GROUP ONE

“You don’t have to be great to start,but you have to start to be great.”

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Introduction To�Vedas ,Varnas and Ashram Systems

1. �Ashram system

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Four Ashramas of Vedic Life

• Ashramas are the stages of life which provide training and environment for realising the ideal of our life.
• There are four ashramas in all

1. Brahmacharya (student life)

2. Garhasthya (family life)

3. Vanaprastha (retired life)

4. Sannyasa (life of renunciation)

• Each stage has its own specific duties (Vishesha Dharmas).
• We will discuss the duties of a garhasthi (householder), a student (Brahmacharin), a retired person, and a renunciated person separately.

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Ashram System

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Brahmacharya

Garhasthya

Vanaprastha

Sanyasa

Brahmacharya Ashram

• Brahmacharya represented the bachelor student stage of life.
• It is a specific period of education for all young persons before they can grow independent to work for life.
• At home, a child gets education in how to eat, walk, talk, dress, meet other people, and behave in their presence. But he does not get education in reading and writing or skilled and professional training.He gets this education from teachers (gurus). During this period of education, he has to follow some ideals and live in a specific environ­ment.
• In the ancient past, The student went to a Gurukul (house of the guru) and typically would live with a Guru (mentor). At that place, they acquire knowledge of science, philosophy, scriptures, and logic, practicing self-discipline, working to earn Dakshina to be paid for the guru, learning to live a life of Dharma (virtue, morals, duties).

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Garhasthya Ashram

• This period of life covers an active period of ef­fective membership of society and covers 25 years of life after the first 25 years of education. This is house holder’s life, a married life.
• This stage referred to the individual’s married life, with the duties of maintaining a household, raising a family, educating one’s children, and leading a family-centered and a dharmic social life.
• The ideal marriage was considered one which was performed for moksha or final liberation and intellectual companionship through the performance of household duties, including upbringing of children and offering reverence (shradha) to ancestors.
• Grihastha’s stage was recognized as the most important of all stages in a sociological context. The stage also includes the most intense physical, sexual, emotional, occupational, social, and material attachments that exist in a human being’s life.

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Vanaprastha Ashram

• After the responsibilities to children are over, the parents are expected to take to social welfare work, so that they do not remain entrapped in moha (attachment).
• In this stage, a person hand over household duties to the next generation took an advisory role and slowly withdrew from the world.
• The idea is not to retire to forests and live in a place away from human habitation but to live in vil­lages, away from thickly populated cities. Thus, the idea of third stage is to develop a new level of interest and action and not merely a retirement into a particular place.
• Vanaprastha stage was a transition phase from a householder’s life with its greater emphasis on Artha and Kama (wealth, security, pleasure, and desires) to one with greater emphasis on Moksha (spiritual liberation).

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Sanyasa Ashram

• Sanyasa is the final stage in life’s growth.
• While the dominant interest in grahasthya stage is the family, in vanaprastha stage it is human society as a whole, in sanyasa stage, the interest is the Universe with its universal con­sciousness. Interest in the universal consciousness is identification with total existence in its deepest being.
• As regards motivation in grahasthya stage, the individual is motivated to seek the interest of members of fam­ily, while in the vanaprastha stage, he is motivated to work for the interest of a particular group or community or human society. Only a sanyasi will be motivated to perform a disinterested action which is not desirous of any fruits here or hereafter.
• Sanyasa is not a life of inaction but a life of ac­tion risen to the highest level of motivation and widest interest.

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2.�varnas

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“The underleying reason for adheering to varnas duties is the belief in the attainment of moksha on being dutiful.”

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Varnas �

• Varna order is different from the caste system.
• While the latter is believed to be the greatest blot on Indian culture, since it has divided the society into conflicting camps, perpetrated harsh sufferings on a large section of the Indian people, and has made social justice difficult.
• The first group of people came to be called brahmins who were en­gaged in priestly function, teaching, medicine etc.; the second group Kshatriyas, who were engaged in fighting, ruling and administration; the third group vaishyas who were engaged in agriculture, trade and com­merce; and the last group sudras who were engaged in unskilled work under the direction of the members of other three groups.

