Vedas (वेद) – Hindu Sacred texts

Vedas are the sacred religious texts in Hindu mythology. These are the sources of spiritual knowledge. Vedas are the earliest documents in Hindu religion. Vedas are the collection of hymns, prayers, curses and formulas. The Vedic period is considered to be between 1500 and 1000 BCE.

The language of Vedas is Sanskrit. Vyasa is the compiler of the Vedas. There are four Vedas named as The Rigveda (ऋग्वेद), The Yajurveda (यजुर्वेद), The Samaveda (सामवेद) and The Atharvaveda (अथर्ववेद) .

These Vedas are further sub classified into four types and they are the Samhita’s, the Aranyakas, the Brahmanas and the Upanishads. The Vedas are the language of God in human speech. The Vedas consists all the rituals of Hindus based on birth, marriage, death etc. The Vedas are the oldest literature of Indo-Aryan civilization. A brief explanation of all four Vedas is as follows;

Rigveda – The Rigveda is a collection of 1,028 Sanskrit hymns and 10,600 verses organized into ten books called mandalas. Rigveda is the primary Veda. Rigveda consists Sanskrit mantras to the gods asking for help and benefits such as health, wealth, long life, protection, victory. It has also information about the yoga, the Ayurveda and the spiritual disciplines. Rigveda has also formulas of prayers, blessings, praises and curses.

Yajurveda – Yajurveda is a combination of yaj means worship and Veda means the knowledge. The Yajurveda is a Vedic Sanskrit text which contains ritual formulas said by priests which are performed in ritual ceremonies such as yajna fire. The Yajurveda is divided into two parts- black (Krishna) and white (Shukla). The black Yajurveda is un-arranged collection of verses. While the white Yajurveda is well arranged collection of prayers and devotional instructions.

Samaveda– Samaveda is combination of Saam means song and Veda means knowledge. The Samaveda is a collection of chants and melodies. It is a book of song. It can only be sung. In Samaveda, Rig Vedic words are put into the musical form. It contains 1,900 verses.

Atharvaveda– The Atharvaveda is a collection of the procedures for everyday life. It contains daily rituals for removing problems. It is a collection of twenty books containing hymns, chants, black magic and prayers for removing anxieties. It contains formulas for prolonging life, healing illnesses, cures from herbs, yoga, medicine and tantra for daily problems of Vedic people.