The Story of Time

Many of us have watched B.R Chopra's Mahabharat serial. The whole story is said to be the recitation of Time- The starting words "Main Samay Hoon" are the most enthralling words to start with. Such is Time- Omnipresent and all-knowing.

Time as Omnipresent. 

Time is one of the important facts of this Universe. It started with the Big Bang and will continue till it's end. It is an abstract quantity which can be made measurable with different parameters. In his existence man has developed a lot of units to measure time. The units may vary, but throughout the world, all the civilizations have agreed that time is one most important thing that affects our lives.
           The same feeling is reflected in the Hindu scriptures. Time or Kaal,as it is called, is said to be the creation of the Brahman and is all pervading. Even the smallest of the indivisible unit, Paramanu, has not escaped from the effect of time. The Pancha Mahabhootas which form this Universe have Time as their property. Puranas state that Time resides in all of the 'stable and moving' things ( Sthavar & Jangam).
In fact, even Time has two types- Time governing the minute particles (Paramanu) and Time governing the formation, evolution and doom of this Universe ( Param-Mahana)

Now let us begin with what the Puranas have to say regarding Time measurement-
Puranas attribute Time to Vishnu. It is this time that decides the Utpatti ( Formation) and Destruction (Laya) of the Universe. But these are quite large units for time like Yugas,Kalpas, Parardhas,etc. But what about the minuscule divisions of Time? If Parardha is the largest unit of Time, what is the smallest?

The smallest unit of Time varies with Puranas.
Nimesha is considered to be the smallest by Vishnu, Shiva, Matsya, Vayu Puranas while Paramanu is considered to be the smallest unit by Bhagvata and Bhavishya Purana. This Paramanu is 16200 times smaller than Nimesha..!!
There are some internal inconsistencies within the Puranas but more or less all agree with the system of time measurement. Since Nimesha itself is made up of Paramanus, we consider the Bhagvata Purana as an authority and state the different units of time-
The main parameter to measure time is the Sun. We know that Indian Astronomy is based on the movement of the Sun through various Ecliptic of stars and planets. The definition of Paramanu is given as the time required by the Sun to cross a length of one Paramanu or minute,indivisible particle.

Here are the units of time-

                                                              2 Paramanu = 1 Anu

          3 Anu = 1 Trasarenu

                                                               3 Trasarenu = 1 Truti

100 Truti = 1 Vedh

3 Vedh = 1 Lava

       3 Lava = 1 Nimesha

3 Nimesha = 1 Kshana

 5 Kshana = 1 Kashta

15 Kashta = 1 Laghu

    15 Laghu = 1 Ghatika

    2 Ghatika = 1 Muhurta

                                                            6/7 * Ghatika = 1 Prahar

             4 Prahar= 1 Night/ 1 Day

                    1 Night + 1 Day= 1 Ahoratra or Day of 24 Hrs

*The reason why 6 or 7 Ghatika make one Prahar is because the length of night or day changes according to the season.  Hence it is either 6 or 7 Ghatikas according to the fluctuation.

There is a problem with the math of Kshana and Kashta. Here, Kshana is a smaller unit than Kashta while in Vishnu Purana it is a larger unit than Kashta. 

Also in Vishnu Purana another unit called Kalaa is introduced between Kshana and Kashta where 30 Kashtas make one Kalaa and 30 Kalaa one Kshana.

Apart from these, certain astronomical measurements also exist which have units like Prana, Vikala, Danda,etc. The Sankhya Parimana cites Varaha Purana for some units of time.

This system of measurement has been common in ancient India and also shows the minute thinking of our ancestors with which they divided time up to Paramanu.

Now looking into the macroscopic measurement of time,

15 Days = 1 Paksha 

( Shukla Paksha= Poornima & Krishna Paksha= Amavasya)

2 Pakshas = 1 Lunar Month *

( Shravan, Bhadrapad, Margasheersha,etc)

2 Lunar Months = 1 Season or Rutu 

6 Lunar Months = 1 Ayana

( Dakshinayan and Uttarayan)

12 Lunar Months = 1 Human Year *

* A normal month is of 30 Days while a Lunar Month is mainly of 29.5 Days.

* 1 Year also has different definitions. 

As I have said earlier, Sun moves around the ecliptic or orbits of different planets and stars. But apart from the Sun ,we have different stars on whom a year can be calculated. They are-

• Sun- Samvatsar (Saurvarsha of 365 Days)
• Jupiter or Brihaspati- Parivatsar (Barhaspatya)
• Moon- Anuvatsar (12 Lunar Months)
• Stars or  Nakshatra - Vatsar 
• Idavatsar- 1 Year of 360 Days

Based on the Lunar months, further Time is classified into Yugas-

There are 4 Yugas- Krita, Treta, Dwapar and Kali of 4000,3000,2000,1000 Human Years respectively. A Sandhi is introduced in the respective Yugas before and after the Yugas which is 1/10th of the time of that Yugas. Thus Kritayug has 4800 Years = 4000 + 400 + 400 Sandhikal and so on.

