Unlike the Vedic religion, ancient Buddhism had strong misgivings about violent ways of punishing criminals and about war.

In the times of Mahavira and in the following centuries, Jains were at odds with both Buddhists and followers of the Vedic religion or Hindus, whom they accused of negligence and inconsistency in the implementation of ahimsa.

Among its direct roots is the historical Vedic religion of Iron Age India and, as such, Hinduism is often called the " oldest living religion " or the " oldest living major religion " in the world.

Hinduism includes the Agamic religion, involving Shaivism, Vaishnavism, Shaktism, historical groups such as the Ganapatyas, Kaumaras, Sauras, Bhairavas, Kapalikas, Kalamukhas, Pashupatas, and the historical Vedic religion including the Śrautas.

The multitude of deities, or Devas, of the historical Vedic religion have a subordinate and secondary status vis-a-vis the One Supreme God, a status that some authors have even tried to express by comparing it to that of Western demigods or angels ; Prakashanand Saraswati, in " The true history and the religion of India ", prefers the term " celestial gods ".

From this mix of monism, monotheism and naturalist polytheism Max Müller decided to name the early Vedic religion henotheistic.

The documented history of Indian religions begins with the historical Vedic religion, the religious practices of the early Indo-Aryans, which were collected and later redacted into the Samhitas ( usually known as the Vedas ), four canonical collections of hymns or mantras composed in archaic Sanskrit.

Other scholars suggested the shramana traditions were separate and contemporaneous with Indo-Aryan religious practices of the historical Vedic religion.

** historical Vedic religion

The city of Taxila in northern Pakistan, became important to Vedic religion ( and later in Buddhism ).

Proponents of cultural transmission have looked for links between Iron Age Celtic, Greek and Vedic philosophy and religion, some even suggesting that belief in reincarnation was present in Proto-Indo-European religion.

The religions of Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Hinduism ( Vedic religion and Vedanta ), Jainism and Buddhism develop.

The earliest surviving description of mead is in the hymns of the Rigveda, one of the sacred books of the historical Vedic religion and ( later ) Hinduism dated around 1700 – 1100 BC.

Dumézil sees the opposing Dius Fidius Summanus as complementary, interpreting it as an ambiguity of the sovereign god exemplified by the opposition of Mitra and Varuna in Vedic religion.

** the Historical Vedic religion, of which the Vedas record the liturgy

He greeted the youngest of the nations on behalf of " the most ancient order of monks in the world, the Vedic order of sannyasins, a religion which has taught the world both tolerance and universal acceptance.

Dumézil draws a comparison between Roman religious conceptions and rituals and the relevant aspects of Vedic religion.

Names of Indo-Aryan gods Mitra and Varuna especially, from the Vedic religion have survived in texts and personal names, but it is not known if any religious centers actually existed.

These values are all proper to sovereign gods and common with Jupiter ( and with Mitra in Vedic religion ).

It is rooted in Indoeuropean * d ( e ) y ( e ) w, meaning bright sky or daylight, from which also derived the name of Vedic god Dyaus and the Latin deus, ( god ) and dies ( day, daylight ).

According to Dumezil the forerunner of all frame gods is an Indian epic hero who was the image ( avatar ) of the Vedic god Dyaus.

In the Vedic pantheon () or () or Dyaus Pitar is the Sky Father, divine consort of the Prithvi and father of Agni, Indra ( RV 4. 17. 4 ), and Ushas, the daughter representing dawn.

It is in fact true that a male sky god, whose name has been reconstructed as * Dyēus ph < sub > 2 </ sub > ter, and which survive in Vedic mythology as Dyaus Pita, in Greek mythology as Zeus, and in Roman mythology as Jupiter, seems to have been shared and inherited from a common stock of Proto-Indo-European religion.

The union of Dyaus Pita and Prithvi Mata gave rise to other Vedic deities and demi-gods like Indra, Agni, Ushas etc.

In Vedic religion the sovereign function was incarnated by Dyaus Pitar and later appeared split into its two aspects of uncanny and awe inspiring almighty power incarnated by Varuna and of source and guardian of justice and compacts incarnated by Mitra.

The Vedic god Indra in part corresponds to Dyaus Pitar, the Sky Father, Zeus and Jupiter.

While the concept of Ṛta as an abstract, universal principle generally remained resistant to the anthropomorphic tendencies of the Vedic period, it became increasingly associated with the actions of individual deities, in particular with those of the god Varuna as the omniscient, all-encompassing sky.

Similar methods were used for memorizing mathematical texts, whose transmission remained exclusively oral until the end of the Vedic period ( ca.

This process has been called ' Sanskritization ' in this book, in preference to ' Brahminization ', as certain Vedic rites are confined to the Brahmins and the two other ' twice-born ' castes.

According to Yaska, Sanskrit scholar of the 5th century BCE, who made various attempts to interpret difficult Vedic mythologies in his work Nirukta ( Etymology ) ( 12, 12 ), the time of Savitr ’ s appearance is when darkness has been removed.

