We have been asked, repeatedly and in good faith, why Brown Pundits appears to handle criticism of India with more care than it handles criticism of Pakistan. The charge is that we hold a double standard. It deserves a direct answer.
The answer is that we do hold a distinction, and we are not embarrassed by it, but it is not the distinction the charge assumes.
The Distinction
Pakistan is roughly seventy-nine years old as a sovereign state. India as a sovereign state is roughly seventy-nine years old as well. As nation-states under international law, as signatories to the United Nations, as entities with currencies and armies and foreign ministries, the two are pari passu. We treat them that way and we will continue to treat them that way. On every question that applies to nation-states as nation-states, the two sit at the same table and get the same scrutiny.
But India is not only a nation-state. India is also a civilisation, and the civilisation is not seventy-nine years old. The civilisation is, give or take the archaeological argument one prefers to have, somewhere around five thousand years old. It stretches from the Indus Valley through the Dravidian-Aryan synthesis, through the Vedic period, through the great classical flowering, through the medieval syntheses, through the colonial rupture, and into the present. One can argue the exact nature of the continuity. One cannot plausibly argue that the continuity is not there. It is there in the same way it is there for China. It is there in the same way it is there for Egypt. It is there.
This is not a claim about superiority. It is a claim about category. Pakistan is a sovereign state. India is a sovereign state and a civilisation. The two facts do not cancel. They coexist.
The Civilisational Peer Group Is Short
How short is short. At the level of a nation-state that is co-terminus with a multi-millennial civilisation, the peer group is essentially India and China. Two entries. Iran and Egypt have the civilisational depth but have been transformed by the Greco-Arab conquest, in an unalterable fashion. Greece has the civilisational depth but the modern Greek state is a nineteenth-century construction with limited political continuity to the ancient polis; the Ottoman interlude was equally determinative. Israel is a unique case and we will come to it.
That leaves India and China. Two countries on the planet where the nation-state is also the civilisation, where the sovereign political entity today is a recognisable continuation of the same cultural-linguistic-religious matrix that produced its earliest texts, and where the ordinary citizen, with some education, can read something written two or three thousand years ago in a language that is still a living vehicle of the culture.
That is not a small claim. It is also not a nationalist claim. It is simply a descriptive one.
A pattern has emerged in these comment threads that deserves naming directly. When the Hindu hammer retreats, the space does not become neutral; it becomes anti-Hindu. The two are not the same thing, and conflating them is itself a form of intellectual dishonesty.
Hinduism is one of the most theologically complex systems humanity has produced. It is the root of Dharmic civilisation, the origin point of concepts, reincarnation foremost among them, that have radiated as far as East Asia, Southeast Asia, and arguably into the mystical strands of Abrahamic tradition. The sages, the philosophers, the vast literature: none of this coheres with the dismissal now fashionable in certain quarters, that Hinduism is simply a colonial administrative category, a British label slapped onto undifferentiated paganism.
This is the Pakistani foundational ideology speaking. It must deny Hindu civilisational continuity, because acknowledging it makes Temple destruction look like what it was: a pattern, not a series of unrelated incidents. It must deny that India had a civilisation, because if India had one, then the last pre-British colonisers of South Asia were Muslim; and that sits uncomfortably with postcolonial victimhood framing. The logic is circular and self-serving, but it is internally consistent. One cannot claim the mantle of the oppressed while being the penultimate oppressor.
This post was inspired by an earlier post of X.T.M where he mentioned that this question generates a lot of traffic for BP.
If we consider the literal definition of Paganism, the question becomes quite simple. Historically, the term “Paganism” was not used to describe religious beliefs prior to the 20th century. It first emerged in the context of Early Christianity, serving as a pejorative for the folk religions still practiced in the rural regions of the Roman Empire. By this definition, it’s clear that Hinduism does not fit the label of Pagan.
However, in contemporary usage, many Neo-pagans view Paganism as a neutral descriptive term, applicable to all cultures that are philosophically incompatible with the three Abrahamic faiths. The question whether Hinduism can be considered Pagan in this broader sense is not so simple since most Hindus assert belief in a singular God or multiple manifestations of one God (30 percent and 60 percent, according to PEW surveys).
