VEDIC AGE NOTES -Early Vedic and Later Vedic

THE VEDIC AGE -NOTES

Introduction

The history of India is a tapestry woven with countless threads of cultural, spiritual, and societal evolution. Among these threads, the Vedic Age stands as a radiant jewel, casting light on the origins of some of the most profound aspects of Indian civilization. Let's embark on a journey through time to unravel the secrets of the Vedic Age in India.

The Vedic Age, spanning roughly from 1500 BCE to 500 BCE, is a pivotal epoch in India's past. Rooted in the sacred texts known as the Vedas, this era encapsulates the emergence of ancient Indian society, philosophy, and religious practices. Divided into two phases – the Early Vedic Period and the Later Vedic Period – the Vedic Age offers insights into the lives and beliefs of our distant ancestors.

1. The Early Vedic Period: Songs to the Cosmos

The Early Vedic Period, stretching from around 1500 BCE to 1000 BCE, is marked by the composition of the Rigveda – a collection of hymns dedicated to deities and natural forces. This period witnessed a society primarily engaged in pastoralism and semi-nomadic lifestyles. The Rigveda, with its hymns reflecting reverence for nature and cosmic forces, reveals the spiritual consciousness of a people intertwined with their environment.

• Early Vedic Society: Social Organization The family was the basic unit of the Rigvedic society. It was patriarchal. This mean that the oldest male member of the family was its head. He was called Grihapat. The society was patriarchal in nature. Monogamy was the usual norm of marriage but the chiefs at times practiced polygamy. Marriages took place after attaining maturity. After marriage the wife went to her husband's house. Several families lived in a grama or village. Several villages formed a Visha. Many Vishas forme a Jana (tribe). The head of the village was called Gramani, that of Visha, Vishapos Rajan or king was the head of a Jana. The family was part of a larger grouping called vis or clan. One or more tha one clans made Jana or tribe. The Jana was the largest social unit. All the member of a clan were related to each other by blood relation. The membership of a tribe was based on birth and not on residence in a certain area. Thus, the members of the Bharata tribe were known as the Bharatas. It did not imply any territory.
• An Egalitarian Social Setup: The Rigvedic society was a simple and largely an egalitarian society. There was no caste division. Occupation was not based on birth. Members of a family could adopt different occupations. However, certain differences did exist during the pe- riod. Varna or colour was the basis of initial differentiation between the Vedic and non-Vedic people. The Vedic people were fair whereas the non-Vedic indigenous people were dark in complexion and spoke a different language. Thus, the Rig- veda mentions arya Varna and dasa Varna. Here dasa has been used in the sense of a group different from the Rigvedic people. Later, dasa came to mean a slave. Be- sides, certain practices during this period, such as concentration of larger share of the war booty in the hands of the chiefs and priests resulted in the creation of some inequalities within a tribe during the later part of this Vedic phase.

The warriors, priests and the ordinary people were the three sections of the Rigvedic tribe. The Sudra category came into existence only towards the end of the Rigvedic period. This means that the division of society in the Early Vedic period was not sharp. This is indicated by the following verse in the Rigveda: 'I am a poet, my father is a physician and my mother grinds grain upon the stone. Striving for wealth, with varied plans, we follow our desires like cattle.

• Position of Women: The women in society enjoyed respectable position. She was married at a proper age and could choose a husband of her own choice. There are no examples of child-marriage. The marriageable age in the Rigveda seems to have been from 16 to 17.

She could take part in the proceedings of the tribal assemblies called sabha and samiti. Some of the women like Ghosha and Apala were said to have compiled the hymns of the Rigveda

