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Etymology and usage

The Sanskrit word véda "knowledge, wisdom" is derived from the root vid- "to know". This is

reconstructed as being derived from the Proto-Indo-European root    -, meaning "see" or "know".[16]

 

 As a noun, the word appears only in a single instance in the Rigveda, in RV 8.19.5, translated by Griffith

as "ritual lore":

yáḥ samíhā yá âhtī / yó véna aâśa márto agnáy / yó námasā svahvaráḥ 

"The mortal who hath ministered to Agni with oblation, fuel, ritual lore, and reverence, skilled in

sacrifice."[17]

 

The noun is from Proto-Indo-European   os, cognate to Greek (ϝ)εἶδος "aspect", "form" . Not

to be confused is the homonymous 1st and 3rd person singular perfect tense véda, cognate to

Greek (ϝ)οἶδα (w)oida "I know". Root cognates are Greek ἰδέα , English wit , etc., Latin vō "I

see", etc.[18]

 

In English, the term Veda is often used loosely to refer to the Samhitas (collection of  mantras, or chants) of the four canonical Vedas (Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda and Atharvaveda).

The Sanskrit term veda as a common noun means "knowledge", but can also be used to refer to

fields of study unrelated to liturgy or ritual, e.g. in agada-veda "medical science", sasya-

veda"science of agriculture" or sarpa-veda "science of snakes" (already found in the

early Upanishads); durveda means "with evil knowledge, ignorant".[19]

 

Chronology

Main article: Vedic period  

Religious texts

   Analects (Confucianism) 

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  Ofudesaki (Tenrikyo) 

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  V 

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The Vedas are among the oldest sacred texts. The Samhitas date to roughly 1500 –1000 BCE,

and the "circum-Vedic" texts, as well as the redactionof the Samhitas, date to c. 1000-500 BCE,

resulting in a Vedic period, spanning the mid 2nd to mid 1st millennium BCE, or the Late Bronze

 Age and the Iron Age.[20]

 The Vedic period reaches its peak only after the composition of the

mantra texts, with the establishment of the various shakhas all over Northern India which

annotated the mantra samhitas with Brahmana discussions of their meaning, and reaches its end

in the age of  Buddha andPanini and the rise of the Mahajanapadas (archaeologically, Northern

Black Polished Ware). Michael Witzel gives a time span of c. 1500 BCE to c. 500-400 BCE.

Witzel makes special reference to the Near Eastern Mitanni material of the 14th century BCE the

only epigraphic record of Indo-Aryan contemporary to the Rigvedic period. He gives 150 BCE

(Patañjali) as a terminus ante quem for all Vedic Sanskrit literature, and 1200 BCE (the earlyIron

 Age) as terminus post quem for the Atharvaveda.[21]

 

Transmission of texts in the Vedic period was by oral tradition alone, preserved with precision

with the help of elaborate mnemonic techniques. A literary tradition set in only in post-Vedic

times, after the rise of  Buddhism in the Maurya period, perhaps earliest in the Kanva recension

of the Yajurveda about the 1st century BCE; however oral tradition predominated until c. 1000

CE.[22]

 

Due to the ephemeral nature of the manuscript material (birch bark or palm leaves), surviving

manuscripts rarely surpass an age of a few hundred years.[23]

 The Benares Sanskrit

University has a Rigveda manuscript of the mid-14th century; however, there are a number of 

older Veda manuscripts in Nepal belonging to the Vajasaneyi tradition that are dated from the

11th century onwards.

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The Vedic Sanskrit corpus is the scope of   A Vedic Word Concordance (Vaidika-Paānkrama-

Koṣa) prepared from 1930 under Vishva Bandhu, and published in five volumes in 1935-1965. Its

scope extends to about 400 texts, including the entire Vedic Sanskrit corpus besides some "sub-

Vedic" texts.

Volume I: SamhitasVolume II: Brahmanas and Aranyakas

Volume III: Upanishads

Volume IV: Vedangas

 A revised edition, extending to about 1800 pages, was published in 1973-1976.

