Archive for ‘1_Introduction’
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They came from the steppes of Central Asia. They were nomadic tribesmen who herded cattle. Through the mountain passes
in the impassable Hindukush
and Karakorum mountain ranges, they migrated to the Indian subcontinent.
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They traveled in swift moving light weight chariots, pulled by horse, and took by surprise the existing civilization in the subcontinent, who had so far seen only heavy logged wheels.
Hundreds of years pass by, the Aryan society got transformed from simple tribal herdsmen to a complex social order with an advanced religion (Hinduism) and language (Sanskrit).
This happened during a period from 1500BC to 500Bc, known to historians as the vedic age.
To begin with, all of their gods were embodiments of natural forces, like thunder, water, fire and wind. During the latter Vedic period, their theological pantheon included gods like Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma, who had powers of more abstracted nature.
As an example, Vishnu was the god responsible for keeping things in a steady state, [...]
“We meditate on the lovely light of the god, Savitir.
may it stimulate our thoughts”.
Their priests and sages, built up records of their beliefs and practices by composing hymns, which were passed from generation to generation through memory. These records, were called the vedas and the upanishads.
They believed that life was cyclical. When you die you, get reborn as some other creature.
Agni, I laud, the high priest, the god, the minister of sacrifice’ The invoker, lavishest of wealth. Thus begins the Rigveda.
They had elaborate rituals and paid immense importance to sacrifice.
In fact, in all other similar cultures, scriptures would include, sequences of events and details of the daily life, But in the Vedic culture, it was [...]
Since the Aryan society contained not only, the descendants of ensuing migrants from Central Asia, but also as many as three or four other native ethnic races, the Aryan priests simplified the society by the dividing the society into four castes.
Brahmins, were to administer the scriptures in rituals.
Kshathriyas, ruled the land, protected the people
Vaishyas, comprised [...]
Unlike the scriptorial content of the Vedas, Mahabharata is an epic and it tells a story like Illiad and Odyssey.
There are lots of debates about the actual date of authorship of Mahabharata.
But one thing is certain. Mahabharata was initially composed of 8000 verses to contain the core story of an internecine war between two [...]