. Sankara, often unjustifiably,
interprets dtman as body whenever it suits his purposes, as often it
does give some of the vitalistic characterizations of the soul in the
Upanisads. In the following passage he is possibly correct in so
interpreting the last instance of the term, since the five desires seem
to be paralleled by the five parts of the person, leaving the original,
universal atman equated with manas.

In the beginning this (world) was just the self (atman), the only. He
desired, ‘would that I had a wife, then I may have offspring. Would
that I had wealth, then I would perform rites.’... Therefore, to this day,
a man who is single desires, ‘would that I had a wife’, etc. ... So long
as he does not obtain each one of these, he thinks himself to be
incomplete. Now his completeness (is as follows), mind (manas) truly
is his self (atman), speech is his wife, breath (prana) is his offspring,

1. Tanu only occurs in ten verses in the thirteen principal Upanisads: K.U. 2.23;
Mu.U. 3.2.3; 8.0, 3.5;°5.14) Mt, 4.6395.2;6.5; 6:67 6.132: 2.12)
2. Atman: C.U. 8.12.1; 4.4.1; 4.4.3-4; etc. Purusa: B.U. 4.3.46; 6.2.14; P.U. 4.9;
etc. Prana: P.U. 2.7; 3.3; etc.
 UPANISADIC PSYCHOLOGY 187

the eye is his human wealth ... the ear his divine wealth ... the body
(atman), indeed, is his work, for with it he performs (ritual) work
(karma).
IAG TEI (083)

Even brahman is not always strictly universal in meaning. In the

following passage it refers to the common origin of a limited group
of similar things rather than to the universe as a whole.

Verily, this (world) is a triad of name (nama), shape (riipa) and work
(karma). Of names, speech ... of shapes, eye ... of works, the body
(@tman) is the source, for from it all works (karma) arise. It is their
common feature, for it is common to all works. It is their brahman, for
it sustains (bibharti) all works. These three together are one, this self
(atman); the self, though one, is this triad. This is the immortal veiled
by the real. Breath (prdana), verily, is the immortal, name and shape are
the real. By them breath is veiled.
B.U. 1.6.1-3 (R)

The preceding passage also contains an example of the ambiguous

use Of dtman, as well as an example of the use of prdadna as a
universal principle. Prana and purusa commonly connote individuality
more than universality, but each of these three terms — dtman, purusa
and prdna — as well as brahman, may be applied to the universal
principle,’ and all four of them, along with other, less common terms,*
are used synonymously with reference to the identical essence of the
individual and the universe. In Vedic psychology, life and
consciousness were considered to be the primary characteristics of the
individual human being. In Upanisadic psychology, they are the
primary characteristics of the soul, but in the Upanisads another
aspect of the soul receives considerable attention as well. This is the
aspect of volitional activity, which relates to the idea that the soul

2 Atman: BU 1:5:15>-2.1-20; 2.412214) 2.5.19: 35.13.9716" 44.5°C.U. 3.14;

5.18.1: 6.8: 7.25; 7.26; Ma.U. 2; P.U. 3.3; etc. Purusa: B.U. 1.4.1; 3.9.10;
DS AA PA, 6.67 MiaU. 113; 2.1-2> 2.7.10; ete. Prana? B.U;3:9:9395.13.2;
6.1.1 & 13; C.U. 3.15.4; 5.1.1; Ks.U. 2.1; 3.8; Mt.U. 1.7; etc. Brahman: B.U.
4.4.18; C.U. 3.12.7-9; etc.
4. Such as antaryamin: B.U. 3.7.1-3; Ma.U. 6 ksetrajfa: Mt.U. 2.5; 5.2.
188 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

created the universe, but is based primarily on the incorporation of the

idea of karma and rebirth into Upanisadic psychology. Thus, in the
Upanisads, the soul is not only said to be characterized (-maya, lit.
made) by life (prana, lit. breath) and consciousness (manas, vijnana,
prajha), but is also said to have an active, volitional aspect.’

That self is, indeed Brahman, characterized by consciousness (vijidna),

mind (manas), breath (prana), sight, hearing, earth, water, wind, space,
heat, non-heat, desire, non-desire, anger, non-anger, dharma, adharma,
everything; so that it is said, ‘made of this, made of that”. As one
does, as one behaves, so he becomes. The doer of good becomes good;
the doer of bad becomes bad. Good occurs by good action, bad by bad.
lp), halss

It is interesting that in the context of ancient Jainism, the preceding

would imply that the soul is quite literally karma-maya, in that karma
in the ancient Jain system was understood as a subtle material
adhering to the soul. This ancient Jain concept may perhaps seem
rather crude, but it does have the virtue of explaining clearly how the
doer is thought to be affected by his deeds. Because of the ultimately
universal nature of the soul such clarity is possible in the Upanisadic
context. The search for the ultimate agent, under different names,° is
long, confused, and ultimately unsuccessful in the Upanisads. In the
last analysis the only tenable position, given the doctrine of monism,
is that the soul as ultimate doer is not really a doer. It only seems to
act because of the ultimately illusory actions of an imaginary entity,
the individual self. Though illusory, the individual self is nonetheless
ontologically grounded in the ultimate, non-doing doer.

Verily, this self, the seers declare, wanders here on earth in every body
(from body to body) unaffected, as it seems, by the light or the dark

5. See also B.U. 1.6.3 for volitional aspect associated with the term karma. Note
also the volitional aspect of the soul as described by kratu: C.U. 3.14.1; and
kama: B.U. 3.9.11; Mt.U. 6.30. Cp. K.U. 1.2.11; C.U. 8.1.5; T.U. 2.6.1; Mu.U.
37).
6. Kartr: Mt.U. 2.3; S.U. 5.7. Karayitr: Mt.U. 3.2-3; 2.3-5; S.U. 1.6; Kena U. 1.1;
C.U. 8.1.15; B.U. 4.4.22. Antarydmin: Ma.U. 6; B.U. 3.7.1-23; Mt.U. 6.22, 25,
29 & 36.
 UPANISADIC PSYCHOLOGY 189

fruits of action. On account of this unmanifestness, subtility,

imperceptibility, ungraspability, freedom from self-sense, (the self) is
unabiding and a doer only in seeming, truly is not a doer, he is
abiding.
Mitr 2 7a)

Such problems are perhaps most obvious in the Upanisadic context

with reference to the volitional characteristics of the soul, but they
also arise with reference to the vital and mental characteristics of a
soul imagined to be at once individual and universal. Put simply, that
which is eternal cannot change, and therefore cannot act or be affected
by actions. An eternal entity cannot in any meaningful sense of the
terms be said to live or be conscious, since these involve change. In
the end, though itis not consistently recognized in the Upanisads, the
individual cum universal soul can only be characterized as neti, neti,
“not this, not that”.’ This leaves Upanisadic psychology to deal only
with its apparent, though ultimately illusory characteristics:
consciousness, life and volitional activity.
Eventually these three apparent characteristics of the soul gave rise
to the three groups of five faculties that became standard in orthodox
philosophy: 1) the faculties of consciousness (jAdna-indriya or buddhi-
indriya). 2) the faculties of action (karma-indriya) and 3) the five
vital faculties or breaths (prdna). These vital breaths are not to be
confused with a common set of sensual faculties also called pranas.
In the present analysis these sensual faculties will be called “breath
faculties” for the sake of clarity.
It would be tempting to speculate that these various faculties of
the soul were borrowed, along with the soul idea itself, from a non-
Vedic source, but as far as can be judged from the extant literature,
the Upanisadic enumeration of faculties of the soul evolved gradually
out of largely Vedic concerns. Given their propensity for
psychological speculation, the Upanisads are remarkably inconsistent
in their various enumerations of the faculties of the soul. This seems
to indicate a gradual process of working out a coherent doctrine over
time, rather than a wholesale borrowing from an existing tradition.

7. B.U. 2.3.6; 3.9.26; 2.4; 4.4.22; 4.15.5.

190 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

Somewhat surprisingly, upon analysis it appears that the starting point

for this process was the Vedic theory of correspondences between
aspects of the microcosmic individual and macrocosmic, natural
phenomena. From this unlikely starting point, the Upanisadic sages
appear to have identified — for the first time in recorded history —
the five empirical senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch. This
identification of the five senses appears to be a part of the Upanisadic
shift from a vitalistic to a psychological concept of human identity.
Chapter 3 examined several Vedic psychological faculties which
were made to correspond to certain natural phenomena. The clearest
of these correspondences in the Rg Veda are the relationships of the
eye to the sun and the dtman (spirit, breath-soul) to the wind. The
Bradhmanas and Upanisads exhibit a _ proliferation of such
correspondences apparently limited only by the fertile imaginations
of the priests and sages. These expansive tables of correspondences
may include such “faculties” as head, bladder, feet, hair, skin, navel,
semen, etc., which are made to correspond to various natural
phenomena such as sky, sun, moon, water, plants, etc.* There is little
consistency in most of this, and the associations appear in most cases
to be random, or at best based on superficial resemblances. These
extensive lists of correspondences between the macrocosm and the
microcosmic person are perhaps interesting as archaic attempts to
impose order on the bewildering array of phenomena which occur in
human experience, but in the end this approach proved to be a dead
end. Many of the microcosmic elements in these lists of
correspondences, however, were eventually reworked into a more
satisfying map of the individual. This reworking resulted from the
incorporation of the concept of the soul as a central reference point,
and eventually resulted in a psychological rather than a vitalistic
concept of the essence of the human being.
The largely random universal correspondences often remained in
Upanisadic material, but the parts and faculties of the individual
gradually came to be more purposefully selected and arranged with
the express goal of illuminating the nature of the soul, which was

So oece CUS 11e23 ALi:

 UPANISADIC PSYCHOLOGY 191

thought to stand at the core of every human being. In other words,

the orientation of the analysis of the individual became subjective,
the ultimate subject, the soul, providing the reference of analysis
rather than the universe. The aspects of the individual chosen for
analysis came to represent, rather than parts or characteristics of a
biological organism, faculties of a psychological entity. These were
the faculties whereby the soul was thought to interact with its
environment, even if ultimately that environment was thought to be
illusory. Throughout this process of change, vitalistic terminology —
terms such as atman and prdna — continued to be used to denote the
essence of the human being, but these terms came to be increasingly
psychological in implication. Because vitalistic and psychological
concepts of the individual co-exist in the Upanisads, careful analysis
is required in order to perceive this shift or to arrive at an accurate
interpretation of much important Upanisadic material.

Mind, Speech and Breath:

The most common set of faculties of the soul enumerated in the

Upanisads are not selected on the basis of empirical observation or
introspection. Instead, they are derived from Vedic categories. This
set of five faculties includes: breath (prdna), mind (manas), speech
(vak), eye and ear. By virtue of their continued association with
universal phenomena — normally wind (vayu), moon, fire, sun, and
the directional quarters (dif) — these five faculties are sometimes
called divinities (devata).” More commonly, by means of a rationale
to be examined presently, they are known as the “breath faculties”
(prana). Of these, the most essential are the triad of mind, speech
and breath.
In many ways, this archaic triad is cosmological rather than
psychological. Mind and speech, as shown above, are fundamental
aspects of the cosmogonic duality. They are often represented as a

9. See also B.U. 1.3.10; 1.5.15-20; Ks.U. 1.6; 2.3; 2.14; 4.20.
192 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

sexual pair, and in some passages, their sexual union is said to

produce breath, the third member of the triad."

11. Of this speech, the earth is the body, its light form is this
(terrestrial) fire. As far as speech extends, so far extends the earth, so
far (extends) this fire.
12. Now of this mind, heaven is the body and its light form is
that sun. As far as the mind extends, so far extends the heaven, so far
(extends) that sun. These two entered into union and from that was
born breath. He is Indra (the supreme lord). He is without rival. Verily,
a second person is a rival. He who knows this has no rival."
BU sales sila (Rs)

“These two” indicates speech and mind, along with the various
other correspondences indicated. Oddly, the offspring of this sexual
union, breath, is presented here as being the supreme member of the
triad. This is probably because, according to Upanisadic logic, the
parents are dual, but the offspring is a unity comprising the essence
of both. Sexual motifs are employed in other Upanisadic creation
passages as well, for example, death as the cosmogonic principle is
said to have brought about the sexual union of mind and speech to
create the universe as food for himself.'? The previous chapter quotes
an account at B.U. 1.4.1-4 of the creation of various life forms by the
incestuous activity of the male and female parts of the universal
atman. This same passage, at verse 7, recognizes that such procreative
activity is mirrored by the functions of mind and speech as
cosmogonic principles. These two psychological principles are every
bit as changeable as the two cosmogonic principles described in the
passage in question. Whatever speech utters, the mind is capable of
assuming that form and procreating as it were, by producing a
proliferation of conceptual/verbal constructs. In Upanisadic terms, such
constructs are known as ndma-ripa, “names and forms”, a concept
which will be discussed in detail in the following section of this
chapter. This same idea is approached from another angle in a passage

10. See also B.U. 1.5.7; 1.4.7.

Coa BU 2:
IP UL ee
 UPANISADIC PSYCHOLOGY 193

where speech, mind and breath, are said to correspond respectively to

the known (vijidta), the knowable and the unknown. Speech represents
what is known, mind what is knowable and breath what is unknown,
probably referring to ultimate reality, the essential, universal soul.”
Thus, speech and mind as cosmological cum psychological principles
cooperate in actualizing in a manifold way the potential of reality, but
they are powerless to conceptualize its essence, the universal soul,
which is beyond the scope of words or thought. Still spoken of in
vitalistic terms as breath, in such passages, the soul takes on
psychological significance as the union of mind and speech. Mind and
speech come to represent faculties of the soul. As cosmogonic
principles, they represent the means whereby the universal soul creates
the universe. At the individual level, they represent the means
whereby the individual projects the illusory, manifold universe as in
a dream.

Speech and Name:

The inclusion of speech in this essential triad, and its identification

with “the known”, may seem odd to the modern reader. Its inclusion
apparently arose out of Vedic concerns with the magical efficacy of
Vedic rituals. In the context of the Vedic hymns, speech was regarded
as being capable of producing concrete effects in this world. In the
Upanisads, speech as a faculty of the soul is shifted around in the
various lists of hierarchies of human faculties to suit the point being
made. Its inclusion, however, was more or less compulsory due to its
importance in the Vedic scheme of things. In the Vedas, speech was
a goddess, all encompassing by virtue of the fact that everything has
a name. From Vedic times name (ndma) is an important constituent of
individuality. In early Brahmanic and Upanisadic mythological cum
psychological cosmogonies name, along with form (riupa), plays a
crucial role in the creation of the manifold universe. The cosmological
origin of individuality through name-and-form is reflected in the
make-up of the existential person in that speech and mind in the

13. B.U. 1.5.8-10.

194 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

Upanisads are said to be the individual faculties co-responsible for

perceiving the names and forms which constitute the apparent
individuality of entities.“ Mind “ or sometimes eye ” represents
perceptual consciousness in general, mind in one passage being called
the divine eye.’* Speech, however, is also often treated as a perceptual
faculty, the faculty which perceives the names of the forms perceived
by mind or the eye. Retaining the Vedic attitude toward language, the
Upanisadic sages do not regard names as mere conventional
designations of things. Instead, names are believed to be inherent
properties of the things they designate. To exist as an entity is to have
both a form accessible to perception and a name accessible to the
faculty of speech. The name which a thing bears corresponds to the
concept which the thing engenders in consciousness. In the Upanisadic
context, where the universe is usually represented as an illusory
projection of consciousness, the name which a thing bears is every bit
as constituative of its reality as the form the thing takes.
In the duality mind-and-speech, mind is the faculty primarily
responsible for apprehending form. Speech is the faculty which
apprehends Names, the underlying conceptual/verbal order among the
multitude of forms encountered in the universe. Thus, speech is
praised at one point as the basis of true and false, right and wrong.’
Even when differentiation is said to be illusory, speech is held
responsible in part for the mistakenly perceived individuality, as in a
famous passage attributed to Uddalaka:”

Just as, my dear, by one clod of clay all that is made of clay becomes
known, the modification being only a name (nama) arising from speech
while the truth is that it is just clay.
C.U. 6.1.4 (R)

In the Indian context, this “modification arising from speech”

means something quite different from the immediate impression that

14S Beell2 36) Cos CUM852.5:

ISTE URSa2:
Wey, COLO 7A.
17. See also C.U. 6.1.5-6; 6.4.1-4; B.U. 4.4.21.
 UPANISADIC PSYCHOLOGY 195

the English translation probably gives to most modern readers. In the

Upanisads, speech is considered a genuine faculty of perception rather
than a learned set of random associations between words and things.”
What Uddalaka probably means is that speech is the actual perceptual
basis of mistaken knowledge, just as the eye or ear may be mistaken
in perceiving manyness. He does not mean that individuality is just a
“way of speaking”. Consider the following passage in this connection.

Verily, by speech, Your Majesty, a friend is recognized (prajidyate).

By speech alone, Your Majesty, the Rg Veda, the Yajur Veda, the
Sama Veda, the Atharvdangirasa, history, ancient lore, arts, the
Upanisads, verses, aphorisms, explanations, commentaries, (the effects
of) sacrifices, oblations, food and drink, this world and the other and
all beings are known.
BaWie4s leQen Gk)

Belief in the independent existence of the name or word was, of

course, an important doctrine for those who maintained the eternality
and infallibility of the Vedic scriptures. The independent existence of
the word (fabda) became and remained a fundamental doctrine of the
Mimamsa school. The Upanisads contain a prototype of one of the
classical Mimamsa arguments to establish the eternality of the word,
an argument advanced primarily against the Buddhists who held that
speech is based on mere convention.”

Whatever word (Sabda) there is, is speech. It determines an end (antam,

a conclusion or an object), but it is not (determined).
BaWeeles:3

The idea here is that the concept of, “a cow”, for example cannot be
created by pointing to all cows and saying “cow”, because the hearer
could just as well assume that the speaker meant “horns” or “tail”.
Instead, the Mimarmsakas, and apparently the author of the preceding,
hold that the verbal ideal must precede its various referents.” In other

18. See also B.U. 4.1.2.

19. See also B.U. 4.5.12; 2.4.11; 4.1.2.
20. See Mimamsa DarSana 1.1.6.19, Sabara Bhasya.
196 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

words, the name of a thing is equally important or even more

important than its form in determining the nature of that thing.
This same idea is reflected in the passage quoted above which
equates speech with “the known”. That same passage equates the
breath with “the unknown”, thus indicating its supremacy over speech
and mind. This supremacy is emphasized by the characterization of
breath as the child of mind and speech. These several themes are
brought together explicitly in the following passage. In this passage
eye substitutes for mind, representing perceptual consciousness in
general. The soul (dtman) is identified with breath and naively
characterized as the agent of karma. In such circumstances, Sankara
routinely interprets the active, karma-producing G@tman as “body”,
though such passages actually almost certainly indicate a more
primitive concept of the soul operating in many Upanisadic passages.

1. Verily, this (world) is a triad: name (nama), form (riipa) and

action (karma). Of these, speech is the source (uktha) of names, for
from it all names arise. It is their sama, for it is uniform (sdma) in all
names. It is their brahman, for it bears (bibharti) all names.
2. Now, eye is the source of forms, for from it all forms arise.
It is their sama. ...
3. Now, of actions, the soul (@tman) is the source, for from it
all actions arise. It is their sama. ... This triad is a unity, the soul. The
unitary soul is this triad. This is the immortal adored by the true.
Breath is the immortal, name and form are the true. By them, this
breath is adorned (channa).
B.U. 1.6.1-3

This entire passage is a complex pun based on the concept of the

universe as a ritual utterance. Thus, uktha, translated “source”, means
literally “utterance”. Sama, meaning “‘uniform” is related to sama, a
type of hymn, and brahman obviously suggests the older meaning
“prayer” as well as “universal principle”. Channa, “(seductively)
adorned”, implies verbal adornment, and in particular the metrical
adornment of the Vedic hymns (chandas). The universe is depicted as
a sacrificial ritual in which sacred words (names) actually participate
in and constitute part of the reality of the forms we perceive around
us. It appears then that several essentially Vedic notions, rather
peculiar notions to the modern mind, account for the frequent
 UPANISADIC PSYCHOLOGY 197

Upanisadic inclusion of speech as one of the essential faculties of the

soul. These Vedic notions also account for the important cosmological
role of names, in conjunction with forms, in accounting for the orderly
differentiation of discrete entities in the universe.

Breath and Vitality:

The supremacy of breath over mind and speech in the essential

triad of faculties of the soul is a recurrent theme in the Upanisads.
It amounts to a vitalistic definition of the soul, whereby the conscious
characteristics of the individual are represented as deriving from the
more essential characteristic of vitality. The Upanisadic concern with
the vital principle of the soul, eventually superseded by concern with
the psychological principle of the soul, appears to derive from Vedic
themes. In the Rg Veda, the individual is said to derive existence from
the universe by consuming food. In the Vedic scheme vayas is the
vital faculty deriving most directly from this nourishment. Even after
death, should one be fortunate enough to attain a heavenly body
(tanu), it was thought necessary to nourish it with “food” provided in
the sustaining rite, or ancestral sacrifice (pitr-yajfia) performed by
one’s offspring. Naturally, that aspect of the tanu which survived in
one’s offspring also had to be maintained by food. This dependence
upon food was transformed in the Upanisads into a metaphor for the
motive behind creation. This motive, desire for food, is said to infect
the mechanism of the universe, which functions by the perpetual
consumption of beings in the universal fire.
Of course, beings are consumers as well as consumed. One of the
most archaic attempts to locate the point of identity between the
universal and the individual, a point presupposed by monism, was to
identify the consumer in oneself with the universal consumer. Thus the
method behind the seeming madness of the following:

With that speech, with that self (@tman) he brought forth all this
whatsoever exists here. ... Whatever he brought forth, that he resolved
to eat. Verily, because he eats (attiti) everything, therefore the aditi-
198 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

nature of Aditi. He who knows thus the aditi-nature of Aditi becomes

an eater of everything here, and everything becomes food for him.
BLU 02.551)

Elsewhere, this common, consuming essence of both the universe and

the individual is identified with the universal fire. It is this universal
fire which one hears upon covering one’s ears, cooking the food one
has eaten.”' Individually, it is the digestive fire. Its heat is the warmth
of the body. Breath, which always accompanies heat in a living
organism, was also thought of as primarily a digestive force. The
scientific insight behind these concepts is remarkable in such an early
age. Digestion is recognized for what it is: the oxidation of food. This
burning is recognized as involving three things, fuel (food), heat and
air (breath).
In this vein, brahman, which encompasses everything, may be
represented as the duality of breath and food,” a duality which
ultimately represents life and matter, life being that which transforms
matter into consciousness.

Prajapati, desirous of offspring, verily performed tapas. Heated by that

tapas, he caused a (sexual) pair to arise, matter (rayi) and breath,
(thinking) “These two will produce many kinds of offspring for me”.
PUL

In other words, the digestive vital breath will consume matter and
organize it into organic bodies which may support consciousness. Such
theories appear to derive directly from the Vedic theory that the
universe is ingested as food for the tani.
This theme is elaborated upon considerably in the Chandogya
Upanisad in an interesting sequence of passages in which rudimentary
scientific observation is brought to bear upon an essentially Vedic
cosmogony. The correspondences between the cosmos and _ the
individual are proposed with the express purpose of establishing the
essential nature of the soul. This attempt begins with an abstract

21, C.U.3.13°7-8.
22. See also B.U. 3.9.8; C.U. 4.3.7; Mt. U. 6.1; 6.9-15.
 UPANISADIC PSYCHOLOGY 199

statement of the ancient Vedic mythological cosmogony according to

which the universal principle, by performing tapas (heat-producing
austerity), sweated, thus producing the universal waters from which
the material universe was fashioned.”

1. In the beginning, my dear, this was Being (sat) alone, one

only without a_ second. ...
3. It thought, “may I be many, may I procreate”. It sent forth
heat (tejas). That heat thought, “May I be many, may I procreate”. It
sent forth water. Therefore, whenever a person grieves or perspires,
water is produced from the heat.
4. That water thought, “May I be many; may I procreate”. It
sent forth food. Therefore, whenever it rains anywhere, there comes to
be abundant food. Thus is food, for eating born from that (water).
C.U. 6.2.1-4

Somewhat artificially, mind, breath and speech are made to correspond

to these three cosmic evolutes — heat, water and food — which
obviously resemble the three gunas of prakrti in the Samkhya system.

1. Food when eaten becomes threefold; its coarsest portion

becomes the faeces; its middle (portion) flesh and its subtlest (portion)
mind.
2. Water when drunk becomes threefold ... its subtlest (portion)
the breath.
3. Heat when eaten becomes threefold ... its subtlest (portion)
speech.
4. Thus, my dear, mind consists of food, breath consists of water
and speech con-sists of heat.
C.U. 6.5.1-4 (R)

The correspondences offered here are subsequently justified on the

empirical basis that it may be observed that if a person ceases to eat
for fifteen days, but drinks only water, he will continue to breathe,
but will not be able to think. When he eats again, it is observed that,
on the basis of the digestive activity of the breath, his mind will begin

23. See Rg 10.129.2-4, but cp. a slightly different account at B.U. 1.2.1-2.
200 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

to function again, will “blaze up” like a coal covered with straw.”
The dependence of mind upon food is thus established empirically.
This same discourse also teaches that food, in turn, depends on water,
water upon heat, and heat upon being, a theory based on the
cosmogonic order of appearance of these principles. Moreover, the
priority of breath over mind on the individual level is also empirically
justified, for as long as there is breath, when solid food is eaten it
will be digested and transformed into mind. In other words, one’s
psychological existence depends upon the continuation of one’s
vitality.
In this same passage, breath is said to depend on its cosmic
counterpart, water, just as mind depends upon food. Presumably, this
indicates that if one were deprived of water as well as food, one
would stop breathing and die. Because of the lingering presence of
heat, the body would remain warm for a short time. In this same
passage it is said that when death does occur, the cosmogonic
emanation outlined above (being to heat to water to food) is reversed
on the individual level when mind (from food) merges into breath
(from water), which merges into heat, which merges into being, or, as
it is stated in the Upanisad, into the “highest divinity”.”” Upanisadic
cosmology thus appears to be verified by observing death, whereupon
one first ceases thinking, then stops breathing and finally ceases to be
warm. The correspondence of speech to heat is conveniently ignored
at this point in the passage.
The present instruction culminates with the famous statement, tat
tvam asi, which in context is a vitalistic approach to the identity of
the individual essence and the universal essence.

Verily, indeed, this body dies when deprived of the living self (jiva);
the living self does not die. That which is the subtle essence this whole
world has for its self (4tman). That is the true. That is the self. That
art thou (tat tvam asi), Svetaketu.
CUsG 1s)

24. C.U. 6.7.

25. C.U. 6.8.6.
 UPANISADIC PSYCHOLOGY 201

Here, it appears that jiva (lit. life) is identified with the ultimate
universal principle (atman) and not, as in some later passages, the
conditioned, transmigrating, strictly individual soul.”
Thus, in some Upanisadic passages, vitality as symptomatized by
breath and heat is held to be the essence of the individual by virtue
of the observable fact that the continued functioning of consciousness
depends upon the presence of these vital faculties. These deathbed
observations are further supported with the observation that in sleep
too, the mind ceases to function while breath, and presumably heat,
continue to be present.

1. Learn from me, my dear, the true nature of sleep. When a

person here sleeps, as it is called, then, my dear, he has reached pure
being. ...
2. Just as a bird tied by a string, after flying in various directions
without finding a resting-place elsewhere settles down (at last) at the
place where it is bound, so also the mind, my dear, after flying in
various directions without finding a resting-place elsewhere settles down
in breath, for the mind, my dear, is bound to breath.
C.U. 6.8.1-2 (R)

Following this passage, again, the dependence of mind on food, food

on water, water on heat and heat on being is reiterated, as is the
vitalistic mergence of the faculties at death.” In these passages, the
supremacy of breath and heat among the individual faculties is
proposed on the basis of the observable dependence of consciousness
on vitality. In good scientific form, it is explained with the theory that
breath, as a digestive force, is essential in the transformation of food
into consciousness, which is thus represented as an epiphenomenon of
vitality and matter. Though the preceding passages suggest a reality
or essence of existence beyond mere vitality as symptomatized by
breath and heat, several passages are content to equate breath directly

26; Cp. C05 63,2.

27. Radhakrishnan, though apparently following Sankara, is obviously wrong in
interpolating “body” into C.U.1 6.8.3, since mind, throughout the passage, is
said to be dependent upon food.
202 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

with the absolute principle.” Breath is more common in this role than
is heat, but either may appear, as the following passage makes clear.

Just as the slough of a snake lies on an anthill, dead, cast off, even
so lies this body. But this disembodied, immortal breath is indeed
brahman, is heat.
Bowers

The apparent superiority of heat over breath in several passages

in the sixth section of the Chadndogya Upanisad may relate to the
observation that a dying person remains warm longer than he breathes,
though this observation is not specifically recorded. It may also be
explained by the cosmogonic role of heat noted at the outset of the
speculations in the sixth section of the Chandogya Upanisad.” Here,
however, heat is a universal as opposed to an individual principle in
the list of principles enumerated. At any rate, the merging of breath
into heat is clear. The correspondence between individual speech and
universal heat at C.U. 6.5.3, however, in the sections closing is
ignored account of the mergence of the faculties at death, when,
apparently on empirical grounds, speech is said to merge into mind.

Also, my dear, the relatives gather around a sick (dying) person and
ask, ‘Do you know me? Do you know me?’ So long as his speech is
not merged in mind, mind in breath, breath is heat and heat in the
highest divinity, so long he knows (them).
CUsG 15a

All of this obscures the precise role of heat in this group of passages,
although elsewhere too, heat, as the universal fire (vaifvanara,
“pertaining to all men”, an epithet of Agni) is characterized as the
individual cum universal essence. One passage even suggests that
heat is the basis of dream consciousness.”

28. B.U. 1.3.21; 3.9.9; Mt. U..1.1; Mu.U.°3.1.47Cp, BU, 2.1.20; 2.3.1- 3.32:
2976.UO 2s:
30. C.U. 5.11.2, 4, 6; 5.12.1; etc. See Jacob, Concordance, p. 897.
31. Ma.U. 4.
 UPANISADIC PSYCHOLOGY 203

At any rate, the search for an essential vital faculty of the

individual is also one form of the search for a route by which the
individual may be identified with the monistic principle of the
universe. Though the mythological, cosmogonic status of heat was
convenient for such purposes, breath was without a doubt the primary
vital faculty in the Upanisads. Its digestive role may be taken as
implying a subsuming of the less important vital faculty, heat.

The Breath Faculties:

The supremacy of breath among the faculties of the soul is

maintained even in the preliminary stages of a more thorough inquiry
into the nature of consciousness which eventually supersedes the
vitalistic speculations examined above. In fact, vitalistic terminology
is never completely abandoned, even when vitalistic concepts have
waned in the shifting Upanisadic characterization of the human being.
Thus, the most common Upanisadic enumeration of the faculties of the
soul is arrived at by the introduction of eye and ear, or sight and
hearing, to the more archaic triad of mind, speech and breath. Eye and
ear, it may be noted, are the only sensual faculties specifically
mentioned as such in the Rg Veda.” In the Upanisads, they are
usually construed as extensions of the mind, though in some versions
of the five breath faculties they seem to be represented, along with
mind and speech, as independent and equal faculties subordinate only
to breath. These five faculties do not appear, then, to be a scientific
attempt to define the faculties of the human being. Instead, they seem
to be a distillation, based on incipient empiricism, from earlier, more
extensive and random lists of correspondences between the individual
and elements of the universe at large. Due to their original context,
these five faculties, as noted above, are sometimes called “divinities”.
More commonly they are called “breaths” (pradna), presumably
because, initially at any rate, they were considered secondary
characteristics of an essentially vitalistic soul. These faculties will be

32. See Rg 10.71.4 & 7.

204 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

called “breath faculties” below in order to distinguish them from the

five “vital breaths”, which are also called collectively prana.
This vitalistic terminology is explained mythologically in the texts
themselves by reference to the well-known “dispute of the breath
faculties” (prana-samvdada). An early version of this dispute occurs in
the Jaimani Upanisad Brahmana, in which six divinities — fire, wind,
sun, breath, food and speech — each advance their respective claims
to supremacy. In the end all agree that each is indispensable.” Similar
disputes between speech and mind occur even in such ancient texts as
the Taittiriya Samhita,“ as well as in a few Brdhmana passages,”
where the disagreement is over who will carry the oblation to the
gods. Mind is judged the more essential ritual force, as the foregoing
analysis in Chapter 3 of the role of manas in the sacrifice would
suggest. In the Upanisadic versions of the dispute,*° however, breath
is judged to be the most important faculty on the basis of the
essentially empirical observation that mind, speech, sight or hearing
may cease,” and the individual, though deficient, will go on living,
whereas if breath ceases, all of the other faculties must cease also.

One lives deprived of speech, for we see the dumb. One lives deprived
of eye, for we see the blind. One lives deprived of ear, for we see the
deaf. One lives deprived of mind, for we see the fool. One lives
deprived of arms; one lives deprived of legs; for thus we see. Thus it
is the breath alone, this intelligent soul (prajndtman), which grasps the
body and causes it to rise.
Ks Use

A variation on the dispute of the breath faculties occurs in a few

passages wherein the gods (deva) and demons (asura) clash over the
superintendency of the universe. The gods eventually win the struggle

33. J.U.B. 4.11-13. See Belvalkar and Ranade, Indian Philosophy, vol. 2, p. 147.
34, T.S. 2.5.11. See Belvalkar and Ranade, Indian Philosophy, vol. 2, p. 70.
Sbp Se WAR Uy, ei
36, See B.U. 1.5.21; 6.1.7-14; C.U. 5.1.7-15; Ks.U_ 2.14; 3.2: PU. 2:4;
37. Some versions include other “faculties” or “divinities” as well, such as semen,
wind, fire, water, earth, hands, feet. See B.U. 4.1.3; P.U. 2.2-5; Ks.U. 3.3.
 UPANISADIC PSYCHOLOGY 205

by means of the ritual chanting performed by each of the breath

faculties. The demons, however, retaliate successfully against these
ritual weapons by piercing each faculty with evil, except, that is, for
breath, which proves impervious to evil and is thus the instrument of
the demons’ demise.* The supremacy of breath consists not only of
being immune to evil — such as thinking, speaking, hearing or seeing
what is evil — but also of being deathless, evil and death being
deemed essentially equivalent.” Thus, in several passages, breath is
said to be the essence of life and is identified directly with that which
is reborn.*° Elsewhere, however, the superiority of breath among the
faculties of the soul is explained by reference to the Vedic
correspondences between the individual and the cosmos, in which
breath (pradna or @tman) is said to correspond on the universal scale
with wind (vayu). In the Upanisads, both breath and wind are often
said to be the supreme divinity in the universe,*’ and often this
superiority is said to derive from the fact that they absorb other,
secondary divinities into themselves.”

