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COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS 2 Cognition of Veda and Revelation of Torah Traditional representations of Vedic cognition and the Sinai revelation are concerned with the mechanisms through which the unbounded Word came to be embodied on earth in a bounded corpus of texts. In the case of both Veda and Torah this process of embodiment involves not only instantiation in a concrete textual "body" but also in-corporation in the social "body" of a particular people-the Aryan community or the people of Israel-who constitute their identity in relation to the texts. In reviewing these representations one is immediately struck by the relative paucity of brahmanical speculations in comparison with Jewish speculations. While the poets of the ~g-Veda speak self-referentially about the processes through which their cognitions occurred, later Vedic and post-Vedic texts take it for granted that the ancient r~is were the seers of the Vedic mantras and consequently give less emphasis to the detailed mechanisms of cognition. Brahmanical texts from the period of the Brahm8.I).as onward tend to focus instead on the authoritative status of the r~is themselves, as the primordial ancestors of the Aryan people and of the brahmanicallineages in particular, and as the initiators of the sacrificial and recitative traditions of the karma-kcu:uja and the metaphysical traditions of the jiiima-ki17:uf,a. Rabbinic and Zoharic discussions of the revelation of the Torah, on the other hand, are concerned to explicate every detail of the Sinai event: when and where the Torah was given, to whom it was given, how it was given, and so on. The clarification of such matters is considered of vital importance not only to establish the transcendent authority of the Written Torah and Oral Torah but also to establish the special destiny of Israel among all nations as God's chosen people. Cosmogonic vs. Historical "Event" These differences in orientation are linked to the temporal frame within which the traditions are presented-whether cosmogonic, in the case of Vedic cognition, or historical, in the case ofthe Sinai revelation . 325 326 Veda and Torah The authority of the r~is' cognitions derives from the special status of the r~is as semidivine beings who emerged in the very beginning of creation as the progenitors of the human race and the forefathers of the Aryan people. The ancient r~is are represented as seers of truth and knowers of brahman/Brahman who cognized the primordial mantras and sacrifices by means of which the creation itself was brought forth. Through their cognitions the r~is gained access to the mysteries of creation and assisted the gods in producing the phenomenal world. The process of cognition is thus presented not as an historical event occurring in a particular time and place but as a cosmogonic "event" occurring in the beginning of creation -and, according to post-Vedic texts, recurring at the onset of each new cycle. This "event" is not described in terms of historical actualities but is represented rather as a paradigmatic process occurring within the depths of the individual seer's consciousness. What is important above all is the status of the r~is themselves as beings of highly developed consciousness· capable of fathoming the deepest levels of reality where the Vedic mantras abide. Once that status is established then the transcendent authority of the seers' knowledge and the lines of tradition (va1!1sas) initiated by them is established. In particular, the authority of the priestly lineages is ensured, not only on the basis of their role as the custodians of the recitative and sacrificial traditions inaugurated by the r~is, but also on the basis of the lines of descent that link each brahmanical gotra to a particular seer. In contrast to the cosmogonic context in which the r~is' cognitions are framed, the revelation of the Torah is represented as an historical event that occurred at a particular time and place to a particular people. Moreover, whereas Vedic cognition is represented as an internal process occurring within the consciousness of the individual r~i, the Sinai revelation is portrayed as an external event that was collectively experienced by the people of Israel as a community. This communal event is regarded as the pivotal event in the salvation history ofthe Jewish people, in which the Israelites were singled out from among all nations to be the recipients of the Torah and to enter into an everlasting covenant with their God. In this context certain...

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