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- DictionaryVe·da/ˈvādə/
noun
- 1. the most ancient Hindu scriptures, written in early Sanskrit and containing hymns, philosophy, and guidance on ritual for the priests of Vedic religion. Believed to have been directly revealed to seers among the early Aryans in India, and preserved by oral tradition, the four chief collections are the Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda, and Atharva Veda.
The Vedas (/ ˈ v eɪ d ə z / or / ˈ v iː d ə z /, Sanskrit: वेदः, romanized: Vēdaḥ, lit. 'knowledge') 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.
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- Origin of The Vedas
- Who Wrote The Vedas?
- Classification of The Vedas
- Structure of The Vedas
- The Mother of All Scriptures
- The Rig Veda: The Book of Mantra
- The Sama Veda: The Book of Song
- The Yajur Veda: The Book of Ritual
- The Atharva Veda: The Book of Spell
It is difficult to say when the earliest portions of the Vedas came into existence, but it seems clear they are among the very earliest written wisdom documents produced humans. As the ancient Hindus seldom kept any historical record of their religious, literary and political realization, it is difficult to determine the period of the Vedas with pr...
Tradition has it that humans did not compose the revered compositions of the Vedas, but that God taught the Vedic hymns to the sages, who then handed them down through generations by word of mouth. Another tradition suggests that the hymns were "revealed," to the sages, who were known as the seers or “mantradrasta” of the hymns. The formal document...
The Vedas are classified into four volumes: the Rig-Veda, the Sama Veda, the Yajur Veda and the Atharva Veda, with the Rig Veda serving as the principal text. The four Vedas are collectively known as “Chathurveda, ” of which the first three Vedas--Rig Veda, Sama Veda, and Yajur Veda--agree with one another in form, language and content.
Each Veda consists of four parts--the Samhitas (hymns), the Brahmanas (rituals), theAranyakas (theologies) and the Upanishads(philosophies). The collection of mantras or hymns is called the Samhita. The Brahmanas are ritualistic texts that include precepts and religious duties. Each Veda has several Brahmanas attached to it. The Aranyakas (forest t...
Although the Vedas are seldom read or understood today, even by the devout, they no doubt form the bedrock of the universal religion or “Sanatana Dharma” that all Hindus follow. The Upanishads, however, are read by serious students of religious tradition and spirituality in all cultures and are regarded as principle texts within the body of mankind...
The Rig Veda is a collection of inspired songs or hymns and is a 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 Sanskrit mantras, dating back to 1500 BCE- 1000 BCE. Some scholars date the Rig Veda as early as 12000 BCE - 4000 BCE. The Rig-Vedic ‘sam...
The Sama Vedais purely a liturgical collection of melodies (‘saman’). 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. As Vedic Scholar David Frawley puts it, if the Rig Veda is the word, Sama Veda is ...
The Yajur Vedais also a liturgical collection and was made to meet the demands of a ceremonial religion. The Yajur Veda served as a practical guidebook for the priests who execute sacrificial acts while muttering simultaneously the prose prayers and the sacrificial formulae (‘yajus’). It is similar to ancient Egypt’s “Book of the Dead.” There are n...
The last of the Vedas, this is completely different from the other three Vedas and is next in importance to the Rig Veda with regard to history and sociology. A different spirit pervades this 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 of the Veda...
- Subhamoy Das
Jun 21, 2024 · A Veda is a collection of poems or hymns composed in archaic Sanskrit by Indo-European-speaking peoples who lived in northwest India during the 2nd millennium BCE. The hymns formed a liturgical body that in part grew up around the soma ritual and sacrifice and were recited or chanted during rituals.
- The four Vedas are the Rigveda (Knowledge of the Verses), the Yajurveda, the Samaveda, and the Atharvaveda. The first three Vedas—Rig, Yajur, and S...
- Atharvaveda (“Knowledge of the Fire Priest”) is on spells and charms. It is the collection of hymns, magic spells, and incantations, which includes...
- The entire corpus of Vedic literature—the Samhitas, the Brahmanas, the Aranyakas, and the Upanishads—is considered Shruti (“What Is Heard”) and hav...
Jun 9, 2020 · The term veda means “knowledge” in that they are thought to contain the fundamental knowledge relating to the underlying cause of, function of, and personal response to existence. They are considered among the oldest, if not the oldest, religious works in the world.
- Joshua J. Mark
May 8, 2024 · Vedic religion, the religion of the ancient Indo-European-speaking peoples who entered India about 1500 bce from the region of present-day Iran. It takes its name from the collections of sacred texts known as the Vedas.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
The Vedas, meaning. The word Veda is derived from the root word, “vid” meaning to know. Thus, Veda means knowledge. According to the tradition, the Vedas were composed by several seers under inspiration. Hence, they are not manmade (apaurusheya), but the heard ones (sruti).
Sep 5, 2021 · The Vedas are the oldest and most sacred texts of Hinduism, containing knowledge and wisdom about the cosmos and human existence. They are divided into four categories: Rig, Sama, Yajur and Atharva Vedas, and each has different subdivisions and genres.
