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T H E 0R IGIN 0F
HERESY I N HINDU
MYTHOLOGY
Hinduism has always been noted for its ability to absorb potentially schismatic developments; indeed, one of the prime functions
of the caste system has been to assimilate various tribes and sects
by giving them a place within the social hierarchy. And although
the Rgveda is regarded as a closed canonical collection, in actual
fact this canon is not read by the vast majority of Hindus, most
of whom (non-Brahmins, women, etc.) are forbidden to read it
and almost all of whom are incapable of comprehending the many
archaic passages which have baffled scholars. This general inaccessibility of the canon has facilitated an almost endless
reinterpretation of doctrine.
A particularly striking manifestation of this flexibility of Hindu
tradition may be seen in the manner by which it has assimilated
various heresies, a process so wide-ranging that, as Louis Renou
remarked, "It is quite difficult in India to be completely heretical."l This flexibility has not even necessitated the element of
masquerade, the ability to change without appearing to change,
that usually characterizes adaptations within a tradition; the
myths of heresy make explicit note of the changes in doctrine. I n
1 Louis Renou, Hinduism (New York, 1961), p. 46. I am grateful to Dr. Rodney
Needham of the Institute of Social Anthropology, Oxford, for this reference.
271
1.
272
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karmastha, nisiddhakyt).g VijiiLneivara defines heretics as those
Nagnas, Saugatas, etc., who deny the authority of the Vedas.9
2. THE TWO
LEVELS O F HERESY
273
1s
274
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..
Siva emphasizes that his PBBupata sect is based upon the Vedas,
just as he remarks, in the MahGbhGrata, that the PBBupata vow
which he revealed occasioiially agrees with orthodox var?zG&rama
religion, though it is basically contrary to it.27
3. HERESY
27
276
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277
It may be noted here that even in the folk literature the confusion between hypocrisy and heresy persists. The cat ascetic appears on the famous seventh-century bas-relief of the Descent of
the Ganges at Mamallipuram ; the cat stands on one leg with his
paws above his head in imitation of the human ascetic who appears nearby, and he is surrounded by mice.44 The heron appears
in a Sanskrit court poem :
The ugly vulture eats the dead,
Guiltless of murder's taint.
The heron swallows living fish
And looks like an ascetic saint.45
MCnavadharmaBristra, 4.192-98.
MCrkandeya PurC?za (Bombay, 1890), 47.58-60.
40 Yajiiavalkya Smrti, 1.130.
41 KCrma PurEna (Benaresed.), 2.16.14-15 ;KErma Pz~rEpa,Bibliotheca Indica
(Calcutta, 1890), p. 444.
42 See my two-part article, "Asceticism and Sexuality in the Mythology of
hive," History of Religions 8 (1969): 300-337 and 9 (1969): 1-41, esp. pp. 321-25.
43 "Ten Tales from the Tantropiikhyiina," text and trans. by George T. Artola,
Adyar Library Bulletin, 29 :1-4 (Madras, 1965); my summary.
44 Heinrich Zimmer, T h e Art of Indian Asia, 2d. ed. (New York, 1960),pl. 276.
45 John Brough, Poems from the Sanskrit (London, 1968),verse 21 ;SubhBsitCvali
of Vallabhadeva (Bombay, 1886), verse 755.
38
39
278
History of Religions
The fact that doctrines so widely divergent as those of the ClrvLkas, Buddhists, Saiva PLiupatas, and Brahmin hypocrites are
all subsumed under the term "heretic" indicates the extent to
which this term was used simply as a catchall for condemning
anyone who challenged the religious and social status quo, that is,
the authority of the Vedas and the Brahmins. In Hinduism,
heresy connotes a failure of the understanding more than a
deliberate embracing of wickedness ; similarly, the more general
concept of evil (pEpam), under which heresy was eventually subsumed, was originally considered primarily in terms of darkness
and delusion (tams, moha) rather than sin. This, coupled with the
general moral relativity of caste ethics-the notion that different
moral codes apply to different social groups-made possible an
infinitely elastic toleration of religious deviation. The vagueness of
the term for heresy served not only to exclude various groups of
heterodox thinkers but also to include many of them under the
equally vague aegis of Hinduism itself. If the bounds of heterodoxy ballooned over into the mainstream of religion, so too the
bounds of orthodoxy proved extremely flexible.
The whole tradition of ascetism, as seen in the Upanisads, the
sannyEsa or ascetic stage of life, and the goal of moksa, was
originally a violent challenge to the Brahmanical sacrificial
system, which managed nevertheless to assimilate it by making
the sannyzsin the fourth stage of life (after the original three:
brahmaczrin, gyhapati, and vanaprastha) and moksa the fourth goal
(after dharma, artha, and kcma). Moreover, various non-Vedic
rites practiced by the indigenous population of India were absorbed by the "Aryan" religion and practiced "without incongruity or contradiction being felt by the participant."54 Many of
the teachings of the Buddha were assimilated by Hinduism and
influenced the Bhagavad-GZtE,and the Buddha himself came to be
regarded as an avatar of Visnu,55 a process which Keith described
as "a curious example of the desire to absorb whatever is good in
another faith."56
6aiva cults, in particular, betray an obviously heterodox
origin. As Eliot writes, although certain 6aiva rites are "if not
antagonistic, at least alternative to the ancient sacrifices, yet far
54 D. D. Kosambi, A n Introduction to the Study of Indian History (Bombay,
1956), p. 8.
55 See below, sec. C2.
513Arthur Berriedale Keith, Indian Mythology, The Mythology of all Races,
vol. 4 (Boston, 1917), p. 169.
