SOUTH ASIAANCIENT INDIA

INDO-ARYAN- 1500 BCE INVADED INDIAN PENINSULA

- CAUCASIAN WHITE PEOPLE - PROBABLY FROM CENTRAL ASIA- OCCUPIED NORTH OF VINDHYA RANGE

AND WEST OF THE YAMUNA RIVER.- MOST FERTILE AREA , ENJOYED THE

BOUNTIES OF NATURE.

ANIMISM – WORSHIP OF NATURE

HINDU DIETIES 1. INDRA – GOD OF STORM• 2. AGNI – GOD OF FIRE• 3. KALI – GODDESS OF MOTHERHOOD• 4. GANESHA – GOD OF THE ELEPHANT• 5. LAKSMI – GODDESS OF GOOD LUCK• VASANTI – GODDESS OF MERRIMENT• ALL IN ALL, ABOUT 300 MILLION GODS

ARYA –MEANS “GREAT” OR “PURE” IN THE SANSKRIT LANGUAGE

• - LINGUISTIC TERM , USED TO INDICATE GROUP OF PEOPLE OR RACE

• SANSKRIT – A LANGUAGE BELONGING TO THE • INDO-EUROPEAN FAMILY OF LANGUAGE• - CLASSICAL LANGUAGE OF INDIAN

LITERATURE• - HINDI AND BENGALI (MODERN LANGUAGE)

SINDHU – REFERING TO THE INDUS RIVER

• HIGHLY SKILLED IN VARIOUS ARTS AND SCIENCES SEEN IN THEIR SUPERB BOAT BUILDING AND EXPERTISE IN METAL HANDICRAFTS.

• SKILLED POTTERS, CARPENTERS, MASONS. SILVERSMITHS AND WEAVERS.

• HARDY FARMERS AND HERDERS• VALIANT WARRIOR

TRANSFORMED THE PRIMITIVE INDIAN SOCIETY BY INTRODUCING:

• A. VEDIC LITERATURE• B. SANSKRIT LANGUAGE• C. HINDU RELIGION• D. CASTE SYSTEM- THE ARYANS REGARDED THE DRAVIDIANS

INFERIOR, FROM NORTH DRIVEN TO SOUTH- RACIAL STOCK PRESENTLY CONSTITUTE A

LARGE GROUP IN SOUTH INDIA TODAY

ARYAN SOCIETY

• A TRIBAL SOCIETY HEADED BY A CHEIFTAIN CALLED PANCHAYAT

• THE MEMBER OF EACH TRIBE WERE BOUNDED TOGETHER BY STRONG FAMILY TIES

• PRACTICED SYSTEM OF PATERNAL AUTHORITY• A CULTURE DOMINATED BY MALE• THEIR GOD’S ARE MOSTLY MALE AND

WARRIOR

UPANISHAD

• -DEVELOPED IN THE PERIOD BETWEEN 800 TO 600 B.C.E

• -A COLLECTION OF VEDAS, WHICH WERE WRITING DESCRIBING THE CONCEPTS OF RIGHT AND WRONG, UNIVERSAL ORDER, AND HUMAN DESTINY.

• - CONTAINED THE BASIC PERCEPTS OF HINDUISM, THE IDEA OF KARMA AND OTHER TEACHINGS LIKE BRAHMANISM

VEDA – A COLLECTION OF SACRED WRITINGS, THAT GAVE INFORMATION

ON THE SOCIAL PRACTICES, RELIGIOUS BELIEFS, AND LEVEL OF CULTURE ATTAINED DURING THE INTERMINGLING OF THE ARYAN AND DRAVIDIAN CULTURES.

THESE SACRED WRITING, CALLED VEDIC LITERATURE, WERE MADE UP OF FOUR BOOKS NAMELY:

1. VEDAS

• - A COLLECTION OF BOOKS ON BATTLE HYMNS, SACRED RITUALS, SAYINGS AND TALES.

• - DESCRIPTION CONCERNING THE ARYAN WAY OF LIFE FROM 1500 B.C.E. UNTIL 500 B.C.E.