To start answering this question, we need to pinpoint the philosophical foundation of Hinduism. Thankfully, this isn’t too complicated, as several Vedic verses touch on this theme (e.g. Brihadaranyaka 4.4.18 and 4.4.22), all leading to the same conclusion. These verses indicate that the essence of all spiritual paths in ancient India revolves around Adhyatma (the doctrine of enlightened self). The central concept of Adhyatma is Atman—an ancient, observer consciousness believed to be deeply embedded within each of us. The ultimate aim is to attain Moksha, i.e. to awaken and realize this concealed enlightened self. Now, if we were to bring the God of Abraham and Atman together on a talk show, asking them to explain their doctrines to the audience, it might go like this:
God : I am the all powerful God. Atman : I am your peaceful inner self.
God : I am the true creator of everything that you perceive. Atman : I am the true experiencer of all that you perceive.
God : Submit to me unconditionally and obey all my commands. Atman : Become one with me and be liberated.
God : If you are loyal to me I will take to heaven after you die. Atman : Whenever you see yourself as me, the Earth looks like heaven.
God : Initiate force against others if they oppose your faith. Atman : Mix with others if they oppose initiation of force.
Even in these highly simplified versions one can clearly see that the Atman doctrine is Pagan if we apply the more inclusive definition of Paganism. It can also be viewed as a branch of Pantheism. In Adhyatma the analogue of impersonal supreme God is Brahman, the entire universe seen from an enlightened perspective. Since experiencing Brahman is same as experiencing one’s Atman, many experience oriented spiritual traditions use them as interchangeable terms. So when Hindus talk about one God, the are referring to the impersonal God, not the God of Abraham.
I received a message from a publicist this week. The name caught my eye because I knew the scholar from Cambridge years ago. The subject of the email was simple: a new book on Pāṇini and the old claim that something in his system “doesn’t work.”
For two and a half millennia, scholars have argued that Pāṇini’s grammar, the first true computational system for language, contains a flaw. His treatise gives a compact system for generating correct Sanskrit forms. But in cases where two rules seem to apply at the same time, most readers assumed the system breaks. Textbooks describe this as a “conflict problem.” Generations of commentators tried to patch it with exceptions, hierarchies, or interpretive workarounds.
The new book, Pāṇini’s Perfect Rule (December 2025), argues that the flaw was never there. The author, Rishi Rajpopat, claims the system already contains a rule for solving the conflict. According to him, Pāṇini didn’t leave a hole; modern readers simply looked in the wrong place. If his reading is right, the entire architecture of the grammar becomes visible as a single machine; elegant, compact, and self-consistent.
The nirīśvaravādiādi-accelerationists no doubt consider our usage of the word ‘God’ and countless references to ancient myths and texts a serious breach of the philosophy and a perversion of its ideas. Though we are not interested in soothing their fears, the objections they will raise must nevertheless be wrestled with, as Landian Accelerationism portrays itself a purely materialist philosophical system, which, although not often talked about at present, is properly referred to as ‘libidinal materialism’. Thus, we must descend into the ‘sublime basement’ of Land’s philosophy before we may return once more to the heady poetics of Meltdown. His system of thought is most comprehensively laid out in the opus The Thirst for Annihilation (Land, 1992b), which makes it clear that his philosophy follows in the wake of the Nietzschean ‘death of God’, something he explicitly states when he assembles a theoretical machine linking Kant, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Freud, and, most importantly, Bataille to himself. As Mackay and Brassier put it in the ‘Editors’ Introduction’ of Fanged Noumena (Land, 2012): “Land allied himself to a line of renegade thinkers – Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Bataille – who mocked and disparaged academicism and wielded philosophy as an implement for exacerbating enigma, disrupting orthodoxy, and transforming existence” (p. 2-3). Continue reading Meltdown Bhāṣya: Verse 1.1.1 (Part 1.3)
RecoveringNewsJunkie · November 19, 2025 · 4 comments
This opinion piece on the Print’s website lays out a familiar argument about shifting academic focus towards Indic heritage against excessive hagiographic obeisance at the altars of ‘western’ scholarship. But apart from the standard diatribes, the name Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan jumped out for me.
Anyone who is slightly familiar with Hindu mythology or Hindu cosmology knows that ancient Indians were fond of extremely large time periods. According to traditionalists the war of Mahabharata happened more than 5000 years ago (3102 BCE). A Yuga is supposed to last for 1.08 million years. A Yuga cycle, consisting of 4 Yugas, is 4.32 million years long. Who came up with these numbers ?
