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135-673: The Upanishad calls it the Soul of the Universe or Brahman , and elaborates that Hiraṇyagarbha floated around in emptiness and the darkness of the non-existence for about a year, and then broke into two halves which formed the Svarga and the Pṛthvi . In classical Purāṇic Hinduism, Hiraṇyagarbha is the term used in the Vedanta for the "creator". Hiraṇyagarbha is also Brahmā , so called because it

270-534: A "formulation of truth," but also to "the ultimate and basic essence of the cosmos," standing at the "summit of the hierarchical scheme, or at the bottom as the ultimate foundation of all things." Brahman is "beyond the reach of human perception and thought." Atman likewise has multiple meanings, one of them being 'self', the inner essence of a human body/person. Various ideas about the relation between Atman and Brahman can be found. Two distinct, somewhat divergent themes stand out. Older upanishads state that Atman

405-440: A "hierarchical order of estates which reflected a division of labor among various social classes". The Vedic period estates were four: Brahmin priests and warrior nobility stood on top, free peasants and traders were the third, and slaves, labourers and artisans, many belonging to the indigenous people, were the fourth. This was a period where agriculture, metal, and commodity production, as well as trade, greatly expanded, and

540-418: A carpenter builds a chariot. The various philosophical theories in the early Upanishads have been attributed to famous sages such as Yajnavalkya , Uddalaka Aruni , Shvetaketu , Shandilya , Aitareya, Balaki, Pippalada , and Sanatkumara . Women, such as Maitreyi and Gargi , participate in the dialogues and are also credited in the early Upanishads. There are some exceptions to the anonymous tradition of

675-782: A group of people who settled in Sutlej, Ghagger, and the Upper Ganga/Yamuna Valleys, loosely classified with the early Aryans who migrated to India in the beginning of the Vedic period. It's also thought that the groups that introduced the painted grey ware culture also brought iron technology to the Indo-gangetic plains, making this pottery a momentous mark of the Northern Indian Iron Age. The style of grey-ware often includes clay wheel-thrown into

810-623: A later date for the Upanishads than has generally been accepted. Bronkhorst places even the oldest of the Upanishads, such as the Brhadaranyaka as possibly still being composed at "a date close to Katyayana and Patañjali [the grammarian]" (i.e., c. 2nd century BCE). The later Upanishads, numbering about 95, also called minor Upanishads, are dated from the late 1st-millennium BCE to mid 2nd-millennium CE. Gavin Flood dates many of

945-467: A more settled, agricultural way of life. The second half of the Vedic period was characterised by the emergence of towns, kingdoms , and a complex social differentiation distinctive to India, and the Kuru Kingdom 's codification of orthodox sacrificial ritual . During this time, the central Ganges Plain was dominated by a related but non-Vedic Indo-Aryan culture, of Greater Magadha . The end of

1080-539: A pluralism of worldviews. While some Upanishads have been deemed 'monistic', others, including the Katha Upanishad , are dualistic . The Maitri is one of the Upanishads that inclines more toward dualism, thus grounding classical Samkhya and Yoga schools of Hinduism, in contrast to the non-dualistic Upanishads at the foundation of its Vedanta school. They contain a plurality of ideas. The Upanishads include sections on philosophical theories that have been at

1215-464: A precision closer than a few centuries is as stable as a house of cards". Some scholars have tried to analyse similarities between Hindu Upanishads and Buddhist literature to establish chronology for the Upanishads. Precise dates are impossible, and most scholars give only broad ranges encompassing various centuries. Gavin Flood states that "the Upanisads are not a homogeneous group of texts. Even

1350-633: A purely indigenous origin of the Indo-Aryans is outside the academic mainstream. The knowledge about the Aryans comes mostly from the Rigveda - samhita , i.e. the oldest layer of the Vedas , which was composed c.  1400–1000 BCE. They brought with them their distinctive religious traditions and practices. The Vedic beliefs and practices of the pre-classical era were closely related to

1485-537: A small kingdom to the east of Magadha (on the door step of modern-day West Bengal ), formed the eastern boundary of the Vedic culture. Yadavas expanded towards the south and settled in Mathura . To the south of their kingdom was Vatsa which was governed from its capital Kausambi . The Narmada River and parts of North Western Deccan formed the southern limits. The newly formed states struggled for supremacy and started displaying imperial ambitions. The end of

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1620-406: A smooth texture, ash-grey in color, and often decorated with black ink, creating small circular patterns, sometimes spirals, swastikas, or sigmas. Grey-ware pottery is almost exclusively drinking ware, and tends to have three different forms: narrow-waisted, tall drinking glasses, middle-sized drinking goblets, and drinking vases with outturned lips. There was a distinct grey ware culture surrounding

1755-544: A year. The horse was followed by a chosen band of warriors. The kingdoms and chiefdoms in which the horse wandered had to pay homage or prepare to battle the king to whom the horse belonged. This sacrifice put considerable pressure on inter-state relations in this era. This period saw also the beginning of the social stratification by the use of varna , the division of Vedic society in Brahmins , Kshatriya , Vaishya and Shudra . The Kuru kingdom declined after its defeat by

1890-560: Is "not entirely absent in the Early Upanishads". The development of thought in these Upanishadic theories contrasted with Buddhism, since the Upanishadic inquiry fails to find an empirical correlate of the assumed Atman, but nevertheless assumes its existence, "[reifying] consciousness as an eternal self." The Buddhist inquiry "is satisfied with the empirical investigation which shows that no such Atman exists because there

2025-460: Is consequently placed after the 5th century BCE, while another proposal questions this assumption and dates it independent of Buddha's date of birth. The Kena , Mandukya, and Isa Upanishads are typically placed after these Principal Upanishads, but other scholars date these differently. Not much is known about the authors except for those, like Yajnavalkayva and Uddalaka, mentioned in the texts. A few women discussants, such as Gargi and Maitreyi,

2160-541: Is considered as northern India. The region is bounded on the west by the upper Indus valley, on the east by lower Ganges region, on the north by the Himalayan foothills, and on the south by the Vindhya mountain range. Scholars are reasonably sure that the early Upanishads were produced at the geographical center of ancient Brahmanism, Kuru - Panchala , and Kosala - Videha , a "frontier region" of Brahmanism, together with

2295-475: Is derived from the Sanskrit verb yaj, which has a three-fold meaning of worship of deities (devapujana), unity (saògatikaraña) and charity (dána). An essential element was the sacrificial fire—the divine Agni —into which oblations were poured, as everything offered into the fire was believed to reach God. People prayed for abundance of rain, cattle, sons, long life and gaining 'heaven'. Vedic people believed in

