Those Who Give Gifts Voluntarily are Truly Rare and Great

The age-old tradition of gift-giving

- Devdutt Pattanaik

Many people think the world is unravelling itself today. Politicians insist this unravelling began a thousand years ago with the coming of Muslim warlords of Central Asia (Turuka) followed by the Europeans. But as per Sanskrit lore, this began two thousand years ago, with the arrival of another set of 'foreigners' - the Greeks (Yavanas), the Scythians (Shaka), the Parthians (Pahalava), and other Central Asian tribes (Kushana, Huna). These have been conveniently forgotten by contemporary WhatsApp and ideologically driven historians.

Vedic society was totally disrupted with the arrival of these invaders, and it led to the invention of a new concept - 'Age of Strife' or Kali Yuga, that was not found in the earlier Vedic canon. The world was falling apart for the Brahmins because Vedic fire rituals, that once served pastoralists, had lost all relevance, hence patronage.

Before 500 BCE, Indian history was firmly based in the Gangetic plains. After 500 CE, following Gupta rule, everything happened in the South the realms of the Chalukyas, the Kalachuris, the Kadambas, the Gangas, the Pallavas, the Rashtrakutas, the Cholas, the Pandyas. Brahmins serving these kings had to reinvent rituals that made sense to their new patrons, many of whom are deemed tribals, pastoralists (Shudra), and foreigners (mleccha).