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Vedas
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

TheVedas(/vedz,vi/[1]Sanskrit:
vda,"knowledge")arealargebodyoftextsoriginatingin
ancientIndia.ComposedinVedicSanskrit,thetextsconstitutetheoldestlayerofSanskritliteratureand
theoldestscripturesofHinduism.[2][3]HindusconsidertheVedastobeapaurueya,whichmeans"not
ofaman,superhuman"[4]and"impersonal,authorless".[5][6][7]
Vedasarealsocalledruti("whatisheard")literature,[8]distinguishingthemfromotherreligioustexts,
whicharecalledsmti("whatisremembered").TheVeda,fororthodoxIndiantheologians,are
consideredrevelations,somewayorothertheworkoftheDeity.[9]IntheHinduEpictheMahabharata,
thecreationofVedasiscreditedtoBrahma.[10]
TherearefourVedas:theRigveda,theYajurveda,theSamavedaandtheAtharvaveda.[11][12]EachVeda
hasbeensubclassifiedintofourmajortexttypestheSamhitas(mantrasandbenedictions),the
Aranyakas(textonrituals,ceremonies,sacrificesandsymbolicsacrifices),theBrahmanas
(commentariesonrituals,ceremoniesandsacrifices),andtheUpanishads(textdiscussingmeditation,
philosophyandspiritualknowledge).[11][13][14]SomescholarsaddfifthcategorytheUpasanas
(worship).[15][16]
ThevariousIndianphilosophiesanddenominationshavetakendifferingpositionsontheVedas.Schools
ofIndianphilosophywhichcitetheVedasastheirscripturalauthorityareclassifiedas"orthodox"
(stika).OtherSramanatraditions,suchasLokayata,Carvaka,Ajivika,BuddhismandJainism,which
didnotregardtheVedasasauthoritiesarereferredtoas"heterodox"or"nonorthodox"(nstika)
schools.[17]Despitetheirdifferences,justlikeSramanatraditions,variousHindutraditionsdwellon,
expressandteachsimilarideassuchaskarma(retributiveaction)andmoksha(liberation)inthefourth
layeroftheVedastheUpanishads.[17]

Contents
1Etymologyandusage
2Chronology
3CategoriesofVedictexts
3.1VedicSanskritcorpus
3.2Shrutiliterature
4Vedicschoolsorrecensions
5FourVedas
5.1Rigveda
5.2Samaveda
5.3Yajurveda
5.4Atharvaveda
6Brahmanas
7Vedanta
8InpostVedicliterature
8.1Vedanga
8.2Parisista
8.3Puranas
8.4Upaveda

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8.4Upaveda
8.5"Fifth"andotherVedas
9WesternIndology
10Seealso
11Notes
12References
13Furtherreading
14Externallinks

Etymologyandusage
TheSanskritwordvda"knowledge,wisdom"isderivedfromtherootvid"toknow".Thisis
reconstructedasbeingderivedfromtheProtoIndoEuropeanroot*u
eid,meaning"see"or"know".[18]
ThenounisfromProtoIndoEuropean*u
eidos,cognatetoGreek()"aspect","form".Nottobe
confusedisthehomonymous1stand3rdpersonsingularperfecttensevda,cognatetoGreek()
(w)oida"Iknow".RootcognatesareGreek,Englishwit,etc.,Latinvide"Isee",etc.[19]
TheSanskrittermvedaasacommonnounmeans"knowledge",butcanalsobeusedtorefertofieldsof
studyunrelatedtoliturgyorritual,e.g.inagadaveda"medicalscience",sasyaveda"scienceof
agriculture"orsarpaveda"scienceofsnakes"(alreadyfoundintheearlyUpanishads)durvedameans
"withevilknowledge,ignorant".[20]
ArelatedwordVedenaappearsinhymn8.19.5oftheRigveda.[21]ItwastranslatedbyRalphT.H.
Griffithas"rituallore",[22]as"studyingtheVeda"bythe14thcenturyIndianscholarSayana,as"bundle
ofgrass"byMaxMuller,andas"withtheVeda"byH.H.Wilson.[23]
VedasarecalledMaaiorVaymoliinpartsofSouthIndia.Marailiterallymeans"hidden,asecret,
mystery".[24][25]InsomesouthIndiancommunitiessuchasIyengars,thewordVedaincludestheTamil
writingsoftheAlvarsaints,suchasDivyaPrabandham,forexampleTiruvaymoli.[26]