2430-559: Is difficult to "pin down" whether the Kurus were a true "state" or a complex chiefdom , as the Kuru kings notably never adopted royal titles higher than "rājan," which means "chief" rather than "king" in the Vedic context. The Middle Vedic Period is also characterized by a lack of cities; Bellah compares this to early state formation in ancient Hawaii and "very early Egypt," which were "territorial states" rather than "city-states," and thus "it

2565-450: Is greatly important to this culture, as pottery was often used as a "grave good", being buried with the bodies of the dead. Buried alongside the skeletons, we typically see various pots on top of the body, averaging at about 5 or less pieces of pottery per grave. Within this culture we typically see two kinds of pottery: gray ware, or red ware. Black and red ware culture was coined as a term in 1946 by Sir Mortimer Wheeler. The pottery, as

2700-401: Is heard"). The mode of worship was the performance of sacrifices ( Yajna ) which included the chanting of Rigvedic verses (see Vedic chant ), singing of Samans and 'mumbling' of sacrificial mantras ( Yajus ). Yajna involved sacrifice and sublimation of the havana sámagri (herbal preparations) in the fire accompanied by the chanting of the Vedic mantras. The sublime meaning of the word yajna

2835-485: Is like blind men leading the blind, it is a mark of conceit and vain knowledge, ignorant inertia like that of children, a futile useless practice. The Maitri Upanishad states, The performance of all the sacrifices, described in the Maitrayana-Brahmana, is to lead up in the end to a knowledge of Brahman, to prepare a man for meditation. Therefore, let such man, after he has laid those fires, meditate on

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2970-472: Is mentioned in some hymns, there is no indication of the use of coins. Metallurgy is not mentioned in the Rigveda , but the word ayas and instruments made from it such as razors, bangles, axes are mentioned. One verse mentions purification of ayas . Some scholars believe that ayas refers to iron and the words dham and karmara refer to iron-welders. However, philological evidence indicates that ayas in

3105-418: Is no evidence," states Jayatilleke. The Upanishads postulate Ātman and Brahman as the "summit of the hierarchically arranged and interconnected universe." Both have multiple meanings, and various ideas about the relation between Atman and Brahman can be found. Atman has "a wide range of lexical meanings, including ‘breath’, ‘spirit’, and ‘body’." In the Upanishads it refers to the body, but also to

3240-532: Is only a manifestation or evolution of the constituents of Prākṛti due to the action of Puruṣa's Consciousness. The Bhagavata states that Nārāyaṇa alone was in the beginning, who was the pious of principles of creation, sustenance, and dissolution (also known as the Hindu Trinity of Brahmā , Viṣṇu and Shiva ) - the Supreme god, multi-headed, multi-eyed, multi-footed, multi-armed, multi-limbed. This

3375-539: Is part of Brahman but not identical, while younger Upanishads state that Brahman (Highest Reality, Universal Principle, Being-Consciousness-Bliss) is identical with Atman . The Brahmasutra by Badarayana ( c. 100 BCE) synthesized and unified these somewhat conflicting theories. According to Nakamura, the Brahmasutras see Atman and Brahman as both different and not-different, a point of view which came to be called bhedabheda in later times. According to Koller,

3510-570: Is pervaded by Nārāyaṇa within and without. The Īśvara Upaniṣad says that the universe is pervaded by Īśvara (God), who is both within and without it. He is the moving and the unmoving, He is far and near, He is within all these and without all these. The Vedānta Sūtra further states that Brahman is That from Whom this Universe proceeds, in Whom it subsists, and to Whom, in the end, it returns. The Saṃkhya school holds that there are only two primary principles, Puruṣa and Prākṛti , and creation

3645-404: Is possible in the world." Modern era Indologists have discussed the similarities between the fundamental concepts in the Upanishads and the works of major Western philosophers . The Sanskrit term Upaniṣad originally meant “connection” or “equivalence", but came to be understood as "sitting near a teacher," from upa "by" and ni-ṣad "sit down", "sitting down near", referring to

3780-536: Is said he was born in a golden egg ( Manu Smṛti 1.9), while the Mahābhārata calls it the Manifest. Some classical yoga traditions consider a person named Hiraṇyagarbha as the originator of yoga , though this may also be a name for Sage Kapila . The Matsya Purāṇa (2.25–30) gives an account of initial creation. After Mahāprālaya , the great dissolution of the Universe, there was darkness everywhere. Everything

3915-599: Is seen as particularly ancient by modern scholars. Of the remainder, 95 Upanishads are part of the Muktikā canon, composed from about the last centuries of 1st-millennium BCE through about 15th-century CE. New Upanishads, beyond the 108 in the Muktika canon, continued to be composed through the early modern and modern era, though often dealing with subjects that are unconnected to the Vedas. The mukhya Upanishads, along with

4050-415: Is to discover the relations between ritual, cosmic realities (including gods), and the human body/person, postulating Ātman and Brahman as the "summit of the hierarchically arranged and interconnected universe", but various ideas about the relation between Atman and Brahman can be found. 108 Upanishads are known, of which the first dozen or so are the oldest and most important and are referred to as

4185-505: Is unknown. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan states, "almost all the early literature of India was anonymous, we do not know the names of the authors of the Upanishads". The ancient Upanishads are embedded in the Vedas, the oldest of Hinduism's religious scriptures, which some traditionally consider to be apauruṣeya , which means "not of a man, superhuman" and "impersonal, authorless". The Vedic texts assert that they were skillfully created by Rishis (sages), after inspired creativity, just as

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4320-616: The Bhagavad Gita and the Brahmasutra (known collectively as the Prasthanatrayi ), are interpreted in divergent ways in the several later schools of Vedanta . Translations of the Upanishads in the early 19th century started to attract attention from a Western audience. German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer was deeply impressed by the Upanishads and called them "the most profitable and elevating reading which ...

