Eastern Indian Beliefs
Prophetic dreams played an important role in Indian epics, adventures and stories. Of all the types of dreams, prophetic dreams were the most important to Eastern Indians.
The Vedas were written between 1500 and 1000 B.C, and dreams were recorded and interpreted in this text. Dreams had particular interpretations, much like the omina in the early Mesopotamian “omen-texts.” For instance, to ride an elephant is a lucky dream, while riding a donkey is an unlucky dream. Verses, recitations, rites of purification, and different types of baths are suggested as medicine for dispelling the negative aspects of a bad dream.
It was believed, pertaining to the Atharva Veda, that the time of night the dream was had indicates whether the dream will come true sooner or later. For instance, a dream early in sleep means that it will take a year for it to come true, for it is further away from the conscious mind and thus further away from manifestation. Dreams close to awakening were thought to already be present and half realized. Also, if several dreams followed one another at close intervals, only the last dream was significant.
The Upanishads are philosophical material that deal with deliverance from the material world. They were written between 900 and 500 B.C. In the Brhadaranyaka Upanishad, two theories about dreams are proposed. One theory is that dreams are expressions of the dreamer’s desires, creating that which he or she does not have in physical life. The other theory is that the soul leaves the body during sleep and wanders to different locations where those same objects the dreamer desires actually exist. If a person was awakened too quickly from this other location, the soul would not make it back and the person would die. It is also mentioned in this text that there are different levels of sleep, one of them being dreamless sleep where the soul becomes one with the Absolute. It was also believed that childhood dreams were visions of a former world. The elderly dream of the world they are about to enter that they came from before incarnation.
A third text is also considered important in the understanding of dreams. It is called the Sushruta Samhita, a collection of medical and surgical material compiled around 600 B.C. by a surgeon named Sushruta. It contains many interpretations of dreams, mostly pertaining to illnesses and their resolution.