THE VEDAS

VEDAS

1.  The Vedas are considered the earliest literary record of Indo- Aryan civilization, and the most sacred books of India.

2.  They are original scriptures of Hindu teachings and contain spiritual knowledge encompassing all aspects of our life.

3.  Veda means wisdom, knowledge or vision, and it manifests the language of the gods in human speech.

4.  The laws of the vedas regulate the social, legal, domestic and religious customs of the Hindus to the present day.

5.  All the obligatory duties of the Hindus at birth, marriage, death etc owe their allegiance to the vedic ritual.

6.  It is believed that humans did not compose the revered compositions of the vedas, which were handed down through generations by the word of mouth from time immemorial.

7.  The Vedas were mainly compiled by Vyasa Krishna Dwaipayana around the time of Lord Krishna.

Classification

There are four Vedas:-

- Rig-Veda

- Sama Veda

- Yajur Veda

- Atharva Veda

The Rig Veda:  The Book of Mantra

1.  It is a collection of inspired songs or hymns and is a main source of information on the Rig Vedic Civilization.

2.  It is the oldest book in any Indo-European language and contains the earliest form of all sanskrit mantras that date back to 1500BC-1000BC.

3.  The Rig- Vedic 'samhita' or collection of mantras consists of 1028 hymns  covering about 10,600 stanzas, divided into eight 'astakas' each having eight 'adhayayas' or chapters which are subdivided into various groups.

4.  The hymns are the work of many rishis.

5.  There are seven primary rishis: Atri, Kanwa, Vashishta, Vishwamitra, Jamadagni, Gotama and Bharadwaja.

6.  The Rig-Veda accounts in detail the social, religious, political and economic background of the Rig-Vedic civilization.

The Sama Veda:  The Book of Song

1.  It is a purely liturgical collection of melodies. The hymns in the Sama Veda, used as musical notes, were almost completely drawn from the Rig Veda and have no distinctive lessons of their own.

2.  Sama Veda is a reduced version of the Rig Veda.

The Yajur Veda:  The Book of Ritual

1.  It is also a liturgical collection and was made to meet the demands of a ceremonial religion.

2.  Its a practical guidebook for the priests who execute sacrificial acts muttering simultaneously the prose prayers and the sacrificial formulae.

3.  There are six complete recessions of Yajur Veda- Madyandina, Kanva, Taittiriya, Kathaka, Maitrayani and Kapishthala.

The Atharva Veda:  The Book of Spell

1.  Its hymns are of more diverse character than the Rig Veda and also simpler in language.

2.  The Atharva Veda consists of spells and charms to ward of evils, and portrays a clearer picture of the Vedic society.