I am going to take a brief digress to explain how Worshiping Hindus who are worried about what has happened so far should view this.
"Digestion" is a metaphor using by Shri Rajiv Malhotra, whose tireless efforts have brought both the various modern day concerns over the treatment of Hinduism in "Hindu Studies" Academia and in the way that Western Studies seems to be absorbing "Hindu" concepts without acknowledgement of any serious kind. This is a tricky issue in the context of "the H-Source". But as a one-liner, "Digestion does not really apply". To understand why needs a more detailed argument.
The Hurro-Mitanni were quite Hindu and probably among the foremost Hindus of the time. We do not know all the detail here, but in my view they were Hindu. The Ras Shamra texts were readaptations of Hinduism into Canaan and they must be viewed as such. I was very concerned when people suggested that this might be interpreted as "indebtedness". No. They were Hindus alright and as polytheists and they practiced their religion which has much in common with the religion of the East. The Hurro-Canaanite religion had an Indo-Aryan Priestly class that had very Aryan names some of whom probably did speak a version of Sanskrit early on. They were truly heir to the rich legacy of Hinduism. Why they chose to readapt the stories to suit native custom and convention during the time of Ras Shamra is best understood from reading Keret and the various interpretations on the politics around Keret as Pederson and others have explained. Atthani Puruleni wanted the locals to relate personally to the deities and to have a relationship with their own identity and the Gods.
There are of course two alternate but far less probable possibilities - one, that the legends from Ras Shamra and Homer and the Bible moved and became part of Eastern Theology which became Hinduism(this is the least likely), the other that there was some common derivative scripture that was carried by the Aryans who showed up in both India and Canaan. What makes this less likely is the cross-cultural references that we note as well- there is Yavana in the Matsya Purana, and Haritha. And there is Harita-Kirata linked in the Ramayana(and Keret!) as we previously saw. And then there are the references to Sara and the Brahma-Narayana-Hara Trinity in the OT. And also Bharatarna and Shuttarna, Tushrata. The breadth of the commonality implies that if they both originated in a third source, by now a third source with Sanskrit names of this order outside Euprates-Jordan and the Indus-Gangetic locations would also have been found. The Kirata-Hariya reference along with the story as we interpret it makes it very clear that that we are dealing with the same thing and when we extend it into the OT-Matsya Purana link, it becomes very clear as to the direction of flow, and that
both sides knew each other!!(at the time when they were updated).
My hope and prayer is that some day a "Moola Ramayana" is found that further explains all this. But it is difficult to explain a case when both the Ramayana and the Vedas originated outside India and both were brought into the sub-continent.
Turning now to Digestion, I feel that the readaptation of both Ras Shamra texts and the OT (at the time of the Polytheistic Bible) should not be viewed as Digestion, as they are the works of a people who had once a link but then lost it and as a result the connection to the root actually disappeared after the death of the Mitanni. It goes without saying that the relationship is strong and there is a case to be made that it should be understood and included in all serious "Religious Studies" of an academic nature. For worshipers, too, it has much value, I do believe, but worship is a personal question and I am going to make a value judgement nad say that it is outside the scope of this blog.
Digestion was not the intention of Atthani Puruleni and sure those who wrote the Bible. As time went on, another concept(I argue along with Dr. Subhash Kak), namely Monotheism, supplanted what was then a polytheistic geography and became the law. The Madai (or the Midianites) who probably also had substantive Indo-Aryan links held on their beliefs and today we see the Yazidis. But at the time, it came to include some form of Atenism and this evolved in the cauldron of what was once a polytheistic Bible to become a form of Judaism that was then rewritten to become the Torah post the Babylonian Exile. There is no deliberate Digestion in what shaped any of it, and the fact that even today there is a path back to the H-Source for a discerning eye, makes it very clear that we need to avoid discussing Digestion in this context. It just so happened, but God makes some things available and clear.
Digestion is feared as it is seen as an evangelical tactic or strategy aimed at gaining an upper hand in inter-faith interaction and for claiming greater fellowship. But this all happened 3000 years ago and for this reason it is better to recognize the deep-rooted connections rather than pursue isolationist policies unless people lack the ability to get along (as religions sometimes can collide). It is better though that a more enlightened perspective be developed in academia rather than in common media
as the debates in Media sometimes get ugly and go nowhere. But it is better to work together and recognize a truth even if it can prove to be inconvenient to some.(or many).
Now that we hope, we can work towards a kinship among the communities and a better sense of understanding. We share a common religious culture that unites us. We have had distinctive evolution but we are not so irreconcilably different. My hope is that conceptually, Abrahamic Religion is best viewed as a offshoot of a common Root Vedo-Puranic Faith, that even is very the
core of today's Hinduism. This Vedo-Puranic faith is best viewed as Early Hinduism.
To be sure, we have to note that Egyptian and Mesopotamian faiths have substantive roles in the shaping of Abrahamic Religions, but there needs to be comprehended the notion that as scripture goes the closeness to Vedo-Purana needs to be underlined more today.
