Most Ancient Aryan Society

Author(s): Ram Chandra Jain
Publisher: Institute of Bharatalogical Research Sriganganagar Rajasthan

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mean father, owner or the occupier of the chariot implying thereby the military leader who occupies the chariot. This old Ķc recollects the memory of a war between two Vrātas. The military leader of the Vrāta organisation was known as Vrātaspati who conquered the hostile Vrāta.
Gaņa and Vrāta are referred to in Rgveda as two institutions simultaneously existing. It appears that during peace times, some of the War-time Vrātas continued to carry on as before while some Vrātas disintergrated into Gaņas ; the necessity of joining together being over. Maruts were Ganapatis and perhaps Vrātaspatis also. They are the dispensers of unfailing wealth. They actually participated in the Yajñas of the Gaņas and Vrātas." Rgveda also refers to Panchayrātāḥ. Sāyaṇa comments the word as 'Pañcha Janā manusyā' and H. H. Wilson translates the word as five kindred sacrificing races. Whether this work PanchaVrātāḥ refers to the aforesaid Pañcha-Janāḥ is not clear from the context. Perhaps both are different. Even assuming both to be identical ; the sense of 'group' is quite clear, Pañchajanāḥ as discussed earlier were pre-Aryan Bhāratiya republics who were composed of different units. Brahmāryns kew the institution formed of the composition of various units as Vrāta and they gave the same term during the ritualisation period to the similar institution, though not in essentials, of their adversaries who later coalesced with them. Vrāta, in essence, definitely means here a group formed of independent separate units.
Words Gana and Vrāta occur together in two hymns.? In both the contexts, they signify two separate institutions. Sāyaṇa interprets the word Vrāta as Group or Troop and the word Gaņa as a unit formed of seven Samudāyas. Wilson translates the word Vrāta as Assembly or Troop and