Ramayana

Ramayana was originally written by a sage Valmiki in the Sanskrit language and later on it was translated into other languages in different versions. The main story of the Ramayana is about Lord Rama. In short the Ramayana is about Rama who was born in a royal family and was supposed to be the king, but because of his step- mother, he was forced to exile from his kingdom for fourteen years. During this period his consort Sita was kidnapped by a demon called Ravan, who was the king of Lanka. Rama with the help of his brother, Lakshman, and an army of monkeys under the leadership of Hanuman, rescued Sita.


But the Ramayana isn't only about Lord Rama and his attempt to rescue his consort Sita. Ramayana is also about devotion, loyalty, family roles and respect to elders. The Ramayana does not begin with the life of Rama, but actually with the people on earth who suffer from the demon named Ravan. Ravan is a cruel king who terrorizes the people of earth, especially the religious people and prevents them from performing religious rituals. But Ravan is also a great devotee of the three Gods who rule the universe, Brahma; the creator, Vishnu; the preserver and Shiva; the destroyer and therefore has their blessings and assurance that they as Gods will not hurt him. But the people of the earth, who suffer from Ravan, go up to heaven to visit the Gods and ask for their help. The Gods decide that Lord Vishnu will incarnate as a human being on earth and destroy Ravan. They find out that king of Kosala named Dasrath who has three wives is childless and longing for heir. So Lord Vishnu incarnates as his older son.

The king's first wife Kausalya gives birth to Rama. His second wife gives birth to Lakshman and Shatrugan and his third wife Kaykeyi gives birth to Bharat. The four brothers are sent for education in an ashram. They four brothers were very close to each other even though they were stepbrothers. They return to their kingdom after completing education.

Rama gets married to Sita. Sita is an adopted daughter of another king. In order to win her hand, the contestant had to bend a bow, which belonged to Lord Shiva. Many could not even lift this bow. When Rama arrived he did not only bend this bow but also broke it and so got Sita's hand.

King Dasrath intended to inherit his kingdom to his eldest son, Rama. But Bharat's nanny gets jealous and goes to Bharat's mother and begins to incite her about what might happen of her if Rama becomes the king. Incited, Bharat's mother goes to the king and demands from him the two boons he had promised her sometime earlier in life. She demands to send Rama to exile in the forest for fourteen years and make her son Bharat the heir of the kingdom. King Dasrath who is in great dilemma and pain, eventually bows to her demands.

Rama accepts his father's decision without any argument, but the other brothers including Bharat get furious. Lakshman decides to join his brother in exile and so giving an example of brotherly loyalty. Bharat inherits the throne but after his father's death goes to Rama and tries to convince him to return. Bharat tell Rama that because he is the eldest son of the king he is the rightful heir of the throne but Rama refuses and claims that father boons should be respected. Bharat agrees to remain the ruler of the kingdom until Rama's return from exile and as a symbol to prove that the throne belongs to Rama he takes Rama's slippers and puts them on the throne.

The forest in which Rama arrived with his wife Sita and his brother was full of demons. A female demon, Surpanakha fall in love with Rama and she tries to seduce him. Rama being a loyal husband refuses to her flirts, so she tries to kill Sita. At this point Lakshman takes his sword and cuts the demon's nose. She goes to her brother, Ravan, and tells him of the disgrace that happened to her. Ravan decides to avenge this humiliation by kidnapping Rama's wife Sita. He even notices that she is very beautiful and desires her.

Ravan plans ways to far away Rama and Lakshman from Sita so that he can kidnap her. One day Sita sees a very beautiful deer and desires it. She urges Rama to get it so Rama goes deep into the forest to get it. As time passes and Rama does not return, Sita starts to get worried. After some time she hears a cry which she thinks is Rama's cry so she begs Lakshman to find Rama. Lakshman aware of the fact that something bad might happen to Sita, refuses to leave Sita alone. But Sita compels Lakshman to find Rama. Lakshman agrees but draws a line in front of their hut and begs his sister- in- law not to pass this line because it might be dangerous and sets off to search Rama.