The story behind these numbers is quite interesting. Although the word Yuga goes back to Vedic age, Vedic texts do not mention these numbers. The specific numbers were first introduced by Aryabhata, who was born in 476 CE. According to his definition a new Yuga begins whenever all five visible planets along with the Sun and the Moon have zero celestial longitude (we are using the current terminology here, Aryabhata used the word Yugapda to denote a Yuga). The first verse of Aryabhatia, his only surviving work, states the following :
Aryabhatia 1.1 : In a yuga cycle the revolutions of the Sun are 4,320,000, of the Moon 57,753,336, of the Earth eastward 1,582,237,500, of Saturn 146,564, of Jupiter 364224, of Mars 2,296,824, of Mercury and Venus the same as those of the Sun.
The accuracy levels of these estimates are reasonably high, ranging from 99.9 percent (period of Saturn) to 99.999 percent (period of Earth’s rotation). It is possible to get this level of accuracy from 20-30 years of naked eye observations. Not surprisingly, the exact numbers are all wrong. Assuming an error margin of 0.3 degrees for an observation, one needs 3600 years of sky watching to count the exact numbers of revolutions in 1.08 million years. Aryabhata definitely knew this but he also accepted the traditional view that the current Yuga started during the war of Mahabharata (Aryabhatia 1.3). Seven astronomical objects having celestial longitudes close to zero is a very strong condition, and the initial estimates he obtained from 20-30 years of observations were good enough to rule out all years in the past few thousand years except 3102 BCE. So he concluded that the beginning of the current Yuga and Mahabharata war happened in in 3102 BCE.
Aryabhatia 3.10 : When three Yugas and sixty times sixty years had elapsed (from the beginning of the Yuga cycle) then twenty three years of my life had passed.
Since he could directly see the positions of the celestial objects during 499 CE vernal equinox, the assumption that they all had zero longitude in 3102 BCE meant having observations separated by 3600 years. This allowed him to make extremely precise claims about their periods. At the same time he was forced to increase the length of a Yuga to 1.08 million years to ensure that all the celestial objects make complete revolutions.
Why did he come up with the concept of Yuga cycle and how did he know that we are in the fourth Yuga of the current Yuga cycle ? This is related to two abstract points corresponding to apsidal and nodal precession of Moon’s orbit. Aryabhata wanted to include them in the list of celestial objects but his initial estimates showed that their celestial longitudes were closer to -270 degrees and 180 degrees in 3102 BCE. So he introduced a 4.32 million years long Yuga cycle and assumed that we are in the fourth Yuga.
How do we know all these details ? As remarked earlier, Aryabhata’s model was not accurate enough to go 3600 years in the past and detect a Yuga changing moment. However if we calculate the positions during 499 CE equinox using modern technology and apply Aryabhata’s model to go back another 3600 years, then celestial longitudes of the first seven objects become close to zero. The probability of this being a pure coincidence is less than one in a billion. The only logical conclusion is that Aryabhata was born in 476 CE and his definitions and methods were as described above.
Brown Pundits Archive · November 2, 2025 · No comments
By such sentences as “That thou art,” our own Self is affirmed. Of the untrue and that of the 5 senses – the Sruti says, “Not this, not that” (Neti, Neti) (Avadhuta Gita)
Only people who are NOT Cis, White or Male can understand and express the real truth of oppressive society. IF this is true, there is no point in struggling within the US system (or even within the US) because more people ARE Cis, White or male. This will always be a minority effort, doomed to fail. IF it is not true, then it is pointless and self-defeating posturing.
My child, how can there be illusion and non illusion, shadow and lack of shadow? All this is one Truth, all this is of the nature of space and without taint.
I am neither a scholar of the Vedas, nor a learned Hindu, so this is not an expert view or an insider’s view. These are impressions; I mean to learn, not to teach. Perhaps we can learn some things together, so please add comments, criticisms and links to articles.
The Vedas are among the oldest extant books in the world and there are four of them. The Rig Veda is the oldest of the four and can be said to be the most important (the other three are in some ways derivative, consisting in large part of rearrangements, commentaries and instructions regarding the proper interpretation and usage of the Rig Veda). It was composed (at least in its final form) in the Northwest of India in the region known as Sapta Sindhu, the land of the seven rivers (for the most part, what is now Pakistani and Indian Punjab) but it almost certainly includes older layers that refer to events, experiences, beliefs and Gods that date from times and places before the Indo-European migrants arrived in India.