Shruti literature

Main article: Shruti  

The texts considered "Vedic" in the sense of "corollaries of the Vedas" is less

clearly defined, and may include numerous post-Vedic texts such

as Upanishads or  Sutra literature. These texts are by many Hindu sects

considered to be shruti  (Sanskrit: śrt ; "the heard"), divinely revealed like the

Vedas themselves. Texts not considered to be shruti are known

as smriti  (Sanskrit: smṛt ; "the remembered"), of human origin. This indigenous

system of categorization was adopted by Max Müller  and, while it is subject to

some debate, it is still widely used. As Axel Michaels explains:

These classifications are often not tenable for linguistic and formal

reasons: There is not only one collection at any one time, but rather 

several handed down in separate Vedic schools; Upanişads ... are

sometimes not to be distinguished

from Āraṇyakas...; Brāhmaṇas contain older strata of language

attributed to the Saṃhitās; there are various dialects and locally

prominent traditions of the Vedic schools. Nevertheless, it is advisable

to stick to the division adopted by Max Müller because it follows the

Indian tradition, conveys the historical sequence fairly accurately, and

underlies the current editions, translations, and monographs on Vedic

literature."[26]

 

The Upanishads are largely philosophical works in dialog form. They discussquestions of nature philosophy and the fate of the soul, and contain some

mystic and spiritual interpretations of the Vedas. For long, they have been

regarded as their putative end and essence, and are thus known as Vedānta

("the end of the Vedas"). Taken together, they are the basis of 

the Vedanta school.

Vedic schools or recensions

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Main article: Shakha 

Study of the extensive body of Vedic texts has been organized into a number of 

different schools or branches (Sanskrit śākhā, literally "branch" or "limb") each

of which specialized in learning certain texts.[29]

 Multiple recensions are known

for each of the Vedas, and each Vedic text may have a number of schools

associated with it. Elaborate methods for preserving the text were based on

memorizing by heart instead of writing. Specific techniques for parsing and

reciting the texts were used to assist in the memorization process. (See

also: Vedic chant ) 

Prodigous energy was expended by ancient Indian culture in ensuring that

these texts were transmitted from generation to generation with inordinate

fidelity.[30]

 For example, memorization of the sacred Vedas included up to

eleven forms of recitation of the same text. The texts were subsequently "proof-

read" by comparing the different recited versions. Forms of recitation included

the jaṭā- pāṭha (literally "mesh recitation") in which every two adjacent words in

the text were first recited in their original order, then repeated in the reverse

order, and finally repeated again in the original order .[31]

 

That these methods have been effective, is testified to by the preservation of 

the most ancient Indian religious text, the Rigveda, as redacted into a single

text during the Brahmana period, without any variant readings.[31]

 

Four Vedas

Rigveda (padapatha) manuscript in Devanagari, early 19th century

Part of  a series on Hindu scriptures 

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Vedas and their  Shakhas 

Rigveda[32][show]  

Samaveda[32][show]  

Krishna Yajurveda[32][33][show]  

Shukla Yajurveda[33][show]  

Atharvaveda[33]

[show]  

Hinduism portal  

  V 

  T 

  E 

The canonical division of the Vedas is fourfold ( trīya) viz.,[34]

 

1. Rigveda (RV)

2. Yajurveda (YV, with the main division TS vs. VS) 

3. Samaveda (SV)

4.  Atharvaveda (AV)

Of these, the first three were the principal original division, also called "trayī 

vyā", 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.

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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. Sāman, which are in

metre, and intended for singing at the Somaceremonies.

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-sanātanam, "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 Śrauta sacrifices, except for the fact that

the mostly silent Brahmán 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 Sarvānkramaṇī .

Rigveda

Main article: 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 c. 2000 BCE.[41]

 

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Rigveda manuscripts were selected for inscription in UNESCO's Memory of the

World Register  in 2007.[42]

 

 Yajurveda

Main article: 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).

SamavedaMain article: Samaveda 

The Samaveda Samhita (from sāman, 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 gātṛ  or "singer" priests who took part in the sacrifice.

Atharvaveda

Main article:  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 Paippalāda andŚaunaka.[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

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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 second part of the text contains speculative and philosophical hymns.[51]

 

The Atharvaveda is a comparatively late extension of the "Three Vedas"

connected to priestly sacrifice to a canon of "Four Vedas". This may beconnected 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.

Brahmanas

Further information: Brahmanas 

The mystical notions surrounding the concept of the one "Veda" that would

flower in Vedantic philosophy have their roots already in Brahmana literature,

for example in the Shatapatha Brahmana. The Vedas are identified

with Brahman, the universal principle (ŚBM 10.1.1.8, 10.2.4.6). Vāc "speech" is

called the "mother of the Vedas" (ŚBM 6.5.3.4, 10.5.5.1). The knowledge of the

Vedas is endless, compared to them, human knowledge is like mere handfuls

of dirt (TB 3.10.11.3-5). The universe itself was originally encapsulated in the

three Vedas (ŚBM 10.4.2.22 has Prajapatir eflecting that "truly, all beings are in

the triple Veda").

Vedanta

Further information: Vedanta, Upanishads, and   Aranyakas 

While contemporary traditions continued to maintain Vedic ritualism

(Śrauta, Mimamsa), Vedanta renounced all ritualism and radically re-interpreted

the notion of "Veda" in purely philosophical terms. The association of the three

Vedas with the bhūr bhvaḥ svaḥ mantra is found in the  Aitareya Aranyaka: 

"Bhūḥ is the Rigveda, bhvaḥ is the Yajurveda, svaḥ is the Samaveda" (1.3.2).

