Literature of Vedic people: Prakrit and Sanskrit

 

Rigveda manuscript on birch bark in Sharada script (a writing system of the Brahmic family of scripts), was found in Kashmir. (Photo: Twitter/@AnupamSharmaIFS)

Historians generally believe that Vedic Sanskrit came to India with the entry of the Aryans. Some of new researchers, however, assert on having a relook on this belief. They reject the Aryan migration theory. If there is no Aryan incoming to India then there would no introduction of Vedic Sanskrit to India. Simply put, both Aryans and Sanskrit are indigenous to India, according to these scholars.

First Literary Material

Vedic literature comes as the first literary material on the Indian continent. Indus Valley writings have not been deciphered. Indus people’s language remains unknown. The language of Vedic literature is Sanskrit, called Vedic Sanskrit to differentiate it from more popular Classical Sanskrit. All Vedic Age literature is in Vedic Sanskrit with an evolution streak from complex to simpler language.

The language of Vedic literature shows that Vedic Sanskrit was already in a well-developed state. Sanskrit literally means well-cultured, finely cultivated and well-nuanced. However, it was not the language of the masses. Historians believe Sanskrit probably was the lingua franca of the elite, rich or educated class. Bigger population was possibly uninitiated in Sanskrit language and literature.

A spoken simplified version of Sanskrit was possibly the language was the medium of communication in homes and society. Historians and linguists commonly hold that three new languages evolved from Vedic Sanskrit. They are secular Sanskrit, Prakrit and Pali.

Rethinking Prakrit

However, there could be another point of view. Let’s briefly consider Prakrit, meaning the natural language in contrast to refined Sanskrit. In their names, Prakrit and Sanskrit reflect a linguistic dichotomy – natural versus artificial or cultivated.

The names suggest that Sanskrit might have followed from Prakrit since it was the language that meant refined, revised, cultured or cultivated. Natural or organically developed form comes first and revision or refinement can only take place thereafter. As such, Sanskrit logically should have arrived later. If that was the case, the dominant narrative of Indian languages evolving from Sanskrit gets reversed.

This also signals that Prakrit or the natural language could have evolved in two streams. One led to refinement bound by strict rules of grammar. The other flowed freely in spoken and popular languages. Sanskrit always accommodated popular words into the refined language.

In other words, popular usages were sanskritised to conform to the rules of the grammar. That could be the reason why when social reformation movements took place, all of them focused on popular languages and not Sanskrit whereas puritan movements brought Sanskrit to central scheme. This created another social dichotomy of Sanskrit elite and vernacular commoner.

Of the three Vedic age languages, secular Sanskrit was primarily sourced from Vedic Sanskrit and did not have the elements of common writing-spoken language. In comparison, Pali had common or public elements in plenty compared to Vedic elements. Same is also true about Prakrit. 

Both Prakrit and Pali were spoken in different areas and both were essentially Aryan languages but the public elements dominated these languages as against Vedic character of the Vedic Sanskrit. All three – secular Sanskrit, Prakrit and Pali – developed around sixth century BC, historians believe.

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Literature

Some of these people are from this period and some others emerge in later periods. All these six Vedangas have their own relevance, and all are necessary but from the socio-religious view Kalpa is the most important part. Kalp is  linked to Karmakand (religious rituals) and Dharma (religious beliefs). Religious rituals or Karmakand could not be performed without hand (hasta), that is why Kalpa was also called hasta or hand.

What a person following Vedic-Brahmin faith should be doing during one’s lifetime and in which manner those religious rituals should be performed are contained in the Kalpa literature. It prescribes that every person has some duties towards oneself (includes spiritualism), some towards the family and to society as well. The Kalpa literature helps that person in undertaking these duties adequately. It is contained in the Kalpa Sutra.

All the personal, familial and social prescriptions are mentioned in the form of Sutras or formulae in the Kalpa literature. This is why it is also known as the Sutra literature.

Shraut Sutra: Duty towards onself

Gruh Sutra: Duty towards family

Dharma Sutra: Duty towards society

Dharma Sutra is extremely important in Vedic literature. Owing to changes, modifications and evolution of Vedic belief system, Dharma Sutra is often linked to the origin of Smruti-Brahmin faith.