Chronology
TheVedasareamongtheoldestsacredtexts.TheSamhitasdatetoroughly17001100BCE,[27]andthe
"circumVedic"texts,aswellastheredactionoftheSamhitas,datetoc.1000500BCE,resultingina
Vedicperiod,spanningthemid2ndtomid1stmillenniumBCE,ortheLateBronzeAgeandtheIron
Age.[28]TheVedicperiodreachesitspeakonlyafterthecompositionofthemantratexts,withthe
establishmentofthevariousshakhasalloverNorthernIndiawhichannotatedthemantrasamhitaswith
Brahmanadiscussionsoftheirmeaning,andreachesitsendintheageofBuddhaandPaniniandtherise
oftheMahajanapadas(archaeologically,NorthernBlackPolishedWare).MichaelWitzelgivesatime
spanofc.1500BCEtoc.500400BCE.WitzelmakesspecialreferencetotheNearEasternMitanni
materialofthe14thcenturyBCEtheonlyepigraphicrecordofIndoAryancontemporarytothe
Rigvedicperiod.Hegives150BCE(Patajali)asaterminusantequemforallVedicSanskritliterature,
and1200BCE(theearlyIronAge)asterminuspostquemfortheAtharvaveda.[29]
TransmissionoftextsintheVedicperiodwasbyoraltraditionalone,preservedwithprecisionwiththe
helpofelaboratemnemonictechniques.AliterarytraditionsetinonlyinpostVedictimes,aftertherise
ofBuddhismintheMauryaperiod,perhapsearliestintheKanvarecensionoftheYajurvedaaboutthe
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1stcenturyBCEhoweveroraltraditionpredominateduntilc.1000CE.[30]
Duetotheephemeralnatureofthemanuscriptmaterial(birchbarkorpalmleaves),surviving
manuscriptsrarelysurpassanageofafewhundredyears.[31]TheSampurnanandSanskritUniversityhas
aRigvedamanuscriptfromthe14thcentury[32]however,thereareanumberofolderVedamanuscripts
inNepalthataredatedfromthe11thcenturyonwards.[33]

CategoriesofVedictexts
Theterm"Vedictexts"isusedintwodistinct
meanings:
1. TextscomposedinVedicSanskritduringthe
Vedicperiod(IronAgeIndia)
2. Anytextconsideredas"connectedtothe
Vedas"ora"corollaryoftheVedas"[34]

VedicSanskritcorpus
ThecorpusofVedicSanskrittextsincludes:
TheSamhitas(Sanskritsahit,"collection"),
arecollectionsofmetrictexts("mantras").
Therearefour"Vedic"Samhitas:theRig
Veda,SamaVeda,YajurVeda,andAtharva
Veda,mostofwhichareavailableinseveral
Rigveda(padapatha)manuscriptinDevanagari
recensions(kh).Insomecontexts,theterm
VedaisusedtorefertotheseSamhitas.Thisis
theoldestlayerofVedictexts,apartfromtheRigvedichymns,whichwereprobablyessentially
completeby1200BCE,datingtoc.the12thto10thcenturiesBCE.ThecompletecorpusofVedic
mantrasascollectedinBloomfield'sVedicConcordance(1907)consistsofsome89,000padas
(metricalfeet),ofwhich72,000occurinthefourSamhitas.[35]
TheBrahmanasareprosetextsthatcommentandexplainthesolemnritualsaswellasexpoundon
theirmeaningandmanyconnectedthemes.EachoftheBrahmanasisassociatedwithoneofthe
Samhitasoritsrecensions.[36][37]TheBrahmanasmayeitherformseparatetextsorcanbepartly
integratedintothetextoftheSamhitas.TheymayalsoincludetheAranyakasandUpanishads.
TheAranyakas,"wildernesstexts"or"foresttreaties",werecomposedbypeoplewhomeditatedin
thewoodsasreclusesandarethethirdpartoftheVedas.Thetextscontaindiscussionsand
interpretationsofceremonies,fromritualisitictosymbolicmetaritualisticpointsofview.[38]Itis
frequentlyreadinsecondaryliterature.
OlderMukhyaUpanishads(Bhadrayaka,Chandogya,Kaha,Kena,Aitareya,and
others).[39][40]
TheVedas(sruti)aredifferentfromVediceratextssuchasShrautaSutrasandGryhaSutras,whichare
smrititexts.Together,theVedasandtheseSutrasformpartoftheVedicSanskritcorpus.[40][41][42]
WhileproductionofBrahmanasandAranyakasceasedwiththeendoftheVedicperiod,additional
UpanishadswerecomposedaftertheendoftheVedicperiod.[43]