When it is quiet dark a sage comes to the hut begging for food. Sita hears the begging of the sage and brings some food for the sage and so passes the line Lakshman had marked. When she gets closer to the sage she finds out that the sage is actually Ravan in disguise. Ravan kidnaps Sita and takes her to his kingdom Lanka. And so this basic plot of the Gods to have Rama to fight with Ravan takes place. On his way to Lanka, Sita struggles with him a lot, A vulture, who resides near Rama's hut, hears her cries and fights with Ravan. Ravan injures that vulture seriously. When Rama and Lakshman return, the vulture who is dying tells them that Ravan kidnapped Sita. Rama and Lakshman decide to find out Sita.

Rama and Lakshman need an army to find and fight Ravan and they get this help from the monkeys. The king of monkeys who was exiled by his brother gets Rama's help to fight and slain his brother. After regaining his throne the monkey king assigns one of his commanders, Hanuman to serve Rama in his assignment to find Sita. After some time the monkeys come across another vulture who tells them that Ravan has kidnapped Sita and taken her to his island kingdom, Lanka.

Hanuman who is capable of flying gets to Lanka after fighting some dangers in the way. He finds Sita in the garden guarded by female demons, in a depressed mood. He proves to her that he is Rama's messenger and offers to carry her back. But to vindicate her honor she prefers that Rama himself should rescue her. Hanuman promises that Rama will come and rescue her.

Hanuman decides to check the capability of Ravan's security forces. He begins to destroy the garden, provoking the security guard and hurting them. Eventually he is captured and brought to Ravan. Hanuman tells Ravan that he is Rama's messenger and demands from him to free Sita or else he will die. Ravan gets furious and at first intended to kill Hanuman, but because Hanuman is a messenger he decides only to punish him by burning his tail. Hanuman flies back to Rama not before setting fire to Ravan's city with his burning tail and extinguishes his tail in the sea.

After Hanuman's return, Rama plans his way to reach Ravan's island. Rama and his advisers plan a land bridge to Lanka. The monkeys bring tree and rocks from the forests and build the land bridge to Lanka. After arriving in Lanka they send a peaceful messenger to Ravan, but Ravan refuses. So a war begins in which both sides lose many forces. Even Rama and Lakshman get hurt. The monkeys also began to get weak because Ravan's forces use biological weapons, which weaken their senses. So a medical expert in Rama's forces claims that to neutralize this a special herb is required which exists in a far away mountain, named Mahodaya.

Hanuman flies to that mountain and finds out that the mountain is full of different herbs, so he brings the whole mountain to Lanka. Slowly the forces get back to their senses.

Eventually after many battles Ravan faces Rama and after two continuos days of battles Rama kills Ravan and visits Sita. But the Ramayana does not end here. The fact that Sita lived in another man's palace causes some rumors about her chastity. She is obliged to take a fire test in which she sits in a fire but comes out unharmed and therefore is purified from charges.

In the original version of the Ramayana, after Rama and Sita return to Ayodhya, the capital of Kosala the rumors about Sita's adultery in Ravan's captivity continue and therefore the people disrespect her. So Rama, who is now the king, decides to banish Sita from his kingdom. In the forests she meets a sage named Valmiki, who later on wrote the Ramayana. In Valmiki's ashram Sita gives birth to two twins of Rama, Lav and Kush. These two children learn from Valmiki to sing the Ramayana as a poem and they go everywhere and start telling everyone the Ramayana, meaning Rama's story. They even arrive into Rama's court and tell him his story and so Rama recognizes his sons. He brings back his wife Sita who decides to prove her loyalty to Rama by asking Mother Earth to swallow her if she was loyal to Rama and so Mother Earth to testify her loyalty, opens up and swallows her and Sita disappears into earth. Later on Rama himself jumped in the river to end his life, followed by many.

The Religious form of Caste System

In Hinduism there exists four castes arranged in a hierarchy. Anyone who does not belong to one of these castes is an outcast. The religious word for caste is 'Varna'. Each Varna has certain duties and rights. Each Varna members have to work in certain occupation which only that Varna members are allowed. Each Varna has certain type of diet.

The highest Varna is of the Brahman. Members of this class are priests and the educated people of the society. The Varna after them in hierarchy is Kshatria.

The members of this class are the rulers and aristocrats of the society. After them are the Vaisia. Members of this class are the landlords and businessmen of the society. After them in hierarchy are the Sudra. Members of this class are the peasants and working class of the society who work in non-polluting jobs. The caste hierarchy ends here. Below these castes are the outcasts who are untouchable to the four castes. These untouchables worked in degrading jobs like cleaning, sewage etc.

