Scientists have zealously investigated the beginnings of the human race but have not come to any one conclusion. They are however of the same opinion in at least one respect, that Aryans, Mongolians, Dravidians, Negroes and Semites all appeared at about the same time. The civilization built up in our sub-continent by Dravidians and Non-Aryans has left mementos in Mohenjodaro and Harappa. That civilization was evidently high for the time in which it flourished. Those people were worshippers of Siva; i. e., they were able to realize Siva in their daily lives. Proofs of this are found in the remains at Mohenjodaro. Siva is said therefore to be a Non-Aryan God. The civilization of the Mongolians (or Non- Aryans) of China also has the reputation of being high for the times. So it is that at a later date we find in Aryan Civilizations traces of Mongolian and Dravidian accomplishment, but none of Negroes. It is an interesting question in the field of evolutionary theory why one people, regardless of racial origin and homeland, shines, and another does not. In reality what is to be understood by the life of man?
Human life is nought but the flow of thought midst the whirl of complexes. Death, which carries man behind the life-screen, is nothing but a way of preserving individuality. In the round of life and death man rises and falls according to the works he does and according to the adjustment of thoughts and habits by character. The effort put forth by the Aryans and the energy they expended for the realization of truth put them in the advance of the Negroes, the Mongolians, and Semites and enabled them to establish their ascendancy in our sub-continent over the ancient Dravidian Civilization.
The Aryans came to mid-Asia and settled down in the Caucasas. Their original home in the Arctic had heen rendered unsafe by a revolution in Naure. After a few hundred years they appear to have devided into two parts, one group going to Europe and the other to Persia. European Civilization is the work of kelts, Teutons, Greeks, Romans, and Slavs. The heirs of Keltic Civilization are now in Portugal, West France, Ireland, and West Scotland. Germans, Britons, Swiss and Dutch are descendants of the Teutonic Branch. Angles were one section of this branch. They were very powerful, and they have given their name to Angle-Land or Engand. The Greeks were strong also, Athens and Sparta were their creations, but later they submitted to, and merged in, Roman Civilization. The Romans fought their Teutonic and Slavonic Aryan brethren before they too fell. The Slavs did not stay in the Caucasus but moved into Eastern Europe. The people of Northern Turkey, the Balkan Peninsula, and Russia are descendants of the Slavs. The Arabs, and along with them the Koresh Family of Mohammed, are also Aryan.
The name of the Persians’ religious book is Zend Avesta. The people of the Caucasus and their forefathers followed the Avesta. For some centuries the Iranian Culture (Persian) was very strong. One branch of this clan moved across Afganistan and over the mountains into the Punjab Valley. They called the five rivers there “Pancha Ap”. “Pancha Ap” later became Punjab. The Dravidians already living in Northern India submitted to the Aryans and the whole northern part of the country became known as Arjyabarta (Aryan Land).
A question arises. Did the Aryans settling down in the different lands hold to their forefathers’ culture? Greek fell before Roman, Roman before Teuton and Moslem, and we know that neither the Assyrians nor Babylonians, Phoenecians, and Egyptians were able to continue their original culture. What happened to the Aryans who entered India?
Opinions are divided, but our own opinion is that perhaps alone of all branches of the race the Aryans of our sub-continent were able to preserve and maintain their original culture. We see that Siva, the Non-Aryan God, has a place in the Vedas under the name of Rudra. We know also that Aryans then realized the successive spiritual stages of Vishnulok, Brahmalok, and Omlok. The Aryans of Ancient India have spoken of their realizations in the Vedas and Upanishads. If we admit the evidence and understand at all their quest and accomplishment, we shall have to declare them a very wonderful people indeed. Realizations from meditation take time. We can only in some measure appreciate the perseverance and patience they needed in their spiritual striving and search for knowledge of the world. These qualities seeped into the blood and made the counrty great. Ashoke inherited that character and culture and spread it. When we think of our ancestors, we normally lower our heads in regard and say:
“All glory to you, our ancient forefathers ;
We bow our heads to you.”
