Language

• Sanskrit

• Theory that the spoken language could be Aryan (The

disputed Aryan invasion theory. This theory posits that
North India was originally inhabited by darker-skinned
Dravidians, who may have founded the Indus Valley or
Harappan civilization. Sometime around about 1,500
B.C.E. lighter-skinned invaders, known as Ayrans, pushed
the Dravidians South. These invaders are said to have
originated from the Iranian regions; some moved to the
West, some to the East hence Indo-European languages
derived from their ancient tongue are linguistic cousins.
Theory disproved because of lack of evidence)
 Vedic Texts

• Religious in nature and as such tends to reflect the

worldview, spiritual preoccupations, and social attitudes of
the Brahmans or priestly class of ancient India.

• Linguistically, texts can be classified into the following five

chronological branches:
i. Rigvedic
ii. Mantra Language
iii. Samhita Prose
iv. Brahmana Prose
v. Sutra Language
 Rigvedic

• Largest and most important text of the Vedic

collection.
• Difficult text, written in a very obscure style
and filled with metaphors and allusions that
are hard to understand for modern reader
 Mantra Language

• This period includes both the mantra and prose language of

the Atharvaveda (Paippalada and Shaunakiya), the Rigveda
Khilani, the Samaveda Samhita (containing some 75
mantras not in the Rigveda), and the mantras of the
Yajurveda.
• Many of these texts are largely derived from the Rigveda,
but have undergone certain changes, both by linguistic
change and by reinterpretation.
• Atharvaveda contains a great deal of medical knowledge
and is used by practitioners of Ayurvedic healing.
 Samhita Prose

• This period marks the beginning of the collection

and codification of a Vedic canon.
• Brahmana part of the Black Yajurveda belongs to
this period.
• Brahmana part is the commentary on mantras
and rituals
• Yajurveda an ancient Vedic Sanskrit text, it is a
compilation of ritual offering formulas that were
said by a priest while an individual performed
ritual actions such as those before the yajna fire.
 Brahmana Prose

• The Brahmanas proper of the four Vedas

belong to this period, as well as the
Aranyakas, the oldest of the Upanishads and
the oldest Shrautasutras.
 Sutra Language

• Last stratum of Vedic Sanskrit leading up to c. 500

B.C.E., comprising the bulk of the Śrauta and
Grhya Sutras, and some Upanishads.
• All but the five prose Upanishads are post-
Buddhist.
• Videha as a third political center is established.
• Upanishads are the Hindu scriptures which
primarily discuss philosophy, meditation, and the
nature of God; they form the core spiritual
thought of Vedantic Hinduism
 Writing System
• Writing was not introduced to India until after
Sanskrit had evolved into the Prakrits; when it
was written, the choice of writing system was
influenced by the regional scripts of the
scribes.
• Earliest known inscriptions in Sanskrit date to
the first century BCE. They are in the Brahmi
script, which was originally used for Prakrit,
not Sanskrit.
Kashmir Shaiva manuscript in the Śāradā script (c. 17th century)