4455-638: The Aditya gods or sometimes the cow). Rivers, especially Saraswati , were also considered goddesses. Deities were not viewed as all-powerful. The relationship between humans and the deity was one of transaction, with Agni (the sacrificial fire) taking the role of messenger between the two. Strong traces of a common Indo-Iranian religion remain visible, especially in the Soma cult and the fire worship, both of which are preserved in Zoroastrianism . Ethics in

4590-595: The Brahmana and Aranyaka layers of Vedic text, compiled into separate texts and these were then gathered into anthologies of the Upanishads. These lists associated each Upanishad with one of the four Vedas. Many such lists exist but they are inconsistent across India in terms of which Upanishads are included and how the newer Upanishads are assigned to the ancient Vedas. In south India, the collected list based on Muktika Upanishad, and published in Telugu language , became

4725-582: The Chandogya , the oldest. The Aitareya, Kauṣītaki and Taittirīya Upanishads may date to as early as the mid-1st millennium BCE, while the remnant date from between roughly the 4th to 1st centuries BCE, roughly contemporary with the earliest portions of the Sanskrit epics . One chronology assumes that the Aitareya, Taittiriya, Kausitaki, Mundaka, Prasna , and Katha Upanishads has Buddha's influence, and

4860-549: The Gita of Mahabharata , are essential parts of these later developments. The reconstruction of the history of Vedic India is based on text-internal details, but can be correlated to relevant archaeological details. Linguistically, the Vedic texts could be classified in five chronological strata: In northern India, some very early depictions of deities appear in the art of the Indus Valley Civilisation , but

4995-708: The Ochre Coloured Pottery culture , the Gandhara grave culture , the Black and red ware culture and the Painted Grey Ware culture. Ochre coloured pottery culture was first found approximately between 1950 and 1951, in western Uttar Pradesh, in the Badaun and Bisjuar district. It is thought that this culture was prominent during the latter half of the 2nd millennium, within the transition between

5130-557: The Puranas , envisions a much older chronology for the Vedic culture. In this view, the Vedas were received by the seven rishis thousands of years ago. The start of the reign of Vaivasvata Manu , the Manu of the current kalpa (aeon) and the progenitor of humanity, is dated by some as far back 7350 BCE. The Kurukshetra War , the background-scene of the Bhagavad Gita , which may relate historical events taking place ca. 1000 BCE at

5265-603: The Rigveda refers only to copper and bronze, while iron or śyāma ayas , literally "black metal", first is mentioned in the post-Rigvedic Atharvaveda , and therefore the Early Vedic Period was a Bronze Age culture whereas the Late Vedic Period was an Iron Age culture. The transition of Vedic society from semi-nomadic life to settled agriculture in the later Vedic age led to an increase in trade and competition for resources. Agriculture dominated

5400-399: The Rigveda refers to both eastern and western oceans. Individual property ownership did not exist and clans as a whole enjoyed rights over lands and herds. Enslavement ( dasa , dasi ) in the course of war or as a result of non-payment of debt is mentioned. However, slaves worked in households rather than production-related activities. Texts considered to date to the Vedic period are mainly

5535-431: The Rigveda , such as 3.44–45, indicate the absence of strict social hierarchy and the existence of social mobility: O, Indra, fond of soma , would you make me the protector of people, or would you make me a king, would you make me a sage who has drunk soma , would you impart to me endless wealth. The institution of marriage was important and different types of marriages— monogamy, polygyny and polyandry are mentioned in

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5670-451: The Rigveda . Both women sages and female gods were known to Vedic Aryans. Women could choose their husbands and could remarry if their husbands died or disappeared. The wife enjoyed a respectable position. People consumed milk, milk products, grains, fruits and vegetables. Meat eating is mentioned; however, cows are labeled aghnya (not to be killed). Clothes of cotton, wool and animal skin were worn. Soma and sura were popular drinks in

5805-744: The Rudrahridaya Upanishad and the Mahanarayana Upanishad , assert that all the Hindu gods and goddesses are the same, all an aspect and manifestation of Brahman , the Vedic concept for metaphysical ultimate reality before and after the creation of the Universe. The Principal Upanishads, also known as the Mukhya Upanishads , can be grouped into periods. Of the early periods are the Brihadaranyaka and

5940-578: The Sintashta culture , from which arose the subsequent Andronovo horizon. The Indo-Aryans migrated through the adjacent Bactria – Margiana area (present-day northern Afghanistan ) to northwest India, followed by the rise of the Iranian Yaz culture at c.  1500 BCE, and the Iranian migrations into Iran at c.  800 BCE. Some Indian writers and archaeologists have opposed

6075-525: The Upanishads , the final phase of the Vedic era, was approximately contemporaneous with a new wave of state formations, linked to the beginning of urbanization in the Ganges Valley: along with the growth of population and trade networks, these social and economic changes put pressure on older ways of life, setting the stage for the Upanishads and the subsequent śramaṇa movements, and the end of

6210-638: The Vedas are based on the concepts of Satya and Rta . Satya is the principle of integration rooted in the Absolute. Whereas, Ṛta is the expression of Satya, which regulates and coordinates the operation of the universe and everything within it. Conformity with Ṛta would enable progress whereas its violation would lead to punishment. Around the beginning of the Common Era, the Vedic tradition formed one of

6345-503: The Vedic tradition formed one of the main constituents of " Hindu synthesis ". Archaeological cultures identified with phases of Indo-Aryan material culture include the Ochre Coloured Pottery culture , the Gandhara grave culture , the black and red ware culture and the Painted Grey Ware culture (PGW). The early Vedic age is historically dated to the second half of the second millennium BCE. Historically, after

6480-445: The rajan was to protect the tribe. He was aided by several functionaries, including the purohita (chaplain), the senani (army chief), dutas (envoys) and spash (spies). Purohita performed ceremonies and spells for success in war and prosperity in peace. In the later Vedic period, the tribes had consolidated into small kingdoms, which had a capital and a rudimentary administrative system. To aid in governing these new states,

6615-699: The transmigration of the soul , and the peepul tree and cow were sanctified by the time of the Atharvaveda . Many of the concepts of Indian philosophy espoused later like Dharma , Karma etc. trace their root to the Vedas . The main deities of the Vedic pantheon were Indra , Agni (the sacrificial fire ), and Soma and some deities of social order such as Mitra – Varuna , Aryaman , Bhaga and Amsa, further nature deities such as Surya (the Sun), Vayu (the wind) and Prithivi (the earth). Goddesses included Ushas (the dawn), Prithvi and Aditi (the mother of

6750-426: The "surface" level, in which graves are covered with huge stone slabs. In the lower stage, excavators found that these graves are typically 2–3 feet deep, and covered with stones on top. After digging out the stones, skeletons were found facing southwest to northeast, with the head facing one direction, and the hands laying on top of one another. Female skeletons were often found wearing hair pins and jewelry. Pottery

6885-493: The Brahmasutras state that Atman and Brahman are different in some respects particularly during the state of ignorance, but at the deepest level and in the state of self-realization, Atman and Brahman are identical, non-different. This ancient debate flowered into various dual, non-dual theories in Hinduism. Two different types of the non-dual Brahman-Atman are presented in the Upanishads, according to Mahadevan. The one in which

