Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Vedic
Vedic
boundaries with regard to professions. A method of ashram system prevailed in the Vedic era. Four ashrams of Vedic Life were included and it was done with a view to offer proper ideas on both Karma and Dharma. The ashrams of the Vedic society are categorised as Brahmacharya, Grihastha, Vanaprastha and Sannyasa. The fact that caste system was not present in the Vedic society can be well understood because it was customary for all boys and girls of the Vedic era to undergo the ceremony of `upanayana`, unlike the present age where only a particular class of the society practices the thread ceremony. In the Vedic Age, like boys, the girls also had to lead a life of brahmachari. Hence there was not much difference in the treatment of girls and boys during the Vedic period. Social life in Rig Vedic Civilization was characterised by a nomadic lifestyle. However, the later Vedic Civilization was quite different and developed. The later Vedic Period came to be known as the Epic Age. Social life during the later Vedic period included large self-sustained settlements, fortified and protected by warriors.
Along with the Vedic Civilisation came in new ways that were still then unknown to the Indian life. For instance an important constituent of the Vedic Civilisation was hierarchy in the society. The king was the supreme ruler of the society who ruled the state and his duty was to protect his subjects. Under the king, the others who ruled the smaller units of the society was the jyestha who ruled the gana and more importantly were the gramani and the vispati who took care of the grama and the vis respectively. The grama and the vis were the two different political structures of the Aryan society and most probably the grama was the smallest social unit of the Vedic society. The political structure of the Aryans had sabhas and samitis as important councils. The king on the other hand was advised by the purohits (chaplains) and the senani (army chief). The purohits or priests during that time not only advised the king but also performed all religious rites for the supreme ruler.