1. Wind (vayu) verily is the absorbent, for when fire goes out,
it goes into wind. When the sun sets, it goes into wind. When the
moon sets, it goes into wind.
2. When water dries up, it goes into wind. Wind, indeed, absorbs
them all: thus (is the teaching) with regard to divinities (adhidaivata,
i.e. macrocosmically).
3. Now, with reference to oneself (adhyatman, 1.e.
microcosmically), breath, indeed is the absorbent. When one sleeps,
into breath go speech, sight, hearing and mind. Breath, indeed, absorbs
them all.
C.U. 4.3.1-3

38, B.U..1.3;,C.U,.1.2,
39. BU, 1.3.11; 1.5.21.
40. C.U. 6.1.3; 1.2.9; 7.15.1-3; P.U. 2.6-7; 3.7-9; B.U. 1.5.21; 4.4.1-2; Ks.U. 3.3
Cp. B.U. 1.5.17.
Alm PAS 2d; KU: 3.2.23; Isa UL 172 B.U, 1-5:22-23;/2,3.3-5; 3.2.7; CU..3-16.
42. See also P.U. 3.2.12-13; C.U. 5.1.15; 6.8.2; Ks.U. 2.12-13.
206 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

Aside from its supposed absorptive qualities, the superior position

of breath among the faculties is most often based entirely on its vital
function. That which supports life and that which survives death are
assumed to be identical and to be the essence of human existence.
This preoccupation with vitalistic immortality suggests that the desire
to identify the reincarnating soul with the vital principle of the
universe is in some sense a replacement for the Vedic quest for
immortality in heaven. The concept of a living universe was also a
feature of Vedic thought. To some extent Upanisadic vitalism is
reminiscent of the correspondences noted in the Rg Veda between
certain elements of the living individual and certain elements of the
living universe. Most notably in the Rg Veda, wind (vayu) is thought
of as the universal breath (prdna or dtman), and fire (agni) is often
called “universal life” (vifva-dyu). Similarly in the Upanisads, breath
and heat, the two major vital forces in the individual, also have
universal connotations. Many of the elements of Upanisadic vitalism
are, in fact, probably attributable to antecedent Vedic notions.
In the Upanisads, though, even in basically vitalistic passages,
correspondences of the individual to the universe occur along a
converging course rather than as a simple set of parallels. This
reflects, no doubt, the introduction of the concept of the soul into
Vedic theories of the nature of the individual. The Vedic sages were
content to point out correspondences between certain aspects of the
individual and certain universal phenomena. The Upanisadic sages
seek to reduce human consciousness and vitality to a single essence,
often a vital essence such as breath or heat. This essence, they often
maintain, is also the ultimate source and focus of convergence of the
universal counterparts of the individual faculties. Thus, the individual
is not pictured as deriving his vitality from the universe, as in Vedic
speculations. Instead, in the Upanisadic context, both the universe and
the individual are said to emanate from and be re-absorbed into a
single, common essence, which is identified with the soul. This is the
fundamental Upanisadic insight: that the essence of the individual and
the essence of the universe are identical. Whatever is the essential
nature of the individual is also the essential nature of the universe.
The balance of this chapter shows that this insight remained operative
in Upanisadic thought despite significant changes in the concept of the
 UPANISADIC PSYCHOLOGY 207

essential nature of the human being. In general, the changes to be

examined represent a shift from a vitalistic to a psychological concept
of the essence of the human being, the soul.

Mind and Consciousness:

The major, though not the final shift in the Upanisadic perspective
on the human being was an increasing tendency to regard
consciousness rather than vitality as the essence of the individual and
the universe. The empiricism in some of the ancient vitalistic
speculations examined above is impressive to the modern mind. In the
end, though, the Upanisadic inquiry into the essential nature of the
soul and its relationship to the postulated universal principle was most
fruitfully pursued along the avenue of the analysis of consciousness.
This psychological analysis also involves empirical observation of a
different sort, namely introspective observation of the functioning of
human consciousness, as well as deductive reasoning based on the
admittedly questionable intuition that “all is one”. The initial stages
of this shift in perspective, though not well defined, are probably best
approached by noting a tendency in some passages to promote mind
to a position superior to speech and breath in the ancient cosmogonic
cum psychological triad.
In the Rg Veda, even when the mind was brought into the
cosmogonic picture in the “Nasadiya Sikta”, the primal entity, “that
one” (tad ekam) remained primarily a vital entity. Though “breathless”
(avata, lit. windless), it “breathed by its own inherent nature”
(svadhaya, i.e. spontaneously). By performing tapas, it got warm,
another characteristic of vitality. Then it was born, i.e. became
existent. Only then did desire (kama) arise, presumably desire for
food, which is said to be the seed (reta, lit. semen) of mind (manas).”
In the Upanisads, alongside the primarily Vedic notion of vitalistic
monism, there appears a tendency to regard consciousness as the
monistic principle of the universe and the individual. In the end, the
psychological notion won out over the vitalistic.

43. Rg 10.129.
208 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

It is not always easy to separate the psychological from the

vitalistic point of view. Even teachings attributed to a single sage
often appear to be a conglomeration of various and often contradictory
theories. Nonetheless, it seems reasonable to suppose that the impetus
behind the increasing emphasis upon the conscious characteristics of
the soul stemmed primarily from two considerations, both of which
relate to the synthetic Upanisadic intuition that the soul is the essence
of the universe. First, the concept of a universal mind lent itself more
readily to a truly monistic doctrine of creation, and second, a clearer
path to union with the universal principle lay in the possibility of
refinement and transformation of human consciousness by yogic
meditation.
With regard to creation, the identity of the soul and the universal
principle was postulated from the start in the Upanisads. The nature
of the soul, however, remained open to question. In general, the
Upanisads reveal a drift from vitalistic to psychological concepts of
the soul, and developments in the area of psychology were
accompanied by corresponding developments in the area of cosmology.
Early vitalistic theories of the nature of the soul were accompanied by
vitalistic notions of the universe. Cosmological concerns, however,
also exerted an influence upon theories of the individual, and vitalism
is a poor vehicle for monism. It leaves unexplained the origin of the
material stuff which life organizes around itself into a living organism.
Not only the exigencies of monism, but also the status of yogic
practice must have played a key role in the ascendency of the
psychological soul theory. Though one hears much of the respiratory
feats of yogins, yoga is fundamentally an exploration and
transformation of consciousness. Breath control is only a technique
sometimes employed toward the attainment of this end. Yogic
experience, then, also suggested the supremacy of the conscious
aspects of the soul and at the same time provided a ready tool for the
exploration of that consciousness.
It would probably be a mistake to view the transition from a
vitalistic concept of the soul to a psychological concept as having
taken place at a well defined period in the composition of the
Upanisads. Even archaic creation theories often made use of the
imagery of consciousness to explain the monistic origin of the
 UPANISADIC PSYCHOLOGY 209

universe. Nonetheless, a clear-cut concept of an essentially conscious

soul seems to be a relatively later development than that of the
vitalistic soul. It is clear, at any rate, that the concept of
consciousness as the essence of the individual and the universe is
basic to many of the developments in Upanisadic psychology which
will be examined in the balance of this chapter.
The first indications of a transition from vitalism to psychology
are instances of the promotion of manas to a rank above the other
breath faculties and even above breath itself. This is perhaps the
intention behind passages which represent speech and breath — rather
than speech and mind — as the original sexual pair. In this case, mind
is the offspring, the implication being that mind is the unitary essence
of speech and breath, i.e. that speech and breath are aspects of
consciousness.“

One should meditate on speech as a milch cow. She has four udders
which are the sounds svahd, vasat, hanta and svadhda. The gods live
on two of her udders, the sounds svadha and vasat; men on the sound
hanta, and the fathers on the sound svadhda. The vital breath (prana)
is her bull, and mind (manas) the calf.
BU 5:8)

The implication that speech, with her four udders is the source of
food is borne out elsewhere, as, for example where it is said:

With that speech, with that self he brought forth all this whatsoever
exists here. ... Whatever he brought forth that he resolved to eat.
BU, 1.2.5" CR)

Versions of the mind-speech-breath triad which characterize breath

as the offspring — i.e. the union of the other two — are essentially
vitalistic. In such versions, food, which is identified with matter in
general, is created by speech, is in fact a manifestation of speech.
Breath, in its digestive mode, consumes this food and thereby sustains
consciousness, which is thus an epiphenomenon of vitality. The
foregoing rearrangement of the triad — with mind in the central

44, See C.U. 1.1.5-6; B.U. 6.4.20.

210 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

position of offspring — implies that life (i.e. breath) and the matter
(i.e. food) upon which it lives, are both derivatives of consciousness.
A subsequent passage in the same section of the Brhadaranyaka
Upanisad states this more explicitly.

“Brahman is food” say some. This is not so, for, verily, food becomes
putrid without breath. “Brahman is breath” say some. This is not so,
for breath dries up without food. But these two divinities, having
become united, reach the supreme.
B.U. 5.12

The supremacy of manas and its identity with the essence of the
individual and the universe is yet more explicit in several other
passages. In the well known “Sandilya Vidya”, the soul (atman),
residing in the heart, is characterized as mano-mayah prdana-Sariro
bha-riipa satya-samkalpa, “made of mind, (with) breath (for a) body,
the form (or appearance) of light, true conceptioned”.** Here, the
essence of the soul is consciousness. Life, represented by breath, is its
vehicle, its body, just as the material body is the vehicle of life.
Elsewhere, manas is specifically identified with brahman,* as well as
Gtman,"’ and is said to be the divine eye (daivam caksa) of the soul
(atman), an epithet obviously intended to confer upon manas the
supreme rank among the faculties of the soul.“* The theory that during
sleep the sense faculties are absorbed into breath is occasionally
replaced with the theory that they are absorbed into manas, and breath
is demoted to the lowly role of night watchman, while consciousness
absorbs the perceptual faculties and may venture forth in a dream.

2. As all the rays of the setting sun become one in this circle
of light and as they spread forth when it rises again and again, even
so does all this become one in the supreme god, the mind (manas).
Therefore, there (in sleep) the person hears not, sees not, smells not,

45-C.U3.14.2-32 Mt, 2:6:72.2.8. Co. BUS 65 TUG,

46. C.U. 3.18.1-2. Cp. B.U. 4.1.2-7.
47. B.U. 1.4.7.
48. C.U. 8.12.4-5.
 UPANISADIC PSYCHOLOGY 201

tastes not, touches not, speaks not, takes not, rejoices not, emits not,
moves not. (then) they say, he sleeps.
3. The fire of breath alone remains awake in this city.
P.U. 4.2-3

Guarding his low nest with the vital breath, the immortal moves out
of the nest. That immortal one goes wherever he likes, the golden
person, the lonely bird.
BU 435 12) 0)

Development and Differentiation of the Faculties:

Along with the tendency to rank mind (manas) above breath, one
may note also a tendency to promote manas to a station above the
other “breath faculties”. In most treatments of these faculties, even
while breath retains its supreme position, manas begins to dominate
the other faculties. In the archaic “dispute of the breath faculties”,
these faculties were depicted as peers of manas, subordinate only to
breath. The subordination of speech to mind occurs even in ancient
Vedic texts on the basis of their respective roles in the ritual, and
even in these ancient texts empirical evidence of a sort was cited in
justification of this ranking.

Speech and mind disputed. “I will bear the offering to the gods”,
Speech said. “I (will bear it) to the gods”, said mind. They went to
question Prajapati. He, Prajapati, said to her, “Thou art the messenger
of mind, for what one thinks of in the mind, one utters in speech”.”
i
Kec reeWl

The subordination of eye and ear to mind in the Upanisads is also

supported by observational evidence and the admirable reasoning of
the following:*

49. From Belvalkar and Ranade, Indian Philosophy, vol. 2, p. 70. Cp. S.B. 1.4.1.8;
WEB aie ls12
50. Cp. Ks.U. 3.7.
212 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

Three he made for himself. Mind, speech, breath, these he made for
himself. (They say) my mind was elsewhere, I did not see it, my mind
was elsewhere, I did not hear. It is with the mind that one sees. It is
with the mind that one hears.
Buus eiS357(R)

Of the two empirical senses thus subordinated to mind, eye

naturally enough takes precedence over ear. In later literature sight
alone often represents sensual perception in general. This superiority
of sight over hearing in the Upanisads probably relates to the eye’s
initial role as an extension of manas with the specific capacity of
perceiving form (rapa), mind being called “the divine eye”.*’ Speech
was the faculty responsible for the perception of the other half of a
given thing’s identity, the name (ndma). The early appearance of ear
as the second empirical sense faculty must relate to its capacity to
perceive the word (fabda). Word, uttered by speech, is the mundane
manifestation of the eternal name (nama).
The twofold function of speech as both the perceiver of nama and
the speaker of fabda will be more closely examined later in this
section. First, it is important to note that fabda, the perceptual object
of ear, is on a secondary level of reality, whereas ripa, the eye’s
object, is a primary reality, as is nama, the supposed perceptual object
of speech. Thus, it is observed, again on empirical rather than
mythological or dogmatic grounds, that the ear is inferior as a sense
faculty to the eye.

Verily, truth is sight; for, verily, truth is sight. Therefore, if now, the
two persons come disputing, one saying, ‘I saw,’ and the other ‘I
heard’, we should trust the one who says, ‘I saw’.
B.U. 5.14.4 (R)

The eye appears in practically all lists of faculties in the Upanisads,

but the ear is occasionally omitted. Ear may be omitted even from the
more or less standard list of the five breath faculties when only four

312 C.U. 8:12:15 See:$.B. 11.2.3.6;

 UPANISADIC PSYCHOLOGY ZAS

adhyatmika (microcosmic, individual) correspondences are needed.”

However, speech rather than ear may also be omitted in such a
situation.” This may indicate increasing concern with the actual
psychology of the human being and the nature of perception rather
than with ancient mythological correspondences.
The process by which the faculty of smell was added to the five
essential “breath faculties” as a fourth subordinate to manas is also
fairly clear. In some forms of the dispute of the breath faculties, two
forms of breath appear, the breath in the nose and the breath in the
mouth. The breath in the nose, in this case, is merely another sense
faculty, the faculty of smell. The breath in the mouth is declared to
be the supreme, digestive breath, the basis of life. The empirical
justification for the location of the vital breath in the mouth is that
one’s mouth falls open when one dies, and, of course, that one eats
food with the mouth.” Later, as concern with the empirical senses
grew, the faculty of smell, or rather in most cases its organ the nose,
displaced breath altogether from the list of sense faculties. The
resulting list includes eye, nose, speech, ear and mind, which as the
“divine eye” is obviously intended to be the supreme faculty.”
The two breaths — the breath in the mouth and the breath in the
nose, also characterized as the in-breath (prana) and the out-breath
(apana)*> — were removed from the sphere of sensual activity and
began to appear independently in purely vitalistic lists of three
breaths,” four breaths,™® and finally the classical list of five breaths.
These five breaths were regarded as purely vital faculties responsible
for respiration, digestion and the distribution of food through the

52. B.U. 3.1.3-6, but at Ka.U. 2.2 ear seems to take precedence over eye and
speech.
53. C.U. 4.4-8.
34. C.U, 1.2.7-9.
55. C.U. 8.12.4-5.
56. B.U. 3.2.2; A.U. 1.1.4. Cp. B.U. 4.2.4.
57, Bie321,10; 1.0 21.07 MUGS. Cp, BE 2.2.1
58. B.U. 3.4.1; 3.9.26.
214 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

body. The respective functions of the five vital breaths are described
in detail in the following passage.

That breath which rises upwards that, assuredly is the prana (breath).
Now that which moves downwards, that, assuredly, is the apdana
(breath). Now that, verily, by which these two are supported, that,
assuredly, is the vydna (breath). Now that which carries unto the apana
breath gross elements of food and distributes the subtle (elements) in
each limb, that, assuredly, is called samdna (breath). It is a higher form
of the vydna (breath) and between them is the production of the udana
(breath). That which brings up or carries down what has been drunk
and eaten is the uddna (breath).
Mt.U. 2.6 (R)

In a few passages, the vital breaths are made to correspond with

various faculties of perception and action (karma- and jndna-indriya),
as if the vital breaths were thought somehow to energize the faculties.
Surprisingly little attention is paid to such speculation considering that
the three sets of five could have been a bonanza for the Upanisadic
preoccupation with correspondences.”

The Fifteen Vital, Perceptual and Volitional Faculties:

Five was apparently an attractive number to the Upanisadic sages.

Eventually, by the addition of taste and touch — comparatively rare
faculties in the Upanisads — to the more popular eye, ear and nose,
the list of five empirical “faculties of perception or consciousness”
(jnana-indriya or buddhi-indriya) took the shape that it retained in
virtually all post-Upanisadic Indian psychology.®' Speech, like breath,
eventually began to disappear from lists of perceptual faculties. On the
basis of its function as an active as well as a perceptive faculty,

39, €.03:13;79.19-23; BU, 15.3; 1.0, 1.7 MEU, 2.696.0"Co PUN:

CORPLUNSS CU 19=23:
61. See B.U. 4.3.23-29; 4.5.12; 2.4.11; P.U. 4.8; 4.2. Generic terms without
enumerations at: K.U. 2.3.7; 2.3.10; 1.3.10; Mu.U. 2.6; 6.10; 6.11; 6.28; 6.30.
Speech included at: B.U. 3.2.1-9; Mt.U. 6.11.
 UPANISADIC PSYCHOLOGY 25

speech reappeared in another list of five, the five “faculties of action”

(karma-indriya).” Some of the members of this list occurred from time
to time in more archaic listings of correspondences between the
individual and the universe.®
The “action faculties” (karma-indriya) are perhaps an odd concept
to the modern mind. Nonetheless, they represent a rather admirable
attempt to classify all human activity into five comprehensive and
irreducible categories in the same way that perception may be reduced
to five fundamental categories. These categories are: manipulation with
the “faculty” of the hands, movement with the feet, speaking with
speech, procreation with the penis and evacuation with the anus. The
“faculties” of action, of course, must be thought of as representative
of types of activity as usually performed. One could theoretically walk
on one’s hands or mix the functions of the faculties in other ways. It
is an odd list, revealing more than anything else the types of activity
which the ancient Indians considered important. The inclusion of
procreation is notable in this respect. The omission of eating, however,
is surprising. Perhaps this was considered essentially the prerogative
of the digestive vital breaths.
Though these three groups of five faculties — 1) five perceptive,
2) five volitional, and 3) five vital faculties — appear to be the
products of observation and deduction, the actual process by which
these groups of faculties seems to have taken shape is surprisingly
haphazard. One might have thought that the popularity of five as the
number of members in the three sets of vital, perceptual and volitional
faculties was based on the empirical necessity for there being five
perceptual senses. This does not seem to have been the case. The five
vital breaths apparently were consolidated into a group independently
of a clear concept of the five empirical senses. For example, the
complete set of vital breaths are made to correspond in several
passages to incomplete and confused sets of the sense faculties.“ This
prompts the speculation that initially, the ritual and mythological

62. B.U. 4.5.12; 2.4.11; P.U. 4.8. Generic terms only at: Mt. U. 6.10; 6.28; 6.30.
oy (CAUE SDpe AOE ible
645 CU73513-09219-23 ale Uae.
216 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

significance of the number five, rather than empirical necessity,

accounted for the adoption of the number five as the membership of
the various sets of faculties of the soul.
At any rate, the standard enumeration of the three groups of five
perceptual, volitional and vital faculties were all gradually built up
and gradually assembled into separate groups. The present study is
most concerned with the development of the perceptual and volitional
faculties and their subordination to manas, which in many listings is
merely one of the perceptual faculties, on an equal footing with the
rest. These lists of faculties often do not distinguish between volitional
faculties and perceptual faculties either, though the distinction between
the perceptual and volitional faculties on the one hand and the vital
faculties on the other hand is observed more often. This situation
emphasizes the fact that even in relatively advanced stages of
Upanisadic psychology, there was no clear idea of exactly what
constituted perception. Various odd combinations of perceptual,
volitional and vital faculties are labeled occasionally with the later
standard term indriya, occasionally with the terms breath (pradna) and
divinity (devata), and occasionally with other sundry terms such as
grasper (graha), procurer (avarodhanin), power (bala), activities
(karmani), knowledges (jiadnadni), and “numinous people” (brahma-
purusah).°
The development of the two sets of five faculties of perception
and action cannot be specifically traced, but various stages which
point to a gradual development may be noted. In the most archaic
Stage, several of the sensual and/or volitional faculties are found
interspersed with extraneous elements and along with extensive
enumerations of universal correspondences. It is often not clear which
faculties, if any, are meant by some of these terms. For example, in
one passage the universal self is said to have five bodily constituents

65. See Knipe, David M., Jn the Image of Fire, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1975,
pp. 1-7.
66. Graha: B.U. 3.2.1-9. Avarodhanin: Ks.U. 2.3. Bala: T.U. 3.10.2. Karmani:
B.U. 1.5.21. Jridnani: K.U. 2.3.10; Mt.U. 6.30. Brahma purusah: C.U. 3.13.6.
 UPANISADIC PSYCHOLOGY 217

which correspond to various natural phenomena by being their sources.

These correspondences are tabulated below for the sake of clarity.”

Aitareya Upanisad 1.1.4

BODILY PART FIRST EVOLUTE SECOND EVOLUTE

mouth speech fire

nose in-breath (prdna) wind

eye (aksi) sight (caksu) sun (aditi)

ear (karna) hearing (Srotra) quarters (di§)

skin hair plants

heart (hrd) mind (manas) moon

navel out-breath (apdana) death

penis semen water

That eye and ear in the above table represent sense faculties is
fairly clear from their correspondence to sight and hearing. Note also
the technical differentiation between physical organ and faculty,
though caksu and frotra may mean simply eye and ear. One might
suspect that mouth, nose and skin would represent taste, smell and
touch, but their correspondents suggest otherwise. Speech and penis
are two of the classical volitional faculties, but their placement makes

67. A.U. 1.1.4.

218 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

it doubtful that they are intended as such, and two of the vital breaths
appear without apparent significance.
Another odd list of faculties occurs in the Chandogya Upanisad
in a passage in which several learned householders approach king
ASvapati Kaikeya to learn about brahman. Each householder gives
his own theory of the nature of brahman, which in each case is said
by the king to be only a part of the universal principle. The table of
correspondences thus generated is as follows:*

sky — _ head
sun — _ eye
wind — breath
space — _ body
water — bladder
earth — _ feet

Of these, the head is totally extraneous as a faculty. Bladder might

represent evacuation, but normally the anus is representative of that
activity, nor is there anything to suggest that feet represent the faculty
of motion. Body (samdeha), usually under the name farira, sometimes
seems to replace skin as the organ responsible for touch, but there is
no indication that this is the case here. On the whole the table
produced by ASvapati’s correspondences seems to be devoid of
psychological content. However, ASvapati is certainly not supposed to
be ignorant of Upanisadic psychology. In the following verses of the
same passage, he proposes a series of correspondences between the
five vital breaths and five faculties which are probably to be taken as
perceptive. With breath removed to the realm of pure vitality, it will
be noted that skin, obviously representing the faculty of touch, appears
in what would otherwise be an enumeration of the five “breath
faculties”. The correspondences he proposes are as follows:”

68. C.U. 5.11-18.

69. C.U. 5.19-23.
 UPANISADIC PSYCHOLOGY 219

prana — _ eye
vyana — _ ear
apana — _ speech
Samana — mind
uddna — _§ skin

The same five vital breaths are said to correspond to the same
faculties in the Taittiriya Upanisad, but the pairs are somewhat
different.’” Elsewhere in the Chandogya Upanisad the correspondences
above are exactly reproduced, except that the universal element wind
(vayu) replaces skin in corresponding to uddna.”
The foregoing might seem to suggest that the idea of the five vital
breaths preceded the development of the faculties of sense and
activity, but in the Taittiriya Upanisad, a listing of faculties and their
functions generates the following table:”

speech — _ preservation (ksema)

prana — _ acquisition (yoga)
apadna — preservation
hands — _ karma
feet — movement
anus —_ evacuation
penis — _ procreation,immortality, bliss

The same _ passage also contains the following extraneous

correspondences: cattle — fame, stars — light, space - all. Here, all
five of the action faculties are mentioned, along with their standard
functions (except for speech), while only two of the vital breaths are
mentioned.
The only conclusion to be drawn from the foregoing is no
conclusion with regard to the chronology of the genesis of the

102. T.US 17.

71. C.U. 3.12-13. Each of these tables is extended considerably by adding numerous
universal correspondences.
72: 0, 3a0:
220 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

standard fifteen vital, perceptual and volitional faculties. The

variations among the several lists cited suggest that the standard
enumeration of fifteen faculties is the result of a process of gradual
development by means of a trial and error process rather than by
means of logical deduction from observation. In many incomplete,
probably archaic lists, it is not at all clear that all of the faculties
and organs mentioned are even intended to represent the classical
indriya. For example, when additional faculties are mentioned in
conjunction with the triad mind, speech and breath, it is often unclear
whether speech is to be understood as on a par with the other
volitional faculties mentioned, or whether it is to be understood as a
perceptive member of the ancient triad.
For example, it is said in the Kausitaki Upanisad that the
masculine, neuter and feminine names (ndma) of Brahma are to be
acquired by breath, mind and speech respectively.” This suggests that
speech is to be understood in its most common role as a perceptive
faculty, but the entire process of the acquisition of the attributes of
Brahma by the several faculties mentioned confuses the issue
considerably. The correspondences at Ks.U. 1.7 are as follows.

FACULTY — ATTRIBUTE OF BRAHMA

prana — _ masculine names

manas — _ neuter names
speech — _ feminine names
prana —_ smells
eye — _ forms (riupa)
ear — _ sounds (fabda)
tongue — tastes
hands — _ actions (karma)
body — _ pleasure and pain (sukha-duhkha)
penis — _ procreation
feet — movement

GBS.U 21 Jog. Ks.U22.15:

 UPANISADIC PSYCHOLOGY Weh|

It will be noted that breath (prana) appears twice, the second time
as the sense faculty perceptive of odors. Body as perceptive of
pleasure and pain apparently is meant to represent the sense of touch,
but this is normally the function of skin (tvak), and sukha-duhkha
seems rather an abstract way of expressing the tactile sensation more
explicitly denoted by spar§a. Three of the five faculties of action are
definitely intended, but the status of speech is unclear. In the classical
scheme, speech is paired with the activity of speaking. Here it has its
archaic function of perceiving names, but it shares this task with
breath and mind. The issue is further confused in a later passage of
the same Upanisad, where the same set of faculties, it is allowed, may
be called breaths (prana).”
A similar question arises when the five standard “breath faculties”
(mind, speech, breath, eye, ear) are supplemented with the addition of
procreation and semen.” The latter two might well be intended as a
substitute for the classical action faculty, penis, in which case speech
might also be a faculty of action. On the other hand, this may be
merely an addition made to the archaic list of vitalistic breath faculties
in the context of a fertility rite, for the same passage gives the recipe
for a concoction of which it is said, “If one should sprinkle this even
on a dry stump, branches would grow and leaves spring forth”.’®
A similar problem occurs with reference to a passage in which the
five breath faculties occur with the addition of the sense faculty skin,
and semen, which again, may or may not represent the activity of
procreation.” In this case, though, the faculties are mentioned in the
following order: breath, speech, eye, ear, mind, skin, wisdom (prajna),
and semen, which has the effect of dissociating the archaic triad of
mind, speech and breath. This suggests that breath may be intended
here as the sense faculty of smell. This otherwise rather unlikely
possibility is strengthened slightly by the fact that the “inner
controller” (antarydmin) is said to dwell within and control each of

14, %s.22.15.
Jo BU, 6.3-2:'Cp. BAU? 3:7.16-23.
76. B.U. 6.3.8-12.
77. B.U. 3.7.16-23.
222 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

these faculties. There is no clue, however, as to whether speech is to

be taken in its ancient or its classical sense.
Be that as it may, speech and breath are certainly to be understood
as faculties in Yajfiavalkya’s exposition of the eight “graspers”
(objects). Here only two action faculties — speech and hands — are
mentioned but they are specifically described as such in the following
manner:

3. Speech, verily, is a grasper. It is grasped by the over-grasper

name (nama), for by speech one utters (abhivddati) names. ...
8. The hands, verily, are a grasper. They are grasped by the over-
grasper action (karma), for with the hands, one performs action.
B.U. 3.2.2-8

Note that speech as the classical action faculty speaks names rather
than perceiving them. In the same passage, breath is said to be
responsible for smelling, but the verse on breath departs from the
otherwise uniform format of the series of verses so as to include also
the apdna (out-breath). Remember, out-breath is located in the nose,
thus its association with smell.

In-breath (prdana), verily, is a grasper. It is grasped by the over-grasper

out-breath (apdadna), for by the out-breath one smells odors.
BU 03.2.2

It is also noteworthy that manas is treated in this passage by

Yajfiavalkya as a separate faculty rather than as sensus communis, its
over-grasper being desires (kama), a motif which harks back to the Rg
Veda itself. The terminology in the present passage is particularly
interesting. The terms “grasper” (graha) and “over-grasper” (atigraha),
of which a grammatically more strictly correct rendering would be
“grasping” and “over-grasping”, indicate a reciprocal relationship
between faculty and object. If the variation noted in the verse dealing
with breath is taken as a clue to the interpretation of this passage as
a whole, the implication is that just as there can be no in-breath
without an out-breath, there can be no perception without an object of
 UPANISADIC PSYCHOLOGY 223

perception, no doing without that which is done. Buddhism makes

much of this notion, as the next chapter shows.
Not only the reciprocity implied in Yajfiavalkya’s terminology is
noteworthy. The choice of the term “grasping” implies a normative,
moral or even psychopathological dimension in the process of
perception. Seeing etc. is “a grasping”. The objects of perception also
grasp, and the term atigraha, particularly with the long “a” in graha,
Suggests “excessively grasping”, even “predatory”, like a fierce,
dangerous animal. This, of course, is a particularly appropriate image
in this passage with regard to mind and its object, desire.” This
mistrust of perception, particularly passionate, grasping, desiring
perception, is also a point of fundamental similarity between the
Upanisads and Buddhism, where this attitude becomes considerably
more pronounced.”
All in all, though technically incomplete with regard to the faculties
of action, the account of the nature of perception at B.U. 3.2 is
without a doubt one of the most insightful psychological teachings in
the Upanisads. It must have been truly avant-garde in its time. It is
interesting that after this progressive psychological lecture by
Yajfiavalkya, this pupil Arthabhdaga still refers to death as the
dispersion of the five archaic “breath faculties” into their
corresponding universal counterparts. This suggests — as does the
foregoing examination of the various enumerations of faculties found
side by side in the Upanisads — that more progressive psychological
ideas coexisted and interacted for many years with more conservative,
Vedic beliefs about the nature of the human being. It appears to have
taken quite some time for empirical observation to prevail over
traditional beliefs and establish a systematic and defensible
enumeration of a comprehensive set of categories of human perception
and activity.
In the Upanisads overall, the five empirical sense faculties are
listed in complete form more often than are the faculties of action.
The tendency is to arrive at this complete enumeration by
supplementing the archaic list of breath faculties — mind, speech,

78. See Monier-Williams, pp. 13 and 372.

79. See M1: 460 for similar imagery in the Buddhist context.
224 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

breath, eye and ear — with the sense faculties smell, taste and touch.
As indicated above, smell is often tacked on to breath rather than
linked to its more specific organ, the nose, and the faculty of touch
is inconsistently represented — sometimes in classical terms as the
interaction of skin (tvak) and tactile sensation (sparga)*® and
sometimes as the interaction of the body and pleasure-pain (sukha-
duhkha).*' Moreover, the retention of the core of archaic breath
faculties, in which context speech is a perceptive faculty, often has
the effect of making it difficult to determine whether speech is to be
understood as a faculty of perception or of action, even when the five
empirical senses are listed in full.** However, the fact that speech does
often occur as a sixth sense, along with the full array of five
empirical senses, strongly suggests that in some circles it retained its
Status as a perceptual faculty even at a relatively advanced stage of
psychological sophistication.
Even in passages which do away altogether with the archaic
concept of the breath faculties and deal only with classical faculties,
the role of speech is often questionable.” In the following, for
example, speech usurps the position belonging naturally to touch. Its
function is vydkarana, an ambiguous term in this context which could
mean “articulates (words)”, but could also mean “reveals or makes
manifest (names)”. The latter possibility would duplicate the sense of
hearing.

Which is the soul (atman)? That by which one sees, by which one
hears, by which one smells odors, by which one reveals/articulates
(vyakaroti) speech, by which one knows (vijdndati) sweet and non-sweet
(tastes).
PUI, Silo

In all, it is probably most accurate to say that throughout the

Upanisads, speech was considered just as much a faculty of perception

80,/B.U; 3.7.16-23::2.451154 5,125 Cl). 5.1923. Ute

$1. Ks.U. 1.7; 2:15;3.5-6;
82. See Ks.U. 3.5 & 6; 1.7; 2.15; B.U. 4.3.23-30; 3.2.1-9; Mt.U. 6.11.
83. See A.U. 3.1.1; B.U. 2.4.11; 4.3.26; 4.5.12; Ks.U. 3.5; C.U. 3.13.3.
 UPANISADIC PSYCHOLOGY 225

as the faculty of touch. Like speech, touch is often omitted from lists
of sense faculties, and is often included only by way of the vague
term pleasure-pain as experienced by the body in general.
The following passage suggests that the overall distinction between
perception and action in general was not as clear-cut in Upanisadic
times as the modern reader might tend to assume.

For verily, without intelligence (prajid) speech does not make known
_(prajnapayet) any name whatsoever. ‘My mind was elsewhere’, he says,
‘I did not cognise (prdjfdsisam) that name.’ for verily, without
intelligence breath does not make known any odour ... the eye does
not make known any form ... the ear does not make known any sound
... the tongue does not make known any taste ... the two hands do not
make known any action ... the body does not make known pleasure or
pain ... the generative organ does not make known any bliss, delight
and procreation ... the two feet do not make known any movement
whatsoever. ‘Our mind was elsewhere’, they say, ‘we did not cognise
that movement’. Without intelligence no thought (dhi, lit. vision)
whatsoever would be effective. Nothing that can be cognised would be
cognised.
Ks.U; 3.7 (KR)

Several of the archaic features noted in the Upanisadic treatment

of the faculties appear in the above passage. The breath faculties are
kept together as a group, which has the effect of mixing the classical
action faculties with the sense faculties. Speech is represented as
perceptive of name rather than performing the action of speaking.
Breath rather than nose or smell (ghrdna) represents olfactory
perception. The body as the organ of touch is said to experience
pleasure and pain rather than tactile sensations (spar§a). Anus, the
fifth of the classical action faculties, is omitted, although one can
certainly sympathize with the author in that the phrase “without
intelligence, the anus does not make known any evacuation” would
have been rather comical.
The passage does, however, represent manas as the sensus
communis, which is relatively uncommon in the Upanisads, though it
is a standard feature in later Indian psychology. Without the mind —
which apparently conveys intelligence or consciousness to the faculties
of sense and action — none of the faculties work. The fascinating
226 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

point, however, is that given the presence of mind, they are all said
to work in the same way, by cognising, or making known their
respective objects, whether these be sensual perceptions or actions.
In modern physiological terms, no distinction seems to be made
between the afferent (to the mind) and the efferent (from the mind)
mechanisms of consciousness. The translations “make known” and
“cognise”, given our modern preconceptions, seem to imply that the
mechanism suggested is exclusively afferent (to mind). In other words,
rather than being produced by volitional mental activity, actions were
thought to be perceived by the mind. In fact, however, if the
uniformity of terminology in the preceding is significant, then exactly
the opposite is implied. The mechanism of consciousness described in
the Upanisads is, if exclusively anything, exclusively efferent (from
mind). The universe we perceive is thought to be produced by mental
activity, just as the actions we perform. Perhaps a conceptually more
accurate rendering of prajidpayet would be “make real” or “realize”,
in the sense of “accomplish or produce” with regard either to objects
of perception or actions.
The conclusion that seems to emerge from the above observations
is that what the modern reader tends to take as metaphorical in the
Upanisads, was in many cases literal truth to the Upanisadic sages, if
perhaps not to the average citizen of that age. In the present case, the
difficulty in conceiving of perception and action as similar phenomena
is overcome to a large extent if one assumes that the waking state of
consciousness was viewed by some Upanisadic sages as fundamentally
non-different from the state of dreaming.“ Actions in a dream are
readily seen to be similar to dream perceptions. Both are purely
products of the mind. Thus, in the Upanisadic context the nature of
the centrality and superiority of mind over the faculties of perception
and action is perhaps misrepresented by the term sensus communis.
Mind as a center was not thought of exclusively as a faculty which
sorts and arranges the data of the sense faculties and commands the
action faculties. Instead, it was thought of more as the point of
origination of all of the modes, whether volitional or perceptual,
through which the individual projects the universe. The mind is a

84. See B.U. 2.1.18; 4.3.9-18; C.U. 8.10.2; Ks.U. 4.19.

 UPANISADIC PSYCHOLOGY 227

projection room rather than a control room. The various faculties —

rather than being sources of information about the universe and
channels of interaction with the universe — are thought of as a
comprehensive enumeration of the means by which the soul creates the
universe and its own apparent relationship thereto, as one does in a
dream.
On the other hand, some Upanisadic passages do seem to represent
manas or some other mental faculty as the coordinator of perception
and action. This point of view is probably most clearly represented in
various versions of the chariot simile which will be examined below.”
At any rate, when approaching Upanisadic psychology, one must be
constantly aware that the conceptual world-view that generates many
of these ancient theories is often radically different from that of the
modern West.

