The State in Ancient India: A Study in the Structure and Practical Working of Political Institutions in North India in Ancient Times c6.15

c6.15

A long course of development lies behind the social institutions reflected in the hymns of the Ṛigveda. On the whole, Vedic society is patriarchal, but kinship, real or fancied, is no longer the only bond which holds men together. The nomadic stage is over and the bond of territory or neighbourhood is plainly in evidence. A third line of organisation is emerging into view. Scholars have long been divided in their opinion on the presence of caste in the first nine Maṇḍalas of the Ṛigveda,¹ but the weight of cumulative evidence lies on the side of those who hold that the institution is taking shape in the early hymns. In a hymn of the fourth Maṇḍala, the god Agni is referred to as possessing the Kṣatriya quality of strength.² A hymn of the seventh Maṇḍala invokes the gods Mitra and Varuṇa as Kṣatriyas.³ Another hymn in the fourth Maṇḍala⁴ and another in the fifth⁵ refer to the Kṣatriya order. In the hymns which belong to the slightly later groups, the references are clearer. A hymn in the second-half of the first Maṇḍala has the following in the course of a glorification of the Dawn:—