The Story of Books and Burials

If we consider libraries and burial places. We come to know that both are completely different places and have different purposes. When we want to learn something or read something we go to the library and when we go to bid goodbye to our close ones and dear ones we go to burials. The former gives us knowledge and happiness while the latter gives us sorrow and sadness. But one common thing about them is that they both tell us about culture, our ancestors and our country. 

The Oldest Books

When we go to the library we get to know about the different types of books written on religious topics, drama, horror, action and adventure etc. Vedas are one of the oldest books in the world. There are four types of Vedas. They are as follows. 

• Rig Veda

One of the oldest Veda is Rig Veda. It contains more than thousands of hymns or suktas. The literal meaning of the word “suktas” is well said. In the initial times, these suktas were only recited because they were not collected as in written form but later composed and printed less than 200 years ago. This Veda was written in old or Vedic Sanskrit and this Vedic Sanskrit is very different from the modern Sanskrit of nowadays. 

• Samaveda

Samveda is in the form of music notes and it is read as chanting mantras.  Total 1,549 unique verses have been in Samaveda and they are taken from Rigveda (except for 75 verses),

• Yajurveda

The various Hindu rituals and sacrifices are written in Yajurveda. It briefly describes the methods of how religious rituals and sacred ceremonies of Hindus are performed? Hence it acts as a guiding tool for Hindu priests.

• Atharvaveda

Aadhar Vedas are related to various spells and charms. This historical collection of texts addresses beliefs and rituals practical issues of daily life. It guides the path of a prosperous and truthful life.

Division of the Vedas

The further division of the Vedas is done in four parts. They are as follows.

• Samhita- Samhita is a collection of prayers, charms, sacrificial formulas, mantras, and hymns.

• Brahmanas- They often give instructions to holy priests about the rituals and sacrifices. 

• Aranyakas- Aranyakas is composed of the philosophical portions of the Brahmanas and tells us about theology and meditation.

• Upanishads- Upnisoshads are the concluding parts of the Vedas and has many philosophies.

• Vedant- Both Upnishands were considered as the Vedaant. Both of them dealt with it towards the end.

Describing People

Rig Veda and other Vedas describe the life of the people. Other ancient books talk about the sacrifices done by the people. These people were differentiated on the basis of occupation, community, native places, speaking languages and cultural practices. The main groups of the division of people are as follows according to their work.  

• Brahmins: The Hindu priests are called Brahmins. The major duty of Brahmins was to perform various rituals and sacrifices.

• Rajas: Rajas were used to perform the rituals. In the Vedic period, Rajas were not like what we know today about a king because they did not possess any capital city, army and they did not collect any taxes. But with the passing of time, the rajas made their regions well known as Janpads or Mahajanapadas and maintained their army and collected taxes.

• Jana/Vish: The common man of Vedic time was called Jan or Vish. Vish was derived from Vaishya. This Jan was later on divided into Bharat Jana, Puru Jana and Yadu Jana.

• Aryas: They were who composed the hymns.

• Dasas/Dasyus: The people who were captured in war were treated as slaves or Dasas/Dasyus. Dasaswere males and the Dasyus were females They were captured during wars by the army of the opponent. They were not given any rights and treated as the property of their owners.

Megaliths and Burial

When the Rig Veda was under composing in the Northwest of the subcontinent. The other developments such as constructing temples, buildings were also happening simultaneously. Buildings and the burials of this period are an interesting topic of discussion for archaeologists. The most famous burial is the Megaliths. It has big stone boulders which are known as Megaliths. These megaliths were used to mark the burial areas on the burial sites. Around 3000 years ago, these megalith stones started and soon became popular throughout the Deccan, South India, in the northeast and Kashmir. The underground megaliths were known as Cost.

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The common point among all these burial graves is that the dead generally were buried with essentials such as food and water in the pots called black and redware.  On the burial sites, we can differentiate between males and females with the help of things that were buried with them. The skeletons of females had more jewelry in comparison to the skeletons of males (as males were also wearing jewelry).

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Another method to check the skeleton in order to know male or female, the pelvic area was checked. The pelvic area of a woman is expected to be larger than a man due to the childbearing capacity of women.

Inamgaon

One of the case studies mentioned in the books is Inamgaon. This site is located on the river Ghod, a tributary of the Bhima. Between 3600 and 2700 years ago, humans used to live on this site. The adults were generally buried here, with the head towards the north and laid out straight. 

The burial of a  man who was found in a big clay jar having four legs in the courtyard of a house consisting of five rooms is considered a classic example of burial. This house, one of the largest houses at that site, also had a granary. The body was buried in a cross-legged position. Archaeologists have also found various seeds of barley, sesame, wheat, pulses, rice, millets and peas.

Do You Know?

Burials in huge numbers were seen on the sites of Brahmagiri. These burials were in the form of skeletons. Along with the skeleton, bangles, beads, shells, etc. were also there.

Conclusion

We have learnt about how books and burials are essential for the knowledge of ancient times. The article is in context with the information of Vedic people and Vedas. We come to know about the Megaliths and the purpose of their construction.