Transcript Lecture 1 - Vedic Hymns & Their Philosophical Import

Lecture 1
Vedic Hymns & their philosophical import
Mohenjo-Daro & Harappa
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Discovery of two 4000 year old cities & 400 miles apart
Well-constructed cities of advanced civilisation
Not much idea of these ancient people
Mohenjo-Daro = Hill of dead
No idea of the collapse Indus Valley Civilization
Abandoned about 1700BC
Possibility - Great flood, devastating earthquake, invasion by Aryans
Still finding new artifacts
Invasions
 Indian languages and cultures from external influnces
 Through NW border even protect by Northern Himilayas as natural
barriers
 Dravidians first Indian inhabitants
 Believe these people from East Africa
 Aryans conquered Dravidians about 1500BC
 Aryans related to Persians and Europeans
 Sanskrit similar to Greek and Latin
 Invading armies from Persians, Alexander the Great and Huns from
Central Asia were early invaders
 800AD Muslims settled in South Indus River
 Invaded India around 1000AD with their swift horses
Invasions
 Indo-Aryans brought a religion on the principal of One
God (Tawheed)
 Vedas used to praise the powers of Nature
 Bought with them fire worship, Soma, composing
religious poems
 Hymns for praising gods & accompany with offerings
 Since Vedic times till today, Vedas knowledge supposed
to be accessed by hereditary priesthood
What are Vedas?
Earliest literature record of Indo-Aryan civilization
Most scared books of India
Original scriptures of Hindu teachings, spiritual knowledge
Philosophical truths stood over the test of time
Highest authority for all Hindus
Means wisdom, knowledge, vision
Language of Gods in human speech
Laws of Vedas regulate - social, legal, domestic and religious
customs
 Obligatory duties of Hindus
 Drawn from thought of successive generation generation of thinkers
and different levels of thought
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Origin of Vedas
 Earliest documents of human mind
 Difficult to confirm earliest portions of Vedas came into
existence
 Hindus seldom kept historical record of their religious,
literary and political realization
 Another said as Hindus need to reincarnate to next life
why record?
 Historians provide many guesses
 None free from ambiguity
Who wrote the Vedas?
 Believed humans did not compose the revered Vedas
 Handed down through generations by word of mouth
 General assumptions - Vedic hymns taught by God to
the sages or revealed themselves to the sages who are
the guardians of the hymns
 Known to be compiled by Vyasa Krishna Dwaipayana
around 1500BC ( Time of Lord Krishna)
Classification of the Vedas
Divided into four
Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda and Atharva
Veda
Rig Veda - main text
Four vedas also known as “Chathurveda”
First 3 Vedas agree in form, language and
content
Structure of the Vedas
 Each veda consists of Four parts
 Samhitas (hymns), Brahmanas (rituals), Aranyakas (theologies),
Upanishads (philosophies)
 Collection of mantras/hymns is called samhita
 Brahmanas - ritual texts - include precepts and religious duties
 Each Veda has several Brahmanas attached to it
 Upanishads form the concluding portions of the Veda and known as
“Vedanta” - end of the Veda and essence of Vedic teachings
 Upanishads and Aranyakas are concluding portions of Brahmanas
dealing with philosophical problems
 Aryanyakas - forest texts - objects of meditation for ascetics
 Earliest civilized inhabitants worshipped a mother Goddess and a
horned fertility God
 Worshipped sacred trees, animals, ritual washing and purification
Rig Veda
 Hymns considered to be oldest and most important of the Vedas
 Composed between 1500BC to 900BC
 Consist of more than 1,000 hymns and organized into 10 mandalas or
circles
 2nd through 7th are the oldest
 10th the most recent
 Works of many authors, seers called “rishis”
 7 primary seers. Examples- Atri, Kanwa, etc
 Vedas gradually reduced extensively
 Considered best source of knowledge
 Doctrines seems to have improved
 Hymns for praising Aryan Gods for giving them victories in war and wealth
plundered
 Superior weaponry and skill in fighting
 Hymns of horses and warriors with spokes, spears, bow, arrows and iron
weapons
Rig Veda-continuation
 From nomadic to agriculture way of life, established new
social structure of patriarch families dominated by
warriors
 Eventually with the power of the Vedas the priests
dominated
 Worshipped of devas with brightness and radiance
 Worshipped Sky Gods e.g Prthvi, Aditi
 Greatest God Indra (War and weather God), many gods
for various purposes.
Sama Veda
 Contains melodies or music for chants from Rig Veda for
sacrifices
 All verses are traceable to Rig Veda
 8th & 9th books devote to Indra, Agni and Soma
 Considered as origin of Indian music and stimulated
great artistry to make sacrifices worthwhile to their
patrons who supported the priests
 Train musicians and functional as a hymnal for religious
rites.
Yajur Veda
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Many hymns of the Rig Veda
deviates from the original text on ritual formulas
Two collections of ‘samhitas’ called white and black
After 10BC conquest of Aryans were quite complete
Caste system in place, warriors settled as ruling class over the
agricultural society
Priests and ceremonies gained influence and exerted over the wide
society of people
Indigenous were enslaved amd as cheap labor for the ruling class
Famous horse sacrifice by the royals. Parts of the horse symbolize
different aspects of the universe so that tremendous power is
invoked.
Complicated and obscure rituals used as representation of the
Aryan dominance of land and waters of India and natural powers
what sustain agriculture.
Athara Veda
 Latest and 4th Veda of different category
 3 Vedas:- Rig Veda-reciting, Sama Veda-Singing and Yajur Vedaritual
 Draws from the customs and beliefs of the Pre-Aryan or Pre-Vedic
India
 Much longer than Sama and Yajur veda and only 1/6 of Rig Veda.
 Magical spells and magical words
 Line between the prayer and magic and between white and black
magic is usually drawn by ethical considerations
 Bheshajani - healing, cures using herbs to treat fever, leprosy,
jaundice, dropsy and other diseases
 Aryans look down on local herbal medicine as they were more
advance in treating illness
 Also used for successful childbirth, romance, fecundity, virility, etc