The Vedas
The main sources of the history of the Aryans civilization are the Vedas, which are the sacred text of the Aryans. The Vedas are the oldest literary works of the entire Aryans group. The Aryans believes for several generations that the Vedas were the revealed words by the God and such cannot be authored by any human being. The Vedic principles have become the basis of Indian culture through several generations. The word Veda has been derived from a Sanskrit word called Vid which means to know. So, the Vedas are the mines of the knowledge. The status of the Vedas is quite unlike the status of the Koran or the Bible. The Vedas were composed by several sages through several countries. But the Koran is he version of one person, so is Bible. The other name of the Vedas is Srut i because people also used to remember the verses of the Vedas only by listening to their superiors. So, for several years he Vedas remained unwritten, and was orally handed down from generation to generation.
There are four Vedas, they are:
Rig Veda, Yajur Veda and Sam Veda are called Trayi Vedas and last one Atharva Veda.
Rig Veda
o The Vedas are the most important Vedas.
o Rig Veda priests is called Hotr.
o It is the oldest Veda.
o It was composed during the period between 2500 B.C. and 800 B.C.
o Rig Veda mentioned the Varna system for the first time.
o The famous Gayatri mantra is addressed to Savitri. Gayatrimantra was mentioned in the third mandala of Rig Veda. It iscomposed by the Sage Viswamitra to offer prayer to solar deity Savitri.
o The collection of the orderly knowledge of the borrowers is called Rig Veda.
o It has 10 mandalas, 8 Ashtikas, 1028 Sanskrit hymns and 10,600 verses.
o All the hymns of the Rig Veda are chanted pray to Agni (the God of Fire), Indra (the God of Rain, Surya (the Sun God), Yama (the God of death), Varuna (the God of Ocean), Usha (the God of Dawn), and Ashwini (the God of morning).
o The Yadu, Puru, Chedi and Matsya Janas were mentions in Rig Veda.
o II to VII was the earliest mandalas.
o IX mandala dedicated to God Soma, VII mandala dedicated to God Varuna.
o In Rig Veda Om referred as 1028 times and Janapada was not even once.
o Skandaswami is the older commentator of the Rig Veda.
Yajur Veda
o The Yajurveda Samhita consists of prose mantras.
o Yajurveda samhita includes about 1,875 verses.
o There are two major groups of texts in this Veda: the "Black" (Krishna) and the "White" (Shukla) ,The term "black" implies "the un-arranged, motley collection" of verses in Yajurveda, in contrast to the "white" (well arranged) Yajurveda.
o The first part of Yajur Veda is called Shukla Yajur Veda.
o Yajur Veda contains sacrificial formula.
o The Yajur Veda has two recessions named Krishna Yajur Veda and Sukla yajur Veda.
o Adhvaryu was the priest of Yajur Veda.
Sam Veda
o Samaveda is also called a collection of songs.
o Sam Veda is called the father of Indian music. Its reader is called Udrata.
o Samaveda is a compilation of the debt that can be sung.
o The Brahmin text of Samaveda is a Panchvish.
o Sam Veda was no used for historians.
Atharva Veda
o It has about 760 hymns, and about 160 of the hymns are in common with the Rigveda.
o It was composed last.
o The Atharva Veda has been a primary source for information about Vedic culture, the customs and beliefs, the aspirations and frustrations of everyday Vedic life, as well as those associated with kings and governance. The text also includes hymns dealing with the two major rituals of passage – marriage and cremation.
o Atharva Veda priest is called Brahman.
Each Veda has been sub classified into four major phases –
o The Samhitas (mantras and benedictions).
o The Aranyakas (text on rituals, ceremonies such as newborn baby's rites of passage, marriages, retirement and cremation, sacrifices and symbolic sacrifices).
o The Brahmanas (commentaries on rituals, ceremonies and sacrifices).
o The Upanishads (text discussing meditation, philosophy and spiritual knowledge).
Samhitas
Samhita are nothing but the texts of the four Vedas. The samhita of the Rig Veda has been divided into ten mandala or chapters according to namens of the Rishis and the subjects matter. All these mandalas do not belong to one particular period. The first and the last mandala were composed later. The Rig Veda hymns have notify various power of nature and have given a clear picture of the political, social, economical, and religious life of the early Aryans who may be termed as the Rig Vedic people. The Sama Veda Samhita contains the hymns which are meant to be sung by a special class of the Brahmins at the time of some sacrifice. The Samhita of the third Veda or the Yajur Vedas than rest. Samhita is a collection of sacrificial rite of formulas.
