Vedas and Related Topics

Hindu philosophy has a diversity of traditions and numerous saints and scholars, such as Adi Shankara of Advaita Vedanta school.

Indian philosophy

11 links

Indian philosophy refers to philosophical traditions of the Indian subcontinent.

Rishabhanatha, believed to have lived over a million years ago, is considered the founder of Jain religion in the present time cycle.

The Buddhist philosophy is based on the teachings of the Buddha.

A Japanese depiction of Nagarjuna, one of the greatest Buddhist philosophers and founder of Madhyamaka

Monastic life has been a part of all Indian philosophy traditions. Mendicant caves of extinct Ājīvikas in Bihar.

A traditional Hindu classification divides āstika and nāstika schools of philosophy, depending on one of three alternate criteria: whether it believes the Vedas as a valid source of knowledge; whether the school believes in the premises of Brahman and Atman; and whether the school believes in afterlife and Devas.

Bhagavad Gita

12 links

700-verse Hindu scripture that is part of the epic Mahabharata (chapters 23–40 of book 6 of the Mahabharata called the Bhishma Parva), dated to the second half of the first millennium BCE and is typical of the Hindu synthesis.

Bhagavad Gita revelation: Krishna tells the Gita to Arjuna

The Bhagavata Gita is attributed to the sage Vyasa.

A manuscript illustration of the battle of Kurukshetra, fought between the Kauravas and the Pandavas, recorded in the Mahabharata.

Krishna recounts Gita to Arjuna during Kurukshetra War, in Mahabharata; c.1820 painting.

A didactic print from the 1960s that uses the Gita scene as a focal point for general religious instruction

A 19th-century Sanskrit manuscript of the Bhagavad Gita, Devanagari script

The thematic story of Arjuna and Krishna at the Kurukshetra War became popular in southeast Asia as Hinduism spread there in the 1st-millennium CE. Above, an Arjuna-Krishna chariot scene in Jakarta center, Indonesia.

A frieze in the early 8th-century Virupaksha temple (Pattadakal) depicting Mahabharata scenes involving Arjuna-Krishna chariot. Pattadakal is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Adi Shankara with Disciples, by Raja Ravi Varma (1904); Shankara published 700 verses of the Gita (800 CE), now the standard version.

Vāsudeva-Krishna, on a coin of Agathocles of Bactria, c.180BCE. This is "the earliest unambiguous image" of the deity.

The Trinity test of the Manhattan Project was the first detonation of a nuclear weapon, which led Oppenheimer to recall verses from the Bhagavad Gita, notably being: "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds".

Scholars consider Vyasa to be a mythical or symbolic author, in part because Vyasa is also the traditional compiler of the Vedas and the Puranas, texts dated to be from different millennia.

Indian Cultural Influence (Greater India)

History of India

8 links

According to consensus in modern genetics, anatomically modern humans first arrived on the Indian subcontinent from Africa between 73,000 and 55,000 years ago.

Dholavira, a city of Indus Valley Civilisation, with stepwell steps to reach the water level in artificially constructed reservoirs.

Archaeological remains of washroom drainage system at Lothal.

Sinauli "chariot", photograph of the Archaeological Survey of India.

An early 19th century manuscript in the Devanagari script of the Rigveda, originally transmitted orally with fidelity

Late Vedic era map showing the boundaries of Āryāvarta with Janapadas in northern India, beginning of Iron Age kingdoms in India – Kuru, Panchala, Kosala, Videha.

City of Kushinagar in the 5th century BCE according to a 1st-century BCE frieze in Sanchi Stupa 1 Southern Gate.

Manuscript illustration of the Battle of Kurukshetra.

The Mahajanapadas were the sixteen most powerful and vast kingdoms and republics of the era, located mainly across the Indo-Gangetic plains.

The Mauryan carved door of Lomas Rishi, one of the Barabar Caves, c. 250 BCE.

