Origin of the Vedas

[Guest guest]

Further to question about the origin of the Vedas....

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~response from Sister Gayatriprana~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Dear Saud,

 

Jay has sent me your letter about the Aryan Invasion Theory and the Vedas.

My only qualification to answer you is that I have put together a

compilation of swami Vivekananda's views on the Vedas which is coming

out in stages on Jay's Website:

www.vivekananda.btinternet.co.uk/veda.htm

and which you may look at, if you wish, for more details.

 

Swami Vivekananda was an early, outspoken opponent of the

imperialistic overtones of the theory, put forward by Western

scholars when they discovered the similarities between

Sanskrit and the European languages. You will find the swami's

ideas on the theory in Part I, Section 2, Chapter 5:

Vedic Culture, posted in January of 2001.

 

There is no question that the two dominant cultural groups in

India are the Aryans and Dravidians, but just where the Aryans

came from is disputed. WEstern scholarship points to the

Caucasus or Turkey as the site from which they entered India

and maintains that at least the Rig Veda was written outside India.

The cultures of Harappa and Mohenjo Daro in North Western

India, with artefacts suggesting devotional and Mother worship,

were said to be indigenous and overrun by the Aryans.

 

Recent studies by Indian scholars have demonstrated that geographic

and astromonical references in the Rig Veda could apply to India of

that time; and also that the script on the Harappan artefacts is, in fact,

in archaic Sanskrit. So, the evidence separating the Aryans the the

Dravidians is not so clear at the moment. Perhaps genetic studies

such those which demonstrated the migrations of certain North

American Indian groups from Asian Russia could clarify the Aryan

Invasion Theory more conclusively. At any rate, at this point in time

it seems more sensible to concentrate on Aryan as a culturla form

independent of ethnic groups, as Swami Vivekananda suggests;

and to understand the great contributions made by the Dravidian

acharyas from South India who, for all practical purposes, preserved

the Vedas and Upanishads intact and brough them into the modern

world while North Inida was undergoing radical changes under

Islamic and Sineatic (especially tantric) influences.

 

These conclusions have gone into our compilation, which we invite

you to explore, if you are interested.

 

Cordially,

Sister Gayatriprana