Tiêu đề Literary sources for the study of Indian History.docx ✅

Bhishma while he lay dying on a bed of arrows. Another one is the conversation between Krishna and Arjuna on the eve of the war which is known better as the Bhagavad Gita. The Ramayana too like the Mahabharata has two main recensions- the northern and the southern. The language of the northern recension is more polished and refined than the southern one. The epic consists of 7 Kandas (books), of which the first one is the Bala Kanda and the last one being the Uttara Kanda. The basic story is about Rama, the prince of Kosala; his banishment to the forest, abduction of his wife Sita, Sita’s rescue and the return to the capital-Ayodhya to become the king. The core of the text seems to be the work of a single individual traditionally identified as Valmiki. Archaeological evidence however does not tell us whether there is any historical basis to the events or characters of the Mahabharata or the Ramayana. Apart from the Valmiki Ramayana there are several other versions of the Ramayana, two of the important ones being the Paumachariu (Jaina version) and the Dasharatha Jataka (Buddhist version). In Paumachariu however Ravana is presented as a tragic hero who is killed by Lakshmana, not by Rama. Many consider the Mahabharata as the Brahmanical response to certain historical events such as: the increasing popularity of religious traditions like Buddhism and Jainism, the rise of dynasties such as the Nandas and Mauryas, who extended support to them were seen by some Brahmanas as threatening to the Brahmanical order. The Mahabharata was their response to this perceived crisis. Now we take a look at the Puranas as a source literary of evidence for reconstructing the Indian history. The Puranas mean ‘old’. According to tradition the Puranas were composed by Vyasa, but it is clear that in the form in which they have come down to us, they were not the work of one person or age. There are 18 Mahapuranas and many more Upapuranas. The Puranas may have overlapped with the Vedas to some extent. The Puranas are said to have five characteristics (panchalakshanas) i.e. they discuss mainly on 5 topics: Sarga (creation of the world), Pratisarga (re-creation), Manvantaras
(the periods of various Manus), Vamsha (Genealogies of gods and rishis) Vamshanucharita (an account of royal dynasties). The concept of time in the Puranas is mind-boggling. There are four ages or yugas which are the- krita, treta, dvapara and kali. These four yugas make up a mahayuga and 1000 mahayugas constitute a kalpa. Every kalpa is divided into 14 Manvantaras each one being presided over by a Manu. There is cyclical destruction and re-creation of the universe. The Puranas in fact do refer to historical dynasties such as that of the Haryankas, Nandas, Mauryas, Shungas and Andhras (Satvahanas).The puranas as books of historical reference also gives us the details about the mountains, rivers and places which are useful for the study of historical geography. They also reflect the emergence of religious cults based on devotion, especially towards Shiva and goddess Shakti. The puranas were also the carriers of Brahmanical social and religious beliefs. From the puranas we go on to the Dharmashastra literature. Dharma essentially means the ideal conduct of a person living in society which would in turn let him fulfill the goals of his life. These goals are known as purusharthas and are namely dharma (righteous conduct), artha (material well-being), Kama (sensual pleasure) and moksha (deliverance from the cycle of rebirth). The Dharmashastra can be divided into three groups: -Dharmasutras (600-300 BC) -Smritis (c.200 BC- 900 CE) -Elaborate commentaries like Tikas and Bhashyas The Dharmashastra recognizes three sources of Dharma-Shruti, Smriti and Sadachara. Apart from social behavior Dharmashastras deal with a number of other issues including personal, civil and criminal law. Although the Dharmashastra texts do not directly describe the society of their time, certain inferences about the society can definitely be made.