Ancient India Religion 5

The Verdic Age

What little we know of the Vedic Age comes from the Rig-Veda. By the time the oral tradition of the Aryan religion was comitted to Sanskrit, however, some of the gods mentioned had already begun to lose their importance. Nevertheless, The Rig-Veda represented a blend of beliefs held by several Aryan tribes.


Each of the gods, of the Vedic Period, had a primary function, or Vrata. Usually these functions were closely connected to the forces of nature such as light, fire, and heaven which in turn followed the cosmic order (rta) of the universe. The demons of darkness and chaos, headquartered under the earth, arrayed their power against the righteousness of the gods. In this dualistic approach, the demons sought to disrupt the system of nature, therefore practicing anrta. During a later period, rta gave way to the concept of dharma, which could be translated as "virtue."