The extent of the Indus valley civilization Much later, more sites were excavated towards Gujarat, rather distant from the Indus. The pattern of these sites remained a mystery for some time. Now, nearly a 1,000 sites have been discovered. Why would anyone build a city so far from water?
Discovery of the Sarasvati BBC report from June 2002: Through satellite photography, scientists have mapped the course of an enormous river that once flowed through the north western region of India. The images show that it was 8 km wide in places and that it dried up 4,000 years ago. Dr JR Sharma who heads the Remote Sensing Services Centre in Jodhpur which is mapping the images, believes a major earthquake may have played a part in the demise of the Saraswati. There was, he says, a big tectonic activity that stopped the water supply to the river. Paper by in the Journal of the Indian Society for Remote Sensing, 2004 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/ 2073159.stm
Satellite imagery of the Sarasvati river http://ratthes.blogspot.ca/2013/03/mythical-river-saraswati.html
The Indus and the Sarasvati Map of the ancient river Sarasvati (http://www.mapsofindia.com/history/sarasvati-river.html)
The Sarasvati It flowed parallel to the Indus river as a separate river system and emptied in the Great Rann of Kutch in Gujarat
When did the Saraswati dry up? It is estimated that the drying up of the Saraswati took place around 2,000 BC though some estimates put it much earlier. At that time, a serious drought was experienced in a large expanse of land including this region. It is possible the Saraswati had several tributaries and they dried up at different times. Estimates come from dating the artefacts found at sites along the river course.
The Vedas In Samskrit, the word veda means knowledge. Indeed, in terms of content, the books of the Veda read like an encyclopaedia, compiling the knowledge of the people of that time. A large part has been lost. What is remaining has been organized into four divisions: Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama Veda and the Atharva Veda. The Rig Veda is considered to be the oldest, with the other books of the Veda having been compiled over a period of a millennium. The Rig Vedic people lived in an area stretching from present-day Afghanistan to the valley of the Ganges River.
How old are the Vedas? The Rig Veda is considered to be the oldest. It describes the river Saraswati and so must predate the drying up of this river. Therefore, the Rig Veda is older than 2,000 BC. A lot of the literature about the Rig Veda (including Wikipedia) is based on outdated theories and is no longer accepted.
The Vedic Age The Rig Veda, the first of the Vedas, is probably the earliest book that humanity possesses. In it we can find the first outpourings of the human mind, the glow of poetry, the rapture at nature s loveliness and mystery. And in these early hymns there are recorded here, of those who seek to discover the significance of our world and of man s life within it. India here set out on a quest which she has never ceased to follow. Nehru, The Discovery of India, p.79.
Some famous Vedic hymns One of the most famous hymns of the Rig Veda is the oft-quoted Ekam sat vipra bahudha vadanti Truth is one; wise people speak of it variously. Another translation would say that Being is one and it is described variously by wise people. Commenting on this verse, Vivekananda says The whole history of India you may read in these few words. The whole history has been a repetition in massive language, with tremendous power, of that one central doctrine. It was repeated in the land till it had entered into the blood of the nation, till it began to tingle with every drop of blood that flowed in its veins, till it became one with the life, part and parcel of the material of which it was composed Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Volume 3, p. 113.
The Gayatri Another famous hymn is the Gayatri mantra. Tat savitr varenyam, bhargo devasya dhimahi; Dhi yoyonah prajodoyat May that light illumine our understanding. This prayer is often recommended before one embarks on a course of study. It is meant to acknowledge the fact that understanding comes in mysterious ways. We may study for hours and hours and not feel that we have made any progress in understanding. And then suddenly, we may get a flash of insight. Thus, there is an unpredictable and almost mysterious aspect to gaining understanding. In this hymn, wisdom is referred to as light.
The final hymn: Unity prayer The Samskrit word for religion is dharma and it literally means the same as the root religio from which the word religion is derived, namely that which unites. Thus after nearly a hundred thousand verses, the final hymn of the Rig Veda is a prayer for unity. Be united. Speak in harmony. Let your minds apprehend alike. Common be your prayer; Common be the end of your assembly; Common be your resolution; Common be your deliberations. Alike be your feelings; United be your hearts; Common be your intentions; Perfect be your unity.
The Sanskrit Language The language of the Vedas is Sanskrit. The word literally means that which is refined or polished. The grammar of this language was set out, perhaps in 500 BC, by Panini in a major treatise called the Ashtadhyayi. Panini s approach was original and phenomenal. He composed 4000 aphorisms to express all known rules of grammar. Max Muller, a Professor at Oxford University, described Panini as the greatest grammarian the world has seen.
Sanskrit and English Samskrit is the foundation of most Indo-European languages including English. Here is a comparison of some Samskrit and English words. English Mother father (pater) Brother Sister Daughter Serpent Sugar Punch Sanskrit Matr Pitr Bhratr Swasr Duhitr Sarpa Sakkar Panch
William Jones on Sanskrit (1784) The Samskrit language, whatever be its antiquity, is of a wonderful structure; more perfect than the Greek, more copious than the Latin and more exquisitely refined than either: yet bearing to both of them a stronger affinity, both in the roots of verbs, and in the forms of grammar, than could possibly have been produced by accident; so strong indeed, that no philologer could examine them all without believing them to have sprung from some common source which perhaps no longer exists
Vivekananda on Sanskrit My idea is first of all to bring out the gems of spirituality that are stored up in our books I want to bring out these ideas and let them be the common property of all whether he knows the Sanskrit language or not. The great difficulty in the way is the Sanskrit language the glorious language of ours; and this difficulty cannot be removed until if it is possible the whole of our nation are good Sanskrit scholars.
End of Chapter 2