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7020-866: The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad as the area of Videha, whose king, Janaka, features prominently in the Upanishad. The Chandogya Upanishad was probably composed in a more western than eastern location in the Indian subcontinent, possibly somewhere in the western region of the Kuru-Panchala country. Compared to the Principal Upanishads, the new Upanishads recorded in the Muktikā belong to an entirely different region, probably southern India, and are considerably relatively recent. In

7155-655: The Creator, has come to be considered as the womb of all objects. The Hiraṇyagarbha Sūkta of the Rigveda declares that God manifested Himself in the beginning as the Creator of the Universe, encompassing all things, including everything within Himself, the collective totality, as it were, of the whole of creation, animating it as the Supreme Intelligence. In the Rigveda (RV 10.121) it is also mentioned that at

7290-463: The Indus Valley civilization and the end of Harrapan culture. This pottery is typically created with wheel ware, and is ill-fired, to a fine to medium fabric, decorated with a red slip, and occasional black bands1. When this pottery was worked with, it often left an ochre color on the hands, most likely because of water-logging, bad firing, wind action, or a mixture of these factors. This pottery

7425-584: The Karma doctrine is presented in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad , which is the oldest Upanishad. While the hymns of the Vedas emphasize rituals and the Brahmanas serve as a liturgical manual for those Vedic rituals, the spirit of the Upanishads is inherently opposed to ritual. The older Upanishads launch attacks of increasing intensity on the ritual. Anyone who worships a divinity other than

7560-578: The Kingdoms of the Indo-Greeks , Indo-Scythians , and Indo-Parthians . This period culminated with the Kushan and Gupta Empire , which resulted in the "Hindu Synthesis". While Vedic society was relatively egalitarian in the sense that a distinct hierarchy of socio-economic classes or castes was absent, the Vedic period saw the emergence of a hierarchy of social classes . Political hierarchy

7695-515: The Kshatriya and Shudra. The Purusha Sukta visualised the four varnas as hierarchical, but inter-related parts of an organic whole. Despite the increasing social stratification in the later Vedic times, hymns like Rigveda IX.112 suggest some amount of social mobility: "I am a reciter of hymns, my father a physician, and my mother grinds (corn) with stones. We desire to obtain wealth in various actions." Household became an important unit in

7830-585: The Kuru-Panchala region but were not the only Indo-Aryan people in northern India, transitioned from semi-nomadic life to settled agriculture in north-western India. Possession of horses remained an important priority of Vedic leaders and a remnant of the nomadic lifestyle, resulting in trade routes beyond the Hindu Kush to maintain this supply as horses needed for cavalry and sacrifice could not be bred in India. The Gangetic plains had remained out of bounds to

7965-402: The Self, to become complete and perfect. But who is to be meditated on? The opposition to the ritual is not explicit in the oldest Upanishads. On occasions, the Upanishads extend the task of the Aranyakas by making the ritual allegorical and giving it a philosophical meaning. For example, the Brihadaranyaka interprets the practice of horse-sacrifice or ashvamedha allegorically. It states that

8100-400: The Upanishads are categorized as "sectarian" since they present their ideas through a particular god or goddess of a specific Hindu tradition such as Vishnu, Shiva, Shakti, or a combination of these such as the Skanda Upanishad . These traditions sought to link their texts as Vedic, by asserting their texts to be an Upanishad, thereby a Śruti . Most of these sectarian Upanishads, for example

8235-460: The Upanishads, god becomes synonymous with self, and is declared to be everywhere, inmost being of each human being and within every living creature. The one reality or ekam sat of the Vedas becomes the ekam eva advitiyam or "the one and only and sans a second" in the Upanishads. Brahman-Atman and self-realization develops, in the Upanishad, as the means to moksha (liberation; freedom in this life or after-life). According to Jayatilleke ,

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8370-551: The Upanishads. The Shvetashvatara Upanishad , for example, includes closing credits to sage Shvetashvatara , and he is considered the author of the Upanishad. Many scholars believe that early Upanishads were interpolated and expanded over time. There are differences within manuscripts of the same Upanishad discovered in different parts of South Asia, differences in non-Sanskrit version of the texts that have survived, and differences within each text in terms of meter, style, grammar and structure. The existing texts are believed to be

8505-589: The Vedic Period, which was followed by the Mahajanapada period. According to George Erdosy, archaeological data for the period from 1000 to 600 BCE shows a two-tiered settlement pattern in the Ganges Valley, with some "modest central places," suggestive of the existence of simple chiefdoms , with the Kurukshetra district itself displaying a more complex (albeit not yet urbanized) three-tiered hierarchy. Subsequently, (after 600 BCE) there are four tiers of site sizes, including large towns and fortified cities, consistent with an urbanized state-level society. Economy in

8640-594: The Vedic Upanishads. The main Shakta Upanishads, for example, mostly discuss doctrinal and interpretative differences between the two principal sects of a major Tantric form of Shaktism called Shri Vidya upasana . The many extant lists of authentic Shakta Upaniṣads vary, reflecting the sect of their compilers, so that they yield no evidence of their "location" in Tantric tradition, impeding correct interpretation. The Tantra content of these texts also weaken its identity as an Upaniṣad for non-Tantrikas. Sectarian texts such as these do not enjoy status as shruti and thus

8775-425: The Vedic era texts including the early Upanishads and many Sutras important to later Hindu culture were completed. The Kuru Kingdom , the earliest Vedic "state", was formed by a "super-tribe" which joined several tribes in a new unit. To govern this state, Vedic hymns were collected and transcribed, and new rituals were developed, which formed the now orthodox Śrauta rituals. Two key figures in this process of

8910-460: The Vedic period is marked by linguistic, cultural and political changes. The grammar of Pāṇini marks a final apex in the codification of Sutra texts, and at the same time the beginning of Classical Sanskrit . Meanwhile, in the Kosala-Magadha region, the shramana movements (including Jainism and Buddhism ) objected the self-imposed authority and orthodoxy of the intruding Brahmins and their Vedic scriptures and ritual. According to Bronkhorst,

9045-411: The Vedic period was sustained by a combination of pastoralism and agriculture. There are references, in the Rigveda , to the leveling of fields, seed processing, and storage of grains in large jars. War bounty was also a major source of wealth. Economic exchanges were conducted by gift giving, particularly to kings ( bali ) and priests ( dana ), and barter using cattle as a unit of currency. While gold

9180-401: The Vedic period witnessed the rise of true cities and large states (called mahajanapadas ) as well as śramaṇa movements (including Jainism and Buddhism ) which challenged the Vedic orthodoxy. The Vedic period saw the emergence of a hierarchy of social classes that would remain influential. Vedic religion developed into Brahmanical orthodoxy , and around the beginning of the Common Era,