Due to dominance of Sutra literature, the phase is also known as Vedang-Sutra Age.

The Aryan series | An Aryan question: Who or what was she?

Photo: Tweeted by Union minister Dr Harsh Vardhan

Prabhash K Dutta

I will begin this write-up with a story. Most of us have heard this at some point of time in our growing up years. It is called The Blind Men's Elephant. They could have been blind men only, not women. 

Why? 

Women are genetically predisposed to see a larger or complete picture. They have that extra full X chromosome. One may say that they may not use their genetic predisposition to their advantage. Men have a largely empty Y chromosome instead. Emptiness creates louder sound. 

There is another explanation to this genetics. Since women have their 'octane' [those who still remember chemistry classes would understand easily], they stay like inert gases, going about the motion. Men, however, set out to seek something to fill their genetic emptiness. 

I believe if blind women were to find out what an elephant look like, they would simply have asked someone who could see and settled in their chair peacefully. This explains why those Blind Men set out to explore what an elephant could be like.

The story is ancient and finds mention in one of the Upanishads. Since it finds mention there, the story must have been in popular or folk culture in an older period. The story goes like this.

HISTORY: BLIND MEN'S ELEPHANT

The blind men take turns to explore the elephant. The first man finds its trunk and reports that elephant is a snake-like animal with no bones [of contention]. The second man goes and gets hold of its tail to guess that an elephant is a rope-like animal with loose hair at the end.

The next one finds its tusk and returns impressed. He says that an elephant is like a strong stick with pointed end that could be used as a multi-purpose weapon. The fourth man was taller than others and meets one of its ears. He reports that an elephant is a winnowing basket-like animal that keeps waving like a hand-fan.

The fifth man was short and finds its leg. He declares elephant to be a pillar, very strong. The last man runs into the stomach of the elephant and concludes that an elephant must be like a wall.

Reconstruction of history has been a game played by historians of ideologies mirroring in effect the exploration of the Blind Men.

This longish prelude seemed necessary to me to put the Aryan question in perspective.

Aryan is an English word for Sanskrit's Arya. Who is an Arya?

PEOPLE FROM URALS-KAZAKHSTAN

Form whatever I have read, I say nobody knows the answer with certainty. Part of the problem lies in the lack of certainty about the origin of Sanskrit. It is part of the Indo-European language family. The most dominant theory is that proto-Sanskrit evolved in southern Urals-Kazakhstan where tribes identifying themselves as Aryans lived.

They migrated to India-AfPak region where Sanskrit developed into the language of oldest literature. While Sanskrit essentially has an Indian identity today, the first stone inscription in Sanskrit has been found from Syria. 

THE MITTANI'S SYRIA DIVERSION

The Mittani people, who spoke a different unrelated Hurrian language, worshiped Rig Vedic gods and had Sanskrit names. All Mittani kings are said to have had Sanskrit names. A Mittani king signed a treaty in 1380 BC with another kingdom and gods such as Indra, Mitra and Varun were witnesses. This timeline is placed within the Aryan period in Indian subcontinent.

This theory has been challenged by some researchers and analysts, who dismiss the Aryan migration theory that propounds movement of these tribes from Central Asia to India. Also, having a Sanskrit inscription in Syria could also mean that the dominating party was Sanskrit-speaking Aryans form the east.

Another problem of this model of history is that it places Old Persian of Avesta Gatha before Old Sanskrit of Rig Ved in a manner to suggest that Sanskrit emerged from that language or a prototype of the same family. A video representation showing Old Persian's sphere showing the way to Sanskrit has been in wide circulation and could be easily found on YouTube or some other social media platform.

FINDING ARYAN COORDINATES

Those who challenge the Aryan migration theory offer a range of arguments, most of which are not backed by irrefutable archaeological evidence or literary proof.

One such proponent is Navratna S Rajaram. He wrote two books on this question: Aryan Invasion of India in 1993 and The Politics of History in 1995. I first read his theory in an article published in The Hindu in 2000.