The Five Classical Sense Faculties:

Only a few Upanisadic passages clearly indicate an awareness of

the classical groups of action and sense faculties.** Complete listings
of the ten classical faculties of perception and action separated into
these two specific categories are rarer still. There are only four such
treatments, and these are confined to two of the thirteen principal
Upanisads. Of these, one version in the Prafna Upanisad reveals its
relative lateness by the extensive employment of Samkhya technical
terms.’ The other simply names the ten faculties with mind as the
central faculty. The two other complete listings — in _ the
Brhaddranyaka Upanisad — are actually parallel versions of
Yajfiavalkya’s famous teaching to his wife Maitr1. In these he corrects
the omission of three of the action faculties noted earlier in his
treatment of “grasper and overgrasper”.”

85. K.U. 1.3.3; Mt.U. 2.6; 4.4.

86. P.U. 4.2; 8.4; B.U. 2.4.11; 4.5.12; K.U. 1.3.10; 2.3.7; 2.3.10; Mt.U. 2.6; 6.10;
6:11276.307631:
87. P.U. 4.8.
88. P.U. 4.2.
89. B.U. 2.4.11; 4.5.12. Cp. B.U. 3.2.2-9.
228 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

The two Brhaddranyaka treatments appear to be more archaic than

the two in the Prasna Upanisad because of the confusion in the
Brhadaranyaka with regard to the actions performed by the volitional
faculties. The hands are said to perform to actions (karma), while in
the classical Samkhya scheme the hands are restricted to manipulation
(vydpara).° The proto-Samkhya enumeration of the faculties in the
Pragna Upanisad gives “what is to be grasped” (dddtavya) as the
object of the hands.’ An even more archaic feature of Yajfiavalkya’s
account is the correspondence of speech to the Vedas, even though
speech is grouped with the action faculties rather than the faculties of
perception. The classical Samkhya and the Prafna versions agree upon
representing the function of speech as the production of speech in
general.”
All four versions represent touch as the interaction of skin and
tactile sensations (sparfa) rather than the vague interaction noted
above between body and pleasure-pain. Breath is also removed entirely
from all four enumerations. Nose represents the faculty of smell in
Yajfavalkya’s version, and the more abstract term ghrdna represents
smell in the Prafna account. The tabular comparison, on the facing
page, of the Brhaddranyaka, Prasna and classical Samkhya versions
of the ten faculties and their functions may prove of interest, as they
differ in several other minor details.
All of the above seems to indicate a gradual working out and a
gradual acceptance of the doctrine of five empirical senses governed
by mind. The starting point for this process appears to have been the
five “breath faculties” — mind, speech, breath, eye and ear — all of
which seem to derive from Vedic concerns with microcosmic-
macrocosmic correspondences. By a haphazard process, speech was
separated out and supplemented to form the standard list of five action
faculties. Similarly, breath was supplemented to form the standard list
of five vital breaths. Eye and ear were similarly augmented to make
up the five empirical senses.

90. S.K. 26, Gaudapdda Bhasya.

91. P.U. 4.8.
92. Vak vadati at S.K. 26, and Vak ca vaktavyam at P.U. 4.8. Mt.U. 2.6; 6.11. Cp
Mt.U. 6.28; 6.30; K.U. 1.3.10; 2.3.7; 2.3.10; B.U. 4.4.17; C.U. 6.7; P.U. 6.14,
Cp. B.U. 1.5.14-15; Ma.U. 3.
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UPANISADIC PSYCHOLOGY

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230 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

It is surprising indeed to discover that the fact that we have five

empirical senses with which to experience the universe was not at all
obvious to our forebears. The Upanisads are the earliest extant
documents of the human rase which confirm this discovery. Moreover,
so tentative were their conclusions that only one Upanisadic passage
offers a theory regarding the actual mechanism of sensual perception.

(One asks): Of what nature, verily, are these senses (indriya) that go
forth (towards their objects)? ... There are enticing objects of sense
and there are what are called luminous rays. Now the self (atman)
feeds on objects by the five rays.
Mt.U. 6.31 (R)

Vitalistic passages, which are probably for the most part relatively
early, represent what senses they do enumerate as more or less self-
sufficient sources of information. For example, in some versions of the
“dispute of the breath faculties” even the mind is expendable. The
other faculties simply carry on performing their respective functions
in its absence. More psychologically oriented passages depict the
senses as types of consciousness rather than independent and
apparently self-consciousness entities.*» Thus the various faculties,
which initially seem to have been understood as immediate faculties
of the soul and on a par with manas, were gradually divided into
perceptual and _ volitional faculties and cordoned off from
consciousness itself. Consciousness increasingly came to be considered
a more essential characteristic of the soul than the faculties of
perception and action — more essential even than vitality itself as
represented by the five vital breaths.
Initially in this process, manas, representing consciousness in
general, was promoted from the ranks of the archaic breath faculties
and advanced, as it were, a degree closer to the inner sanctumof the
soul. This promotion of manas represents a decisive step away from
vitalism and toward a psychological concept of the soul. Manas,
however, was never able to overcome entirely its humble origins as a
faculty of perception. As a result, a hierarchy of new levels of

93. B.25 K8.U0,3:7 BU loome lbs.

 UPANISADIC PSYCHOLOGY 231

consciousness was eventually introduced between the soul and manas

as sensus communis. It is to this hierarchy of consciousness that this
examination now turns.

Consciousness and Cosmogony:

The phrase “new levels of consciousness” is advisedly used. In

many cases the Upanisadic faculties ranked above manas, as well as
several supposed properties of manas, were apparently unknown to
the authors of the Rg Veda. In Vedic times the terms used in the
Upanisads to describe these faculties, functions and qualities of
consciousness are either absent entirely, as buddhi and aham-kara, or
like samjnd and vijfidna, they denote far more prosaic concepts than
they do in the Upanisads. Of the Vedic mental organs and faculties,
manas and hrd (heart) maintain basically equivalent positions in the
Upanisadic scheme. Manas is still a dynamic faculty with perceptual,
intellectual and volitional qualities. Hrd remains primarily a locus of
consciousness. The subordination to manas of dhi (visions) and kratu
(mental power), implied in the Rg Veda, is made more specific in the
Upanisads. Kratu comes to mean clearly “volition” or “will” in the
Upanisads, and is thus divested of much of the magical potency it
enjoyed in the Vedic scheme. Dhi, too, is a less supernormal faculty
in the Upanisads. Its continued association with mental “vision” is
beyond doubt, as is admirably demonstrated in Jan Gonda’s The Vision
of the Vedic Poets.“ In the Upanisads, however, dhi no longer
necessarily denotes a literal vision. Instead, in the Upanisads, the term
more commonly denotes an idea, an intellectual “seeing”, as in the
phrase “I see, said the blind man”. Both dhi and kratu are, however,
of little direct importance in the Upanisadic scheme of consciousness.
Thee retention of Vedic content in the concept of manas is largely
confined to retention of status. Even in the most archaic Upanisadic
passages, the function of manas is conceived of psychologically rather
than ritually. To be sure, the psychological function of manas is
linked to the Vedic concern with cosmogony, a linkage which may be
traced back to the characterization of manas as a cosmogonic principle

94. Gonda, Vision, pp. 245-58.

232 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

in the “Nasadiya Sikta”. Upanisadic psychological cosmogonies,

however, always emphasize the essential identity of the divine mind
and the human mind. Creation is thus portrayed as essentially a
process of perception, a tendency which eventually culminated in the
sub-school of Advaita Vedanta known as drsti-srsti-vdda, “the theory
that perception is creation”.
It will be useful to clarify this concept before moving on to
consider the hierarchy of supra-sensuous consciousness, because the
exigencies of monistic cosmogony play an important role in the
structure of this hierarchy. The idea that the universe is a projection
or emanation of the universal principle through the hierarchy of
individual consciousness and finally through the sense faculties is
implicit in almost every Upanisadic cosmogony, other than a few
theistic passages. This idea is not demonstrably present in any Vedic
cosmogony, not even the “Nasadiya Sikta”, which still represents
creation as having taken place at a distant point in the past rather than
in contemporary human consciousness. In general, Upanisadic
cosmogonies are not so much explanations of human consciousness.
In particular they are concerned with the rationale by which the
human soul, in the state of release, may be identified with the
universal principle. In the Upanisads, yogic release is conceived of as
a rediscovery, within oneself, of tad ekam, “that unity”, which,
according to the Vedic theory, existed before creation. Release in the
Upanisadic context is essentially a reversal of the creative process.
This reversal is accomplished in contemporary human consciousness
by the practice of yogic meditation.
Though the Upanisads as a whole point to some such contemplative
practice, the yogic experience itself is not described specifically as
such except in relatively late passages. The following lengthy citation
from the Maitri Upanisad, which is almost certainly post-Buddhist,
nevertheless has the virtue of stating explicitly what is implicit in
many earlier passages. It touches upon many of the issues that will be
considered in the balance of this chapter.

17. Verily in the beginning this world was Brahman. ... At the
dissolution of all he alone remains awake. Thus from that space, he
awakes this (world) which consists of thought only (cetamdatra). By
him alone is all this meditated on (dhydyate), and in him it is
 UPANISADIC PSYCHOLOGY Pio)

dissolved. ... He who is in the fire, and he who is here in the heart
and he who is in the sun — he is one. ...
18. This is the rule for achieving this (oneness), control of the
breath (pranayama), withdrawal of the sense (pratyahdra), meditation
(dhyana), concentration (dhdrana), contemplative inquiry (tarka) and
absorption (samadhi), (this is) said to be the sixfold yoga. ...
19. Verily, when a knower has restrained his mind (manas) from
the external, when his breath has put to rest the objects of sense, let
him remain devoid of conceptions (samkalpa). ...
20. When, by suppression of the mind, he sees through self, he
sees the shining self ... then having the self through the self he
becomes selfless (niradtman). ...
25. He who has his senses indrawn as in sleep ... while in the
cavern of the senses is not under their control, perceives him who is
called Pranava, the leader. ...
26. That having divided itself in limitless ways fills these worlds
.. and as indeed the sparks issue from the fire, as rays from the sun,
so do the breaths and the rest come forth again and again into the
world in proper order. ...
27. The store house (kosa) which consists of the space in the
heart, the blissful, the supreme abode, is our self, our yoga (goal) too
and this the heat of fire and sun. ...
30. When the five forms of (sense) knowledge along with the
mind stand still and the intellect (buddhi) stirs not, that, they say, is
the highest state. ...
34. Even as a fire without fuel becomes extinct in its own place,
even so thought (cifta), by the cessation of activity (vrtti) becomes
extinct in its own source. ... One’s own thought, indeed, is samsara;
let a man cleanse it by effort. What a man thinks, that he becomes, this
is the eternal mystery. ... So long should the mind be restrained
(nirodhavya) in the heart till it reaches its end, that is knowledge, that
is liberation. All else is but extensions of the knots (that bind us to this
life). ... Mind, in truth, is the cause of bondage and liberation for
mankind; for bondage if it is bound to objects; freedom from objects,
that is called liberation. ...
35. He who knows this, is the knower. ... Having grasped
oneness, he becomes identified with it. They who rise forth perpetually
like spray drops (from the sea) like lightnings from the light within the
clouds in the highest sky, they, by virtue of their entrance into the light
of glory appear like crests of flame in the track of fire.
Mt.U. 6.17-35 (R)
234 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

As suggested in the above, the reversal of the creative process, the

reabsorption of the universe into its source, was thought to occur in
sleep and death as well as in yogic trance. The foregoing is obviously
rather late Upanisadic material. It seems, in fact, to incorporate
elements of Yogacara Buddhism, but the same idea of the projection
and re-absorption of the universe along with the senses in sleep, death,
and trance, is expressed in earlier material as well.®* For the purposes
of this examination, however, the following passage from the
Kausitaki Upanisad, though also possibly a late passage, is more
typically Upanisadic in the style and content of its expression of the
same idea.

When a person is so asieep that he sees no dream whatever, he

becomes one with that breathing spirit (prdna) alone. Then speech
together with all the names goes to him; the eye together with all forms
goes to it; the ear together with all sounds goes to it, the mind (manas)
together with all thoughts (dhyana) go to it. When he awakes, even as
sparks proceed in all directions from a blazing fire, even so from this
self the vital breaths (prana) proceed to their respective stations, from
the vital powers (prana) the gods (i.e. the sense faculties) and from the
gods the worlds.
Ks.U.3.55 (8)

The vitalistic terminology of the preceding, which is a notable

feature of the Kausitaki Upanisad in general, will be dealt with
further below. For the present, though, note that the Kausitaki
consistently identifies prdna with the prajnd-dtman, the “intelligent
self”, so that the psychological orientation of the present passage is
beyond doubt.” Radhakrishnan is probably right in identifying the
gods (deva) with the senses, as this identification is explicitly made
elsewhere in the Kausitaki Upanisad.” Though the Kausitaki is often
content with the archaic “breath faculties”, it exhibits also an
awareness of the five empirical senses and most of the classical action

95. B.U. 4.3.7-38; C.U. 6.8; 6.15; etc.

96. See Ks.U. 3.2; 3.3; etc.
Sia WSU 2339214:
 UPANISADIC PSYCHOLOGY 239

faculties.* The present passage is obviously an account of the

psychological projection of the universe.
At another point in the Kausitaki Upanisad, there is an
enumeration of the ten “intelligence principles” (prajfd-mdatra) and
the ten “existence principles” (bhita-matra), which correspond to the
former by being their respective objects. Thus, in a system much like
the classical Samkhya system of tanmdtras, a comprehensive analysis
of the supposedly physical universe is thought to be accomplished by
classifying objective phenomena according to the subjective faculty
with which they correspond. Furthermore, it is clear that this analysis
is intended to reflect the actual nature of reality in that the external
universe is said to depend on the individual faculties like the rim of
a wheel depends on the spokes.

For as in a Chariot the felly is fixed on the spokes and the spokes are
fixed on the hub, even so these elements of existence are fixed on the
elements of intelligence and the elements of intelligence are fixed in the
breathing spirit (prana). This same breathing spirit is, truly, the
intelligent self, bliss, ageless, immortal.
Ks.U. 3.8 (R)

The reciprocity between faculty and object noted above in one of

Yajfiavalkya’s lectures in the Brhaddranyaka Upanisad is explicitly
stated immediately before the preceding passage. This emphasizes the
fact that the Upanisadic notion of the mutual dependence of faculty
and object is somewhat different in conception than the similar
Buddhist idea to be examined below. The Upanisadic notion of this
reciprocity amounts to invariable concomitance: where there are
faculties, there will be objects, but the faculties are more essential.
This is like saying: where there is fire, there will be light, but the fire
is more essential. This reciprocity is expressed in the following
monistic terms:

For, truly, if there were no elements of existence, there would be no

elements of intelligence. Verily, if there were no elements of

98. Ks.U. 3.7-8.

236 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

intelligence, there would be no elements of existence. For from either

alone, no form whatsoever would be possible. And this (self) is not
many.
Ks.U. 3.8 (R)

The characterization of the conscious principle as breath, in the

Kausitaki Upanisad and elsewhere, is particularly convenient for
monistic cosmology. The supposed absorptive nature of breath and
its universal counterpart wind is called upon to illustrate the
absorption and projection of the faculties and, in turn, the universe.
It is said, then, that when the divinities fire, sun, moon and lightning
are extinguished, their breath (prdna) enters the wind (vdyu).”

12. All these divinities, verily, having entered into wind, though
they die in the wind do not perish (altogether). Therefrom, indeed, they
come forth again. This with reference to the divinities: now with
reference to the self.
13. This Brahman shines forth when one speaks with speech;
likewise it dies when one speaks not, its light goes to the eye, its vital
breath to the vital breath (prana). [A similar treatment of eye, ear and
manas occurs.] All these deities, verily, having entered into the vital
breath, though they die in the vital breath, do not perish (altogether).
Therefrom, indeed, they come forth again.
Ks.U. 2.12-13 (R)

This re-emergence represents a waking from sleep or a rebirth,

both of which entail essentially a re-creation of the universe in the
Upanisadic context. This concept, particularly as expressed in the
Maitri and Kausitaki Upanisads, has remarkable affinities with some
of the ideas of Yogacara Buddhism. Yogacara, however, at least in its
more precise formulations, does away with the concept of a common
soul at the base of individual “creations” of the universe. A somewhat
crude conceptual model of the Upanisadic theory may be imagined by
picturing a sphere made up of many cones, all of which have their
apex in the center. The cones would represent individual conscious

99. Cp. C.U. 43.1-3.

 UPANISADIC PSYCHOLOGY 237

beings and the universe as projected through them, each having a

common essence, the center of the sphere, which would represent the
“self of intelligence” in the foregoing passages. Sleep or death would
entail the retraction of a cone into the common apex, and waking or
rebirth would be the re-projection of the cone from the center. Yogic
release, however, the “fourth” state beyond waking, dream and deep
sleep, would entail the re-absorption of a given cone forever.
Aside from the Kausitaki and Maitri Upanisads, the other,
generally earlier Upanisads are not so conceptually explicit regarding
the projection of the universe through the faculties of the individual.
For example, the re-absorption of the universe at death is described
in the Chdndogya Upanisad as the reversal of the cosmogonic
emanation of speech from mind from breath from heat from being.’
Yajfiavalkya’s explanation of dreaming also amounts to a projection
theory of the universe.’ In the most typical Upanisadic approach to
this idea, however, the common apex of the aforementioned cones is
represented by “the space within the heart (hrd or hrdaya)’’.

1. This is the truth. As from a blazing fire, sparks of like form

issue forth by the thousands, even so, O beloved, many kinds of beings
issue forth from the immutable and they return thither too.
3. From him are born life, mind, all the sense organs (also) ether,
air, light, water and earth, the supporter of all. ...
10. The person himself is all this, work, austerity and Brahma
beyond death. He who knows that which is set in the secret place
(within the heart), he, here on earth, O beloved, cuts asunder the knot
of ignorance.
Mu.U. 2.1.1-10 (R)

Radhakrishnan, following Sankara, is no doubt correct in

interpreting “secret place” (guhyam) as being in the heart, as many

100. C.U. 6.8; 6.15.

101. B.U. 4.3.7-38.
238 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

other passages are explicit in locating the universal principle, and in

fact the universe itself, within the “space in the heart”.'”

He should say, as far, verily, as this (world) space extends, so far

extends the space within the heart. Within it, indeed, are contained
both heaven and earth, both fire and air, both sun and moon, lightning
and the stars.
CUR Saloer dk)

This “space within the heart” is, of course, a psychological space, the
subjective space (antar-dkasa)'” behind the eyeballs, as it were. In
this “space”, to prevalent modern notions the external world is
recreated in consciousness on the basis of sensual information. The
Upanisadic theory is, in effect, a reversal of this notion, holding that
the real universe is located entirely within this subjective space;
external space and the things which fill it being illusory projections
only imagined to exist.

Hrd:

The location of the universe in the subjective “space within the

heart” is essentially a cosmological extension of the notion that the
heart is the seat of consciousness. Thus, it is said that, in sleep and
at death, when the faculties of the individual are re-absorbed into
consciousness, the “person made of consciousness” (vijAdna-maya-
purusa),'“ or in some cases the soul (@tman),'* descends into the
heart. The notion of the heart as locus or seat of consciousness may
be traced back even to the Rg Veda. Chapter 3 examined the close
association of hrd and manas as the primary loci of consciousness.

102.-T.022.151.6.1; BU 23 5923:6"4 A924 Clea? 7-04 8.5.5- 4Ue oe

Mt.U. 6.27;.7.7., Cp. B.U.,23.5; 3.9.14-17:.4,3:7;, 5.62,.6.U.13.14:3" PU 23,6:
Mu.U. 2.1.4; Mt.U. 6.28.
103. Mt.U. 6.28. Cp. B.U. 3.9.25.
104. B.U. 2.1.17.
105. B.U. 4.4.1.
 UPANISADIC PSYCHOLOGY a0

In the Upanisads, manas'® and the “mind made person” (mano-maya-

purusa)'” are sometimes located in the heart, as is consciousness in
general.’ Though hrd is generally regarded as the location of the
innermost center of the human being,’ it is also an occasion
conceived of as a faculty rather than a location.' In this case it may
be regarded as identical with manas.'"’ More commonly, it is a faculty
distinct from, though similar to manas. Thus, it is said in parallel
phrases in three passages that ultimate reality is apprehended by the
cooperation of heart, thought and mind (hrdd manisa
manasabhiklpta).'?
In a similar passage, the heart is apparently represented as
simultaneously a faculty and the location of the absolute, in this case
conceived of theistically.

His form is‘not seen; no one sees Him with the eye. Those who
through heart and mind know Him as abiding in the heart become
immortal.
S.U. 4.20 (R)

The sublime nature of the heart as a faculty capable, in conjunction

with manas, of perceiving ultimate reality is tainted by its supposed
possession, again like manas, of several desirable and undesirable
emotions. These range from grief (Soka) and desire (kama) to
tranquillity and satisfaction.’ A passage in the Aitareya Upanisad

106. A.U. 1.1.4; 1.2.4.

107. 3.059.651... 1.6.1.
108. B.U. 4.4.22; T.U. 6.1.
109. $.U. 4.17; K.U. 1.2.20; 2.3.17; Ks.U,.4.19.
110. Cp. B.U. 5.3., where Prajapati and brahman are said to be equivalent to the
heart rather than located in it.
Wks ANUS Ser
112. K.U. 2.3.9; $.U. 3.13; 4.17, adopting the reading of Sarhkarananda, Narayana
and Vijfiana-bhiksu for S.U. 3.13. Sankara reads, instead of manisa, manvisa,
which he explains as jridnesa, “lord of knowledge”. See Radhakrishnan’s note.
113. See B.U. 4.3.22 (Soka); K.U. 2.3.14 and B.U. 4.4.7 (kama); C.U. 8.3
(tranquil); C.U. 8.9.2 (satisfied); K.U. 2.3.15 and Mu.U. 2.2.9 (knots).
240 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

gives a list of the various qualities of heart and mind reminiscent of

the extensive lists of “mental things” (cetasika dhammd) in the
Buddhist Abhidhamma literature.

That which is the heart (hrdaya), this mind (manas), that is perception
(samjnana), determination (djidna), consciousness (vijidna), intelligence
(prajnana), wisdom (medhd), insight (drsti), steadfastness (dhrtt),
thought (mati), imagination (manisa), impulse (juti), memory (smrtt),
conceptualization (samkalpa), will (kratu), life (asu), desire (kama),
control (vaSa), all these, indeed, are names of intelligence (prajndana).
AUS3 42

At one point the functions of heart and mind as mental faculties

are specifically differentiated. Here, the heart, whose function is
wisdom (vidya), apparently is ranked above mind, the function of
which is said to be conceptualization (samkalpa).'* But at another
point the “mind-made, breath-bodied leader” (mano-mayah pranma-
$arira-netr), doubtlessly equivalent to the mano-maya-purusa,'” is
said to control the heart.''® In one verse, the heart is said to assume
the role normally assigned to manas as the support of forms (rapa)
and the eye, is being said that one knows (jdnati) forms with the
heart.''” In this same passage, the heart is also said to function as the
support of faith and truth, it being by heart that these are known.'” It
is even said that semen is supported on the heart, that a child who
looks like its parents is “slipped from the heart” (hrdaydd iva srpta)
or “made from the heart” (hrdaydd iva nirmitta).' Interestingly,

114. B.U. 2.4.11.

115. Radhakrishnan’s translation of this phrase, “consists of mind and is the leader
of life and body” is probably wrong, since the phrase mano-mayah prana-Sarira
is a common adjective for purusa.
116. Mu.U. 2.2.8.
Li? BU. 3.9:20.(p,, BU 53.
118. B.U. 3.9.21 & 23.
119. B.Uy3 327
 UPANISADIC PSYCHOLOGY 241

Yajfiavalkya, the speaker of these verses, says elsewhere that it is

because of manas that a son resembles his father.'”°
As some of the preceding might suggest, the heart is also said to
serve a vital function in a few passages. For example, prdna is said
to reside in the heart.’”’ In an interesting variation on the audible
universal fire within oneself, one is said to hear the space within the
heart when one covers one’s ears.’ The vitalistic function of the heart
is recalled too in the theory of the extremely subtle channels (hita or
nadi), as fine as “a hair divided a thousandfold”,'” which are said to
radiate from the heart like spokes from the hub of a wheel. In one
verse, these are said to be the thoroughfares of the “diffused breath”
(vydna),'’* but elsewhere it is the “intelligent soul” (prajfid-dtman)
which is said to resort to these channels during dreamless sleep.’
The unconsciousness of sleep is thought to be paralleled by the
unconsciousness after death, which is also represented as entrance
into these channels.'”’ Rebirth is said to result from passage of the
soul through any of the numerous secondary channels, while liberation
is the result of its passing the head.'’* All of these channels are
supposed to be connected with the rays of the sun.'” This appears to
be a metaphorical expression of the identity of the individual with the
universal principle, though apparently only passage though the central
channel is sufficient to gain absolute unity with this principle.’”

120. B.U. 4.1.6.

121. B.U. 2.3.5. Cp. C.U. 3.12, where the breath faculties are said to be established
on the heart.
122. MtU, 6.22.
123. B.U. 4.2.
124. Mu.U. 2.2.6. Normally there are said to be 101 channels (C.U. 8.6; K.U.
2.3.16). At P.U. 3.6, there are said to be 101 main channels, each of which
has 100 finer channels, each of which has 72,000 super fine branches, a total
of 101 + 10,100 + 727,200,000 = 727,210,101 channels.
1257 2.02510.
126. C.U. 8.6; B.U. 2.1.17-19. Cp. B.U. 4.3.20; Ks.U. 4.19.
127°,.B.U54:239C.U.8.6; K.U7 273.16:
1285C-U. 8:66; KU 2.3.65 CP ALU. 13.2.
129. C.U. 8.6.1; Mt.U. 6.30. Cp. P.U. 4.2; K.U. 2.3.6.
130. C.U. 8.6.6; K.U. 2.3.6; Mt.U. 6.30. Cp. A.U. 1.3.12.
242 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

This theory of subtle channels in the body, through which a

person’s vitality and consciousness is supposed to flow, was made
much of in tantric systems, particularly Kundalini Yoga. In this
system, the heart and the crown of the head — mentioned in these
Upanisadic texts — are two of the cakras, or “psychic centers” in the
body. It is possible that an ancient form of some such system
underlies many of the rather confusing aspects of the heart in the
Upanisads, in particular its sexual aspect as the support of semen.
The heart is also said to be the bed chamber of Purusa and Viraj, the
universal couple, whose “place of movement (samcarani)”, a fairly
obvious sexual euphemism, is said to be the central channel.’”’ Many
of these same ideas are prominent in Buddhist tantra as well, in
particular the sexual aspects of the channels and the importance of the
semen (fukra or bindu, Tib. thig-le), representing bodhi-citta and/or
$unyata, and said to be active within the channels and cakras.'”
In general, though, the Upanisads, depict the heart as the location
of consciousness. The location of the universe and the universal
principle in the heart is indicative of the ascendancy of psychological
over vitalistic concepts of the nature of the soul and the universe. It
is perhaps worth noting that, as in the Rg Veda, hrd is not identified
with the biological organ in the Upanisads.’” Again, the term might
be better understood as simply “center”. It is interesting too that with
all the Upanisadic concern with the empirical signs of life — breath,
warmth, the sound of the digestive fire — the beating of the heart is
never mentioned. It is perhaps also noteworthy that though the early
Buddhists borrowed many Upanisadic psychological terms, the use of
hrd as a technical term was not adopted until the appearance of the
hadaya-vatthu in the Abhidhamma and commentarial literature of
Theravada Buddhism. This may be because of the term’s strong

131. B.U. 4.2.3; MtvU. 7.11; S.B. 10.5.2.11-12.

132. See David Snellgrove, The Hevajra Tantra, vol. 1, Oxford University Press,
London, 1959, index and glossary under “bindu” and “thig-le”. See also Lama
A. Govinda, Foundations of Tibetan Mysticism, Rider, London, 1969, index
under “Sukra, bindu, thig-le”. See also Garma C. Chang, Teachings of Tibetan
Yoga, University Books, Secaucus, N.J., 1963, pp. 55-81.
133. The only possible exception is the reference at B.U. 4.2.3 to the “net like
structure” in the heart, which probably, however, refers to the subtle channels
and not to an anatomical feature.
 UPANISADIC PSYCHOLOGY 243

connotation of psychological centrality, which of course, Buddhism

shunned.™

Manas:

Within the “space within the heart”, the seat of consciousness,

there developed a fairly extensive hierarchy of consciousness in the
Upanisads. Generally, the lowest level of supra-sensuous
consciousness is assigned to manas, presumably because of its
association with mundane consciousness as sensus communis. Manas,
however, is also sometimes depicted as the supreme faculty of the
soul, capable of apprehending ultimate truth.’** Elsewhere, however,
it is specifically denied that manas is capable of apprehending ultimate
truth," and manas is often represented as an intermediate level of
consciousness with several levels above it. These levels will be
examined below, but first it is useful to examine some of the
characteristics of manas which eventually necessitated the introduction
of purer levels of consciousness above it.
The most common characteristic or function of manas in the
Upanisads is samkalpa, probably best rendered as “conceptualization”,
which is sometimes represented as the simple object of manas in the
same way objects of the sense faculties are treated.'” It is clear,
however, that samkalpa is not to be regarded as a mere sensual object,
and that its association with manas belongs primarily to the stage of
Upanisadic psychology in which manas is considered a super-sense
presiding over the others. From one point of view, manas creates
ordered conceptualizations from sensual information. In the Upanisadic
scheme, however, the reverse is more commonly the case, and manas,
by conceptualization, is thought to provide the template for an orderly
universe.’ Thus, it is said of the person who knows the soul:

134. See E.R. Sarathchandra, Buddhist Psychology of Perception, p. 38.

TSSo AO Boris
Beie 2 I UyIR se I er EP
136, KU. 23.12.
1377 BUS 2.4.115°45,12; Ks.U.-3.2:
138; Cp. CU. 743.
244 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

1. If he becomes desirous of the world of the fathers (pitr-loka),

by the mere thought (samkalpa), fathers arise. Possessed of the world
of the fathers he is happy.
2-9. [Similar treatments of various other worlds occur.]
10. Of whatever object he becomes desirous, whatever desire he
desires, out of his mere thought it arises. Possessed of it he is happy.
CU 8.2510)

Manas, however, is the repository of several functions and

characteristics of which samkalpa is only the most frequently
mentioned. Some of the various enumerations of the attributes of
manas, which may include both good and bad qualities, are
reminiscent of the extensive analytical lists of dhammas, the “objects”
of manas, which were developed in the Buddhist Abhidhamma
literature. Of these desire (kama), and volition (kratu) have already
been noted. These two attributes of manas relate to samkalpa as
creative conceptualization in what is perhaps a surprising way, 1.e.
through the mechanism of karma and rebirth.
The creative aspect of kratu in the Rg Veda, where “mental power”
is a more satisfactory translation of the term, is in effect transferred
to samkalpa in the Upanisadic scheme. This leaves kratu as a purely
volitional force in the Upanisads. Cited above was a causal sequence
reminiscent to some extent of the Buddhist doctrine of
pratityasamutpada, according to which: as the desire (kama), so the
will (kratu); as the will, so the act (karma); as the act, so the
attainment in rebirth.” In the initial stages of Upanisadic psychology,
transmigration was viewed as the simple passage of the individual soul
to another body, like an caterpillar crawling from leaf to leaf at B.U.
4.4.3. There is also evidence, however, of a long tradition assigning
a creative function to the soul. In fact, in the verse immediately
following the caterpillar simile the soul is said to fashion a new body
like a smith casting gold.° These two ideas, which appear to be the
result of a synthesis of Vedic and non-Vedic material, were gradually
dovetailed in the concept that death and rebirth actually represent the

139. B.U. 4.4.5.

140. B.U. 4.4.3-4.
 UPANISADIC PSYCHOLOGY 245

absorption by and re-projection from the soul of the faculties and their
objects. According to this concept, the nature of the universe is
determined by the various qualities of the mind through which it is
projected, as light is colored by a tinted lens.
The tint of the lens would be analogous to the numerous good and
bad qualities said to exist in manas, the lowest purely conscious level
of the soul. The early stages of attempts to categorize the qualities of
the human mind are probably reflected in passages such as the
following. This passage does not specifically locate these qualities in
manas or in any other particular faculty, but enumerates them
alongside the faculties as being encompassed in the individual cum
universal principle.

That soul (atman) is, indeed, brahman, characterized (-maya) by

consciousness (vijfidna), mind (manas), breath (prana), sight, hearing,
earth, water, wind, space, heat (fejas), non-heat, desire (kama), non-
desire, anger, non-anger, dharma, adharma, everything. Thus it is said,
“made (-maya) of this, made of that’. As one acts, as he behaves, so
he becomes. The doer of good becomes good. The doer of evil
becomes evil. Good comes of good action, bad of bad. Thus it is said,
“This person (purusa) is characterized by desire (kKamamaya)”. As is
the desire, so is the will (kratu). As is the will, so the deed performed.
As is the deed performed, so the attainment.
B.U. 4.4.5

Elsewhere a similar enumeration of human qualities is specifically

located in the manas, which is also represented as the sensus
communis."

Three he made for himself. Mind speech and breath he made for
himself. (It is said) “My mind was elsewhere, I did not hear”. Indeed,
one sees with the mind; one hears with the mind. Desire (kama),
conceptualization (samkalpa), doubt (vicikitsa), faith (Sraddha), non-

141. Cp. Mt.U. 6.30.

246 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

faith, steadfastness (dhrti), non-steadfastness, shame (hri), vision (dhi),

fear (bhi), all this is mind (manas).
BUTS 2

An even more extensive list of such qualities of manas was quoted

above in a citation from the Aitareya Upanisad.”
In general, the principal Upanisads are content with such more or
less random listings of the qualities of manas. A more purposeful
enumeration of qualities, including conceptualization (samkalpa),
determination (adhyavasdya) and conceit (abhimdna), occurs several
times in the Maitri Upanisad as a definition of the characteristics
(linga) of the purusa or ksetra-jfa (“knower of the field”). In this
context, both of these terms, as in Samkhya technical terminology,
appear to be epithets of the soul in general.’*? A similar passage,
however, by referring to a specific definition of manas,* suggests that
this enumeration applies specifically to manas as a faculty of the soul.

Indeed, one sees with the mind, one hears with the mind. Desire,
conceptualization, doubt ... all this is mind. Borne along and defiled
by the stream of qualities (guna), unsteady, fickle, bewildered, full of
desire, distracted, one comes to conceit. Thinking, “I am he; this is
mine”, he entangles himself with himself as a bird in a snare. Thus,
the person (purusa), characterized by determination (adhyavasaya),
conceptualization (samkalpa) and conceit (abhimana), is bound. The
opposite of that is liberated. Therefore stand free of determination,
conceptualization and conceit. This is the path to brahman.
Mt.U. 6.30

The definition offered here is purposeful and systematic. It seeks to

categorize exhaustively the characteristics of the deluded mind under
three headings, conceptualization, determination and conceit. It implies
that the mind falls prey to its own conceptualizations by objectively

142. A.U. 3.2.

143. Mt.U. 2.5; 5.2; 6.10; 6.30.
144. B.U. 1.5.3. Cp. B.U. 4.4.6.
 UPANISADIC PSYCHOLOGY 247

concretizing them through determination and subjectively setting up

the egoistic self as existing over against these objects through conceit.
If such are the characteristics of the deluded mind, the mind
relieved of these faults is sublime, but ambiguously so.