Perhaps starting from Iran, a band of Aryans drifted down into Panchanad (Punjab) through Afghanistan. It took them perhaps hundreds of years to settle down in their new homeland after their separation from the rest of the Aryan Clan. And perhaps it was for this reason that they could not put the history of their origin and migration into the Vedas. They do not tell us who they were, from where and how they came, or even the reasons for not giving us such information. Dirghatama was one of the oldest Vedic Rishis. His verses were only for war. He said he had been severely attacked by one Traitan. Once people of modern times settle down in a new place, they don’t turn back. Anyhow they survive in their new environment. The same thing happened to the Ancient Aryans in our sub-continent. Many times they had to fight the Non-Aryan inhabitants. Sometimes they won, and sometimes they lost. But they stuck, and bit by bit proceeded eastward across the Drishadbati and Swaraswati Rivers through Panchal and Matsa (Joypur ). Rishi Vishwamitra was from Kikat. Kikat is Magadh. So we know the Vedic Aryans came as far as Magadh. And Rishi Agastya was supposed to have been a preacher of Aryan Culture in Dakshinatya (Southern India).
The Iranians said Hindu instead of Sindhu, and thus our name as Hindus. The Rigved spoke of Sapta Sindhab; the Avesta of Hapla Hindu. Hapta Hindu was demarcated by the eastern border of Afganistan. From such a statement we gather that the Iranians knew where their Aryan brothers had settled after separation. Iranian and Indian Civilizations are not the same, but perhaps this was not always so. The word ‘aguh’ is used in both Vedic and Avestan Mantras. Sometimes there is a slight difference in the accent and pronunciation; as, for example, the Vedic ‘jajamahe’ and the Avestan ‘jajamaidhe’, the Vedic ‘mantra’ and Avestan ‘mangtra’, the Vedic ‘shom’ and ‘hota’ and the Avestan ‘hom’ and ‘jota’. In the course of time these little differences grew bigger, and there were two distinct cultures. The Aryans in India advanced more than those in Iran. In any case let us trace what we can of their progress.
When they settled in the sub-continent the Aryans had to fight their way and face opposition. But they were evidently intelligent and strong enough to prevail over their enemies and establish successful colonies in the Panchanad or Punjab. How did they build their colonies? There must have been a good method. The Rigved says, “We worship first the light. It is God and priest to us. It serves us with all goods.” On the very first page of the Rigved there is an outline of the vedic priesthood. There were also men in the society whose only professions were meditation and public works. They were called adharyus, when all were in Iran. In the Rigved, composed after coming to the sub- continent there are 16 different categories of jajaks mentioned. We have spoken of Rishi Dirghatama as being a jajak. His duty was to see that his disciples and neighbors were prospering and progressing in every way. To sincerely do this job he had to ponder or meditate and pray. So jajaks are those who do jawjan (prayer) and jajan (service). Meditation or prayer makes the mind elated and strong. We need both for a strong psyche and physic to serve the public. If we can believe it, these jajaks who formed the rock core of Ancient Society, were advanced in both material and spiritual resources, and helped to make their race both invincible and beloved. They were the main way of the Aryan forward move.
They also were the key of the Social System. Before even the Rigmantra of the Rigved there was a Nibidmantra, and in the time of the Nibidmantra there existed both a brahmin and kshatriya class. In the Rigmantra Period there were the four classes of brahmin, kshatriya, vaishya, and sudra. The brahmins were the jajaks or priests, the kshatriyas were the soldiers, vaishyas were janas or middle class folk, and the sudras were the Non-Aryans. It was thought that people develop greater skill in a particular line if the line is pursued through many generations. So it was generally considered advisable for sons to continue in the line of their fathers. This was the way to develop the all-important instincts and talents, it was thought. Furthermore spiritual progress was possible only one’s own calling, they said; it was no good pretending to be different from what you were. In this our Aryan forefathers were at one with Socrates’s first maxim in philosophy: know thyself.
