Page 33 - SST Class 06

2. The ____________ are commentaries on the four well-defined Ashrams or periods—
Vedas in prose. Brahmacharya, Grihastha, Vanprastha and Sanyas .
The Brahmacharya Ashram was the first twenty-five
3. The origin of the Aryans is a subject of much
____________. years of life in which an individual studied under
the guidance of a teacher or rishi in the forest. He
4. The chief source of information for the Early lived the next twenty-five years in the Grahastha
Vedic Age is ____________. Ashram which signifies that he married and raised

5. The Ramayana was written by ____________. a family. He was supposed to work and earn money
and serve his wife, children and parents. The
period of next twenty-five years was the
Info Bits
Info Bits Vanaprastha Ashram in which he gave up
community life and involved himself in the study of
q The horse was brought to India by the Aryans.
religious texts and community service. And the
q During the Early Vedic Age, the Vedas were not final twenty-five years were passed in the Sanyas
written; they were passed by parents/teachers Ashram in which he renounced all worldly affairs
to their children/pupils by word of mouth which and spent his whole time in meditation living in
they were required to learn by heart. forests or hills.

CASE STUDY : NORTH-WEST

Geographical Extent
There are abundant references to the names of
rivers, mountains and regions by which we know
that the Aryan civilisation flourished in a large
area they called Aryavarta. We shall concentrate
our study on the region presently lying in the
countries of Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. In
India, this area covers Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan
and western Uttar Pradesh.
Social Life
The Aryans were a nomadic tribe during the Early
Vedic Age but they led a settled life during the
Later Vedic Age. They lived in villages where many
families lived together. The head of the family was
called the Grihapati whose every word was the final
authority in all family matters. He lived with his
wife, sons and their wives, unmarried daughters, Varna or Caste System : In order to meet all needs
grandsons and granddaughters. This was a joint of the community life, the Aryans had divided the
family. The sons and grandsons continued to live in community into four Varnas—Brahmins , Kshatriyas ,
the same family after their marriage. This was a Vaishyas and Shudras . The Brahmins were priests
patriarchal system of family. who taught and performed religious performances;
the Kshatriyas were fighters who ruled and
The women enjoyed a respectable position. They protected the tribe; the Vaishyas were traders who
were educated. The purdah or veil system was not ran the business; and the Shudras did the menial
prevalent. They had equal participation in all jobs and served the other three classes. This
religious and community rituals which could not be system was not hereditary. The members of one
complete without their participation.
family could adopt different Varnas. However, with
Ashram System : The Aryans had divided life into the passage of time, the Varna system became rigid

Different Ways of Life
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