Veda" redirects here. For other uses, see Veda (disambiguation).

The Vedas (Sanskrit vda, "knowledge") are a large body of texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism.[1][2] The Vedas are apaurueya ("not of human agency").[3][4][5] They are supposed to have been directly revealed, and thus are called ruti ("what is heard"),[6][7] distinguishing them from other religious texts, which are called smti ("what is remembered").The Vedic texts or ruti are organized around four canonical collections of metrical material known as Sahits, of which the first three are related to the performance of yajna (sacrifice) in historical Vedic religion: 1. The Rigveda, containing hymns to be recited by the hot; 2. The Yajurveda, containing formulas to be recited by the adhvaryu or officiating priest; 3. The Samaveda, containing formulas to be sung by the udgt. 4. The fourth is the Atharvaveda, a collection of spells and incantations, apotropaic charms and speculative hymns.[8] The individual verses contained in these compilations are known as mantras. Some selected Vedic mantras are still recited at prayers, religious functions and other auspicious occasions in contemporary Hinduism.The various Indian philosophies and sects have taken differing positions on the Vedas. Schools of Indian philosophy which cite the Vedas as their scriptural authority are classified as "orthodox" (stika). Other traditions, notably Buddhism and Jainism, which did not regard the Vedas as authorities are referred to by traditional Hindu texts as "heterodox" or "non-orthodox" (nstika) schools.[9][10] In addition to Buddhism and Jainism, Sikhism[11][12] and Brahmoism,[13] many non-Brahmin Hindus in South India [14] do not accept the authority of the Vedas. Certain South Indian Brahmin communities such as Iyengars consider the Tamil Divya Prabandham or writing of the Alvar saints as equivalent to the Vedas.[15]

The four Vedas

Rigveda (padapatha) manuscript in Devanagari, early 19th century.The canonical division of the Vedas is fourfold (turya) viz.,[34] 1. Rigveda (RV) 2. Yajurveda (YV, with the main division TS vs. VS) 3. Sama-Veda (SV) 4. Atharva-Veda (AV)

Of these, the first three were the principal original division, also called "tray vidy", that is, "the triple sacred science" of reciting hymns (RV), performing sacrifices (YV), and chanting (SV).[35][36] This triplicity is so introduced in the Brahmanas (ShB, ABr and others), but the Rigveda is the older work of the three from which the other two borrow, next to their own independent Yajus, sorcery and speculative mantras.Thus, the Mantras are properly of three forms: 1. Ric, which are verses of praise in metre, and intended for loud recitation; 2. Yajus, which are in prose, and intended for recitation in lower voice at sacrifices; 3. Sman, which are in metre, and intended for singing at the Soma ceremonies. The Yajurveda, Samaveda and Atharvaveda are independent collections of mantras and hymns intended as manuals for the Adhvaryu, Udgatr and Brahman priests respectively. The Atharvaveda is the fourth Veda. Its status has occasionally been ambiguous, probably due to its use in sorcery and healing. However, it contains very old materials in early Vedic language. Manusmrti, which often speaks of the three Vedas, calling them trayam-brahma-santanam, "the triple eternal Veda". The Atharvaveda like the Rigveda, is a collection of original incantations, and other materials borrowing relatively little from the Rigveda. It has no direct relation to the solemn rauta sacrifices, except for the fact that the mostly silent Brahmn priest observes the procedures and uses Atharvaveda mantras to 'heal' it when mistakes have been made. Its recitation also produces long life, cures diseases, or effects the ruin of enemies. Each of the four Vedas consists of the metrical Mantra or Samhita and the prose Brahmana part, giving discussions and directions for the detail of the ceremonies at which the Mantras were to be used and explanations of the legends connected with the Mantras and rituals. Both these portions are termed shruti (which tradition says to have been heard but not composed or written down by men). Each of the four Vedas seems to have passed to numerous Shakhas or schools, giving rise to various recensions of the text. They each have an Index or Anukramani, the principal work of this kind being the general Index or Sarvnukrama.