These 4 Yugas combined make one Mahayuga of 12000 years.

As pointed out in my earlier posts, these are Human years. But it was later modified to Divine years or Divya Varsha where 1 Divine year= 360 Human Years.

So one Mahayuga of 12000 years becomes 12000*360= 4320000 years.

According to the Bhagvata Purana, the above data was limited to the people living in Trilokas- Earth, Swarga and Patal. But beyond these three Lokas, lives Brahmadeva. So the life of Brahmadeva is accounted as follows-

One night or one Day of Brahmadeva is said to be of 1000 Mahayugas. In this time, it is said that 14 Manus live. But as we have seen in Manu and Manvantara, one Manvantara is the time for which Manu and his sons reign and not of such a large time.

                                                 1000 Mahayugas = 1 Kalpa or Day/Night of Brahma

  2 Kalpas = 1 Day of Brahma

50 years of Brahma's life = 1 Parardha

2 Parardha = 100 yrs of Brahma's life

After 100 years of Brahma's life, the Universe is said to dissolve into Parabrahma. 

It is said that 1 Parardha of Brahma's life is over and the second one is going on. In that, the current Kalpa is called Varaha Kalpa while the one before that was Brahma Kalpa.

If we actually trace the age of Brahma with the above data, it comes out to be 15700 Trillion Years..!!!!

But if we consider only human years and not divine years, it comes out to be 438 Billion Years.

Effects of the War of 10 kings (Dashradnya Yuddha)

As discussed in my earlier post, the War of Ten Kings or Dasharadnya Yuddha is one of the major wars described in the Rigved. We have seen how Sudas defeated his enemies and won over much of the land in Sapta-Sindhu region and expanded his kingdom North Panchal which existed in the doab region between Ganga and Saraswati in east Haryana.
But the effects of this war do not stop here. There are many significant effects which can be attributed to this war which in turn was instrumental in giving birth to a contemporary religion to ours- Zoroastrianism
A piece of history which one needs to know is that Sudas' grandson Somaka had also fought with the same people along with the Gautama family rishis. This battle is called Varshagira Battle which took place in Afghanistan. 

Now we all know the Avesta is the scripture of Zoroastrianism and Zoroaster or Zaruthustra is their God. The Avesta in it's Gathas and Vendidad has striking references to Rigvedic people. But how come these people got related to the Vedic people in India?
The answer is, the communities who had to leave India after the War of Ten Kings were indeed those who composed the Avesta...!!!!
Lets have a look at the communities who left India after the war

• Prithus or Parthavas (VII.83.1): Parthians.
• Parshus or Parshavas (VII .83.1): Persians.
• Pakthas (VII.18.7): Pakhtoons.
• Bhalanas (VII.18.7): Baluchis.
• Shivas (VII.18.7): Khivas.
• Vishanins (VII.18.7): Pishachas (Dards).

These were some of the major communities and we find that their names reflect current names in today's Afghanistan and Central Asia.

But apart from this, one more thing in common in these people is that majority of these people belong to the Anu tribe.

Now let us look at the story from the side of the Avesta.

The Avesta states that it's people had roamed 16 lands and gives it's names. The names clearly go in an order from North to south and then towards east. They are-

Sogdiana (Gava), Margiana (Mourv), Bactria (Baxti, Nisaya between Margiana and Bactria, Areia (Haroiva), Kabulistan (Vaekarsta), the Gazni region (Urva), Xnanta, Arachosia (Harax^vaiti), Drangiana (Haetumant), a territory between Zamin-davar and Qal‘at-i-Gilzay (Raya), the Lugar valley (Caxra), Buner (Varana), Punjab (Hapta Handu), Ranha (between the Kabul and the Kurram, in the region where it seems likely the Vedic river Rasa flowed.)  and Airyana Vaejah…
Airyana Vaejah is the 16^th land and by logic if the lands start from north to south and then to east, we say that Airyana Vaejah is to the east of Ranha or the area of Rasa which is obviously Kashmir.With a striking similarity, the Puranas also state that indeed the Anu people lived in Kashmir..!!!!

Let us directly look at the references to Vedic people in Avesta-

• (Y.44.20) of the Gathas directly mentions Ausijas, a branch of Angirasa family.
• The Angirasa family is always condemned and called Angra Manyu or bad spirit and also Karpana, which is a derogatory term.
• The term Anu got itself replicated for a region in Afghanistan called Anauon
• Bhargavas were the priests of the Anus and their names are used interchangeably in the Rigveda RV(5.31.4) with RV(4.16.20) or RV(7.18.14) with RV(7.18.6)
• Ahur Mazda who led the Avestans out of their land Airyana Vaejah says Angra Manyu had created severe cold due to which they had to leave. 
• It is mentioned that Zaruthustra had a debate with a person called Nadhyaongha Goetema which is clearly Nodhas Gautama. And the Rigveda also confirms this part of history as we saw that indeed Somaka had gone to Afghanistan for war with the Gautama family of rishis.
• We know that Kavasha Ailusha was a person who fought against Sudas. This name Kavash also appears in the Avesta. We know Kavi Chayamana was also against Sudas. If these names are combined to Kavi Kavasha, then it sounds similar to Kavi Kavata, the founder of the Avestan dynasty.
• The Avestan people call themselves Dah ( Das), Dahyu ( Dasyu) and Ahur ( Asur) proudly who were enemies in the Rigveda
• Also, Indra who is a Deva in Rigveda is ridiculed in Avesta by calling him Andra. The Daeva ( Devas) are their enemy