Silk Road and Spice trade, ancient trade routes that linked India with the Old World; carried goods and ideas between the ancient civilisations of the Old World and India. The land routes are red, and the water routes are blue.

Copper Plate Seal of Kamarupa Kings at Madan Kamdev ruins.

Kadamba shikara (tower) with Kalasa (pinnacle) on top, Doddagaddavalli.

Excavated ruins of Nalanda, a centre of Buddhist learning from 450 to 1193 CE.

Chola Empire under Rajendra Chola, c. 1030 CE.

The Delhi Sultanate reached its zenith under the Turko-Indian Tughlaq dynasty.

The Dasam Granth (above) was composed by Sikh Guru Gobind Singh.

18th century political formation in India.

The route followed in Vasco da Gama's first voyage (1497–1499).

Literacy in India grew very slowly until independence in 1947. An acceleration in the rate of literacy growth occurred in the 1991–2001 period.

Mature Harappan Period, c. 2600 - 1900 BCE

Mohenjo-daro, one of the largest Indus cities. View of the site's Great Bath, showing the surrounding urban layout.

Three stamp seals and their impressions bearing Indus script characters alongside animals: "unicorn" (left), bull (center), and elephant (right); Guimet Museum

Their Vedic Period (1500–500 BCE) was marked by the composition of the Vedas, large collections of hymns of these tribes.

A 19th century manuscript of the Hindu text Bhagavad Gita

Hindu texts

7 links

Hindu texts are manuscripts and voluminous historical literature which are related to any of the diverse traditions within Hinduism.

These include the Puranas, Itihasa and Vedas.

Archaeological cultures associated with Indo-Iranian migrations (after EIEC). The Andronovo, BMAC and Yaz cultures have often been associated with Indo-Iranian migrations. The GGC, Cemetery H, Copper Hoard and PGW cultures are candidates for cultures associated with Indo-Aryan movements.

Vedic period

8 links

Cremation urn of the Gandhara grave culture (c. 1200 BCE), associated with Vedic material culture

Pottery of the Painted Grey Ware culture (c. 1000–600 BCE), associated with Vedic material culture

Modern replica of utensils and falcon shaped altar used for Agnicayana, an elaborate Śrauta ritual originating from the Kuru Kingdom, 1000 BCE

A steel engraving from the 1850s, which depicts the creative activities of Prajapati, a Vedic deity who presides over procreation and protection of life

An early-19th-century manuscript of Rigveda (padapatha) in Devanagari. The Vedic accent is marked by underscores and vertical overscores in red.

Mathura anthropomorphological artefact. Copper Hoard Culture (2nd millennium CE). Mathura Museum

The Vedic period, or the Vedic age, is the period in the late Bronze Age and early Iron Age of the history of India when the Vedic literature, including the Vedas (ca.

Mantra

7 links

Sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words in Sanskrit, Pali and other languages believed by practitioners to have religious, magical or spiritual powers.

Om Mani Padme Hum, a Buddhist Mantra written in Tibetan Script with Mandala Style

Mantras written on a rock near Namche Bazaar Nepal

Mantra of the Hare Krishna bhakti school of Hinduism

Om mani padme hum on the Gangpori (photo 1938–1939 German expedition to Tibet.

Hare Krishna devotees in Amsterdam carrying a poster with the Hare Krishna Mantra

Japanese Mandala of the Mantra of Light, an important mantra of the Shingon and Kegon sects

A Japanese depiction of the Amida Triad as Seed Syllables (in Siddham Script). Visualizing deities in the form of seed mantras is a common Vajrayana meditation. In Shingon, one of the most common practices is Ajikan (阿字觀), meditating on the mantric syllable A.

The mantra of Padmasambhava (Om Āḥ Hūṁ Vajra Guru Padma Siddhi Hūṁ), in Lanydza (Ranjana) and Tibetan script.

Scholars consider the use of mantras to have begun before 1000 BC. By the middle Vedic period (1000 BC to 500 BC) – claims Frits Staal – mantras in Hinduism had developed into a blend of art and science.