Article by NS Rajaram in The Hindu, 2000

Titled, "Looking beyond the Aryan invasion", Rajaram rejected the Aryan migration theory proposed by European writers, researchers and scholars in the 19th century, and consolidated by most mainstream history professors by aligning evidence to the theory. 

Reading Rajaram, it appears that he questions the premise that the European proponents of the Aryan migration theory were unbiased. His skepticism can't be discarded just like that. Though, his critics have done so. A European can take pride in finding that the pure Aryan race came from their land to India to produce the greatest literature of ancient world. 

Secondly, this could have supported the European idea that Indian needed to be civilised as they needed many millennia ago. It is the Europeans who popularised the idea that there was a Hindu India that was vanquished by a stream of Islamic conquerors. But Rajaram's rejection can't be accepted either without putting it to test.

LITERATE BUT NO LITERATURE, ILLITERATE WITH GREAT LITERATURE

Rajaram throws open a question that needs deeper digging for an accurate answer. He writes in The Hindu article: "the Harappans, the creators of one of the greatest material civilisations of antiquity have no literature, while the Vedic Aryans were said to be illiterate who depended on memory for preserving their literature. And, yet it is the literature of the illiterate Aryans that has survived in abundance while the literate Harappans have vanished without a literary trace."

Clearly, he is seeking to establish deeper connection between the Indus people and the Aryan people to extent of breaking the European-established dichotomy between the two. Is it not possible that the stream of historians played the six Blind Men failing to picture the elephant [in the room] as one complete entity?

BONES OF CONTENTION

Rajaram cites paleontology-biological evidence to back his claim of the Europeans' Aryan migration theory. He cites some research to says that the Indian cattle (Bos indicus) closer to the wild cattle of South-East Asia known as Banteng (Bos banteng or Bos javanicus). 

He also cites the example of India horse describing it "a special breed". He says it was closer to an ancient horse, known as the Siwalik Horse. He quotes Rig Ved to say that the literature says the Vedic horse had 34 ribs just like the Siwalik horse while the Central Asian horse had 36 ribs. 

This example establishes that the Aryan, the horse-riding stock, did not come from Central Asia, Rajaram stresses in the article. If at all, ancient humans came crossed the Indian Ocean to arrive in South or South-East Asian islands from eastern Africa and took the Aryan characteristics in India over several millennia. 

But if the Aryan migration theory is not foolproof, Rajaram's is yet to be tested before it could be mainstreamed. 

DISDAIN FOR OBJECTION

Rajaram's theory was slammed brutally by JNU's Shereen Ratnagar in a seven-page Frontline article in 1996. Ratnagar virtually shredded the two books by Rajaram in to historical pieces. Archaeologist Ratnagar said Rajaram's basic premise that the Aryan theory was about invasion of India was grossly inaccurate perception. She also dismissed Rajaram's suggestion that Rig Vedic age ends by 3700 BC.

Shereen Ratnagar dismissing NS Rajaram's theory in Frontline artilce, 1996

She questioned Rajaram's assertion that a 'Vedic' brass head was of sage Vashistha arguing that the technology of zinc smelting with copper was not developed till 100 BC in India. Placing such an object in the fourth millennium BC would be "nonsense", she said.

Ratnagar contends that Rajaram does not understand linguistics, the social science of phonology and semantics. She rejects the suggestion that the Aryan movement happened from Down South to the North where Vedas were finally composed. Attempting to coach Rajaram in linguistics, she says Sanskrit and Dravidian languages were from two different families. 

BUT, RAJARAM IS NOT TOTALLY OUT

She, however, comes closer to Rajaram's suggestion when she says that Indo-Aryan languages (such as Sanskrit) are "unique in having retroflex consonants like t, th, d, dh, n that clearly derive from Dravidian" languages.

Shereen Ratnagar also referred to horse example saying that the Mittanis could not have introduced Indian horses into Syria and that their horses were from the steppes of Central Asia.