This gives us a clear indication that indeed the Avestan people were those who migrated from India after the war of 10 kings. These people were Anus which can be proven from their journey to Afghanistan-

First the Avesta tells they were present in Airyana Vaejah which we have shown to be Kashmir. And as stated, even the Purans tell us that Anus were indeed ruling the Kashmir area. Then the Avesta says they shifted to the region of HaptaHandu or Sapta Sindhu or Punjab. And the Puranic history tells us that during the era of Ikshavku king Mandhata, the Druhyus who were then ruling in Punjab were pushed back by him to the far north-west and the vacant place in the Punjab was occupied by Anus who established Kekaya, Madra, Shivi kingdoms there.

So we can scrutinize the different periods of the Anu migrations with respect to the Rigvedic era-

• Pre-Rigvedic period

The Anus were living in Kashmir. The Avesta was not in existence and very early hymns of Rigveda were in existence

• Early Rigvedic period

The Anus found vacant space in Punjab due to Mandhata's war with the Druhyus and they shifted to Punjab or Sapta Sindhu, The Avesta was not composed in this time but the Avestans remember this period as their stay in the Hapta-Handu area. In this era, the Anus were in cordial relations with the Bharatas. They even had fought the Hariyupiya war together against the Yadus and Turvasus.

• Middle Rigvedic period

This was the era of king Sudas when the relations between the Anus and Bharatas declined and they went on war. The Anus were defeated and some of them left India and went further west to Afghanistan. This is the early era of the Avesta. Zaruthustra was existing in there times when he had a debate with Nodhas Gautama. Sudas's grandson Somaka also went to Afghanistan and had war with the Avestan people. This era was the times of tension.

• Late Rigvedic period

In this era, majority of the Rigved was composed and the Avesta was halfway composed. In this era, the Avestan people got their separate land and the tensions got reduced between them and the Vedic people. Soon everything was forgotten. A new religion of Zoroastrianism had been born in Iran.

One war, and so much effects. And the most positive point of this war description is that we end up proving that the movement of people was from India to central Asia and not vice versa as stated by the Aryan Invasion Theory.

The Battle of Ten Kings- Dashradnya Yuddha

Apart from religious hymns in the praise of Devas like Indra, Varuna, Agni, Soma, the Rigved also contains precious information on certain events that have occurred during it' era. The events like wars, donations to rishis, mentioning certain names of rishis and kings are a regular occurance in Rigved. This makes it an important scripture which has historical data in it.
     The major event in the Rigved is indeed of the Battle of 10 kings or Dasharadnya Yuddha (दाशराज्ञ युद्ध) and the hero of this war is king Sudas of North Panchal kingdom, the ancestor of Draupadi.
Apart from details of what happened in the war, the information is precise enough to tell us what caused the war and where the war took place.

The reason behind the war
The reason behind the war is the rivalry between Vishwamitra and Vasishtha.
As we have seen in Proving the Out of India Theory 5 the Vishwamitras from the earliest times were related to the kings of Purus and Panchalas who are called Bharatas in general. Sudas himself was a Bharata. The profuse references to places in Haryana and hymns in the praise of Sudas prove the same. Specifically, the hymn RV(3.53) composed by Vishwamitra himself praises Sudas and tells us that with the help of Vishwamitras, Sudas had reached the Sindhu river, crossed it and had done a huge Yagya there. The Brihad Devata tells us even the Vasishthas were present there.Along with Vishwamitras, the Jamadagnis were also present. Because of some dispute between some Jamadagnis and Shaktyas ( descendants of Vasishthas's son Shakti), some Jamadagnis fainted. This caused them to utter curses which also find place in RV(3.53). These curses are called Sasarpari (ससर्परी).
Also, we know that before the era of Sudas, the Vasishthas were more or less related to Ikshvakus in Ayodhya or central Indian Yadus. But soon, the relations between Vishwamitras and Sudas began to deteriorate. During the same time, a Vasishtha named Shreshthabhaj was the priest of the Ikshvaku king Kalmashpada. Because of his rivalry with Vasishtha, Vishwamitra sent some Danavas to cook meat for Vasishtha and feed him through king Kalmashpada. The same Vishwamitra had killed Vasishtha's 100 sons along with Shakti,his eldest son. Such was the rivalry between them.
With the Vasishtha getting closer to Sudas and the consequent jealousy of Vishwamitra resulted in Vishwamitra leaving Sudas and consolidating a group of 10 kings and pitching them against Sudas. Hence this war is known as Battle of 'Ten' Kings.
The other people who were involved against Sudas are Kavasha Ailusha and Kavi Chaymana.
Kavash Ailusha himself was against Sudas whereas his son Tura Kavasheya had crowned King Janmajeya II of Puru dynasty. Talking of Kavi Chayamana, he was the descendant of Abhyavartin Chayamana who is mentioned by Bharadvaja in RV(6.27.8) as a Parthav ( or descendant of Pruthu) and was an Anu king and had fought the Hariyupiya war from the side of the Bharatas. But see how politics changes- Abhyavartin was allied to the Bharatas, but his descendant Kavi fought against the Bharata king Sudas !!!

