Historical research on the ancient Vedic civilization requires an objective interpretation of the religion derived from the original Vedic texts. Such an objective interpretation will help the relative chronology of the Vedic text when compared with other Indo European religions.
The two main source groups for interpreting the Vedic texts can be classified as traditionalist and revisionist. The traditionalist include mainly the Uttara Mimamsa school of thoughts of Shankaracharya, Ramanujacharya, Madhvacharya etc who place Vedanta text above the Vedas. Every other traditional school of thoughts do not differ from Uttara Mimamsa in assigning a mere ritualistic purpose to the vedic text. The revisionist school of thought have sprung up in response to challenges raised by Nastik ideologies (opposition to Vedic schools not necessarily atheist). These include Arya Samaj, Brahmo Samaj, Hindutvavadis, neo Vedantist etc. The revisionist interpret texts to prove that the Vedic religion contained various kind of concepts ranging from nationalism, anti idol worship, liberalism, secularism etc.
Unfortunately both the traditionalist and the revisionist engage in "brushing under the carpet" tactics of text that does not fit their philosophy. Hence their interpretation often provides limited value for historical research.
For historical research, we must objectively attempt to understand the Vedic rishis's religion. Their religion can be very different from traditionalist and revisionist's version which is influenced by later developments. For example concepts that are fundamental to traditionalist such as karma, pralaya, yugas etc do not exist in Rigveda.
A breakthrough in understanding the Vedic religion happened with the publication of Aurobindo's "The secret of Vedas". Aurobindo presented a psychological framework where the various puzzle pieces of the Vedic religion started to fit. He himself claimed that the objective of his book was not to be comprehensive but to give the initial impetus. His hope was that others would follow and help shape it in the future. Given the vast Vedic literature, this task cannot be completed by one person. Unfortunately, Aurobindo's work has not received much attention beyond a small group of his devotees.
In series of blogs, I am planning to present Aurobindo's framework. I am also hoping to attempt the relative chronology of Rigveda and Avesta. I hope several people will take up the challenge of understanding the Vedic religion and the comparative study of other Indo-European religion. This will help us understand not only our Vedic ancestors but also who we are.