Writing four years after Shereen Ratnagar's Frontline article, Rajaram in his The Hindu article cited the Siwalik horse example. The debate is still not settled and needs more scholarship.

So, we have no idea who the Arya was?

THAT ARYAN GIRL DESERVES AN I-CARD

What we can assume is that Arya refers to someone civilised in manner, intellect and practice. It might not well be about a stock of people or a group of tribes, certainly not colour or race. There could have been an Arya and an Anarya in the same family. We don't know. There is a reference about man, wife and his son belonging to different varna in Vedic literature. Arya could be similar to varna and equally misunderstood over three millennia.

My untrained brain throws up a Sanskrit word, Ari meaning enemy. Did this word have any relation to Arya?

The Aryan series | A primer on Early Vedic times, Rigvedic society, polity and economy

Photo: Sindhustan/Prabhash K Dutta

Prabhash K Dutta

The Rigved Samhita is the prime source of information about Early Rigvedic period that corresponds to roughly 1500-1000 BC. The Rigved Samhita comprises of 10 Mandals, of which Mandal II to VII are considered to be the oldest and belonging specifically to this period. Mandals I, VIII, IX and X are considered to be later additions to the Samhita. However, historians say even the earlier books/Mandals are not free from interpolations. They point to references to agriculture in Mandal-IV saying agriculture became a practice later in history.

GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT

As per places mentioned in the Rigved and identified by historians, the geographical extent of the people of Rigvedic period included such areas as drained by the Indus and its western tributaries, and towards the east, their expanse was limited by the Yamuna and Ganga.

Within this area, the valleys of Indus, Saraswati and Drasavati as well as five Punjabi rivers seem to have formed the core area of Rigvedic people.

ECONOMY

Rigvedic economy appears to have been primarily pastoral. Cattle were very important in this period. Term ‘Gau’ is referred to as many as 176 times in the relevant Mandals. There have been prayers for ‘Pashu’, a term historians say referred to not only goats, sheep, horses etc but also men during those days.

The importance of cattle or gau in the Early Vedic Age could be sensed from the following words used in day-to-day businesses:

Gomat: It was used to denote a wealthy man. It literally means a person who possesses cows or cattle.

Gavishti: Literally meaning search for cattle or cows referred to battle. This indicates that gavishti referred to raids that were conducted considering legitimate to acquire cattle or other animals.

Gopati: It was another word for Raja. Literally, gopati means the lord or protector of cattle, cows.

Duhtir: It was the term for daughter. Literally, duhtir means somebody who milks the cow/cattle.

Godhuli: It was a measure of time in the evening. Literally, godhuli refers to the dust thrown in air by the hoofs of a herd of cattle being tended home by the herders. The dust would cloud the evening sky making the evening homecoming of animals a picturesque impact on the Rigvedic people. Hence, the time before the onset of darkness came to be called godhuli.

Gavyuti: It was a term for distance.

The exact relations of production in pastoral economy of Early Rigvedic times are not clear. It is possible that the animals were herded in common and it is likely that cattle were owned by a large patriarchal which gave rise to the concept of gotra (another word stamping the importance of gau in Rigvedic life).

However, the pastoral lands were under the control of the whole community and probably the cattle obtained in raids were distributed through assemblies such as the Gana and Parishad.

Nevertheless not all members of the community had equal access to such animals and it is likely that the leaders and close supporters in such raids received a larger share than others.

Cattle formed an important item of daan (gifts) given to priests commonly by the Raja, called the Rajanya and probably, it was a part of the presentations or tribute offered to the chief by the members of the clan, collectively called Vish.

Evidence regarding agriculture was much more limited and suggested its unimportance. Most of the references to agriculture belong to a later date. Apart from yava (barley), no other grains are mentioned.

Unlike cattle, lands or grains do not figure as objects of disputes. Land is also not mentioned as an article of donation in daanstutis (song praising the deed of donation). There are also no prayers to obtain lands and chiefs are not expected to protect land.

Early Vedic period did not use iron technology.

Fire was used to burn down the forest cover. Shifting agriculture was practised.

The region received low rainfall and all the rivers mentioned in the Rigved are known to change their courses frequently.

