Seek not to escape from misery in death for He On Earth gathers not the Selfish Dead to his side.
– Unknown Priest on Veda
Vedicism is a form of the Imperial Cult practiced on Veda by the Fighting Tigers of Veda (Space Marine Chapter 531).
The Vedics faithfully serve and worship the Emperor, whom they call the Brahman, the Sleeping God whose dreams shape the universe. Unlike other Space Marine Chapters, Fighting Tigers worship the Emperor as a god, served by the Vedic gods (of which there are thousands). Indeed, the Tigers believe that everything–the physical universe, the Warp, all of reality, and even time itself–is a long, elaborate dream of the Brahman, a dream from which someday he shall awaken. When he does, everything except himself will cease to exist. The Emperor will then fall asleep again, dream again, and (by dreaming) create a new reality.
The Rakshasa Lords (Chaos Powers) seek to destroy the Emperor so this dream will continue forever. The Rakshasas (daemons) are their servants and are the deadly enemies of those who serve the Brahman.
The ascension of mankind, according to the Tigers, is to achieve Nirvana – a blessed state of non-existence that is a state of unity with the Brahman and complete separation from the life-death-birth cycle.
Some of the more well-known Vedic gods are:
- Brahman (BRAH-man): The Chief of the Vedic gods, the Sleeping Emperor
- Brihaspati (bree-HAASS-pah-tee): the Vedic god of wisdom
- Indra (in-DRAH): the captain of the Vedic gods, who leads their armies into battles against daemons and monsters
- Kali (kah-LEE): the Vedic goddess of death
- Puchan (POOH-chaan): the Vedic god of guides
- Rudra (ROOD-rah): the Vedic god of battle
- Savitri (sah-VEE-tree): the Vedic god of healing
- Tvashtri (tuh-VAASH-tree): the Vedic god of artifice
- Varuna (vah-ROO-nah): the Vedic god of oaths
The Vedic religion was (loosely based on Hinduism and was) created by Kenton Kilgore for his Fighting Tigers of Veda