Louis Jaccoliot ( 1837 – 1890 ) who worked in French India as a government official and was at one time President of the Court in Chandranagar, translated numerous Vedic hymns and the celebrated author of the Bible in India: Hindoo Origin of Hebrew and Christian Revelation said: " India of the Vedas entertained a respect for women amounting to worship ; a fact which we seem little to suspect in Europe when we accuse the extreme East of having denied the dignity of woman, and of having only made her an instrument of pleasure and of passive obedience.

Also, he supports the whole world, a role which has been assigned to Lord Vishnu in later Vedic pantheon.

The priestly class is expected to practice self-abnegation and play the role of being the custodians of Dharma ( as a Brāhman who is well versed in Vedic texts ).

The earliest Indian Vedic hymns, the Rigveda, dating from the late 2nd and early 1st millennia BC, make reference to the use of elephants for transport-especially Indra and his divine white elephant, Airavata-but make no reference to the use of elephants in war, focusing instead on Indra's role in leading horse cavalry.

Balakrishna Dattaram Kamat Satoskar, a Goan Indologist and historian, in his work Gomantak prakruti ani sanskruti Volume I, explains that the original Sarasvat tribe consisted of people of all the folds who followed the Vedic fourfold system and not just Brahmins, as the caste system was not fully developed then and did not play an important role at the time.

This was probably the earliest reference to the emerging role of Hindu and Muslim Khatris as rich traders, instead of performing their Vedic functions as fighters and governors.

Their role therefore corresponded to that of an Adhvaryu in Vedic religion.

Ikshvaku was one of the earliest monarchs of India, and played a pivotal role in the transformation of the ancient Vedic religion into modern Hinduism and its propagation throughout India.

Vedic Hinduism played a strong role in the early Thai institution of kingship, just as it did in Cambodia, and exerted influence in the creation of laws and order for Thai society as well as Thai religion.

In modern Hinduism slaughter according to the rituals permitted in the Vedic scriptures has become less common, though, the world's largest animal sacrifice occurs at Gadhimai, a Hindu festival which takes place every 5 years.

Also in Vedic Sanskrit, as nominalized neuter, it means " preparation, prepared place " and thus " ritual enclosure, place for a sacrifice ".

It has been proposed that the Sarasvati of the early Rigveda corresponds to the Ghaggar-Hakra before these changes took place ( the " Old Ghaggar "), and the late Vedic end Epic Sarasvati disappearing in the desert to the Ghaggar-Hakra following the diversion of Sutlej and Yamuna.

As afterwards the Yajna ( sacrificial ) fire, its smoke, ashes and flames, the soma plant and the ox that used to carry on its back the wood for the Vedic sacrifice gave place to the conceptions of the brightness of Shiva's body, his tawny matted-hair, his blue throat and the riding on the bull of the Shiva.

Regarding possible Vedic mention of human sacrifice, the prevailing 19th-century view, associated above all with Henry Colebrooke, was that human sacrifice had little scriptural warrant, and did not actually take place.

In all the cases which are to be found in the Vedic literature we are able to say with a fair degree of plausibility that the conception formed itself from the use of the epithet in question in the first place of some concrete god, and then, after denoting that deity in the special field of action, it was gradually made into a separate deity concerned merely with the sphere of action in question.

The oldest theory for the name of Astara comes from Vedic songs and writings which explains Astara as a place where the rays of lights shine from behind to light the pathways ahead.

The intense devotionalism of their poetry and insistence that caste and sex are no barrier to a relationship with the Divine is uncharacteristic of classical Vedic thought, which laid a strong emphasis on the performance of the social and religious duties proper to one's place in the social structure.

It is the birth place of poet Nannayya, who is also called the first poet of Telugu. The city is Known as the Cultural Capital of Andhra Pradesh, Rajahmundry is noted for its versatile Vedic culture and intellect.

The identity of place ' Brahmavarta ', the Vedic state where, sages Manu and Bhrigu had given the discourse, and Manusmriti was compiled is also confirmed by the fact that the nomenclature used to describe, animals, birds, crops, trees, plants, house utilities, activities of people, geographical conditions etc.

The oldest theory comes from Vedic songs and writings which explains Astara as a place where the rays of lights shine from behind to light the pathways ahead.

Whilst modern Vedic astrologers place significance on the exaltation positions of the nodes, the western astrological tradition transmitted through medieval Europe demonstrates little use of them in practice traditionally and currently.

Close similarities between Ancient Greek and Vedic Sanskrit suggest that both Proto-Greek and Proto-Indo-Iranian were still quite similar to either late Proto-Indo-European, which would place the latter somewhere in the late 4th millennium BC, or a post-PIE Graeco-Aryan proto-language.

Kamboja Aupamanyava was a distinguished scholar / grammarian and finds a place in the line of great ancient Vedic teachers of Vamsa Brahmana of Sama Veda.

The prehistoric Indus Valley civilization is believed to have declined by around 1500BC, and Vedism appeared in its place, with the composition of the Vedas and related Vedic Sanskrit texts.