IMPORTANT VEDIC TERMS

Aranya -                 Rain or wild animal

Aghanya -              Not to be killed; usually cow

Bhishaka-              Physician

Brihi -                     Rice

Datra-                    Sickle

Duhitri -                One who milks; usually daughter

Gaura -                  Buffalo

Gavisti/Gaveshana

/Gavyut -               Searching for cows; Fights for cows

 Godhuma-            Wheat

Goghna –             ‘Cow-killer’; sometimes refers to a Guest

Hiranya-               Gold

Karmara-              Blacksmith

Kulala-                   Potter

Kulya-                    Wells

Kusidin-                 Usurer

Narishta-               Sabha

Sira-                       Plough

Sita-                       Furrows

Takshana-             Carpenter

Titau-                     Seive

Vapta-                    Barber

2. The Later Vedic Period: Philosophical Pioneering

Transitioning into the Later Vedic Period (1000 BCE to 500 BCE), we encounter the Yajurveda, Samaveda, and Atharvaveda. As society evolved from pastoralism to agriculture, villages and towns emerged, setting the stage for a more structured social order. The emergence of the caste system, with its four varnas, marked a turning point in societal organization.

• Changes in the Later Vedic Phase

Changes in composition of Social Organization The family remains the basic unit of the Vedic society. However, its composition underwent a change. The Later Vedic family became large enough to be called a joint-family with three or four generations living together. The rows of hearths discovered at Atranjikhera and at Ahichchhatra (both in western Uttar Pradesh) show that these were meant for communal feeding or for cooking the food of large families. The institution of gotra developed in this period. This means that people having common gotra descended from a common ancestor and no marriage be- tween the members of the same gotra could take place. Monogamous marriages were preferred even though polygamy was frequent. Some restrictions on women appeared during this period.

• Declining Status of Women

There was significant decline in the status of women. Their participation in Yajnas was not considered necessary. They did not enjoy the right to property. Man's opinions were respected. As a result the freedom to choose the husbands by wom- en was curtailed. In a

text, woman has been counted as a vice along with dice and wine. In another text a daughter has been said to be the source of all sorrows. Woman had to stay with her husband at his place after marriage. The participation of women in public meetings was restricted.

• A Divided Society: Varna System

However, the most important change was the rise and growth of social differentiation in the form of Varna system. The four varnas in which society came to be divided were the Brahmanas, Kshatri yas, Vaishyas and Shudras. The growing number of sac- rifices and rituals during the period made the Brahmanas very powerful. They conducted various rituals including those related to different stages of agricultural operations. This made them all the more important. The Kshatriyas, next in the social hierarchy, were the rulers. They along with Brahmanas controlled all aspects of life. The Vaishy- as, the most numerous Varna were engaged in agriculture as well as in trade and artisanal activities. The Brahmanas and the Kshatriyas were dependent on the tributes (gifts and taxes) paid to them by the Vaishyas. The Shudras, the fourth Varna were at the bottom of the social hierarchy. They were ordained to be in the service of the three Varnas. They were not entitled to the ritual of upanayana dvijas. samskara (investiture with sacred thread necessary to ac quire education). The other three varnas were entitled to such a ceremony and hence they were known as This can be construed as the beginning of the imposition of disabilities on the Shudras as well as the beginning of the concept of ritual pollution.

• Introduction of Ashram Vyavastha

Another important institution that began to take shape was Ashrama or different stages of life. Brahmacharya (stu- dent life), grihastha (householder) and vanaprastha (hermitage) stages are men- tioned in the texts. Later, sanyasa, the fourth stage also came to be added. Together with Varna, it came to be known as varna-ashrama dharma.

Early Vedic Religion Objective Behind Prayers

The people of this age worshipped forces of nature. They personified these natural forces and looked upon them as living beings to which they gave human or animal attributes. The prayers to propitiate gods for physical protection and for material gains were the main concerns of the Rigvedic people.

• Gods and Their Roles

The Rigvedic gods were generally personifications of different aspects of natural forc- es such as rains, storm, sun etc. The attributes of these gods also reflect the tribal and patriarchal nature of the society as we do not find many goddesses mentioned in the text. Indra, Agni, Varuna, Mitra, Dyaus, Pushana, Yama, Soma, etc., are all male gods. In comparison, we have only a few goddesses such as Ushas, Sarasvati, Prithvi, etc., which occupy secondary positions in the pantheon.

