Conclusion

The concluding chapter reviews the book’s argument and argues that scholars have been confusing cause and effect in attributing the rise of the early Indian religions to a metahistorical distinction between “Brahmanical” and “non-Brahmanical” forces, rather than understanding this distinction as arising historically out of a process of identity formation. I have argued that by dropping the assumption of a fundamental dichotomy between Brahmanism and the śramaṇic tradition, and of the metahistorical priority of the former, we see more clearly how Brahmanical and śramaṇic identities arose in ancient India, and the chapter provides some speculations on the sort of historical model this new methodology might imply. Finally, it discusses the implications the new methodology has for modern Indian discourses and for our understanding of the origins of religious traditions around the world.