The Vedas (/ˈveɪdəz/[4] or /ˈviːdəz/;[5] Sanskrit: वेदः , romanized: Vēdaḥ, lit.
'knowledge'),
sometimes collectively called the Veda, are a large body of religious texts originating
in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the oldest layer
of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism.[6][7][8]
There are four Vedas: the Rigveda, the Yajurveda, the Samaveda and
the Atharvaveda.[9][10] Each Veda has four subdivisions –
the Samhitas (mantras and benedictions), the Brahmanas (commentaries on and
explanation of rituals, ceremonies and sacrifices – Yajñas), the Aranyakas (text on
rituals, ceremonies, sacrifices and symbolic-sacrifices), and the Upanishads (texts
discussing meditation, philosophy and spiritual knowledge).[9][11][12] Some scholars add
a fifth category – the Upāsanās (worship).[13][14] The texts of the Upanishads discuss
ideas akin to the heterodox sramana traditions.[15] The Samhitas and Brahmanas
describe daily rituals and are generally meant for
the Brahmacharya and Gr̥hastha stages of the Chaturashrama system, while the
Aranyakas and Upanishads are meant for the Vānaprastha and Sannyasa stages,
respectively.
Vedas are śruti ("what is heard"),[16] distinguishing them from other religious texts,
which are called smr̥ti ("what is remembered"). Hindus consider the Vedas to
be apauruṣeya, which means "not of a man, superhuman"[17] and "impersonal,
authorless",[18][19][20] revelations of sacred sounds and texts heard by
ancient sages after intense meditation.[21][22]
The Vedas have been orally transmitted since the 2nd millennium BCE with the help
of elaborate mnemonic techniques.[23][24][25] The mantras, the oldest part of the Vedas,
are recited in the modern age for their phonology rather than the semantics, and are
considered to be "primordial rhythms of creation", preceding the forms to which they
refer.[26] By reciting them the cosmos is regenerated, "by enlivening and nourishing
the forms of creation at their base."[26]
The various Indian philosophies and Hindu sects have taken differing positions on
the Vedas. Schools of Indian philosophy that acknowledge the importance or primal
authority of the Vedas comprise Hindu philosophy specifically and are together
classified as the six "orthodox" (āstika) schools.[note 2] However, śramaṇa traditions,
such as Charvaka, Ajivika, Buddhism, and Jainism, which did not regard the Vedas
as authoritative, are referred to as "heterodox" or "non-orthodox" (nāstika)
schools.[15][27]
Vedic Sanskrit corpus
The term "Vedic texts" is used in two distinct meanings:
1. Texts composed in Vedic Sanskrit during the Vedic period (Iron Age India)
2. Any text considered as "connected to the Vedas" or a "corollary of the
Vedas"[33]
The corpus of Vedic Sanskrit texts includes:
The Samhitas (Sanskrit saṃhitā, "collection"), are collections of metric texts
("mantras"). There are four "Vedic" Samhitas: the Rig-Veda, Yajur-Veda, Sama-
Veda and Atharva-Veda, most of which are available in
several recensions (śākhā). In some contexts, the term Veda is used to refer only
to these Samhitas, the collection of mantras. This is the oldest layer of Vedic
texts, which were composed between c. 1500–1200 BCE (Rig Veda book 2–
9),[note 1] and 1200–900 BCE for the other Samhitas. The Samhitas contain
invocations to deities like Indra and Agni, "to secure their benediction for success
in battles or for welfare of the clan."[34] The complete corpus of Vedic mantras as
collected in Bloomfield's Vedic Concordance (1907) consists of some
89,000 padas (metrical feet), of which 72,000 occur in the four Samhitas.[35]
The Brahmanas are prose texts that comment on and explain the solemn rituals
as well as expound on their meaning and many connected themes. Each of the
Brahmanas is associated with one of the Samhitas or its recensions.[36][37] The
oldest dated to about 900 BCE, while the youngest Brahmanas (such as
the Shatapatha Brahmana), were complete by about 700 BCE.[38][39] The
Brahmanas may either form separate texts or can be partly integrated into the
text of the Samhitas. They may also include the Aranyakas and Upanishads.
The Aranyakas, "wilderness texts" or "forest treaties", were composed by people
who meditated in the woods as recluses and are the third part of the Vedas. The
texts contain discussions and interpretations of ceremonies, from ritualistic to
symbolic meta-ritualistic points of view.[40] It is frequently read in secondary
literature.
Older Principal Upanishads (Bṛhadāraṇyaka, Chandogya, Kaṭha, Kena, Aitareya,
and others),[1][41] composed between 800 BCE and the end of the Vedic
period.[42] The Upanishads are largely philosophical works, some in dialogue
form. They are the foundation of Hindu philosophical thought and its diverse
traditions.[43][44] Of the Vedic corpus, they alone are widely known, and the central
ideas of the Upanishads are still influential in Hinduism.[43][45]
The texts considered "Vedic" in the sense of "corollaries of the Vedas" are less
clearly defined, and may include numerous post-Vedic texts such as the
later Upanishads and the Sutra literature, such as Shrauta Sutras and Gryha
Sutras, which are smriti texts. Together, the Vedas and these Sutras form part of
the Vedic Sanskrit corpus.[1][note 3][note 4]
While production of Brahmanas and Aranyakas ceased with the end of the Vedic
period, additional Upanishads were composed after the end of the Vedic
period.[46] The Brahmanas, Aranyakas, and Upanishads, among other things,
interpret and discuss the Samhitas in philosophical and metaphorical ways to
explore abstract concepts such as the Absolute (Brahman), and the soul or the self
(Atman), introducing Vedanta philosophy, one of the major trends of later Hinduism.
In other parts, they show evolution of ideas, such as from actual sacrifice to symbolic
sacrifice, and of spirituality in the Upanishads. This has inspired later Hindu scholars
such as Adi Shankara to classify each Veda into karma-kanda (कम ख ,
action/sacrificial ritual-related sections, the Samhitas and Brahmanas); and jnana-
kanda ( ान ख , knowledge/spirituality-related sections, mainly the
Upanishads').[47][48][49][50][51][note 5]
