201 Vendanthe age and origin of Vedic civilization.
While the majority of Western scholars,
following the lead of Max MÜLLER,
assume that Vedic civilization in India
was the result of an invasion by semi-
nomadic, cattle-breeding Äryan people
from outside India around 1500–1200
BCE, following the decline of the
Mohenjo Daro/Harappan city culture,
most Indian scholars contend that Vedic
civilization developed in India itself
around 4000 BCEand that the so-called
Indus civilization (renamed Indus–
Sarasvati civilization) was a late phase
of Vedic civilization, which spread east-
wards to the Gangetic plains after the
desiccation of the original homeland in
what is today Sindh. While there is nei-
ther literary nor archeological evidence
for an invasion from outside India,
satellite photography and archaeogeog-
raphy seem to have established that the
river-bed of the Sarasvatï, described in
the Øgveda as the mightiest of rivers,
beside which the Vedic people had set-
tled, had completely dried out by 1900
BCE. It is to be expected that both
groups of scholars would engage in
debate to validate their assumptions.Vedic religion
The religion based on the Veda was
strongly focused on SACRIFICE(yajña),
which was believed to be the source of
everything. Vedic religion was also
characterized by the division of VARŒAS,
believed to have originated at the
puru•ayajña with which humankind
began. Vedic religion was polytheistic:
Indra, Agni, Varuæa and Mitra were the
main deities; however, as one Vedic
verse has it, ‘Indra is known by many
names; all the different names design
but One.’ Vedic religion was the basis of
later Hinduism, which received influ-
ences from other sources. Many Hindus
would call their religion ‘vedic’, empha-
sizing the continuity of practice and
belief from Vedic times to today.vegetarianism
Vedic Indians were meat eaters; they
even consumed cattle after they had
been sacrificed. Vegetarianism appar-
ently developed under the influence of
Buddhism and Jainism, religions that
insisted on ahiƒsä, ‘non-killing’, repudi-
ating animal sacrifice and meat eating.
Among Hindus VAIÆŒAVAS are the
strictest vegetarians (Bengali brahmins
eat fish, which they do not consider
against their religion); ŸAIVASand ŸÄK-
TAScontinue animal sacrifices and also
eat meat. Neo-Hindu movements are
proponents of strict vegetarianism for
ethical as well as health reasons.
Accepting the doctrine of rebirth and
the possibility that a human might be
reborn in an animal, they view animal
slaughter and meat eating as tanta-
mount to cannibalism. (See alsoFOOD.)Vel
A name of MURUGAN, the Tamil god of
war, also known as Sey and Neduvel.
His priests were known as Velan.Veæa
A mythical king, son of Anga, who
angered the brahmins of his realm by
forbidding SACRIFICES to anyone but
himself. When their remonstrations did
not help they killed him with blades of
kuÿa grass. When lawlessness overtook
the kingless country they drilled the left
arm of the dead king and produced
Ni•äda, who proved to be wicked and
useless. They drilled the right arm and
obtained Pøthu, who cultivated the
earth (prthivï) and was a just ruler,
restoring the privileges of the brahmins.
His story is told in the Mahäbhärata
and in several Puräæas.Vendan
A Tamil form of INDRA, worshipped in
Maridan.Encyclo - Letter V 10/2/03 10:03 am Page 201