A New Look at Vedic India

By Paul Kekai Manansala

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Vedas are distinctly Indian documents taken from a definitely Indian milieu. There is no positive indication that some of the Vedas were composed in Afghanistan or elsewhere outside the subcontinent. Indologists claim that Vedic bards were subject to unspeakable curses and social sanctions for incorrect transmission of any hymn. The existence of a racial division is often suggested based on descriptions of enemy peoples as "dark" or "goat-nosed". The zebu and banteng were postulated as descendants of Bos primgenius indicus from Bos nomadicus.

They shared similarities in skin,coat, horns and head shape, and sometimes the shape of the dewlap. If Aryans brought their herds of cattle and their horses with them, one should expect an abundance of evidence in this area to support the AI theory. The horse of India including, that of the asvamedha sacrifice in what is regarded as the oldest part of the Rigveda, is native to southeastern Asia. All horses extending to insular Southeast Asia showed anatomical traces of admixture with the ancient equid known as Equus sivalensis. In the Ramayana and Mahabharata, Mt. Meru is a geographic reality located east of Jambudvipa (the Indian subcontinent). The oldest texts that give reasonably explicit views of extra-Indian geography are the epics.

• Language: English
• Publisher: sp pub
• Release date: Apr 24, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201198695

Book preview

A New Look at Vedic India

By

Paul Kekai Manansala

Table of Content

A New Look at Vedic India By Paul Kekai Manansala

Table of Content

Preface

AIT: Aryan Invasion Theory

Cattle and the AIT theory

From the horse's mouth

A New Theory

What does the literature say?

The 'Cosmogonic Dive'

Common Spiritual and Religious beliefs

The Drink of The GodsConcept.

The hard evidence

The Archaeological Trail

Agricultural Links

Conclusion

Toolkits and artifacts

Agriculture and livestock

Religion, Mythology and Social aspects

Flora, Fauna and Climate Zone

Recommended Reading

Preface

'Aryan' invasion theory (AIT) has dominated Western Indology for centuries. Nowadays specialists modify the 'invasion' part of the theory into a 'migration' or 'diffusion' Paul Kekai Manansala's theory attempts to develop AIT into more than just a suggestion. The modern Aryan invasion/migration theory rests on the natural evidence in the form of domesticated animals. Bos indicus, or Bos, is another form of evidence against the classic theory. The reverence and importance of the cow is not limited to post-Rgvedic literature. Vedas are distinctly Indian documents taken from a definitely Indian milieu. There is no positive indication that some of the Vedas were composed in Afghanistan or elsewhere outside the subcontinent. At all times, there is evidence of contact and back-and-forth migration with other regions. The problem of Vedic origins has resulted in deep divisions among scholars and thinkers, particularly in India. The Austric theory offers something that has not been thoroughly analyzed previously. We will analyze the Rigveda, but will not try to propose that it contains more Vedic history than all other sources combined. Indologists claim that Vedic bards were subject to unspeakable curses and social sanctions for incorrect transmission of any hymn. The date when the Rigveda was 'fixed' is highly speculative. One has to wonder how priests who so perfectly transmitted their sacred texts would so easily absorb foreign religious elements into the most sacred works. In the AI theory, deities such as Vishnu and legends such as Emusa myth and Nasadiyasukta in the Rigveda are derived from the indigenous culture. Even the other Vedic texts are often portrayed as heavily influenced by indigenous, 'non-Aryan' influence. The existence of a racial division is often suggested based on descriptions of enemy peoples as dark,noseless, or goat-nosed. These claims seem very weak at best. The supposed divisions of peoples into Arya and Dasyu in the Rigveda are highly exaggerated. Some argue that the Rigveda represents partly the existence of the Vedic people outside of India (in Afghanistan according to Witzel). According to Aryan invasion/migration theory the Rgvedic people originally were pastoral folk who migrated from somewhere in 'Central Asia' to northwest India. The importance of cattle, at least from an economic standpoint, is apparent from the numerous references in the Rigveda. If Aryans brought their herds of cattle and their horses with them, then one should expect an abundance of evidence in this area to support the AI theory. The zebu and banteng were postulated as descendants of Bos primgenius indicus from Bos nomadicus. Both were primarily tropical animals with excellent tolerance of heat and resistance to tropical diseases. They shared similarities in skin,coat, horns and head shape, and sometimes the shape of the dewlap. Certain Bali cattle showed a substitution of lysine residue by histidine leading to beta B, which is the most important type found in the zebu. The researchers concluded that Indian humped cattle must have had hybrid origins since they have very high frequency of beta B. Evidence available shows that Iranians are and were a markedly broad-headed people while peoples in India including the northwest were strongly long-headed. Evidence is even more revealing when the skeletal remains are examined more thoroughly. The old invasion scenario suffered severe shortcomings from a standpoint of human biology. The zebu is an eastern species. The Vedas portray the horse as the kin of the gods. Archaeologists have found bones identified as belonging to Equus caballus at Harappan sites. If the horse was as important to the Vedic Aryans as the texts suggest, we should see evidence in both cases. The horse of India including, that of the asvamedha sacrifice in what is regarded as the oldest part of