280
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58
MYTH
OF THE FALL
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Brahmins.73 This theory completely mirrors the historical process ; sects which had in fact risen to their position on the borders
of orthodox Hinduism were said to have fallen from a yet more
orthodox position to their ambivalent status. Yet there is probably
some truth in the legends as well. Certain scriptures were said to
have been revealed for the benefit of Brahmins whose sins had
rendered them incapable of performing Vedic rites, and Brahmins
who were excommunicated may have become the ministers of
non-Vedic cults.74 Certainly this is the Hindu viewpoint ; KgpLlikas are thought to have been Brahmins in former times.75 According to Jain theory, all castes once professed Jainism, but
certain groups fell into false ways and became Brahmins who
formulated a cult sanctioning the slaughter of animals.76
Many castes consider themselves fallen Brahmins and justify
their change of occupation when they move up the scale by stating
that they are merely resuming their former status. Ambedkar
revived the traditional myth when he argued that the untouchables, and many Siidras, were Buddhists who had suffered from
the hatred of Brahmins when the Hindu renaissance occurred.77
Many untouchables claim in their myths that, when fighting the
Muslims, their Kqatriya ancestors pretended to be untouchables
and were cursed to remain in that state as punishment for their
cowardice.78 This "pretenseJ' neatly mirrors the PLiupata mime
which derives from the actual sin, in contrast to the untouchable
legend in which the pretense leads to the sin. According to the
MahiFbZrata, all castes were once Brahmins, but those who
abandoned their own dharma and fell prey to passion and anger
became Ksatriyas, those who took to agriculture and cattle rearing became Vaiiyas, and those who indulged in falsehood and
injury became Sfidras.79 According to one myth, certain "Brahmin giants" (the most mischievous of the race) were Brahmins
who had been turned into giants as a punishment for former
crimes : "Occasionally they adopted a hermit's life, without
thereby changing their character, or becoming better disposed."so
Mhnavadharmaicistra, 10.43-44.
Eliot, 2 :193.
Gonda, p. 219.
p. 225.
77 Bhimrao Remji Ambedker, The Untouchables (New Delhi, 1948), p. 78.
78 I am indebted to Dr. David Pocock of the University of Sussex for this
information.
7 9 MahBbhBrata, 12.181.10-13.
80 Abbe Dubois, Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies, 3d ed. (Oxford,
1966), p. 516.
73
74
75
76
Rgvede, 8.100.3.
83 Rgvede, 7.104.14.
84 Bhagavad-Gitci, 2.41-46.
geschichte Indiens, Festschrift fiir Erich Freuwdlner, Wiener Zeitschrift ftir die
Kunde Siid- und Ostasiens 12-13 (1968-69) : 171-85, esp. p. 171.
8 7 Rgveda, 5.30.1, 6.18.3, 6.27.3, 8.64.7, 8.100.3, 10.22.1.
88 Heesterman, pp. 180-81.
89 Ibid., p. 184.
81
82
284
History of Religions
to Buddhism, is accused by the warrior Bhima of having nestika
tendencies.90
A famous controversy over the sanctity of the Vedas appears in
the Nirukta of YBska; "'The Vedic stanzas have no meaning
[anartha&], ' says Kautsa. . . . 'Moreover, their meaning is contradictory [vipratisiddhtirthli].' "91 A later commentator, Durga,
regerded Kautsa as a convenient invention used by YBska in order
to express Vedic skepticism.92 But Kautsa appears in an ancient
list of Brahmin teachers and may have been a historical rationalist.93 Sarup argues in support of the latter view : "It is inconceivable that the learned theologians would reproduce, in their orthodox books, a controversy which challenges the most fundamental
beliefs of their religion."94 Yet this is precisely what theologians in
India have always done ; the "false" view is given first and is then
rebutted by the favored doctrine. Moreover, many originally
controversial views have eventually been reproduced in orthodox
books as accepted doctrine.
From Vedic times to the present day, heresy has been present
within Hinduism. Politically, heresy has played a significant role ;
heretical creeds appealed to kings for assistance, and Brahminism
called upon royal support for the status quo.95 As Aiyangar
remarks : "The heretic might be a nuisance, but an administrator
could not ignore his existence in society, especially when he had a
powerful following. . . . Heterodoxy was often believed to possess
a mystic power which was the source of its confidence. The rule
is thus merely one of prudence."96 The Seventh Pillar Edict of
ABoka states : "I have arranged that some [Dhamma Mah&m~tas]
will be occupied with the affairs of the [Buddhist] Sangha.. .
some with the Brahmins and Ajivikas . . . some with the Nirgranthas . . . with other religious sects [pGsandesu]."97 This apparent
religious toleration may be viewed, however, in the context of the
Buddhist legend that ABoka a t first attempted to destroy all the
Nirgranthas and was unwittingly responsible for the decapitation
of his own brother, who was staying in the home of a Nirgrantha.
MaJ~ZbhCrata,12.10.20.
9 2 John Muir, Original Sanskrit Texts, 5 vols., 2d ed. (London, 1872), 2 : 169-72.
9 4 Sarup, p. 72.
p. 70.
97 Dines Chandra Sircar, Select Inscriptions, 2d ed. (Calcutta, 1965), pp. 62-64.
90
91
285
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Lokiiyatas in front, and they perished in the fight. After this defeat, the piisanda books were uprooted by the sea of orthodox
teachings [sadiigama]; the Piisandas, Saugatas, Digambaras,
Kiipiilikas, etc., concealed themselves among the most abject men in
the countries of Piiiiciila, Miilava, etc."lll Yet the very vehemence
of these orthodox texts hints a t the strength of the threat, the
degree to which heresy had penetrated Hinduism by this time.
