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can divide the Vedic Age into two periods—Early The Brahmanas are commentaries on the Vedas in
Vedic Age and Later Vedic Age . The Vedic Age prose. The Aranyakas are code of conduct for the
lasted for about 1000 years. The period from hermits living in forests. The Upanishads deal with
about 1500 BC to 1000 BC is regarded as the different theories of Indian philosophy, such as
Early Vedic Age while the period from about 1000 Karma (action), Maya (illusion) and Mukti (self-
BC to 600 BC is regarded as the Later Vedic realization).
Period.
In addition to the above, the Ramayana and the
The chief source of information for the Early Vedic Mahabharata are wonderful epics which throw
Age is the Rigveda ; this is the reason that this age light on the Later Vedic Age. The Ramayana was
is also termed as the Rigvedic Age . The source of written by Valmiki while the Mahabharata was
information for the Later Vedic Age include the compiled by Ved Vyas.
three other Vedas in addition to the Rigveda; these
three Vedas are—Samaveda , Yajurveda and Info Bits
Info Bits
Atharvaveda . In addition to the four Vedas, the
other literature taken as the source of information You must not confuse between the Ramayana and
includes the Brahmanas, the Aranyakas and the the Ramcharitmanas. The former was written by
Upanishads; all these are related to the Vedas. All Valmiki in Sanskrit during the Vedic Age, while the
these together are called the Vedic literature. latter was written by Tulsidas much later. Both deal
As the Vedas are very important scriptures, let us with the life and times of Lord Rama.
know about them in brief : Arrival of the Aryans
Rigveda The Aryans crossed the mountain passes in the
The Rigveda is the oldest of the four Vedas. It is north-west and first settled in the Indus valley
believed that it was composed by no man. It is (presently this area lies in Punjab, Sindh (Pakistan)
and North-West Frontier Province (NWFP in
accepted as the primary source of all knowledge
and wisdom. It contains 1,028 hymns in the praise Pakistan). There were seven rivers in this area,
after which they called this area Sapta-Sindhu (or
of gods and goddesses, and deals with all aspects
of human life. the land of seven seas or rivers). They had to fight
with the native Dravidians over a long period of
F ind Outind Out time. In the end, they defeated them. The
freedom-loving Dravidians fled towards the south
Find out the name of Veda from which Gayatri near the Vindhya hills, while those who preferred
Mantra has been taken. to live at the same place were taken as slaves and
were called ‘Dasyus’ or ‘Dasas’.
Samaveda
During the Later Vedic Age, the Aryans occupied
The Samaveda comprises of special songs to be the whole of North India, presently comprising the
sung by certain classes of priests during a yajna.
territories of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh,
Yajurveda Bihar, Odisha, Bengal and other northern areas
and named the whole area as Aryavarta. It is
The Yajurveda is a collection of hymns which
have to be followed in ordinary yajnas, which believed that the battle of Mahabharata was fought
were inseparable part of the Aryan way of life. during this age. It was at this stage that they found
iron.
Atharvaveda
Quiz Time
The Atharvaveda is a collection of songs, spells
and magical charms which relate with the Fill in the blanks :
attainment of divine powers. It also deals with 1. The people who came to India are called the
general and medical science. ____________.
Contemporary Social Science-6
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