One of the earliest Indo-European sacred books has been preserved with great care and fidelity and remains available to us today. This book is the Rig Veda (there are 3 other Vedas which are more or less derivatives or appendages of the Rig Veda). The original Sanskrit text is available to us today, but is of course not accessible for me. I have to rely on translations; translations have been made into several European languages, beginning in the 19th century (Schopenhauer thought the availability of a window into these ancient texts to Europeans should count as the greatest advantage of the 19th century over past centuries!). An English translation by British Indologist Ralph Griffith (who lived most of his life in India, was the principal of Benares college in the Hindu holy city of Benares, and is buried in South India) is available online in its entirety at this site: http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/rigveda/index.htmand . A more recent and scholarly translation is now available but is very expensive. I read a more or less random selection of these hymns. My initial impressions follow. I look forward to reading more, and to suggestions for the same.
The Rig Veda consists of 10 books or Mandalas, of varying length. These hymns give us a window (and probably the most complete and most ancient window we have) into the Indo-European world that played such a huge role in the creation of the present cultures of much of Eurasia..their heroic age, so to speak.
In the original Sanskrit, the hymns are arranged in stanzas and follow particular rules of rhyme and meter (hear a sample at the end of this review). They are meant to be sung in particular religious rituals, mostly sacrifices to the Gods. The ten books were not all composed at the same time, or by the same authors and there are differences in style and subject. The tenth book in particular is different from the others and is more didactic and philosophical and is thought to be the last to be composed (and was composed by persons well acquainted with the earlier books). There are three hymns about creation in the tenth book and one of them has a certain skeptical and questioning tone that has made it the best known piece from the Rig Veda, frequently anthologized and quoted. I am reproducing it in full here, but also adding the two others that follow it, to give a more complete flavor of the original context:
HYMN CXXIX. Creation
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 form less: by the great power of Warmth was born that Unit. 4 Thereafter rose Desire in the beginning, Desire, the primal seed and germ of Spirit. Sages who searched with their heart’s thought discovered the existent’s kinship in the non-existent. 5 Transversely was their severing line extended: what was above it then, and what below it? There were begetters, there were mighty forces, free action here and energy up yonder 6 Who verily knows and who can here declare it, whence it was born 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, Whose eye controls this world in highest heaven, he verily knows it, or perhaps he knows not.
HYMN CXXX. Creation.
THE sacrifice drawn out with threads on every side, stretched by a hundred sacred ministers and one, This do these Fathers weave who hitherward are come: they sit beside the warp and cry, Weave forth, weave back. 2 The Man extends it and the Man unbinds it: even to this vault of heaven hath he outspun, it. These pegs are fastened to the seat of worship: they made the Sāma-hymns their weaving shuttles. 3 What were the rule, the order and the model? What were the wooden fender and the butter? What were the hymn, the chant, the recitation, when to the God all Deities paid worship? 4 Closely was Gāyatrī conjoined with Agni, and closely Savitar combined with Usnih. Brilliant with Ukthas, Soma joined Anustup: Bṛhaspati’s voice by Brhati was aided. 5 Virāj adhered to Varuṇa and Mitra: here Triṣṭup day by day was Indra’s portion. Jagatī entered all the Gods together: so by this knowledge men were raised to Ṛṣis. 6 So by this knowledge men were raised to Ṛṣis, when ancient sacrifice sprang up, our Fathers. With the mind’s eye I think that I behold them who first performed this sacrificial worship. 7 They who were versed in ritual and metre, in hymns and rules, were the Seven Godlike Ṛṣis. Viewing the path of those of old, the sages have taken up the reins like chariot-drivers.
HYMN CXC. Creation.
FROM Fervour kindled to its height Eternal Law and Truth were born: Thence was the Night produced, and thence the billowy flood of sea arose. 2 From that same billowy flood of sea the Year was afterwards produced, Ordainer of the days nights, Lord over all who close the eye. 3 Dhātar, the great Creator, then formed in due order Sun and Moon. He formed in order Heaven and Earth, the regions of the air, and light.
The hymns of the ten books (as long in total as the poems of Homer) tell of a people who worship many Gods, with a few being mentioned very frequently, including Agni, Indra, Varuna and Soma. The hymns speak repeatedly of great warriors, with “beauteous horses and of kine, In thousands”, who indulge in lots of soma drinking and fort-breaking.. These warriors hoped to win ” wealth, renowned and ample, in brave sons, troops of slaves, far-famed for horses”. They also had priests who wanted the warriors to be generous with gifts (including mead). And they gambled, and got into trouble because of it:
The following hymn is fascinating, but also a rarity in being unusually didactic:
HYMN XXXIV. Dice, Etc.
