Chapter 4 The Vedic Civilization
The Vedic Civilization question and answers
1. Name the following with reference to the lesson.
(1) Women scholars in Vedic literature
Ans: Lopamudra, Gargi, Maitreyi
(2) Means of entertainment in the Vedic period
Ans: Singing, playing musical instruments, dance, board games, chariot-race and hunting.
(3) The four ashramas
Ans: Brahmacharya Ashrama, grihasthashram, vanaprastha ashrama, and sanyasa ashrama.
2. Right or wrong?
(1) Rigveda – Mantras uttered during yajna.
Ans: Wrong
(2) Samaveda – Guidance on singing a mantra during yajna rites.
Ans: Right
(3) Atharvaveda – The Veda derived its name from Atharva rishi.
Ans: Right
3. Answer in one word each.
(1) The language of Vedic literature Sanskrit
(2) The meaning of vid to know
(3) The head of a family Grihapati
(4) The head of shrenis Shreshti
4. Name the following :
(1) The musical instruments you know
Ans: Guitar, Piano, Drums
(2) Two modern ornaments of women
Ans: Earing, Necklace
(3) Todays means of entertainment
Ans: Movies, Computer
5. Answer in short.
(1) What foods were included in the diet of the Vedic people?
Ans: 1. The diet of the people mainly consisted of cereals like wheat, barley and rice.
2. From this, they made different preparations. Words like yava, godhoom, vrihi, etc.
3. Vedic people also realised that milk, yoghurt, ghee, butter, honey. Black gram (udad), lentil (masoor), sesame and meat were also a part of their diet.
(2) Why were cows priced highly ?
Ans: Cows were used as means of exchange. That is why cows were highly priced.
(3) What was a man expected to do in sanyasa ashrama ?
Ans: The fourth stage is Sanyasa ashrama At this stage, the convention was to renounce all relations,convention was to renounce all relations,lead life in order to understand the meaning of human life, and not stay in one place.
6. Write notes on :
(1) The religious ideas during the Vedic period.
Ans: 1. In the religious ideas of the Vedic period, forces of nature such as the sun,wind, rain, lightning, storms and rivers were given the form of deities.
2. Vedic compositions pray them to become life giving forces.
3. The Vedic people put offerings into the yajna fire to please them. These offerings were called havi.
4. Yajna is the act of offering havi into fire.
(2) Houses in the Vedic period.
Ans: The houses during the Vedic period were earthen or wattle and daub constructions. Wattle means woven lattice of wooden strips which is daubed with clay mixed with cow dung. A house was called griha or shala.
(3) Political system in the Vedic period.
Ans: 1. In the Vedic period, each village had a head known as gramani. A group of villages formed a vish, whose head was called vishpati.
2. In order to run the administration smoothly, the king appointed various officers.The purohit (priest) and the senapati of the army were officers of special importance.
Activity :
(1) Interview some artisans in your locality and write about them.
(2) List the new words in the lesson and find their meaning.