Much of the assimilation took place in an earlier, more tolerant
period, and more continued to take place on a popular level-as
expressed in the mythology of the Puriinas-in spite of the exhortations of the orthodox Brahmins.
B. THE MYTHOLOGY OF T H E ORIGIN OF EVIL
1. INTRODUCTION
The problem of the origin of evil and heresy has troubled Indian
thinkers from the most ancient times. The early texts are less concerned with the specific problem of heresy than they are with the
more general concept of evil (pGpam), which originally included
natural misfortunes such as hunger, death, and ignorance, and
only later assumed the connotations of sin and vice. The meaning
of heresy developed in a similar way, from the original concept of
the nGstika who merely played the devil's advocate, as it were, in
the sacrifice, through the notion that the heretic was simply deluded (mohita), to the later view in which he is a vicious social
outcaste.
The concept of evil in Hinduism is only incidentally pertinent to
a discussion of Hindu heresies. However, the mythology of the
origin of evil provides an essential background to the mythology
of the origin of heresy. The myths discussed below demonstrate
the manner in which episodes of heresy arose from and gradually
superseded the more general mythology of evil. The first group,
dealing with the natural origin of evil, concerns men described
simply as evil men and atheists. No explanation for this evil is
provided; it simply appears a t a certain point in primeval creation.
Hardly more satisfactory is the later view which relegates the
cause to some earlier evil whose cause remains obscure. Here sin
and virtue are mentioned, but without the doctrinal details which
distinguish heresy from evil. A turning point is reached in the
Manichean myths which cast the blame onto the demons. Here the
111
287
288
History of Religions
he told them to sacrifice without touching the altar and they would become
more righteous.113
The text does not make clear whether the plague of evils arises
directly from the loss of virtue of the sages or from the subsequent
wrath of the gods;ll7 but the seed of corruption is merely inevitable change.
Another myth of the origin of evil appears in the Ma&b&rata :
In former times there was no need for a king or for the rod of chastisement;
of their own accord, and by their dharma, all creatures protected one
113 8atapatha BrBhmana, 1.2.5.2626.
emphasis added.
1 2 1 Max Weber, The Religion of India (New York, 1958), p. 144.
History of Religions
Yet, although the individual could only offend against caste law,
the caste as a whole could violate a more universal law-the law of
dharma-as may be seen in the myths of Brahmins who "fell" to
untouchability or became demons.122 Moreover, there are Hindu
myths in which individuals fall from paradise and in which devils
are responsible for this fa11.123 It is, rather, the fleeting and insubstantial nature of the original paradise, and the pessimistic
view of the nature of man, which distinguish the Hindu myths. I n
these myths, men-and even demons-are originally good, but
evil passions inevitably appear soon after creation, and this is the
natural (albeit not original) state of man.
3. HUNGER
AND SIN
An important element of the myths of the fall-the apple-appears in another series of Hindu myths. Men remain virtuous until
the source of food begins to diminish, and only then do they
become evil. This is perhaps the closest that the ancient Indians
ever came to the concept of a virtuous natural state of man ; only
when an external force threatens him does he violate the moral
law.
The connection between hunger and evil is a natural and
ancient one. The Rgveda says : "The gods did not give [us] hunger
as [an instrument of] slaughter ; for [various] deaths overcome one
who has eaten."l24 But the intention of the creators often miscarries in matters of evi1,125 and by the time of the 8ataPatha
BrEhma~aa more realistic and cynical attitude toward hunger
prevailed: "Whenever there is drought, then the stronger seizes
upon the weaker, for the waters are dharma."lZs When Brahmz
began to create in his rEjasa form, he produced hunger, whence
was born anger and the starving rcFlcsasas.127
I n human terms, hunger is the epitome of Epaddharma, the
extremity in which the moral law ceases to function:
Once there was a twelve-year drought, when Indra sent no rain. All dharma
was destroyed and people ate one another. Sages left their &'ramas and
wandered about; the great sage Viiviimitra came to a place where outcastes
lived who ate dogs; the place was strewn with skulls and bloody bones.
Viiviimitra begged but was given no food; seeing a dead dog he tried to
122 See above, sec. A6.
123 See below, sec. B5.
124 Rgveda, 10.117.1.
125 See below, sec. B6.
126 fiatapatha BrGhmana, 11.1.6.24.
127 V i p u PurGna, 1.5.41-43.
I?.
summary.
292
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it justifies regnal law)-particularly the PZiicarZtra law which is
appropriate to the low estate of man.135
4.
. ..
1 3 Aggafifia
~
Suttanta,
Once need has caused men to sin, the cycle has begun and cannot
be arrested, even by the correction of need. The king's belated
generosity only inspires further wrongdoing, and coercive authority (though considered yet another evil, murder) must take
effect. Since need is originally responsible for man's fall, since
hunger is man's eternal condition, temporary satisfaction merely
masks the flaw.
Interesting evidence of the antiquity of the Digha NihGya
myth of the origin of evil appears in the report which Strabo attributes to Onesicritus, who entered India with Alexander in
327 B.C. and heard this tale from a naked "sophist" named
Calanus :
I n olden times the earth was full of barley and wheat; fountains flowed with
water, milk, honey, wine and olive oil. But man's gluttony and luxury
[ ~ ~ v ~led
r j him
]
into boundless arrogance [Gfip~s],and Zeus, hating this
state of things, destroyed everything. When self-control and tho other
virtues reappeared, blessings were again abundant, but the state of man is
again increasing in arrogance and the destruction of all existence is imminent.140
29 4
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.. .
. .
...
..
295
History of Religions
6.