The Upanishads reduce the "essence of the Vedas" further, to the

syllable  Aum (ॐ). Thus, the Katha Upanishad has:

"The goal, which all Vedas declare, which all austerities aim at, and which humans desire whenthey live a life of continence, I will tell you briefly it is Aum" (1.2.15)

In post-Vedic literature

Vedanga

Main article: Vedanga 

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Six technical subjects related to the Vedas are traditionally known

as vāṅga "limbs of the Veda". V. S. Apte defines this group of works as:

"N. of a certain class of works regarded as auxiliary to the Vedas

and designed to aid in the correct pronunciation and interpretation

of the text and the right employment of theMantras in

ceremonials."[53]

 

These subjects are treated in Sūtra literature dating from the end of the

Vedic period to Mauryan times, seeing the transition from late Vedic

Sanskrit to Classical Sanskrit. 

The six subjects of Vedanga are:

Phonetics (Śikṣā) 

Ritual (Kalpa) 

Grammar (Vyākaraṇa)  Etymology (Nirukta) 

Meter (Chandas) 

Astronomy (Jyotiṣa) 

Parisista

Main article: Parisista 

Parśṣṭa "supplement, appendix" is the term applied to various ancillary

works of Vedic literature, dealing mainly with details of ritual and

elaborations of the texts logically and chronologically prior to them:

the Samhitas, Brahmanas,  Aranyakas and Sutras. Naturally classified with

the Veda to which each pertains, Parisista works exist for each of the four 

Vedas. However, only the literature associated with the  Atharvaveda is

extensive.

The Āśvalāyana Gṛhya Pariśiṣṭa is a very late text associated with

the Rigveda canon.

The Gobhila Gṛhya Pariśiṣṭa is a short metrical text of two chapters,

with 113 and 95 verses respectively.

The Kātiya Pariśiṣṭas, ascribed to Kātyāyana, consist of 18 works

enumerated self-referentially in the fifth of the series

(the Caraṇavyūha)and the Kātyāyana Śrauta Sūtra Pariśiṣṭa. The Kṛṣṇa Yajurveda has 3 parisistas The Āpastamba Hautra

Pariśiṣṭa, which is also found as the second praśna of the Satyasāḍha

Śrata Sūtra', the Vārāha Śrauta Sūtra Pariśiṣṭa 

For the Atharvaveda, there are 79 works, collected as 72 distinctly

named parisistas.[54]

 

Puranas

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Main article: Puranas 

 A traditional view given in the Vishnu Purana (likely dating to the Gupta

period[55]

) attributes the current arrangement of four Vedas to the mythical

sage Vedavyasa.[56]

 Puranic tradition also postulates a single original Veda

that, in varying accounts, was divided into three or four parts. According to

the Vishnu Purana (3.2.18, 3.3.4 etc.) the original Veda was divided into

four parts, and further fragmented into numerous shakhas, by

Lord Vishnu in the form of  Vyasa, in the Dvapara Yuga; the Vayu

Purana (section 60) recounts a similar division by Vyasa, at the urging

of  Brahma. The Bhagavata Purana (12.6.37) traces the origin of the

primeval Veda to the syllable aum, and says that it was divided into four at

the start of Dvapara Yuga, because men had declined in age, virtue and

understanding. In a differing account Bhagavata Purana (9.14.43)

attributes the division of the primeval veda (aum) into three parts to the

monarch Pururavas at the beginning of  Treta Yuga. The Mahabharata

(santiparva 13,088) also mentions the division of the Veda into threein Treta Yuga.

[57] 

Upaveda

The term upaveda ("applied knowledge") is used in traditional literature to

designate the subjects of certain technical works.[58][59]

 Lists of what

subjects are included in this class differ among sources.

The Charanavyuha mentions four Upavedas:

Medicine ( Āyurveda), associated with the Rigveda

Archery (Dhanurveda), associated with the Yajurveda

Music and sacred dance (Gāndharvaveda), associated with the

Samaveda

Military science (Shastrashastra), associated with the Atharvaveda

But Sushruta and Bhavaprakasha mention Ayurveda as an upaveda of the

 Atharvaveda. Sthapatyaveda (architecture), Shilpa Shastras (arts and

crafts) are mentioned as fourth upaveda according to later sources.

