Vedic Civilization Notes for UPSC

What are the Vedas?

The most outstanding works of the Vedic period are the four Vedas – Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda and Atharva Veda. The Vedas comprise a whole body of literature that arose in the course of centuries and was transmitted from generation to generation through oral communication. The Vedas are a collection of hymns, prayers, charms, litanies and sacrificial formulae. There are four Vedas, namely:

• Rig Veda – a collection of hymns
• Samveda – a collection of songs mostly taken from Rig Veda
• Yajurveda – a collection of sacrificial formulae
• Atharvaveda – a collection of spells and charms

The Vedas formed the earliest segment of Vedic literature and amongst the Vedas, Rig Veda is the oldest.

Early Vedic Period or Rig Vedic Period

Polity and Administration:

• The political structure of Rig Vedic India may be traced in the following order:
  1. The Family (Kula)
  2. The Village (Grama)
  3. The Clan (Vis)
  4. The People (Jana)
  5. The Country (Rashtra)
• Kula (family) was the smallest unit. It included all the people living under the same roof (Griha).
• Several families made up the grama, and its headman was called gramini.
• The next larger formation was called the vis, under the head called vispati.
• Larger than the vis was jana.

Governance:

• The hereditary monarchy was the normal form of Government but an elected king also finds mention.
• We also hear of chiefs, democratically elected by the assembly of people (Jana).
• The kingdoms (rashtra) were generally small states ruled by kings (Rajana).
• The king administered justice with the assistance of Purohita and other officials.
• For his services the king was paid bali (voluntary gift or tribute).
• The bali came to the king from his own people and also from defeated people.
• Important royal officials were Purohita (chief priest and minister), Senani (army chief) and Gramini (head of village). We also hear of Dutas (envoys) and spies (spas).
• Great importance is given in the Rig Veda to two popular assemblies called sabha and samiti.
• The samiti mainly dealt with policy decisions and included common people.
• The sabha was a more select body of Elders or Nobles, less political in character.
• Through these two assemblies, the will of the people on important matters was expressed.

Religion & Philosophy:

In the Vedic Age, it was believed that the law of karma governed the cycle of life from birth to death to rebirth and so on. During the Vedic period the priests divided society into four varnas known as varnadharma:

• Brahmin (the learned classes)
• Kshatriya (the warrior classes)
• Vaishya (the business classes)
• Shudra (the service classes)
• These groups were decided on the basis of birth.
• Later, they classified some people as untouchable, including crafts persons, hunters, gatherers, and those who helped with burials and cremations. Contact with these groups was considered polluting.
• Brahmin, kshatriya and vaishya men were expected to follow the Ashrama System. This comprised four stages:
  1. Brahmacharya: Student life studying the Vedas
  2. Grihastha: Married life as householders
  3. Vanaprastha: Forest dwelling and meditation
  4. Sannyasin: Giving up everything
• Women generally were not allowed to study the Vedas and followed their husbands' ashramas.
• The gods worshipped were generally personified powers of nature.
• Vedic gods can be classified into three categories:
  1. Terrestrial (prithivisthana): Prithivi, Agni, Soma, Brihaspati and rivers
  2. Aerial or intermediate (antarikshasthana): Indra, Apam-napat, Rudra, Vayu-Vata, Prujanya, and Apah (water)
  3. Celestial (dyusthana): Dyaus, Varuna, Mitra, Surya, Savitri, Pushan, Vishnu, the Adityas, Ushas and the Asvins
• Indra and Varuna (the supreme cosmic and moral ruler) were pre-eminent above the rest. Agni and Soma were also popular deities.
• Agni was revered as the messenger between earth and heaven. Agni is the only God regarded as present among all categories of Gods.
• Gods are described as born, yet immortal. In appearance they are humans, though sometimes conceived as animals. Examples include Dyaus as a bull and Sun as a swift horse. They consumed the food of men such as milk, grain, flesh, etc.