This war is so famous that there is an animation movie made on it.

War Description
The war is described properly in the hymns RV(7.18), (7.19), (7.33 )composed by Vasishtha.For obvious reason ,it has to be Vasishtha who will praise Sudas since it was his rival Vishwamitra who had pitched 10 kings against Sudas.
    According to RV(7.18.5) the war took place on the banks of the river Parushni (Ravi) in Punjab. Following were the enemies of Sudas-

• Paktha  RV(7.18.7)
• Bhalanas  RV(7.18.7)
• Alina  RV(7.18.7)
• Vishanin  RV(7.18.7)
• Shivi  RV(7.18.7)
• Turvasha  RV(7.18.6)
• Matsya  RV(7.18.6)
• Bhrugu  RV(7.18.6)
• Druhyu  RV(7.18.6)
• Vaikarnas  RV(7.18.11) ( 21 in number)
• Anus  RV(7.18.13)
• Pruthus (which includes Kavi Chayamana)   RV(7.18.8)
• Parshus  RV(7.83.1)
• Simyu  RV(7.18.5)

These all were segregated under 10 kings for the war. Along with this, there were many other enemies with whom Sudas fought the war on the banks of Yamuna. They were

• Yakshas  RV(7.18.19)
• Shigrus  RV(7.18.19)
• Aja  RV(7.18.19)

and whose leader was a king called Bheda (भेद)   RV(7.18.19)
There were other enemies who had attacked on the Vasishthas-

• Yudhyamadhi, who were killed by drowning   RV(7.18.24)
• Trushnaj  RV(7.33.5)

The only known ally of Sudas in this war were Trutsu people (Ikshvakus)

Now after knowing the participants of the war, let us now see how the war took place.

The war was started on the banks of the river Parushni. RV(7.18.8) records that the banks of the Parushni were broken and badly damaged by the enemies. The war was a big one and Sudas and his army fought bravely. The enemies were destroyed and finally Sudas won the war, Later on, he had to fight Aja,Shigru and Yakshas on the Yamuna and he defeated them too. They had to pay a war revenue to Sudas.

Sudas emerged as a winner of the war. A total of 6666 people were killed in the war as mentioned in RV(7.18.14).

He donated handsome gifts to the Vasishthas as mentioned in RV(7.18.22-25)

Dasharadnya and Aryan Invasion Theory

We have seen the hymn composed by Vishwamitra RV(3.53) where he mentions that he had helped Sudas to CROSS THE SINDHU RIVER and had done a holy yagya. Now this info has been used by the Aryan Invasion Theory (AIT) propagandists to prove their point. They feel this event of Sudas crossing Sindhu was the 'actual' event of the invasion of the Aryans. They feel that later on Sudas allied with another 'aryan', Vasishtha with the help of whom fought the Dasharadnya war. Such can be the level of scholarship that they can't even think beyond their decided principles.

Since an argument has been made in the favor of AIT, we must refute it too..

A thing of common sense is that Sindhu river can be crossed from east to west or west to east. The assumption made by the AIT scholars is that Sudas crossed Sindhu from west to east. This is not the case. The simple reason for this is based on the geographical data of the Kingdoms provided by the Puranas.

The Puranas tell us that Sudas was the king of North Panchala, a kingdom present in the doab region of Ganga ans Saraswati i,e today's East Haryana and plains of western UP. And it's not that Sudas was the first to come and live there. Right from the time of Nila Ajamidha, who was the starter of this kingdom, the kings of this dynasty have been ruling the area mentioned above.

So if Sudas had actually crossed the Sindhu, in his conquest for new land, he had done that from east to west. This is exactly opposite of what AIT followers believe.

The effects of the Dashradnya war are quite important and require a lot of space. I will deal with them in detail in my next post Effects of the War of 10 kings (Dashradnya Yuddha)

33 Crore Gods ????

The very distinguishing factor that makes Hinduism stand out from other Abrahmic religions is our Polytheism and the splendid variety in the Gods we worship. Every Hindu might be having some or the other God which is totally unique to his area and culture. Not to forget the highly appraised freedom in Hinduism which permits us to worship any God that we like provided his worship falls within the prescribed rituals in the Purans and the Brahmanas.
       According to the popular belief, Hinduism consists of 33 crore Gods which are worshiped in various forms or other. But they really are of that huge number? I will start sweating till I reach a count of 50 or 60. Forget 33 crore..!!!!

