Arjun, a history student, visits a museum gallery on religious life in early medieval India. In the first hall he sees a wooden image of a deity from Puri in Orissa, shown with a sister and a brother; a label explains that such images are made even today by local tribal specialists. In the next hall is a stone smeared with ochre, worshipped in a village shrine, and beside it a tenth-century sculpture of a Buddhist goddess from Bihar. A last panel compares the gods of the Vedic hymns with the gods of later religious stories. Arjun writes down questions for his teacher.
Which of the following would Arjun's teacher say about the last panel comparing Vedic and Puranic traditions?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → Agni, Indra and Soma became marginal, but the Vedas were still revered as authoritative.
Option (1) Agni, Indra and Soma became marginal, but the Vedas were still revered as authoritative. — Correct. The chief Vedic gods, Agni, Indra and Soma, became marginal in texts and images. Yet, in spite of this gap, the Vedas continued to be revered as authoritative.
Option (2) Vishnu and Shiva in Vedic mantras closely match the elaborate Puranic mythologies. — Incorrect. Vishnu and Shiva can be glimpsed in Vedic mantras, but these have little in common with the elaborate Puranic mythologies.
Option (3) The Vedas lost their authority as Puranic myths of Vishnu and Shiva spread widely. — Incorrect. The Vedas kept their standing. They continued to be revered even as Puranic traditions grew.
Option (4) Puranic texts used complex Sanskrit prose and were meant for trained Vedic scholars. — Incorrect. Puranic texts were written in simple Sanskrit verse, meant to reach women and Shudras, who were generally kept out of Vedic learning.
NCERT (2026-27): “1.2 Difference and conflict … “… One was a process of disseminating Brahmanical ideas. This is exemplified by the composition, compilation and preservation of Puranic texts in simple Sanskrit verse, explicitly meant to be accessible to women and Shudras, who were generally excluded from Vedic learning. …” |