Part 1, The Vedas. So as you no doubt remember, the Indus River Valley was one of the earliest cradles of civilization.
But that original civilization basically disappeared sometime after 1750 BCE.
Then there was a long period of Aryan migration, and by Aryans we do not mean like prehistoric Nazis, we mean people from the Caucasus who migrated down into the Indo-Gag gig gag gi… Stan, can you just spell it for me? Thank you.
We know about these Aryans primarily because they left behind religious texts, the earliest of which is called the Vedas.
The Vedas are also the earliest texts of what will come to be known as Hinduism, although it wasn't known as Hinduism then.
And they're responsible for tons of stuff, but we only have 10 minutes so let's just cut to: Part 2, The Caste System.
The caste system is one of India's most enduring and fascinating institutions. Let us read from one of the Vedas about Purusha, the universe-pervading spirit.
When they divided Purusha, in how many different portions did they arrange him? What became of his mouth, what of his two arms? What were his two thighs and his two feet called?
His mouth became the Brahmin, his two arms were made into the Kshatriya; his two thighs the vaisyas; from his two feet the shudra was born.
So this section gives a divine explanation for the caste system.