The mind (manas) it is said, is of two kinds, pure and impure, impure
from contact with desire and pure when freed from desire. By freeing
mind from sloth and distraction and making it motionless, he becomes
_ delivered from his mind, then that is the supreme state. ... Mind, in
truth, is the cause of bondage and liberation for mankind; for bondage
if it is bound to objects; freedom from objects, that is called liberation.
Mt.U. 6.34 (R)

In general, as the foregoing discussion suggests, manas is more

associated with mundane, sensual consciousness and activity than with
pure consciousness, which is here characterized simultaneously as
freedom of manas and freedom from manas. The pure, essential
consciousness of the soul gradually came to be associated with a
hierarchy of levels of consciousness purer and less active than manas,
and the role of manas in the attainment of liberation became largely
negative.'*°

When the five senses and mind stand down (i.e. cease functioning),
and the intellect (buddhi) does not stir, that is said to be the supreme
attainment.
QU), asks Ja

Faculties Derived from Vjfa:

One source of terms for these purer levels of consciousness is the

verbal root Vj7id, “to know”. In the Rg Veda, derivatives of this root
occur in the forms sam + Vjfd, meaning “to be in agreement”, and vi
+ Vjfid, meaning “to know” or occasionally “to know separately,
discriminate”. Such terms have no particular psychological significance
in the Rg Veda. In the Upanisads, however, three derivatives of Vjna

145. Cp. K.U. 1.2.24; Mt.U. 6.19.

248 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

in particular denote more or less precise psychological concepts. These

terms — samjnd, vijidna and prajaa — have been noted above in
several contexts. Unprefixed derivatives of Vjfiad, normally jfdna,
usually mean simply “knowledge”,'*® though derivatives of Vvid, such
as veda, are more common in this sense. Jaana also occurs
occasionally in the plural, in which case it designates the senses, as
is common in the in the technical term jAdna-indriya (sense faculty).'”
In a few cases, jfdna is used synonymously with vijidna,’* but in
general it is psychologically an insignificant term in the Upanisads.
Of the three psychologically significant derivatives of Vind —
samjnd, vijidna and prajhd — samjnd (perception) is the least
frequent and the least exalted. Sometimes it seems to mean simply
“known as”,’”” but it also occurs in contexts where it obviously refers
to a faculty, though not a particularly essential faculty.’

This great being (bhata), infinite, limitless, is a mass of consciousness

(vijndna-ghana). Arising from these elements (bhuta), back to them one
perishes, and there is no more perception (samjna).
B.U. 2.4.12

Obviously this passage represents samjnad as a lower order of

consciousness than vijidna. Here, samjnd probably refers to sensual
consciousness, and is thus probably similar in meaning to the term
sanna in Pali Buddhist literature, though there are too few Upanisadic
occurrences of the term to justify definite conclusions.
Two other psychologically significant derivatives of VjAa — prajna
and vijadna — are more common in the Upanisads than the term
samjnad. Both of these terms occur with basically three different

146. Mt.U. 6.34; 7.8; Mu.U. 3.1.8; 3.2.5; 1.1.8; Ma.U. 10.
147. K.U. 2.3.10;Mt.U. 6.30.
148. K.U. 1.3.13; T.U. 2.1.1. Cp. C.U. 7.7.2, where vijfidna and jfdna occur as
synonyms meaning “knowledge”.
149. Mt.U. 2.5; 6.10. The phrase purusa-samjnd at Mt.U. 2.5 almost has to be
taken thus, but the statement that the world is sukha-duhkha-moha-samjna could
be construed as a dvandva compound: “pleasure, pain, delusion and perception”.
150. See also B.U. 4.5.13; A.U. 3.2.
 UPANISADIC PSYCHOLOGY 249

meanings. They may, like samjfd, refer to sensual consciousness. They

often mean simply “wisdom” (prajfda),'*' or “understanding”
(vijndna).'” Most often though, they denote the pure “stuff” or essence
of abstract consciousness, from which manas and the mundane senses
emanate.
The equation of breath (prdna) with the prajnd-dtman is a common
feature in the Kausitaki Upanisad,’* and is an instance of the
Upanisadic tendency to retain archaic vitalistic terminology for the
expression of psychological theories of the soul. The phrase prajfa-
atman, though not identified with breath, also occurs in the Aitareya
Upanisad,’“ as does the specific identification of prajfiad with
brahman.'* The Maitri Upanisad, on the other hand, states that prajad
is only one of the many characteristics (linga) of the soul (dtman).'**
The overall intent of prajfd as a psychological term is perhaps
best stated in the Mdndikya Upanisad, where prajnd is associated
with the state of deep sleep, the penultimate level of the soul.

5. Where one, being fast asleep, does not desire any desire
whatsoever and does not see any dream whatsoever, that is deep sleep.
The third quarter is prajiad, whose sphere (of activity) is the state of
deep sleep, who has become one, who is, verily, a mass of cognition
(prajnadna-ghana), who is full of bliss, whose face is thought (ceto-
mukha).
6. This is the lord of all, this is the knower of all, this is the
inner controller; this is the source of all; this is the beginning and end
of beings.
Ma.U. 5-6 (R)

The essence of consciousness as denoted by the term prajnda, then, is

thought to be experienced when consciousness per se ceases.

PST KU et1145 1287024 Ks 5B 4.4.21, 8.04183 PU 213.

152 Kets) Uni, 188s 0201; B24 5) 2413; Mu 12.12; 221;
PDR BPaloy
153. Occurring specifically in five verses: Ks.U. 2.14; 3.2; 3.3; 3.8; 4.20.
154. A.U. 3.1.4.
15S ACW as ales:
156. Mt.U. 6.31.
250 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

As a psychological term, prajfd is in many ways similar to

vijidna, which may also be applied to the entire range of
consciousness, from mundane to sublime.

When this one fell asleep, then the consciousness-made person (vijnana-
maya-purusa), by consciousness (vijidna) having taken in the
consciousness of these breath faculties (prana), rests within the space
within the heart.
B.U. 2.1.17

The reason for this broad significance of vijfidna is probably the same
reason that seems to underlie the occasional use of the term prajnd to
denote mundane consciousness, i.e. vijndna also represents the
essential stuff of consciousness which is tainted by _ sensual
discrimination.

Visualization (dhyana) is directed to the highest reality within and to

the perceptible (laksya). Therefore undiscriminated consciousness
(vijAdna) comes to be discriminated, but when the mind (manas) is
dissolved, the bliss (sukha) witnessed by the soul is brahman, the
immortal, the radiant. That is the destination. That is the world.
Mt.U. 6.24

In most cases, the phrase vijidna-maya, whether it refers to purusa

or to Gtman, obviously denotes the essential consciousness of the soul.
The phrase vijidna-dtman, analogous to prajfd-adtman, occurs,’ as
does the specific identification of vijidna with brahman.'* Of the two
parallel versions of Yajfiavalkya’s discourse to Maitri, one describes
the soul (dtman) as a prajnd-ghana, the other as a vijAdna-ghana,
meaning “mass of consciousness” in either case.’” Like prajnd,
vijndna is also conceived of as the subtle consciousness of deep

157. P.U. 4.9; 4.11.

158.°B.03,9.28 TUS3 5a.
159. Cp. B.U. 4.5.13 (prajrid-ghana) and B.U. 2.4.12 (vijfidna-ghana). See also
Ma.U. 5 (prajfana-ghana).
 UPANISADIC PSYCHOLOGY Z51

sleep,’ which is thought to be similar to the state immediately after

death.
Neither the state of deep sleep nor the post-mortem state, however,
ultimately was judged to be equivalent to the essential nature of the
soul. Some passages suggest as much, but others explicitly refer to
aspects of the soul even more essential than pure, passive
consciousness. It is in this context that the meaning of vijfidna and
prajna begin to diverge. Vijidna became a standard technical term for
the penultimate level of the soul. Prajid was increasingly associated
specifically with wisdom rather than a theoretical level of
consciousness. “Wisdom”, in fact, is the exclusive meaning of prajna
or panna by the time of early Buddhist literature. Vijfidna, on the
other hand, tended to lose its connotation of “knowledge” and became
a general psychological term probably best translated as simply
“consciousnéss”. The generality of the term, notable in early Buddhist
literature, probably stems originally from the fact that in the
Upanisads, as the ultimate or penultimate level of the soul, vijiana
was thought to emanate into all lower levels of consciousness,
including the several faculties of perception and action. Thus, as the
essential stuff of consciousness, it could be said to be present
wherever there is any manifestation of consciousness of any type.

Citta:

Before turning to the various specific doctrines of the several layers

of the soul, which do much to clarify Upanisadic psychological
terminology, one more general term requires attention. As in the Rg
Veda, various nominal derivatives of the verbal root Vcit occur in the
Upanisads with the basic meaning “thought”. The most common forms
are citta and cetas. These synonymous terms differ from vijAdna and
prajnad as psychological terms only subtly in that they imply the
process of consciousness rather than the stuff of consciousness. They
differ subtly from manas in a similar way, implying process rather
than faculty, but the derivatives of Vcit are general enough in meaning
that they can substitute for any of these terms. Perhaps the clearest

160.238.022.717.
252 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

characterization of citta is the following passage, in which lack of

citta does not mean a lack of the stuff of consciousness or any faculty
of consciousness, but merely a_ deficient functioning of
consciousness."*

Even if a man be possessed of much learning, but is unthinking

(acitta), people say of him that he is nobody, whatever he may know.
Verily, if he did know he would not be so unthinking. On the other
hand, if he is thoughtful, even though he knows little, to him people
are desirous of listening.
CU 7-5-2) OR}

Citta may be associated with sensual consciousness, as in the

following verse, where the departure of citta marks the end of such
consciousness.

When a sick person about to die gets to such weakness as to fall into
a stupor (sammoha) they say of him, his thought (citta) has departed,
he does not hear, he does not see, he does not speak with speech, he
does not think (dhyayati).
Ks.U. 3,3 _(R)

As a purified manas is said to be capable of grasping the ultimate

truth, so is a purified, serene citta said to be capable of the same.'®

This subtle soul (atman) in which the fivefold breath faculties (prana)
are merged is knowable by thought (citta). The thought of all beings
is entangled with the breath faculties, when purified, the soul shines
forth.
Mu.U. 3.1.9

However, as in the case of manas, the purification of citta also seems

to involve its cessation.

161. Cp. Mt.U. 6.7.

162. See also Mt.U. 6.20; 6.34. Cp. Mt.U. 4.4; Mu.U. 2.2.3.
 UPANISADIC PSYCHOLOGY 253

The one goes quickly to that condition (of liberation); as a lump of

iron buried in the earth quickly becomes earth ... so does thought (citta)
perish along with its basis (afraya).
Mt.U. 6.27

In other cases derivatives of Vcit seem to be construed as the essence

of the soul and universe, as in the following passages, where thought
is said to be the fundamental characteristic of both the individual and
the universal soul.

This body is like a cart, without thought. By the power of what super-
sensuous being is it made to arise with thought (cefanavat); or who is
its mover?
; Mt.U. 2.3

The enjoyer (bhoktr) of this (universe) is without qualities (nirguna),

but because of its being an enjoyer, it must have thought (cattanya).
Mt.U. 6.10

Elsewhere, buddhi, manas and aham-kara, three of the suprasensuous

levels of the soul, are all said to be the “thought aspect” (cetanavati)
of the universal principle.’® Thus, the derivatives of Vcit, which were
never specifically ranked in any of the Upanisadic hierarchies of
consciousness, comprise the most general set of terms for
consciousness in the Upanisads.
It is interesting that the idealistictendency of the Upanisads to
regard the world as a creation of consciousness is most explicitly
stated with recourse to terms derived from Vcit, in a few late passages
remarkably reminiscent of Yogacara Buddhism."

163. Mt.U. 6.5.

164. See also Mt.U. 2.5; 5.2.
254 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

At the dissolution of all, he alone remains awake. Thus from that space,
he awakes this (world) which consists of thought only (cetamdatra).
Mt.U. 6.17 (R)

It is doubtlessly with reference to the theory of rebirth as the re-

creation of the universe that the volitional aspects of citta as the
criterion of rebirth are to be understood.’

One’s own thought, indeed, is sammsara; let a man cleanse it by effort.

What a man thinks, what he becomes, this is the eternal mystery.
Mt.U. 6.34 (R)

The careful reader will have noted that most of the psychologically
significant derivatives of Vcit occur in relatively late passages, the
majority being in the Maitri Upanisad. The explanation behind the
late rise to popularity of these terms is probably an increasing
Upanisadic interest in idealistic metaphysics rather than psychological
analysis. Citta is a handy term in this context by virtue of being a
general term for consciousness without any specific psychological
connotations. At any rate, citta is the last of the general terms for
consciousness to be examined here. The rest of the terms to be
considered are more specific in that their occurrence is almost entirely
confined to the context of various hierarchical schemes of
consciousness. Manas and vijiadna also occur in several of these
integrated schemes, with the result that the precise meanings of these
terms become much clearer than they would be otherwise.

Hierarchies of Consciousness:

The terms buddhi and ahamkara will immediately be recognized

as the two primary sattvika evolutes of prakrti in the classical
Samkhya system. It is in the context of what are obviously proto-
Samkhya passages that these terms most often occur in the Upanisads.
The term kSetra-jnid, which also makes its debut in the Upanisads, is

165. See the rest of Mt.U. 6.34 and Mt.U. 6.20.

 UPANISADIC PSYCHOLOGY 29

typical Samkhya euphemism for purusa. The meanings of these

Upanisadic technical terms are roughly similar to their classical
counterparts. However, the cardinal doctrines of Samkhya, namely the
plurality of individual souls (purusa) and their strict separation from
matter (prakrti) are lacking in most if not all Upanisadic passages.
Instead, the most obvious Upanisadic prefigurations of Samkhya are
either monistic, as in the Katha and Maitri Upanisads, or theistic, as
in the SvetdSvatara Upanisad. These two Upanisadic points of view
are Clearly illustrated in the following passages.

This (world) was darkness (tamas) in the beginning, a unity. That was
in the supreme. When impelled by the supreme it goes to
differentiation. That form is rajas. That rajas, when impelled, goes to
differentiation. That is the form of sattva. That sattva impelled, the
essence flowed forth. That part is this field-knower, which is thought-
only and (is found) in (all) souls (ceta-mdatrah pratipurusah ksetrajna).
Mt.U. 5.2

13. The permanent of the permanent, the thought (cetana) of

thoughts, the one among the many, he grants desires. Having known
god, the cause, by practising Samkhya and Yoga, one is freed from
all snares.
16. He is the all-maker, all-knower, self-originated, the conscious
(jfah), maker of time, possessor of (all) qualities, all-wise, the ruler of
nature and the field-knower (pradhdna-ksetrajna-pati), the lord of
qualities (guna), the cause of samsdra, liberation, stability and bondage.
S.U. 6.13-16

The Svetasvatara passage is apparently theistic, and though the version

of Samkhya metaphysics adopted by the orthodox Yoga school allows
for a theistic god, this god could not be styled the ruler of the
ksetrajna, i.e. the soul (purusa). Nor could this god be considered the
ruler of material nature, pradhdna or prakrti, since god, in the
classical Yoga system is only an instance of a soul which has never
been associated with prakrti. The Maitri passage on the other hand
employs Samkhya technical terms in a monistic context. Here, the
ksetrajha represents a universal soul standing behind all individual
256 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

souls, which are apparently labeled purusa in this passage.'®°

Moreover, this universal ksetrajna is said to be the source of the three
classical gunas of prakrti, all of which is a far cry from the theories
of classical Samkhya.
Ahamkara, another technical term typical of Sarmmkhya, is the second
sattvika evolute of prakrti, and means literally “I-maker”, i.e. “self-
sense” or “ego”. It occurs in three proto-Samkhya passages in the
Upanisads, but always as an evolute of the soul rather than, as in the
classical system, an evolute of matter (prakrti)."*’ The term occurs
once more in an earlier passage in the Chandogya Upanisad, but
without apparent connection to Samkhya terminology, the ahamkara-
dGdega (“teaching with regard to I-making”) being in that passage the
monistic meditation “I am all this (world)”.’®
Samkhya, of course, means literally “enumeration”, so it is perhaps
not surprising that the majority of hierarchical enumerations of the
several levels of consciousness in the Upanisads involve some
Samkhya terminology. In the classical Samkhya system, however, the
enumeration is essentially of the various evolutes of matter (prakrti),
some of which only appear to have consciousness. In the Upanisads,
these enumerations represent an attempt to shade _ individual
consciousness off into the universal soul without admitting any sharp
demarcation between the two. It is almost exclusively in the context
of such attempts that the term buddhi appears.'® It is not altogether
clear why “intellect” is the most common translation offered for the
term buddhi, since in both the classical SAamkhya system as well as in
the majority of Upanisadic contexts, the term represents passive, non-
conceptual consciousness. Generally speaking, it may be regarded as
representing the upper level of vijAdna while manas represents the
lower, sensual level. The derivation of the term from the root Vbudh,
“to wake up”, suggests “awareness” as a more satisfactory translation.

166. See also Mt.U. 2.5.

16/S USS SSMEU 6 esUaAss
1683 COUR E25:
169. Exceptions being S.U. 3.4, where Rudra is asked to “endow us with a clear
buddhi”, and Mt.U. 6.31, where mention is made of those who hold that the
atman is comprised of buddhi, dhrti, smrti and prajhad. Cp. Mt.U. 6.7.
 UPANISADIC PSYCHOLOGY 25)

In the classical Samkhya system, buddhi is the first, most sublime

Sattvika evolute of prakrti, followed by ahamkara and then manas. In
the only Upanisadic passage which actually ranks these three aspects
of consciousness, however, ahamkdra comes out on top of buddhi and
manas.'"” This passage also differs from the classical scheme by
ranking citta (thought), tejas (heat), and prdna (breath) above
ahamkara, as well as by resolving the whole scheme into the
“supreme soul”.’”’ Elsewhere, though, the phrase buddhi-ddi
“awareness etc.” implies the preeminence of buddhi in the hierarchy
of consciousness. The passage in question is highly obscure, but worth
quoting inasmuch as it is an obvious prefiguration of the Sarmkhya
scheme of the evolution of the tattvas or “basic reals”.

The nature of (perceptual) food (arises) from inherent transformation

(parinamatvat). Thus there is perception (upalabdhi) of nature’s
(pradhadnasya) becoming distinguished. For tasting (it) arise awareness
etc. (buddhi-adi), determination, conceptualization and _ conceit
(adhyavasaya-samkalpa-abhimana). Then arise the five sense objects
(indriya-artha) for tasting, and thus all of the sense activities (indriya-
karmGni) and vital activities (prana-karmani).
Mt.U. 6.10

The categories and terminology of the foregoing obviously resemble

those of the classical SAamkhya system, and something similar to the
evolution of the tattvas is obviously implied. It would be inadvisable,
however, to interpret the preceding passage along classical Sarnkhya
lines because of the overt monism of the Maitri Upanisad in general.
It is, at any rate, probably a very late passage as Upanisadic passages
go.
A much less esoteric, and probably much earlier proto-Samkhya
hierarchy of consciousness occurs in the form of the Upanisadic
chariot simile, which, in its most archaic form is found in the Katha
Upanisad. Actually, an extremely early reference to a chariot in the
Rg Veda appears in retrospect to have psychological significance, but

170. Cp. P.U. 4.8; Mt.U. 6.5 and S.U. 5.8, where no ranking seems to be implied.
17UAP UAT:
258 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

nothing is ever made of it in the Vedic theory of consciousness. It

occurs, moreover, in a hymn dedicated to the weapons of war.

6. Upstanding in the car the skilful charioteer guides his strong

horses on withersoe’er he will. See and admire the strength of those
controlling reins which from behind declare the will (manas) of him
who drives.
7. Horses whose hoofs rain dust are neighing loudly, yoked to
the chariots (rathebhih saha), showing forth their vigour. With their
forefeet descending on the foemen, they, never flinching, trample and
destroy them.
Rg 6.75.6-7 (G)

The chariot described in the Katha Upanisad, by contrast, is of

obvious psychological significance.

3. Know the soul (@tman) as the rider of the chariot, and the
body as the chariot itself. Know awareness (buddhi) as the charioteer,
mind (manas) as the reins.
4. The faculties (indriya) are said to be the horses; objects are
their ranges. That which is yoked (yukta) to the soul, faculties and
mind, the wise declare is (called) “the enjoyer” (bhoktr).
5. He who is not conscious (avijnadnavan), with an always un-
yoked (ayukta) mind, his faculties are uncontrolled, like bad horses for
a charioteer.
6. But he who is conscious, whose mind is always yoked, his
faculties are controlled, like good horses for a charioteer.
7. He who is not conscious, who is mentally unstable (amanaska)
and always impure, does not reach the goal, and he returns to samsdara.
8. But he who is conscious, who is mentally stable and always
pure, he reaches the goal from which he is not bom again.
9. The man with consciousness as the charioteer, who holds the
mental reins, he reaches the end of the journey, the supreme place of
Visnu.
10. Beyond the faculties are the objects, and beyond the objects
is the mind. Beyond the mind is the awareness (buddhi), and beyond
awareness is the great soul (@tma mahan).
11. Beyond the great (mahat) is the unmanifest (avyakta), beyond
the unmanifest is the person (purusa). Beyond the person there is
nothing whatsoever. That is the end. That is the supreme state.
12. This soul hidden in all beings does not shine forth, but is
seen by subtle seers with keen and subtle awareness.
 UPANISADIC PSYCHOLOGY Z59

13. Let the wise man restrain speech in mind, restrain that (mind)
in the conscious soul (jAdna-atman); restrain the consciousness (jidna)
in the great; restrain that in the tranquil soul (Santa-atman).
KeUe 33-13

The chariot model of consciousness is perhaps the clearest

Upanisadic treatment of manas as sensus communis. A version of the
chariot simile which occurs in the Maitri Upanisad is explicit in
putting both the faculties of perception and the faculties of action
under the control of manas. It is somewhat confusing, however, in that
it identifies manas with the charioteer, the reins with the perceptual
faculties and the horses with the action faculties, even though
perception would not seem to control action.’” In the above citation,
the translation. “conscious” for vijfidnavdn is, of course, open to
question, as “having understanding”, Radhakrishnan’s rendition, is also
a plausible choice. Certainly “conscious” must be taken as meaning
alert, introspective consciousness rather than mere sentience.
At any rate, the equation of vijAdna with the charioteer and thereby
with buddhi in verse nine is fairly clear. This position, a rank above
manas, is the position vijndna enjoys in the five-ko§a hierarchy of the
soul. The fate of the individual is represented as being in the hands
of buddhi, in what is obviously an attempt to isolate the atman, the
rider of the chariot, from the realm of sensual and volitional activity.
To insure that this is understood, the terms of the original analogy are
transgressed in verses ten and eleven with two more Samkhya
technical terms. These, however, obviously do not carry their classical
meanings here. Mahan or mahat, in the first place, is a synonym for
buddhi in classical Sarmkhya, whereas here the datmad mahan,
abbreviated as mahat in verse eleven, is said to be the rider of the
chariot, the soul itself. Avyakta (unmanifest) is a euphemism for
prakrti in the classical system, but could not mean that here. Instead
if must refer to pure being, which, under various names, is often
called avyakta in other Upanisadic passages.’” Purusa is obviously

172. Mt.U. 2.6.

173) KU. 23 Al; 2:3.7-82 Meu. 6.10; 6.22,-2.7.
260 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

intended as a yet higher level of being, even further removed from

sensual and volitional activity.’”
Does active consciousness, then, play an entirely negative role in
the attainment of release? The classical Samkhya answer is “yes”. In
that system, buddhi, etc. are merely evolutes of matter. The Upanisads
vacillate on this point and contradict themselves repeatedly. For
example, it is said in verse twelve of the preceding citation that the
ultimate soul may be seen with a “keen and subtle awareness
(buddhi)”. This view seems to be reiterated in the less ancient second
section of the Katha Upanisad, where it is said that one should awake
(boddhum) before the body perishes or else one will be reborn.'”
Presumably boddhum means in this context “to perceive by buddhi”,
but the verse is followed by a series of verses stating that as a
condition for liberation the five senses and mind (manas) must cease
to function and buddhi must not stir. Further, they state contradictorily
that the ultimate soul is to be apprehended (abhiklpta) by heart (hrd)
and manas, and that it is not to be apprehended (praptum) by
manas.'’* In the end, the latter is the predominant view. Particularly
in later verses, active consciousness is usually said to be opposed to
the ultimate attainment, which is increasingly characterized as non-
consciousness.

That which is non-thought (acitta), which stands in the midst of

thought, the unthinkable (acintya), the hidden, the highest, let a man
merge his thought there. Then will this living being (linga) be without
support (nirasraya).
Mt.U. 6.19 (R)

Is release, then, merely like going to sleep? Again, there is

contradictory material in the Upanisads, but the predominant answer
is that yes, it is,” as well as something more. We have seen Maitri’s
consternation when Yajfiavalkya told her that there is no more samjna

174. See K.U. 2.3.6-8.

175. K.U. 2.3.4.
176. K.U. 2.3.9-12.
LTT BAIS ZA iS eesti:
 UPANISADIC PSYCHOLOGY 261

after death, which in that context apparently means after the death of
one who has attained release.'” In one version of this teaching,
though, Yajfiavalkya assures her that the soul is imperishable and
indestructible,'” so presumably there is more to the soul than samjnd.
This could be vijidna, since Yajiiavalkya has defined the soul as a
“mass of consciousness” (vijfidna-ghana), but in the following verses,
the survival of vijidna seems to be refuted along with that of the
senses and manas. Apparently union with the absolute entails putting
an end to consciousness, though it also entails reaching the source of
consciousness, as well as eternal life.’*°

Where there is duality, as it were, there one sees another, smells ...
tastes ... speaks ... hears ... thinks (manute) ... touches ... 1s conscious
of (vijanati) another. But where everything has become one’s own soul,
what and by -what should one see ... of what and by what should one
be conscious? How should one be conscious of that by means of which
he is conscious of all this? That soul is not this, not that (neti neti). ...
How should one be conscious of the cognizer (vijndtr) itself?
B.U.-4.5.15

In other words, though the soul is the source of consciousness,

that consciousness cannot be conscious of its source.’** Consciousness,
in other words, can only be conscious of that which is other than
itself, but it is precisely that content which constitutes the impurity of
consciousness. Pure consciousness is, then, of necessity, non-
consciousness, and consciousness, of necessity, is impure. It will be
remembered that the creation of the universe is said to have started
with an attempt by the soul to know itself, thereby initiating the
creative condition of illusory duality.

1. In the beginning this (world) was only the self (atman), in

the form of a person (purusa). Looking around he saw nothing else
than the self. He first said, ‘I am’. ..

IW/Se BUR 2412713749413:

179. B.U. 4.5.14.
180. Similar ideas at B.U. 3.4.2; C.U. 7.24; 8.11.
TSR BIU sy327-23 593-8)1 1584-23-31"
262 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

2. He was afraid. Therefore, one who is alone is afraid. This

one then thought to himself, ‘Since there is nothing else than myself,
of what am I afraid?’ Thereupon his fear, verily, passed away, for, of
what should he have been afraid? Assuredly it is from a second that
fear arises.
B.U. 1.4.1-2 (R)

This fear is apparently the same as the “fear of the knower”

mentioned in the Taittiriya Upanisad.

When, however, this (soul) makes in this one the smallest interval,
then, for him, there is fear. That, verily, is the fear of the knower,
who does not reflect.
MAU, Zo7ll (C9)

The “fear of the knower”, however, is not as fearful to the average

person as the fear of being a non-knower. Even Indra, the king of
the gods, does not find such a prospect appealing. Thus, in reaction
to the teaching that the essence of the soul is reached in deep sleep,
he says:

Venerable Sir, in truth this one does not know himself that I am he,
nor indeed the things here. He has become one who has gone to
annihilation. I see no good in this.
Chua Saiie2 a)

This hesitation to strive for permanent unconsciousness is apparently,

as one would expect, a common reaction among Upanisadic students,
but it is held to be the result of a deficient understanding of things
Spiritual.

If one clearly beholds the divine soul, as the lord of what has been
and what will be, he does not shrink away from it.
B.U. 4.4.15
 UPANISADIC PSYCHOLOGY 263

The negative aspects of the Upanisadic conclusions about the nature

of the soul and spiritual liberation are offset to some extent by the
adoption of the term “bliss” (G@nanda) to denote the
mystical abandonment of individual consciousness. The term bliss as
applied to the yogic mystical experience is evocative of the ancient
Vedic concept of hedonistic bliss in a corporeal form in heaven.

Make me immortal in that realm where happiness (Gnanda) and

- transports, where joys and felicities combine, and longing wishes are
fulfilled.
Rg 9.113.11 (G)

In the Upanisads, however, the term bliss is employed as a

euphemism for the indescribable experience of mystical non-duality.
It is not to be understood as the positive experience of a pleasam
State of consciousness, for it is said that “pleasure and pain do not
touch the bodiless” soul.’”

He becomes (transparent) like water, one, the seer without duality. This
is the world of Brahma. ... This is the highest goal; this is the highest
treasure; this is the highest world; this is his greatest bliss. On a
particle of this very bliss other creatures live.
BiWeraeS-52— (RY)

A conceptual attempt to describe this bliss is made by multiplying

human bliss repeatedly by 100 to compute the blissfulness of bliss in
various levels of existence, such as gandharvas, the ancestors in
heaven and the gods. The computation reaches the conclusion that the
bliss of Brahma is one hundred quintillion times more blissful than the
bliss of a young man, healthy, wealthy and wise.'* This exponential
tour de force is, of course, actually meant to convey the
inconceivability of the blissfulness of the mystical experience, which
apparently is equal to that of Brahma. The term bliss, then, is actually
a technical term indicating the positive, but inexpressible nature of the

182.,C.U.. 8.12.1.
183. T.U. 2.8.1.
264 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

mystical experience, which is said to be unity with the universal

principle.

The knower of the bliss of brahman, from which speech and mind
(manas) turn back without success, does not fear anything whatsoever.
T.U. 2.9

The term bliss takes on specifically psychological significance in

the Upanisadic doctrine of the five levels of the soul, which are later
called the five sheaths (kofa). In this doctrine, the yogic experience
is incorporated into the hierarchy of the soul and said to be the
innermost essence of the individual and the universe. The classical
Advaitin definition of the individual cum universal principle as sat-
cit-Gnanda (being-consciousness-bliss) does not appear in the principal
Upanisads themselves, but the identification of the bliss of the
mystical experience with the absolute principle is not uncommon.”
The state of deep sleep is sometimes described as bliss,’ but some
passages postulate a fourth state of the soul, beyond waking, dream
and deep sleep, which is also identified with the mystical experience.
Both the doctrine of the fourth state of the soul and the doctrine of
the dnanda-maya level of the soul, then, appear to be similar and
relatively late maneuvers to overcome some of the off-putting aspects
of the idea that the ultimate attainment is a state of non-consciousness.
This fourth (turiya or caturtha) state is something of a mystery.
It is characterized at one point in the Maitri Upanisad as non-
consciousness (acitta),'”’ while elsewhere in the same Upanisad the
ultimate soul is specifically said to be conscious (caitanya).'*’ The
Mandikya Upanisad, however, which contains the most detailed
exposition of the four states of the soul, denies that the fourth state
is either a state of consciousness or a state of non-consciousness. The
Mandikya Upanisad extols the state of deep sleep as a state in which

184. See B.U. 3.9.28.7, where brahman is defined as vijadnam Gnanda,

“consciousness and bliss”.
185. B.U. 2.2.19; Ma.U. 5.
186. Mt.U. 6.19.
187. Mt.U. 6.10.
 UPANISADIC PSYCHOLOGY 265

one becomes a unified mass of consciousness (prajidna-ghana). This

state is characterized as bliss (G@nanda-maya) and is said to be the lord
(ISvara) and source of all, but the Upanisad postulates a fourth and
even more essential level of being.

(Turiya is) not that which cognises the internal (objects), not that
which cognises the external (objects), not what cognises both of them,
not a mass of cognition (prajidna-ghana), not cognitive (prajaa), not
_non-cognitive. (It is) unseen, incapable of being spoken of, ungraspable,
without any distinctive marks, unthinkable (acintya), unnamable
(avyapadeSya), the essence of the knowledge of the one self, that into
which the world is resolved, the peaceful, the benign, the non-dual,
such, they think, is the fourth quarter. He is the self; He is to be
known.
Ma.U. 7. (R)

The fourth state in many ways appears to be a metaphysical

abstraction arrived at on the basis of logical necessity rather than
psychological introspection. It is mentioned elsewhere in _ the
Upanisads and equated with the three-fourths of the Vedic Purusa
which is said to have “gone up” at the beginning of creation. The
mundane fourth is equated with the states of waking, dream and deep
sleep.'**
While the Madndukya Upanisad sometimes characterizes the third
state of the soul as Gnanda-maya, it is clear that when bliss (dnanda)
describes the supreme, innermost soul, it represents a concept similar
to the fourth state. The Mandikya Upanisad presents the fourth state
of the soul as being beyond deep sleep characterized by prajnda.
Elsewhere the “soul made of bliss” (atmd-dnanda-maya) is
characterized as superior to the vijndna-maya-atman.

Different from and within the consciousness-made is the soul made of

bliss. By that, this is filled.
IRA, WSS)

188. Mt.U. 7.11. See Rg 10.90.

266 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

Like the fourth state of the soul, the Gnanda-maya-dtman is identified

with brahman, which is characterized as transcending the duality of
conscious and non-conscious.

Having emanated it (the universe), he entered it. Having entered it, he

became both the existent (sat) and the beyond (tyat), the defined and
the undefined, the founded and the non-founded, the conscious (vijidna)
and the non-conscious, the true and the false.
TaU.02:6

It is perhaps worth noting that, at different points in the Upanisads,

all four of the terms in the Buddha’s “four-cornered” (catus-koti)
negation appear as statements about the nature of the soul, which is
said in different contexts to be conscious, non-conscious, both
conscious and non-conscious and neither conscious nor non-conscious.
At any rate, again like the fourth state of the soul, the ananda-
maya level is represented as an abstract metaphysical, cosmological
principle, apparently equivalent to being itself.

Nonexistent was this (world) in the beginning. From that, being was
born. It made itself a soul; therefore it is called well-made. That well-
made is indeed the essence. Thus, having attained the essence, one
becomes blissful. Who could exhale, who inhale if there were not this
bliss in space?
WSU, 257

The store house which consists of the space in the heart, the blissful,
the supreme abode, is our self, our yoga (goal) too and this the heat
of fire and sun.
Mt.U. 6.27 (R)

With the doctrine of bliss as the ultimate essence of the individual

and the universe, the upward spiral of the increasingly abstract
Upanisadic notion of the soul comes to an end, with the conclusion
that neither vitality mor consciousness are sufficient as
characterizations of the ultimate nature of the human being and the
universe as revealed in the yogic experience of non-duality. The
 UPANISADIC PSYCHOLOGY 267

exposition of the five levels of the soul, later known as the five
“sheaths” (koa), as found in the Taittiriya Upanisad,’” provides
an occasion to review the entire course of the development of the
Upanisadic concept of the soul. The archaic vitalistic concepts re-
appear as the first two sheaths, the food-made (anna-rasa-maya) and
the breath-made (prana-maya). The Taittiriya Upanisad has a
predilection for the number five, and each of the levels of the soul
is said to be fivefold. The five parts of each sheath are made
correspond to five parts of a person — head, right side, lift side,
body, and lower part.’ The food-made soul, which probably
represents not only the body, but also the material universe in general
is the outer shell, as it were, of the essential soul. Its fivefold nature
probably indicates the five elements — space, wind, fire, water and
earth. This is not specified in the text, but the following passage
seems to suggest this conclusion.

