Vedic Religious Origins
- Population migrations from Central Asia into different areas of Western
Europe and Western Asia between 2000 - 1500 BCE
- One group migrating to general area of Iran: Aryans
- Part of that migratory group moves further southeast; possible destroying /
over-running the Harappan civilization.
- Group identifies itself as "Aryans," name comes to be understood as social
distinction between invading overlords and indigenous population: "noble
ones."
- Aryans bring:
- Indo-European language Sanskrit ("well-formed") and
- poems / hymns, rituals, and deities
- Sacred lore becomes collected (between 1500 BCE - 600 BCE) as Vedas
(Sanskrit root vid related to English "wit")
- Collectively, Vedas are understood to be shruti ("that which was heard") by
rishis ("seers"); they are perceived as eternal and authorless, the supreme
source of knowledge, and sound-form of truth itself.
(shruti vs. smriti: "that which is remembered," i.e. Epics, Puranas, codes of laws and ethics)
Four Vedas:
- Rig
- Sama
- Yajur
- Atharva (contains non-Aryan materials)
four sections / layers:
| Samhitas |
hyms / hymnic compositions (oftentimes Orientalists limit Veda to
this layer; Hindus generally consider all four layers as Veda) |
| Brahmanas |
ritual treatises |
| Aranyakas |
compositions for the forest |
| Upanishads |
"sitting near (the teacher)" / philosophical elaborations |
In later times, other important scriptures, such as the Mahabharata, later Puranas (ancient stories),
etc have sometimes been called "fifth Veda."