Different Gods at Vishvaroop Darshan. But are these 33 crore in number?

 The fact of the matter is, there exist NO 33 crore Gods.. The exact word that occurs in the Vedas for 'crore' is Koti (कोटी) which in many languages like Marathi literally indicate the numerical value of crore. But are we really to take that meaning?
If we go deep in the language of Sanskrit, we understand that the word Koti indeed does mean 'crore' but more correctly, it means 'types'. So 33 Koti Gods means 33 types or families of Gods.
Accepting this, then who are those 33 'families' of Gods which we have?  Plus, do Gods like Durga, Gnpati, Skanda,etc have any place in that?

So here are the 33 families of Gods- 12 Adityas + 11 Rudras + 8 Vasus + 2 Ashwini Kumar = 33 Families
The last two families of Ashwini Kumar are replaced by Indra and Prajapati sometimes. But this seems improbable since Indra or Prajapati was a general post with many people being named as Indra or Prajapati at many times.

Let us see these people in detail-
12 Adityas or द्वादशादित्य are the sons of Aditi and hence called Adityas. The names of these 12 Adityas are Tvashta (त्वष्ट), Pusha (पूषा ), Vivasvan (विवस्वान), Mitra (मित्र ), Dhata (धाता), Vishnu (विष्णू), Bhaga (भग), Varuna (वरुण), Savitru (सवितृ ), Shakra (शक्र ), Ansha (अंश ) and Aryama (अर्यमा). The Rigveda has just eight of these Adityas with certain Brahmanas mentioning all 12 of them. The Puranas unanimously mention the number to be 12. Their mother Aditi along with these are praised in the Rigveda as proper Gods. These were the sons of Kashyapa rishi. One of these Aditya, Vivasvan was the father of Vaivasvat Manu from whom the genealogies of kings started.

11 Rudras or एकादशरुद्र are those Rudraganas who are said to have originated from Brahmadeva's anger. Their names are Manyu (मन्यु), Manu (मनु), Mahinas (महिनस ), Mahan (महान ), Shiv (शिव ), Rutudhvaj (ऋतुध्वज ), Ugrareta (उग्ररेता ), Bhava (भव), Kaal (काल ), Vamdev (वामदेव) and Dhrutavrat (धृतव्रत). Their names vary in different scriptures but the number remains same.

8 Vasus or अष्टवसू are sons bron from Dharma rishi and Vasu. Their names are Drona (द्रोण ), Pran (प्राण ), Dhruva (ध्रुव ), Aka (अक), Agni(अग्नी), Dosha (दोष), Vasu (वसू) and Vibhavasu (विभावसु ).

The 2 Ashwini Kumars were born from the Sun and were the doctors of the Devas. These tow had helped Chyavan Bhargav rishi to regain his youth.

If we see, many scriptures do clarify on the truth of these 33 families of Gods. If one observes, major Gods like Brahma, Vishnu, Ganpati, Shakti,etc don't find place in here. It seems these 33 families of Gods were the oldest and were worshiped but got replaced by Gods having a larger role to play in our lives. But over time the meaning of 'koti' got changed and we started to believe that there were indeed 33 crore Gods.

With time, we believed a cow has 33 crore Gods residing in it.

But does that really matter ? Because looking at the current state, we have at least 100 Gods which are worshiped in some form or other. THAT is our real asset- Our Polytheism and the overwhelming tolerance of people worshiping different Gods. This ability of ours has led us to believe that the whole world is ours. Because, after all, Every type of worship leads to the same thing- Paramatma or Brahman..

|| एकं सत् विप्र बहुदा वदन्ति ||

Yagya - A ritual or culture?

The sole picture of ancient India that arises when one tries to imagine the Vedic era is that of few white bearded rishis sitting in front of a pit and offering oblations to the fire. Frankly, our mythological serials in the 1990s are also responsible for creating such a picture that Yagyas was a sort of ritual. And how can we forget? Our very great Communist historians are the main players in the character assassination of our ancestors and branding them as ritualistic, blind faith affected people.

Busy in a Yagya

Yagya, for that matter,is a system developed for pleasing the Devas but also has many variants including a Yagya for cooking and a Yagya for all 16 sanskars of Hindus.In a Yagya, we have to offer an oblation, let it be ghee,milk, cakes of cereals, Soma,etc. And this oblation is not done just by sitting there. An important condition for this is chanting of the Vedic mantras, Samantrakam समन्त्रकं,with the Mantas, as they call it. These Mantras are well documented in the Rigveda.
              