The Atharva Veda Samhita deals mainly with charms and magic for which it was not accepted as Vedic literature for a pretty long period.
Aryankas
The Aranyakas contains text on rituals, ceremonies such as newborn baby's rites of passage, marriages, retirement and cremation, sacrifices and symbolic sacrifices. The Aryankas were the concluding portions of the Brahmans. They are philosophical genesis of the Brahmans. The Aryankas otherwise known as ‘Forest books’, generally highlight the forest abode, lifestyle, and philosophy of the hermits living in the forests. The Aryankas deal mainly with mysticism and philosophy. The first portion of the 14 books of Satapatha Brahmans constitutes an Aryanks. The Aryankas stressed moral virtues in preference to sacrificial rituals and lay down Upasana or courses of meditation with certain austerities realizations of the absolute.
Brahmans
The Brahmanas are the commentaries on the various hymns in the Vedas to which they are appended. They are thus simple interpretation on the hymns. We find a lot of difference between the Brahmans connected with the various Vedas. The Brahmans of the Rig Veda, for example, emphasizes on the work of the Hotri priest, where as the Brahmans of the Sama Veda deals with the duties of the Udgatri priests and the Brahmana of the Yajur Veda contains the scarifies to be performed by the Arthvayu priests. Satapatha Brahmana tell us about the Ashwamedha Yajna.
Aiteraya and Kaushtaki Brahmana are related to Rig Veda. Tandyamaha and Jaiminya brahmana are related to Sama Veda. Taittreya and Satapatha brahmana are related to Yajur Veda.
Upanishads
The term Upanishad text discussing meditation, philosophy and spiritual knowledge. The term Upanishad literary means ‘Sitting near’. The term is derived from the word ‘Upanishad’ which means to sit down near some one. Hence its original meaning is the sitting down of the initiated pupils near the teacher or Guru for the purpose of a confidential communication of the secret doctrine concerning the relation between the creator and the created individuals. The secret knowledge was communicated to the only people who were considered to be worthy. There are as many as 108 Upanishads which were written by various saints and sages’ upto 800 B.C. Upanishads are part of Vedas. There are 7 types of Upanishadas like, Mukhya, Samanya, Sanyasa, Sakta, Vaishnava, Shaiva, and Yoga. Mukhya Upanishadas are important. Mukhya Upanishadas are Aitareya Kausitaki from Rig Veda, Chandogya Kena from Sama Veda, Taittriya Katha, Svetasvatara, Maitrayani from Yajur Veda, Mundaka, Manduka, and Prasna from Atharva Veda.
The Upanishad was composed towards the fag end of the Vedic Age. The Upanishadas mainly deal with many complex issues like soul life, mystery of evolution and other issues of higher philosophy. In fact the whole of the later philosophy of the Indian, writes Dr. Winternitz, is rooted in the Upanishadas. Their doctrines formed the foundation of Vedanta Sutras of Badarayana.
The earliest Upanishads are Chandogya and Brihadaranyaka. Brihadaranyaka Upanishad was the longest Upanishad. Brihadaranyaka Upanishad describes the philosophy dialogue between Yajnavalkya and Maitreyi. Satapatha and Chandogya Upanishads are in Prose form. Itihasa Purana has been mentioned as the fifth Veda in Chandogya Upanishad.
Vedangas
The Vedangas developed towards (Kalpa), time keeping and astronomy (Jyotisha) at the end of the Vedic period, around or after the middle of the 1st millennium BCE. The Vedangas form another class of Vedic literature. They are otherwise known as Upavedas.
There are six subjects of Vedangas, such as, phonetics (Siksha), Matrices (Chandas), grammar (Vyakaraṇa), Etymology and linguistics (Nirukta), Ritual (Kalpa), and Astrology (Jyotisha).
Upaveda
The term Upaveda ("applied knowledge") is used in traditional literature to designate the subjects of certain technical works.
o Archery (Dhanur Veda), associated with the Yajurveda
o Architecture (Sthapatya Veda) associated with the Atharvaveda.
o Music and sacred dance (Gandharva veda), associated with the Samaveda
o Medicine (Ayur veda), associated with either the Rig veda or the Atharvaveda
o Silpa Veda with Architecture.
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