Thus the Aryans of the sub-continent advanced and built up their civilization around the principles of jawjan (self-elation or prayer), jajan (social service or the element of others), and varnasram (the inheritance of talent and instinct).
According to our scriptures, the earliest times of Aryan India are called The Golden age (Satya yuga). This Age was supposed to have begun before the Vedas, and men were supposed to have been healthy, strong, and long-lived then. They were not bound by superstition and custom. Everything was fresh and new, and the geography of the country was favorable. The Dravidians, were the first to enjoy the Satya yuga which is supposed to have lasted longer than any other.
After the vedic period came the period of the Upanishads. In the time of the Upanishads people here are said to have attained the highest spiritual realization; namely, that God or Brahma is one. The men of vedic times also realized this, but they saw God manifested in many ways and accented this. The Upanishads emphasize the oneness. There is really no great difference between them. It was a matter of emphasis- The Upanishads are built on the Vedas, and people who composed them did not discard the idea of worship. ping the various vedic aspects and symbols. (Vide Brihadaranyakopanishad).
In the period of the Upanishads the Aryans were spread over a large area of the land; the northern Himalayas, the southern Vindya Hills, the banks of the Sindhu River in the west, and the Ganges in the east were their boundaries. At this time they stopped fighting with the Non-Aryans. They gave the Non-Aryans a chance to understand them and be one with them, their culture, and their gods. In short they adopted them, and until this was done, the fighting did not end. They adopted too some of the culture of the Non-Aryans.
* “During Satyayuga, creational current, having freshly descended ´´´ was highly charged with spiritual energy which it infused in every form of animate and inanimate existence. The aspect of nature was thus highly ameliorating and charming, everything contributing to the mitigation of seasonal effects, and health and plenty flourished a main. ´´ Like ripe fruits spirits separated themselves from the tree of physical frame. ´´ This yuga was of the largest duration.”
Pandit Brahm Sankar Misra, M. A. ‘Discourses.’ Page 271.
Meditation was earnestly practiced in the Upanishadic period. By meditation the early Aryans gained concentration, detachment, self-reliance, and balance. Thus it helped them in their worldly life too. And they could speak of their realizations to others. We don’t find evidence that men of this time were religiously divided as they had been in vedic times. Still in the Chhandogya Upanishad there is some hint of division. There a king’s family wants Rishi Ushasti as there family adviser and no one else. And there is mention in the same Upanishad of the different classes of priests: ritwiks, hotas, udgatas, adharyus. But it must be admitted that the spirit of the time seemed tolerant, allowing each in the environment to grow in his own way.
The Upanishadic period was a time of great allround upliftment: in home, society, politics, etc. Jawjan and jajan were maintained. Learning and teaching advanced. The ceremony of the sacred thread was installed. Scientific child breeding was observed. The Taittiriya Upanishad gives advice on procreation to parents and on monthly courses to wives. The same book advises men to look forward to having grandchildren. The men of that time liked polygamy, as did their ancestors, and they had an idea as to what should be the relation and atmosphere during intercourse. Rishi Jagyabalka had two wives and a number of children.
In the time of the Upanishads each class was honoured for excellence in its line: brahmins for their realizations, kshatriyas for their administration, vaishyas for development of commerce and agriculture, and sudras for their faithful service to the three higher classes. Truly men are born with different instincts. Yet the aim of the varnasram or caste system as of all social systems, was to lead a man upward; to take him as he was and to direct him to the eternal and godward. The men of these time were successful in this. Viswamitra, a kshatriya, became a brahmin. King Ajatshatru remained a kshatriya though he too realized Brahma. He instructed a brahmin Gargya, in religion. The kshatriya king Janak also realized Brahma and showed Jagyabalka the system of agnihotra (sacrificial fire).