Far more typical than the Manichean myths are those in which
evil is the work of god himself, created by him sometimes on
purpose, sometimes in error. Forster recorded a conversation with
the Maharajah of Dewas Senior which reveals the persistence of
this attitude :
When I asked him why we had any of us ever been severed from God, he
explained it by God becoming unconscious that we were parts of him,
owing to his energy at some time being concentrated elsewhere. . If you
believe that the universe was God's conscious creation you are faced with
the fact that he has consciously created suffering and sin, and this the
Indian refuses to believe. "We were either put here intentionally or unintentionally," said the Rajah, "and it raises fcwer difficulties if we suppose
it was unintentionally."154
..
..
. .
25.
...
162
163
2.19.
Vi~pP
u urcina, 1.5.4-8, -.16-18 ; my summary.
Bhcigavata Purcipa (Gorakhpur, 1962), 2.6.8-9.
Padrna PurCpa, 6.260.22-33.
History of Religions
tion to obtain the Soma causes them to churn the ocean too fast.
But she may only prey upon those who are already evil, like the
demons whom Prajiipati corrupts.
I n the ParGiara PurEna, heresy arises through the mistaken
ideas of the sectarian gods Vienu and BrahmL, who have replaced
Prajapiiti. This late text specifies heresy rather than the older,
general evil :
BrahmFi and V i ~ g uwere arguing, each shouting that he was supreme. I n
anger, Brahmii cursed Vicnu: "You will be deluded and your devotees will
have the appearance of Brahmins, but they will be against the Vedas and
the true path to release. They will be Tantric Brahmins, initiated into the
PBiicarFitra, ever averse to the Vedas, lawbooks, and the proper rituals that
give release."l64
; THE
NECESSITY O F HERESY
It would seem that god has no choice; part of him is evil and must
create evil. Other Hindu myths seem to imply, however, that it is
god himself who wills us to sin, a concept in direct opposition to the
ParGSara PurGna, chap. 3 ; cited by the Tantrdhikaranirnaya, p. 34.
lG4
299
170
171
172
173
L~
Dubois, p. 403.
V. S. Agrawala, 8iva Mahtideva, the Great God (Benares, 1966), pp. 4-5.
History of Religions
ness, truth or falsehood, that quality clung spontaileously to
it."174
The Visnu Purtina contains a key passage in which evil results
in the basic heresy-the denial of the Vedas:
That portion of Visnu which is one with Death [IiBla] caused [created
beings] to fall, creating a small seed of adharma from which darkness and
Those in whose
desire were born, and passion urns brought about.
minds the seed of evil [pEpabindu] had been placed in the first creation,
and in whom it increased, denied Vedic sacrifices and reviled the gods and
the followers of the Vedas. They were of evil souls and evil behavior.175
. ..
The Lifiga PurGna also attributes to god the explicit wish to make
the universe ambivalent by means of heresy as well as evil fortune
(Alaksmi):
NBrByana made the universe twofold [dvaidhan~]
-for the sake of delusion.
He made the Brahmins, Vedas, and the goddess Sri, and this was the best
portion. Then he made Alakgmi and the lowest men, outside the Vedas,
and he made adharma. When the goddess Jyesth8176 appeared from the
ocean, the sage Markandeya said, "Jyestha is Alaksmi." She must dwell
far from where men follow the path of the Vedas and worship NBrByana
and Rudra. But she may enter wherever husband and wife quarrel,
wherever there are people who delight in heretical practices and are beyond
the pale of the Vedas, wherever there are atheists and hypocrites, Buddhists or Jains.177
178 VaikhBnasas~rtas.Litra,
Bibliotheca Indioa (Calcutta, 1927),
I79 MahEbhBrata, 12.15.20, -.50.
8.11.
302
History of Religions
movement, but in a similar story in another text the theory of
svadharma, though clearly stated, is again challenged:
There was a y a k ~ anamed Harikeia, who devoted himself to asceticism,
dharma, and h a , behaving like a Brahmin. His father said to him, "This
is not the behavior of our family. We are crucl by nature, harmful flesh
eaters and scavengers. Pour behavior is not what the creator instructed
you t q do." But Harikeia went to Benares, where he performed asceticism
until Siva accepted him as a great yogi, one of Siva's own hosts.ls2
8.
One great evil which can never be superseded is death. That death
was in fact considered an evil is clear from many explicit statements as well as from the contexts of the myth. That the possibility
of its absence was considered, though inevitably rejected, is also
clear:
Once the sages made Death their slaughterer of sacrificial animals. No one
died then except those animals slaughtered for the sacrifice; mortality
became immortality. Heaven became empty and the mortal world, ignored
by death, became overcrowded. The gods said to the demons, "Destroy the
sacrifice of the sages." The demons attacked the sacrifice, but the sages
begged Biva to help them, and he himself completed their sacrifice. The sages
then said to the gods, in anger, "Since you sent the demons to destroy our
sacrifice, let the evil demons be your enemies." And thenceforth the demons
became the enemies of the gods.183
I n this late myth, evil originates in the absence of death; supposedly there were no evil demons until the gods sent them to
interfere with the sages. Without death, the balance of heaven
and earth, good and evil, is upset, and only the creation of another
evil-the demons-can right it again. Sometimes Siva indulges in
a kind of preventive euthanasia, refusing to create beings subject
to the fear of death and karma, while Brahmii, the creator, is
ironically the one who sees the need for death: "Only that creation
which is composed of good and evil is auspicious. . . . Creatures
free from death will undertake no actions."la4
Death and evil are similarly related in another series of myths
in which people become virtuous, heaven is full, and hell, the
abode of Death, is empty. I n fact, this is a recurrence of the
problems posed by the original golden age, but here it is the excess
of virtuous people, not of immortals or people in general, that
upsets the balance, and therefore heresy, rather than death, may
182 Matsya Purtina, ~%nandi$ramaSanskrit Series no. 54 (Poona, 1907),
180.5-99, esp. 8-13; my summary.