"Digestion" is a metaphor using by Shri Rajiv Malhotra, whose tireless efforts have brought both the various modern day concerns over the treatment of Hinduism in "Hindu Studies" Academia and in the way that Western Studies seems to be absorbing "Hindu" concepts without acknowledgement of any serious kind. This is a tricky issue in the context of "the H-Source". But as a one-liner, "Digestion does not really apply". To understand why needs a more detailed argument.
The Hurro-Mitanni were quite Hindu and probably among the foremost Hindus of the time. We do not know all the detail here, but in my view they were Hindu. The Ras Shamra texts were readaptations of Hinduism into Canaan and they must be viewed as such. I was very concerned when people suggested that this might be interpreted as "indebtedness". No. They were Hindus alright and as polytheists and they practiced their religion which has much in common with the religion of the East. The Hurro-Canaanite religion had an Indo-Aryan Priestly class that had very Aryan names some of whom probably did speak a version of Sanskrit early on. They were truly heir to the rich legacy of Hinduism. Why they chose to readapt the stories to suit native custom and convention during the time of Ras Shamra is best understood from reading Keret and the various interpretations on the politics around Keret as Pederson and others have explained. Atthani Puruleni wanted the locals to relate personally to the deities and to have a relationship with their own identity and the Gods.
There are of course two alternate but far less probable possibilities - one, that the legends from Ras Shamra and Homer and the Bible moved and became part of Eastern Theology which became Hinduism(this is the least likely), the other that there was some common derivative scripture that was carried by the Aryans who showed up in both India and Canaan. What makes this less likely is the cross-cultural references that we note as well- there is Yavana in the Matsya Purana, and Haritha. And there is Harita-Kirata linked in the Ramayana(and Keret!) as we previously saw. And then there are the references to Sara and the Brahma-Narayana-Hara Trinity in the OT. And also Bharatarna and Shuttarna, Tushrata. The breadth of the commonality implies that if they both originated in a third source, by now a third source with Sanskrit names of this order outside Euprates-Jordan and the Indus-Gangetic locations would also have been found. The Kirata-Hariya reference along with the story as we interpret it makes it very clear that that we are dealing with the same thing and when we extend it into the OT-Matsya Purana link, it becomes very clear as to the direction of flow, and that
both sides knew each other!!(at the time when they were updated).
My hope and prayer is that some day a "Moola Ramayana" is found that further explains all this. But it is difficult to explain a case when both the Ramayana and the Vedas originated outside India and both were brought into the sub-continent.
Turning now to Digestion, I feel that the readaptation of both Ras Shamra texts and the OT (at the time of the Polytheistic Bible) should not be viewed as Digestion, as they are the works of a people who had once a link but then lost it and as a result the connection to the root actually disappeared after the death of the Mitanni. It goes without saying that the relationship is strong and there is a case to be made that it should be understood and included in all serious "Religious Studies" of an academic nature. For worshipers, too, it has much value, I do believe, but worship is a personal question and I am going to make a value judgement nad say that it is outside the scope of this blog.
Digestion was not the intention of Atthani Puruleni and sure those who wrote the Bible. As time went on, another concept(I argue along with Dr. Subhash Kak), namely Monotheism, supplanted what was then a polytheistic geography and became the law. The Madai (or the Midianites) who probably also had substantive Indo-Aryan links held on their beliefs and today we see the Yazidis. But at the time, it came to include some form of Atenism and this evolved in the cauldron of what was once a polytheistic Bible to become a form of Judaism that was then rewritten to become the Torah post the Babylonian Exile. There is no deliberate Digestion in what shaped any of it, and the fact that even today there is a path back to the H-Source for a discerning eye, makes it very clear that we need to avoid discussing Digestion in this context. It just so happened, but God makes some things available and clear.
Digestion is feared as it is seen as an evangelical tactic or strategy aimed at gaining an upper hand in inter-faith interaction and for claiming greater fellowship. But this all happened 3000 years ago and for this reason it is better to recognize the deep-rooted connections rather than pursue isolationist policies unless people lack the ability to get along (as religions sometimes can collide). It is better though that a more enlightened perspective be developed in academia rather than in common media
as the debates in Media sometimes get ugly and go nowhere. But it is better to work together and recognize a truth even if it can prove to be inconvenient to some.(or many).
Now that we hope, we can work towards a kinship among the communities and a better sense of understanding. We share a common religious culture that unites us. We have had distinctive evolution but we are not so irreconcilably different. My hope is that conceptually, Abrahamic Religion is best viewed as a offshoot of a common Root Vedo-Puranic Faith, that even is very the
core of today's Hinduism. This Vedo-Puranic faith is best viewed as Early Hinduism.
To be sure, we have to note that Egyptian and Mesopotamian faiths have substantive roles in the shaping of Abrahamic Religions, but there needs to be comprehended the notion that as scripture goes the closeness to Vedo-Purana needs to be underlined more today.