He who knows Brahman as the real, as knowledge and as the infinite,

place in the secret place in the heart and in the highest heaven realizes
all desires along with Brahman, the intelligent. From this Self (atman),
verily, ether arose; from ether air, from air fire; from fire water; from
water the earth; from the earth herbs; from herbs food; from food the
person (purusa). This, verily, is the person that consists of the essence
of food (anna-rasa-maya). This, indeed, is his head; this the right side;
this the left side; this the body; this the lower part, the foundation.
AU At OS)

Here, “food” (anna) probably represents matter in general, which is

composed of the five elements, while the body is said to be composed
of the essence of food (anna-rasa). Food often represents matter in the
Upanisads, but this interpretation is somewhat doubtful in the present
passage, where its origin from herbs implies that only edible matter
is intended. The next verse, however, calls food the “universal herb”

189. These levels of the soul are not specifically called koSa in the principal
Upanisads, although this came to be the standard term in later literature. This
terminology is suggested at Mt.U. 6.27.
190. T.U. 2.2-5; 3.2-6. The only other complete enumeration is at Mt.U. 6.13.
1O1R teUse2easeeralson le. Wle7..
268 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

(sarvausada) and recalls a pun cited above which allows that the
universal principle is called Aditi because it eats (atti).' All things
considered, it is difficult to imagine that “food” is not a double-
entendre in this highly sophisticated, synthetic doctrine, which
attempts to combine several Upanisadic concepts into an integrated
scheme.

Verily, those who worship Brahman as food obtain all food. For food,
verily, is the eldest born of beings. Therefore is it called the healing
herb for all (sarvausada). From food are beings born. When born they
grow up by food. It is eaten and eats things. Therefore is it called
food.
TUS 22a CR)

The five parts of the breath-made soul (dtmd prana-maya) include

only three of the five vital breaths, prdna, vyadna and apana, the other
two parts being space and earth. The reason for this substitution is
unclear, as the standard enumeration of five vital breaths, including
uddna and samana occurs earlier in the same Upanisad.'” The breath-
made soul is extolled as in genuinely vitalistic passages, but the
reward for those who worship brahman as the breath — i.e. for those
who conceive of vitality as the essence of the individual and the
universe — is not as great as the reward of those who hold more
sophisticated views about the nature of the soul.

The gods breathe along with breath (prdna), as also men and beasts.
Breath is the life (a@yu) of all beings. Therefore, it is called the life of
all (sarva-ayusa). Those who meditate upon brahman as breath attain
a full life (ayu), for breath is the life of beings.
TU, 23

192. B.U. 1.2.5. Cp. Rg 1.59.10: “Aditi is the sky; Aditi is the atmosphere; Aditi
is the mother; Aditi is the father”. (From Radhakrishnan’s note on B.U. 1.2.5).
193. T.U. 1.8. Sankara interprets space and earth as representing the other two
vital breaths.
 UPANISADIC PSYCHOLOGY 269

The third, “mind-made soul” (dtma mano-maya), “different from

and within” the vital, breath-made soul, is said to have five parts
corresponding to various Vedic scriptures. The five empirical senses
would have made for a neat model, but may not have been recognized
by the author of even the present relatively late passage. Earlier, the
Taittiriya Upanisad lists eye, ear, mind, speech, and skin as the five
sensual faculties.'* At any rate, it is clear by virtue of its placement
in the present hierarchy that manas represents active, sensual
consciousness, the midpoint of the human spectrum, where the
mundane and the divine meet and interact. It interesting that part of
the definition of bliss is inserted in the definition of the mano-maya
level of the soul, apparently as an indication of the limitations of
manas, which is said not to be able to apprehend bliss, the essence of
the soul.

The knower of the bliss of brahman, from which speech and mind
(manas) turn back without attaining it, does not fear at any time. This
(the mano-maya-atman) is the embodied soul (Sarira-dtman) of the
former (the breath-made soul).
Ms, et

Pure consciousness, as represented by the “consciousness-made

soul” (Gtmda vijfidna-maya), is said to be “different from and within”
the mind-made soul. It is the penultimate level of the soul, isolated
by the mediating manas from the physical universe and body, as well
as from fleeting vitality. The manas is held responsible for the
defilement associated with perception and volition, leaving the more
essential consciousness free from taint. Analogous to buddhi, the
driver of the chariot, vijidna is said to direct the deeds, but apparently
not actually to perform deeds and thereby become karmicly involved.

Consciousness directs (tanute, lit. “spins out”) the sacrifice, and it

directs the deeds (karmani) also. All the gods worship consciousness
as the (form of) brahman which is eldest. If one knows brahman as

194. T.U. 1.8.

270 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

consciousness and does not neglect it, having left all the evil in the
body, he attains all desires.
Tidus Ps)

The five parts of the consciousness-made soul are said to be faith

($raddha), order (rta,) truth (satya), yoga, and “the great” (mahah),
which may or may not be a specific reference to buddhi, which is
sometimes called mahat in the Samkhya system.
“Different from and within” the consciousness-made soul, is the
“soul made of bliss” (a@tma dGnanda-maya). Apparently this ultimate
and innermost level of the soul is meant to be equivalent to the
absolute principle, although according to the enumeration of its five
“parts”, brahman is said to be its foundation, the other four parts
being priya, moda, pramoda and Gnanda, all of which mean essentially
“bliss”. Sankara devotes a lengthy argument to establishing that the
dGnanda-maya level of the soul is to be regarded as conditioned, and
therefore not identical with brahman. This in itself is an indication
that the dnanda-maya level of the soul was commonly identified with
the absolute. The Brahma Sutra specifically states the identity of the
Gnanda-maya and brahman, and Sankara follows suit in his
commentary, contradicting his exegesis of the Taittiriya passage.'”°
At any rate, the recapitulation of the five levels of the soul in the
third chapter, the “Bhrgu Valli” of the Taittirtya Upanisad, amounts
to a progressive definition of brahman. Bhrgu, the son of Varuna,
desirous of knowing ultimate reality, is given by his father the hint
that:

That, verily, from which these beings are born; that by which, when
born, they live; that into which, when departing, they enter; that, seek
to know. That is Brahman.
Toes at)

195. Cp. Sankara’s commentary on T.U. 2.5-7 and B.S. 1.1.12-19. See also his
comment on T.U. 3.6.
 UPANISADIC PSYCHOLOGY 271

By performing repeated austerities (tapas), Bhrgu comes successively

to the conclusions that brahman is food, breath, mind, consciousness,
and finally bliss, which apparently is the correct answer.

He knew that Brahman is bliss. For truly beings here are born from
bliss, when born, they live by bliss, and into bliss, when departing,
they enter.
T.U. 3.6 (R)

Here, Sankara seems to accept the identity of the dnanda-maya soul

and brahman, offering the following exegesis.

Thus becoming pure through concentration and failing to find the

characteristics of brahman, in their fullness, in the selves composed of
the vital force, etc., Bhrgu penetrated inside by degrees, and with the
help of concentration realized the innermost bliss that is brahman.'°

Early Buddhism and the “Two Soul” Doctrine:

With the doctrine of the absolute as dnanda, the Upanisads

approach early Buddhist soteriology so closely that the only difference
between dtman and nirvana is that adtman is thought to generate and
maintain the universe, while the Buddha denied an ontological
relationship between samsara and nirvana. The Buddha’s approach to
ultimate reality is, however, a self-conscious dialectic which rejects
tradition and dogma as sources of knowledge, and claims to deal only
with that which can be perceived and inferred from human experience.
Since this experience does not provide adequate terms for the
expression of the absolute, the Buddha refused to speculate upon its
nature, i.e. its relationship to the world. In other words, he would not
say what it is like simply because it is not like anything else. For the
Upanisadic sages, however, the Vedic revelation (Sruti) provided an
extra source of knowledge which made a doctrine of the relationship
between the absolute and the world possible, and, for the sake of
orthodoxy, imperative.

196. Sankara’s commentary on T.U. 3.6, from Swami Gambhirananda, Eight

Upanisads, Advaita Ashrama, Calcutta, vol. 1, p. 379.
212 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

The only real difference between the Buddhist and Upanisadic

absolutes is that while both are held to be ultimately inexpressible,
Gtman is an inexpressible “something”. The “somethingness” of atman
derives from the Vedic doctrine that there exists “that one”, the
monistic cosmogonic principle, which is the source and ground of the
mundane universe. By seeing the diverse universe, however, one does
not see dtman. In fact, one only sees Gtman when one ceases to see
diversity, so that even though the Upanisads consistently assume an
ontological continuity between Gtman and samsdra, they say, like
Buddhism that existence as we know it is antithetical to ultimate
reality. Consciousness and ultimate reality are also held to be mutually
exclusive in both the Upanisads and early Buddhism. There is also a
notable idealistic tendency in early Buddhism not to draw a distinction
between the “physical” universe and the universe as experienced by
consciousness.
There is, in other words, a Vedic cosmological content in the
Buddhist doctrine of nirvana. In other heterodox systems such as
Jainism or Ajivikism one’s individual soul is thought to reach some
sort of salvation within the context of the given universe. Buddhist
nirvana by contrast represents a radical transcendence of the universe
based on an understanding of its ultimate nature, which, it is held, is
fathomed by means of an introspective examination of human
consciousness.
Most commonly in early Buddhism, nirvana is spoken of as the
cessation of various psychopathological states which are held to be
both the cause and the result of the individual’s involvement in
samsara. Nirvana, for example, is said to be the cessation of desire
(tanha)'*’ or the cessation of greed, hatred and delusion.'’™ It is also
spoken of in metaphysical terms, however, as the cessation of
existence (bhava) or as the uncompounded (asankhata).'’®

OTS. 42 ESS: 1905S 1166 Als 54 aMleLole

198. S4: 251; 359; 371.
199. Cessation of bhava: S2: 117. Asankhata: $4: 251; 359. For this and other
terms see the “Asankhata-sarnyutta”, S4: 359-372. See also Walpola Rahula,
What the Buddha Taught, revised ed., 1967, p. 35-44.
 UPANISADIC PSYCHOLOGY Zi

Monks, there exists that condition wherein is neither earth nor water
nor fire nor air. ... Thence, monks, I declare is no coming to birth;
there is no going (from life); therein is no duration; thence is no
falling; there is no arising. It is not something fixed, it moves not on,
it is not based on anything. That indeed is the end of ill (dukkha). ...
Monks, there is not-born, a not become (abhita), a not made, a not-
compounded (asankhata). Monks, if that unborn, not-become, not-made,
not-compounded were not, there would be apparent no escape from this
here that is born, become, made, compounded.
Udana, p. 80 (SBB)

Thus, even though nirvdna is said to be the cessation of existence

(bhava, lit. “becoming”), and even though it lacks any of the
characteristics of that which is normally said to exist, the Buddha
makes the uncharacteristic declaration, “There exists that condition”.
His refusal elsewhere to state whether after death a person who has
realized that condition “exists, does not exist, both exists and does not
exist or neither exists nor does not exist” is well known.””
The Buddha’s dilemma in this context is in many ways very similar
to that of the Upanisadic sages with reference to the nature of the
absolute. This dilemma arises from two basic “properties” of the
absolute which both the Upanisads and Buddhism accept: 1) It has
nothing in common with existence as we know it, but 2) nevertheless,
it is such a potent reality that in the face of the absolute, existence as
we know it must be re-evaluated as inconsequential. The first
“property” makes anything one says about it wrong, and the second
demands that one say something about it anyway.
In their re-evaluations of empirical reality, both the Upanisads and
Buddhism agree on two fundamental points: 1) The perception of the
objects of the world as existing in and of themselves is illusion, and
2) the notion of an individual subjective essence is illusion. In both
systems, it is only with reference to the potent super-reality of the
mystical experience of transcendence of the individual, ego-centric
viewpoint that object and subject may be said to be illusory or unreal.
In neither system is the inconsequentiality or illusoriness of the

200. M1: 426.

274 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

mundane world construed as non-existence per se. Instead it is thought

to be the result of a wrong seeing of reality.
At this point the Upanisads and Buddhism part company.
Committed to the cosmogonic monism of the orthodox Vedic tradition,
the Upanisads declare on the basis of revelation that the reality which
is seen wrongly is the monistic universal principle, @tman-brahman,
the ground of existence (sat). The thoroughgoing monism of the
Upanisads also holds that it is ultimately this same universal principle
which sees wrongly; dtman-brahman is the essence of consciousness
(cit). This is an aspect of monism not anticipated in the ancient Vedas.
It appears to be an outgrowth of the Upanisadic conviction that the
pinnacle of yogic meditational experience is a rediscovery of the
monistic principle within one’s own consciousness; adtman-brahman is
mystical bliss (@nanda).
The Buddha was in essential agreement with the Upanisadic sages
on the assertion that the eternal is to be discovered internally through
meditation, but he refused to characterize nirvana as either the source
of the world or the source of consciousness. Wrong seeing is not,
then, in the Buddhist context, a wrong seeing of nirvana or a wrong
seeing by nirvana. Wrong seeing is ignorance (avidya) of the true
nature of the world, regardless of the world’s source or lack thereof.
Though the Buddha did not accept an ontological essence of existence,
he did not dogmatically reject one either.

The world rests on two doctrines, being and non-being, but he who
rightly sees the arising of the world as it really is, does not hold that
there is non-being in the world, and he who rightly sees the cessation
of things as it really is, does not hold that there is being in the world.
... That “everything exists” is one extreme and that “nothing exists” is
the other extreme.
S2:17 (PTS)

In the Buddhist context, the inconsequentiality or illusoriness of

the world is because of the impermanence of everything in it. This
impermanence, it is held, is demonstrable in that it can be observed
that nothing exists independently of causes and conditions external to
itself. In other words, impermanence, analytically viewed, is
interdependence. The most fundamental interdependence in Buddhism
 UPANISADIC PSYCHOLOGY ZI

is the interdependence of consciousness and object of consciousness.

Thus, the cardinal doctrine of paticcasamuppdada, “conditioned or
interdependent arising”, is couched in primarily psychological terms.
It is essentially an explanation of the mutually conditioned arising of
consciousness and its objects. This indicates that in a way the
Buddhist doctrine of nirvdna does have a metaphysical, cosmological
significance in that the world is dealt with in Buddhism, as in the
Upanisads, as the sum total of the objects of consciousness. When, by
the realization of nirvana, consciousness ceases, the known world must
also cease. Whether there is an independently existing objective world
standing behind that which is known to consciousness is a moot point
for Buddhism. Thus, the viewpoint of the historical Buddha was
actually very similar to that of the Upanisadic sages who held that
consciousness and its objects are interdependent by virtue of the fact
that the world is a projection of the universal principle through
consciousness. In the Buddhist context, however, it must be
emphasized that the interdependence of consciousness and its objects
is viewed as an analytical fact rather than mythologically as a
cosmogonic fact.
In the Upanisads with the exception of the theistic Sveta$vatara
Upanisad,™ it is assumed that which is experienced at the pinnacle
of yogic meditation is the monistic, ontological source of the universe.
This, of course, derives from the Vedic preoccupation with cosmogony
and “that one” which existed “in the beginning”, although the
Upanisads are not unanimous in predicating existence of the individual
cum universal soul.” It is, at any rate, consistently portrayed as the
unitary material and efficient cause of the universe. It works through
a process which, though sometimes described mythologically, amounts
to emanation of the universe through the conscious faculties of the
individual.
This doctrine later attracted Buddhist criticism based on the
argument that the eternal cannot be the cause of the impermanent.
There is little evidence of the recognition of such problems in the
Upanisads themselves, but there is ample evidence of concern over

201, See S.U- 1.1-35:.6:95°6:13; 6.19.

202, 1.U: 2:6:17 257.15 Muu. 2.426.20356.25; 6.31;
276 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

the implications of karma and rebirth with regard to psychological

monism.
At different points the absolute principle, under various names,
and obviously identified with the individual essence, is specifically
said to be the cause of the universe.”

Whoever has found and awakened to the self that has entered into this
perilous and inaccessible place (the body), he is the maker of the
universe, for he is the maker of all. His is the world; indeed he is the
world itself.
B.U. 4.4.13 (R)

Moreover, the absolute is repeatedly characterized as the foundation

of subjective consciousness as well: the seer of seeing, knower of
knowing, doer of doing, etc. Volitional causation, however,
constitutes karma. According to the theory accepted in the Upanisads
and Indian religion in general, karma necessarily entails the eventual
transformation of the doer thereof in accordance with the nature of the
act, even if the act be only thought. Such a fate is, not appropriate for
the eternal, universal principle. Nonetheless, its simultaneous role as
the individual essence suggests that the creator must be affected by its
own creation through the karmic results accruing to reincarnating
individuals.
Therefore, the hierarchies of the soul which developed in the
Upanisads appear to be more than systematizations of psychological
theory. These hierarchies are also an attempt to overcome the problem
which arises when the absolute is identified with the essence of the
transmigrating individual. In terms of the chariot simile, of the chariot
is to be excused from direct volitional and sensual activity even tough
the chariot and the journey are for his purposes. He might be held
accountable by an ignorant gardener if the chariot ran through his
flower bed, but according to Upanisadic thinking, actually:

203. Purusa and I$a: Mt.U. 6.18. Brahman: Mu.U. 1.1.1; 3.1.3; Ks.U. 4.19. Atman:
B.U. 4.3.10; 4.4.13.
204, C0. 7.8:1;°7.9.15 Ks.US3.828.Usi47
 UPANISADIC PSYCHOLOGY ai,

Verily, this self, the seers declare, wanders here on earth in every body
(from body to body) unaffected, as it seems, by the light or the dark
fruits of action.
Mt.U. 2.7 (R)

This type of attempt to isolate the soul in its universal aspect from
the individual aspect of the soul eventually lead to the doctrine of two
souls. More properly, there were held to be two aspects of the soul,
the conditioned and the eternal, or in classical terms, the individual
“living soul” (jiva-dtman) and the “ultimate soul” (param-dtman).
This doctrine is often invoked in Upanisadic exegesis, but it is only
obliquely mentioned in the texts of the principal Upanisads
themselves. The Brhadadranyaka Upanisad at 4.4.6 refers to the
transmigrating linga, which term, in the form linga-Sarira, or
alternatively suksma-Sarira (“subtle body”), came to be a standard
term for the reincarnating aspect of the soul in post-Upanisadic
psychology. A simple two-soul doctrine, in which the two are soul and
body, or literally “intelligent soul” (prajnd-dtman) and “body-soul”
($arira-dtman), occurs in the Upanisads.”* This may be a prototype
for the more developed theory, also occurring in a few passages,
which distinguishes the individual and the ultimate aspects of the
soul.””

He, verily, is the seer, the toucher, the hearer, the smeller, the taster,
the perceiver, the knower, the doer, the thinking self, the person. He
becomes established in the supreme undecaying self.
P.U. 4.9 (R)

The two soul doctrine is implied again in the Maitri Upanisad, where
it is said, with reference to the chariot simile, that the rider of the
chariot (the a@tman in the Katha Upanisad’s version) attains union with
the dtman, obviously something more than the soul as rider of the

205. B.U. 4.3.35; Ks.U. 4.20.

206. See also Mt.U. 3; S.U. 3.18-21; K.U. 1.3.1; 2.2.9-15; Mu.U. 3.1.
278 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

chariot.2” The Maitri Upanisad also contains an explicit statement of

the doctrine of two souls as well as the rationale behind the doctrine.

Reverend One, if you thus indicate the greatness of this self then there
is that other, different one also called self, who, affected by the bright
or dark fruits of action, enters a good or an evil womb, so that his
course is downward or upward and he wanders about, affected by the
pairs (of opposites like pleasure and pain).
Mt s3.l> (x)

The unity of the individual and the ultimate soul, however, is said
to be pre-existent, eternal, in fact. The condition for the realization of
this unity is only metaphorically described as the individual soul
attaining a goal or reaching a destination. Actually, this unity is said
to be realized upon the cessation of the hierarchy of consciousness.”

When the five (sense) knowledges (jAdndani) together with mind (manas)
cease, and the intellect (buddhi) does not stir, that, they say, is the final
destination.
Ws PESO,

On the one hand, that this state is said to be attained when active
consciousness ceases is due to the nature of meditational experience.
On the other hand, such a doctrine is an expedient for monism in that
karmic entanglement can be associated with the non-essential faculties
of consciousness. The essential soul may then stand aloof behind the
whole process as the ultimate source of the universe wherein the
modification and rebirth of the non-essential consciousness occurs. The
essential soul, as that which stands behind the non-essential, active
soul, is characterized in the no doubt late Maitri Upanisad as “that
which causes to cause” (kdrayitr), rather than “that which causes”
(kartr)."” The kartr, which is elsewhere a euphemism for the ultimate

207. Mt.U. 4.4.

208. The following citation is quoted at Mt.U. 6.30.
209. Mt.U. 3.2-3.
 UPANISADIC PSYCHOLOGY 279

soul,””° is identified instead with the “elemental soul” (bhita-atman).

In another chapter of the Maitri Upanisad, matter (pradhana) is said
to be the cause (kartr) of the elemental soul.”!' This sounds like
Classical Samkhya dualism, but the bhita-dtman is defined in context
as “the body”, not as “in the body”, as Radhakrishnan translates.”
The concept presented here has only superficial resemblance to the
linga-Sarira of Samkhya.””
When the Upanisadic synthesis of Veda and yoga was eventually
worked out in more systematic ways, different combinations of the
various mental, sensual, and volitional faculties were equated with
the active, individual, transmigrating soul. Some of the passages noted
above, which prefigure the classical two-soul theories of Advaita
Vedanta and Samkhya, contain similar ideas without explicitly stating
precisely which faculties comprise the individual aspect of the soul.?"
Perhaps surprisingly, this doctrine of the two aspects of the soul
is relevant to the Buddhist denial of the soul. The Upanisadic concept
of two souls provides a precedent for the idea that rebirth does not
necessarily involve a reincarnating soul, as required by the rebirth
doctrines of the Jains or Ajivikas. In the Buddhist system, however,
release is also held to be independent of the existence of an eternal
entity, whether individual or universal. It is here, again, that Buddhism
parts company with the Upanisads and their doctrines as developed in
Advaita Vedanta and Samkhya.
Of the orthodox schools, Samkhya took the boldest approach to
the problem by declaring that the existential, transmigrating
consciousness is absolutely separate from the soul, and is, in fact,
merely an epiphenomenon of matter (prakrti).

210. B.U. 4.4.3.

211. Mt.U. 6.10.
212. Mt.U. 3:2.
213. Sarira, however, is defined in the same passage as the five elements (mahd-
bhita) and the five sense potentials (tanmdatra), which suggests at least the
possibility of sentience, although the precise meaning of these verses is unclear.
214. Mt.U. 6.30; K.U. 2.3.10; P.U. 4.9. See K.U. 1.3.1.
280 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

Nothing, therefore is bound; nothing released, likewise not anything

transmigrates. (Only) prakrti in its various forms transmigrates, is bound
and is released.?’*

In the Samkhya system, the active, transmigrating soul is held to be

actually only a conglomerate of apparently conscious evolutes of
matter (prakrti). It is called the linga-Sarira or suksma-Sarira (subtle
body) and is said to consist of awareness (buddhi), ego (ahamkara),
mind (manas), the five sense faculties, their five potential objects
(tanmatra) and the five action faculties. The individual, but eternal
and essentially cosmological plurality of souls (purusa) are said only
to witness the activity of the evolutes of prakrti. These souls remain
unconcerned, unchanged and absolutely independent.
The Advaita Vedanta system, however, being bound to the tradition
of Vedic and Upanisadic monism, is not free to make such a radical
distinction in order to explain the transmigration of the soul. It must
maintain that at some level, the individual soul is identical to the
supreme soul without there being a sharp demarcation. Various
approaches to defining the transmigrating entity are employed
according to the nature of the text being commented upon, but in each
case it is necessary that when the various adjuncts (updaddhi) are
removed, or the various sheaths (kofa) peeled off, the supreme soul,
the universal principle, must be there at the core of each individual.
According to some Advaitins — such as Suresvara, Sankara’s sub-
commentator — the “subtle body” or transmigrating entity is
composed of the prdna-, mano- and vijhana-maya sheaths."* Sankara
himself inconsistently defines the subtle body more along Samkhya
lines as a combination of twelve,” seventeen,”" or nineteen” of the
vital, sensual, volitional and mental faculties of the soul.
In the end, however, the doctrine of two souls, particularly in the
context of Advaita Vedanta, does little to solve the Upanisadic

215. S.K. 62; from Gerald James Larson, Classical Samkhya, p. 279.
216. See Radhakrishnan’s note on T.U. 2.1. and Rene Guenon, Man and His
Becoming According to the Vedanta, p. 77.
217. B.U; 4.4.2.
21858 :U7 32722.
219. Ma.U. 3.
 UPANISADIC PSYCHOLOGY 281

dilemma, since the two must ultimately be identical. Ultimately, it is

clear that the Vedicly inspired Upanisadic monism and the yogic
doctrine of rebirth conditioned by karma are not compatible in any
meaningful way, for the true soul must not be held responsible for
actions, even though it is the ultimate cause of activity.”” Volition,
actions and their results must be considered illusory in such a system
of thought. Indeed, the amorality of the Advaita system, which
evolved from just such considerations, was one of the main objects of
attack by later commentators such as Raémanuja and Madhva, who
returned to the original non-Vedic position of genuinely individual
souls. This position, it should be noted, seems to be the overall intent
of the Svetasvatara Upanisad with regard to the nature of the
individual.
Ironically, the ingenious, though problematic speculations of
mainstream Upanisadic psychology were most successfully resolved
by the heterodox Buddha. The Buddha may not have been directly
aware of mainstream Upanisadic teachings, but he made stunning use
of the fundamental Upanisadic insight, namely that it is wholly within
human consciousness that both the curse and the salvation of mankind
reside.

Mind, in truth, is the cause of bondage and liberation for mankind; for
bondage if it is bound to objects; freedom from objects, that is called
liberation.
Mt.U. 6.34 (R)

Friends, I declare that the world, the cause of the world, the cessation
of the world and the path leading to the cessation of the world lie
within this fathom-long carcass with its perceptions and mind.
$1:62

At the same time, by rejecting the existence of a universal and/or

individual soul, the Buddha was able to avoid the Upanisads'’
problems with attempting to dovetail cosmology, karma, rebirth, and
release.

220. See C.U. 8.1.5; K.U. 1.2.14; 1.2.18-19; B.U. 4.4.22-23; Mt.U. 2.7.
 Chapter 6

The Fundamentals of Buddhist

Psychology

The reader with an appreciation for the gradual accumulation of

human knowledge over the ages doubtless will have been impressed
by the ingenious psychological and cosmological speculations of the
Upanisadic sages. Early Buddhist psychology, on the other hand, is
impressive precisely because of the absence of such speculation. The
genius of the Buddha consisted primarily in his uncanny intuition for
avoiding what is not arguably true and his ability to state the sublime,
without speculation, mythology or metaphysics, purely on the basis of
an incisive and persuasive analysis of human consciousness as
experienced. The historical Buddha was fortunate, however, in being
in a position to benefit from a wealth of cumulative human
knowledge. The nature and development of the psychological
knowledge at his disposal has been the subject of the bulk of the
present work, which will now examine the way in which the Buddha
employed and in some cases transformed the psychological terms and
concepts available to him into his own fresh and ingenious
psychological doctrine.
Many Buddhists will be quick to argue that the Buddha’s insight
was unique and spontaneous, not merely a critical and creative re-
working of existing philosophical traditions.’ Many non-Buddhists,
particularly Hindus, prefer to argue just the opposite, perhaps denying
even creative insight to the Buddha.
Without evaluating the origins or originality of the Buddha’s
insights themselves, the present chapter assumes simply that the most
reasonable point to start in seeking to understand the basic
psychological terms and concepts of early Buddhism is with the terms
and concepts of antecedent psychological thought in India. In the

1. See A3: 8.
 THE FUNDAMENTALS OF BUDDHIST PSYCHOLOGY 283

absence of compelling evidence to the contrary, where the Buddha

used similar terms, one must assume that he had in mind similar
concepts. The early Upanisads and some Brdhmana material are all we
have, other than the early Buddhist suttas themselves, in the way of
literature representing roughly the age of the Buddha. The Jains,
Ajivikas and other contemporary heterodox sects left no textual
material verifiably representative of this age. It is not clear precisely
how much access the Buddha had to the Upanisadic tradition, which
though orthodox, must not be imagined to represent the Brahmanism
which the Buddha often criticized on the basis of caste discrimination,
ritualism and dogmatism.’ It is unlikely that the Buddha had direct
access to the principal Upanisads examined in the foregoing chapters.
Nevertheless, some of the fundamental concepts of the early Buddhist
theory of the nature of human consciousness and some of the central
concerns of Upanisadic psychology are similar to an extent that would
make it difficult to believe that the Buddha did not have some access
to an orthodox tradition of knowledge that is represented in these
Upanisads.
Doubtlessly, yogic traditions of the time had a much greater
influence upon the Buddha than did the orthodox tradition standing
behind the Upanisads, but unfortunately, there are no extant texts
which record the state of yogic speculations before the rise of
Buddhism. This so-called “yogic” tradition is necessarily only a
postulate, but without such a postulate, it is impossible to understand
the development of orthodox thought in the Upanisads. The Rg Veda,
which is traditionally held to be the sole basis of Upanisadic thought,
is primarily vitalistic in its approach to the nature of the human being.
The Upanisads are primarily psychological. The Rg Veda lacks the
important concepts of the soul, rebirth and release. These are
fundamental psychological concepts in the Upanisads. In elucidating
them, the Upanisadic sages did not hesitate to devalue severely the
Vedic doctrines of the efficacy of ritual, the supremacy of the
priesthood, and a heavenly afterlife.

2. See D3: #13; M3: 169.

284 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

The Upanisads are indifferent and even hostile toward several

fundamental Vedic doctrines, and are concerned primarily with several
apparently non-Vedic notions which have been labeled here “yogic”
for the sake of convenience. Beyond the doctrines of the soul, rebirth
and release, it is impossible to say, given the absence of textual
evidence, what else the Upanisadic sages may have borrowed in the
way of psychology from this postulated yogic tradition. Perhaps the
notion of a layered consciousness is also a yogic borrowing, but as
noted in the previous chapter, there is every indication that the notion
of a layered consciousness informed by the five empirical senses and
manas was laboriously worked out in the Upanisads themselves.
The Upanisads also show a notable movement from a vitalistic to
a psychological notion of the essential nature of the soul. This also
may be an Upanisadic contribution to Indian psychology. On the other
hand, the original yogic notion of the soul may have been a notion of
a conscious soul, and Upanisadic vitalism may be only a superimposed
retention of Vedic vitalistic concerns. Then again, perhaps both the
vitalistic and psychological notions of the soul found in the Upanisads
are parallel developments of a primitive yogic soul theory.
Chronological stratification of the Upanisads is at present in too crude
a state to lend persuasive support to any of these possibilities. It is at
least clear that for Upanisadic thinkers a psychological notion of the
soul proved more amenable to the exigencies of monism than did a
vitalistic concept of the soul. Ever since the Upanisads, the vast
preponderance of Indian speculation on the nature of the human being
has been psychological rather than vitalistic in orientation.
Early Buddhist psychology exhibits a deep, though perhaps not
immediately apparent similarity with fundamental concepts of
Upanisadic psychology, and an analysis of the existing textual
evidence dictates the conclusion that early Buddhism is not purely
yogic in its backgrounds. In the absence of evidence to the contrary,
one has no alternative but to conclude that Buddhism owes something
of its origins to essentially orthodox psychological speculations of the
sort contained in the ancient Upanisads.
Previous chapters have already noted several broad similarities
between early Buddhist psychology and even earlier Indian thought,
both orthodox and heterodox. Like the majority of its heterodox
 THE FUNDAMENTALS OF BUDDHIST PSYCHOLOGY 285

siblings, Buddhism accepts rebirth and yogic release. Buddhism denies

the soul, however, and the soul which is denied is not only the
individual, changing soul of the heterodox traditions, but also the
eternal, universal soul of Upanisadic ilk, which appears to be a
concept resulting from a synthesis of Vedic monism and yogic
psychology. Moreover, the Buddhist doctrine of nirvana bears as much
in common with the more sophisticated of the Upanisadic
soteriological theories as with the theories of Jainism or Ajivikism.
Beyond these broad indications of orthodox influence in Buddhism,
however, there is surprisingly little direct reference to Upanisadic
ideas in the early Buddhist suttas.
The “Brahmajala” and “Samafifiaphala Suttas” of the Digha Nikaya
contain the most extensive treatment of specific doctrines rejected by
the Buddha. There is some indication of Upanisadic philosophy in
some of these rejected doctrines, particularly in reference to the
“eternalists” (sassatavada) and “semi-eternalists” (ekacca-sassatika).
The grounds upon which they are said to base their doctrines,
however, are in most cases recollection of past births, which is not a
feature of Upanisadic metaphysical speculations. One of the
mythological treatments of semi-eternalism offered in the “Brahmajala
Sutta”, however, is vaguely reminiscent of the archaic Upanisadic
creation theories based on desire (kama) occurring within the original,
cosmogonic principle. It is said in the “Brahmajala” that the first
being to descend from the “World of Radiance” at the beginning of
a world cycle, forgetting his previous state, desired companionship.
When other beings descended later because of exhausted merit, he and
they thought that he was their creator.’
In the “Brahmajala Sutta”, the “annihilationist” (uccheda-vdada)
denial of several progressively more subtle souls is vaguely
reminiscent of the Taittiriya Upanisad’s five kofa or multiple soul
doctrine. According to the annihilationists, the first soul is the body,
made of four elements. The second is divine (dibba) and sensuous
(kdmavacara), and the third is mind-made (mano-maya). The topmost
souls, however, are defined in specifically Buddhist terms and are

ae Dit?
286 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

identified with the four “formless meditative absorptions” (arupa-

jhadna). All seven souls, of course, are said by the annihilationists to
perish utterly upon death.’ This materialist doctrine is paralleled by
the Buddhist reference to the three “soul-apprehensions” (atta-
patilabbha), which are the physical (oldrika), the mind-made (mano-
maya), and the formless (arpa), each of which is denied in Buddhism
and said to be only a worldly convention of language.’
Thus, though the classical five kofa doctrine of the soul is not
reproduced exactly in early Buddhist literature, there is evidence of
an awareness of the broad outlines of Upanisadic speculations
regarding the layered soul. The Buddhist “formless soul-apprehension”
may be roughly equivalent to the Upanisadic @nanda-maya-atman.
Aripa obviously represents the supra-conscious experience of
meditational absorption, which according to the Buddha may be
mistaken for a soul. Again in the “Brahmajala Sutta”, possible
reference is made to the Upanisadic confusion over whether the soul
is conscious (has safind), or non-conscious or both conscious and non-
conscious.® This analysis is typically Buddhist, however, and need not
necessarily indicate familiarity with Upanisadic doctrine as such.
Elsewhere in the Nikayas reference is made to the dispersion upon
death of the body parts and senses of the individual into universal
sources, the five elements, but the statement is made by a materialist
denying afterlife rather than in the context of the Vedic theory of
dispersion described above.’ The Pali suttas make definite reference
to the Vedic practice of maintaining dead ancestors with food
offerings,* but neither post-mortem dispersion nor ancestral
maintenance are specificaliy Upanisadic doctrines, and both ideas are
too universally common to be definitely linked even with Vedic
sources.