In Buddhism

Buddhism does not deny that the Vedas in their true origin were sacred but

it holds that they have been amended repeatedly by certain Brahmins to

secure their positions in society. The Buddha declared that the Veda in itstrue form was declared by Kashyapa to certain rishis, who by severe

penances had acquired the power to see by divine eyes.[60]

 In the

Buddhist Vinaya Pitaka of theMahavagga (I.245)[61]

 section the Buddha

names these rishis, and declared the Vedic rishis "Atthako, Vâmako,

Vâmadevo, Vessâmitto, Yamataggi,  Angiraso, Bhâradvâjo, Vâsettho, Kass

apo, and Bhagu"[62]

 but that it was altered by a few Brahmins who

introduced animal sacrifices. The Vinaya Pitaka's section Anguttara

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Nikaya: Panchaka Nipata says that it was on this alteration of the true Veda

that the Buddha refused to pay respect to the Vedas of his time .[63]

 

 Also in the "Brahmana Dhammika Sutta" (II,7)[64]

 of the Suttanipata section

of Vinaya Pitaka[65]

 there is a story of when the Buddha was in Jetavana

village and there were a group of elderly Brahmin ascetics who sat down

next to the Buddha and a conversation began.

The elderly Brahmins asked him, "Do the present Brahmans follow the same rules, practice the

same rites, as those in the more ancient times? "

The Buddha replied, "No."

The elderly Brahmins asked the Buddha that if it were not inconvenient for him, that he would tell

them of the Brahmana Dharma of the previous generation.

The Buddha replied: "There were formerly rishis, men who had subdued all passion by the

keeping of the sila precepts and the leading of a pure life...Their riches and possessions

consisted in the study of the Veda and their treasure was a life free from all evil...The Brahmans,

for a time, continued to do right and received in alms rice, seats, clothes, and oil, though they did 

not ask for them. The animals that were given they did not kill; but they procured useful 

medicaments from the cows, regarding them as friends and relatives, whose products give

strength, beauty and health."

So in this passage also the Buddha describes when the

Brahmins were studying the Veda but the animal sacrifice

customs had not yet began.

In the Mahavagga,[66]

 the Buddha declares:

The one who annihilates the sins in himself,

who is not proud, who is passionless, whose spirit is humble,

who has comprehended the Vedas and is chaste,

for whom no joy exists in the world,:

that one is lawfully called a brahman.

The Buddha was declared to have

been born a Brahmin trained in the

Vedas and its philosophies in a

number of his previous lives

according to Buddhist scriptures.

Other Buddhas too were said to

have been born as Brahmins that

were trained in the Vedas.

The Mahasupina

Jataka[67]

 and Lohakumbhi 

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Jataka[68]

 declares that

Brahmin Sariputra in a previous life

was a Brahmin that prevented

animal sacrifice by declaring that

animal sacrifice was actually

against the Vedas.

Further, the Suttanipata 1000

declares that 32 mahapurusha

lakshana (auspicious symbols of the

Buddha) that Buddhism uses, are

declared in the Vedic

mantras.[69]

 Brahmayu was a well-

versed Vedic follower of the Buddha

who by reading the four Vedas saw

that the Buddha was auspicious as

per his 32 symbols.

[70]

 

In Jainism

The revealed nature of the Vedas

was challenged by Jains on the

argument that saying Vedas are

authorless holds no more meaning

than saying that anonymous poems

are written by nobody.[71]

 Learning

and mastering the Vedas is

considered worthless in

Jainism.[72]

 They reject the Vedasas false scriptures on the grounds

that they are associated with animal

sacrifice.[71]

The Vedas, according to

Jainism, were written by Bharata, 

the first jaina chakravarti (universal

emperor).[73]

 Some writers criticize

that Hindus do not know their own

scriptures as they are unaware of 

the names of  tirthankara which is

present in the veda.[71]

  A Jain sage

intereprets the Vedic sacrifices as

metaphorical:

"Body is the altar, mind is the fire blazing with the ghee of knowledge and burning the sacrificial 

sticks of impurities produced from the tree of karma;..."[74]

 

Further, Jain Sage Jinabhadra

in

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movement, 

andGaudiya

Vaishnavism in

particular extended the

term veda to include

the Sanskrit Epics andVaishnavite devotional

texts such as

the Pancaratra.[77]

 

WesternIndology

Further 

information: Sanskrit in

the West  

The study of Sanskrit

in the West began in

the 17th century. In the

early 19th

century,  Arthur 

Schopenhauer  drew

attention to Vedic

texts, specifically the

Upanishads. The

importance of Vedic

Sanskrit for  Indo-

European studies was

also recognized in the

early 19th century.

English translations of 

the Samhitas were

published in the later 

19th century, in

the Sacred Books of 

the East series edited

by Müller  between

1879 and1910.

[78] Ralph T. H.

Griffith also presented

English translations of 

the four Samhitas,

published 1889 to

1899.

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