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in this episode we're going to cover a
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period of Indian history that's commonly
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called the Vedic age it's arguably one
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of the most influential if not the most
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influential period of Indian history
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especially with regard to religion and
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philosophy historians called the period
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of India's history between 1,500 to 500
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BCE the Vedic age because our knowledge
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of it comes mostly from the Vedas so
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what are the Vedas to put it simply they
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are for collections of the most sacred
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knowledge in the Hindu tradition the
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name of these four Vedas are the Rig
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Veda the Yahoo Veda the sama Veda and
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the our Taba Veda the word Veda comes
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from the Sanskrit word vid meaning to
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know the Rig Veda is the oldest of the
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four most historians and linguists date
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the Rig Veda - between the years 3000 to
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1500 BCE however it's very difficult to
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really know the precise date of the
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Vedas because they were transmitted
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orally for countless generations until
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they were finally written down sometime
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in the fourth or fifth century BCE most
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of the hymns in the Rig Veda are
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addressed to natural powers which are
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personified as various deities though
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ultimately they are all part of the one
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Supreme Being ie God the second beta
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known as the Yahshua Veda deals
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predominantly with how to perform
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various rituals and chants called
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mantras along with some religious
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commentary the third Veda known as the
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sama Veda contains a collection of
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verses mostly taken from the Rig Veda
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but that are arranged in a poetic form
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that can be sung the fourth and most
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recent Veda the art of Aveda is believed
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to have been compiled at a date
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significantly after the first three it
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contains mostly prayers or mantras that
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deal with preventing sickness and
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keeping away evil spirits
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some also include two other sacred
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bodies of knowledge as Vedas
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specifically tada new which deals with
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weapons and the eye or which deals with
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medicine so one thing I can tell you is
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that the historical origin of the Vedas
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is currently a controversial topic with
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many people there are several theories
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with regard to this but two main ones
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that predominate the discussion the
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first of these which is the older and
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more well-established theory has to do
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with a group of mostly nomadic
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horseback-riding indo-european speakers
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called Aryans it essentially states that
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the Aryans were nomads who originated on
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the steppes of Eurasia and gradually
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migrated to the Indus Valley before
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spreading throughout the Indian
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subcontinent and becoming the dominant
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culture there it's they who compiled the
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Vedas in their native language of
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Sanskrit which is related to other
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indo-european languages such as Greek
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Latin as well as the Germanic and
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Iranian languages the Arion migration
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theory became very popular and the
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definitive one for European scholars
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especially the British many Indians also
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believed in this theory as there is a
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lot of other evidence to also support it
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the second theory which is popular among
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some Indian scholars is that the Aryans
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and the Vedas as well as other aspects
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of Indian culture that we're familiar
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with are totally indigenous to the
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Indian subcontinent this is called the
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out of India theory and its proponents
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believe that instead of the Aryans
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migrating to India they migrated outside
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of India to places like Central Asia
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with the Sanskrit language being if not
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the source then a great influence on the
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other indo-european languages they see
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the great harap in cities and other
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parts of the subcontinent as being the
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foundations of Indian and Hindu
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civilization now there are several other
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theories but they're beyond the scope of
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this video
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unlike the Harappan society that
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preceded it the early civilization of
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the Vedic Aryans was not in urban one in
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fact it was just the opposite
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the Arion tribes were mostly if not all
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nomadic or at least semi-nomadic they
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didn't have brick or stone houses
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intricate pottery or massive sculptures
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their shelters were made of wood bamboo
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and mud they also didn't have any form
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of writing their language Sanskrit first
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appeared in written form centuries after
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the Vedas were composed the Aryans
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excelled at several things that gave
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them an advantage over the other peoples
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of the region specifically the use of
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iron weapons and horseback or chariot
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riding which made them Swift and skilled
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warriors and allowed them to dominate
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their enemies which in the Vedas are
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called
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dasas these are believed to have been
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the settled peoples of the Indus Valley
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and surrounding regions who are said to