The tools used for agricultural operations were fairly simple. These included:

Langala or Sira – plough

Phala (probably of wood) – ploughshare

Khanitra – hoe

Datra – sickle

Parasu – axe

Evidence of pastoralism as well as shifting cultivation suggest that the people of the Rigvedic culture were either nomadic or semi-nomadic.

Individual land ownership was virtually unknown. It seems land was held in common, although plots were periodically allotted to large patrilineal family. Cultivation appears to have been undertaken by the member of the family, which functioned as a unit. There is no reference to hired labourers or slaves being engaged in agriculture.

References to craft specialists in the Rigved are relatively sparse. The groups mentioned include leather workers, wheel makers, smiths and potters. None of these groups was considered to be of low or lower status. They were rendering important services to society and thus earned respect and reputation.

In the case of pottery, the basic techniques used were similar to those of the Harappans. Use of colours in pottery making was also the same – black or red. But the forms of vessels and use of decorations on them changed. The popular forms or shapes were urns, carinated vessel and footed vases. Popular decorations included stars, rings, dots and mythical peacocks and bulls.

Weaving appears to have been a domestic craft, under the control of women in the household. Wool obtained from sheep was possibly the raw material. There are no references to cotton in the Rigved. The Harappan people cultivated cotton in the same region in the gone by centuries.

Probably, barter system was the medium of trade.

The Early Vedic economic system has been characterised as a ‘gift economy’. Such exchange of gifts operated at a number of levels. In the first place, the booty obtained through warfare was redistributed. Apart from cattle, this might have included horses, women, slaves, and possibly at a later stage, cultivated land.

Such a distribution took place in assemblies such as the Vidhath or the Gana. It probably ensured that the Rajanya secured the continued support of the Vish, on one hand, and the priestly class on the other. The Vish supplied militia to ruler. The priestly class performed prayers and sacrifices that ostensibly ensured divine support to and gave legitimisation of Rajanya’s right to rule.

Besides the distribution of war booty, there was Bali, collection or donation or contribution from the Vish of one’s own Jana, and also from the hostile people who had been subjugated to the king. In the former’s case, it appears to have been voluntary and in the nature of presentation. The Vish probably brought Bali as means of pleasing the Rajan possibly on occasions of sacrifices and feats.

Bali in the later literature is regarded as tax. The constituents of Bali might have included cattle, dairy products and grains. Bali from hostile but subjugated people might have included metal or metal objects.

A part of the Bali constituted a source of income for the Rajan. Another part was used in sacrificial offerings Another portion was to provide communal feasts which accompanied sacrifices and a part distributed to priests either as alkaline or dana. The last was done by the Rajan to acquire prestige as is evident from daanastutis. Obviously, the distribution associated with Bali was asymmetrical.

SOCIETY

The Early Vedic society was in many respects egalitarian. It was mostly a tribal society. The Early Vedic society was not divided on caste lines. The tribe was referred to as the Jana, the largest unit.

Some of the tribes fought in the battle of the Ten Kings. The ten tribes who fought in the battle included: the Bharatas, the Purus, the Vadus, the Druhyus, the Anus and the Turvasus. The office of Rajan was not hereditary as he was chosen by and from among the clansmen. It is not clear whether women had a say in the selection of the Rajan.

The four-fold varna system was virtually absent in the Early Vedic age. There are only 14 references to Brahmanas, nine to Kshatriyas and just one to Shudra. Reference to Shudra comes in the context of Purushasukta – about the cosmic man.

The basic social unit was a patriarchal family called Kula. It was probably also the basic unit of production and consumption.

Child marriage was unknown.

There are occasional references to hostile groups such as Dasa, Dasyus and Panis. Dasa later became a reference to slaves. But in the Rig Vedic or Early Vedic period, Dasa and Dasyus are described as well-to-do people possessing cattle. They lived in fortified settlements. They were dark complexioned, snub nosed and worshippers of phallus. Some interpret this as reference to pre-Vedic Indians.

Panis were rich in cattle and treasure, according to Rig Vedic references.