The Englishmen translated the word Yagya as 'sacrifice' which in itself is a blatant mistake. Yagya was never meant for any sacrifice of animals.It was a simple system of pleasing the Gods into which animal sacrifice found place, which is no doubt not a right thing. But branding the whole system as an outrageous way of pleasing the Gods, is itself outrageous.If one really tries to see the intricacies of a Yagya, then one will come to know the amount of perfection and the amount of brains that have gone in framing the smallest of things. Take for example, the fire in the Yagya. Now one would imagine that the rishis would be bringing some random logs of wood and burning them. But instead, the fire is of a particular wood and that too of 3 types- Garhapatya, Ahavaniya and Dakshinagni. (गार्हपत्य, आहवानीय, दक्षिणाग्नि ). Even the fire altar's dimensions, it's height from the ground,etc are fixed and find place in the Apastamba and Baudhayana Sulva Sutras.
                   
And even the Yagya does not take place without some specially qualified people who conduct it- The Hota, Udgata and the Adhvaryu. The Hota is skilled in Rigved and recites the mantras line by line. The Udgata is a Samved expert who recites the same mantras but with a musical tune called Chhanda whereas the Adhvaryu is an expert in Yajurved who knows about the small technicalities of a Yagya and also controls the Yagya till it ends.
                   
Samveda in particular has a relation with this whole Yagya system. Because due to this system, the whole stream of Indian classical music was developed. Mantras in a Yagya cannot be recited as they are since they are too many and it sounds boring. Hence was felt the need to give a rhyme to these mantras which gave rise to Samved. Samved has almost all it's verses common to Rigved but are given a particular rhyme called Chhanda. Different Chhandas include Gayatri, Trishtup, Anushtup, Brihadrati,etc. 
For example there are 3 verses A,B,C and I want to multiply them to 15 verses. So I sing them as- 
A A A B C    A B B B C   A B C C C. This forms one chhanda or style of reciting. 

This also proves the brilliant practice of the then Brahmins in reciting thousands of these mantras, sometimes overnight. And even in this overnight chanting, certain adjustments were made.Now obviously I would fall asleep while chanting these mantras overnight. So what to do? Simple- Sit on a swing and keep swinging overnight while chanting the mantras !!!! Simple adjustments assimilated into a complex culture.Returning to Samved, we find that for chanting these verses, our 7 Swaras were developed- Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni Sa- although we find them in different names. The reader would be surprised to know that a separate UpaVeda of the Samved called the Gandharva Ved exists which specifically deals with music and it's different Ragas and Talas. So much of advancement, and that too originating for the sake of singing the mantras properly in a Yagya !!!!! And with singing comes dancing. There is a ritual that if the person for whom the Yagya is conducted is rich, he can bring his 50 Dasis who with pots on their heads can dance beautifully around the Yagya altar.

TYPES OF YAGYAS

There are different types of Yagyas conducted for different purposes

• Agnishtoma- It's a kind of Somyaga
• Vajpeya- It is done for maintaining harmony with neighboring states.
• Ashvamedha- It is done to usurp power of other kingdoms. Done by Lord Ram.
• Rajsuya- Done for becoming the Samrat of India. Done by Yudhishthira
• Naramedh- Done by sacrificing  humans to please Varun. Half completed by king Harishchandra
• Putrakameshthi- Done for getting an offspring. Done by Dashrath to get Ram and 3 other sons

Agnihotra is a yagya done twice in a day

A special kind of Yagya called as Atiratra is done for bringing rains. It is a 12 day ritual. This was successfully performed in Panjal, Kerala in 1975 as well as in 2011.

Rains at the end of Atiratra in 2011, Panjal, Kerala

Unfortunately, over the years, this whole Yagya system has gone in a shell with only selected communities in Kerala performing some limited Yagyas with proper Vedic rituals and guidelines. 

CONCLUSION

Now even if this Yagya was a small ritual done to please Gods, no person in this world would have generated so much delicate rules and conditions. No variety of stuffs used, no variety in the types of Yagyas would be seen.

Since we have specialized people earning their penny from a Yagya, with art forms like music and dance getting a push and most importantly, 3 whole Vedas being composed to specilize in that subject, it can be seen that this Yagya system was indeed the CULTURE of Indians rather than being just a ritual. People got themselves involved in this. All major kings of Puranic tradition have in some or the other way performed a Yagya. Such huge popularity of a certain system can only mean it had seeped in the lives of people. It may have been started as a small ritual, but it's importance increased to such an extent that it became an important cultural facet of Vedic people.

This happened to such an extent that even the Zoroastrians who were Vedic Anus migrated to Iran also continued to worship fire as a God.. Now that's called influence..!!

The Exotic Tribes of India- Gandharva & Apsara

Perhaps Gandharvas and Apsaras are the most heard names in our lives. Every time they are called as 'celestial beings' and are dumped into mythology.But our scriptures have been kind enough to properly elaborate on these 'human beings' from which we can certainly conclude that these were normal humans with proper kingdoms and tribes.

