India’s Cultural Roots

Class 06 Social Science

Indian culture is several millenniums old. Like any ancient tree, it has many roots and many branches. The roots nurture a common trunk. And from the trunk emerge many branches, which are different manifestations of Indian culture, yet united by a common trunk.

Vedas and Vedic Culture

What are the Vedas?

The word “Veda” comes from the Sanskrit vid which means ‘knowledge’. There are four Vedas:

1. Ṛig Veda
2. Yajur Veda
3. Sāma Veda
4. Atharva Veda

They are the most ancient texts of India, and among the most ancient in the world. The Vedas consist of thousands of hymns - prayers in the form of poems and songs - that were recited orally, not written.

The Vedic hymns were composed by rishis (male seers or sages) and rishikas (female ones) in an early form of the Sanskrit language. They were addressed in poetical form to many deities (gods or goddesses), such as Indra, Agni, Varuṇa, Mitra, Sarasvatī, Uṣhas, and many more.

Vedic Society

Early Vedic society was organised in different janas or ‘clans’, that is, larger groups of people. The Ṛig Veda alone lists over 30 such janas - for instance, the Bharatas, the Purus, the Kurus, the Yadus, the Turvaśhas etc. Each clan was associated with a particular region of the northwest part of the Subcontinent. Many professions are mentioned in the Vedic texts, such as agriculturist, weaver, potter, builder, carpenter, healer, dancer, barber, priest, etc.

Vedic Schools of Thought

Vedic culture also developed many rituals (yajña, often read as ‘yagya’) directed towards various deities (gods or goddesses) for individual or collective benefit and well-being. Daily rituals were generally in the form of prayers and
offerings to Agni, the deity associated with fire, but those rituals became more and more complex in the course of time.

A group of texts known as ‘Upaniṣhads’ built upon Vedic concepts and introduced new ones, such as rebirth (taking birth again and again) and karma (our actions or their results). According to one school of thought, generally known as ‘Vedanta’, everything - human life, nature and the universe - is one divine essence called brahman. The Upaniṣhads also introduced the concept of ātman or Self - the divine essence that resides in every being but is ultimately one with brahman. It follows that everything in this world is connected and interdependent.

Buddhism

About two-and-a-half millenniums ago, a young prince named Siddhārtha Gautama was born in Lumbini (today in Nepal). Siddhārtha Gautama grew up living a protected life in the palace. One day, at the age of 29, he asked to be driven through the city in a chariot, and for the first time in his life came across an old man, a sick man, and a dead body. He also saw an ascetic, who appeared to be happy and at peace. Following this experience, Siddhārtha decided to give up his palace life, leaving behind his wife and son.

Travelling on foot as an ascetic, meeting other ascetics and scholars, he searched for the root cause of suffering in human life. After meditating for many days under a pipal tree at Bodh Gaya (today in Bihar), he attained enlightenment. He realised that avidyā (ignorance) and attachment are the source of human suffering and conceived a method to remove these two causes.

The, Siddhārtha became known as the ‘Buddha’, which means the ‘enlightened’ or ‘awakened’ one. The Buddha started teaching what he had realised, including the idea of ahimsa, which is generally translated as ‘non-violence’, but originally means ‘non-hurting’ or ‘non-injuring’. He also insisted on a sincere inner discipline.

The Buddha founded the Sangha, a community of bhikṣhus or monks (and, later, bhikṣhuṇīs or nuns) who dedicated themselves to practising and spreading his teachings.

Jainism

Just like Siddhārtha Gautama, Prince Vardhamāna was born into a royal family in the early 6th century BCE. His birthplace was near the city of Vaiśhālī, in modern-day Bihar. At the age of 30, he decided to leave his home and go in search of spiritual knowledge. He practised an ascetic discipline and, after 12 years, achieved ‘infinite knowledge’ or supreme wisdom. He became known as ‘Mahāvīra’, or ‘great hero’, and started preaching what he had realised.

Jain teachings include ahimsa, anekāntavāda and aparigraha. These ideas, shared to a large extent with Buddhism and the Vedantic school of thought, are central to Indian culture.

Jainism also insists on the interconnectedness and interdependence of all creatures, from humans to invisible organisms, as they support each other and cannot live without one another.