Literary sources of Ancient India

The sources of information about the history of ancient India can be divided into two parts - literary resources and archaeological resources, which are both indigenous and foreign. Literary literature is of two types – religious literature and secular literature. Religious literature is also of two types – Brahmin texts and non-Brahmin texts. There are two types of Brahman texts - Shruti in which Vedas, Brahmanas, Upanishads etc. come and Smriti, under which Ramayana, Mahabharata, Purana Smritis etc. There are also four types of secular literature - historical literature, foreign description, biography and fiction and fiction literature.

The main sources of information about ancient Indian history are literary texts, which can be kept in two sub-sections - religious literature and secular literature. It is necessary to mention them separately.

Brahmanical or religious literature

Brahman texts contribute immensely in imparting knowledge of ancient Indian history. The oldest literature of India is mainly religious. There are many Brahmin texts through which the story of the civilization and culture of ancient India is known. They are main as follows:

(a) Vedas – Vedas are the oldest among such texts and they come first. The Vedas are the oldest texts of the Aryans, which are four - the spread of the Aryans from the Rigveda, Samveda, Yajurveda and Atharvaveda; mutual war; Their constant struggle with non-Aryans, slaves, slaves and dacoits and their social, religious and economic organization gets a specific amount of information. Similarly, knowledge of the then culture and genres is obtained from the Atharvaveda.

(b) Brahmins – The prose commentaries of Vedic hymns and samhitas are called brahmins. Aitareya, Shatapatha, Panchvish, Taitriya etc. are particularly important in the ancient Brahman. The study of Aitareya gives knowledge of the coronation and the names of the anointed Nripatis. One hundred chapters of Shathpath present historical stories in relation to the Gandhara, Shalya and Kekaya etc. and oriental countries, Kuru, Panchala, Kosala and Videha of North-Western India. The story of King Parikshit has become more clear only through the Brahmins.

(c) Upanishads - Brihadaranyak and Chandonya are the most famous of the Upanishads. The condition of India before Bimbisara can be known from these texts. Parikshit, his son Janamejaya and later kings are mentioned in these Upanishads. It is clear from these Upanishads that the philosophy of the Aryans was the best and far ahead of the philosophy of other civilized countries of the world. The living examples of the spiritual development of the Aryans, the oldest religious stage and the living, living examples of thought, are found in these Upanishads.

(d) Vedanga- Yugantar for Vedic studies, branches of six disciplines were born, which are called 'Vedanga'. Vedanga literally means part of the Vedas, however, due to the masculine nat

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