• - THIS PERIOD CAME TO BE KNOWN AS THE VEDIC PERIOD

• - TEACHINGS WHICH WERE PRIMARILY RELIGIOUS IN NATURE BASED ON HYMNS, POETRY AND TALES.

FOUR BOOKS WHICH MADE UP THE VEDAS

• A. RIG VEDA – BOOK OF LYRICAL HYMNS IN PRAISE OF THE GODS.

• B. ATHARVA VEDA – BOOK OF MAGICAL FORMULAS

• C. SAMA VEDA – BOOK OF RELIGIOUS CHANTS• D. YAJUR VEDA – BOOK OF SACRIFICIAL

PRAYERS

2. BRAHMANAS – PROSE TEXTS CONTAINING OBSERVATIONS ON

• RELIGIOUS RIGHTS AND SACRIFICES.• 3. ARANKAYAS – RELIGIOUS AND

PHILOSOPHICAL IDEAS COMPOSED FOR THE HERMITS OF THE FOREST.• 4. UPANISHAD – ARE MORAL

INSTRUCTIONS FOR FULLY UNDERSTANDING THE ESSENCE OF UNIVERSAL TRUTH.

MAHABHARATA AND RAMAYANA

• - TWO GREATEST EPIC OF ANCIENT INDIA• - THESE SANSKRIT EPIC POEMS SPEAK OF

ANCIENT INDIA’S LEGENDARY TALES.1. MAHABHARATA – LONGEST EPIC POEM IN

WORLD LITERATURE. - TELLS THE STORY OF THE HEROIC

STRUGGLES OF THE FIVE PANDAVA BROTHERS TO RECOVER THEIR FATHER’S THRONE AGAINST THEIR WICKED COUSINS.

BHAGAVAD GITA – (LORD’S SONG) WORLD’S LOFTIEST PHILOSOPHICAL POEM

• 2.RAMAYANA – THE STORY OF THE STRUGGLES OF A PRINCE NAMED RAMA BELIEVED TO BE AN INCARNATION OF THE HINDU GOD VISHNU

• HINDUISM FLOURISHED AND SET THE WAY OF LIFE IN THE INDIAN CONTINENT. IT IS RELATED TO CASTE SYSTEM

CASTE SYSTEM

• - THE SOCIAL DISTINCTIONS WHICH FORMED PART OF THE INDIAN SOCIETY’S CUSTOMARY LAWS.

• - THE BRAINCHILD OF HINDUISM• UNTOUCHABLES – THOSE WHO DID NOT

BELONG TO ANY CASTE (OUTCASTS)• - THEY LIVE MISERABLY IN THEIR OWN

SECTION OF VILLAGE OR CITY

HINDUISM

• - OLDEST RELIGION IN ASIA• - BRAHMA – THE CHIEF GOD “WORLD SOUL”• “MAN CAN ATTAIN TRUE HAPPINESS IF HIS

SOUL MERGES WITH THAT OF BRAHMA”• REINCARNATION –IS THE TRANSMIGRATION OF

SOUL• NIRVANA – THE STATE OF HAPPINESS ( NO ONE

CAN ATTAIN HAPPINESS UNLESS A MAN UNITES HIS SOUL WITH BRAHMA

According to reincarnation

• “ THE SOUL OF A GOOD MAN IS REBORN IN A PERSON OF HIGHER STATUS, WHILE AN EVIL PERSON IS REBORN IN A LOWER CREATURE, LIKE A DOG, PIG, OR A TIGER. AFTER THE CYCLE OF BIRTH AND DEATHS, THE SOUL OF A GOOD MAN IS FINALLY REWARDED BY MERGING WITH THAT OF BRAHMA.”

FAMOUS TRINITY OF HINDU GODS

BRAHMA – THE CREATORVISHNU – THE PRESERVERSIVA – THE DESTROYERTHE HINDU BELIEVED THAT THESE GODS

SYMBOLIZED THE THREE STAGES OF LIFE WHICH ARE CREATION, PRESERVATION AND DEATH.