The first three castes had social and economical rights which the Sudra and the untouchables did not have. The first three castes are also seen as 'twice born'. The intention in these two births is to the natural birth and to the ceremonial entrance to the society at a much later age.

Each Varna and also the untouchables are divided into many communities. These communities are called Jat or Jati (The caste is also used instead of Jat). For example the Brahmans have Jats called Gaur, Kokanastha, Sarasvat, Iyer and others. The outcasts have Jats like Mahar, Dhed, Mala, Madiga and others. The Sudra is the largest Varna and it has the largest number of communities. Each Jat is limited to professions worthy of their Varna. Each Jat is limited to the Varna diet. Each Jat members are allowed to marry only with their Jat members. People are born into their Jat and it cannot be changed.

This is the how the caste system is supposed to be in its religious form. But in reality it is much more complicated and different from its religious form.

The incarnations of Lord Vishnu

According to Hindu theology, three Gods rule the world. Brahma: the creator; Vishnu: the preserver and Shiva: the destroyer. Lord Vishnu does his job of preserving the world by incarnating himself in different forms at times of crisis.

In his first incarnation he appeared as a fish, Matsya, to convinced a human being, Manu, to collect all kinds of seeds and pairs of all birds and animals and to get with them on a boat. After this a flood drowned the earth and destroyed everything and the good hearted Manu started a new human race.

In his second incarnation as Kurma, the turtle, he helped the Gods and non-Gods to churn the ocean of milk, which held in its divine treasures.

In his third incarnation as Varaha, the boar, he used his tusks to raise the earth, which had sunk in the sea.

In his fourth incarnation he appeared as Narsimha, which was neither a man nor animal but a strange being, half-man and half-animal. He appeared in this form to kill a demon who was blessed that no animal or human could kill him.

In his fifth incarnation he was a dwarf, Vamana. As a little person he asked the demon, who ruled the three worlds, to give him land three times his foot. The demon agreed and Vamana turned into a huge giant and his feet covered the three worlds.

In his sixth incarnation he was a priest, Parsuram. Parsuram as a non-violent priest took an axe to kill warriors who threatened the human race.

In his seventh incarnation, he was Rama, the main character in the Ramayana, who killed the demon Ravan.

In his eighth incarnation he was Krishna who helped the right-minded Pandavas to defeat the villain Kauravas. Krishna is also the philosopher of the Bhagwad Gita, one of the holiest Hindu texts.

About the ninth incarnation. Two different personalities are identified as the ninth incarnation of Vishnu. One is Balaram, the elder brother of Krishna, who like Krishna helped the right-minded persons to defeat the villians.

The other personality identified as his ninth incarnation is Buddha, the establisher of Buddhism. Here too, there are two different beliefs for the purpose of this incarnation. According to one belief Vishnu incarnated as Buddha to preach non-violence and against animal sacrificing in religious ceremony. According to other belief, Vishnu incarnated as Buddha to start a new religion with a specific intention to convince some demons to give up worshipping Lord Shiva. For, Lord Shiva protected his worshippers and these demons used this protection to do whatever they wanted. Buddha convinced them with his new religion and they stopped worshipping Lord Shiva, which in turn allowed Shiva to punish them.

The tenth incarnation of Vishnu, Kalki, is suppose to arrive when the world will be at a brink of complete chaos. He will rise from the sea on a white horse and destroy all evil.

Vedic Period

The Vedic Period is one of major milestones in the history of India. It is estimated that the Vedic Period in India lasted from 1500 - 600 B.C. This period brought about a multitude of changes in the lifestyle of people. The Vedic age is broadly classified into two categories: Early Vedic Age and Later Vedic age. There was development in agricultural practices, worshipping patterns, philosophical outlooks, etc. A number of dynasties and new religions came into being during this period that left a huge impact on people. Read on the history of the Vedic Age.

The migration of the Aryans to the Indian sub continent is what triggered off the Vedic Age. As the name suggests, this period got its name from the four major Vedas or the sacred scriptures that were created during that time. The four sacred Vedas are Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda and Atharva Veda. These scriptures provide essential knowledge of the lifestyle during the Vedic Age. The Vedas are the foundation of the Hindu religion. Apart from the Vedas, we have two great epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata written during this age. These two epics tell a lot about the culture, society, religious beliefs, etc. of people during that time.