Ae Di s4aCpy Dial os:

5. D1: 202. See also D1: 186-87.
6. D1: 31-33; 40. See M1: 231.
7. Mi: 515.
8. Al: 155; AS: 269; $2: 170.
 THE FUNDAMENTALS OF BUDDHIST PSYCHOLOGY 287

The Buddha agrees with the Upanisadic sages in holding that

knowledge of the three Vedas is not sufficient to gain union with
Brahma.” He also agrees with them concerning the bliss of heaven
which, he says, compares with the greatest human bliss as the
Himalayas to a pebble.'® In the Buddhist scheme, of course, neither
the attainment of heaven nor union with Brahma is ultimate or
permanent. As in some Upanisadic passages, however, questions about
the ultimate, nibbdna or nirvana in the Buddhist context, are said to
“go too far”.'' Unlike in the Upanisadic context, one’s head is not
likely to fall off for asking such questions, although such a
punishment threatens one who knowingly lies to the Tathagata (the
Buddha).
The Buddha seems to be poking fun at monism when he recounts
the story of an encounter with Brahma in which the Buddha cautions
the god lest his knowledge of “the allness of all” turn out to be vain
and empty.’’ On the other hand, in the Buddhist context, perception of
diversity (ndnattasannd) is said to be a defilement of the mind
(cittassa upakkilesa) in much the same terms and context that “seeing
diversity” (ndneva paSyati) in the Upanisads is said to prevent release
and lead to rebirth."
Yoga practice in general is an integral part of the Buddhist path
to enlightenment, and the monks are exhorted to practice yoga by that
name.'* Even the experience of colors on the Upanisadic “narrow,
ancient path” is roughly approximated in Buddhist texts with reference
to jhanic experiences."* In all, it is quite likely that T.W. Rhys-Davids
is correct in his suspicion that much of Buddhist meditational

9. D1: #13
10. M3: 172-77.
11. M1: 304. Cp. B.U. 3.6.1.
12. D1: 95.
13. M1: 329. Cp. M1: #1.
14. M3: 162. Cp. B.U. 4.4.19.
15. M1: 472.
16. M2: 13-14. Cp. B.U. 4.4.9.
288 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

technique was borrowed from antecedent practice.’ Such practices

probably also antedate the Upanisads and probably belonged originally
to a non-Vedic yoga tradition of which Buddhism was ultimately the
most successful heir.
Otherwise, though the soul is denied in Buddhism, several of the
similes with which the soul is described in the Upanisads do appear
in early Buddhist literature. This is most notable with reference to
the miraculous mano-maya-kadya (mind-made-body) which is said to
be drawn out of the physical body like a reed from its sheath, a snake
from its slough or a sword from its scabbard. In the Upanisads,
similar similes describe the intimate relationship between the soul and
the body." In the Suttanipata, the simile of a drop of water on a lotus
leaf describes the sage (muni), who does not cling to perceptions. The
same simile describes the supreme self as opposed to the active self
in the Maitri Upanisad.” Such similes, however, are likely to have
been common idiomatic currency at the time of Buddha and do not
necessarily indicate familiarity with the Upanisads themselves.

Denial of the Soul

On the basis of the foregoing, it is clear that though the Buddha

probably did not have direct access to precisely the material which
is contained in the principal Upanisads, he was aware of philosophical
and psychological speculations of the type recorded in_ these
Upanisads. Such familiarity is suggested also in the similarity between
the layered models of consciousness found in both the Upanisads and
Buddhism. On a deeper, conceptual level, the debt of Buddhism to a
synthesis of yoga and Veda similar to that recorded in the Upanisads
is even more evident.
In the first place, the Buddhist denial of the soul may be viewed
as a solution to the Upanisadic problem of resolving the contradictions
involved in associating cosmogony, individuality, karma and rebirth

17. See T.W. Rhys Davids, Early Buddhism, pp. 86ff.

18. M1: 17-18; D1: 88.
19. Sn. #813. Cp. Mt.U. 3.2.
 THE FUNDAMENTALS OF BUDDHIST PSYCHOLOGY 289

with an eternal, changeless soul. These contradictions eventually gave

rise to various two-soul theories in the orthodox context. The Buddha,
not being under the constraints of orthodoxy, simply denied the
existence of any type of permanent soul (atman, paramatman, purusa,
etc.) standing behind the active, transmigrating soul (jivdtman, linga-
Sarira, etc.). This denial is a logical consequence of the same
Upanisadic thought which affirmed the existence of an eternal soul in
the first place. The Upanisads themselves conclude that the monistic
world soul, though somehow mysteriously connected to the individual,
paradoxically is not affected by the actions of the individual. The
Buddha identified this concept as a speculation which could be neither
verified nor falsified, and which, when incorporated into a theory of
the nature of individual human consciousness, necessarily produces
contradictions.
Removing the eternal soul from Upanisadic psychological
speculations leaves only the transmigrating, individual soul, which is,
apart from the fact that it is called a soul, very similar to the Buddhist
model of consciousness. In both theories there is a hierarchy of
consciousness with vijidna or some form of basal consciousness at the
upper end. In both theories, five senses, in conjunction with manas as
sensus communis, are the channels through which consciousness is
informed. In both systems, this sensory information is processed and
interpreted by several cooperative levels of consciousness. In both
systems, this sensory interaction with the apparently external world is
regarded as an undesirable disturbance of consciousness, and in both
systems, the termination of this interaction, through wisdom and
meditation, is considered tantamount to the realization of the summum
bonum of human existence. It could be argued that these were all
characteristics of ancient yogic psychology and that the world soul
of the Upanisads was merely tacked on to such a theory, while the
Buddha accepted the ancient yogic theory with only slight
modifications. This would account for the similarity of the Upanisadic
and Buddhist models of consciousness, but not for the Buddha’s
vigorous denial of any type of permanent entity standing behind the
process of consciousness, for such an entity is not postulated in either
Jainism or Ajivikism. It is interesting in this connection that the
Buddha is not recorded as criticising the Jains for their belief in a
290 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

soul. This is probably the case because the early Jain and Ajivika
theory of an evolving soul is not much different from the Buddhist
theory of evolving consciousness, except, that is, at the point of
release, where the Buddhists held that consciousness ceases. It is
interesting too that most of the Buddhist critique of the concept of a
soul is directed at an individual soul similar to the purusa of the
Samkhya system. The two-soul theory of Samkhya, however, also
appears to be a result of a synthesis of yogic and Vedic concerns,
rather than a purely yogic doctrine.
It is clear that the Buddha denied the universal soul as well as the
individual soul, though some scholars doubt that the Upanisadic adtman
is denied in Buddhism. In the “Alagaddippama Sutta”, for example,
the Buddha rejects the following view as “utter and complete folly”,
noting that it is held even though the soul (atta, Skt. Gtman) is said
to be incomprehensible (anupalabbhamana).

The soul (is) the world. After (death) I will become that permanent,
stable, eternal, unchanging thing. Like the eternal will I stand.
M1: 138

The Buddha also notes the contradictions in monism which appear

originally to have given rise to the theory of two souls. Thus, in the
“Brahmajala Sutta” he notes that some sages are prepared to assert the
eternality of soul and world even while accepting rebirth conditioned
by karma.”

The soul and the world are eternal, barren, a steadfast peak, like a
pillar firmly fixed, and these beings, though they move on, transmigrate
(samsaranti), pass away and arise, are eternally the same.
Din 16

He also notes, in terms reminiscent of Upanisadic paradoxes, the

verbal and conceptual confusion in monism that results from

20. Cp. M2: 233.

 THE FUNDAMENTALS OF BUDDHIST PSYCHOLOGY 291

identifying the individual essence with the eternal, universal super-

soul.”!

‘There is for me a self (atta)’ — the view arises to him as though it

were true, as tough it were real. Or, ‘there is not for me a self’. ...
Or, ‘Simply by self am I aware of self’. ... Or, ‘Simply by self am I
aware of not-self’. ... Or, ‘Simply by not-self am I aware of self? —
the view arises to him as though it were true, as though it were real.
M1: 8 (PTS)

Even the post-Upanisadic two-soul theory of Samkhya and Advaita,

which identifies the transmigrating soul with various groups of
individual sensual and mental faculties, is approached with a degree
of detail, though strictly speaking inaccurately, in a treatment of semi-
eternalism in the “Brahmajala Sutta”.

He gives utterance to the following conclusion of his own, beaten out

by his argumentations and based on his sophistry: “This which is called
eye and ear and nose and tongue and body (kdya),” is a soul (atta)
which is impermanent, unstable not eternal, a changing thing. But this
which is called thought (citta), or mind (manas), or consciousness
(vififiana) is a soul which is permanent, steadfast, eternal, an unchanging
thing, which will remain eternally the same.”
D1: 21

It is interesting that a similarly specific characterization of the linga-

farira (transmigrating soul) does not occur in the early Upanisads
themselves. In the orthodox schools, of course, citta, manas and
vijndna would also be included in the changeable soul, but the basic
two-soul idea is expressed clearly enough in the above passage.
It is thus clear that some of the sages with whom the Buddha was
familiar asserted an eternal soul, but were willing to admit the
necessity of a less essential soul or identity which undergoes

21. Cp. Mt.U. 6.20, etc.

22. Identifying the sense of touch with the body in general, as noted in the
Upanisads.
292 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

transmigration in samsdra. This transmigrating soul, they thought,

was made up of several of the sensual and/or mental faculties of the
essential soul. There is no hint in the above passage whether the
eternal soul mentioned was considered universal, as in Advaita, or
individual as in Samkhya. Be that as it may, the two-soul theories of
both of these schools are a reaction to the problem of coordinating the
theory of karma and rebirth with an eternal soul. The Buddhist denial
of the classical two-soul theory seems to indicate that the Buddhist
denial of the soul was in part a conscious attempt to simplify and
render more coherent the doctrine of rebirth.
Many Westerners find difficulty in conceiving of rebirth and
salvation without a soul, an individual essence which is reborn and
saved. Actually, however, the non-soul doctrine of Buddhism offers
a solution to the conceptual problems surrounding an eternal, universal
soul of Upanisadic ilk. Even an eternal individual soul, such as that
of Samkhya, shares many of the same problems. A _ non-eternal,
changing soul, such as the soul of the Jains, could not meaningfully
be called a soul, according to Buddhist thinking, because identity per
sé cannot inhere in that which changes. In other words, if the soul
changes, it is just like everything else, impermanent, conditioned, and
thereby not self, not self-determined, not self-defined.
The Buddha’s most common denial of the soul is based on his own
supposedly comprehensive analysis of the human being into five
aggregates. Each of these, he argues, may be seen to be impermanent
and conditioned by circumstances external to itself.” The dependence
of aggregates upon other conditions is demonstrated primarily by
means of the formula of conditioned arising (paticcasamuppdada).™ The
Buddha’s own supposedly verifiable psychological analysis is thus the
primary means by which he demonstrated the absence of a stable
essence of individual identity. Perhaps the most comprehensive
Buddhist treatment of erroneous theories affirming the soul is the
twenty-fold denial of the soul as identical to one of the five
aggregates (1-5), as in one of the aggregates (6-10) as independent of

23. See M1: 230; 421; M3: 115, 265.

24. See M3: 115.
 THE FUNDAMENTALS OF BUDDHIST PSYCHOLOGY 293

them (11-15) or as their owner (16-20). Denial of the soul in

Buddhism, then, is based primarily on the proposition that no
independent, permanent entity can be observed in human
consciousness, with the further argument that where only
impermanence is observed permanence cannot be inferred.
In addition to denying permanence to any of the conscious or
physical attributes of the individual, the Buddha is careful to deny
that any of the meditational absorptions (jhdna) are permanent.” This,
in effect, is a denial of the Upanisadic definition of the soul as bliss
(ananda), a state of being beyond empirical consciousness. Thus,
Buddhism holds that the various faculties and aspects of individual
consciousness are themselves impermanent, and that they cannot be
developed or refined into anything permanent. Nibbana, which is
permanent involves the cessation of all that is impermanent and
conditioned, and thus it too is not soul in that it cannot be compared
to any aspect of the individual.” The important difference between
Buddhist and Upanisadic soteriological concepts is that while the
Upanisads attempt to represent the eternal as a refined aspect of the
individual and the world, the Buddhist suttas make an absolute
distinction between unborn, eternal nibbadna and the changing
individual and universe.

Monks, if that unborn, not-become, not-made, not-compounded were

not, there would be apparent no escape from this here that is born,
become, made, compounded.
Udana, p. 80 (SBB)

The Buddhist concept of nibbdna is nonetheless similar in many

respects to the Upanisadic characterization of the essential soul as
non-conscious. Eternality and individuality were recognized as
mutually exclusive at an early stage in Indian philosophy. Witness
the consternation that arose in some Upanisadic aspirants as a result

25. M1: 300.

26. M3: 27-28; M1: 41-42; M1: 351-54; M2: 265.
27. M3: 64 (PTS tsl., p. 108, n. 1) Dhp. #277-79.
294 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

of the teaching that there is no consciousness in the ultimate soul.”

There are several instances in the Nikdayas as well of a similar reaction
to the Buddha’s teaching of non-soul.”
Aside from the Buddhist denial of an essential unity underlying
the various aspects of individual consciousness, the picture of the
individual in early Buddhist is strikingly similar in many respects to
the sophisticated Upanisadic models. The similarity between the
chariot simile of the Katha Upanisad and the five aggregates, for
example, is obvious. The Buddhist analysis of consciousness, however,
is systematically organized around the five aggregates, whereas there
is little consistency in the principal Upanisads with regard to
psychological matters. The five empirical senses, which were
laboriously determined in the Upanisads, are taken for granted and
consistently recognized in early Buddhist literature.” The predominant
Buddhist tendency is to list manas as a sixth sense,” on a par with
the other five, but its separate status a sensus communis is also
recognized,” as is common in the Upanisads. Again, as in the
Upanisads, manas in Buddhism is more than merely sensus communis,
for it is said to function independently of the five empirical senses in
certain of the higher meditational absorptions.” As the most versatile
perceptual faculty, manas is functional at all levels of perceptual
consciousness, which in the Buddhist scheme, must invariably have an
object. Whenever the object of consciousness is non-physical, as, for
example, in these higher (aruépa) absorptions, the faculty by which it
is perceived is manas.
As in the five-soul doctrine of the Taittiriya Upanisad or the
chariot simile of the Katha Upanisad, early Buddhism also recognizes
levels, or more properly aspects of consciousness beyond manas. The

28: BUS 24137 CUPS 119;

29. M1: 136, 487.
30. M1: 245, 505; M1: 292-93. Sn. #759.
31. M1: 273, 346; M2: 257; M3: 32, 56, 62, 137, 239.
32. M1: 295, 310; M1: 292-93; M3: 9 (see PTS tsl., p. 355, n. 2); S5: 218; Al:
199.
33.)M12293;
 THE FUNDAMENTALS OF BUDDHIST PSYCHOLOGY PASTS

most notable similarity in this regard is between the Upanisadic

vijnana and the Buddhist Pali equivalent viffidna, in both systems the
broadest, most basic term for consciousness in general. The “layering”
of consciousness in Buddhism must be approached with caution,
however, because differentiation between various aspects of
consciousness in the Buddhist scheme is for the purpose of analysis,
not for the purpose of ranking aspects of consciousness into a
hierarchy of levels that approach an essential soul. Thus, the
occurrence of vifvidna in the position farthest removed from rapa
(form) in the enumeration of the five aggregates, or as the first term
for consciousness in the enumeration of paticcasamuppdda, should not
be taken as implying that vififiadna represents a higher aspect of
consciousness than the other terms employed in these formulas.
Most of the psychological terms in early Buddhism represent
aspects of vivindna. In this way the term is similar in meaning to the
Upanisadic vijfidna. The generality of the Buddhist term has a
somewhat different significance from the generality of the Upanisadic
term. In the Buddhist context, a thing has no existence independent of
its aspects and attributes. A book is not a book without pages. It is
technically wrong in the Buddhist context to think of a book as having
pages. Instead, a collection of pages, hopefully along with other more
stringent conditions, is a book. There is no abstract book, apart from
the pages, which could have pages. Similarly, consciousness in general
as designated by viAnadna does not have aspects such as feeling,
perception, etc.; it is all of these aspects together. In the Upanisads,
vijidna is a general term for consciousness by virtue of the fact that
it is thought of as an inner, essential consciousness which somehow
emanates into other, less essential levels of consciousness such as
manas and the senses.

When this one fell asleep thus, then this person made of consciousness
(vijAdna-mayah purusah), having retrieved by consciousness the
consciousness of these breath faculties (prana), rests in the space within
the heart.
B.U.-22017
296 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

In early Buddhism, on the other hand, vififidna is a general term for

consciousness, merely because all instances of consciousness may be
called viffidna. The Upanisadic vijfdna and Buddhist vinfdna, then,
refer generally to the same phenomenon, but they mean different
things because the concepts underlying them are different. In the
Upanisads, vijidna is the very stuff of consciousness, while in
Buddhism viffidna is merely a designation for consciousness in
general.
Citta, a more common term in early Buddhism than in the
Upanisads, is also used in much the same way in both systems. In
general, it is synonymous with vifindna or vijndna, but connotes the
activity of consciousness rather than the stuff of consciousness.
Though particularly in the Buddhist context there is no real distinction
between consciousness and its activity, perhaps again the translation
“thought” for citta will serve to distinguish if from vifnadna.
Citta would not be an appropriate term with reference to the
functioning of the five empirical senses, which, when stimulated are
a form of viAidna, but not a form of citta. Wherever manas functions,
however, as a separate sense or sensus communis, citta would be an
appropriate designation of consciousness and more or _ less
interchangeable with viifdana. Citta also retains in Buddhist usage the
volitional, moral, connotation it had even in the Rg Veda. In early
Buddhism citta (as in citta-samkhara), and particularly its grammatical
relative cetana, implies “will”, thus supplanting the Upanisadic kratu.
The basic Buddhist model of consciousness also involves a number
of terms and concepts which do not exhibit an obvious relationship to
antecedent Upanisadic material. The fact remains that the framework
of Buddhist psychology — several coexisting, cooperative levels of
consciousness — may be arrived at simply by subtracting the essential
soul from Upanisadic speculations. It bears repeating, though, that the
Upanisadic hierarchy of aspects of individual consciousness was the
result of an attempt to separate the existential individual from the
changeless, eternal soul, and at the same time somehow to shade one
off into the other without making a sharp distinction between the
individual and the ultimate. The descriptive accuracy of the resulting
analysis was a secondary consideration, enhancing the credibility of
dogmatic belief in a soul standing at the base of empirical
 THE FUNDAMENTALS OF BUDDHIST PSYCHOLOGY 29);

consciousness. Excessive concern with the workings of consciousness

was even discouraged.

Speech is not what one should desire to understand, one should know
the speaker. Odour ... form ... sound ... taste of food ... the deed is not
what one should desire to understand, one should know the doer. ...
Mind is not what one should desire to understand, one should know the
minder [the thinker].
Ks.U. 3.8 (R)

The Buddha’s advice would have been diametrically opposite, for the
bulk of his prescription for overcoming suffering consists in seeking
to know the functioning consciousness in detail, and thereby
eventually to control it.

Herein (in this teaching) a monk dwells practising body-contemplation

on the body ... feeling-contemplation on the feelings .. mind-
contemplation on the mind (citta) ... mind-object contemplation on the
mind-objects (dhamma), ardent, clearly comprehending and mindful,
having overcome covetousness and grief concerning the world.”
M1: 56

It would be impossible to delineate precisely Buddha’s debt to the

Upanisadic synthesis of yoga and Veda, but it is clear that the soul
which is denied in Buddhism is not a purely yogic concept. Instead,
the soul denied in Buddhism appears to contain an admixture of
orthodox speculation of the type found in the Upanisads and traceable
back to Vedic concerns with cosmogonic monism. On the basis of the
textual evidence available, it appears that the essentials of the
hierarchy paradigm of consciousness employed in Buddhism were
originally developed in the Upanisads in order to facilitate a synthesis
of Vedic monism and yogic concepts of soul, rebirth and release.
When the world-soul is removed from Upanisadic psychological

34. Translation from: Nyanaponika, The Heart of Buddhist Meditation, p. 117.

298 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

speculations, a model of consciousness remains which is remarkably

similar to the Buddhist model.
Each of these points suggests orthodox influence in Buddhism.
Even more persuasive is the deep conceptual similarity between the
psychological cosmologies expressed in the Upanisads and the Pali
suttas. Buddhist psychology, though it discards the world-soul of the
Upanisads, remains cosmological in a way that is alien to either
Jainism or Ajivikism. In both of these systems, release is attained
within the context of the given universe, and in neither system does
release have any particular cosmological implications. In the Pali
suttas, however, the universe is not merely a given. The Buddha seeks
to include in his psychological theory an explanation of the nature of
the universe and to coordinate this explanation with the Buddhist
concept of release. Even though the Buddha denies the cosmological
soul of the Upanisads, he retains the essentially Upanisadic
cosmological insight that the world cannot be considered independently
of the mind which perceives it.

Friends, I declare that the world, the cause of the world, the cessation
of the world and the path leading to the cessation of the world lie
within this fathom-long carcass with its perceptions and mind.
S1: 62

Having done away with the Upanisadic world-soul, the Buddhist

concept of the interdependence of the world and consciousness
concentrates on the interdependence of the perceiver and the
perceived. The interdependence of the perceiver and the world
perceived is an Upanisadic insight which, as elucidated in Buddhism,
remains viable and informative even in the present scientific age.
 THE FUNDAMENTALS OF BUDDHIST PSYCHOLOGY 299

Vitality

Perhaps the best place to begin an examination of the early

Buddhist concept of the interdependence of consciousness and the
world is with an examination of the Buddhist treatment of vitality.
The so-called “life faculties” appear in the Pali suttas more or less
exactly as they do in the Upanisads, although there is little concern
with the vital faculties in Buddhism. In this respect, early Buddhism
does not present a significant advance over the quaint speculations of
that age. As the Vedas and Upanisads, in early Buddhism breath is
associated with meterological wind (vdyu). The five “vital winds”
(vata) enumerated in the suttas correspond roughly to the five “vital
breaths” (prana) of.the Upanisads.** Breath (Pali: pdna) is considered
the most general criterion for determining what is alive, and thus the
first of the five “bases of training” (sikkhapada) or “precepts” (sila)
involves abstinence from “assaulting that which has _ breath”
(panatipata). The cutting off of breath (pana-upaccheda) is a symptom
of death,* and one is said to live as long as breath endures.”
Interestingly, however, breath is said to cease in the fourth jhdna.*
There is even mention of a specific “breathless absorption” (appanaka-
jhadna) in which, we are assured, the meditator does not cheat by
breathing through his ears.” Such naiveté suggests that to some extent
the claim that breath ceases in meditation may be the work of over-
zealous Buddhists seeking to attribute the supposedly miraculous feats
of yogins to their own master.
The Buddhists were probably reluctant to accord too high a vital
status to breath because of its identity with the soul in the Upanisadic
tradition. The more essential life faculties, according to early
Buddhism, are dyu (life-span) and usma@ (warmth). Under normal
conditions, a living body (kaya) is said to possess a minimum of three

35. M1: 422; S4: 218.

36. M1: 327.
27LDITSS,
38. D3: 266.
39. M1: 243; M2: 212.
300 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

things: dyu, usmd, and vifindna.*° However, in the topmost meditational

absorption, saffd-vedayita-nirodha (cessation of perception and
feeling), dyu and usmd are said to be present, but virindna is replaced
by “purified sense faculties” (indriyani-vippasanani), for reasons that
will be discussed below. Sariputta, the author of the foregoing
vitalistic speculations, is careful to avoid what might be construed as
a vitalistic soul theory by specifying that dyu and usma are
interdependent. He also refers to them as samkhdara, apparently
implying, in this context, that they are the result of past karma. He
says too that these particular samkhdra are not “things which can be
felt” (vedaniya dhamma). Why? Because if they could be felt, or
experienced, they could not be present during the cessation of feeling
and perception."
Otherwise, the term dyu-samkhdra occurs synonymously with jiva-
samkhara in the “Mahaparinibbana Sutta” in a highly suspect group
of passages seeking to explain why the Buddha died.” Immediately
following this section — which blames the Buddha’s death on
Ananda’s failure to petition him to live on for an aceon — is a more
sober and characteristic declaration by the Buddha that whatever is
born must die.*? This declaration, repeated to the grief-stricken Sangha
by the venerable Anurudda after Buddha’s death,“ appears to be the
Original substance of the explanation of Buddha’s death.
Be that as it may, it is clear that the term dyu retains the meaning
“life span” as in the Rg Veda. In the “Mahaparinibbana Sutta”, the
Buddha is said to renounce the rest of his natural life span, as if it
were a continuously present though diminishing quantity.** Elsewhere,
violent behavior is said to produce a short dyu in the next birth,
whereas non-violence is karmicly conducive to a long dyu.” This

40. D2: 335, 338; M1: 296.

41. M1: 296.
42. D2: 99; 106-107.
43. D2: 118-19.
44. D2: 158.
45. See also D2: 118.
46. M3: 203.
 THE FUNDAMENTALS OF BUDDHIST PSYCHOLOGY 301

again emphasizes the karmic associations of dyu as a samkhara. Usma,

or warmth, being interdependent and co-terminal with dyu, must be the
physical manifestation of the presence of karmicly-produced “life
foundation” or “life construction” (dyu-samkhara). As in the
Upanisads, this warmth is associated with fire or heat in general and
recognized as being responsible for digestion.”’

The Fundamental Concepts of Buddhist Psychology:

In themselves, these vitalistic speculations are of little importance

in Buddhist psychology. The enumeration of the minimum conditions
of human life which arises from them, however, is a convenient place
to begin this study. The most detailed treatment of human life at its
basal level occurs in the “Maha Vedalla” and “Cula Vedalla” Suttas
of the Majjhima Nikaya, where Sariputta says:**

In regard to this body (kaya), your reverence, when three things are
god rid of: vitality (ayu), heat (usma) and consciousness (vinndana),
then does this lie cast away, flung aside like unto a senseless log of
wood.
M1: 296 (PTS)

On the basis of the characteristics of vijidna as described in the

Upanisads, the location of vifiidna here at the basal level of mere
life is not surprising. In the Upanisads, vijidna or its occasional
synonym prajnd is associated with deep sleep. In the Taittiriya
Upanisad’s five-soul theory, it is identified with the next innermost
essence of the person.
The parallel Buddhist association of vinhdana with basal
consciousness is borne out in its importance in the mechanism of
rebirth, which in several passages is described as the descent
(avakkanti) of vififidna into the womb.” In the Upanisads, the

47. M1: 422.

48. Cp. $2: 253; $3: 80, 169; S5; 311; Al: 132; A4: 53.
49. S2: 13 91, 101, 104; M1: 165; Al: 176; D2: 62. Cp. D3: 103.
302 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

departure at death of the soul (dtman or purusa), along with breath

(prana) and vijfdna, is described in similar terms with various
modifications of the verbal root Vkram.° The Buddha, possibly
because of a widespread association of basal consciousness with the
soul, took particular pains to emphasize that vinfidna must not be
thought of as a soul. In addition to his frequent characterization of
the five aggregates, including vifiiidna, as non-soul, there occurs the
stern and specific rebuke to the monk Sati son for teaching that
vififidna survives death as an entity.*' At another point it is observed
that it would make more sense to think of the body as soul since it
may persist for some time.

But this, brethren, that we call thought (citta), that we call mind
(manas), that we call consciousness (viAindna), that arises as one thing,
ceases as another whether by night or by day.
S2: 94 (PTS)

Several passages state further that nibbdna is not to be understood

as a State of vinfidna. After the final attainment of the summum
bonum, after one’s last death (parinibbdna), vifiindna ceases,” or is not
reinstated.” This doctrine is somewhat similar to the Ajivika doctrine
that some aspect of the individual transmigrates for a set amount of
time, like a ball of string unravelling. Ultimately, this process
necessarily results in total annihilation, the end of the string, which
is characterized as an end of suffering (dukkha), and therefore is in
some sense, a summum bonum.™ In the Buddhist context, of course,
nibbana is in no sense inevitable or predetermined. More important in
the present study is that according to Buddhism the viidna which

50. See B.U. 4.3.8; 4.4.2.

51. M1: 256-59.
92. D1::54:
537512 ,122:°532 7106:
54. D1: 54.
 THE FUNDAMENTALS OF BUDDHIST PSYCHOLOGY 303

establishes a link between rebirths, is not like a string, but like a

stream.*°
In considering the Buddhist metaphor, one must be careful not to
think of a stream as a string. A string is self-determined as it
unravels, while a stream, as it flows along, is in constant interaction
with its environment and changing at every instant. One cannot cross
the same proverbial river twice, for it will have become a different
river. It is also unwise to lay too much stress on the occasional
metaphorical treatment of consciousness as a stream. It is better to
observe precisely how, in early Buddhism, the continual changing of
vinndna is said to occur. Somewhat like a stream, it changes in
relation to its environment, which in the case of vifitdna is comprised
of the objects of. consciousness. Without and object (arammana),
vifinadna does not arise or “become established” (patittha).** Given an
object, it arises conditioned by that object. The nature of vifndna at
any given time is determined by the nature of its object. The most
general designation for the necessary objective counterpart of vinndna
is nadma-rupa (name and form), which term is employed in early
Buddhist literature in much the same way that it is used in the
Upanisads, to denote the conceptual and apparitional aspects of any
individual object.
There is a tendency among both ancient and modern interpreters
of early Buddhism to construe ndma-riipa as a general designation
for the two basic aspects of an individual human being, namely
consciousness and body.” Thereby, the intriguing term is
oversimplified and glossed, often with the unfounded assertion that
nama represents the four non-material aggregates (vedand, sanna,
samkhara and vifiindna) and that ripa, the fifth aggregate, represents
the body. Even Buddhaghosa, who is normally careful to avoid this
Oversimplification of ndma-riipa, does at one point in_ the

55. See D3: 105; M2: 262; and Walpola Rahula, What the Buddha Taught, 1967,
Die
56. S2: 65.
57. C.A.F. Rhys-Davids, Buddhist Psychology, 1914, pp. 6-9. Rune Johansson, The
Psychology of Nirvana, 1969, pp. 78-80. E.J. Thomas, The History of Buddhist
Thought, 2nd ed., 1951, pp. 63-70.
304 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

Visuddhimagga suggest that ndma-riipa is a twofold designation of

the five aggregates.* His usual care in this regard is no doubt a result
of the fact that at no point in the early sutta literature is ndma defined
as the four non-material aggregates. Instead, it is defined as or said
to involve, vedand, sannd, cetand, phassa and manasikara. Ripa is
consistently defined as the four great elements.” Rapa, moreover,
means “form” in general, not specifically “body”. Kaya is the standard
term for body. Body, of course, is one type of form, and as such is
also said to be composed of the four great elements. When the
physical and conscious aspects of the individual are specifically
intended, however, kaya indicates body, and either citta® or vifiidna®
indicate consciousness in general.
If ndma-ripa is taken to mean “consciousness and body”, the
paticcasamuppdada formula may be, and often is, interpreted more or
less persuasively as an explanation of rebirth. The phrase “vinndna
conditions ndma-ripa” then seems to mean simply that consciousness
somehow enters or arises in the womb and that a mind and body start
to develop. There is, however, no indication in the early sutta
literature that the first four links of the standard enumeration of
paticcasamuppada, culminating with the phrase “vinridna conditions
nama-rupa”, are to be construed as confined to the explanation of
rebirth. Instead, the conditioning of nadma-rupa by vifndna refers to
the arising of any instance of consciousness, which “arises as one
thing, ceases as another whether by night or day”. The conditioning
of nadma-ripa by vinndna, of course, may describe the arising of
consciousness in rebirth,” but rebirth is also described as the descent

58. Vsm. 14.11. Normally he defines nama as comprised of vedand, saffna and
samkhara, as at Vsm. 17.187. This definition may be based on an inference
from S3: 58, where it is stated that there can be no vifiAdna without rapa,
vedana, sanha and samkhdara, while it is often said that there can be no vififidna
without nama-ripa.
597825 aMieos!
60. M1: 144; 190; 500.
61.— M1: 237, 276; M3: 18; D1: 20; D3: 32; A2: 137; S2: 94; S3: 2-5; S5: 66.
62. D2: 335, 338; M1: 296; M2: 17; M3: 18. Cp. M1: 144; D1: 176.
63. See D2: 63; S2: 91.
 THE FUNDAMENTALS OF BUDDHIST PSYCHOLOGY 305

of ndma-ripa.“ One passage which describes rebirth as the result of

viinadna omits ndma-ripa altogether and starts with the six senses, i.e.
the six types of vififdna, as the condition for sensual contact
(phassa).*°
The general and specific inconsistencies which result from
interpreting ndma-ripa as consciousness and _ body, and
paticcasamuppdda as merely an explanation of rebirth are too
numerous to catalogue. If the Upanisads are taken as the source of
our understanding of the term ndma-ripa, the bulk of the
psychological material in the early Buddhist suttas will be far more
satisfactorily and consistently explained than if the term is taken to
mean consciousness and body.
The following. discussion assumes the obvious: that the Buddha
used the term na@ma-rupa when, in the common parlance of his age,
it meant approximately what he wanted to say. There is no doubt that
the term literally means “name and form”. At the time of the Buddha,
and for several hundred years before and after his lifetime, the term
implied “individuality”, a connotation which was based on the archaic
idea that names were inherent qualities of individual things. More
abstractly, name was that which was thought to account for the
relationship among different forms which were nonetheless similar
enough to be given the same verbal designation. In this sense, the
term ndma is similar to “a concept”. Thus, when it is said in the
Upanisads that creation consisted of the differentiation of the universe
by means of ndma-ripa, what is implied is that the myriad discrete
entities thus produced were and still are related in an orderly fashion
by virtue of the fact that they bear names. These names make possible
the conceptual ordering of manyness.% Language was thought of as a
discovery of the inherent conceptual relationships among things, so
that from a very early period in Indian thought, conceptualization was
regarded as primarily a verbal phenomenon.

64. $2: 89-90, 104.

(CORES a Bs
66: B.U51.475C.U-63.2-3; CU, 8.14.1.
306 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

One should not suppose that all of these implications of the term
nadma-ripa are specifically intended in every instance of the term,
particularly as it occurs in Buddhism, which rejected from the
beginning many orthodox linguistic notions. In general, however, the
term ndma-ripa is a comprehensive designation of the individuality of
a perceived thing. It refers to both the appearance and the
conceptualization of a given object of consciousness. As such it is
employed in early Buddhism in much the same way in which it is
used in the Upanisads.

Just as the flowing rivers disappear in the ocean casting off name and
shape, even so, the knower, freed from name and shape, attains to the
divine person, higher than the high.
Mu.U. 3.2.8 (R)

A seeing man will see name and form, and having seen he will
understand those (things); let him at pleasure see much or little, for
the experts do not say that purity exists by that.
Sn. #909 (SBE)

I will explain to thee by what name and shape are totally stopped; by
the cessation of consciousness (vifindna) this is stopped here.
Sn. #1037 (SBE)

As a flame extinguished by the force of the wind ... so a sage, freed

from name-and-form goes to rest and cannot be verbally characterized.
Sn. #1073

With this understanding of ndma-riipa, an examination of the early

Buddhist treatment of the arising of consciousness in relation to
objects of consciousness may proceed.
In response to the wayward monk Sati’s characterization of viindana
as “that which runs on, fares on, not changed (anaffia)”, the Buddha
offers the following.
 THE FUNDAMENTALS OF BUDDHIST PSYCHOLOGY 307

In many a figure has consciousness generated by conditions been

spoken of by me to you, monks, saying: ‘Apart from condition there
is no origination of consciousness’.
M1: 259 (PTS)

The “many figures” in which the generation of viAfidna by conditions

is explained elsewhere by the Buddha fall into essentially two main
categories: 1) the analysis of viAnidna into six types, comprising the
five senses and mind, and 2) the conditioned arising of viAndna
according to various forms of paticcasamuppdda.
By far the most common definition of viAndna is that it is of six
kinds with reference to the five empirical senses and manas. It is said
to be dependent upon them as fire is dependent upon its fuel, and to
be defined by them as fire is characterized according to the nature of
its fuel.”

It is because, monks, an appropriate condition arises that consciousness

is known by this or that name: if consciousness arises because of eye
and material shapes (rapa) it is known as visual consciousness; if
consciousness arises because of ear and sounds ... nose and smells ...
tongue and tastes ... body and touches ... mind and mental objects, it
is known as auditory ... olfactory ... gustatory ... tactile ..._ mental
consciousness. Monks, as a fire bums because of this or that
appropriate condition, by that it is known: if a fire burns because of
sticks ... chips, etc. it is known as a stick-fire ... a chip-fire, etc.
M1: 259 (PTS)

The conditions governing the arising of consciousness are more

precisely stated in the following formula in the “Madhupindika Sutta”.

Visual consciousness, your reverences, arises because of eye and

material shapes; the meeting of the three is a sensory impingement
(phassa).
Misra (Ps)

67. Cp. Mt.U. 6.34.

308 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

This “sensory impingement”, literally “touch” or “contact”, is

similarly treated with reference to the other senses and manas.
Technically speaking, phassa does not automatically result from the
mere physical juxtaposition of organ and object. The object must be
present to consciousness. The contact, termed samannahdara (lit.
“bringing well along”) in the following passage from the “Maha
Hatthipadopama Sutta”, must be “appropriate” (tajja, lit. “born from
that”). In other words, it must be effective in producing consciousness.