Thus we learn that the Aryans of the Upanishads observed jawjan, jajan, an initiation ceremony, varnasram, and eugenics.
The Ramayana was a product of the Upanishadic period. It was the story of Rama, or Ramachandra, born on the ninth day of the waxing moon in the latter part of March. It is the most remarkable product of the time. References to material contained in it are not plentiful. The seventh parba of the Mahabharata is borrowed from the sixth sarga of the Ramayana. The third parba of the Mahabharata (slokas 277-291) describes Ramachandra. Mithila (now Trihut) and Baishala were known places when Ramachandra was living. In Buddhist days they were called Baishali. The seventh sarga of the Ramayana speaks of Laba, the son of Ramachandra, as being the ruler of Srabanti. Srabanti is the same place name where Prosenjit at a much later time was king. In Southern India there are some people and places that are supposed to possess some relics of Ramachandra. But there is no trace of him in Ceylon where he fought Ravan.
The Rishis of the Upanishads realized the spiritual stage called pranab. Ramachandra is supposed to have been born from a higher stage, called Rarang, and is called Rarang-purush in the Santa Scripture. The war between him and Ravan was not in the vedic war style, but it may be called the last of the Aryan- Dravidian conflicts. Ceylon was then dominated by Non-Aryans or Dravidians; whereas the Aryans had established themselves in the sub-continent. Ramachandra won the war though most of his soldiers were of Dravidian stock. After the death of Ravan Aryan civilization entered Ceylon.
The Ramayana, like the Upanishads, mentions the priestly offices of ritwik and hota. Moreover Ramachandra observed varnasram (caste system) and his people did the same.
The Mahabharata is a product of the post-Upanishadic period. It is the story of Lord Krishna who was born in Mathura on a midnight of the eighth day of the waning moon. Lord Krishna said of himself, “I am the pranab of the Vedas. I am the Rama of the warriors. And I am the father of all Nature.” If we accept this statement, we accept Krishna as an incarnation of the Supreme Being, higher than both Pranab and Rarang. As the Ramayana describes the faithful and devoted followers of Ramachandra, so the Mahabharata describes the faithful followers of Krishna. Of those who did not follow him Lord Krishna said, “I was born of flesh and blood, but fools cannot see my spirit.”
The culture described in the Mahabharata is much the same as that which preceded it. Perhaps the vedic system of jawjan and jajan was not exactly followed, but it is sure that religious rites and ceremonies were observed. The old eugenics and polygamy continued. Able men married more then once; first they married intra-castely, then inter-castely. The inter-caste marriages were favored. A brahmim would marry first a brahmin girl, then a kshatriya. In the same way a kshatriya would marry first a kshatriya, then a vaishya girl. And so on. Lord Krishna himself had more than one wife. Pandu had wives Kunti and Madri. Kangsha was married to the two daughters of Jarashandha. There are many instances of this kind. But the instances of one woman taking many husbands are very rare. It was supposed to be un-biological; that is, against woman’s nature. Draupadi was said to be married to five Pandavas against custom and science. (Bankim Chandra says that Draupadi had one husband, Arjun). The Upanishads state that polyandry is blasphemy. Marriage within the same clan or family was also frowned on. The bride was supposed to be five generations removed on the mother’s side and seven on the father’s. Until a girl was ‘nitamabati’ (matured), she was not to marry, and there was to be a fourteen year difference between bride and groom. The Mahabharata says that a boy should be 30 and a girl 16. Varnasram or caste system was upheld by the Mahabharata. No one was supposed to go against it, and all were supposed to attain God through culturing their hereditary instincts.
In our chronology the periods of the Upanishads and Mahabharata are called respectively the Silver & Bronze Ages (Treta and Dwapar yuga). Preceding them had been the Satya-yuga of vedic and pre-vedic days. People of these three ages were reportedly happy and strong, because they were culturing mainly spiritual thoughts. Together these three ages cover more than seven-eighths of the four-age cycle.