183 Brahma Purtina (Calcutta, 1954), 116.1-21 ;my summary.
184 Matsya Purtipa, 4.30-32; Liiiga Purtipa, 1.70.315.
Once again, women are the root of evil, though not through their
own fault. Elsewhere, V i s ~ uuses books of heresy to thin out the
ranks of heaven:
Formerly, the inhabitants of the earth all worshiped Visnu and reached
heaven, filling the place of mukti. The gods complained, "How will creation
take place, and who will dwell in hell ?" Visnu assured them that in the Kali
age he would create a great delusion, causing Siva to teach the Sbtras of
Naya Siddhlnta and PBiupata in order to delude those outside the path of
the Vedas.187
304
History of Religions
motif, it is Siva whose kindness grants universal access to heaven
and causes the consequent overcrowding of heaven, disuse of hell,
and expulsion of the gods from heaven. PLrvati then creates
GaneBa to "occasion obstacles to men, and, deluding them, . . .
deprive thein of all wish to visit Somnsth, [so that they would] fall
into hell." 1 9 0
The PiificarLtras, in keeping with the usual sectarian biases of
this motif, have their own version:
The original religion (Bdhyadharma, to wit the PBficariitra) was first in the
Krta age proclaimed by god BrahmBn to the sages of sharpened vows, who
taught it to their disciples. All people followed the P&licar&traand were
liberated or went to heaven; hell became naught and a great decrease of
creation took place [gr$iksayo mnhdn &sit]. [BrahmB complained to Vienu,]
"All men, being full of faith and masters of their senses, sacrifice as prescribed in the Great Secret; and so they go to the Place of Vienu from which
there is no return. There is (now) no heaven and no hell, neither birth nor
death." This, however, was against the plan of the Lord, and so He started,
with the help of Brahmhn, Icapila and Siva, five more systems (Yoga,
SBfikhya, Bauddha, Jaina and Saiva), conflicting with each other and the
PBficarBtra, for the bewilderment of men.191
1.146 ff.
lQz 8iva PurEpa (Benares, 1964), 2.3.31.1-52, 2.3.32.1-65.
306
Here the demons do not neglect the sacrifice of their own will,
as they do in other texts cited above, but are tricked into their
evil by the gods.
I n the Prabodhacandrodaya, heresies themselves, personified,
are said to attempt the corruption of orthodoxy in order to
preserve their own race, just as the gods act for their own preservation. Yet this episode may perhaps better be viewed in the context
of the Manichean myths of the demons: 1 9 4
Hypocrisy [Dambha] enters and says, "Great Delusion [MahBmoha] has
commanded me thus: Discrimination [Vivelia] and his ministers have sent
Tranquility, Self-control, and the others to various holy shrines in order to
encourage Enlightenment [Prabodha]. The destruction of our race is
imminent and you must take pains to prevent it. Go to the city of Benares,
the holy place where beatitude is obtained, and interrupt the religious
performances of those of the four dd~amaswho are engaged in asceticism
[nihdreyasavighnclrtham].''I95
C. THE MYTHOLOGY OF THE ORIGIN OF HERESY
1. THE
306
History of Religions
and servants. Thus weakened, Ghora tried to abduct Pgrvati, but she slew
hirn.lg8
198
lg9
307
L i q a PurBna, 1.71.38.
Saura PurBna (Calcutta, 1910), 34.23-24.
LiAga PurBna, 1.71.48, -.66, -.69.
Ibid., 1.71.75-96; Saura PurB?za,34.42-72; my summary.
Saura Purtina, 34.70.
Hazra, p. 103.
308
History of Religions
309
The Vignu Purgna gives the usual reason for the delusion:
The demons had stolen the sacrificial portions of the gods, but they were so
full of svadharma, Veda worship, and tapas that they could not be conquered. V i ~ n ucreated a man of delusion to lead the daityas from the path
of the Vedas ; the man was naked, bald, carrying a peacock-feather fan [as
the Jains did], and he made them all into drhatas, discouraging them from
their tapas and teaching them contradictory tenets about dharma. Then the
man put on red garments and taught the rest of the demons that the
sacrifice of animals was an evil act, saying, "If the animal slaughtered in
the sacrifice is assured of arrival in heaven, why does the sacrificer not kill
his own father?" Then the demons became Buddhists, and they caused
others to become heretics, abandoning the Vedas and reviling the gods and
Brahmins, discarding their armor of svadharma. The gods attacked them
and killed them.217
my summary.
History of Religions
the king with a doctrine of uhimsti and the irrelevance of caste 2 2 1
and corrupted the chastity of the women, as well. Then, for good
measure, giva sent Alaksmi to the city, and Laksmi departed.
When the demons had thus been made evil, the gods praised giva
for having driven the demons to take refuge in Buddhism,222
though the doctrine used to corrupt the demons seems far more
like Jainism and is identified as such by the commentator.223
Finally, Brahmz praised Siva for having taught the heresy himself: "There is no evil [in this act] because you, the greatest of
yogis commanded it. By your command they were deluded; you
were the initiator. Now you must kill the hosts of mlecchas in order
to protect the good."224
I n spite of this rationalization and the implication that the
heresy is less evil because of its association with giva, the demons
are damned. Yet the Padmu Purtina version of the corruption of
King Vena twists the myth to the credit of the god:
When Vena was ruling virtuously, a man came there naked, bald, carrying
a broom of peacock feathers, and reading the &/larut-s(6strawhich is contrary to the Vedas. He was named Papa [Evil], but when Vena aslred his
name he said, "I am Dharma and Moksa. I have taken the form of a Jain,
the embodiment of the dharma of truth. The Arhats are the divinity and
day6 the highest dharma. There is no use for sacrifices or meditation on the
Vedas or tapas; only meditation upon the Arhats." Vena was deluded by
that most evil man, and he abandoned the dharma of the Vedas. His
mother, Sunitha, told her husband the king, "In my girlhood I (lid an evil
thing to the sage SuQafikhawhile he was performilig tapas. In his anger, he
cursed me to have an evil son, and it is because of this that Vena has
fallen upon these evil ways." The seven sages tried in vain to enlighten
Vena ; a t last, they killed him, and from his left hand was born the Ni~Bda
king, lord of mlecchas; thus the evil came out of his body and Vena was
able to go to heaven. Arriving at Vi~nu'spalace in heaven, Vena was
asked, "What has become of the MahBmoha by whom you were deluded?"
