Indian History and World History (Part-2)

The earliest known texts of India are the Vedas. The language of the Vedas is Vedic Sanskrit.

There are four Vedas:

1. Rig,
2. Yajur,
3. Sama and
4. Atharva.

These were initially memorised and passed orally by the Brahmins. The Vedic hymns are collected in one main text called Samhitas, which consists of the explanation for the social and religious importance of the rituals.

Kalpa is called the arms of the Veda Purusha. It is for the proper application of the Vedic texts. The texts are clear, short and practical for ceremonies.

Vyakarana — It was used for the formation of the word. It also discusses the root and suffix of a word to study its meaning.

Nirukta — It gave the meaning to the usage of words.

Chandas — It was designed for the purpose of securing the proper reading and reciting of Vedic texts.

Jyotisha — It conveyed the knowledge of the heavenly bodies. It also gave some rules for calculating and fixing time for sacrifices.

Swami Dayanand Saraswati wrote in Satyarth Prakash gave the Tibet home theory that Tibet was the original home of the Aryans.

Max Muller, in central Asian theory, propounded that central Asia was the original home of the Aryans. His opinion was that the information regarding the early Aryans could be gathered from two main sources.

They are Vedic literature and the Iranian scripture Zend-Avesta.

Bal Gangadhar Tilak put forward the Arctic region theory in which he propounded that the Arctic region was the original home of Aryans. His view was that the description of the natural phenomenon in Rigveda tallies with that of the region of the North-Pole.

The Ravi River was known as Purushni in the Vedic period. The River Ravi is a transboundary river that connects northwest India and East Pakistan. This is one of the six rivers of the Punjab Indus basin (Punjab means “five rivers”).

“Yajus” means “sacrificial formula,” and Yajurveda is a book of sacrificial prayers. It contains the rituals of the Yajnas. It is estimated to have been composed between 1,400 and 1,000 BC.

Yajur Veda is a step-by-step guide about the right way of performing religion. The Yajurveda is a Veda of prose mantras. An ancient Vedic Sanskrit text is a compilation of rituals offering formulas that were chanted by a priest at the time of ritual.

The Rigveda includes more than a thousand hymns, called sukta or “well said”. These hymns are in praise of various gods and goddesses.

Three gods are significant: Agni, the god of fire; Indra, a warrior god; and Soma, a plant from which a special drink was prepared.

The Rigveda is divided into 10 mandalas (books).

• The first and tenth Mandalas are the shortest and the longest respectively.
• The Gayatri mantra in Rig Veda is taken from Mandala 3.
• Mandala 9 is completely devoted to Soma.
• The 10th mandala contains the Purusha Sukta, which explains the 4 Varnas that were born from the Mouth, arms, thighs, and feet of the Brahma or Purusha.
• Nasadiya Sukta, which talks about the origin of the Universe is in the 11th Mandala.