Society:

• The unit of society was family, primarily monogamous and patriarchal.
• Child marriage was not in vogue.
• There are a few references to the freedom of choice in marriage. A widow could marry the younger brother of her deceased husband.
• The wife was the husband's partner in all religious and social ceremonies.
• The father's property was inherited by son. The daughter could inherit it only if she was the only child of her parents.
• Right to property was known in moveable things like cattle, horse, gold and ornament. Property rights also extended to immoveable property like land and house.

Economy:

• The economic life of the Rig Vedic people centered around agriculture, cattle rearing and trade and commerce.
• Oxen were used for ploughing and drawing carts. Horses were used for drawing the chariots. Other domestic animals included cows, sheep, goats, asses, dogs, buffalos etc.
• The Rig Veda attached great importance to agriculture. The plough was drawn by the oxen at times in teams of six, eight or even twelve. The grains were harvested with sickles. Manure was also used. Irrigation was practiced. Excess of rains and drought is mentioned as damaging the crops.
• The grains are collectively called Yava and Dhanya. The later Vedic texts mention ten cultivated kinds of grains.

Later Vedic Period

Social System :

• During the later Vedic period, varnas transitioned to become birth-based rather than profession-based.
• The proliferation of professions gave rise to jatis, though the jati system was not yet as rigid as it became during the period of the sutras.
• The position of the fourth varna, sudras, was made miserable by depriving them of the rights of performing sacrifices, learning the sacred texts, and even holding landed property.
• The concept of untouchability had not yet emerged during this period.
• There are instances of individuals such as Kavasha, Vatsa, and Satyakama Jabala who were born in non-brahman jatis but came to be known as great brahmans.
• On the whole, jati had not yet become a rigid system, and none of the three factors which characterised it later viz. prohibition of inter-dining, intermarriage and determination of varna by descent, were yet established on a rigid basis.

Economic Activities

• Rich merchants have been often referred to. Money lending was in vogue.
• Specific weight and measure-units were also known.
• Niska and satamana were the units of currency. There is no evidence of the use of coins with specific weight, size and device during the time under discussion.
• Haggling in the market was known from RigVedic times itself. Sea-borne trade was well known and Aitareya Brahmana speaks of the “inexhaustible sea” and “the sea as encircling the earth”.
• Bali, which was earlier only a voluntary gift to the chief, had now become a regular tax and was collected to maintain the political and administrative structure.

Religion and Philosophy

• The Brahmanas recorded the growth of ritualism and ceremonial religion and the consequent growth of priesthood. From simple sacrifices occupying just one day or a couple of days, there were now many, lasting from twelve days to a year or even more.
• There were domestic rites and sacraments which embraced the entire life span of a man – from his birth to death, or rather beyond it, as ceremonies were also performed for the departed souls.
• These rites and ceremonies were not the only means of attaining success in life in this world, or bliss in heaven. Soon the idea of penance and meditation took precedence. Men took to these practices under the belief that they would not only gain heaven but also develop “mystic, extraordinary and superhuman faculties”.
• On one hand elaborate rites, ceremonies and ascetic practices were taking the place of simple religious worship of the RigVedic period, on the other, the intellectual pursuit of the people continued with the conviction that salvation was attainable only through true knowledge.
• Thus, was laid down the doctrine: “he who knows God, attains God, nay, he is God”. As explained earlier, the distinction between rituals and knowledge was recognised by the Vedas. But it is only towards the later phase of the Vedic period where it was elaborated upon.
• The general body of early philosophical treatises is known by the name of Upanishad. The number of Upanishads is about 200.
• The oldest among these are the Brihadaranyaka and Chhandogya which contain bold speculations about the eternal problems of human thought concerning God, man and the universe etc.
• The Upanishads are justly regarded as the most important contribution of India towards the world’s stock of spiritual thought.
• The great philosopher Schoperhaur, after reading the Latin translation of the Persian translation of Upanishads wrote:”From every sentence deep, original and sublime thoughts arise, and the whole is pervaded by a high and holy and earnest spirit. Indian air surrounds us, and original thoughts of kindred spirits". Even Max Muller held that, “the earliest of these philosophical treatises will always maintain a place in the literature of the world, among the most astounding productions of the human mind in any age and in any country”.