Nastanak i poreklo asketskog ideala u Indiji

Abstract

The culture of asceticism is especially wide-spread in India, and the ascetic ideal has been the most recognizable element of religious experience since ancient times. By the middle of the first millennium BC Vedic religion had reached the stage of complex ritualism with ritual sacrifice as its basic trait. There appeared a stable social form of a married head of the family, who only as a mature, family man was ready to be a sacrificer. This was how the duty of an individual, or the obligation of the dharma (dhárma), was understood during the Vedic period, as it was inseparably linked to the social and family duties. The belief in reincarnation did not exist yet. The ascetic tendencies are first to be found in the abstinence of Brahmins in the course of the preparations for the ritual, in which case the ascetic activity is linked to a ritual which was considered to be the only path to salvation. The earliest ascetic practice was thus the logical result of the maturation of Vedic theology of sacrifice. The motives for abstinence and meditation could also be found in the area of magic. The practice of yoga itself originates from self-hypnosis, which was practiced for the purpose of obtaining magical powers. Most scientists believe that the doctrine of reincarnation was inherited from the indigenous inhabitants of India. That was followed by the formation of the common terminology, accepted by all religious traditions: samsara (saṃsāra), moksha (mokṣa), karma (kárma)... The meaning of the term karma was changed through its separation from the Brahmanic ritual context. The main goal of the ascetic effort became a transcendence of the desire and the attachment for this illusory world, a liberation - moksha. The soteriological course was changed, and the idea of liberation replaced that of a heavenly reward, which was the ideal of the Vedic man. Ascetics who strive for liberation are called sannyasins, which means 'those who have departed', the absent ones or hermits.