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TheBrahmanas,Aranyakas,andUpanishads,amongotherthings,interpretanddiscusstheSamhitasin
philosophicalandmetaphoricalwaystoexploreabstractconceptssuchastheAbsolute(Brahman),and
thesoulortheself(Atman),introducingVedantaphilosophy,oneofthemajortrendsoflaterHinduism.
Inotherparts,theyshowevolutionofideas,suchasfromactualsacrificetosymbolicsacrifice,andof
spiritualityintheUpanishads.ThishasinspiredlaterHinduscholarssuchasAdiShankaratoclassify
eachVedaintokarmakanda(
,action/ritualrelatedsections)andjnanakanda(,
knowledge/spiritualityrelatedsections).[15][44]

Shrutiliterature
Thetextsconsidered"Vedic"inthesenseof"corollariesoftheVedas"islessclearlydefined,andmay
includenumerouspostVedictextssuchasthelaterUpanishadsandtheSutraliterature.Textsnot
consideredtobeshrutiareknownassmriti(Sanskrit:smti"theremembered"),ortextsofremembered
traditions.ThisindigenoussystemofcategorizationwasadoptedbyMaxMllerand,whileitissubject
tosomedebate,itisstillwidelyused.AsAxelMichaelsexplains:[39]
Theseclassificationsareoftennottenableforlinguisticandformalreasons:Thereisnot
onlyonecollectionatanyonetime,butratherseveralhandeddowninseparateVedic
schoolsUpaniads...aresometimesnottobedistinguishedfromrayakas...Brhmaas
containolderstrataoflanguageattributedtotheSahitstherearevariousdialectsand
locallyprominenttraditionsoftheVedicschools.Nevertheless,itisadvisabletosticktothe
divisionadoptedbyMaxMllerbecauseitfollowstheIndiantradition,conveysthe
historicalsequencefairlyaccurately,andunderliesthecurrenteditions,translations,and
monographsonVedicliterature."[39]
TheUpanishadsarelargelyphilosophicalworks,someindialogueform.Theyarethefoundationof
Hinduphilosophicalthoughtanditsdiversetraditions.[45][46]OftheVediccorpus,theyalonearewidely
known,andthecentralideasoftheUpanishadsareatthespiritualcoreofHindus.[45][47]