The functions of different gods reflect their needs in the society. Thus, since the Rigvedic people were engaged in wars with each other they worshipped Indra as a god. He is the most frequently mentioned god in the Rigveda. He carried the thunderbolt and was also respected as a weather god who brought rains. Maruts, the god of storm, aided Indra in the wars in the way tribesmen aided their leader in the tribal wars. Agni, the fire god was the god of the home and was considered can intermediary between gods and men. Soma was associated with plants and herbs. Soma was also a plant from which an intoxicating juice was extracted. This juice was drunk at sacrifices. Varuna, another important deity, was the keeper of the cosmic order known as Rita. This Rita was an important aspect of tribal set-up Pushan was the god of the roads, herdsmen and cattle. In the life of the pastoral nomads, this god must have been very important. Other gods were similarly asso ciated with other aspects of nature and life.

 

All these gods were invoked and propitiated at yajnas or sacrifices. These sac rifices were organized by the chiefs of the tribes and performed by priests. Gods thus invoked in the sacrifices supposedly rewarded the sacrificers with success in wars, progeny, increase in cattle and long life. It also brought large number of gifts in the form of Dana and Dakshina to the priests. It is important here to note that during the entire Vedic phase people did not construct temples nor did they worship any statue. These features of Indian religion developed much later.

We have already noted that in the Later Vedic period, agriculture had become an important activity of the people. Changes in the material life naturally resulted in a change in their attitude towards gods and goddesses too. Continuous interac- tions with the local non-Aryan population also contributed to these changes. Thus, Vishnu and Rudra which were smaller deities in the Rigveda became extremely important. However, we do not have any reference to different incarnations or avataras of Vishnu, we are so familiar with, in any of the Later Vedic texts.

 

 Important points of Vedic Religion

Nature of Vedic Religion

•  It was known as Henotheism, i.e., a belief in single gods, each in turn standing out as the highest.
• There was a tendency towards both monotheism and monism.
•  Divinities are 33 in number, divided into three groups, namely terrestrial (prithvisthana), atmospheric or intermediate (antarikshasthana or madhyamasthana) and celestial (dyusthana).
• Devasur sangram is most important story in Satapatha Brahmana.

Important Divinities

• Indra or Purandhara was the most important god of Rigvedic period (250 Rigvedic hymns are devot- ed to him).
• Agni was the second most important god (200 Rigvedic hymns).
• Varuna personified water and was supposed to uphold Rita or natural order.
• Soma was god of plants. He is the third most important deity in Rigveda.
• In hymns to Surya (Sun), as in those to Dawn, Night, Thunderstorm and other gods of nature, atten- tion is always on visible phenomenon itself.
• Hymns to Ushas (Dawn) are among most attractive in Rig Veda. • Other prominent female divinities were Aditi (the goddess of eternity), Aranyani (goddess of forest),Nirrti (goddess of decay and death), etc.
• In Later Vedic period, new gods like Prajapati (the Creator), Vishnu (the Preserver and Protector of people) and Rudra (God of animals) emerged and their importance grew at cost of Indra and Agni (Rigvedic gods).
• There was male domination even in divine pantheon during both periods.

Mode of Worship

• Rigvedic period was marked by recitation of prayers and making offerings.
• In Later Vedic period, there was a change in mode of worship. Importance of prayers declined and that of sacrifices increased.
• In addition to the simplest form of sacrifice, grand sacrifices, called sattras, were performed. There was too much emphasis on rituals and sacrifices. Social Life
• Kula or Family: It was the foundation of the social structure. In the Later Vedic period, increase in the powers of the father over the family members; beginning of the practice of 'Primogeniture' (the eldest son succeeding the father) in princely families.
• Varna System: Varna literally means 'colour'; partial responsibility of the colour distinction in the rise of social division, but mainly due to the conquest of indigenous inhabitants by the Aryans. Initial division of the tribal society (Rigvedic) into three groups-warriors, priests and the commoners-on the basis of occupation. Appearance of the fourth division, viz, Shudras, towards the end of the Rig-vedic Period (mention of the Shudras in the tenth book or mandala of the Rigveda; the 'Purusha Suk- ta', this book clearly mentions the four-fold division of the society). Significant changes in the Varna system during the Later Vedic period. Increase in the privileges of the two higher classes (Brahmins and Kshatriyas) at the cost of the two lower classes (Vaishyas and Sudras).