If, your reverences, the eye that is internal is intact and external forms
(rapa) come within its range, but without appropriate contact
(samannahara), then there is no appearance of the appropriate type of
consciousness. But when, your reverences, the eye that is internal is
intact and external forms come within its range and there is the
appropriate contact, then there is thus an appearance of the appropriate
type of consciousness.
M1: 190

Comparing the two preceding passages, two equations emerge: 1)

faculty + object + viifiana = phassa/samannahara, and 2) faculty +
object + phassa/samannahara = vifindna. Thus, vinndna is as
necessary for sensual contact as sensual contact is for viifiana. The
“Maha Hatthipadopama Sutta” continues its analysis by saying that
given faculty, object, appropriate contact and the appearance of the
corresponding type of consciousness:

Whatever is rapa in what has thus come to be is called the grasping-

aggregate of form (riépa-upadana-khandha). Whatever is vedand in
what has thus come to be is called the grasping-aggregate of feeling.
Whatever is perception (saffd) ... formations (samkhara),
consciousness (viinadna) in what has thus come to be is called the
grasping-aggregate of perception ... formations ... consciousness. Thus,
one comprehends the collecting, the assembling, the coming together of
these five grasping-aggregates.
M1: 190
 THE FUNDAMENTALS OF BUDDHIST PSYCHOLOGY 309

Rupa, which first appears specifically as the object of visual

consciousness, is expanded in the above citation to include the objects
of any type of consciousness, once they have actually become present
to consciousness.
The fascinating point about the above is that rapa, as a khandha,
an aggregate, is said to come into existence on the basis of the
functioning of consciousness, even though, as the specific object of
vision, it is a condition for the arising of that very consciousness. In
either case, it is manifestly impossible to construe ruépa-updddna-
khanda as the body. Instead, on the one hand it is an objective
condition for the arising of consciousness. On the other hand, like all
of the five aggregates, it results from the fulfilment of the conditions
necessary for the arising of consciousness. Nonetheless, in the opening
statement of the above passage, rupa is emphatically defined as a
body, “a space enclosed by bones and sinews and flesh and skin”.
This must be a commentarial corruption in the text. Such a definition
of rupa is absolutely inappropriate in either context in which the term
is used in the “Maha Hatthipadopama Sutta”.* These two contexts,
again, are: 1) as an aspect of that which arises when all of the
conditions for any of the six types of consciousness are met, and 2)
as the specific object of visual consciousness.
There is a tendency in Indian psychology in general to substitute
vision for all of the senses, and this probably accounts for the two
contexts in which riupa is used here. When the arising of
consciousness is being analyzed, an appropriate object, or rupa is a
condition, but from the opposite point of view, the arising of
consciousness is a condition for the arising of riipa. Therefore, as
consciousness does not arise without an object, so an object does not
arise without consciousness. This is borne out in many other passages,
perhaps most specifically where it is said that the four great elements
— which are the standard definition of rapa — cease when vinndna
ceases.”

68. This is, to my knowledge, the only context in the early sufta literature which
so emphatically defines riépa in the sense that kaya is normally understood.
695 Di: 222-23;
310 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

The above considerations suggest that the five aggregate analysis

is entirely an analysis of consciousness as experienced. When
sufficient conditions exist and consciousness actually arises, the five
aggregates are brought into the picture as an analysis of that
consciousness. Riipa-khandha is the apparently external, objective
content of that consciousness. This again is consistent with
observations in earlier chapters that rapa does not connote substance,
but rather appearance. The four great elements, at least when they are
enumerated as a definition of raipa-khandha, are not necessarily a
primitive periodic table, but rather an analysis of how “matter” is
experienced. It is well known that the four elements are construed in
the Abhidhamma and commentarial literature as being abstract
representations of various qualities of matter as experienced (i.e.
solidity, fluidity, heat and motion.” There is little evidence of an
abstract interpretation of the elements in the suttas themselves,” but
there is also little to suggest that an independently existing material
world was postulated.
In relation to this point, paticcasamappdada, the second means by
which the conditions for the arising of consciousness are set forth, is
relevant. In this formula, the relationship between viAndna and nama-
rapa is very similar to what appears to be the relationship of viiiidna
and rupa in the “Maha Hatthipadopama Sutta”, where rupa is a
condition for the arising of vinndna and the arising of vififdna is, in
turn, a condition for the arising of rapa. It is not uncommon to find
the formula of paticcasamuppdda, minus the first two links in the
standard chain, beginning with the reciprocal conditioning of viandna
by nadma-riipa and ndma-ripa by viinana.” In this connection, it is no
doubt significant that the entire twelvefold enumeration of
paticcasamuppada is not listed anywhere in the Digha Nikdya.”
Moreover, the tenfold enumeration of paticcasamuppdda in the

70. See: Y. Karunadasa, Buddhist Analysis of Matter, Ch. 2.

71. But see M1: 421-23.
12: Dis 223; D28 32; $2:-104) 1135 Cp2D2:62-32S 2568s 153-0)
73. See T.W. Rhys-Davids’ “Introduction to the Maha-nidana-suttanta”, SBB, vol.
3, p. 42; Cp. S22 104,
 THE FUNDAMENTALS OF BUDDHIST PSYCHOLOGY 311

“Mahapadana Sutta” treats the mutual conditioning of ndma-riipa and

vinndna in a way that would seem to preclude any further conditions
beyond the ten commonly recognized in the Digha Nikaya.

Consciousness is the condition of name-and-form. ... Name-and-form

is the condition of consciousness. ... Consciousness turns back from
name-and-form, it does not go beyond. Only as follows can one be
born, or age, or die, or pass away or arise, that is to say: consciousness
_ conditions name-and-form; name-and-form conditions consciousness;
name-and-form conditions the six spheres; the six spheres condition
contact (phassa); contact conditions feeling (vedanda); feeling conditions
desire (tanha); etc.
D2: 32

The “Mahanidana Sutta” of the Digha Nikaya opens with an even

shorter, no doubt archaic ninefold enumeration of paticcasamuppdda
which omits the six sense spheres (saldyatana) from the tenfold Digha
Nikaya formula. This makes ndma-ripa the direct condition of sensual
contact (phassa), as well as the reciprocal condition of viffdna.”
Following this short list is an explanation of ndma-ripa which is
highly instructive and which proves that the omission of the sense
spheres in this treatment was not merely an oversight.

“That name-and-form conditions contact should be understood in

the following way. If, Ananda, those modes, characteristics, signs,
indications by which the name-group (nama-kaya) is manifested were
absent, would there be the manifestation of verbal contact (adhivacana-
samphassa) in the form-group (rupa-kaya)?”
“There would not, venerable sir.”
“Tf Ananda, those modes, characteristics, signs, indications by
which the form-group is manifested were absent, would there be the
manifestation of sensual contact (patigha-samphassa) in the name-
group?”
“There would not, venerable sir.” ...
“And if, Ananda, those modes, etc. by which (both) name and
form are manifested were absent, would there be any manifestation of
(any kind of) contact (phassa)?”

74. D2: 56.

312 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

“There would not, venerable sir.”

“Therefore, Ananda, this is the cause, the basis, the origin, the
condition of contact, namely name-and-form.”
D2: 62

This passage is essentially a rational abstraction of the cosmogonic

nama-ripa of the Upanisads, where the differentiation of the universe
is said to be accomplished by means of name and form. Recalling the
association of name and conceptualization in the general Indian
context, it is clear that the interdependence of concept (nama) and
conceptualized (rapa), or name and named, is also stated in this
passage. It is also noteworthy that the analysis of na@ma-rupa in the
“Mahanidana Sutta” has the effect of generating two types of contact
(phassa): verbal (adhivacana) and sensual (patigha, lit. “striking
against”). It is this very contact which is necessary for the arising of
vinndna. This expression of a twofold concept of contact may well
relate to the fact that in the arupa-loka or in the arupa-jhanas, riipa
technically is not possible as a condition for the arising of
consciousness. Nonetheless, consciousness is present in these states,
except, that is, for the fourth arupa-jhadna, which is said not to be a
“foothold of viffidna”’.” In these subtle states, consciousness
apparently is conditioned by a verbal concept (ndma) such as “space
is infinite”, “consciousness is infinite”, or “there is nothing”, but not
by a form (rapa).
The adhivacana, verbal-conceptual aspect of phassa is of more
immediate importance with reference to the conditioning of feeling
(vedana) by phassa, and the consequent conditioning of perception
(sannad) by vedana in the normal course of human consciousness. Like
vinndna, Or consciousness in general, and like phassa, both of these
aggregates (vedanad and safnd) may be classified as sixfold with
reference to the five senses and manas.”* Both vedand and sanna,

75. See L. de la Vallée Poussin, Théorie des douze causes, p. 16. See also
Poussin’s “Cosmology” article, ERE, vol. 4, p. 137. See Vbh: 138, where
vifinana is said to condition only nama.
76. D3: 244; M1: 398; M3: 281.
 THE FUNDAMENTALS OF BUDDHIST PSYCHOLOGY 313

however, have a conceptual content as well. Interestingly, vedana is

specifically said to have both a physical (kdyikad) and a mental
(cetasika) aspect,” and both vedand and saffd are together said to
comprise citta-samkhara.” The conceptual nature of vedand is evident
even in the standard enumeration of the three types of vedand, painful
(dukkha), pleasant (sukha) and neutral (adukkham-asukha),” for these
in themselves are minimal verbal-conceptual constructs. The
“Satipatthana Sutta” notes too that these three minimal concepts may
also occur with reference to non-material (aripa) things, presumably
on the basis of adhivacana-samphassa.* Safina is characterized as a
more developed verbal conceptualization than vedand in the following
definition, which obviously must be taken as exemplary rather than
comprehensive.

Your reverence, if it is said, ‘He perceives, he perceives (sanjanati)’,

it is therefore called ‘perception’. And what does he perceive? He
perceives what is dark green and he perceives what is yellow and he
perceives what is white.
M1: 293 (PTS)

The three terms, vififidna as consciousness in general, vedand as

feeling, and saffd as perception of specific features, may be
differentiated for the purpose of analyzing conscious experience. They
do not, however, denote separate entities which arise, each dependent
on the former, in a temporal or even a linear causal sequence, as
might be imagined by noticing their respective positions in the
enumeration of paticcasamuppdada or of the five aggregates. Instead,
they all occur together and are actually aspects of the same thing.

That which is feeling, sir, and that which is perception, and that which
is consciousness, these things are associated, not dissociated. Having

77; S42 231.,Cp., M1:. 302,398.

78. M1: 301.
79. M1: 293, 302, 398.
80. M1: 59.
314 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

analyzed and analyzed, it is not possible to declare a basis of

differentiation. What one feels, sir, that one perceives. What one
perceives, of that one is conscious.
M1: 293

Even though saffd is not technically a member of the standard

enumeration of paticcasamuppdada, the relationship among vedanda,
sannd and viindna is described in the above passage as a type of
conditioned arising. This in itself is not surprising. The basic
definition of paticcasamuppdda is the well-known phrase: “When this
is, that is. From the arising of this, that arises. When this is not, that
is not. From the cessation of this, that ceases.”*’ Thus, the term may
properly be applied to any set of results dependent upon necessary and
sufficient conditions. It is likely that the standard twelvefold formula
developed over some time, though possibly within the Buddha’s
lifetime, as a result of the consolidation of various cause and effect
relationships governed by the general formula “When this is, that is,
etc.” The relationship among the three aspects of consciousness in
question in the preceding passage is clarified by Mahakaccana in the
“Madhupindika Sutta” as follows.

Conditioned by eye (etc.) and form (ripa, etc.), sir, visual

consciousness (etc.) arises. The conjunction of the three is contact
(phassa). Contact conditions feeling (vedand). What one feels, that one
perceives (safjanati); what one reasons about (vitakketi); what one
reasons about, that one proliferates (pappanceti); what one proliferates,
that is the source of the various perceptual proliferations which assail
a person in the past, the future and the present with regard to forms
(etc.) of which the eye (etc.) may be conscious.
M1: 111-12

Thus, the arising of saffd is implied in the standard formula of

paticcasamuppada by the arising of vedand conditioned by phassa.

81. M1: 262; M2: 32; M3: 63; S2: 28, 65, 95; Ud. #1. See Poussin, Théorie des
douze causes, p. 50. Walpola Rahula, What the Buddha Taught, p. 53.
 THE FUNDAMENTALS OF BUDDHIST PSYCHOLOGY 315

Beyond vedand, the paticcasamuppadda formula deals with

psychopathology, rather than theoretical psychology, by enumerating
desire, grasping etc. Let us then pause here to consider the
implications of the relationships between the fundamental theoretical
concepts of Buddhist psychology and to consider an integrated
interpretation of the foregoing ancient Buddhist material that may
render it more accessible to the modern reader.
This integrated interpretation, though somewhat speculative, need
not stray from actual ancient Buddhist material. In fact, it may be
supported at every point as a valid interpretation thereof. The basis
of the present interpretation is generated by considering the two
immediately preceding passages in conjunction with the archaic
ninefold enumeration of paticcasamuppdada found in the “Mahanidana
Sutta”. On this basis, it will be noted that the initial stages of the
interdependent arising of consciousness and object of consciousness
turn back upon each other at every point and form a self-contained
unit, as illustrated in the following diagram. (Arrows show direction
of influence).

vinnadna—=———erlipa

sanna phassa

vedana

It is important that, when several versions of these relationships are

considered, there is seen to be no starting point as such in the
complex diagrammed above. Yet in a sense, viindna is the focus of
these relationships. Having arisen on the basis of contact with an
object of consciousness (riupa), it recycles into itself, as it were,
through the vedanad and sanfd aspects of vifnhadna, so that
consciousness is like a dog chasing its own tail. It takes aspects of
itself as an object and may arise on the basis thereof.
When viffidna arises on the basis of vedana and safina (yam vedeti,
tam sanjanati); the contact (phassa) said to be necessary for the
arising of vififidna must be conceptual (adhivacana), rather than
sensual (patigha). It must be supposed that this contact occurs on the
316 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

basis of the sixth sense, manas. An interpretive diagram of the

foregoing material would appear as follows:

(manas) (senses)
nama ———_» vifinadna ————» rupa

(adhivacana) (patigha)

phassa

sannd ~———— vedana

(tanha, upadana, etc.)

The distinction between ndma and ripa in the above treatment is

justified in the “Mahanidana Sutta”. Its archaic ninefold treatment of
paticcasamuppdda, omits the six-sense spheres as a separate causal
link between nadma-ripa and phassa, and simply states that name-and-
form is the condition of contact. Contact, rather than being of six
kinds with reference to five senses and manas, is characterized as
being of two kinds, verbal (adhvacana) and sensual (patigha). One
might suspect that adhivacana samphassa is the specific privilege of
manas while the senses “strike against” (patigha) their grosser objects.
In other words, it appears that in this archaic formula adhivacana
(verbal) and patigha (sensual), as categories of phassa, fulfill the role
normally assigned to the more commonly enumerated six kinds of
phassa. Ndma-ripa thus appears to be a dual categorization of the six
types of objects of consciousness. This is precisely how the
commentary interprets the present passage. Therefore, if nadma-ripa is
to be identified with any other set of terms in the Buddhist system, it
must be with the six “external” sense spheres and not with the five
aggregates. The integrated interpretation of the preceding passages also
suggests that the so-called “external” object (dhamma) of manas, the
sixth type of vivindna, may be equated with the conceptual content of
previous consciousness as indicated by the terms vedand and sanna.
 THE FUNDAMENTALS OF BUDDHIST PSYCHOLOGY 317

Recalling the components of ndma listed in the early Nikdya

literature as vedand, safnd, cetanad, phassa, and manasikara,” it will
be recogniszed that this interpretation is borne out to a considerable
degree in the terminology of early Buddhist literature. This
enumeration of the components of ndma in the early Nikdya literature
seems to be actually an enumeration of the conditions surrounding
consciousness of a name, i.e. a concept generated by previous
consciousness. If this is so, then of these five conditions, phassa is to
be interpreted specifically as adhivacana-samphassa, based on 1) the
conceptual content of vedand and sanna (for example: “pleasant and
red”), and 2) the naming of this conceptual content by manas, (for
example: “an apple”). The term manasikara, often translated
“attention”, but meaning literally “making or doing in the mind”,
apparently refers to the specific functioning of manas in perceiving
the conceptual (nama) aspect of a given object (rapa). It will be noted
as well that since vedand and sannda are invariably aspects of the
arising of consciousness, there can be no actual instance of
consciousness of a form without an accompanying verbal/conceptual
content. In other words, there is no ruépa without a nama. This
Situation is reflected no doubt in the status of manas as sensus
communis. The five empirical senses “resort to” manas, not only in
the sense that the mind as sensus communis sorts and arranges the
information they convey. They also resort to manas in the sense that,
as the faculty responsible for adhivacana-samphassa,
(verbal/conceptual contact), manas supplies the nama, partly on the
basis of previous consciousness, for the rapa conveyed by the five
senses.
The implication of the foregoing is that according to early Buddhist
psychology, there are no “external” objects as such, but only apparent
objects based on the objectivization of certain aspects of
consciousness. Consciousness, however, depends on the fulfillment of
certain minimum conditions, one of which is an appropriate, i.e.
accessible object. From an overarching point of view, what is

S25 S2 aS Millers:
318 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

described is the constant, reciprocal interaction between object and

consciousness, each determining the nature of the other.
For the sake of analysis, a hypothetical starting point in the arising
of consciousness may arbitrarily be selected. Thus, some analyses start
with the six internal and external sense spheres as the origin of
consciousness.

Six internal (sense) spheres (dyatana) are to be known. ... Six external
(sense) spheres are to be known. ... Six groups of consciousness
(viinana-kaya) are to be known. ... Six groups of contact (phassa-kaya)
are to be known. Visual consciousness (etc.) is conditioned by eye
(etc.) and form (etc.). The conjunction of the three is contact. Contact
conditions feeling (vedana). When it is said that six groups of feeling
(vedana-kaya) are to be known, it is with reference to this
conditionality.
M3: 281

But “three things come together” are phassa, not two. Contact between
the internal and external sense spheres presupposes the existence of
consciousness. On the other hand, consciousness presupposes the
existence of contact between the internal and external sense spheres.
This situation appears to be responsible for the tendency in early
enumerations of paticcasamuppadda to qualify immediately the
assertion that viindna is the condition of ndma-ripa with the counter
assertion that nama-riipa is the condition of vifAidna, ndma-ripa
representing the conceptual and apparitional aspects of the object of
consciousness. The original inclusion of the six sense spheres
(salayatana) — conditioned by ndma-ripa and the condition of phassa
— in the standard paticcasamuppdda formula amounts to a more
detailed definition of nama-ripa as the apparently objective content
of consciousness. Ndma-ripa determines and is determined by
consciousness according to the six avenues through which this
interaction may be observed to take place.
By way of illustration of the foregoing, let us start arbitrarily and
hypothetically with an unspecified yet discrete object, a ndma-ripa.
For simplicity’s sake let us suppose that the contact (phassa) it
generates in conjunction with appropriate vifiidna is purely sensual,
 THE FUNDAMENTALS OF BUDDHIST PSYCHOLOGY 319

say visual. (“Three things come together are contact”) Suppose the
vedana aspect of virindna which arises therefrom (“Contact conditions
feeling”] is “pleasant”, and that saffd arises as “red, round”.
(“Whatever one feels, one perceives”] This conceptual content cycles
into viifidna by means of adhvacana-samphassa (verbal, conceptual
contact) through the faculty of manas. [“Whatever one perceives, of
that one is conscious”] This conceptual content determines to some
extent the nature of the object, and to a similar extent the object
determines the nature of consciousness. [“‘Consciousness conditions
name-and-form; name-and-form conditions consciousness”] Within this
self-contained cycle a fairly precise notion of the object of
consciousness may be built up, perhaps: “‘pleasant, red, round, hard,
smooth: an apple!” At this point, if not before, or rather if not at a
more basic level, consciousness may become more than mere
awareness of an object. There may come to be, in the broad Buddhist
sense of the term, a moral or karmic interaction as well. Suppose, for
example, one is hungry, or even merely that one is at a fruit stall.
One may, then, come to interact volitionally with that pleasant red,
round, smooth, hard object. One may then be disappointed to find, on
the basis of further functioning of the interdependent network of
perceptual consciousness, that it is in fact a child’s ball. It may then
become an unpleasant object, particularly if one is very hungry, or
merely an annoyance to the shopper at a fruit stall. On the other hand,
a child dragged along on shopping day might be elated to find a
lovely ball among all those boring fruits.
Thus, some of the qualities of a given object are not inherent in the
object itself. The interdependence of consciousness and object is literal
and observable, not merely theoretical. Consciousness is not merely
the recognition of an independently existing environment. This
observation suggests that the self-contained perceptual network
diagrammed above, is not truly self-contained. On the one hand, it
tends to move beyond mere perceptual interaction with the object at
hand into the moral realm of willful interaction therewith. This
tendency is expressed in the standard paticcasamuppdada formula with
the observation that desire (tanhad) is conditioned by vedand.
Beginning with this link, the moral, psychopathological portion of
conditioned arising is set forth. On the other hand, however, on the
320 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

basis of the theory of karma, it is thought that volitional activity of

any kind, by mind (citta), speech (vac), or body (kaya), necessarily
exerts an effect upon the future arising of consciousness. It is
probably in this connection that cetana (will) is said to be the fifth
aspect of nama. This would also explain why samkhara (formation),
implying previous karma, is included in most versions of
paticcasamupp4dda as a condition of vififdna in addition to the mutual
conditioning of vinndna and ndma-riupa.
Intentionally, the term samkhara has been left unexplained in the
foregoing discussion because, as used in Buddhist psychology, it
represents a concept unfamiliar to the Western mind. The difficulty
of translating and explaining the term adequately has been emphasized
repeatedly in modern scholarship. This difficulty arises because
samkhara, as a psychological term, refers to a characteristic of
consciousness rather than to an aspect or a function of consciousness.
This characteristic is the tendency to accumulate or “build up”.
“Building up” or “formation” is close to a literal translation of
samkhara, which is derived from the verb Vkr “to make” and the
prefix sams- “well or completely”. In the short term, this building up
constitutes ideation. In the long term it constitutes memory. Most
importantly, samkhdara is held responsible for the moral fruition of
past actions (karma, Pali: kamma).
In the context of ancient Buddhism, this tendency of consciousness
requires some explanation. After all, the Buddha analyzed
consciousness into several interacting levels or aspects, all of which
are held to manifest their impermanence moment by moment.

This, brethren, that we call thought (citta), that we call mind (manas),
that we call consciousness (viAifdna), that arises as one thing, ceases as
another, whether by night or by day.
S2: 94 (PTS)

In the early sutta literature, there is no overt theory of moments

of consciousness as found in the Adhidhamma and commentarial
literature and made much of in the later logic of the Vijfianavadins.
There is, however, an unmistakable tendency to view change
 THE FUNDAMENTALS OF BUDDHIST PSYCHOLOGY 321

infinitesimally as a rapid succession of arising and ceasing.

Consciousness in particular is said to arise and cease continuously,
if not momentarily.

He fares along contemplating origination-things in the mind, or he fares

along contemplating dissolution-things in the mind, or he fares along
contemplating origination-dissolution-things in the mind.
M1: 60 (PTS)

The perpetual, observable changing of consciousness, in the

Buddhist context, is regarded as repeated arising and cessation. Having
ceased, however, consciousness tends to arise again in a form similar
to what it was previously. This observation requires explanation with
regard to the Buddhist doctrine of impermanence. Moreover, again
with regard to the doctrine of impermanence, the fruition of karma
requires explanation. In the context of the above interpretation of the
fundamental theoretical concepts of early Buddhist psychology,
samkhara provides both the explanations required.
Other than its psychological occurrence as the fifth aggregate and
as the second link in the twelvefold paticcasamuppadda formula,
samkhara occurs primarily as a moral term in early Buddhist
literature. In the moral sense of the term, the three types of samkhara,
mental (citta or manas), verbal (vaci), and bodily (kaya) correspond
to the three types of kamma or karma. As in the case of samkhara,
the mental aspect of kamma is the most significant.

Monks, I say that will (cetand) is action (kamma). Having willed, one
performs an action by body, speech or mind (manas).
A3: 415

Cetand, it will be remembered, is the fifth aspect of nama as

defined in the early Nikdya literature. In the “Cilavedalla Sutta”,
citta-samkhara is defined as being comprised of vedanda and saffa.”

83. M1: 301.

322 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

In terms of the integrated interpretation offered above this would

mean that the “recycling” of vedand and sanna into vinndna occurs
through the karmic mechanism of samkhdra, in particular citta-
samkhara. The present interpretation suggests too that it is in this
specific sense that sammkhdra as the second link in the twelvefold
enumeration of paticcasamupp4da is to be understood. Thus the effects
of karma, in the Buddhist context are not conceived of as some kind
of punitive blight hovering about and waiting to strike. Instead, karmic
effects are actualized by the psychological tendency of consciousness
to recycle into itself and arise again similar to and on the basis of
what it was in the past.
The foregoing interpretation of samkhdra suggests that the term as
used in early Buddhism denotes not an aspect of consciousness as the
terms vedand and sannd do, but rather a tendency observed in the
reciprocal interaction between consciousness and its objects, namely,
the tendency to “build up” or “construct” on the basis of previous
interactions. This interpretation has the particular virtue of clarifying
to a great extent the conceptual basis underlying the use of the term
samkhara in apparently widely varying contexts in early Buddhist
literature. There are essentially three such contexts: 1) samkhdra as a
psychological term, as in paticcasamuppdda or the five aggregates;
2) samkhara denoting all things made or constructed of parts, as in
the common phrase “all samkharas are impermanent”.” and 3)
samkhara as karma of three kinds, by mind, speech or body.
According to the present interpretation, the first two contexts amount
to the same thing, since the constructed objects (rapa) of the world
are what they are only by virtue of how they appear in the conceptual
construction (nama) of consciousness. In other words, the appearance
of an orderly, “constructed” world depends upon the tendency of
consciousness to recycle into itself and arise again on the basis of
what it was in the past.
This tendency, it was argued above, also accounts for the basic
mechanism of karma, the third context of the term samkhara.
Fundamentally karma is volition (cetand), and volition is an aspect

84. Dhp. #277-78.

 THE FUNDAMENTALS OF BUDDHIST PSYCHOLOGY 323

of the conceptual content (nama) of consciousness. Thus,

consciousness, having arisen and lapsed, arises again conditioned by
samkhara, its previous, overall conceptual construction. Having arisen,
its present conceptual construction will tend to reappear in its next
arising. Samkhara is, then, not an operative aspect of consciousness,
but merely the recurrent configuration of the operative aspects, both
“objective” and “subjective” of consciousness. Karmicly speaking,
some aspects of this recurrent configuration may be insignificant.
They may involve nothing more than the perceptual continuity in the
repetitive, interdependent arising of vififidna and ndma-ripa, for
example, the conceptual content “pleasant, red, round, apple”. On the
other hand, more firmly established aspects of the recurrent
configuration of ~- consciousness may account for moral and
psychopathological phenomena such as greed, hatred and delusion
(lobha-dosa-moha), the roots of moral un-skill (akusala-miulani). The
Buddhist theory of moral retribution and psychopathology is a broad
and complex subject. It is not claimed that the foregoing observations
account in full for the mechanism of karma. These observations are,
however, basic to a correct understanding of the Buddhist doctrine of
karma and its retributive effects. In the absence of a divine judge,
these effects must occur entirely within the realm of a given stream
of consciousness in mutually dependent interaction with its objects.
Many passages in early Buddhist literature make use of a popularly
accessible, and somewhat quaint concept of the effects of karma as
the universal counterpart of human justice. The essential Buddhist
theory of karma, however, is based upon rational observation of the
nature of human consciousness.
The fundamentals of Buddhist moral theory and psychopathology
are Outlined in the second part of the paticcasamuppdadda formula,
beginning with “feeling (vedand) conditions desire (tanha)”. Though
this subject will not be dealt with here in detail, a few general
remarks, for the sake of completeness, will serve to integrate the
present psychological interpretation with the remaining members of the
chain. It will be noted that vedanda acts as a condition of both sanna
and vifidna in the self-contained cycle of consciousness described
above. In the formula of paticcasamuppdda it is also said to be the
condition of tanhd, desire, the second noble truth, the cause of
324 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

suffering. It is no doubt due to this fundamental position of desire in

the Buddhist system of thought that a quaint and entirely variant
version of conditioned arising, based on tanhd, is enumerated in the
“Mahanidana Sutta”. This variant causal sequence runs as follows:

Thus, Ananda, feeling (vedand) conditions desire (tanha); desire

conditions pursuit; pursuit conditions acquisition; acquisition conditions
lust and greed; lust and greed condition attachment; attachment
conditions possession; possession conditions avarice; avarice conditions
jealousy, and jealousy is the basis of many evil, unskilled things (such
as) resorting to blows and weapons, strife, disputation, quarrelling,
confrontation, slander and lies.
D2: 58-59

This situation has the effect of emphasizing the distinction between

the first part of paticcasamuppdada as a psychological theory and the
second part, beginning with tanhad, as a moral teaching. It is
undeniable that the most fundamental conditioned arising in Buddhism
is the arising of suffering (dukkha) because of desire (tanha). In the
standard paticcasamuppdda formula, however, several causal links are
interposed between tanhd and the arising of dukkha, indicated by the
stock phrase “thus is the arising of this entire mass of suffering”.
These are: grasping (upddana) conditioned by desire (tanhd), existence
(bhava) conditioned by grasping, birth (jati) conditioned by existence,
and decay and death (jaradmarana) conditioned by birth. The composite
nature of this list of interposed links is fairly obvious. Birth, decay
and death are the most pervasive and obvious aspect of suffering. Not
only biological birth, decay and death, however, is meant, but also the
inherent necessity in all arisen things to pass away. “Decay and death”
includes both impermanence (aniccata) and its subjective counterpart
soullessness (anattata). These last two links and the stock ending of
the paticcasamuppdda formula are thus an elaboration upon the
fundamental insight of Buddhism, the first noble truth.
The conditioning of birth by existence (bhava), however, is
somewhat artificial. In the Buddhist context, birth and death, continual
arising and ceasing, in themselves constitute existence. Existence may
in no sense be construed as an independent, abstract ground of being
 THE FUNDAMENTALS OF BUDDHIST PSYCHOLOGY 325

within which, on the basis of which or in relation to which arising

and ceasing occur. It makes little difference if we substitute for
“existence” the word “becoming” as a translation. The fact remains
that bhava is the continual process of arising and ceasing, birth and
death. The relationship of bhava to tanhd, by contrast, is obvious, in
that tanha is most commonly said to be of three kinds: sensual desire
(kama-tanha), desire for existence (bhava-tanha) and desire for non-
existence (vibhava-tanha). The interposition of grasping (updddna)
between these two is also reasonably clear, partly because grasping is
the actualization of desire. Upddana is also an important term in early
Buddhism by virtue of its frequent association with the five
aggregates. These are often called updddna-khanda “aggregates
involving grasping”, aggregates which, in other words, grasp and are
grasped at.

These five grasping-aggregates are themselves grasping. There is no

grasping apart from the five grasping-aggregates. Whatever is lust and
greed in (relation to) the five grasping aggregates, friend Visakha, that
as such is grasping.
M1: 299-300

The present interpretation urges that the five aggregates are not to
be construed as merely an analysis of the individual as a mind based
on a body. This simple dichotomy is indicated by the terms citta, or
vifindna, and kaya. The five aggregates, instead, are an analysis of the
experience which arises when all of the interdependent conditions
upon which the occurrence of consciousness depends are fulfilled.
These components of experience, the five aggregates, though entirely
interdependent and thus essenceless, may mistakenly be construed as
a soul (atta), or as permanent (nicca). Thus, when it is said that one
may misconstrue form (ruépa) as a soul or self, more is meant than
that one might simply think of the body (kaya) as the essence of one’s
existence. Instead, it is implied that one may grasp at any apparently
external material form — for example money, house, clothes — as a
definition of self. Objectively or subjectively, with regard to the
essenceless, interdependent arising of consciousness and its objects,
326 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

there may occur the desire (tanha) “let me or it exist (bhava) or not
exist (vibhava)”. Existence is thereby misconstrued as a permanent
state instead of a rapid succession of arising and ceasing, birth and
death. The object of this desire as well as the desiring subject will be
confined to one or a combination of the five “aggregates of grasping”
(updddna-khanda). According to the nature of the grasping and its
object, consciousness will arise in one of the three bhavas, kama-
bhava, ripa-bhava, or ariipa-bhava. Though these three “realms of
existence” are often construed cosmologically, they are all at least
theoretically accessible to any human being by means of the rapa and
ariipa jhdnas. Existence (bhava) in any realm is of the same essential
nature, characterized by birth (jati), decay, and death (jardmarana), or
infinitesimally, by the continual arising and ceasing of consciousness
and its objects, whether gross or sublime.
This examination of the close-knit interrelationship among early
Buddhist technical terms could and should be greatly expanded. For
the purposes of the present study, however, it is sufficient to note
that, contrary to what many scholars have said, the two fundamental
theoretical complexes of Buddhist psychology, paticcasamuppdda and
the five aggregates, are intended as an analysis of both the individual
and the world. They are not merely an explanation of the functioning
of the individual within a real, external, independent universe, as
assumed by Jain or Ajivika doctrines. There may or may not be such
a universe, but early Buddhism does not concern itself with such
ontological speculations. Early Buddhism is not, as it is often
characterized, a type of realism, nor is it a pluralistic system in the
sense of posing a speculative enumeration of irreducible interacting
elements (dhamma) of matter and consciousness.** Instead, early
Buddhism incorporates, in a fundamentally rational theoretical system,
the basic insight of the Upanisadic synthesis of Vedic and yogic
thought, namely that the human being is the supreme being and that
all of the mysteries of the universe are generated and resolved within
the human mind.

85. See Nyanaponika, Abhidhamma Studies, pp. 39-43.

 THE FUNDAMENTALS OF BUDDHIST PSYCHOLOGY PI

In orthodox Hinduism, the Upanisadic insight into the inseparability

of human consciousness and the universe was cast in a mold based on
the evocative concepts of an ancient mythological cosmogony. Starting
with this same, essentially humanistic insight, the historical Buddha,
in a remarkably far-sighted way, dispensed with the speculative,
mythological elements of religion during his age. He sought to focus
the ultimately transforming religious emotion upon the human
shortcoming of ignorance (avijja). As the ultimate term in the formula
of conditioned arising avijja is analogous to the Upanisadic dtman-
brahman in the role of source and mainstay of this fundamentally
unsatisfactory universe. Avijja unlike dGtman-brahman, is not a
cosmological or metaphysical principle as such. It is not the material
and motive source of the universe which was sought in the Upanisads.
Nevertheless, .according to the paticcasamuppdda formula, the
cessation of ignorance entails the cessation of each of the other links
in the formula. This cessation, as demonstrated above, has profound
cosmological implications, in that the cessation of nadma-ripa implies,
in the Pali suttas as in the Upanisads, the cessation of the manifold
universe of appearances. The early Buddhist suttas do not concern
themselves with the metaphysical speculations implicit in such a
concept. In a later age, however, Buddhism in India found itself in a
position of challenging and being challenged by the ponderous
machinery of systematic Hindu philosophy. At this time it was this
very concept — the interdependence of perceiver, perception and
perceived — which formed the basis of both Madhyamaka and
Vijfianavada Buddhist philosophy.
In the Abhidhamma and commentarial traditions of Theravada
Buddhism, this concept was largely ignored in favor of a theory of
“reals” (dhamma) which actually has little or no basis in the Pali
suttas. If, as is often the case, the Theravadin Abhidhamma and
commentarial traditions are taken as the definitive basis for
interpretation of the Pali suttas, then either the so-called second and
third turnings of the wheel of Dharma appear to be Buddhist heresies.
Otherwise, depending on one’s bias, the Pali suttas appear to be an
intentionally corrupted edition of the teachings of the Buddha.
The present work attempts to resolve a significant part of this
problem by interpreting early Buddhist psychology on the basis of
328 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

antecedent and contemporary rather than subsequent psychological

speculations. Fundamental, deep-level similarities exist between the
basic insights of Upanisadic and early Buddhist psychological
speculations. Most notably, these are a layered model of consciousness
and a theory of interdependence between the subject and the objects
of consciousness.
The latter consideration is of particular significance in any attempt
to formulate a coherent historical development within Buddhism. The
mutual interdependence of consciousness and its objects precludes
valid knowledge of any independent reality, whether objective or
subjective. This point is the basis of Madhyamika dialectic, according
to which there can be no self-existent knower, no self-existent thing
known, and no self existent act of knowing. Section three of
Nagarjuna’s Mddhyamika-karika is dedicated to establishing this
proposition.