9315-432: The Vedic society, of which soma was sanctified by religion. Flute ( vana ), lute ( vina ), harp, cymbals and drums were the musical instruments played and a heptatonic scale was used. Dancing, dramas, chariot racing and gambling were other popular pastimes. The emergence of monarchical states in the later Vedic age led to a distancing of the rajan from the people and the emergence of a varna hierarchy. The society

9450-468: The Vedic tribes because of thick forest cover. After 1000 BCE, the use of iron axes and ploughs became widespread and the jungles could be cleared with ease. This enabled the Vedic Aryans to extend their settlements into the western area of the Ganga-Yamuna Doab. Many of the old tribes coalesced to form larger political units. The Vedic religion was further developed with the emergence of the Kuru kingdom, systematising its religious literature and developing

9585-400: The areas immediately to the south and west of these. This region covers modern Bihar , Nepal , Uttar Pradesh , Uttarakhand , Himachal Pradesh , Haryana , eastern Rajasthan , and northern Madhya Pradesh . While significant attempts have been made recently to identify the exact locations of the individual Upanishads, the results are tentative. Witzel identifies the center of activity in

9720-483: The authority of the new Upanishads as scripture is not accepted in Hinduism. All Upanishads are associated with one of the four Vedas— Rigveda , Samaveda , Yajurveda (there are two primary versions or Samhitas of the Yajurveda: Shukla Yajurveda , Krishna Yajurveda ), and Atharvaveda . During the modern era, the ancient Upanishads that were embedded texts in the Vedas, were detached from

9855-530: The banks of the river Parushni (modern day Ravi ). The battle was fought between the tribe Bharatas , led by their chief Sudas , against a confederation of ten tribes. The Bharatas lived around the upper regions of the river Saraswati , while the Purus, their western neighbours, lived along the lower regions of Saraswati. The other tribes dwelt north-west of the Bharatas in the region of Punjab . Division of

9990-516: The classic Upanishads , being less subtle and more formalized. As a result, they are not difficult to comprehend for the modern reader. There is no fixed list of the Upanishads as newer ones, beyond the Muktika anthology of 108 Upanishads, have continued to be discovered and composed. In 1908, for example, four previously unknown Upanishads were discovered in newly found manuscripts, and these were named Bashkala , Chhagaleya , Arsheya , and Saunaka , by Friedrich Schrader , who attributed them to

10125-469: The collapse of the Indus Valley Civilisation , which occurred around 1900 BCE, groups of Indo-Aryan peoples migrated into north-western India and started to inhabit the northern Indus Valley . The Indo-Aryans represented a sub-group that diverged from other Indo-Iranian tribes at the Andronovo horizon before the middle of the 2nd millennium BCE. The Indo-Iranians originated in

10260-496: The commandments of gods ( avrata ). Their speech is described as mridhra which could variously mean soft, uncouth, hostile, scornful or abusive. Other adjectives which describe their physical appearance are subject to many interpretations. However, some modern scholars such as Asko Parpola connect the Dasas and Dasyus to Iranian tribes Dahae and Dahyu and believe that Dasas and Dasyus were early Indo-Aryan immigrants who arrived into

10395-632: The creation of the world the cosmic egg was separated in to two halves, one part became the sky and the other the sun. Counterparts of Ame-no-Minakanushi in other cultures [REDACTED] Works related to The Rig Veda/Mandala 10/Hymn 121 at Wikisource Upanishads Divisions Sama vedic Yajur vedic Atharva vedic Vaishnava puranas Shaiva puranas Shakta puranas The Upanishads ( / ʊ ˈ p ʌ n ɪ ʃ ə d z / ; Sanskrit : उपनिषद् , IAST : Upaniṣad , pronounced [ˈʊpɐnɪʂɐd] ) are late Vedic and post-Vedic Sanskrit texts that "document

10530-558: The culture. Gandhara grave culture refers to the protohistoric cemeteries found in the Gandhara region, stretching all the way from Bajuar to the Indus. These cemeteries seem to follow a set grave structure and "mortuary practice", such as inflexed inhumation and cremation. This culture is thought to occur in 3 stages: the lower, in which burials take place in masonry lined pits, the upper, in which urn burials and cremations are added, and

10665-456: The development of the Kuru state were the king Parikshit and his successor Janamejaya , transforming this realm into the dominant political and cultural power of northern Iron Age India . The most well-known of the new religious sacrifices that arose in this period were the Ashvamedha (horse sacrifice). This sacrifice involved setting a consecrated horse free to roam the kingdoms for

10800-834: The economic activity along the Ganges valley during this period. Agricultural operations grew in complexity and usage of iron implements ( krishna–ayas or shyama–ayas , literally black metal or dark metal) increased. Crops of wheat, rice, and barley were cultivated. Surplus production helped to support the centralised kingdoms that were emerging at this time. New crafts and occupations such as carpentry, leather work, tanning, pottery, astrology, jewellery, dying, and winemaking arose. Apart from copper, bronze, and gold, later Vedic texts also mention tin, lead, and silver. Panis in some hymns refers to merchants, in others to stingy people who hid their wealth and did not perform Vedic sacrifices. Some scholars suggest that Panis were semitic traders, but

10935-483: The essence of the concrete physical human body, "an essence, a life-force, consciousness, or ultimate reality." The Chāndogya Upaniṣhad (6.1-16) "offers an organic understanding of ātman, characterizing the self in terms of the life force that animates all living beings," while the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣhad "characterizes ātman more in terms of consciousness than as a life-giving essence." Brahman may refer to

11070-514: The establishment of the pottery, but while the culture is significant, grey ware has only made up 10–15% of found Vedic pottery, a majority of the pottery red ware, as grey ware pottery was seen as a "highly valued luxury". The Puranic chronology , the timeline of events in ancient Indian history and mythology as narrated in post-Vedic Hindu texts such as the Mahabharata , the Ramayana and

11205-411: The evidence for this is slim. Professions of warriors, priests, cattle-rearers, farmers, hunters, barbers, vintners and crafts of chariot-making, cart-making, carpentry, metal working, tanning, making of bows, sewing, weaving, making mats of grass and reed are mentioned in the hymns of the Rigveda . Some of these might have needed full-time specialists. There are references to boats and oceans. Book X of

11340-436: The exact signification of these artifacts, or even the culture and the periodization to which they belonged. Some examples of artistic expression also appear in abstract pottery designs during the Black and red ware culture (1450–1200 BCE) or the Painted Grey Ware culture (1200–600 BCE), with finds in a wide area, including the area of Mathura. Archaeological cultures identified with phases of Vedic material culture include