ORIGIN

This is a bit tricky thing. We have to understand one thing. Gandharvas and Apsaras were NOT husband-wives. They were two separate tribes with certain rare cases of Apsaras and Gandharvas marrying each other like Urnayu-Menaka. Now on what basis I say this? There are two aspects to it-
First, IF Apsaras were female Gandharvas, why have both Ramayana and Mahabharata mentioned women called 'Gandharvi' meaning female Gandharva? See examples- In Mahabharata ( 4.9), after seeing her beauty, Kichaka asked Draupadi, "Are you a Yakshi,a Goddess, a Gandharvi or an Apsara?" meaning Gandharvi and Apsara were different..!! In many places Mahabharata mentions Gandharvis and makes proper distinction between Gandharvis and Apsaras. Even in Ramayana, Ravana's grandfather Rakshas Sumali had married the daughter of Narmada, a Gandharvi.

The Puranas and Mahabharata tell that the Gandharvas and Apsaras originated from Kashyapa from his wife Pradha/Muni. If one looks at the chronological tables prepared by me, Kashyapa was the grandfather of Vaivasvat Manu. So technically, there should not be a single mention of any Apsara before Vaivasvata or Kashyapa. But this is not the case. King Agnidhra had married an Apsara called Purvachitti and Prachetas Daksha had married an Apsara called Pramlocha. Looking at this inconsistency,we can say that the Gandharvas could have originated from Kashyapa but the Apsaras existed before him and their origin is not specified. The names of Apsara daughters of Kashyapa are given but we can assume that these daughters later on joined the Apsara community.

I have mentioned this earlier that for the need to prove that every living being originated from Kashyapa and his wives,even plants and trees are told to have been born from women..!!! Same happened with Apsara.
So it is fixed that Apsara as a community was existing even before Kashyapa while Gandharvas could possibly have originated from Kashyapa.
Mahabharata (2.11) mentions 27 different tribes of Gandharvas and Apsaras.

But one question remains, if the scriptures name both male and female Gandharvas, but why do they call Apsaras as females only? Meaning if Apsara community was only of females, how did that community propagate through the ages? The answer might be that Apsara was not a homogeneous community but was made up of girls from other exotic tribes since the work of Apsaras was to dance and entertain.Even the scriptures say that Apsaras had the freedom of choice and no confinement in choosing their mate.

KINGDOM

There was no specific kingdom of Gandharvas. They are mentioned to be there in Lanka and also in different Yaksha and Rakshas kingdoms in Himalayas. They are under Kubera and guard the gold mines of Yakshas.They are also mentioned to be living in Uttar Kuru kingdom beyond the Himalayas. Also, in the Mahabharata, Gandharva kingdoms are said to be existing in the Saraswati basin when Balarama had visited various teethas on the Saraswati. A connection of Gandhara kingdom with Gandharvas needs to be examined.

FAMOUS GANDHARVAS-

Following are the famous Gandharvas in history-  

• Vishvavasu - He is probably the oldest Gandharva mentioned. He existed during Ram's era. He is the composer of Rigveda ( 10.139) by the name Vishvavasu Devgandharva. Valmiki Ramayana says that Malyavan, Ravana's granduncle had married his daughter Anala to Vishvavasu. So Vishvavasu is 1 generation prior to Ram. He had a daughter called Pramadwara raised by Sthulakesha rishi and married to Ruru rishi. An incomplete genealogy of Ruru rishi is given. He is said to be the descendant of Gritsamada rishi who was amlsot 20-25 generations before him but only 12-13 names are given in the genealogy. It goes thus- Gritsamada->Sucheta->Varcha->Vihavya ->Vitatya ->Satya-> Santa ->Shrava ->Tama ->Prakash ->Vageendra ->Pramati ->Ruru

• Chitraratha - He is said to be the ruler of Gandharvas. He is said to be the son of Pradha and Kashyapa.

• Chitrangada - He was a king among the Gandharvas. He had a contention that only one person with name Chitrangada should exist so he had fought a war and killed the Kuru king Chitrangada, grandfather of Pandavas.

• Tumvuru - He and Chitrasena had taught Arjuna the art of music and dance when he was at Indra's abode. Arjuna used this knowledge to become a Kinnara in court of Matsya during his Adnyat-Vasa of 1 year.

• Shailusha - Valmiki Ramayana ( Uttar Kand 100) says that the Gandhara kings in north west were in fact the descendants of Shailush Gandharva.

• Dhritarashtra - He was sent by Indra as a messenger to the yagya started by Vaishali king Marutta and Samvarta rishi, the brother of Brihaspati.

FAMOUS APSARAS-

• Urvashi - She was the wife of Pururavas Aila. His and her conversation is recorded in Rigved (10.95). She is said to have married him on the condition that she would never see him nude except during sex. Her Gandharva companions made Pururavas flout this condition and she left him.

• Menaka - She was the mother of Shakuntala. She begot Shakuntala when she had come to disrupt Vishvamitra's penance. She abandoned Shakuntala who was taken care by Kanva, a rishi in the family of Kashyapa.

• Purvachitti - She is considered to be the best of Apsaras. She was the wife of king Agnidhra and from her he begot 9 sons between whom the Jambudweepa was divided.

• Alambusha - She was the wife of the Vaishali king Trinavindu.