1. Vision, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching and thought are the

six sense faculties. The area of their concern is that which is seen
{heard, smelled] and so forth. ...
4. When no vision occurs, nothing whatsoever is being seen.
How, then, is it possible to say: Vision sees?
5. Therefore vision does not see, and “no-vision” does not see.
Nevertheless, it is explained that also the “seer” is to be known only
by his vision.
6. There is no “seer” with vision or without vision; Therefore, if
there is no “seer” how can there be vision and the object seen? ...
9. [Likewise] hearing, smelling, tasting, touching and thought are
explained as vision. Indeed, one should not apprehend the “hearer”,
“what is heard”, etc., [as self-existing entities].

The interdependence of consciousness and its objects is also crucial

in the Vijfianavada school of Buddhism. As classically formulated by
Dharmakirti, Vijfianavada metaphysics does not depend upon
refutation of objective reality. It depends rather upon the inability of
any opponent to establish such a reality, and upon Dharmakirti’s
ability to proceed without reference to any objective reality. In

86. Tsl. by F.J. Streng, Emptiness, Abingdon, New York, 1967, pp. 186-87.
 THE FUNDAMENTALS OF BUDDHIST PSYCHOLOGY 329

highlighting the necessary subjective component in any experience of

an object, the Pali Nikdyas pave the way for discarding the objective
referent of consciousness altogether.
Though archaic in terminology and less than rigorous in empirical
basis and deduction, the Nikdya treatment of consciousness and its
objects is in some ways more contemporary in outlook than either the
Madhyamika or Vijfianavada systems which superseded it in India.
Rather than advancing an anti-empirical metaphysical theory as such,
the Pali suttas are merely critical of common sense epistemology.
They do not affirm or deny an independent, objective reality. They
merely illustrate that the way in which reality is perceived is
determined largely by subjective factors. This implicit critique of the
possibility of objective knowledge, simultaneously recognizing the
potency of objective reality, is in harmony with much contemporary
philosophy. This same critique, couched as it is in psychological
terms, also anticipates the fundamental tenet of modern psychotherapy:
that the way in which reality is perceived is determined largely by
subjective factors, and therefore can be altered.
The integrated interpretation of early Buddhist psychology offered
above is somewhat at odds with the traditional Theravada
interpretation. Doubtlessly this will be viewed by some as a
disadvantage. To be sure, the present interpretation goes somewhat
beyond what is explicitly stated in the ancient suttas themselves. It
does not, however, go as far beyond the original Pali suttas as the
Abhidhamma and commentarial literature go. The present
interpretation, moreover, offers the following significant advantages.
1) It renders the psychological content of the Pali suttas more
coherent. 2) It locates this content within the context of antecedent
and contemporary psychological speculation in India. 3) It makes
possible a more satisfactory explanation of the development of
Buddhism in India. 4) Finally, the present interpretation enhances the
contemporary relevance of the original teachings of the founder of one
of the world’s great religious traditions.
 Conclusion

This inquiry into the origins and development of theoretical

psychology in ancient India has covered a time-span of over a
millennium. Because of scarcity of directly relevant material during
the Vedic age, because of the difficulty of accurately dating
Upanisadic passages, and because of the absence of material
representing pre-Buddhist yogic traditions, many of the conclusions
reached have been tentative. Many of these conclusions are at variance
with traditional accounts of the origins, development and interrelations
between Hinduism and Buddhism. These traditional accounts, of
course, are often at variance with one another and are often advanced
with little or no textual or historical evidence. Most of the conclusions
herein fit in fairly well with contemporary scholarly accounts of the
development of religion and philosophy in ancient India, though there
is still plenty of room for controversy.
At any rate, the present study has been an attempt to research and
elucidate a crucial facet of ancient Indian thought without uncritical
recourse to any account of its development, whether ancient or
modern. This study has relied exclusively on texts verifiably
representing the several periods of the era in question. It has insisted
that these texts speak for themselves. Some speculation has been
necessary in order to fill in the gaps in the account that emerges from
analysis of the ancient texts themselves.
Whether or not the speculative content of this study will stand up
to critical scrutiny remains to be seen. The evidence considered
herein, however, is virtually exhaustive of the relevant textual material
of the age in question. The footnotes, though tedious, should be
particularly useful for further research, as they contain almost every
psychologically relevant reference in the Rg Veda and the thirteen
principal Upanisads. Because of the abundance and relative
consistency of the Buddhist material, I have not attempted to note all
relevant passages individually. I believe, however, that representatives
 CONCLUSION 331

of all of the various types of passages — and thereby any internal

inconsistencies in the Pali suttas themselves — have been noted.
Much work remains to be done in this and related areas of ancient
Indian thought. At present, there are few who are in a position to
pursue the research needed. For those fortunate enough to be in such
a position, the best of luck.
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 Abbreviations
and Original Texts Cited

Anguttara Nikaya, followed by vol. no., colon, and page no.

in) PTS; Pali-ed:

A.B. Aitareya Brahmana, R.A. Sastri, ed., University of Travancore,

Trivandrum, 1942. Translated by A.B. Keith, Rigveda
Brahmanas, Harvard Univ. Press, Cambridge, 1920.

A.U. Aitareya Upanisad, text and translation in (R).

AN. Atharva Veda, translated by W.D. Whitney, Harvard Univ.

Press, Cambridge, 1905.

B.S. Brahma Sutra, attributed to Badrayana, with a commentary by

Sankara, Translated by Gambhirananda. Advaita Ashrama,
Calcutta, 1972.

Brhaddranyaka Upanisad, text and translation in (R).

Cu: Chandogya Upanisad, text and translation in (R).

Digha Nikaya, followed by vol. no., colon, and page no. in

PTS Pali ed., or by # and the no. of the sutta.

Dhammapada, followed by verse no. Text and translation in

Narada, The Dhammapada, Maha Bodhi Society, Calcutta,
1970.

ERE Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics, James Hastings, ed.,

Scribner’s, New York, 1913-22.
342 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

(G) Griffith, The Hymns of the Rg Veda, revised ed., Motilal

Banarsidass, Delhi, 1973, (indicates his translation).

(H) Hume, R.E., The Thirteen Principal Upanishads, 2nd ed.,

Oxford Univ. Press, London, 1977 (indicates his translation).

J.UB. Jaiminiya Upanisad Brahmana.

K.U. Katha Upanisad, text and translation in (R).

Kausitaki Brahmana, translated by Keith, Rigveda Brahmanas,

Harvard Univ. Press, Cambridge, 1920.

Kausitaki Upanisad, text and translation in (R).

Majjhima Nikaya, followed by vol. no., colon, and page no.

in PTS Pali ed., or by # and the no. of the sutta.

Muir, Original Sanskrit Texts, Oriental Press, Amsterdam,

1967, (indicates his translation).

Mandikya Upanisad, text and translation in (R).

Mimamsddar§ana, attributed to Jaimini, with commentary by

Sabara. Translated by G. Jha, Sadbara Bhasya, Oriental
Institute, Baroda, 1933.

Maitri Upanisad, text and translation in (R).

. Mundaka Upanisad, text and translation in (R).

Nirukta, attributed to Yaska, Anandasrama, 2 vols., 1921 &

1926.

Nyaya Bindu, by Dharmakirti, Chowkamba Sanskrit Series,

Varanasi, 1954. Translated by Stcherbatsky, Buddhist Logic,
vol. 2, Dover, New York, 1962.
 ABBREVIATIONS 343

PTS Pali Text Society, (following a quoted passage, in parentheses,

indicates PTS translation).

PU: Pragna Upanisad, text and translation in (R).

(R) Radhakrishnan, The Principal Upanisads, Unwin, London,

1953, (indicates his translation).

Rg Rg Veda, with Sayana’s commentary, Vaidika SartnSodhana

Mandala, Poona. With the commentaries of Skandasvamin,
Udgitha, Venkata and Mudgala, Vishvesvaranand Vedic
Research Institute, Hoshiarpur.

Samyutta Nikaya, followed by vol. no., colon, and page no.

of PTS Pali ed.

S.B. Satapatha Brahmana, Chowkhamba ed. by A. Weber, 1964.

Translated by J. Eggeling in SBE.

SBB Sacred Books of the Buddhists, F. Max Miller, ed., (following

a quoted passage, in parentheses, indicates SBB translation).

SBE Sacred Books of the East, F. Max Miiller, ed., (following a

quoted passage, in parentheses, indicates SBE translation).

S.K. Samkhya-karikd, attributed to ISvarakrsna. Translated by T.G.

Mainkar and G.J. Larson, Oriental Book Agency, Poona, 1972.

Sn. Sutta-nipata, followed by verse no. in PTS Pali ed. Translated

by Fausbéll in SBE, vol. 10.

S.U. Svetasvatara Upanisad, text and translation in (R).

T.B. Taittiriya Brahmana.

344 THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN PSYCHOLOGY

Taittiriya Samhita. Translated by A.B. Keith, The Veda of

the Black Yajus School, Harvard Univ. Press, Cambridge,
1914,

Taittiriya Upanisad, text and translation in (R).

Udana, followed by page no. in PTS Pali ed.

Vibhanga, followed by page no. in PTS Pali ed.

Visuddhimagga, followed by chapter and section of PTS Pali

ed. Translated by Nanamoli, The Path of Purification, Buddhist
Publication Society, Kandy, 1975.
 GLOSSARIAL INDEX

Abhidhamma 129, 240, 242, 244, 310, 326, 327, 329

Aditi 11, 15, 20, 29, 34, 66, 176, 197, 198, 217, 268
afterlife (see rebirth, ancestors, heaven, hell, paradise) 8, 25-28, 30,
35, 38, 42, 44-46, 51, 56, 63, 64, 68, 83, 90, 94, 95, 144, 145,
154-157, 159, 162, 164, 172, 183, 283, 286
—heavenly in Vedas 38-56
—hereditary in Vedas 27, 31-38, 66-69, 145, 158
aggregates (five in Buddhism) 303, 308-310, 321, 292, 294, 295,
302-304, 308-310; 312.313, 316, 322, 325, 326
Agni (god of fire) 11-14, 29, 31, 33, 41-43, 46, 49-51, 55, 59, 64, 76,
T1198 65, 61,94, 1015102, 105, 106, 110; 117, 125, 127, 128,
134, 137, 138, 159, 202, 206
aham-kara (“I-maker”, ego) 231, 253, 256, 257, 280
Aitareya Upanisad 35, 44-46, 156-57, 166, 190, 213, 215, 217, 224,
239-241, 246, 248, 249
Ajivikas 2, 3, 6, 8, 16, 149, 152-53, 166, 182-185, 272, 279, 283, 285,
289-90, 298, 302, 326
Van (to breathe) 91
ananda (bliss, g.v.) 263-266, 270, 271, 274, 286, 293
anatman (non-soul) 9, 182-84, 273-76, 281-98
anatta (Skt. anatman, q.v.)
ancestors (pitr, q.v.) 26, 29, 33-35, 37, 38, 43, 48, 53, 55, 68, 83, 90,
156, 158-160, 162, 263, 286
annihilationism (uccheda-vada) 146, 285, 286
antar-4kasa (subjective, “internal space”, see heart) 238-39, 243
Aranyakas 4, 5
asahkhata (uncompounded element, see nirvana) 272, 273
Asoka 5
asu (vitality, q.v.) 41, 55, 80, 82-84, 86, 87, 89, 95, 145, 240
asura (Titan) 11, 12, 37, 83, 97, 204
Asya-vamiya Hymn 13-16, 50, 60-62
Atharva Veda 3, S, 46, 148
346 INDEX

atman (soul, q.v.) 8-9, 18, 23, 25, 31, 39, 43, 49, 59, 64, 65, 78-81,
$4, 91-96, 110) 116,145,155, 157,:1655 170,173; -177,.180,.1827.186;
187, 190-192, 196, 197, 200, 201, 204-206, 210, 224, 230, 234, 238,
241, 245, 249, 250, 252,256, 258, 259, 261, 265-267,.269.) 271272;
274, 277,279, 286, 289; 290,302,327
atta (soul, Skt. atman) 286, 290, 291, 325
avidya (ignorance) 274
ayu (life span) 36, 42, 49, 54, 59, 80-82, 84-91, 94, 95, 145, 206, 268,
299-301
bindu (semen, q.v.) 61, 242
bliss (ananda, q.v.) 62, 119, 219, 225, 235, 249, 250, 263-266, 269-271,
274, 287, 293
Brahma 11, 157, 167-169, 171, 237, 263, 287
Brahmajala Sutta 285, 286, 290, 291
Brahman (universal principal, see atman) 9, 14, 17, 18, 23, 30, 31, 72,
78, 91, 110, 156, 158, 163, 173, 175, 180, 187, 188, 196, 198, 202,
210, 218, 232, 236, 239, 245, 246, 249, 250, 264, 266-271, 274, 276,
327
Brahmanas 4, 5, 35, 43, 48, 53-54, 56 61, 121-22, 138, 139, 148, 156,
158, 176, 190, 204, 283
breath (prana) 16, 39, 41, 50, 59, 79, 80, 82, 87, 91-94, 145, 147, 155,
161, 177, 186-193, 196-214, 216-218, 220-225, 228, 230, 233, 234,
236, 237, 240-242, 245, 249, 250, 252, 257, 267-269, 271, 295, 299,
302
Brhadaranyaka Upanisad 11, 17, 23, 30, 32, 33, 41, 42, 47, 48, 56,
12, 73, 78,.95, 110, 11.1, 155,156, 1582168,.170-177 2179 1 e6-1s9)
191-196, 198, 199, 202), 204, 205, 209-216, 221, (222. 923.074,
226-228, 230, 234-35, 237-246, 248-251, 260-264, 268, 276, 277,
279-281, 287, 294, 295, 302, 305
Buddha 4, 5, 22, 182-184, 266, 271-275, 281, 282, 283, 285-294, 297,
298, 300, 302, 303, 305-307, 314, 320, 327
buddhi (awareness, intellect) 189, 214, 231, 233, 247, 253, 254,
256-260, 269, 270, 278, 280
buddhi-indriya (faculties of perception, see indriya) 189, 214
 INDEX 347

Buddhism 1-9, 22, 23, 27, 57, 59, 61-63, 74, 78- 79, 96, 99, 100-101,
107, 111, 115, 118, 143, 146, 149, 154, 165-66, 168, 178, 182-84,
223, 232, 234-236, 240, 242-44, 248, 251, 253, 271-275, 279, 282-99,
301-306, 310, 315-330
cakras 242
Carvakas (materialists) 146, 183
catus-koti (tetralemma) 266
cetana (volition) 102, 255, 296, 304, 317, 320-322
‘cetas (thought, see citta) 99, 103, 251
Chandogya Upanisad 51, 78, 89, 90, 95, 111, 159, 161, 162, 164,
166-168, 172, 173, 176, 177, 180, 186-188, 190, 194, 198-202, 204,
205, 209, 210, 212-216, 218, 219, 224, 226, 228, 234, 236-239, 241,
243, 244, 248, 249, 252, 256, 260-263, 276. 281, 294, 305
chariot 47, 48, 104, 106, 111, 112, 114, 125, 227, 257-259, 269,
276-278, 294
— as symbol 47-48, 104, 106, 111-14, 125
— simile of consciousness 227, 257-59, 269, 276-78, 294
— wheel as symbol 235
Vcit (to think, see citta) 80, 97-108, 115, 123, 131, 132, 140-142, 251,
253,°254
citta (thought, mind, q.v.) 96, 98, 99, 101-108, 118, 119, 132, 141, 233,
242, 251-254, 257,-291, 296, 297; 302, 304, 313, 320-322; 325
conditioned arising (see paticcasamuppada)
creation
— as a dream or projection 170-80, 226-38
— reversal of 173-180, 234-38
— in Rg Veda 9-24
— in Upanisads 169-84, 231-38
Culavedalla Sutta 301, 321
death 16, 17, 25-27, 32-38, 40, 43, 45, 46, 49, 50, 53-57, 58, 59, 61,
64, 66-68, 79-84, 86, 87, 145, 150, 153, 155-159, 162, 163, 165, 168,
169, 171, 172, 192, 197, 200-202, 205, 206, 217, 223, 234, 237, 238,
241, 244, 251, 261, 273, 286, 290, 299, 300, 302, 324-326
deep sleep (see dream) 170-172, 237, 249, 251, 262, 264, 265, 301
deva-loka (world of the gods, see heaven) 159, 167
deva-yana (path of the gods, i.e. to heaven) 48, 159, 167
Dharmakirti 328
348 INDEX

Vdhi (to have a vision) 99-100, 102, 107, 112, 114, 129, 131-32
dhi (a vision) 80, 98-100, 102, 106-108, 112-114, 118, 120, 123, 124,
129-135, 138, 139, 141, 142, 225, 231, 246
dhiti (see dhi) 129, 130, 134, 137, 138
digestion and vitality 161, 163, 198, 199, 201, 203, 209, 213, 215,
242, 301
Dirghatamas 13-16, 50, 60-62
dream (see deep sleep) 116, 119, 170, 172, 193, 202, 210, 226, 227,
234.237, 249, 264,265
duhkha (suffering, see dukkha) 22, 220, 221, 224, 248
dukkha (Skt. duhkha) 273, 302, 313, 324
Eliade, Mircea 58, 148
Family Books (of Rg Veda) 6, 9, 13, 14
fire
— digestive 198-203
— five fires 159-63
— universal 197-98
five aggregates (see aggregates) 292, 294, 295, 302, 304, 309, 310,
3137431673227 325,326
five fires (see fire) 159-63
funeral 26, 35, 38, 39, 41, 47, 83, 167
— hymns in Rg Veda 39-43, 47, 49
gandharva 116, 117, 171, 263
Gonda 101, 108, 113, 123, 125, 127-131, 133-139, 141, 231
Griffith, Ralph Th. 19, 21, 34, 39-44, 46, 49-52, 55, 56, 60, 65, 67,
68, 70, 83, 87, 88, 92, 101, 105, 116, 121, 126
hadaya vatthu (‘heart basis” in Abhidhamma) 242
heart 22, 84, 88, 96, 97, 103, 104, 107-109, 112, 115, 119-129, 132,
140-142, 170, 173, 180, 210, 217, 231, 233, 237-243, 250, 260, 266,
267, 295, 297
— space within (see antar-dkasa) 238-39, 243
heaven (see paradise, pitr-loka, deva-loka) 10-12, 16, 19, 25, 27, 32-45,
47, 48, 53, 54, 58-60, 64, 66, 67, 77, 80, 82-84, 112, 113, 116, 118,
122, 127, 136, 138, 147, 155-158, 160, 165, 167-169, 192, 206, 238,
263; 267, 237
Hiranyagarbha 16
 INDEX 349

hrd (heart, q.v.) 80, 84, 88, 96-98, 104, 107-109, 112, 114, 115, 117,
119, 120, 121-129, 132, 139-142, 217, 231, 237-239, 242, 260
hrdaya (heart, q.v.) 237, 240
immortality 19, 32, 35-37, 49, 53, 54, 58, 77, 85, 125, 144, 147, 148,
157, 168, 206, 219
Indray 1054127513, 18, 30,31) 44; 54, 60) 71)a72,. 76, 7779 852288;
105, 112;- 123; 127-129,°135,136, 13891925 262
indriya (faculties, see buddhi-, karma- and jfidna-indriya) 189, 214-216,
220, 230, 248, 257, 258
Isa Upanisad 155, 167, 205, 276
Jainism 2, 3, 6, 8, 21, 149-53, 162, 166-69, 182-85, 188, 272, 279,
283, 285, 289-92, 298, 326
jhana (meditative absorption) 146, 286, 293, 299, 312
jiva (soul, life) 36, 80-85, 145, 200, 201, 277, 300
jivatman (vital, individual soul, see paramatman) 15, 277, 180, 289
Vjia (to be conscious, to know) 99-100, 108, 247-51
jhana (knowledge, consciousness, perception, see Vjfia) 189, 214, 248,
259
jnhana-indriya (faculties of perception, see indriya) 189, 214, 248
Katha Upanisad 46, 47,72, 114, 156, 167, 168, 181, 186, 188, 205,
2142716, 227, 228, 238, 2395241, 243; 247-248, 249. 255, 257-60,
277-279, 281, 294
kamma (volitional action, Skt. karma) 320, 321
karma (action) 15, 151, 155, 157, 165, 166, 187-189, 196, 214, 215,
219, 220, 222, 228, 244, 276, 281, 288, 290, 292, 300, 320-323
karma-indriya 189, 215
Kausitaki Upanisad 4, 87, 157-159, 167-169, 172, 178, 187, 191,
204, 205, 211, 216, 220, 221, 224-226, 230, 234-37, 239, 241, 243,
249, 252, 276, 277, 297, 4, 157, 168, 178, 220, 234-237, 249
kaya (body, see Sarira) 111, 288, 291, 299, 301, 304, 309, 311, 318,
3203215325
Kena Upanisad 167, 168, 188
KeSin (“long-haired” ascetic in Rg Veda) 69, 74, 146, 148
kratu (will) 80, 84, 88, 90, 96-98, 107, 108, 114, 115, 124, 126, 132,
134, 135-142, 188, 231, 240, 244, 245, 296
ksetrajna (“field-knower”, i.e. soul) 181, 187, 246, 255, 256
350 INDEX

linga-Sarira (subtle, transmigrating body, see subtle body) 277, 279,

280, 289, 291, 180
Lokayata (materialist) 183
Madhupindika Sutta 307, 314
Madhva 281
Madhyamika 327, 328, 329
magic, mechanism in Rg Veda 65-67, 72-73
Maha Hatthipadopama Sutta 308-310
Mahakaccana 314
Mahanidana Sutta 312
Mahaparinibbana Sutta 300
Maha Vedalla Sutta 301
Mahayana Buddhism 4, 5
Maitri Upanishad 4, 20, 186-188, 210, 213, 214, 216, 224, 227, 228,
230-33, 236-38, 241, 242, 245-250, 252-257, 259, 260, 264-267,
275-279, 281, 288, 291, 307
Vman (to. thinky’97-100;9107;-108;, 112,:115,.120; 1235124
manas (mind, q.v.) 41, 60, 64, 79, 80, 82, 84, 88, 89, 96-100, 104,
106-120,. 1227 123,.4124,6126, 11270129, )131,8132 e139-14 258151,
175=177,-186; 188, 191, 2045207, .209-213.5216; 21722202 222"225,
227, 230, 231, 233, 234, 236, 238-241, 243-247, 249-254, 256-261,
264, 269, 278, 280, 284, 289, 291, 294-296, 302, 307, 308, 312, 316,
SMI7/, SHI, 2X0), 23721
— creative in Rg Veda 110-112
— swiftness 117-18
manasikara (attention) 304, 317
Mandukya Upanishad 172, 187, 188, 202, 228, 248-250, 264, 265,
280
mano-maya-kaya (miraculous “mind-made-body”) 211, 288
maya (illusion) 53, 72, 97
Mimamsa 195
 INDEX 351

mind (see manas, citta) 18, 21-23, 34, 41, 59, 61-63, 79, 82, 84, 88-90,
96, 97, 99, 103, 104, 106, 107, 108-124, 128-133, 135, 139-141, 151,
155, 167, 175-178, 186, 188, 191-194, 196, 197, 199-205, 207-213,
21D,.21), 219, 220,221; 223; 225-228, 230; 232-234, 237,239, 240,
245-247, 250, 258-260, 264, 269, 271, 278, 280, 281, 283, 285-288,
291, 297, 298, 302, 304, 307, 317, 320-322, 325, 326
Mitra 12, 13, 28, 44, 71, 101
moksa (spiritual release) 8, 25, 31, 48, 56
-monism 8, 9, 13, 16, 17, 21, 23, 24, 25, 30, 95, 144, 172, 173, 179,
186, 188, 197, 207, 208, 257, 274, 276, 278, 280, 281, 284, 285, 287,
290, 297
Muir, John 19, 26, 39-42, 44, 49, 55, 83
Miller, Max 10, 83
Mundaka Upanisad 78, 158, 164, 165, 167, 179, 186-188, 202, 214,
237-241, 248, 249, 252, 276, 277, 306
Naciketas 46, 156
Nagarjuna 328
nama (name, see nama-ripa) 61, 73-79, 174-176, 179, 187, 192-194,
196, 212, 220, 222, 303-306, 310-312, 316-318, 320-323, 327
nama-rupa (name-and-form, see nama) 174-176, 179, 192, 61, 74, 78,
79, 303-306, 310-312, 316, 318, 320, 323, 327
name-and-form (see nama-ripa)
Nasadiya Sukta 18, 21, 24, 109, 110, 124, 207, 232
nibbana (Skt. nirvana, q.v.) 287, 293, 302
nirvana 8, 9, 168, 182, 183, 271-275, 285, 287, 303
Pali Suttas 2, 5, 248, 282-331
paradise (see heaven, deva-loka, pitr-loka) 26, 56
paramatman (supreme soul, see jivaman) 15, 180, 277, 289
Vpas (to see) 97, 115, 116
paticcasamuppada (conditioned arising) 184, 275, 292, 295, 304, 305,
307, 310, 311, 313-316, 318-324, 326, 327
phassa (sensual contact) 304, 305, 307, 308, 311, 312, 314-318
— adhivacana (verbal/conceptual) 311-313, 315-317
— patigha (sensual) 311, 312, 315, 316
pitr (ancestors) 26, 34, 35, 37, 68, 83, 159, 160, 197, 244
pitr-loka (world of the ancestors, i.e. paradise) 159, 160, 244
pitr-yana (path of theancestors, i.e. rebirth) 48, 159
352 INDEX

prajiia (wisdom, knowledge, consciousness) 188, 221, 20523452355

241, 248-251, 256, 265, 277, 301
prajna-atman (intelligent soul, cp. jivatman, paramatman) 204, 234,
241, 249, 250, 277
prakrti (matter, nature) 181, 199, 254-257, 259, 279, 280
prana (vital force, breath, q.v.) 41, 47, 80-82, 87, 91-93, 96, 161, 170,
173, 175, 177,. 186-189, 191, 203-206; 209; 210) 213.6214) 21633207,
219, 220; 221,222, 234-236, 240/241; 245; 24925082527 25050267,
268, 280, 295, 299, 302
— digestive 198, 201-203
— prana-samvada (dispute among the breath faculties) 204-205,
230
— superiority to mind 191-207,
Prasna Upanisad 227, 228, 78, 159, 167, 172, 181, 186, 187, 198,
2045205, 211,°214) 21552277228) 2385241, 249250 725Ge2 sia
279
punar-mrtyu (re-death, see rebirth) 156, 158, 163, 36
Purusa (deity) 18-24, 29, 34, 42, 176, 242
purusa (person, soul, q.v.) 41, 42, 58, 78, 79, 111, 145, 155, 159, 161,
170, 180-182, 186, 187, 238-240, 245, 246, 248, 250, 255, 256, 258,
259, 261, 265, 267, 276, 289, 290, 295, 302
Purusa Sukta 18-21, 58, 79
Radhakrishnan, Sarvapali 4, 28, 50, 52, 201, 234, 237, 239, 240,
259, 268, 279, 280
Ramanuja 281
tebirth 2, 7, 8, 9, 25, 27, 28, 30-34, 36-38, 44-46, 48-53, 56, 57, 94,
144-71, 179, 180-185, 188, 205, 236, 237, 241, 244, 254, 260, 276-
92, 297, 301-305
— absense in Rg Veda 28-57
— Ajivika theory 152-53
— archaic Jain theory 150-51, 188
— Buddhist denail 273-76, 281-98
— classic Upanisadic theory 271-81
— cyclical 159-64, 167
— development in Upanisads 154-66
— linear 164-66
re-death (punar-mrtyu, q.v.) 156, 53-56
 INDEX 353

rta_ (cosmic order) 104, 105, 123

rupa (form, see nama-ripa) 38, 61, 70-75, 78, 79, 116, 141, 174-179,
186, 187, 192, 193, 196, 210, 212, 220, 240, 295, 303-312, 314-318,
32053225 323325-327
Salayatana (six sense spheres) 311, 318
Sama Veda 195
Samannaphala Sutta 285
Samjha (perception) 231, 248, 249, 260, 261
_Samkalpa (intention) 210, 233, 240, 243-246, 257
samkhara (mental formations) 296, 300, 301, 303, 304, 308, 313,
320-323
Samkhya 180-184, 199, 227, 228, 235, 246, 254-257, 259, 260, 270,
279, 280, 290-292
samsara (realm of rebirth) 15;°22;.46,/48 151,152; 165,:233; 254,,255,
DS 8262712 72,1292
Sankara 30-32, 45, 46, 168, 181, 182, 186, 196, 201, 237, 239, 268,
21042713, 280
sannha (perception, Skt. sarhjfia) 248, 286, 300, 303, 304, 308, 312-317,
319, 321-323
Sarira (body, see kaya) 38, 40, 69, 70, 77, 180, 218, 240, 269, 277,
279, 280, 289, 291
sassatavada (eternalism) 285
Satapatha Brahmana 43, 44, 53, 56, 95, 138, 139, 177, 194, 204, 211,
2125242
sat-cit-ananda (being-consciousness-bliss, definition of brahman) 264
Satipatthana Sutta 313
Sayana 15, 18, 20, 29, 31, 32, 37, 39, 40, 42, 44, 46, 48, 50-52, 56,
64, 69, 83, 86, 89, 90, 92, 121
semen (as vital force) 33, 68, 155, 161, 190, 204, 207, 217, 221, 240,
242
senses (see indriya, salayatana) 95, 147, 151, 171, 172, 190, 211-34,
247-249, 260, 261, 269, 284, 286, 289, 294-296, 305, 307-309, 312,
316; 317;
sensus communis (mind as integrating “common sense”) 222, 225, 226,
231, 243, 245, 259, 289, 294, 296, 317
shamanism 145-48
354 INDEX

Soma (Vedic deity) 41, 46, 66, 73, 74, 76, 85, 93, 102, 126, 133, 160,
161
soma (hallucinogenic drug) 17, 18, 41, 46, 55, 58, 88, 93, 113, 125-127,
138, 145-47, 160, 161
soul (see atman, jiva, purusa) 2, 7, 8, 9, 15, 25, 36, 43, 50, 57, 64, 65,
91, 110, 111, 144-146, 150-154, 156, 157, 159, 162, 164, 166-174,
179, 180, 181-183, 185-191, 193, 196-198, 201, 203-210, 216, 224,
227, 230, 231, 232, 236, 238; 241-247, 249-253, 255-272, 275, 276,
277-281, 283-286, 288-302, 325
— absense in Rg Veda 25-57
— atman, q.v.
— chariot simile 257-59
— denial in Buddhism 182-84, 281, 288-98
— five koSas (layers) 285-86, 265-71
— jiva, q.v.
— jivatman, q.v.
— ksetrajna, q.v.
— linga-Sarira, q.v.
— paramatman, q.v.
— prajna-atman, q.v.
— purusa, q.v.
— relation to wind in Rg Veda 92-95
— subtle body, q.v.
— suksma-Sarira, q.v.
— two soul theory 188-89, 271-81, 289-92
— in Upanisads 166-85, 254-81
subtle body (see siiksma-Sarira, linga-Sarira) 41, 42, 65, 277, 280
suksma-Sarira 277
Sunyata (emptiness) 242
Svarga (heaven, q.v.) 167
Svetaketu 48, 173, 200
Svetasvatara Upanisad 51, 166, 167, 180, 181, 186, 188, 239, 243,
AY). Peep, PS, 21/1)
Taittiriya Upanisad 20, 110, 111, 156, 177, 188, 204, 210, 213-16,
219, 224, 238, 239, 248, 250, 262-71, 275, 280, 285, 294, 301
Vtan (to spin, weave, see tani) 67, 68
tanha (thirst, desire, Skt. trsna) 272, 311, 316, 319, 323-326
 INDEX 350

tani (form, body, see Vtan) 37-39, 41-43, 63-72, 75, 76, 79, 80, 83, 84,
86, 87, 90, 93-95, 145, 155, 156, 186, 197, 198
tapas (mystic heat) 17, 22, 26, 145-148, 198, 199, 207, 270
Theravada Buddhism 5, 242, 327, 329
thig-le (semen, q.v.) 242
transmigration (see rebirth) 150-153, 162, 179, 181, 183, 244, 280,
292
turiya (state beyond deep sleep) 264, 265
uccheda-vada (annihilationism, q.v.) 285
universe (see creation)
— as dream or projection 170-180, 226-32, 234-38, 326
— aS a person 17-21, 150-51, 174-75
— reabsorption of 173-80, 234-38
upadana (grasping) 308, 309, 316, 324-326
upadana-khanda (grasping aggregates, see aggregates) 309, 325, 326
Vak (Goddess of speech, see vak) 86, 102, 142
vak (speech) 176, 191
Varuna 10-13, 44, 47, 66, 71, 92, 101, 104, 105, 135, 141, 270
vata (wind, vital breath) 92, 299
vayas (food, vital force) 80, 84, 87-90, 197
vayu (wind, compared to breath) 39, 59, 79, 80, 92, 191, 205, 206, 219,
236, 299
vedana (feelings) 99, 100, 303, 304, 308, 311-319, 321-324
Vedanta 14-15, 20-21, 30, 72, 93-94, 180-184, 232, 279, 280
Venkata 15, 48
Vvid (to know) 99, 100, 108, 248
vijmana (consciousness, see vififiana) 99, 100, 170, 188, 231, 238-240,
245, 248-251, 254, 256, 259, 261, 265, 266, 269, 280, 289, 291, 295,
296, 301, 302
Vijhanavada Buddhism 320, 327-329
vinhana (consciousness, Skt. vijfiana) 291, 295, 296, 300-316, 318-320,
B22 3823. 325
vitality (see digestion and breath) 36, 38, 41, 43, 80-84, 86, 90, 95, 96,
128, 197, 200, 201, 206, 207, 209, 218, 230, 242, 266, 268, 269
— in Buddhism 299-301
— in Rg Veda 79-96
— in Upanisads 191-207
356 INDEX

wind (compared to breath) 39, 58, 59, 71, 79, 80, 92-94, 102, 111, 116,
117, 141, 145, 188, 190, 191, 204-206, 217-219, 236, 245, 267, 299,
306
Yajnavalkya 155, 156, 163, 170, 174, 222, 223, 227, 228, 235, 237,
241, 250, 260, 261
Yajur Veda 195
Yama (God of death) 14, 41, 43, 48, 49, 54, 83, 156
Yaska 7, 15, 20, 121
yoga 2, 8, 25, 58, 112, 144-146, 148-150, 156, 179-181, 208, 219, 233,
242, 255, 266, 270, 279, 287, 288, 297
— archaic 149-53
— and Buddhism 1-5
— and Shamanism 145-49
— in Upanisads 144-84
Yogacara Buddhism 234, 236, 253
Zimmer, Heinrich 1, 2, 21, 56, 145, 149
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 Also from Asian Humanities Press

Abhidharmakosabhasyam by Louis de la Vallee Poussin,

English Translation by Leo M. Pruden.

This is the most important compendium of Indian

Buddhist philosophy as well as the masterwork of Buddhist
psychology. The four volume set consists of approximately
1500 pages of text, notations and a comprehensive index.
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. a landmark achievement in the history of Buddhist
Studies...” —Choice

ISBN 0-89581-913-9 Four volume set — cloth

Agni: The Vedic Ritual of the Fire Altar by Fritz Staal.

A work of monumental proportions, it documents the

performing of one of the most ancient Vedic rituals, that of the
fire altar. The two volume set contains more than 1500 pages
of text, 133 color plates, and 160 line drawings and
illustrations, along with the only existing audio cassettes of the
ritual’s chants and recitations.

ISBN 0-89581-450-1 Two volume set — cloth