Vedic Religion
The Vedic period religions laid the foundation of the religious practices that are continued till date in modern India. These religions arose from the sacred scriptures that were composed during the Vedic period. These scriptures founded the very base of Hinduism in India. The scriptures that talk of the various religious practices are basically the four Vedas namely Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama Veda and Atharva Veda.

Vedic Culture
The Vedic period has been broadly classified into two categories: the Early and Later Vedic Periods. This has been done according to the way the transition in the style of culture and society took place. The Vedic period society developed rapidly as time passed by. In Vedic age, culture and society developed from the crude form to the refined form as more and more people came to settle and started to contribute their own ideas to reform the society.

Vedic Age in INDIA

Duration: 1500 BC to 500 BC

The Vedic Period or the Vedic Age refers to that time period when the Vedic Sanskrit texts were composed in India. The society that emerged during that time is known as the Vedic Period, or the Vedic Age, Civilization.

The Vedic Civilization flourished between the 1500 BC and 500 BC on the Indo-Gangetic Plains of the Indian subcontinent. This civilization laid down the foundation of Hinduism as well as the associated Indian culture. The Vedic Age was followed by the golden age of Hinduism and classical Sanskrit literature, the Maurya Empire and the Middle Kingdoms of India.

The Vedic period (or Vedic age) (ca.1750–500 BCE) was the period in Indian history during which the Vedas, the oldest scriptures of Hinduism, were composed.  During the early part of the Vedic period, the Indo-Aryans settled into northern India, bringing with them their specific religious traditions.

The Rig Veda is hard to translate accurately, because it is the oldest Indo-Aryan text, composed in the archaic Vedic Sanskrit. There are no closely contemporary extant texts, which makes it difficult to interpret.

Early Vedic Age: The Vedic age began in India in about 1500 BC and extend upto 6000 BCE with the coming of the Aryans, who scattered on the plains of northern India. Max Muller believes it an anomaly to regard the race as Aryan because scientifically Aryan connotes nothing but language. The relationship between the race and language of these people with the classical languages of Europe was established by a Bavarian Franz Bopp in 1816.

Aryans developed Vedic culture based on Vedas. The meaning of the word Veda is "knowledge", the best of all knowledge in the eyes of Hindus. It is a collection of hymns, prayers, charms, litanies and sacrificial formulae. There are four Vedas, namely, Rig Veda, Sam Veda, Yajur Veda and Atharva Veda.


Vedic Civilisation
Origin of Indian Music - Samveda
Mention of Word 'Shudra' - Rigveda 10th Mandala
Gayatri Mantra - Rigveda
Mention of word 'Yajna' - Brahmana
Somaras (drink) - Rigveda (9th Mandala)
Varna - Rigveda
Four fold division of Society - Rigveda 10th Mandala
Mention of four Ashrams - Jabala Upanishada
War between Aryan & Dasas - Rigveda
Transmigration of Soul - Brahadaranyka Upanishada
Five divisions of India - Aiteraya Brahamana
Wife and Husband are complementary - Satapathabrahmana
Battle of Ten kings - Rigveda (7th Mandala)
Superiority of Brahmins - Aiteraya Brahmana
Rajanaya - Rigveda 10th Mandala
Marut as Agriculturist - Satpatha Brahmana
Satyameva Jayate - Mundaka upanishada
Pashupath Shiva - Atharveda
Vishnu - Satapatha Brahmana

Conversion between Yam & Nachiketa - Katha Upanishada

Vedic Texts
Linguistically, the texts belonging to the Hindu Vedic Civilisation can be classified into the following five chronological branches:

Rigvedic

The oldest text of the Vedic Period, Rig Veda has many elements that are common with the Indo-Iranian texts, both in language and in content. One cannot find such similarity in any other Vedic text. It is believed that the compilation of the Rig Veda had stretched over a number of centuries. However, there is a conflict as to the completion date of the Rig Veda. Some historians believe it to be 1500 BC, while the others believe it to be 3000 BC. This time period coincided with the Indus Valley Civilization.

Mantra Language

The period of the Mantra Language includes the time of the compilation of the mantra and prose language of the Atharvaveda (Paippalada and Shaunakiya), the Rigveda Khilani, the Samaveda Samhita and the mantras of the Yajurveda. Though derived from the Rig Veda, all these texts experienced wide scale changes, in terms of language as well as at the time of reinterpretation. This time period coincided with the early Iron Age in northwestern India and the Black and Red Ware culture.

