Hindi and its dialect

Hindi as we know it today, evolved between 7th and 14th century from Apabhramsa, which was evolved from Prakrit. The language got its biggest boost with the Bhakti movement, which shunned the use of Sanskrit as it was the language of the Brahmins and common people did not use it. Hence, they started writing in the language of the people and the twelfth century onwards we see a sharp rise in regional languages like Bengali, Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, etc. For a long time, Hindi literature was in the shadow of its Sanskrit antecedents, but Prithviraj Raso was the first Hindi book and it documents the life and challenges faced by Prithviraj Chauhan.

The bulk of the work is poetry by Bhakti writers like Kabir who is famous for his dohas (couplets) that are used by the common people of India even today. Tulsidas produced couplets in Braj and was peppered by Persian. He became immortal by writing

Ramcharitmanas, one of the most revered Hindu texts. Lord Krishna’s life also became the subject of various medieval poets like Surdas who wrote Sur Sagar about Krishna’s infancy and adolescent affairs with the gopis. Rahim, Bhushan and Raskhan also wrote about the devotion to Lord Krishna.

Mirabai is also famous as the woman who renounced the world for Lord Krishna and wrote Bhakti poetry for him. Bihari’s Satsai is also famous in this regard.

 

The Puranas

As the word ‘Purana’ suggests, these texts talk about ‘that which renews the old’. These are ancient Indian mythological texts, which consist of the narrative stories about the creation of the universe and illustrate its history to the supposed destruction of the universe. It contains the stories of the kings, heroes, sages, and demiGods, but it focuses on the divine Hindu Trimurti or trinity/ three Gods: Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh.

There are 18 major Puranas (Mahapuranas) and each gives prominence to a particular deity and expound on the philosophical and religious concepts related to them. Some of the more prominent and well-known Puranas are Bhagavata, Brahma, Vayu, Agni, Garuda, Padma, Vishnu and Matsya. These contain anecdotes about the social, cultural and religious life of post-Vedic India and provide the historians with critical information about the geography, history and the dynastic genealogies.

These Puranas are written in the form of stories, which combine myths, legends and sermons about the deities and this easy form of story-writing made it very popular amongst the masses who did not always understand the complex Vedas.

Hence, the Puranas were translated and distributed in various vernacular languages. The Puranas use parables and fables to spread their message:

Parable  - Short stories that in prose or verse, illustrates a spiritual, moral or religious lesson. It usually features a human character

Fable - Short stories that in prose or verse, illustrates a ‘moral’ through a pithy maxim or clever story.

It features animals, inanimate objects, mythical creatures, plants who are given human-like qualities.

All of us have at some point of time heard a story from the Panchtantra written by Vishnu Sharma. This didactic fable comprises of several stories with morals and knowledge about the world through animals. Another well-known work from the same genre is Hitopadesha, written by Narayan Pandit. This also has several non-human and animal elements imparting the wisdom to humans.

Atharva Veda

This Veda is also known as Brahma Veda and has been attributed to two rishis called Atharvah and Angira, respectively. Because of its association with the two rishis, in the olden times it was also called Atharvangirasa. While it is mostly concerned with peace and prosperity of the human society and covers all aspects of a man’s daily life, it specifically focuses on treatment of several ailments. The book is known to prescribe treatment for almost 99 diseases.

 There are two major recensions (sakhas) of the text called the Paippalada and Saunakiya. Most of the text deals with healing and black and white magic; speculation on the changes in the universe; and even touches upon issues of the everyday problems in a householder’s life.

Vedas

The word ‘Veda’ signifies knowledge and the texts are actually about providing humans about knowledge to conduct their entire life on earth and beyond. It is written in highly stylised poetic style and the language is full of symbols and myths. The Vedas were initially handed down orally by generations of Brahmin families but it is estimated by historians that they were compiled around 1500 BC-1000 BC. In the Hindu tradition, they are considered sacred because they are the divine revelations, which were determined by gods to guide humans eternally. They also have larger implications on our lives as they treat the universe and its inhabitants as one big family and preach Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam.

 There are four major Vedas: Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama Veda and Atharva Veda. These were mostly written by vedic seers and poets called the rishis who envisioned the cosmic mysteries and wrote them in the form of Sanskrit poetry. All the Vedas give prominence to yagna (sacrifice). The Brahmanas, the Upanishads and the Aranyakas accompany each Veda.