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The Vedas (Sanskrit: वेद) are the main scriptural texts
of Hinduism, also known as the Sanatana Dharma, and are
a large corpus of texts originating in Ancient India.
The Vedas, regarded as śruti ("that which is heard"),
form part of an oral tradition in the form of an ancient
teacher-disciple tradition. As per Hindu tradition the
Vedas were 'revealed' to the Rishis referred to in the
texts, not composed or written by them.[1] Even though
many historians have tried to affix dates to the Vedas
there is as yet no common consensus as there is for the
scriptures of other religions. The Vedas are arguably
the oldest surviving scriptures in the world. The
Vedanta and Mimamsa schools of Hindu philosophy assert
that the Vedas are apaurusheya ("unauthored"), that is,
they have neither human nor divine origin, and are
eternal in nature.[2] As per Hindu tradition, the sage
Vedavyasa divided the Vedas into Rig-Veda, Yajur-Veda,
Sama-Veda and Atharva-Veda at the beginning of the Kali
Yuga.
The
Rig-Veda
Thus Indra personified thunder, Agni fire, Varuna the
sea, Surya the sun, Ushas the dawn, the Maruts the
storm, and others were of a somewhat similar character.
Indra was the favourite god of the Vedic Aryans; almost
one fourth of all the hymns in the Rig-Veda are
addressed to him and they are among the best in the
collection. Next to Indra stands Agni. Many hymns are in
honour of Soma. Other gods invoked are the two Ashins,
somewhat resembling the Diocsuri of ancient Greece, the
terrible Rudra, Parjanya the rain-god, Vayu the
wind-god, Surya the sun-god, Pushan the protector of
roads and stray kine. Prayers are also addressed to
groups of divinities like the Adityas and the Vishve
Devas (all the gods). Only a few hymns sing the praise
of Vishnu and of shiva in his earlier form as Rudra,
though these two deities became later the chief gods of
the Hindu pantheon. Goddesses play a small part, only
Ushas, the goddess of dawn, has some twenty hymns in her
honour; these poems are of exceptional literary merit.
The poetry of the Rig-Veda is neither popular nor
primitive, as it has been erroneously considered, but is
the production of a refined sacerdotal class and the
result of a long period of cultural development. It was
intended primarily for use in connection with the Soma
sacrifice, and to accompany a ritual, which, though not
so complicated as at the time of the Brahmanas, was far
from simple. The Rig-Veda has come down to us in only
one recension, that of the Shakala school. Originally
there were several schools: The "Mahabhashya" (great
commentary), about the second century B.C., knows of
twenty-one, while some later writings know of two only.
In these schools the transmission of the hymns was most
carefully attended to; a most elaborate mnemonic system
was devised to guard against any changes in the sacred
text, which has thus come down to us practically without
variants.
The
Yajur-Veda
There are two primary collections or samhitas of the
Yajurveda: Shukla (white) and Krishna (black). Both
contain the verses necessary for rituals, but the
Krishna Yajurveda has additional prose commentary and
detailed instructions within the work itself.
Each of the recensions has a Brahmana associated with
it, and some of them also have associated Shrautasutras,
Grhyasutras, Aranyakas, Upanishads and Pratishakhyas.
The
Sama- Veda
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The
Rig-Veda ("Veda of verses"; from ric, or before sonants
rig, "laudatory stanza") is the oldest and most
important of these collections. In its present form it
contains 1028 hymns (including eleven supplementary ones
in the eighth book), arranged in ten mandalas (cycles),
or books, which vary in extent, only the first and tenth
being approximately equal. The poems themselves are of
different authorship and date from widely different
periods. The actual date of these ancient scriptures is
a nebulous topic. Yet, the description of an extremely
cold climate leads some to believe that the Vedas are
close to 20,000 years old, but there are some modern
scholars who think that the number is exaggerated and
should be about 5000. No matter what the age, it is the
belief by many these texts were and are the oldest in
the world. They express philosophies, realities and
truths about life. The texts themselves show that the
collection is the result of the work of generations of
poets, extending over many centuries. Books II to VII
inclusive are each the work of a single poet, or rishi
(seer), and his descendants; hence they are aptly called
"family books". Book III is attributed to the family of
Vishvamitra, IV to that of Vamadeva, V to that of
Vasishtha. The hymns in books I and X are all composed
by different families. The ninth consists exclusively of
hymns addressed to Soma, the deified plant, the juice of
which was used for the Soma sacrifice. Books II to VII
are the oldest, and book X the most recent, in point of
origin.
The Yajurveda (Sanskrit यजुर्वेदः yajurveda, a
tatpurusha compound of yajus "sacrifice" + veda
"knowledge") is one of the four Hindu Vedas. It contains
religious texts focusing on liturgy, rituals and
sacrifices, and how to perform the same.
The
Samaveda (Sanskrit: सामवेद, sāmaveda, a tatpurusha
compound of sāman "ritual chant" + veda "knowledge" ),
is third in the usual order of enumeration of the four
Vedas, the ancient core Hindu scriptures.
The
Atharvaveda (Sanskrit: अथर्ववेद, atharvavéda, a
tatpurusha compound of atharvān, a type of priest, and
veda meaning "knowledge") is a sacred text of Hinduism,
and one of the four Vedas, often called the "fourth
Veda". According to tradition, the Atharvaveda was
mainly composed by two groups of rishis known as the
Bhrigus and the Angirasas. Additionally, tradition
ascribes parts to other rishis, such as Kauśīka,
Vaśīṣṭha and Kashyapa. There are two surviving
recensions (śākhās), known as Śaunakiya (AVS) and
Paippalāda (AVP).