Samhitas, Brahmanas, Upanishads
The Samhitas, Brahmanas & Upanishads of the Vedas exhibit a trend to
The Samhitas contain simple hymns; The Brahmanas involve complicated rituals whereas The Upanishads take religion beyond liturgy.
The Samhitas contained simple hymns to be sung or recited without much ritual. The Brahmanas involved complicated rituals with the hymns as accompaniments. The Upanishads take religion beyond liturgy.
In the Samhitas monism has been introduced. However in the Upanishads monism forms the philosophical basis. Infinite, eternal, almighty and self-existent are the adjectives used to describe the ultimate reality. The other deities mentioned in the Samhitas are manifestations of this singular universal reality. The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad narrates a dialogue between Sakalya and Yagnavalkya. Yagnavalkya tells Sakalya that there is One God who is called Prana (Breath), Brahm or That. The rest are merely the different powers that this one God exercises. When He burns He is Agni, when He blows the clouds He is Vayu and so on.
The Upanishads did not break away from the anthropomorphic theology that was in practice. They built their thought processes around this theology. One of the reasons could be that everyone would not understand the philosophy of the Upanishads and hence for the sake of those who would not understand it, it was best not to disturb the prevalent practices.
The Samhitas speak of an external world. The order or ritu of the external world is maintained by the unity of the Brahm of which the world is a manifestation. The Upanishads postulate that the same reality exists within us. The Atma or soul within us is essentially the same as Brahm. It is given a different name because of the apparent difference of inwardness and outwardness. The aim of life therefore becomes to dispel this illusion by seeking inward and realizing that we are also manifestations of the same Brahm. The Taittiriya Upanishad describes the body as Brahm’s sheath.
The Upanishads do not prescribe sacrifices as vehicles for material gain or as sufficient to attain salvation. Freedom from the cycles of birth and death can only be achieved through spiritual perfection and hence prayers and sacrifices must be viewed in this perspective. Each time that we are born gives us an opportunity to come closer to the spiritual perfection and hence we must utilize each life well.
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