Rigveda: The Rigveda Samhita is the oldest extant Indic text.[37] It is a collection of 1,028 Vedic Sanskrit hymns and 10,600 verses in all, organized into ten books (Sanskrit: mandalas).[38] The hymns are dedicated to Rigvedic deities.[39] The books were composed by poets from different priestly groups over a period of several centuries, commonly dated to the period of roughly the second half of the 2nd millennium BCE (the early Vedic period) in the Punjab (Sapta Sindhu) region of the Indian subcontinent.[40]

There are strong linguistic and cultural similarities between the Rigveda and the early Iranian Avesta, deriving from the Proto-Indo-Iranian times, often associated with the Andronovo culture; the earliest horse-drawn chariots were found at Andronovo sites in the Sintashta-Petrovka cultural area near the Ural Mountains and date to ca. 2000 BCE.[41] Rig Veda manuscripts have been selected for inscription in UNESCO's "Memory of the World" Register 2007.[42]
Yajurveda: The Yajurveda Samhita consists of archaic prose mantras and also in part of verses borrowed and adapted from the Rigveda. Its purpose was practical, in that each mantra must accompany an action in sacrifice but, unlike the Samaveda, it was compiled to apply to all sacrificial rites, not merely the Somayajna. There are two major groups of recensions of this Veda, known as the "Black" (Krishna) and "White" (Shukla) Yajurveda (Krishna and Shukla Yajurveda respectively). While White Yajurveda separates the Samhita from its Brahmana (the Shatapatha Brahmana), the e Black Yajurveda intersperses the Samhita with Brahmana commentary. Of the Black Yajurveda four major recensions survive (Maitrayani, Katha, Kapisthala-Katha, Taittiriya). Samaveda: The Samaveda Samhita (from sman, the term for a melody applied to metrical hymn or song of praise[43]) consists of 1549 stanzas, taken almost entirely (except for 78 stanzas) from the Rigveda.[26] Like the Rigvedic stanzas in the Yajurveda, the Samans have been changed and adapted for use in singing. Some of the Rigvedic verses are repeated more than once. Including repetitions, there are a total of 1875 verses numbered in the Samaveda recension translated by Griffith.[44] Two major recensions remain today, the Kauthuma/Ranayaniya and the Jaiminiya. Its purpose was liturgical, as the repertoire of the udgt or "singer" priests who took part in the sacrifice. Atharvaveda : The Artharvaveda Samhita is the text 'belonging to the Atharvan and Angirasa poets. It has 760 hymns, and about 160 of the hymns are in common with the Rigveda.[45] Most of the verses are metrical, but some sections are in prose.[45] It was compiled around 900 BCE, although some of its material may go back to the time of the Rigveda,[46] and some parts of the Atharva-Veda are older than the Rig-Veda[45] though not in linguistic form.

The Atharvaveda is preserved in two recensions, the Paippalda and aunaka.[45] According to Apte it had nine schools (shakhas).[47] The Paippalada text, which exists in a Kashmir and an Orissa version, is longer than the Saunaka one; it is only partially printed in its two versions and remains largely untranslated. Unlike the other three Vedas, the Atharvanaveda has less connection with sacrifice.[48][49] Its first part consists chiefly of spells and incantations, concerned with protection against demons and disaster, spells for the healing of diseases, for long life and for various desires or aims in life.[45][50] The Atharvaveda is a comparatively late extension of the "Three Vedas" connected to priestly sacrifice to a canon of "Four Vedas". This may be connected to an extension of the sacrificial rite from involving three types of priest to the inclusion of the Brahman overseeing the ritual.[52] The Atharvaveda is concerned with the material world or world of man and in this respect differs from the other three vedas. Atharvaveda also sanctions the use of force, in particular circumstances and similarly this point is a departure from the three other vedas.