They did not practice sacrifices and regarded as hostile people. These groups fought and made friends with another from time-to-time. One cannot regard them as separate linguist or racial groups on the basis of available Rig Vedic evidence.

The most famous chief mentioned in the Rig Veda is Sudasa, who led the Bharata tribe in the Battle of Ten Kings. The battle was fought over the division of water of the Ravi. His very name indicates the connection with the Dasas.

POLITY

The tribal polity was not completely egalitarian. A division is found in the Rigved itself between the Rajanya – those who led the Vish in wars were credited to be of senior lineage, and the rest of the clansmen, the Vish – who were considered to be of junior lineage.

The Purohita gained a special status in that society. They significance grew with the increase in the incidences of fights and conflicts as yajnas or sacrifices also became important. And, in the later period, they attained and assumed a superior position compared to other clan members.

The Rajan assumed importance due to wars that also contributed to sharper division between the senior and junior lineages in the Vish. At what point of time, these distinction became apparent is difficult to say but the tenth Mandala of the Rigved contains Purushasukta – the hymns that state that Brahmana, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra sprang separately from the mouth, arms, thighs and feet of the cosmic man (Purusha) respectively. 

These terms later signified the four broad castes of society. In the later Vedic texts, the superior Rajanya groups assumed the status of Kshatriya – a separate varna in itself.

Tribal assemblies, for example, Gana, Vidhatha, Sabha and Samiti are mentioned in the Rigved. Sabha might have been the council of select clan members, while the Samiti was the general tribal assembly, comprising the whole clan. 

These assemblies performed the functions of the government and were also involved in the selection of the Rajan from among the clansmen. Thus, they kept the powers of the Rajan and Rajanya in check. However, we do not find well-defined political hierarchy in the Early Vedic setup.

RELIGION

Rigvedic people venerated natural forces such as wind, water, rain, thunder, fire etc around them as gods. There were only a few female deities who were venerated.

Indra

He was the god of strength. He was invoked to destroy the enemy. Indra was the god of thunder and rain, and could not be vanquished. The concept of the tribal chief found represented in the character of Indra.

Agni

Next important god was Agni. He was the god of fire. Agni was considered to be an intermediary between heaven and the earth. Marriages were solemnised in his presence. The practice still predominantly continues among Indians. The purifying nature of fire was symbolised by Agni. It was thought that the offerings to Agni were carried to the gods in the form of smoke.

Varuna

He was personified water. He was the upholder of the natural order of the universe.

Yama

He as the god of death. He had an important place in the Early Rig Vedic religious belief.

Ashwins

They were the twin-gods of heaven.

Dyaus was the god of sky.

Mitra was the god of light.

Prajanya was a rain deity (inferior to Indra).

Prithvi was the goddess of earth.

Aditi was the mother goddess.

Besides these gods and goddesses, prayers were addressed to a host of other celestial beings such as Gandharvas, Apsaras and Maruts.

An intimate personal relationship was thought to be existing between a Vedic Aryan and the gods he or she worshipped. Religions was not based on magic or ritual formulae, rather it stressed direct communication with the gods through sacrifices and hymns. Priests were considered merely assistants in proper performance of the sacrifices. This means an accomplished person could sing the hymns himself or herself and propitiate the gods.

The Vedic religion was sacrificial in nature. It was characteristic of a pastoral society where animal sacrifice was common. It is consistent with the need of the Rigvedic society that required a sustainable system to get rid of older animals which were not economically viable, helpful or useful. 

Sacrifices or yajnas were performed to invoke the gods seeking bestowing of boons from them. The boons sought were not about a place in the heaven but victory in battles, acquisition of cattle, begetting sons or progeny etc.

In other words, the sacrifices were performed with the aim of securing material gains. Gods were neither worshipped for spiritual uplift of people nor for any other abstract philosophical concept. The Vedic religion reflected thus the patriarchal and pastoral society which was materialistic in perspective.

The Rigved offers no consistent theory regarding life after death. The dead dwelt in the realm of Yama. The dead were either buried or cremated.

PS. I will follow this up with a debate on the Aryan question.