Vedicschoolsorrecensions
ThefourVedasweretransmittedinvariouskhs(branches,schools).[48][49]Eachschoollikely
representedanancientcommunityofaparticulararea,orkingdom.[49]Eachschoolfolloweditsown
canon.MultiplerecensionsareknownforeachoftheVedas.[48]Thus,statesWitzelaswellasRenou,in
the2ndmillenniumBCE,therewaslikelynocanonofonebroadlyacceptedVedictexts,noVedic
Scripture,butonlyacanonofvarioustextsacceptedbyeachschool.Someofthesetextshave
survived,mostlostoryettobefound.Rigvedathatsurvivesinmoderntimes,forexample,isinonly
oneextremelywellpreservedschoolofkalya,fromaregioncalledVideha,inmodernnorthBihar,
southofNepal.[50]TheVediccanoninitsentiretyconsistsoftextsfromallthevariousVedicschools
takentogether.[49]
EachofthefourVedasweresharedbythenumerousschools,butrevised,interpolatedandadapted
locally,inandaftertheVedicperiod,givingrisetovariousrecensionsofthetext.Sometextswere
revisedintothemodernera,raisingsignificantdebateonpartsofthetextwhicharebelievedtohave
beencorruptedatalaterdate.[51][52]TheVedaseachhaveanIndexorAnukramani,theprincipalwork
ofthiskindbeingthegeneralIndexorSarvnukrama.[53][54]
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ProdigousenergywasexpendedbyancientIndiancultureinensuringthatthesetextsweretransmitted
fromgenerationtogenerationwithinordinatefidelity.[55]Forexample,memorizationofthesacred
Vedasincludeduptoelevenformsofrecitationofthesametext.Thetextsweresubsequently"proof
read"bycomparingthedifferentrecitedversions.Formsofrecitationincludedthejapha(literally
"meshrecitation")inwhicheverytwoadjacentwordsinthetextwerefirstrecitedintheiroriginalorder,
thenrepeatedinthereverseorder,andfinallyrepeatedagainintheoriginalorder.[56]Thatthesemethods
havebeeneffective,istestifiedtobythepreservationofthemostancientIndianreligioustext,the
Rigveda,asredactedintoasingletextduringtheBrahmanaperiod,withoutanyvariantreadingswithin
thatschool.[56]
TheVedaswerelikelywrittendownforthefirsttimearound500BCE.[57]However,allprintededitions
oftheVedasthatsurviveinthemoderntimesarelikelytheversionexistinginaboutthe16thcentury
CE.[58]

FourVedas
ThecanonicaldivisionoftheVedasisfourfold(turya)viz.,[61]
1. Rigveda(RV)
2. Yajurveda(YV,withthemaindivisionTSvs.VS)
3. Samaveda(SV)
4. Atharvaveda(AV)
Ofthese,thefirstthreeweretheprincipaloriginaldivision,alsocalled"trayvidy",thatis,"thetriple
science"ofrecitinghymns(Rigveda),performingsacrifices(Yajurveda),andchantingsongs
(Samaveda).[49][62]TheRigvedaistheoldestwork,whichWitzelstatesareprobablyfrom1900BCEto
1100BCEperiod.Witzel,alsonotesthatitistheVedicperioditself,whereincipientlistsdividethe
Vedictextsintothree(tray)orfourbranches:Rig,Yajur,SamaandAtharva.[49]
EachVedahasbeensubclassifiedintofourmajortexttypestheSamhitas(mantrasandbenedictions),
theAranyakas(textonrituals,ceremoniessuchasnewbornbaby'sritesofpassage,comingofage,
marriages,retirementandcremation,sacrificesandsymbolicsacrifices),theBrahmanas(commentaries
onrituals,ceremoniesandsacrifices),andtheUpanishads(textdiscussingmeditation,philosophyand
spiritualknowledge).[11][13][14]TheUpasanas(shortritualworshiprelatedsections)areconsideredby
somescholars[15][16]asthefifthpart.Witzelnotesthattherituals,ritesandceremoniesdescribedin
theseancienttextsreconstructtoalargedegreetheIndoEuropeanmarriageritualsobservedinaregion
spanningtheIndiansubcontinent,PersiaandtheEuropeanarea,andsomegreaterdetailsarefoundin
theVediceratextssuchastheGrhyaStras.[63]
OnlyoneversionoftheRigvedaisknowntohavesurvivedintothemodernera.[50]Severaldifferent
versionsoftheSamaVedaandtheAtharvaVedaareknown,andmanydifferentversionsoftheYajur
VedahavebeenfoundindifferentpartsofSouthAsia.[64]

Rigveda
TheRigvedaSamhitaistheoldestextant
Indictext.[66]Itisacollectionof1,028
VedicSanskrithymnsand10,600verses
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NasadiyaSukta(HymnofnonEternity):

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