11475-485: The first prose period of the Upanishads. The text of three of them, namely the Chhagaleya , Arsheya , and Saunaka , were incomplete and inconsistent, likely poorly maintained or corrupted. Ancient Upanishads have long enjoyed a revered position in Hindu traditions, and authors of numerous sectarian texts have tried to benefit from this reputation by naming their texts as Upanishads. These "new Upanishads" number in

11610-648: The following millennium, coinciding with the Indo–Aryan migration during the Vedic period, is devoid of such remains. It has been suggested that the early Vedic religion focused exclusively on the worship of purely "elementary forces of nature by means of elaborate sacrifices", which did not lend themselves easily to anthropomorphological representations. Various artefacts may belong to the Copper Hoard culture (2nd millennium CE), some of them suggesting anthropomorphological characteristics. Interpretations vary as to

11745-503: The foundation of Indian traditions. For example, the Chandogya Upanishad includes one of the earliest known declarations of Ahimsa (non-violence) as an ethical precept. Discussion of other ethical premises such as Damah (temperance, self-restraint), Satya (truthfulness), Dāna (charity), Ārjava (non-hypocrisy), Daya (compassion), and others are found in the oldest Upanishads and many later Upanishads. Similarly,

11880-549: The four Vedas , but the Brahmanas , Aranyakas and the older Upanishads as well as the oldest Śrautasutras are also considered to be Vedic. The Vedas record the liturgy connected with the rituals and sacrifices performed by the 16 or 17 Śrauta priests and the purohitas . The rishis , the composers of the hymns of the Rigveda , were considered inspired poets and seers (in post-Vedic times understood as "hearers" of an eternally existing Veda , Śruti means "what

12015-690: The fourth chapter of the Kaushitaki Upanishad, a location named Kashi (modern Varanasi ) is mentioned. There are more than 200 known Upanishads , one of which, the Muktikā Upanishad, predates 1656 CE and contains a list of 108 canonical Upanishads, including itself as the last. These are further divided into Upanishads associated with Shaktism (goddess Shakti), Sannyasa (renunciation, monastic life), Shaivism (god Shiva), Vaishnavism (god Vishnu), Yoga , and Sāmānya (general, sometimes referred to as Samanya-Vedanta). Some of

12150-476: The hundreds, cover diverse range of topics from physiology to renunciation to sectarian theories. They were composed between the last centuries of the 1st millennium BCE through the early modern era (~1600 CE). While over two dozen of the minor Upanishads are dated to pre-3rd century CE, many of these new texts under the title of "Upanishads" originated in the first half of the 2nd millennium CE, they are not Vedic texts, and some do not deal with themes found in

12285-651: The hypothesised Proto-Indo-European religion and the Indo-Iranian religion. Funeral sacrifices from the Sintashta culture show close parallels to the sacrificial funeral rites of the Rigveda , while, according to Anthony, the Old Indic religion probably emerged among Indo-European immigrants in the contact zone between the Zeravshan River (present-day Uzbekistan ) and (present-day) Tajikistan. It

12420-529: The increasing power of the king, their influence declined. By the end of the later Vedic age, different kinds of political systems such as monarchical states ( rajya ), oligarchical states ( gana or sangha ), and tribal principalities had emerged in India. According to Michael Witzel 's analysis of the Kuru Kingdom , it can be characterized as the earliest Vedic "state", during the Middle Vedic Period. However, Robert Bellah observes that it

12555-510: The king Janaka , whose court provided patronage for Brahmin sages and philosophers such as Yajnavalkya , Uddalaka Aruni , and Gargi Vachaknavi ; Panchala also remained prominent during this period, under its king Pravahana Jaivali . By the 6th century BCE, the political units consolidated into large kingdoms called Mahajanapadas . The process of urbanisation had begun in these kingdoms, commerce and travel flourished, even regions separated by large distances became easy to access. Anga ,

12690-423: The kings and their Brahmin priests arranged Vedic hymns into collections and developed a new set of rituals (the now orthodox Śrauta rituals) to strengthen the emerging social hierarchy . The rajan was seen as the custodian of social order and the protector of rashtra (polity). Hereditary kingship started emerging and competitions like chariot races, cattle raids, and games of dice, which previously decided who

12825-449: The later Vedic age. The variety of households of the Vedic era gave way to an idealised household which was headed by a grihapati . The relations between husband and wife, father and son were hierarchically organised and the women were relegated to subordinate and docile roles. Polygyny was more common than polyandry and texts like Tattiriya Samhita indicate taboos around menstruating women. Various professions women took to are mentioned in

12960-462: The later Vedic texts. Women tended to cattle, milked cows, carded wool; were weavers, dyers, and corn grinders. Women warriors such as Vishpala , who lost a leg in battle, are mentioned. Two female philosophers are mentioned in the Upanishads. Patrick Olivelle , in his translation of the Upanishads, writes that "the fact that these women are introduced without any attempt to justify or to explain how women could be engaged in theological matters suggests

13095-426: The main constituents of the " Hindu synthesis ". Vedic religion survived in the srayta ritual, whereas ascetic and devotional traditions like Yoga and Vedanta acknowledge the authority of the Vedas , but interpret the Vedic pantheon as a unitary view of the universe with 'God' (Brahman) seen as immanent and transcendent in the forms of Ishvara and Brahman . Later texts such as the Upanishads and epics, namely

13230-406: The most common by the 19th-century and this is a list of 108 Upanishads. In north India, a list of 52 Upanishads has been most common. The Muktikā Upanishad's list of 108 Upanishads groups the first 13 as mukhya , 21 as Sāmānya Vedānta , 18 as Sannyāsa , 14 as Vaishnava , 14 as Shaiva , 8 as Shakta , and 20 as Yoga . The 108 Upanishads as recorded in the Muktikā are shown in

13365-432: The most important literature in the history of Indian religions and culture, the Upanishads document a wide variety of "rites, incantations, and esoteric knowledge" departing from Vedic ritualism and interpreted in various ways in the later commentarial traditions. The Upanishads are widely known, and their diverse ideas, interpreted in various ways, informed later traditions of Hinduism. The central concern of all Upanishads

13500-419: The name suggests, typically has a black rim/inside surface, and a red lower half on the outside of the piece. Red-ware pottery tends to fall into two categories: offering stands, or cooking vessels. Most of these pieces of pottery were open-mouthed bowls that were burnished, painted, or slipped on one side; however, jars, pots and dishes-on-stands have also been found in small quantities. Black and red ware, and

13635-617: The non-Vedic Salva tribe , and the political center of Vedic culture shifted east, into the Panchala kingdom on the Ganges, under King Keśin Dālbhya (approximately between 900 and 750 BCE). Later, in the 8th or 7th century BCE, the kingdom of Videha emerged as a political center farther to the East, in what is today northern Bihar of India and southeastern Nepal , reaching its prominence under