Vena said, "I was deluded by my own evil deeds of the past [yan me
pCrvakytam p6pam ten6ham mohito vibho]." Vignu said, "When Suhaiikha
cursed your mother, I gave a boon to your father, promising that you would
be a good son. I was the naked monk who caused you to lose your dharma,
so that the words of SuBafikha could be realized." Visnu then instructed
Vena in the way of salvation.225
The myth still relies upon the chain of evil, the cause that is
sought one link back-first in Vena's own evil deeds of the past,
then in the curse of Suiaiikha and, in the Visnu PurCna, in the
evil nature of Sunithg's father, Death, who is blamed for Vena's
221
222
223
224
225
31 1
DivodBsa explicitly notes the parallel with the myth of the Triple
City, and Visnu attempts to f k d a flaw in the king-that he did
not truly worship Siva-but there are obvious inconsistencies in
the development of the plot. I n fact, this complex myth combines
several episodes of heresy. The simple seduction by the apsarases
(here yoginis), the traditional technique of Indra, fails. The
second strategem, the masquerade of Ga~eba,fails too, but in an
earlier version in the VGyu PurZna, Ganeba successfully tricks
DivodLsa into an act of impiety, and it is not necessary for Siva
to use the heresy of Buddhism.227 Moreover, in the VZyu Pur8na
nothing is said about Divodlsa's virtue; 6iva instructs GaneSa to
use "gentle wiles" because the king is very mighty, and DivodBsa
is described as evil-minded and foolish. When GaneSa's shrine
226
227
History of Religions
grants sons to all the men in the city but the king himself, Divodgsa
loses his temper and destroys the shrine, whereupon ~ i v promptly
a
moves into Benares. But in the Skanda PurEna, both Siva and
Divodzsa are whitewashed almost beyond recognition. (The king
not only fails to be corrupted but teaches Ganeda the true religion,
and Siva never comes to occupy the city a t all, though this is the
motivation for the whole myth.) Into this rnklanga, the myth of the
Buddhist heresy is introduced, though still without effect upon
DivodBsa. This is a rare instance of resistance to the heresy taught
by god as a test of virtue which he hopes will be resisted, as in the
Christian motif of temptation. I n Hinduism, the gods usually
employ temptation in circumstances when they mean it to meet
with no resistance.
3. BRHASPATI
230
History of Re1igion.s
can be truthful ?" Vyssa said, "All creatures are subject to emotions ; the
gods are all subject to passion. Otherwise the universe, composed as it is of
good and evil, could not continue to deve10p."Z~~
315
7.29.90 ff.
239 Kiirma P u r 6 ? ~ a1.1.5.28-33.
,
240 Ibid., 1.15.76-77.
241 Skanda P u r i n a , 1.1.38.
242 BhcZgavata PurBna, 4.2.21-26; my summary.
243 Brahmavaivarta PurcZna, Anand~gramaSanskrit Series no. 102 (Poona,
1935), 4.38.5.
244 Lifiga PurBpa, 1.99.14-15.
236
237
238
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Dadhica is also invoked in this text. The giva PurEna explains the
conflict between Daksa and giva by a previous conflict between
their representatives, Ksuva (a king) and Dadhica (a Brahmin),
who are assisted by Visnu and Siva, respectively, during an argument about the relative importance of kings and priests.245 AS a
result of this conflict, Dadhica curses Visnu and the gods to be
burned by the fire of Siva's anger,246 a sequence which seems to
explain the myth as one of sectarian and class conflict.
Many versions of the myth attribute Daksa's hatred of Biva
to the fact that Biva married Sati, the daughter of Daksa. These
conflicts may be traced in turn to the Vedic episode in which Biva
punishes Prajgpati (the ancestor of Daksa) for committing incest
with his daughter,247 a connection which persists in those passages
in which Siva curses Daksa to become incestuous.248 The more
immediate source of Daksa's irritation, however, is expressed in
texts which describe the manner in which $iva came to Daksa's
house disguised as a ragged old beggar and carried Sati away.249
He married her and transformed her from golden to black, much to
Daksa's shock and disapprova1.250 I n the course of his many
tirades, D a h a frequently objects to the excessive sexuality of
his son-in-law, who is constantly engaged in sexual dalliance
with his ~ i f e . ~ 5Overtones
1
of incest may be seen in another
explanation of Daksa's enmity toward Siva:
Daksa took a garland which the goddess [another form of Sati] had given
to Durvgsas [an incarnation of Biva] ; he placed it on his marital bed and,
excited by the perfume of the garland, he made love to his wife that night
in the manner of a beast [ p d u k a r m a r a t o ] . Because of that evil sin, D a k ~ a
conceived a hatred for giva and Sati.252
246
317
This apparent nonsequitur arises from the fact that the text cited
above is a misquotation of an earlier text in which Daksa explains
to Dadhici (sic) that he does not honor Biva because, although
he knows eleven Rudras, he does not know Mahedvara.257 This is,
in fact, the actual historical basis of the mythological conflict:
Although the eleven Rudras (or Maruts) are Vedic storm gods,
the individual Rudra who eventually subsumes them all is nonVedic in almost all essentials-a combination of the Indus Valley
Pagupati, a tribal god of destruction, a Vriitya ascetic, the Agni of
the Briihmanas, and various other local strains all grafted onto
the shadowy Rudra of the Rgveda (himself a foreign god hated and
feared, worshiped with offerings at crossroads but never with a
share in the Vedic sacrifice). Thus, the apparent result of Daksa's
curse is actually its cause: Because Biva was always a heretic,
denied a share in the sacrifice, Daksa curses him to be such. This
circular reasoning is apparent from most versions of Daksa's curse:
The Brahmins will not sacrifice to you along with the other gods; when
anyone offers an oblation to you he will touch water in his rites.258 ~ i v a
has defiled the path followed by good men; lie is impure, an abolisher of
rites and demolisher of barriers, [who gives] the word of the Vedas to a Siidra ;
he wanders like a madman, naked, laughing, the lord of ghosts, evilhearted. Let Siva, the lowest of the gods, obtain no share with Indra and