• Ashramas or Stages of Life: Mentioned in the Chandogya Upanishad for the first time and so belonged to the Later Vedic period for regulating the life of the male members of the higher casts. Four stages: Brahmacharin or student life, Grihastha or life of the householder, Vanaprastha or partial retirement and Sanyas or complete retirement or ascetic life. Full recognition of the fourth stage is only in the post-Vedic period.

 • Institution of Gotra: Literally meaning cow-pen, it came to signify descent from a common ancestor; appeared only in the Vedic Period; beginning of the practice of Gotra exogamy, i.e., prohibition of marriage between persons belonging to the same gotra.

• Position of Women: Monogamy (a man having one wife) was very common; Polygamy (a man having more than one wife), though known, was not common; Re-marriage of widows was permitted; child marriages (unknown); prevalence of symbolic self-immolation (sati) by widows; women's partici- pation in religious ceremonies and tribal assemblies (Sabha, Vidatha); no evidence of seclusion of women. In the Later Vedic period, they lost political right of attending assemblies; there were alsoinstances of child marriages.

• Institution of Slavery: Prevalent from the Rigvedic times; mainly women slaves, employed for domestic purposes. There was decent treatment of slaves and even enjoyment of certain rights by them.

 • Education: Illiteracy (lacking of the art of writing and reading) of the early Aryans; possibility of the use of script by the later Vedic Aryans from 700 BCE onwards (but the earliest evidence for the use of a script in India, besides the pictographic script of the Harappans, comes from the Mauryan period in the form of Ashokan edicts); restriction of education only to the higher casts. Subjects of study included arithmetic, grammar, astrology, etc.

VEDIC PERIOD: IMPORTANT OFFICIALS

Vrajapati-Incharge of pasture land

Spasa -Spy

Kulap-Head of family

Jivagribha- Police officials

Bhagaduha-Tax collector

Sangrahitri- Treasurer

Mahishi- Chief queen

Palagala-Messenge

Suta- Charioteer

Govikartana-Keeper of games

Madhyamasi- Mediator

Akshavapa- Accountant

Kshata- In charge of Royal household

 

3. Rituals, Rites, and Reverence

Central to the Vedic Age were the rituals and sacrifices – the Yajnas – performed by the Brahmins. These ceremonies were not only offerings to the deities but also reflections of cosmic order. Fire, a symbol of transformation, played a vital role in these rituals, serving as a conduit between the earthly and divine realms.

4. Upanishads: The Quest for Knowledge

Within the Later Vedic Period, the Upanishads emerged as profound philosophical texts. Delving into the nature of reality, self, and the cosmos, these scriptures marked a shift from ritual-centric worship to introspective spiritual exploration. The Upanishads laid the foundation for the development of Indian philosophies, such as Vedanta, which continue to influence thought to this day.

5. Legacy and Influence

The legacy of the Vedic Age extends far beyond its temporal confines. The values, beliefs, and social structures established during this period laid the groundwork for the intricate tapestry of Indian civilization. Concepts like dharma (righteousness) and karma (action and consequence) became integral to the Indian way of life, shaping moral and ethical principles that endure.

Conclusion: Echoes of the Past in the Present

As we traverse the corridors of time to explore the Vedic Age in India, we unearth a rich legacy that continues to resonate through the ages. From hymns to philosophical inquiries, from societal structures to cosmic connections, the Vedic Age stands as a testament to the profound wisdom and spiritual insights of our ancestors. Its influence reverberates in the practices, beliefs, and philosophies that shape modern India, making it a cornerstone of our collective heritage.

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FAQ: 

•  The word 'Veda' means 'knowledge'
• In the Indian tradition, the Vedas have been called Apaurusheya.
• German Indologist Prof. on astronomical basis. According to Hermann Jacobi, the hymns of the Rigveda date back to 4500 BC. - 2500 BC Was compiled.
• The sages told their disciples. Over time, Ved Vyas compiled this knowledge.
• Rigveda, Yajurveda and Samveda are called 'Vedtrayi' or 'Trilogy'. There are 10 Mandalas and 1028 Suktas in Rigveda.
• Dasharagya war was fought between Sudas and ten people on the banks of river Parushni (Ravi).

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