13770-426: The non-dual Brahman-Atman is the all-inclusive ground of the universe and another in which empirical, changing reality is an appearance (Maya). Vedic period The Vedic period , or the Vedic age ( c.  1500  – c.  500 BCE ), is the period in the late Bronze Age and early Iron Age of the history of India when the Vedic literature, including the Vedas ( c.  1500 –900 BCE),

13905-466: The notion of a migration of Indo-Aryans into India, and argued for an indigenous origin of the Indo-Aryans . In this view, "the Indian civilization must be viewed as an unbroken tradition that goes back to the earliest period of the Sindhu-Sarasvati (or Indus) tradition (7000 or 8000 BCE)." Though popular in India, and reflecting Indian views on Indian history and religion, the idea of

14040-557: The older texts were composed over a wide expanse of time from about 600 to 300 BCE." Stephen Phillips places the early or "principal" Upanishads in the 800 to 300 BCE range. Patrick Olivelle , a Sanskrit Philologist and Indologist , gives the following chronology for the early Upanishads, also called the Principal Upanishads : Meanwhile, the Indologist Johannes Bronkhorst argues for

14175-465: The over-lordship of the earth may be acquired by sacrificing a horse. It then goes on to say that spiritual autonomy can only be achieved by renouncing the universe which is conceived in the image of a horse. In similar fashion, Vedic gods such as the Agni , Aditya , Indra , Rudra , Visnu , Brahma , and others become equated in the Upanishads to the supreme, immortal, and incorporeal Brahman-Atman of

14310-493: The primary sources for understanding the period. These documents, alongside the corresponding archaeological record, allow for the evolution of the Indo-Aryan and Vedic culture to be traced and inferred. The Vedas were composed and orally transmitted with precision by speakers of an Old Indo-Aryan language who had migrated into the northwestern regions of the Indian subcontinent early in this period. The Vedic society

14445-515: The principal or main ( mukhya ) Upanishads. The mukhya Upanishads are found mostly in the concluding part of the Brahmanas and Aranyakas and were, for centuries, memorized by each generation and passed down orally . The mukhya Upanishads predate the Common Era , but there is no scholarly consensus on their date, or even on which ones are pre- or post-Buddhist. The Brhadaranyaka

14580-426: The relatively high social and religious position of at least women of some social strata during this period." Early Vedic Aryans were organised into tribes rather than kingdoms. The chief of a tribe was called a rajan . The autonomy of the rajan was restricted by the tribal councils called sabha and samiti . The two bodies were, in part, responsible for the governance of the tribe. The rajan could not accede to

14715-435: The ritual of introspection", and that "not rituals, but knowledge should be one's pursuit". The Mundaka Upanishad declares how man has been called upon, promised benefits for, scared unto and misled into performing sacrifices, oblations and pious works. Mundaka thereafter asserts this is foolish and frail, by those who encourage it and those who follow it, because it makes no difference to man's current life and after-life, it

14850-416: The self is called a domestic animal of the gods in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad . The Chāndogya Upanishad parodies those who indulge in the acts of sacrifice by comparing them with a procession of dogs chanting Om! Let's eat. Om! Let's drink . The Kaushitaki Upanishad asserts that "external rituals such as Agnihotram offered in the morning and in the evening, must be replaced with inner Agnihotram,

14985-560: The service of the higher varnas . The effects of Rajasuya sacrifice depended on the varna of the sacrificer. Rajasuya endowed Brahmana with lustre, Kshatriya with valour, Vaishya with procreative power and Shudra with stability. The hierarchy of the top three varnas is ambiguous in the later Vedic texts. Panchavamsha Brahmana and verse 13.8.3.11 of the Shatapatha Brahmana place Kshatriya over Brahmana and Vaishya, whereas, verse 1.1.4.12 places Brahmana and Vaishya over

15120-552: The sramana culture arose in " Greater Magadha ," which was Indo-European, but not Vedic. In this culture, kshatriyas were placed higher than Brahmins, and it rejected Vedic authority and rituals. Greater Magadha reached its zenith under the Maurya Empire . Meanwhile, the Achaemenid invasion of Cyrus and Darius I of the Indus valley in the early 6th century BCE marks the beginning of outside influence, which continued in

15255-494: The student sitting down near the teacher while receiving spiritual knowledge (Gurumukh). Other dictionary meanings include "esoteric doctrine" and "secret doctrine". Monier-Williams ' Sanskrit Dictionary notes – "According to native authorities, Upanishad means setting to rest ignorance by revealing the knowledge of the supreme spirit." Adi Shankaracharya explains in his commentary on the Kaṭha and Brihadaranyaka Upanishad that

15390-577: The subcontinent before the Vedic Aryans. Likewise, Bronkhorst has argued that the central Ganges Plain was dominated by a related but non-Vedic Indo-Aryan culture, a difference also noted by Samuel. Accounts of military conflicts in between the various tribes of Vedic Aryans are also described in the Rigveda . Most notable of such conflicts was the Battle of the Ten Kings , which took place on

15525-441: The surrounding culture, began its spread during the neolithic period and continues until the early medieval period in India, as well as being found in parts of West Asia and Egypt. There are many theories about the process of its creation, the most popular being the use of an inverted firing technique, or a simultaneous oxidation and reduction firing. Painted grey ware culture is a significant pottery style that has been linked to

15660-445: The table below. The mukhya Upanishads are the most important and highlighted. The central concern of all Upanishads is to discover the relations between ritual, cosmic realities (including gods), and the human body/person, postulating Ātman and Brahman as the "summit of the hierarchically arranged and interconnected universe," but various ideas about the relation between Atman and Brahman can be found. The Upanishads reflect

15795-490: The thinkers of Upanishadic texts can be grouped into two categories. One group, which includes early Upanishads along with some middle and late Upanishads, were composed by metaphysicians who used rational arguments and empirical experience to formulate their speculations and philosophical premises. The second group includes many middle and later Upanishads, where their authors professed theories based on yoga and personal experiences. Yoga philosophy and practice, adds Jayatilleke,

15930-494: The throne without their approval. The distinction between the two bodies is not clear. Arthur Llewellyn Basham , a noted historian and indologist , theorises that sabha was a meeting of great men in the tribe, whereas, samiti was a meeting of all free tribesmen. Some tribes had no hereditary chiefs and were directly governed by the tribal councils. Rajan had a rudimentary court which was attended by courtiers ( sabhasad ) and chiefs of sects ( gramani ). The main responsibility of