253 Karma PurEna, 1.14.53-65.
254 &
%a Purdna, 2.2.26.11-12.
257 MahBbhErata, vol. 12, appendix 1, no. 28,ll. 40-45 ; Brahma PurEna, 39.30-
P u r d ~ a 2.13.70-73.
,
318
History of Religions
V i ~ n ua t the sacrifice of the gods; let all the followers of h a be heretics,
opponents of the true icistras, following the heresy whose god is the king of
ghosts.259
summary.
Padma Purdpa, 5.5.42-50; KBlilcd Purepa (Bombay, 1891), 16.29ff.,
17.1-16; Skanda PurBna, 7.2.9.90.
262 Ktirma PurBpa, 1.15.8, -.11 ; cf. Vcimana Purcina, 2.17, 4.1.
263 Vardha PurBna, 97.1-27 ; Siva Purcipa, 3.8.36-66 ; 3.9.1-57 ; Jltdna
SamhitB, 49.65-80; Bhavigya PurBna (Bombay, 1959), 3.4.13.1-19.
264 Prabodhacandrodaya, 2:31.
265 MahBbhBrata, 3.40.1-5.
319
320
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History of Religions
Rudra's heresy, the myth comes full circle to the episode in which
Daksa curses 6iva to be an outcaste and his followers to be
heretics, while Dadhica1Nand.i (the representative of 6iva himself)
produces yet another group of heretics, the followers of Daksa. A
third rank is said to have arisen as a result of the curse of the sage
Gautama, and all three meet in a final episode in the Pine Forest.
6.
..
Tantrtidhikhranirnaya, p. 25.
Kfirma Purhna, 1.16.95-108; my summary.
283 See above, sec. B3.
284 DevibhEgavata Purcina, 12.9.1-10.
281
282
Once more, the cause of the drought is further sought in time and
karma, but the narrator dwells upon the inevitable evils of hunger.
The Skanda Purtina centers wholly upon the famine, even to
the point of omitting the curse of heresy which is the point of the
myth:
Once there was a twelve-year drought in the hermitage of the seven sagesAtri, Vasi~tha, Kdyapa, Bharadvaja, V s v h i t r a , Jamadagni, and
Gautama. They abandoned all dharrna and vows and rituals and ate improper things ; mothers abandoned their sons, men their wives, kings their
dependents, and everyone stole grain shamelessly, oppressed with hunger.
The seven sages wandered until they found a dead male child ; they cooked
and ate him. As they continued to wander, they found a lake full of lotuses ;
collecting the delicious lotus filaments they left them on the bank while
they performed their lustrations, but upon emerging from the lake they
found that the filaments ware gone. Furious and tortured by hunger, they
suspected one another and cursed the unknown thief to be omnivorous,
hypocritical, a drinker of wine and eater of meat, to have unlawful intercourse with women, to sell the Vedas, to be a whoremaster, a horse dealer,
to question Sfidras about dharma, to revile his guru, and to dishonor his
parents. At length, a wandering ascetic named Sunomukha admitted to the
theft, which he had only done in order to test their dharma, for he was
Indra in disguise. Indra said that he was satisfied by their lack of greed;
the sages remained there doing tapas and obtained immortality.286
Khanda, p. 32 ; my summary.
286
287
Skanda P u r E ~ a 6.32.1-100;
,
my summary.
TalZtrCdhikCrani~aya,p. 31.
History of Religions
curse." Therefore the sages were born in the Kali yriga outside the Vedas,
followers of Kaulika, KGpiilika, Buddhist and Jain heresies, doomed to
return to the Kumbhipaka hell because of their karrna.288
The final stage of the Gautama myth combines with the Daksa
myth to offer the h a 1 justification for the gaiva heresy: It is
taught by giva to release the sages from the previous curses of
heresy, just as Visnu teaches the Buddhist heresy to Vena to
release him from a curse.291 This episode is foreshadowed in the
KCrma PurEna version of the Gautama myth which seeks, like
288
289
290
291
History of Religions
How the sages are to expiate their sins by corrupting others into
their own heresy-whether that heresy was Buddhism or a consequent schism-is not clear. Perhaps their own guilt was to absolve
them, as it was to torture the demons described by Holwell.306 It is
rather in the "lost privilege" of Vedic worship that the usefulness
of their heresy should be sought.
