4 The Urban Period
The context
Kingship and artha
Theism: Buddhist and vaidika
Devotionalism
Articulation of an “urban” ethic
The household
The role of womenJa ̄tior caste
The symbolism of food
Yoga
Summary
The epics
Aesthetics and the arts
Religious life at the popular level
Developments in Buddhism
Kingship
Ethics
Attitude toward city-state
Pantheon
Iconography
Sacred spaces
Recommended readingSometimes referred to as the Epic period or the “golden age” of classical
India, the urban period was indeed a rich age for the explosion of reli-
gion, the arts, and culture generally. What occurred during this period was
fundamental to the shaping of religion, and especially Hinduism and
Buddhism for centuries to come. From about the fourth century BCE
until about the sixth century CE, kingship was becoming a more stable and