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have lived in ports though considered to
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be mostly religious in nature the Vedas
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give us a window into what life was like
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for the early Aryan peoples of India so
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initially Vedic society was a tribal one
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in which most people lived a
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semi-nomadic life the term for tribe was
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jhana each Jana had a chief known as a
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Rajah while the word Rajah would later
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on mean king in those early days it
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meant the ruler of a tribe the Rajah was
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often known as the go potty
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meaning protector of cattle in Vedic
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society this position was of extreme
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importance because cattle was the main
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source of wealth in fact a wealthy
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person was called a go mat which roughly
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can be translated as rich in cattle
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the Rigveda also states specifically
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that cows are not to be killed the Raja
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orga potties position was not hereditary
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he was appointed by the elder or
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influential men of the Jana other
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members of the Jana had occupations that
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were also not necessarily based on their
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birth there's a beautiful verse in the
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Vedas that states I am a poet my father
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is a physician and my mother grinds
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grain upon the stone striving for wealth
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with varied plans we follow our desires
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like cattle this brings us to the often
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misunderstood topic of divisions or
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caste in Indian society actually caste
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is derived from the Portuguese word
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Costas which was first used by the
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Portuguese explorers and traders when
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they came to India over 500 years ago
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the Sanskrit word is Varna which loosely
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translates to the word color in English
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while one's Varna later on may have
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become a sort of life sentence that
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restricted individuals to certain
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occupations and forbid them from inter
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mixing with those of other varnas during
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the early Vedic age it simply denoted or
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classified a person according to the
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role that they played in society the
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first group were the brahmanas who were
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the most respected and learning group in
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Vedic society it was their duty to
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preserve the sacred knowledge of the
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Vedas and perform the proper rituals and
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sacrifices the second Varna consisted of
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the Kshatriyas this was the group that
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clan leaders and warriors whose Duty it
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was to protect the jhana belong to the
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third Varna were the vices who were in a
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sense the middle class of Vedic society
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it's in this group that you'd have your
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merchants shopkeepers artisans bakers
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etc the fourth and final Varna
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consisted of the Shudras which was made
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up of mostly peasants and those who did
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menial tasks though the Varna system
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structured society in a hierarchical
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fashion it didn't necessarily mean that
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person was spiritually lower than
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another salvation after death was still
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open to all people based on their
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righteous conduct of course it'd be
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misleading to imply that Vedic society
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was egalitarian because in practice it
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wasn't politically socially and
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economically the Brahmins and Kshatriyas
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were higher up on the totem pole or
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social pyramid than the vices and should
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resist to the many beautiful temples let
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dot india's landscape today during the
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vedic period there are few if any
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records or even evidence of temples
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worship was done out in the open with
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rituals often involving the use of fire
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of all of the deities mentioned in the
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Rig Veda kyndra was considered to be the
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most powerful with something like two
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hundred and fifty hymns dedicated to him
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in the Vedas he is sometimes addressed
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as pure and our meaning breaker of
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fourths and also as McGavin meaning the
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bounteous other popular deities
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mentioned in the Vedas include Agni
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who's associated with fire and varuna
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was associated with water there are also
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many hymns dedicated to deities such as
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Yama soma Rudra Bhushan Surya and
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several others during what's commonly
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referred to as the later Vedic period
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the various Aryan tribes began to settle
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down and create permanent settlements in
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the form of small kingdoms thus instead
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of fighting over cattle wars were fought
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over territory with the Rajas no longer
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being elected by other members of their
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tribe or Johnna they became kings and
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founded their own dynasties settlements
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gradually turned into cities and a new
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urban culture with distinct forms of art
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pottery and greater use of iron arose
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essentially society was transforming
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from the semi nomadic lifestyle of their
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ancestors into a sedentary one of little
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petty kingdoms and States we'll take a
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look at some of these kingdoms in future
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episode
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as always thanks so much for joining me
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I really appreciate it and if you learn
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something please hit that like button
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and subscribe
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take care and I'll catch you in the next
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episode