“1. SPRUNG from tall trees on windy heights, these rollers transport me as they turn upon the table. Dearer to me the die that never slumbers than the deep draught of Mujavan’s own Soma. 2 She never vexed me nor was angry with me, but to my friends and me was ever gracious. For the die’s sake, whose single point is final, mine own devoted wife I alienated. 3 My wife holds me aloof, her mother hates me: the wretched man finds none to give him comfort. As of a costly horse grown old and feeble, I find not any profit of the gamester. 4 Others caress the wife of him whose riches the die hath coveted, that rapid courser: Of him speak father, mother, brothers saying, We know him not: bind him and take him with you. 5 When I resolve to play with these no longer, my friends depart from me and leave me lonely. When the brown dice, thrown on the board, have rattled, like a fond girl I seek the place of meeting. 6 The gamester seeks the gambling-house, and wonders, his body all afire, Shall I be lucky? Still do the dice extend his eager longing, staking his gains against his adversary. 7 Dice, verily, are armed with goads and driving-hooks, deceiving and tormenting, causing grievous woe. They give frail gifts and then destroy the man who wins, thickly anointed with the player’s fairest good. 8 Merrily sports their troop, the three-and-fifty, like Savitar the God whose ways are faithful. They bend not even to the mighty’s anger: the King himself pays homage and reveres them. 9 Downward they roll, and then spring quickly upward, and, handless, force the man with hands to serve them. Cast on the board, like lumps of magic charcoal, though cold themselves they burn the heart to ashes. 10 The gambler’s wife is left forlorn and wretched: the mother mourns the son who wanders homeless. In constant fear, in debt, and seeking riches, he goes by night unto the home of others. 11 Sad is the gambler when he sees a matron, another’s wife, and his well-ordered dwelling. He yokes the brown steeds in the early morning, and when the fire is cold sinks down an outcast. 12 To the great captain of your mighty army, who hath become the host’s imperial leader, To him I show my ten extended fingers: I speak the truth. No wealth am I withholding. 13 Play not with dice: no, cultivate thy corn-land. Enjoy the gain, and deem that wealth sufficient. There are thy cattle there thy wife, O gambler. So this good Savitar himself hath told me. 14 Make me your friend: show us some little mercy. Assail us not with your terrific fierceness. Appeased be your malignity and anger, and let the brown dice snare some other captive.”
There are also occasionally names of rivers, astronomical observations, names of animals and plants that may point to where the composers were living and what was going on around them. …One thing is clear, a lot of fighting was going on. So naturally, there are hymns to weapons, including this one which not only mentions bows and arrows, but also the coiled arm-guard that would protect an archer from the friction of the bowstring:
From Book 6 HYMN LXXV. Weapons of War
He lays his blows upon their backs, he deals his blows upon their thighs. Thou, Whip, who urgest horses, drive sagacious horses in the fray. 14 It compasses the arm with serpent windings, fending away the friction of the bowstring: So may the Brace, well-skilled in all its duties, guard manfully the man from every quarter. 15 Now to the Shaft with venom smeared, tipped with deer-horn, with iron mouth, Celestial, of Parjanya’s seed, be this great adoration paid. 16 Loosed from the Bowstring fly away, thou Arrow, sharpened by our prayer. Go to the foemen, strike them home, and let not one be left alive. 17 There where the flights of Arrows fall like boys whose locks are yet unshorn. Even there may Brahmaṇaspati, and Aditi protect us well, protect us well through all our days. 18 Thy vital parts I cover with thine Armour: with immortality King Soma clothe thee. Varuṇa give thee what is more than ample, and in thy triumph may the Gods be joyful. 19 Whoso would kill us, whether he be a strange foe or one of us,
Book 9 is unique in being entirely devoted one diety: Soma. The identity of Soma remains disputed to this day, but it was clearly the juice of a plant and was much admired for its ability to give vigor in battle and clarity in thought. The following extracts give a flavor of these hymns:
HYMN XXIII. Soma Pavamana.