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Brahmins�

• Brahmins were revered as an incarnation of knowledge itself, endowed with the precepts and sermons to be discharged to all Varnas of society.
• . However, anyone from other Varnas could also become a Brahmin after extensive acquisition of knowledge and cultivation of one's intellect.
• They were not just revered because of their Brahmin birth but also their renunciation of worldly life and cultivation of divine qualities

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Kshatriyas�

• Kshatriyas constituted the warrior clan, the kings, rulers of territories, administrators, etc.
• . It was paramount for a Kshatriya to be learned in weaponry, warfare, penance, austerity, administration, moral conduct, justice, and ruling.
• . Besides austerities like the Brahmins, they would gain additional knowledge of administration.
• Contrary to popular belief, a Kshatriya woman was equally capable of defending a kingdom in times of distress

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Vaishyas�

• Vaishya is the third Varna represented by agriculturalists, traders, money lenders, and those involved in commerce.
• Vaishyas are also the twice-born and go to the Brahmins' ashram to learn the rules of a virtuous life and to refrain from intentional or accidental misconduct.
• Cattle rearing was one of the most esteemed occupations of the Vaishyas, as the possession and quality of a kingdom's cows, elephants, horses, and their upkeep affected the quality of life

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Shudras�

• The last Varna represents the backbone of a prosperous economy, in which they are revered for their dutiful conduct toward life duties set out for them.
• Scholarly views on Shudras are the most varied since there seemingly are more restrictions on their conduct.
• The Mahabharata, too, supports the inclusion of Shudras in ashrams and their learning the Vedas.

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3.�vedas

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VEDAS

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RIGVEDA

YAJURVEDA

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SAMVEDA

ATHRVAVEDA

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VEDAS

• (Sanskrit: “Knowledge”) a collection of poems or hymns composed in archaic Sanskrit by Indo-European-speaking peoples who lived in northwest India during the 2nd millennium BCE. No definite date can be ascribed to the composition of the Vedas.
• the period of about 1500–1200 BCE is acceptable to most scholars.�They praised a wide pantheon of gods, some of whom personified natural and cosmic phenomena, such as fire (Agni), the Sun (Surya and Savitri), dawn (Ushas).

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RIGVEDA

• The Rig Veda is the earliest of the four Vedas and one of the most important texts of the Hindu tradition.
• It is a large collection of hymns in praise of the gods, which are chanted in various rituals.
• They were composed in an archaic language named Vedic that gradually evolved into classical Sanskrit.
• The Rig Veda consists of 1028 hymns, organised into ten books known as maṇḍalas.

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Yajurveda

• Yajurveda (यजुर्वेद) is one of the four Vedas.
• It is the most important Veda specifically for the sacrificial rituals which were the cornerstone of the Vedic religion.
• The Yajurveda is thoroughly ritual in character and contains the liturgical formulas arranged in accordance to the actual practice, as in, they are arranged exactly in the order that they were to be used for the sacrifice or यज्ञ.

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Samveda

• The Sāmaveda is one of the smallest vedas and has approximately 1810 stanzas.
• One of the four Vedas, Sāmaveda has a unique distinction.
• It not only provides rituals for worship like the Yajurveda, but is specifically meant to set to music or melody particular verses from the Vedic pantheon.
• They are mainly put together in the sequence in which they were to be employed in the ceremonies.

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Atharvaveda

• It is a collection of 730 hymns, 6000 mantras and is divided into 20 books. It is known as the ‘Veda of the Magical formulas’.
• The study of royal rituals and duties of priests can be obtained by the Athar Veda. Its final layer includes the Brahmana texts and covers the philosophical speculations.
• It also consists of three primary Upanishads who were influential to the various Hindu schools of philosophy.

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Quiz

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1. Which Ashram is related to life ?� a) Brahmacharya (b) Garhasthya c) Vanaprasthan d)Sanyasa

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2) Which Qualities are related to Vaishyas cast system ?

a) Courage b) Purity c) hard work d) aptitude

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3) What is the period of Iife belong to Garhastya Ashramas ?

a)25

b)32

c)35

d)15

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4) In varnas , which cast system is engaged fighting?

a) brahmins

b) Kshatriyas

c) Vaishyas

d)Sudras

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5) How many stranzas in samaveda ?

a)1910

b)2010

c)1810

d)1710

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6) Which Veda is related to magical formulas ?

1. Sama Veda
2. Rig Veda
3. YajurVeda
4. d)Atharvaveda

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7) Which asharam is the final stage in life growth?

a)Vanaprastha

b)Garhasthya

c)Sanyasa

d)Brahmacharya

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8) Which vedas is a smallest veda?

a) Sama Veda

b) YajurVeda

c) Rig Veda

d)Atharvaveda

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9)Which two Ashramas provides the training and environment for the pravtti marg ?

1. Brahmacharya - Garhasthya
2. Brahmacharya – Sannyasa

c) Sannyasa - Vanaprasthan

d)Garhasthya - Vanaprasthan

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10)Which varna represent the backbone of a prosperous economy ?

a) Sama veda b) Rig Veda c) YajurVeda d)Atharvaveda

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Q.Mention all four ashrams of vedic life.

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Q.Give all the names of varnas in Indian Ancient Society.

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Q.Mention and explain all Four Vedas.

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Q.Explain all Varnas in detail.

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Q.Briefly explain the summary of the presentation.

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