Post-Vedic Period

The period between B.C. 1000 and B.C. 600 is generally known as Later die period. This age is also called as the Epic Age because the two great epis Ramayana and Mahabharata were written during this period. The Aryans during this period moved to the Gangetie Valley The Sama, Yajur, Atharva Vidas Brahmanas Upanishads Aranyakas and the two epies are the sources of information for this period. The Gangetic Valley or Aryavartha became the center of political activity

Ramify continued to the basic unit of the society. The father was the head of the family.  Joint family system was quite common Varna or Caste system developed during the Later Vedic Period. To start with the fourfold caste came into existence namely the Brahmins Kshatriyas, Vaishya’s and Sudras. The Brahmins were priests and teachers. The Kshatriyas were rulers and soldiers. They enjoyed high position in the society The Vaishya’s were traders, artisans and farmers. The Sudras were the uneducated workers who served for the other three castes. According to the religious texts, the life of an individual was divided into four stages or Ashrams. Farming was the chief occupation. Iron was used extensively in this period, iron ploughs substituted the wooden ploughs. Another improvement of this period was manuring the field. It. increased the yield. Barley, wheat, rice and dal were produced. Cattle rearing continued. Wealth was calculated in terms of cows. Nishka, Swara and Sathamana were the names of gold coins in circulation. Copper produced war weapons and ornaments. They obtained copper from the Khetri mines of Rajasthan. Ironsmiths produced arrowheads and spearheads. They also crafted agricultural tools. Weavers, leather workers, carpenters, chariot makers and jewel makers also lived in the villages. People in the Later Vedic Period used painted grey mud vessels. The gray wares were painted. Such vessels have been found in many places in North India. Archaeologists call these sites as Painted Gray ware sites.

Many changes occurred in the field of religion. The Gods of early Vedic Age lost their significance. In the Later Vedie period; people worshipped new Gods like Prajapathi , Pasupathi, Vishnu and Krishna. Prayers and sacrifices became important ways of worshipping God. Animals were killed during sacrifice. The religion became complex affair. The theory of Karma and the theory of incarnation were accepted. People believed that the God is the in the supreme head and he was not only a creator but also a destroyer. They believed in the concept of Moksha.

The Later Vedic society came to be divided into four varnas called the brahmanas, rajanyas or kshatriyas, vaishyas and shudras. The growing culto sacrifices enormously added to the power of the brahmanas. Brahman conducted rituals and sacrifices for their clients and for themselves and also officiated at the festivals associated with agricultural operations. But when the two upper orders had to deal with the lower orders they made up their differences From the end of the Later Vedic period on it began to be emphasized that the two should co-operate to rule over the rest of society. The vaishyas constituted the common people and they were assigned to do the producing functions such as agriculture, cattle breeding, etc. Some of them also worked as artisans. All the three higher varnas shared one common feature: They were entitled to upanayana or investiture with the sacred thread according to the Vedic mantras. The fourth varna was deprived of the sacred thread ceremony and with this began the imposition of disabilities on the shudras. Generally the Later Vedic texts draw a line of demarcation between the three higher orders on the one hand and the shudras on the other. In the family we notice the increasing power of the father, who could even disinherit his son. The institution of gotra appeared in Later Vedic times. Ashramas or four stages of life were not well established in Vedic times. In the post-Vedic texts we hear of four asramas.

Many changes occurred in the field of religion. The Gods of Early Vedic age lost their significance. In the Later Vedic period, people worshipped new Gods like Prajapathi, Pasupathi, Vishnu and Krishna, Prayers and scarifies became important ways of worshipping God. Animals were killed during sacrifice. The religion became complex affair. The theory of Karma and the theory of incarnation were accepted. People believed that the God is the supreme head and he was not only a creator but also a destroyer. They believed in the concept of Moksha.

The period between B.C 1000 and B.C 600 is generally known as Later Vedic period. This age is also called as the Epic Age because the two great epics Ramayana and Mahabharata were written during this period. The Aryans during this period moved to the Gangetic Valley. The Sama, Yajur, Atharva Vedas, Brahmanas, Upanishads, Aranyakas and the two epics are the sources of information for this period. The Gangetic Valley or Aryavartha became the centre of political activity.