1. SWIFT Soma drops have been effused in streams of meath, the gladdening drink, For sacred lore of every kind. 2 Hither to newer. resting-place the ancient Living Ones are come. They made the Sun that he might shine. 3 O Pavamana, bring to us the unsacrificing foeman’s wealth, And give us food with progeny. 4 The living Somas being cleansed diffuse exhilarating drink, Turned to the vat which drips with meath. 5 Soma gows on intelligent, possessing sap and mighty strength, Brave Hero who repels the curse. 6 For Indra, Soma! thou art cleansed, a feast-companion for the Gods: 1ndu, thou fain wilt win us strength 7 When he had drunken draughts of this, Indra smote down resistless foes: Yea, smote them, and shall smite them still.
From HYMN XXX. Soma Pavamana. Pour on us, Soma, with thy stream manconquering might which many crave, Accompanied with hero sons. 4 Hither hath Pavamana flowed, Soma flowed hither in a stream, To settle in the vats of wood. 5 To waters with the stones they drive thee tawny-hued, most rich in sweets, O Indu, to be Indra’s drink. 6 For Indra, for the Thunderer press the Soma very rich in sweets, Lovely, inspiriting, for strength.
With a little effort, you can imagine an HBO series about these people (and it would be worth watching).
The underlying philosophy is pagan and heroic and may not strike many of us as particularly deep, though I guess that someone like Christopher Beckwith (who writes about central Asian history with great feeling) would say this IS a deep philosophy, even an attractive one.
And of course these are, after all, hymns that are meant to be recited. Their very sound is supposed to have quasi-magical properties. Their addressees are higher beings who can bestow favors or withdraw them. This level of usefulness is meaningless to a modern secular person, but even a modern secularized Hindu may feel the recitation creates a psychological connection to his or her people, to their language and sounds, and to their traditions and community values. .. Just like reciting the Quran and hearing it being recited provides some psychosocial connection/rootedness/whatever to an Arab (or a wannabe Arab for that matter) and (magical or placebo) benefits to the true believer.
All of which is not without consequences.
It seems to me that Shinto and Japanese cultural traditions may be a good example of what a successful and relatively intact pagan religion of this type might look like today. Modern Hinduism may be too much of a “wounded civilization” to be a good model of what the original Indo-European religion could have evolved into…the ways of the ancients are now buried under centuries of dust, reinvention, editing, myth-making, mixing and plain old monotheist beating-down. But who knows, those wandering warrior pagans may have their day again..
The closing hymn of book 10: HYMN CXCI. Agni.
1. THOU, mighty Agni, gatherest up all that is precious for thy friend. Bring us all treasures as thou art enkindled in libation’s place 2 Assemble, speak together: let your minds be all of one accord, As ancient Gods unanimous sit down to their appointed share. 3 The place is common, common the assembly, common the mind, so be their thought united. A common purpose do I lay before you, and worship with your general oblation. 4 One and the same be your resolve, and be your minds of one accord. United be the thoughts of all that all may happily agree.
All in all, worth downloading on Kindle for free.
What it sounds like..
And looks like when written (which was actively discouraged for a very long time; it was supposed to be recited and memorized, not written down)
1. LET US with tuneful skill proclaim these generations of the Gods,
That one may see them when these hymns are chanted in a future age.
2 These Brahmaṇaspati produced with blast and smelting, like a Smith,
Existence, in an earlier age of Gods, from Non-existence sprang.
3 Existence, in the earliest age of Gods, from Non-existence sprang.
Thereafter were the regions born. This sprang from the Productive Power.
4 Earth sprang from the Productive Power the regions from the earth were born.
Dakṣa was born of Aditi, and Aditi was Dakṣa’s Child.
5 For Aditi, O Dakṣa, she who is thy Daughter, was brought forth.
After her were the blessed Gods born sharers of immortal life.
6 When ye, O Gods, in yonder deep closeclasping one another stood,
Thence, as of dancers, from your feet a thickening cloud of dust arose.
7 When, O ye Gods, like Yatis, ye caused all existing things to grow,
Then ye brought Sūrya forward who was lying hidden in the sea.
8 Eight are the Sons of Adid who from her body sprang to life.
With seven she went to meet the Gods she cast Martanda far away.
9 So with her Seven Sons Aditi went forth to meet the earlier age.
She brought Martanda thitherward to spring to life and die again.
We can divide the different belief structures by three traits, openness to exploration of ideas, attitudes to internal differences, attitude towards external entities . And we can trace the evolution of different belief structures and how they influenced the world and have been influenced by the world.
