Vedic Civilization

The Vedic Period (or Vedic Age) (c. 1500-c. 500 B.C.E.) is the period in the history of Indiaduring which the Vedas, the oldest sacred texts of Hinduism, were being composed. Based on literary evidence, scholars place the Vedic period in the second and first millennia B.C.E. continuing up to the sixth century B.C.E. The associated culture, sometimes referred to as Vedic civilization, was centered in the northern and northwestern parts of the Indian subcontinent. Its early phase saw the formation of various kingdoms of ancient India. In its late phase (from ca. 600 B.C.E.), it saw the rise of the Mahajanapadas, and was succeeded by the Maurya Empire (from ca. 320 B.C.E.) the classical age of Sanskrit literature, and the Middle kingdoms of India.

Mataji Shelley Devi is a sannyasini, a writer, a teacher and a social worker, she has been studying and practicing Vedic philosophy and sadhana since 1970.In 1978 she moved into an ashram to engage exclusively in the study and practice of Vedic spirituality. She has actively worked at the translation and publication of the literary works of the founder or the movement, as well as at the personal service of the Deities in the temple and in preaching especially through radio programs at Radio Krishna Centrale. She has translated and compiled many religious and spiritual texts, regularly publishes articles and discussions on Internet and corresponds with her students from various nationalities.

The Vedic Period (or Vedic Age) (c 1500-500 BCE) is the period in the history of Indiaduring which the Vedas, the oldest sacred texts of Hinduism, were being composed. Based on literary evidence, scholars place the Vedic period in the second and first millennia BCE continuing up to the sixth century BCE The associated culture, sometimes referred to as Vedic civilization, was centered in the northem and northwestern parts of the Indian subcontinent. Its early phase saw the formation of various kingdoms of ancient India. In its late phase (from ca 600 BCE), it saw the rise of the Mahajanapadas, and was succeeded by the Maurya Empire (from ca. 320 B.CE) the classical age of Sanskrit literature, and the Middle kingdoms of India. The literary legacy from this period does not contain much detailed historical information. To some degree, this places the Vedic era within prehistory. Identifying the beginning of the Vedic period links with the disputed Aryan invasion theory. This theory posits that North India was originally inhabited by darker skinned Dravidians, who may have founded the Indus Valley or Harappan civilization. Sometime around about 1,500 B.CE lighter-skinned invaders, known as Ayrans, pushed the Dravidians South These invaders are said to have originated from the Iranianregions; some moved to the West, some to the East hence Indo-European languages derived from their ancient tongue are linguistic cousins. This theory also explains some similarity between the content of the Vedas and "the ancient Iranian religion of Zoroastrianism." Against this theory, developed from the linguistic work of F Max Müller is the total lack of any traditions or stories describing such an invasion. According to the invasion theory, the Vedic literature would have begun as oral tradition initially developed outside India. Feuerstein, Kak, and Frawley are among those who reject the Aryan invasion, arguing that this is nothing more than "scholarly function." It was the writers of the Vedas. who settled the Indus Valley and that the Aryans were -native to India for several millennia, deriving their Sanskrit language from earlier Indo-European dialects.

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