Samhita Prose

The period of Samhita Prose represents the compilation and codification of a Vedic canon. The linguistic changes of this time include the complete loss of the injunctive, the subjunctive and the aorist. The commentary part of the Yajurveda belongs to the Samhita Prose period. During this time, the Painted Grey Ware culture was evident.

Brahmana Prose

This period signifies Brahmanas proper of the four Vedas, along with the oldest Upanishads.

Sutra Language

The last division of the Vedic Sanskrit can be traced upto 500 BC. During this time, a major portion of the Srauta Sutras, the Grihya Sutras and some Upanishads were composed.

Epic and Paninian Sanskrit (Post Vedic)

In the post-Vedic Period, the compilation of Mahabharata and Ramayana epics took place. The Classical Sanskrit described by Panini also emerged after the Vedic Age. The Vedanta and the Pali Prakrit dialect of Buddhist scripture belong to this period. During this time, the Northern Black Polished Ware culture started spreading over the northern parts of India.

The end of the Vedic Period Civilization in India was marked by significant changes in the field of linguistics, culture and politics. With the invasion of the Indus valley by Darius I, in the 6th century, outside influences started creeping in.

Early Vedic Period (Rigvedic Period)

The Rigvedic Period represents the time period when the Rig Veda was composed. The Rig Veda comprises of religious hymns, and allusions to various myths and stories. Some of the books even contain elements from the pre-Vedic, common Indo-Iranian society. Some similarities are also found with the Andronovo culture and the Mittanni kingdoms. Thus, it is difficult to define the exact beginning of the Rigvedic period. The prominent features of the Rigvedic period are given below:

Political Organization

The political units during the Rigvedic or the early Vedic period comprised of Grama (village), Vish and Jana. The biggest political unit was that of Jana, after which came Vish and then, Grama. The leader of a Grama was called Gramani, of a Vish was called Vishpati and that of Jana was known as Jyeshta. The rashtra (state) was governed by a Rajan (King) and he was known as Gopa (protector) and Samrat (supreme ruler). The king ruled with the consent and approval of the people. There were four councils, namely Sabha, Samiti, Vidhata and Gana, of which women were allowed to attend only two, Sabha and Vidhata. The duty of the king was to protect the tribe, in which he was assisted by the Purohita (chaplain) and the Senani (army chief).

Society and Economy

Numerous social changes took place during the early Vedic period. The concept of Varna, along with the rules of marriage, was made quite stiff. Social stratification took place, with the Brahmins and the Kshatriyas being considered higher than the Shudras and the Vaisyas. Cows and bulls were accorded religious significance. The importance of agriculture started growing. The families became patriarchal and people began praying for the birth of a son.

Vedic Religious Practices

Rishis, composers of the hymns of the Rig Veda, were considered to be divine. Sacrifices and chanting of verses started gaining significance as the principal mode of worship. The main deities were Indra, Agni (the sacrificial fire), and Soma. People also worshipped Mitra-Varuna, Surya (Sun), Vayu (wind), Usha (dawn), Prithvi (Earth) and Aditi (the mother of gods). Yoga and Vedanta became the basic elements of the religion.

Later Vedic Period

The later Vedic Period commenced with the emergence of agriculture as the principal economic activity. Along with that, a declining trend was experienced as far as the importance of cattle rearing was concerned. Land and its protection started gaining significance and as a result, several large kingdoms arose.

Political Organization

The rise of sixteen Mahajanapadas, along with the increasing powers of the King, comprise of the other characteristics of this period. Rituals like rajasuya, (royal consecration), vajapeya (chariot race) and ashvamedha (horse sacrifice) became widespread. At the same time, the say of the people in the administration diminished.

Society

As far as the society is concerned, the concept of Varna and the rules of marriage became much more rigid than before. The status of the Brahmanas and Kshatriyas increased greatly and social mobility was totally restricted. The proper pronunciation of verses became to be considered as essential for prosperity and success in war. Kshatriyas started amassing wealth and started utilizing the services of the Brahmins. The other castes were slowly degraded. Around 500 BC, the later Vedic Period started giving rise to the period of the Middle kingdoms of India.