The Vedas

The Vedas, meaning "knowledge" or "wisdom," are the oldest scriptures of Hinduism, dating back to around 1500 BCE, although they were passed orally much longer before that, and are the most sacred books of India. Both religious and social, they cover many topics such as birth, marriage, death, domestic customs, religious practices, and laws. By theory, it is believed that humans themselves did not write them, but instead they came from the "sages," who were the "mantradrasta" or "seers" of the hymns.

Within the Vedas, historians have learned that the Aryans were polytheistic and worshipped many gods that took the form of natural forces. Their main god, Indra, was the god of war and was often shown with a lightening bolt that represented the power of destruction and the arrival of rain. Later their belief developed into the concept of Brahman, a single power that exists beyond the many Vedic gods and resides in everything. Eventually, their beliefs founded Hinduism

Just like the Indus Civilization, the Aryans did not leave behind a lot of evidence. Most of what is known about them comes from a famous collection of hymns, prayers, and rituals called the Vedas. The Vedas were so important to Indian history and development that the period between 1500 BCE and 1000 BCE is known as the Vedic Age.

The Vedas are written in Sanskrit, and only four major collections survive. They are also broken down into four sections: the Samhitas (hymns), the Brahmanas (rituals), the Aranyakas (theologies), and the Upanishads (philosophies). Since there were no temples, they were studied by only the priests and then delivered to the people.

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Through the Vedas, there here was also a movement towards mysticism, or the belief in communion with the "divine forces." This is where meditation and yoga originated from.

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