In Hinduism, the VEDAS means wisdom, knowledge or vision, and it manifests the language of the Gods in human speech, and that’s why they are called Pillars of Hinduism.
Hinduism is the oldest religion available in the world. “The Vedas” are considered the earliest literary record of Indo-Aryan civilisatio, and the most sacred books of our country. They are the original scriptures of Hindu teaching and contain spiritual knowledge encompassing all aspects of our life. Vedic literature with its philosophical maxims has stood the test of time and is the highest religious authority for all sections of Hindus in particular and for the mankind in general.
The laws of the Vedas regulate the social, legal, domestic and religious customs of the Hindus to the present day. All the obligatory duties of the Hindus at birth, marriage, death etc. owe their allegiance to the Vedic ritual. They draw forth the thought of successive generation thinkers, and so contain within it the different strata of thoughts.
Origins of the Vedas
The Vedas are probably the earliest documents of the human mind, and it is indeed difficult to say when the earliest portions of Vedas came into existence. As the ancient Hindus seldom kept any historical record of their religious, literary and political realization, it is difficult to determine the period of Vedas with precision. Historians provide us many guesses but none of them is free from ambiguity.
Who wrote the Vedas?
It is believed that humans did not compose the revered composition of the Vedas, which were handed down through generations by the word of mouth from time immemorial. The general assumption is that the Vedic hymns were either taught by God to the sages or that they were revealed themselves to the sages who were the seers or mantradrasta ( who have seen the Mantras, i.e. holy chanting) of the hymns.
Classification of the Vedas
The Vedas were mainly compiled by Vyasa Krishna Dewaipayana around the time of Lord Krishna (1500 BC). The Vedas are four: The Rig-Veda, the Sama-Veda, the Yajur-Veda, and the Atharva-Veda, the Rig Veda being the main. The four Vedas are collectively known as “Chaturvedas”.
Structure of Vedas
Each Veda consists of four parts, the SAMHITAS (hymns), the BRAHMANS (rituals), the ARANYAKAS (reading of religion), and the UPANISHADS (Philosophies).
The collection of mantras or hymns is called the Samhita. The Brahmans are ritualistic texts and include precepts and religious duties. Each Veda has several as attached to it. The Upanishads form the concluding portions of the Veda and therefore called Vedanta or the end of the Veda and contains the essence of Vedic teachings. The Upanishads and Aranyakas are the concluding portions Brahamans, which discuss philosophical problems. The Aryanyakas (forest texts) intend to serve as objects of meditation for ascetics who live in forests and deal with mysticism and symbols.
The Rig Veda (The Book of Mantra)
It is a collection of inspired songs or hymns and is the main source of information on the Rig vedic civilization. It is the oldest book in any Indo-European language and contains the earliest form of all Sanskritmantras that date back to 1500 BC-1000 BC.
The Rig-Vedic Samhita or collection of mantras consists of 1,017 hymns or suktas, covering about 10,600 stands divided into eight astakas, each having eight adhayayas or chapters, which are sub-divided into various groups. The hymns are the work of authors or seers called Rishis.There are seven primary seers identified: Arti, Kanwa, Vashistha, Vishwamitra, Jamadani, Gotama and Bhardwaja.
The Rig Veda accounts in detail the social, religious, political and economic background of the Rig-Vedic civilization. Even though monotheism (believing in one God) characterizes some of hymns of Rig Veda, naturalistic polytheism (believing in many Gods) monism can be make out in the religion of Rig Veda.
The other three Vedas viz Sama, Yajur and Atharva were compiled after the age of rig Veda and are ascribed to Vedic period.
The hymns of the Rig Veda reveal that the foremost God of Aryans is INDRA, a war God and a great slayer of demons and animals. Vishnu appears in Rig Veda as a SUNGOD, who occasionally helped INDRA to slay demons. SHIVA played a little role during that period, and who, under the name of RUDRA, prowling in the mountains, killed humans and ASURAS with the help of arrows, and thus causing cure and disease.
The Sama Vedas (The Book of Song)
The Sama Veda is purely liturgical collection of melodies. The hymns in the Sama Veda, used as musical notes, were almost completely drawn from the Rig Veda and have no distinctive lessons of their own. Hence, its text is a reduced version of the Rig Veda. In other words, if the Rig Veda is the word, Sama Vedaa is the song.
The Yajur Veda (The Book of Rituals)
It is also a liturgical collection, used for public performance, and was made to meet the demands of ceremonial religion. The Yajur Veda practically served as a guidebook for the priests who execute sacrificial acts muttering simultaneously the prose prayers and sacrificial formulae (yajus) it is similar to ancient Egypt-book of dead.
The Arthav Veda
The last of the Vedas, is completely different from the other three Vedas and is next in importance to Rig Veda with regard to history and sociology. A different spirit pervades the Veda. Its hymns are of a more diverse character than the Rig Veda, and are also simpler in language. In fact many scholars do not consider it part f Vedas at all. The Athrav Veda consists of spells and charms prevalent at its time and portrays a clearer picture of the Vedic Society.
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Anil Malik
Mumbai, India
20th August 2024