Ancient History: THE VEDIC AGE

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 Early Vedic Age

The main source of information for the reconstruction of the Early Vedic age is the Rigveda. The Rigveda is the oldest religious text in the world it contains 1028 hymns and is divided in ten mandalas. The tenth mandala contains the famous Parushasukta which explains the four varnas (Brahmana, shatriya,Vaishya and Shudra).

The Rigvedic earliest text Samhita comprises 10 books or mandals of which Books II to VII are considered to be the earliest and belong specifically to the Early Vedic phase. Books I, VIII, IX and X are considered to be late additions to the Samhita.

  The Aryans

• The Vedic age is perceived to have been initiated in India in about 1500 BC and extending upto 6000 BC. The same is said to have begun with the coming of the Aryans, who inhabited the plains of Northern India. The word Aryan is derived from the word Arya, implying high birth, but generally, the word refers to a language and not race.
• It is believed that Indo-Aryans migrated from Central Asia into the Indian sub-continent in several stages or waves via Asia Minor (Modern Turkey). From Iran, a group of Aryans branched off to move towards India. These Indo-Aryans and Iranian Aryans occupied Iran for much time, a part of this country came to be known as the Araiya or Haraiva. Indra was among early Aryan leaders and perhaps the most prominent one. One of his names was Purandara (breaker of forts).
• The Aryans succeeded everywhere because they possessed chariot driven by horses and introduce them for first time into West Asia and India. Aryan soldiers were equipped also with coats of mail and better arms.
• The Vedic culture was developed by these Aryans, based on the ‘Veda’ means knowledge and is seen as the best of all knowledge by the Hindus. The Vedas are said to have been passed from one generation to the next through verbal transmission and are, therefore, also known as Sruti.

FOUR VEDAS

Rigveda

• Collection of hymns
• Oldest of all vedas
• Associated of 1017 hymns or Suktas after adding “Blhilya Sukta” number in 1028
• Compiled in 10 ‘mandalas’ & 8 ‘Akhtaks’.
• Also contains the famous Gayatri Mantra
• II, III, IV, V, VI & VII are oldest mandalas.
• I, VIII, IX, X are latest mandalas
• The Tenth “Mandalas” or chapter which has the “Purushasukta” hymn, was probably added later.
• Mandala IX is completely devoted to ‘Soma’.
• Mandala II to VII were created by Grita Samada, Vishwamitra, Vamadeva, Atri, Bharadwaj, Vashistha, VIII Kanwa and Angira, IX Soma

Samveda

• Rhthmic compilation of hymns for Rigveda
• “Book for Chants” contains 1,549 hymns, meant to be sung at the ‘soma’ sacrifice by a special class of Brahmanas called Udgatris. But the Samaveda has very little original value.
• Has only 75 fundamental hymns

1. Karnataka – Jaiminga
2. Gujarat – Kanthun
3. Maharashtra – Ranayaniya

• Sung by Udgatri

Yajurveda

• Book of sacrifical prayers
• Rituals of yajnas
• Is sung of priest “Adhavaryu“
• Its mantras tell us how the sacrifices were to be performed and what part the “Adhvaryus“- the Brahmanas who performed the manual work in the arrangement of sacrifice were to play at the time of sacrifice.
• Has been compiled in “fourth path”
• Has been divided into, Krishna(black) Yajurveda & Shukla(white) Yajurveda
• Prose text

Atharvaveda

• Mantras for magic spells
• Populate ritualistic system & superstitions
• Associated with “Saunkiya” and “Paiplad” community
• Collection of 711/731/760 hymns
• Not included in ‘Trai’
• Has been divided in 20 “Kandas”
• 18th, 19th & 20th ‘Kandas’ are later works
• Provides freedom from evils spirits.
• Oldest text on Indian Medicine.

The vast literature of the Aryans is divided into two parts – Sruti and Smriti.

1. Sruti Literature: The word Veda has been divided from the Sanskrit word Ved,which means ‘spiritual knowledge’. The Vedas are four in number – Rig Veda, Samaveda, Yajurveda, and Atharvaveda. The Rig Veda contains references only to the first three Vedas, which suggests that the fourth Veda was composed at some later date.

Each of the Veda is divided into four parts. These parts are known as

• The Samhitas
• The Brahmanas
• The Aranyakas
• The Upanishads

The Samhitas

• The Samhitas contain the Vedic hymns without any explanation.

The Brahmanas

• The Brahmanas are elaborate prose texts. The Brahmanas are also known as Liturgies, these are texts on sacrificial rituals.
• These texts contain explanations of the hymns, their origin and describe their application these texts are a kind of theology and philosophy of the Brahmanas (the priestly class).
• Advocate Karma Marga for the attainment of salvation

The Aranyakas

• Literal meaning of the Aranyaka is forest. The Aranyakas deal with mysticism, moral values and philosophical doctrines of the Aryans. Because of their special contents the Aranyakas were composed in forests. Because of this the Aranyaka are also known as forest books.
• The Aranyakas were meant for the ascetics and hermits living in the forests. They give emphasis on Meditation.
• They oppose sacrifices, formulae and rituals. It forms a bridge between karma marga taught by Brahmana and Jnana Marga advocated by the Upanishads for the attainment of salvation.

 The Upanishads

Literal meaning the Upanishad is ‘to sit down near someone’.  This implies that the initiated pupil sat down near his teacher and the teacher imparted him the knowledge of confidential doctrine. They  deal with philosophical and metaphysical issues.

• The Upanishads are also known as “Vedanta” meaning “the end of the Vedas “for they denote the last phase of the Vedic period and reveal the ultimate aim of the Vedas, they are 108 in number. It reflects first reaction against Brahmanical dominance.
• The earliest Upanishads are “Brihadaranyaka” and “Chhandogya”. These are written in prose. The latter Upanishads like “Katha” and “Svetasvatara” are written in verse form. Their discussions revolve around the realization of “Brahma”.
• The Upanishads believe Brahma is the ultimate reality of the universe and the recognition that the individual soul is identical with that supreme soul leads to attainment of salvation.
• The Upanishads advocate salvation through knowledge (Jnana Marga) rather than through faith. They contain the first clear exposition of belief in the passage of soul from one birth to another.

It condemns ceremonies and sacrifices like Aranyakas. The Upanishads are anti ritualistic. The Upanishads do not consider a life of asceticism as absolutely necessary for salvation. They also discuss various theories for the creation of universe.

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