Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Vedas means to
Age of Rig know – Superior
Veda knowledge
Aryans were generally referred to people who spoke Indo- Aryan language (Sanskrit)
Society was mainly male dominated; women were treated with dignity and honour
Early life in this period seems to be mainly pastoral with agriculture being the secondary occupation
Domesticated horses to ride
Rig Veda
Earliest text of Indo European language
Contains prayers offered to Agni, Indra, Mitra, Varuna & other gods
Consists of 10 mandalas or books with 2 – 7 being the earliest one called family books & 1 and 10
being the latest editions
3rd Mandal consists of Gayatri mantra (Composed by viswamitra to offer prayer to solar deity Savitri)
Many things in common with Avesta (oldest Iranian text – Zorasterism)
Advent of Aryans
Aryans called Indus valley “Sapt Sindavah” i.e. land of 7 rivers with river Indus (Sindhu) most
mentioned in Rig Veda
Saraswati (Naditarna) is mentioned as the holiest river in Rig Veda, named after Harakwati (Hemland
river) in south Afganistan
Aryans appeared in subcontinent around 1500 B.C. & came into conflict with its inhabitants Dasas &
Dasyus
Dasas: Mentioned in ancient Iranian literature hence may be early Aryans
Dasyus: Possibly original inhabitants of the country & possibly worshipped Phallus (Lingam)
Aryan chief who overpowered them was called Trasadasyu , generally soft towards Dasas but hostile
towards Dasyus (Term Dasyuhatya is repeatedly mentioned in Rig Veda)
Aryans succeeded everywhere because they possessed chariot driven by horses & possibly with coats
of mail & better armory →Introduced these things for the 1sttime in west Asia & India
Aryans were divided into 5 tribes called Panchajana mainly, along with other tribes → Most powerful
ones were Bharatas of Tritsu Family supported by Viswamitra
Gau Cow
Warlord / Raingod /
Purandara / Breaker of
Indra forts
Goddess of
Aditi eternity
Not so
Appearance Prominent
Usha of dawn in Rig veda
Yajur Veda
Contains hymns & rituals, sacrifices, Royal ceremonies
Rajsuya & Vajpeya mentioned for the 1 time
st
Aranyakas
Forest books → Composed in forests
Were meant to study in forests
Describes the lifestyle of Sanyasis in forests
Wheat Godhuma
Barley Yava
Rice Vrihi
Sugarcane Ikshu
Famous pottery of this age was ‘Painted Grey Ware’ and ‘Northern Black
Polished Ware.
Term Rashtra (Territory) appeared for the 1 time in this period
st
Kshatriy
Brahaman as / Vaishy Shudr
as Rajanas as as
To fix a place
where a new
home could be
Savitri built
Remove
Surya Demons
Signs of Idolatry appeared in later Vedic times & mode of worship changed
considerably as sacrifices became far more important than mere prayers along with
formulae(Mantras) carefully pronounced by sacrifier
Sacrifier was known as Yajamana (Performer of Yajna) & Guests were known as
Goghna (Fed on cattle) →Sacrifices involved killing of animals at large scale
especially cattles
These formulae, Rituals & sacrifices were invented & elaborated by priests called
brahamanas who claimed monopoly of priestly knowledge but still territory was not
given as gifts in post Vedic period
Political Organization
Monarchial form. Tribe was known as Jan and its king as Rajan.
Family was the basic unit of society. The family was patriarchal in nature.
Economy
Aryans followed a mixed economy i.e pastoral and agricultural in which
cattle played a predominant part.
Standard unit of exchange was Cow. At the same time coins were also there.
Religion
The Aryans personified the natural forces and looked upon them as living
beings.
The most important divinity was Indra who played the role of
warlord(breaker of forts- Purandar)
Political Organization
Tiny tribal settlements were placed by strong kingdoms.
Social
The four fold division of society became clear, initially based on occupation,
which later became
hereditary: Brahmins(priests), Kshatriyas(warriors), Vaishyas(agriculturists,
cattle- rearers, traders), Shudras(servers of the upper three).
The institution of the gotra appeared for the first time in this age.
Religion
Indra and Agni lost their importance. Prajapati(the creator) became
supreme. Vishnu came to be conceived as the preserver and protector of the
people.
The Upanishads
Called Vedanata
They are the main source of Indian Philosophy, 108 in numbers.
The Brahmins
They explain the meaning of sacrifices and also the methods of performing
them.
Shatpath Brahmin on Yajur Veda is the largest among brahmins.
The Aranyakas
These Granths were studied in the forest.
These are the books of instructions.
Epics
Mahabharata
It was written in sanskrit by Ved Vyas
It describes about a war between Kauravas and Pandavas of 950 BC in
Kurukshetra.
Translation of "Mahabharat" in persian is called Rajm nama done
by Badauni.
Ramayana
It was written by Valmiki in sanskrit.
It has 24000 shloks, also known as Aadi-kavya.
Its persian translation is done by Badauni and Tamil translation
by Kamban.
Ramcharitmanas is written by Tulsidas.
Puranas
Puranas are 18 in number.
It was written during Gupta Age in AD 4th Century.
Matasya Purana is the oldest Purana.