HISTORY OF THE VEDIC PERIOD
HISTORY OF THE VEDIC PERIOD |
ARRIVAL OF ARYANS |
- Aryans originally lived in the Steppes region. Later they moved to central Asia and then came to Punjab region of India around 1500 BC.
- With the advent of Aryans begins the history of Vedic Period (1500 BC-600 BC)
- Vedic period is divided into Early Vedic or Rigvedic (1500 BC-1000 BC) & Later Vedic (1000 BC- 600 BC)
- Aryans names appear in Hittite inscription (Anatolia), Kassitte inscription (Iraq) & Mittani inscription (Syria).
- An Iranian text, Zend Avesta, talks about names of Aryan Gods like Indra, Varuna,
COMPONENT | RIG VEDIC PHASE (1500 BC- 1000 BC) | LATER VEDIC PHASE (1000 BC- 600 BC) |
BASICS |
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Other sources:
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GEOGRAPHICAL EXPANSION
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Saraswati Valley was called Brhmavarta.
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SOCIETY
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Sati and Child Marriage were still largely absent. Institituion of Gotra & practice of gotra exogamy appeared. 4-fold ‘ashram’ (stages) for 4 ‘purusharthas’ (goals): Brahmacharya (Celibate Student) for knowledge i.e. Dharma.
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POLITICAL SYSTEM
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ECONOMY
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RELIGIOUS ASPECT
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VEDIC DEITIES |
DEITY | WORSHIPED AS | ADDITIONAL FEATURE |
Indra | God of Lightening |
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Vayu | God of Air | |
Agni | God of Fire |
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Surya | God of Life Source |
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Rudra | God of Destruction |
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Aditi | Mother of Gods | — |
Usha | Goddess of Dawn | — |
Varun | God of Water and Morals |
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Vishnu | An aspect of Surya |
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Marut | God of Wind | — |
Prithvi | Goddess of Fertility | — |
Aranyani | Goddess of Forest | — |
Parjanya | God of Rain | — |
Prajapati/Adipurush | Supreme God |
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Pushan | God of the Shudras |
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VEDIC TEXTS |
Vedic texts are broadly categorised into two parts, namely, ‘shruti’ and ‘smriti’.
SHRUTI |
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SMRITI |
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VEDAS | ASSOCIATED BRAHMANA/ UPAVEDA | PRIESTLY RECITER | COMMENTS |
RIG VEDA | Aiteraya, Kaushitaki
Upaveda: Dhanurveda (Warfare) |
Hotr/Hotar | Oldest surviving text.
Hymns are dedicated to several deities mostly to Indra. Themes: Life, death, creation, sacrifice and ‘soma’(godly pleasure) |
SAM VEDA | Tandya, Sadavimsha
Upaveda: Gandhavra Veda (Music) |
Udgatar | Earliest book on music (Sama = Melody; ragas & raginis)
Poetic text, derived from Rig Veda. |
YAJUR VEDA | Taittiriya, Shatapatha
Upaveda: Sthapatyaveda (Architecture) |
Adhavaryu | Sacrifices and rituals, composed both in prose and poetry.
Two related samhitas: Shukla and Krishna |
ATHARVA VEDA | Gopatha
Upaveda: Ayurveda (Medicine) |
Priests (Brahmins) didn’t recite it | Magic, omen, agriculture, industry/craft, cattle rearing, cure for disease; composed by Non-Aryans |
The Six Theistic Philosophies (‘Darshan’)
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1. Samkhya: theoretical foundation; by Kapil
2. Yoga: union of soul with God; by Patanjali 3. Vaisheshika: discusses atomic theory; by Kanad 4. Nyaya: philosophy of logic; by Gautam 5. Mimansa: rituals; by Jaimini 6. Vedanta: most important; by Badrayan |
Note: Sankaracharya, Ramanujacharya and Swami Vivekananda promoted the Vedanta school.
Atheistic Philosophies: |
1. Buddhist School of Siddhartha Gautama
2. Jaina School of Mahavir Swami 3. Charvak or Lokayat School was actually propounded by Brihaspati but was systematised by Charvak. |
Vedangas: For proper understanding of the Vedas, one needs to know Vedangas which are supplement on the Vedas. These are 6 in number:
- Siksha: Pronunciation of the words; education.
- Nirukta: Origin of the words.
- Chhanda: Metricts used in Sanskrit verses.
- Jyotish: Understanding of astronomy.
- Vyakaran: Sanskrit grammar.
- Kalpa: Knowledge of rituals (Dharmasutras)
UPANISHADS:
- The upanishada indicates knowledge acquired by sitting close to the teacher.
- They are also known as Vedantas, having the truth about human life and path to ’moksha’.
- A collection of over 200 Upanishads are known but out of these 108 are called ‘muktikas’.
- Mundaka Upanishada contains the famous phrase ‘Satyameva Jayate’.
OFFICERS AND THEIR PROFILE IN VEDIC PERIOD:
- Vrajapati: Officer-in-charge of pasture land + Jivagribha: Police official + Kshatri: Chamberlain + Senani: Supreme commander-in-chief + Sthapati: Chief Judge + Gramani: Head of the village; + Bhagadugha: Revenue collector + Kulapati: Head of the family + Mahishi: Chief Queen + Spasas: Spies & Messengers; + Suta: Charioteer + Madhyamasi: Dispute resolving; + Takshan: Carpenter + Palagala: Messenger; + Sanghrahriti: Treasurer + Govikartana: Keeper of forests & games + Akshavapa: Accountant; + Purohita: Priest of highest order.
PURANIC LITERATURE
- The Puranic literature is very vast and has 18 main Puranas, 18 subsidiary Puranas.
- Puranas mention four ages: Krita, Treta, Dvapara and Kali.
- ‘Sarga’ (Evolution of the Universe), ‘Pratsarga'(Involution of Universe), Manvantar (Recurring nature of time), Vamsa (List of Kings and Sages) and Vamsanucharita (Selected Character-based Stories) make the five fundamental pillars of Puranic texts or ‘Itihasa’ (thus it happend). The 18 Main Puranas are as follows:
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EPICS
- Ramayana of Maharshi Valmiki started with 6000 verses around 5 BC and finally has 24000 verses after many additions in different times.
- Mahabharata of Maharshi Vyas began with 8800 verses somewhere between 70BC to 4AD and the final compilation has 100,000 verses and became popular as Mahabharata or Satasahasri Samhita.
- During Post Mauryan, Gupta period, portions of moral instructions were added.
- The religious nature, absence of definite dates and chronology and exagerations limit one while treating these texts as history.