ring their very early invasions, the Aryans probably encountered the remnants of a once-flourishing and magnificent civilization along the banks of the Indus River, one of the five major rivers of the Punjab and northwestern India (37). This river culture is called the Harappan or the Indus civilization and it existed from about 2500 to 1800 B.C. (Herman 37). Herman argues that many elements in Hinduism may be traceable, not to the Aryans, but to the Harappans instead. Among such elements he lists phallic worship, worship of the Great Mother, the cult of trees, water, and animals, beliefs in transmigration and liberation, and a host of indigenous village deities, demons, ghosts and spirits (Herman 49).
Generally, four Sanskrit terms express the different aspects of Hinduism: mata, dharma, bhakti, and marga. Mata means teachings or doctrines. Basically, the mata of a sect is its collection of opinions about god, the world, sin and man (Organ 4). Dharma means the duties, obligations, rules and guides one should follow based on one's birth and status (Organ 4). Thus, when used with regard to man, dharma means what a man should do by reason of his nature as a man. Bhakti indicates the feeling of devotion toward an object of worship (Organ 4). Finally, marga is the path or way prescribed in order to reach a destination or to satisfy a desire (Organ 4).
The Vedas ("veda" is from the Sanskrit root vid, "to know," hence the Vedas are the books of knowledge) introduced by the Aryans are said to contain all possible knowledge about man and the gods (Herman 50). They include the collection of Vedic hymns; the Brahmans or commentaries on these hymns; the Aranyakas or forest treatises, which are recitations to be chanted by the celibates who lived a retired and solitary life in the forest; and finally, the Upanisads, the philosophical speculations on the Vedic hymns (Herman 50).
The Vedic hymns, in turn, fall into four groups...