NCERT HISTORY CLASS-VI
CHAPTER-IV PART-I
THE VEDAS
The Vedas is one of the oldest books in the world. There are four of them - The Rigveda, Samaveda, Yajurveda, Atharvaveda. Among this Rigveda is considered as the oldest which consists of 1000 hymns that praise many gods called Sukta (well said). All these hymns were composed by Rishis (sages), which is written by Vedic Sanskrit.
The most important gods were
1. Agni - The god of fire.
2. Indra - A warrior god
3. Soma - A plant ( from which a special drink is made)
FAMILY OF LANGUAGES
Some languages are grouped as they have many words in common called Family. For example; matr - Sanskrit, ma - Hindi, mother - English.
- INDO-EUROPEAN Family - Sanskrit, Indian languages (Assamese, Hindi, Gujarati, Kashmiri, Sindhi), Asian languages (Persian), European languages (English, French, German, Greek, Italy, and Spanish).
- Tibeto-Burman Family - Some north-east languages.
- Dravidian Family - Tamil, Telungu, Kannada, Malayalam.
- Austro-Asiatic Family - Languages in central India.
VISHVAMITRA & THE RIVER
Archaeologists who find about the past also examine the written sources to study the Vedas. They found that some of the hymns were in the form of dialogues. Here we see one of the dialogues between Two rivers (Beas & Sutlej) and Vishvamitra
In this dialogue, he describes the two rivers that come down from the mountain as two swift horses and two shiny cows. He also gives a special mention that they move like a chariot to the sea. He also pleases the rivers to pass gently within their axles so that we all can cross them safely. The River replies that we will listen to your prayers and do as per your wishes.
The historians point out that this was composed near the river flows and the horses and cows were considered as valued animals so, that they are compared here.
PARTS OF PRAYER - RIGVEDA
There are many prayers for cattle, children, horses. Many chariots were used for wars and they all were fought for cattle, land for pasture, water and to capture people. Some part of the wealth was obtained by the Ruler, some were given to Priests, some were distributed to the people, and the remaining wealth was used for the performance of Yajnas (Sacrifice) in which offerings (ghee, grains, animals) were made into the fire. There were assemblies that chose leaders, discussed matters of war and peace.