Vratya

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Vratya ( Sanskrit , m., व्रात्य, vrātya, "member of a covenant") is derived from the Sanskrit word vrāta ("covenant") and in various Vedas referred to a men's society or a brotherhood . Although the Vratyas belonged to the Aryans , it is not entirely clear whether they broke away from the Vedic traditions and followed their own religion , or whether they came to India as a branch of the Indo-Europeans .

The members of these brotherhoods were young men who stood between the end of their apprenticeship and marriage. At the time of the Rigveda , these young people were organized in groups in which they were made familiar with both the literature of their ancestors and their weapons skills. As unmarried people, they also had to take on certain ritual tasks. After completing the apprenticeship, there were four ways for each young person for his future life: The firstborn son was allowed to marry and later take over the head of the house from the father; so he was at the highest position in the hierarchy of the extended family. All others could either live subordinately to their families or found a new brotherhood with equals in order to achieve the foundations for an independent life by various means. For the rest of the young men there was nothing left but homeless wanderers.

There are clear parallels in the structure of the Vratyas and the Germanic leagues. While Wotan / Odin represented the leader in Europe , it was the god Rudra in ancient India . A brotherhood was led by the Grihapati (head of the house or house father); the group of simple members was called Grama or Sharda (troop, heap).

More detailed description

The Pancavimsha Brahmana (probably 800 BC to 500 BC) describes the Vratyas as follows:

"Both the leader and his followers wear a black turban and a black robe. This gloomy color conveys a lack of light and thus danger; black is the color of death. In addition to turban and robe, the Vratyas wear a piece of fur on their upper body, which is their social one Special position, because furs are not considered an everyday item of clothing in India. Furthermore, the clothing was deliberately frayed and thus additionally presented the ferocity and inappropriateness of the wearer. A major difference between the leader and the followers lies in the number of belts that are worn . The Grihapati only wears one, as he is only bound to his deity, Rudra. The men of the troop, on the other hand, wear two belts, because they are linked on the one hand to the god and on the other hand to the leader two different draft animals (donkey and cow) are drawn in order to attract them drifting he has a long stick. He also has a bow and a quiver with three arrows. These three arrows symbolize Rudra in heaven, in the air and on earth. "

It is known of the brotherhoods and men's associations in Europe that they displayed extremely aggressive behavior. This type of behavior has also been documented for the Vratyas in India, whereby it is noticeable that they primarily harassed a very specific target group. They behaved inconsiderately and obscenely towards kings and brahmins , to whom they called at certain times during the winter months. Their leader was exempt from this ferocity, as he represents the oppressed life, the non-development and death . It was also he who was the only one in the group who slept on the floor, ate no meat and was not allowed to get involved with women. In spite of the filthy behavior that was displayed at the suggestion of the leader, the Vratyas were apparently tolerated tacitly.

source

  • Harry Falk: Brotherhood and dice game. Investigations into the history of the development of the Vedic sacrifice . Freiburg 1986.

literature

  • JW Hauer: The Vratya. Studies on the non-Brahmanical religion of ancient India, I . Stuttgart 1927.
  • Samarendranath Biswas: The Vratyas and the Vratyastomas . Dissertation FU Berlin 1955.