16065-505: The transition from the archaic ritualism of the Veda into new religious ideas and institutions" and the emergence of the central religious concepts of Hinduism . They are the most recent addition to the Vedas -- the oldest scriptures of Hinduism, and deal with meditation, philosophy , consciousness , and ontological knowledge. Earlier parts of the Vedas dealt with mantras, benedictions, rituals, ceremonies, and sacrifices. While among

16200-489: The twenty Yoga Upanishads to be probably from the 100 BCE to 300 CE period. Patrick Olivelle and other scholars date seven of the twenty Sannyasa Upanishads to likely have been complete sometime between the last centuries of the 1st-millennium BCE to 300 CE. About half of the Sannyasa Upanishads were likely composed in 14th- to 15th-century CE. The general area of the composition of the early Upanishads

16335-511: The waters of Ravi could have been a reason for the war. The confederation of tribes tried to inundate the Bharatas by opening the embankments of Ravi, yet Sudas emerged victorious in the Battle of Ten Kings. The Bharatas and the Purus merged into a new tribe, the Kuru , after the war. After the 12th century BCE, as the Rigveda had taken its final form, the Vedic society, which is associated with

16470-426: The wife of Yajnavalkayva, also feature occasionally. Each of the principal Upanishads can be associated with one of the schools of exegesis of the four Vedas ( shakhas ). Many Shakhas are said to have existed, of which only a few remain. The new Upanishads often have little relation to the Vedic corpus and have not been cited or commented upon by any great Vedanta philosopher: their language differs from that of

16605-578: The word means Ātmavidyā , that is, "knowledge of the self ", or Brahmavidyā "knowledge of Brahman". The word appears in the verses of many Upanishads, such as the fourth verse of the 13th volume in the first chapter of the Chandogya Upanishad. Max Müller as well as Paul Deussen translate the word Upanishad in these verses as "secret doctrine", Robert Hume translates it as "mystic meaning", while Patrick Olivelle translates it as "hidden connections". The authorship of most Upanishads

16740-627: The work of many authors. Scholars are uncertain about when the Upanishads were composed. The chronology of the early Upanishads is difficult to resolve, states philosopher and Sanskritist Stephen Phillips, because all opinions rest on scanty evidence and analysis of archaism, style and repetitions across texts, and are driven by assumptions about likely evolution of ideas, and presumptions about which philosophy might have influenced which other Indian philosophies. Indologist Patrick Olivelle says that "in spite of claims made by some, in reality, any dating of these documents [early Upanishads] that attempts

16875-743: The Śrauta ritual. It is associated with the Painted Grey Ware culture (c.1200–600 BCE), which did not expand east of the Ganga-Yamuya Doab. It differed from the related, yet markedly different, culture of the Central Ganges region, which was associated with the Northern Black Polished Ware and the Mahajanapadas of Kosala and Magadha . In this period the varna system emerged, state Kulke and Rothermund, which in this stage of Indian history were

17010-578: Was "a syncretic mixture of old Central Asian and new Indo-European elements", which borrowed "distinctive religious beliefs and practices" from the Bactria–Margiana culture , including the god Indra and the ritual drink Soma . The Rigveda contains accounts of conflicts between the Aryas and the Dasas and Dasyus. It describes Dasas and Dasyus as people who do not perform sacrifices ( akratu ) or obey

17145-507: Was composed in the northern Indian subcontinent , between the end of the urban Indus Valley Civilisation and a second urbanisation , which began in the central Indo-Gangetic Plain c.  600 BCE. The Vedas are liturgical texts which formed the basis of the influential Brahmanical ideology, which developed in the Kuru Kingdom , a tribal union of several Indo-Aryan tribes . The Vedas contain details of life during this period that have been interpreted to be historical and constitute

17280-423: Was determined by rank, where rājan (tribal king or chieftain) and rājanya (tribal nobility) stood at the top, the viś (the common people) in the middle, and the dāsa and dasyu (non-Indo-Aryan servants) at the bottom. The words Brahamana and Kshatriya occur in various family books of the Rigveda , but they are not associated with the term varna . The words Vaishya and Shudra are absent. Verses of

17415-549: Was divided into four social groups— Brahmanas , Kshatriyas , Vaishyas and Shudras . The later Vedic texts fixed social boundaries, roles, status and ritual purity for each of the groups. The Shatapatha Brahmana associates the Brahmana with purity of parentage, good conduct, glory, teaching or protecting people; Kshatriya with strength, fame, ruling, and warfare; Vaishya with material prosperity and production-related activities such as cattle rearing and agriculture; Shudras with

17550-491: Was found all throughout the doab, most of it found in the Muzaffarnagar, Meerut, and Bulandshahr districts, but also existing outside these districts, extending north and south of Bahadrabad. This pottery does, however, seem to exist within different time frames of popularity, ochre colored pottery seeming to occur in areas such as Rajasthan earlier than we see it in the doab, despite the doab being heavily associated with

17685-410: Was in a state of sleep. There was nothing, either moving or static. Then Svayambhu , self-manifested being arose, which is a form beyond senses. It created the primordial waters first and established the seed of creation into it. The seed turned into a golden womb, Hiraṇyagarbha. Then Svayambhu entered into that egg. The Nārāyaṇa Sūkta exclaims that everything that is, visible or invisible, all this

17820-515: Was patriarchal and patrilineal . Early Indo-Aryans were a Late Bronze Age society centred in the Punjab , organised into tribes rather than kingdoms, and primarily sustained by a pastoral way of life. Around c.  1200 –1000 BCE the Aryan culture spread eastward to the fertile western Ganges Plain. Iron tools were adopted, which allowed for the clearing of forests and the adoption of

17955-570: Was the Supreme Seed of all creation, subtler than the subtlest, greater than the greatest, larger than the largest, and more magnificent than even the best of all things, more powerful, than even the wind and all the gods, more resplendent than the Sun and the Moon, and more internal than even the mind and the intellect. He is the Creator, the Supreme. The term can also mean as He who, having become first

18090-449: Was the court, not the city, that provided the center, and the court was often peripatetic." Romila Thapar characterizes Vedic-era state formation as being in a condition of "arrested development," because local chiefs were relatively autonomous, and because surplus wealth that could have been directed towards state-building was instead used for the increasingly grandiose rituals that also served to structure social relations. The period of

18225-475: Was worthy of becoming a king, became nominal. Rituals in this era exalted the status of the king over his people. He was occasionally referred to as samrat (supreme ruler). The rajan's increasing political power enabled him to gain greater control over the productive resources. The voluntary gift offering ( bali ) became compulsory tribute; however, there was no organised system of taxation. Sabha and samiti are still mentioned in later Vedic texts, though, with

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