Family continued to the basic unit of the society. The father was the head of the family. Joint family system was quite common. Varna or Caste system developed during the Later Vedic period. To start with the fourfold caste came into existence, namely, the Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Sudras. The Brahmins were priests and teachers. The Kshatriyas were rulers and soldiers. They enjoyed high position in the society. The Vaishyas were traders, artisans and farmers. The Sudras were the uneducated workers who served for the other three castes. According to the religious texts, the life of an individual was divided into four stages and Ashramas Farming was the chief occupation. Iron was used extensively in this period. Iron ploughs substituted the wooden ploughs. Another improvement of this period was maturing the field. It increased the yield : Barley, wheat, rice and dhal were produced. Cattle rearing continued. Wealth was calculated in terms of cows. Nishka, Swarna and Sathamana were the names of gold coins in circulation. Copper produced war weapons and ornaments. They obtained copper from the Khetri mines of Rajasthan. Ironsmiths produced arrowheads and spearheads. They also crafted agricultural tools. Weavers, leather workers, carpenters, chariot-makers and jewel makers also lived in the villages. People in the Later Vedic period used painted grey mud vessels. The Gray wares were painted. Such vessels have been found in many places in North India. Archaeologists call these sites as Painted Gray ware sites.

Many changes occurred in the field of religion. The Gods of Early Vedic age lost their significance. In the Later Vedic period, people worshipped new Gods like Prajapathi, Pasupathi, Vishnu and Krishna. Prayers and scarifies became important ways of worshipping God. Animals were killed during sacrifice. The religion became complex affair. The theory of Karma and the theory of incarnation were accepted. People believed that the God is the supreme head and he was not only a creator but also a destroyer. They believed in the concept of Moksha

Karma in Buddhism is the force that drives samsara. The cycle of suffering and rebirth for each feeing. Good, Skillful deeds and bad, unskillful actions produce seeds in the mind which come to fruition either in this life or in a subsequent rebirth. The avoidance of unwholesome actions and the cultivation of positive actions is called Site. In Buddhism, karma specifically refers to those 'actions (of body, speech, and mind) that spring from mental intent ("cetana"), and which bring about a consequence (or fruit "phala") or result ("vipaka"). In Theravada Buddhism, there can be no divine salvation or forgiveness for one's karma, since it is a purely impersonal process that is a part of the make up of the universe. Some Mahayana traditions hold different views. For example, the texts and certain Mahayana sutras (such as the Lotus Sutra the Angulimaliya Sutra and the Nirvana Sutra) claim that reciting or merely hearing their texts can expunge great swathes of negative karma. Some forms of Buddhism (for example, Vajrayana) regard the recitation of mantras as a means for cutting off previous negative karma. The Japanese Pure Land teacher Genshin taught that Amida Buddha has the power to destroy the karma that would otherwise bind one in samsara. Rebirth refers to a process whereby beings go through a succession of life times as one of many possible forms of sentient life, each running from conception to death.

Buddhism rejects the concepts of a permanent self or an unchanging, eternal soul, as it is called in Hinduism and Christianity. According to Buddhism, there ultimately is no such thing as a self-independent them the rest of the universe (the doctrine of anatta). Rebirth in subsequent existences must be understood as the continuation of a dynamic, ever-changing process of "dependent arising" determined by the laws of cause and effect (karma) rather than that of one being, transmigrating or incarnating from one existence to the next. According to the Pali ripitaka and the Agamas of other early Buddhist schools, the Four Noble Truths were the first teaching of Gautama Buddha after attaining Nirvana. They are sometimes considered to contain the essence of the Buddha's teachings:

"Life as we know it ultimately is or leads to suffering/uneasiness (dukkha) in one way or another. Suffering is caused by craving. This is often expressed as a deluded clinging to a certain sense of existence, to selfhood, or, to the things or phenomena that we consider the cause of happiness or unhappiness. Craving also has its negative aspect, i.e., one craves that ascertain state of affairs not exist. Suffering ends when craving ends. This is achieved by eliminating delusion, thereby reaching a liberated state of Enlightenment (bodhi, reaching this liberated state is achieved by following the path laid out by the Buddha.'

The Noble Eightfold Path: The fourth of the Buddha's Noble Truths is the way to the cessation of suffering (dukkha). It has eight sections; each starting with the word "samyak” (Sanskrit, meaning "correctly", "properly", or "well", frequently translated into English as "right"), and presented in three groups known as the three higher trainings. Buddhist scholars have produced a remarkable quantity of intellectual theories, philosophies and world view concepts. Some schools of Buddhism discourage doctrinal study, and some regard it as essential, but most regard it as having a place, at least for some persons at some stages in Buddhist practice. In the earliest Buddhist teachings, shared to some extent by all extant schools, the concept of liberation (Nirvana).

The goal of the Buddhist path is closely related to the correct understanding of how the mind causes stress. In awakening to the true nature of clinging one develops dispassion for the objects of clinging, and is liberated from suffering (dukkha) and the cycle of incessant rebirths (samsara). To this end, the Budda recommended viewing things as characterized b the marks of existence.