The basic principle in these chains of heresy is that of "homeo300
301
302
303
History of Religions
pathic" curses: One can only teach heresy to a heretic; "you can't
cheat an honest man." The curse merely emphasizes the fault
which inspires it. Thus, the goddess says that she created the
Kapala, Bhairave, Yamala, Viima, Damara, Kapila, Paiicariitra,
and Arhata ktistras which are opposed to iruti and sm?.ti,in order to
delude those who delude others by contact with evil k~stras.307
Only corrupt people are susceptible to corruption (the "good"
demons are a notable exception to this),308 and only they can
profit by it, as it is better than the corruption in which they
already dwell. Visnu is said to have become the Buddha because
of the lack of enlightenment, the force of heresy, and the madness
prevalent at the time309-that is, to root out evil with evil, just as
Prajapati cursed those demons who were already evil. I n one text,
giva says that he reveals himself primarily for the sake of atheists,
to keep them from being evildoers.310 Were there only believers,
god would not need to partake in religious life. Similarly, giva
teaches heresy as a favor to the prodigal sages.311 This serves
either to make them slightly better, so that they may start on the
path back to the Vedas, or to make them so evil that they must
reach the farthest point of the cycle and rebound from the extreme,
to become good again.
8.
Heresy is thus the first step to salvation for those who are not yet
capable of proceeding on the higher paths. This is the philosophy
underlying certain rationalizations of Tantric religion; it is the
path for those incapable of higher (Vedic) religion. The Tantras
are said to be useful even for those who are excessively evil.
Those who abandon the Vedas will be initiated into the Piiiicariitra,
Kiipiila, and other heresies.312 The difficulty of understanding the
Vedas is accepted by exponents of Vedic religion: Vispu, knowing
that the Vedas were difficult to grasp, became incarnate as Vyiisa
Vitapaia and divided the Vedas into branches.313
Ktirma Purcina, 1.12.256-59.
See above, secs. B5, C1, C2, and C3.
309 B h k a v a t a Purcipa, 6.8.19.
310 Padma Pur@a, 4.1 10.244 : "kim tu nBstikajantun5m pravrthyartham idam
mays darsaniyam hare te syur anyathB pBpakBrinah."
311 $iva
Purcina, 4.12.11 ; Brahmcinda Purcina, 2.27.2; Darpadalana of
K~emendra,KBvyamBlB no. 6 (Bombay, 1890), 7.70-71 ;Nilakantha's commentary
on Mahdbhcirata (Bombay, 1862), 13.17.202 (13.17.99in Poonaedition) ; Yciggisbaramcihcitmya, India Office &IS no. 3719, reproduced by Wilhelm Jahn, Zeitschrift
der deutschen morgenlandischen Gesellschaft 70 (1916) : 310-20, verse 26b.3.
312 Tantrcidhikciranirnaya, p. 37; citing P a r d a r a Purcina, chap. 11.
313 Bhcigavata Purdna, 2.7.3&39.
307
308
329
fhdras and the victims of curses are forbidden to study the Vedas;
certain others are incapable. Out of pity for all of them, Siva
teaches heresy, raising them up "step by step."
The Tantras are particularly suited for Kali yuga men, who
are so stupid that they can neither understand nor appreciate the
Vedas. People fallen from Vedic rites and afraid of Vedic penances
should resort to the Tantras.319 The Ggamas should not be used,
however, by good men; the steps work in both directions, and the
gods often use them to bring good men down, just as they use them
to bring heretics back to the Vedic fold.320 The Karma P u r z ~ a
tells of an outcaste PLiicarStra Vaisnava, a SLtvata, who was
314 Eliot, 1 :lxxxix.
316 Edward ~ a s h b b r n
Hopkins, Epic Mythology (Strassburg, 1915), p. 45.
318 Sir John George Woodroffe (Arthur Avalon), Shakti and Shakta (Madras,
1959), p. 577.
319 SBmba PurBna, quoted in the Vxramitrodaya of Mitramiira, 1 :24; cited by
Chintaharan Chakravarti, The Tantras: Studies in Their Relioion and Literature
(Calcutta, 1963), p. 32.
320 Hazra, p. 227.
History of Religions
prompted by Niirada to teach a iEstra suitable for bastard sons
of married women and widows, for their welfare.321
This argument-that only lowly men should follow heretical
texts-is somewhat undercut by the important doctrine which
states that in the Kali age, the present age, all men have fallen
below the spiritual level necessary for Vedic religion and must
proceed by the "stairs" of heresy. This doctrine, which is foreshadowed in the Br%hmanas,322is only fully developed in much
later texts. It is significant that 8iva is said to be the god of the
Kali yuga,323 as this is the age in which the ~ a i v heresies
a
flourish.
I n the Kali age, Brahmins and Kyatriyas become Vamas, PaBupatas, and PLii~ariitras;3~~
Siidras become heretic as~etics,3~5
shaving their heads, wearing ochre robes, and propounding false
doctrines;326 Kapiilikas are omnipresent ;327 and all kinds of heresy
are rampant.328 8iidra kings support heretics, who teach evil rituals
and sell the Vedas;329 men become heretics, thinking themselves
wise.330 Under the influence of the Kali age, man of his nature
becomes wicked and inolined to all sins.331 I n fact, the degree to
which the Kali age is upon us may be measured precisely by the
degree to which heresy thrives.332 It is in the Kali age that the
curses of Dadhica and Gautama are to take effect.333 Wilson
interprets the Kali age heresies as Buddhist or Saiva and remarks:
..
later date, or in the cighth and ninth centuries, when Saiikara is said to have
331
336
337
History of Religions
MciwvadharmaiBtra, 9.301-2.
ArthaiBtra, 1.3.14-17.
Vdmana Purcina, 49.1-14; my summary.
Ibid., 50.1-26.