CULTURE

The Gandharvas and Apsaras were related to each other because the Gandharvas used to sing and play beautifully on which the Apsaras used to dance. All scriptres at lenght descirbe the beautiful voice of Gandharvas and the beauty of Apsaras. A separate upa-veda called Gandharva Veda which deals with all forms of Music. Dhritarashtra and Manthara were told to be born from Gandharvas. There is a separate style of marriage called Gandharva-vidhi where the bride and the groom themselves choose their mate without the consent of their parents. These Gandharvas had attacked the Kauravas during the Mahabharata war. There is a specific type of gold called Jambunada from which Yakshas, Gandharvas,Apsaras, etc used to make their ornaments.Gandharvas are also said to be very powerful warriors who don't fear any king.

The Exotic Tribes of India- Kimpurusha & Kinnara

Now these two names are heard, not frequently, but at least the reader might have a slight idea of these names. When the scriptures take names of exotic tribes, these two names are always there- Kinnaras and Kimpurushas.
The reason for clubbing these two is because these two show a lot of common geography and common references.

ORIGIN AND GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION

The origin of Kinnaras is not specified but that of Kimpurushas is told to be Pulaha rishi, a saptarshi in the Swayambhuva Manvantara. ( Mahabharata 1.66). Now whether truly the Kimpurushas originated from Pulaha rishi or it was just an effort to prove that everyone evolved from Swayambhuva Manu and Saptarshis, we don't know. But the Bhagvata Puran provies some input. It says that Agnidhra, the son of Priyavrata placed at Sr.no 3 in the chronological tables prepared by me, had 9 sons namely Kimpurusha,Ketumal, Bhadrashva,Nabha, Ramyak,Harivarsh,Ilavritta, Kuru and Hiranmaya. Agnidhra divided his kingdom Jambudweepa into 8 parts and gave one kingdom to each out of which the part beyond Kailasa was given to Kimpurusha and was called Kimpurushvarsha. This info is quite true since even the wives of these 9 sons are given as also the family line of Agnidhra continued through Nabhi is also given. Quite possibly Kinnaras were the local people living there and then after Kimpurush was given that area, they intermixed not only with the Kimpurushas but also with Vidyadharas, Siddhas, Gandharvas and Apsaras.

The Kinnaras and Kimpurushas are the most left out people when it comes to references. The primary reference of them comes when the Puranas describe the geography of Jambudweep saying that there is a country called Kimpurushvarsha lying beyond the Kailasa where the Kinnaras and Kimpurushas live.
The Kimpurushas thus have a fixed territory of Kimpurushvarsha but the Kinnaras are also mentioned to be living along with Yakshas and Gandharvas in certain places like (Mahabharata 3.139).

Thus the exotic tribes were quite intermixed and lived in common areas and kingdoms. The major places of Kinnaras and Kimpurushas were Gandhamadan and Mandara mountains to the north of Kailash mountains and to the east of Meru. The Ramayana also mentions that along with the Yakshas and Rakshasas, Gandharvas, Kinnaras and Kimpurushas were also living in Lanka under Kubera.

The etymology of Kinnara and Kimpurusha is quite same owing to the fact that the Vedic people thought that they were half men and half lion. This happened because the Kinnaras and Kimpurushas were quite cut-off from the Vedic civilization in mainland India.In some places, the Kinnaras are mentioned to be one of the sub-tribe within the Gandharvas ( MBh 2.10).This shows the intermixing within them. All these tribes are clearly under the sway of Kubera since in many places in Mahabharata, it is mentioned that Kubera was their head.

NAMES

Very less names are available of Kinnaras and Kimpurushas in different scriptures. In many places Ramayana and Mahabharata just mention them collectively but refrain to give nay name. A slight insight in the Kinnara and Kimpurusha world comes from Mahabharata ( 2.10) where the kings of these people are mentioned. It says that Bhagadatta leads the Kinnaras, Druma the Kimpurushas. Also, Mahabharata ( 2.27) says Arjuna had defeated Durmaputra, a Kimpurusha during the Rajasuya campaign. (2.43) mentions that Druma was present during the Rajasuya Yagya of Yudhisthira. Another information that I get from Wikipedia is that Rukmi, the king of Vidarbha was a disciple of Drona, a Kimpurusha.

WHAT THEY DID

The Kimpurushas and Kinnaras were under the sway of Kubera. Mahabharat (14.63) tells us that the gold mines of Yakshas in Himalayas were guarded properly by the Kinnaras.
The main reason why one remembers the Kinnaras is their phenomenal ability to sing beautifully. Mahabharata says that once you venture into Kinnara territory you will find beautiful Kinnara women (Kinnari) along with female Vidyadharas singing sweetly. Arjuna also had taken the form of a Kinnara to teach music to Matya king's daughter.Thus the Kinnaras are always remembered of having sweet voices.This also gives us the clue of why these people were closely related to Gandharvas and Apsaras since even the later two were involved in music and dance. Bhagvata Purana says that Ram was worshiped in the Kimpurushvarsha.