The word 'Hindutva' like the
Sanskrit word 'Aryan' has become much maligned and become very unpopular,
as the general public seem to have serious misgiving about Hindutva, which
is unfortunately bracketed with saffronization. Our national language is
Hindi, which is an abbreviation for Hindustani and our national leaders
conclude their public functions calling on their followers to hail 'Jai
Hind'. Who is a Hindu and what is the minimum he ought to know? A popular
national media should be created to serve as a forum to disseminate the
fundamental truths about Vedic Hinduism. The name India for the
Bharathavarsha or more popularly Hindustan is not of indigenous origin but
of foreign import. In ancient times, India was known to the foreigners by
the river Sindhu, which Persians pronounced as Hindu and the Greek as
Indos. The Indus River is very closely related to the Indus Valley
Civilization.
Opinion is gaining ground that the Indus civilization was probably the
earliest human civilization in the world. Who were the original
inhabitants of this ancient civilization? The human remains found at Indus
sites reveal that the population of this Valley was varied in that early
age. They bring to light four ethnic types probably corresponding to the
four castes mentioned in the Vedas. The most singular feature of the Vedic
civilization is the Varna Ashrama Dharma or the unpopular caste
system. This unique system is wholly indigenous, as no where outside India
the concept of social distribution of labor according to Guna i.e.
aptitude and temperament is prevalent. The citizens of the Indus Valley
were not wholly homogenous non-Aryans or Dravidians but were a mixed
ethnic population. Precisely how and when the caste system with its
specific occupations made its maiden appearance cannot be established with
any degree of certainty but the stratification of Indus society suggests
that some form of caste system may well have been in vogue in that ancient
civilization.
The word 'Aryan' is a term invented by philologists to describe the race
presumed to have existed in pre-historic times and to have spoken the
Indo-European language from which the majority of
European and some Indian languages were derived. The place of origin of
the Aryans has been variously sought in Europe and Asia and the Aryan race
is presumed to have branched off at different periods northwest and
westward into Europe and southward into Persia and the valley of Ganges,
giving rise to the great branches of the languages like Greek, Latin,
German etc on the one hand and Persian and Hindu on the other. Philology
is a highly questionable, imprecise pseudo science on which much reliance
cannot be placed. In Sanskrit the word 'Arya' refers to noble,
enlightened, profoundly wise personages who pursue the Vedic way of life.
Even in the Indus Valley there seems to have existed atheists and
agnostics who must have, like the Buddhists and Jains, revolted against
the Vedic way of life. Rig Veda refers to these non-conformists as Adevayu
i.e. not worshipping Vedic gods, Abrahman i.e. devoid of devotion, Avrata
i.e. lawless, Anyavrata i.e. follower of strange ordinances, Devapiyu i.e.
revilers of Vedic gods etc.
The question often raised in regard to the antiquity of Vedas is: What is
the probable age of Rig Veda, which is the oldest of the four Vedas.
Regarding Vedic chronology Max Muller opines: 'Whether the Vedic hymns
were composed 1000 or 1500 or 2000 or 3000 years B.C. no power on earth
will ever determine.' The Rig Veda is the earliest literary work of India
and perhaps of the world. The excavations of Indus Valley offer useful
evidence that can change the conception of not only ancient Vedic
chronology but also human history. The literary evidence available in the
Rig Veda and the archaeological remains of Indus Valley should be closely
examined together to arrive at any definite conclusion about whether the
Rig Vedic civilization was the ancestor or the descendent of Indus
civilization. A modest attempt to examine in-depth this complex issue has
been made below:
The three crucial antique remains that are the most important of all Indus
Valley finds have not received the extent of attention that they richly
deserve. These are the unique art pieces in Yogic postures, the four-armed
standing figure occurring at item No. 383 of the Signs of Indus script and
the Peepul tree, which has enormous esoteric significance. In the Karma
Kanda or ritualistic portion of the Vedas, nowhere in the Samhitas,
Brahmanas or the Aranyakas is there any mention about Yoga, as this
portion of the Vedas deal wholly with various forms of Yajnas or fire
sacrifices. The first specific mention about Yoga is found in the
Kathopanishad, which is elaborated in the Srimad Bhagawad Gita, the Song
Celestial. Both Kathopanishad and the Gita contain reference to the Peepul
tree and the Gita goes to the extent of saying that the person who
realises the esoteric significance of this tree is a knower of the Vedas.
While the Kathopanishad makes a passing reference to the four-armed Deity
Vishnu in Vishnor Yad Paramam Padam, the Lord in the Gita reveals
to Arjuna His four-armed Divine Vishnu form in all its fine details. In
the Indus Valley, people seem to have strictly adhered to several Vedic
practices like fire sacrifices, ceremonial cremation of the dead, worship
of Vedic deities, practice of Yoga, belief in after-life and immortality
of soul etc.
On the basis of preponderance of evidence available in the Indus remains,
one can safely conclude that the Indus Valley civilization could represent
the culmination of the Vedic period, when the Upanishads and Srimad
Bhagawad Gita must have been widely popular. Western archaeologists have
placed the Indus civilization between 3250 to 2750 B.C., by allowing a
period of 500 years for the seven different layers of Indus remains. This
chronology more or less corresponds with the traditional view that the
Mahabharata war was fought in 3102 B.C. This fact is further
corroborated by the Aihole inscription of Pulikesin II that declares that
the Epic battle took place in 3102 B.C. that marks the end of the Dwapara
Yuga and the commencement of the Kali Yuga. According to the astronomical
tradition represented by Aryabhatta, the Kali Yuga is believed to have
begun on the 18th February 3102 B.C.
The fundamental unity of the Bharathavarsha from Himalayas to Cape Camorin
right from the Indus Valley times was brought about by the Vedic way of
life popularly known as the Sanatana Dharma or the eternal way of Vedic
religion that governs every aspect of human life from birth to death. The
Sanatana Vedic Dharma must have been the way of Indus people who seem to
have worshipped the Vedic deities, observed the Varna Ashrama Dharma,
performed Vedic sacrifices and practiced the Upanishadic Yoga. Indus
civilization did not become extinct by any foreign invasion and even to
this day the eternal way of Indus life survives in agricultural farming,
vegetarianism, cattle rearing, cotton clothing, use of precious beads,
gold ornaments and pottery, social customs, religious beliefs and
spiritual practices. Vedas are immutable truths that are universally
applicable and eternally valid and can have no beginning or end.
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