[Chaturamnaya] The Vedas (1)

[S Jayanarayanan]

http://www.svbf.org/journal/vol1no1/vedas.pdf
 

Sri Gurubhyo Namaha
The Vedas
by: Dr. S. Yegnasubramanian
 

The word veda is derived from the Sanskrit root vid which means
"to know". Since our religion follows the Vedic Injunctions, it is
known as "Vedic Religion". The word religion implies the meaning
of dharma. What is dharma ? Scholars consider dharma as that
which when followed brings contentment and happiness. The texts
that give us the complete knowledge of dharma are called dharma
pramana. They are fourteen in number and the following sloka
gives them as:

angAani vEdAschatvArO
meemAmsa nyAsa vistara:
purANam dharmasAstram cha
vidyA hyOtAschaturdasA

four Vedas (Rg, Yajus, Sama and Atharva), six Vedangas (the
organs of the Vedas - Siksha, Vyakarana, Chandas, Nirukta,
Jyotisha and Kalpa) and four Upangas (secondary organs of the
Vedas - Mimamsa, Nyaya, Purana and Dharma Sastra). These
fourteen texts are glorified as vidyasthanas - the abode of true
knowledge and wisdom.

Among the Vedas, Rg Veda sets forth the Vedic principles of
knowledge, Yajur Veda shows the Vedic way of action and the
importance of rituals, Sama Veda glorifies the Vedic way of ecstasy
and Atharva Veda speaks about several other vidyas and
supplementary principles of knowledge. As codified by Sage Veda
Vyasa, Rg Veda had 21 sakhas (recensions), Yajus had 101 sakhas,
Sama had 1000 sakhas and Atharva Veda had 9 sakhas, totaling
1,131 sakhas. However, only 10 sakhas are available to us today!
Among Vedangas, Siksha deals with pronunciation and euphony,
Vyakarana - grammar, Chandas - meter and poetry, Nirukta -
etymology, Jyotisha - astronomy, and Kalpa deals with the
procedural aspects of Vedic karmas. Among the Upangas,
Mimamsa deals with the action and knowledge based
interpretations of the Vedic texts, Nyaya deals with logic, Puranas
deal with mythology and serve as a magnifying glass of the Vedic
Injunctions, and Dharma Sastras speak about the Vedic codes of
conduct.

The Vedic literature can be classified into four groups:

1. Samhita: the mantra portion;
2. Brahmanas: the portion dealing with rituals;
3. Aranyakas - the forest texts, and
4. Upanishads - the portion dealing with Vedic philosophy.

(To be continued)
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: </archives/chaturamnaya/attachments/20131108/2883c38f/attachment.html>