Period of Veda (lectured by Mr. Udita Garusiṅgha) 2011

       The history of pre-Buddhist period of religion and philosophy in India can be divided into four eras as follows:

       (1) Vedic period
       (2) Brāhmaṇa period
       (3) Āranyka period
       (4) Upaniṣad period

        The determination of the time of these periods is difficult. Anyhow, some scholars think that the Vedic period started from the time of arrival of Āryans as well as from the period they tried to settle in their new settlement around the valley of the local river. Anyhow, we must consider that it took several centuries to build their permanent settlement there.

           The religious thoughts and their activities concerning the religion can be seen in the literature of Veda. In this Vedic period there can be seen four kinds of Veda. Those are: (1) Rig Veda, (2) Yajur Veda, (3) Sāma Veda, (4) Atharvan Veda. Among these four, the Rig Veda is the oldest. Rig Veda includes the details about gods, rites and rituals for them and hymns about them. Those gods can be considered as the gods they believed in after the arrival of Āryans as well as before the arrival of Āryans.

                                                                                                         Religious concepts of Indus' Āryans                
 
        Concepts of gods derived from natural phenomena (objects) such as sun, moon, fire, thunder, lightning, typhoon etc. led to polytheism. The uniqueness of worshiping natural phenomena is not the worshiping gods itself, but deification of nature and worshiping it. Some of the examples of deification of natural phenomena can be given as follows:

       (1) The sun rises daily
       (2) The moon shines at night
       (3) The lightning shines in the sky
       (4) The fire burns on the earth
       (5) The objects are visible to the eye and  objects may also be felt by the body.

          They deified the phenomena of the nature having seen their miraculous manifestation along with their love and fear of it. As a result, they anthropomorphized the natural. Having deified and anthropomorphized the natural phenomena, they thought these natural deities possess qualities such as kindness, anger, hate etc. like human beings. They believed that these deities are very powerful and that they can do anything they like. Therefore, those people started to make offerings and pray for blessing. This is clear when one examines the list of gods in Vedic literature.

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The Period of Veda, Literature (Vedic Period) (lectured by Mr. Udita Garusingha, given by ven. Suriya-Mon) 2011  

            In Indian philosophy, there are four periods, namely period of Vedas, Brāhmaṇa, Āranyaka and Upaniṣad. Of these four, the first period is very important for the Vedic people. In this period there were accepteed many kinds of gods, namely Sūriya, Candra, Soma, Agni, Vāyu, Parjanya, Rudra, Varuṇa, Indra, Marut and Uṣas.

·         Of them, Suriya means the Sun. Aryans people believed in the sun god. It had to be a powerful one, who everyday causes the sunrise and the sunset. It can make day, night, and help for growth of fruits and other food for living beings. Gradually, the Vedic people started to worship and pray to the Sun.

·         Candrameans 'moon'. It is also a god of the Vedic people. They saw the moon as wonderful god because it can give the light to whole dark world.

·         Soma had to be another God. The Vedic people believed in the Soma god. Agniis another god, god of fire. The Vedic people believed in his existence. He was thought to helpful to all. It gives the people wealth, food, progeny and possibilities.

·         In Vedic pantheon, Vāyu is also a powerful god, god of wind.

·         Parjanya is another God, that presides over rainclouds and rain. His functions are to cause rain, wind, storms, thunder and lightning. He is frightening. But he gives water to the people and for the growth of plants. He feeds the beings.

·         Rudra is an another God. The Vedic people believed him. He is the Lord of storms. He represents the fearful aspect of the nature. He destroys the enemies. Varuna is one of the powerful Gods. He examines good and bad in men and gives fair decision to the people.

·         Indra was one of the most powerful gods among the Vedic gods. He is the living feature of the God. He is omnipresent. The people could hear the sound of his walking, but he is invisible.

·         Marut is the lord of the typhoon. He represents a group of gods.

·         Uṣasis a goddess. She is the goddess of the dawn and responsible for dawn’s Sun.

          At the end of this period, we may see the recession of the belief in natural objects as gods. Instead of natural objects as Gods, they paid their attention to the gods revealed by the word ‘deva’. They increased the gods in numbers and put their faith toward thousands of gods. They believed that the gods live in three places, namely in the sky (ākāsāśrita), space (ajaṭāśrita) and earth (paṭhavīśrita).