Vedic Civilisation

The Kalpasutra is a canonical Jain text that contains biographies of Tirthankaras, especially Parsvanatha and Mahavira, along with codes of conduct. Bhadrabahu, a prominent Jain monk and leader of the religious order, is traditionally credited with its composition.

Prakrit refers to a group of Middle Indo-Aryan languages that were the vernacular languages of ancient India, evolving from earlier languages. These languages were spoken by the common people centuries before classical Sanskrit was formalized and codified by grammarians like Panini.

The term nishka demonstrates interesting semantic evolution in ancient India. While it originally referred to a gold necklace or ornament worn as adornment during the Vedic period, by later times it had come to denote a gold coin or monetary unit, reflecting the development of a monetary economy.

Maharishi Agastya is traditionally revered as the sage who migrated from north India to south India, carrying Vedic knowledge and Aryan cultural practices with him. According to tradition, he crossed the Vindhya mountains and established ashrams and teaching lineages in the southern region, facilitating the spread of Vedic culture.

B. G. Tilak, in his book "The Arctic Home in the Vedas" (1903), proposed the theory that the original home of the Aryans was the Arctic region. He based this on his interpretation of Vedic hymns describing astronomical phenomena that he believed could only be explained by a polar or sub-polar location.

Indra is the most extensively praised deity in the Rigveda, with about 250 hymns dedicated to him - more than any other Vedic god. He is celebrated primarily for his heroic feat of slaying Vritra (the serpent of drought) and releasing the waters, making him the champion who brings rain and fertility to the land.

The oldest veda is the Rigveda.

Kapila is revered as the legendary founder and earliest exponent of the Samkhya school of Hindu philosophy. Samkhya is one of the six orthodox (astika) schools of Indian philosophy and presents a dualistic worldview of purusha (consciousness) and prakriti (matter). While the Samkhya Karika by Ishvarakrishna is the earliest surviving text, the tradition recognizes Kapila as the original systematizer.

The Gayatri Mantra is found in the Rigveda (3.62.10), where it appears in a hymn composed by the rishi Vishvamitra. This highly revered mantra is dedicated to Savitr, the Sun deity, and is considered one of the most important and sacred verses in Hindu tradition, often used in various rituals and personal practices.

Amarasimha was a renowned Sanskrit lexicographer who composed the Amarakosha (also called Namalinganushasana), which is a comprehensive thesaurus and lexicon of Sanskrit. This work, organized thematically into three chapters covering celestial, terrestrial, and general vocabulary, became one of the most influential and widely studied lexical works in Sanskrit literature.

Option (1) is the correct answer. 

The Sama Veda is the Veda primarily concerned with music and melody. It contains hymns from the Rig Veda set to musical notation and meant to be sung during rituals. The Sama Veda is considered the earliest source of Indian musical tradition, as it systematically developed musical scales (swaras), rhythm patterns, and chanting techniques that later evolved into classical Indian music.

The Asvamedha (horse sacrifice) and Rajasuya (royal consecration) were major Vedic rituals performed by kings to establish their power, legitimacy, and divine right to rule. These sacrifices are extensively documented in Vedic literature, particularly the Brahmanas, and are central to understanding Aryan socio-political and religious structures.