L7 - Vedas Vedangas

LECTURE-10
The Vedas
The Vedas contain the divine wisdom and

knowledge of things directly seen by the Rishis or
seers of hoary antiquity by intuition and are
called Shrutis, i.e. what is directly heard or
experienced by intuition.
The Vedas are the earliest books of mankind and
occupy a unique position in world literature. All
Indian law givers regard the Veda as the principal
source of Dharma and all Hindus look upon the
Vedas as the supreme authority in all matters
concerning religion, laws and social conduct.
Authors of the Veda
The hymns of the Rig Veda were composed by

the members of Rishi families like the Kanvas,
Angirases,Agastyas,Grtsamadas,Atris, Viswami
tras, Vasishtas, Kasyapas, Bharatas and Bhrgus.
Some women Rishis who composed the

Rigvedic hymns were Aditi, Apaalaa, Godhaa,
Indraanii, Lopamudra, Romashaa, Urvashi,
Yami, Sikataa, Nivaavari and Aatreyi.
Classification of the Vedas
In ancient times Vedas meant only one collection

of all the mantras numbering about twenty-five
thousand or more.
Later for the purpose of study and preservation,
the single collection was divided by Veda
Vyasa into four collection of mantras as:
• Rig Veda,
• Yajur Veda,
• Sama Veda and
• Atharva Veda
Contents of the Vedas
• Rig Veda
The Rig Veda is in Rik or hymn form. A number of Riks
constitute a Sookta. The Rig Veda has 1028 sooktas
containing 10,552 mantras.
A mantra is a poetic revelation received by a human sage
(Rishi) during the state of deep concentration.
The Rig Veda consists of hymns mainly in praise of different
gods and form the immediate source of the other three
Vedas.
These gods may be roughly classified as the terrestrial,
atmospheric and celestial gods. The largest number of
mantras, (2500) is addressed to Indra, followed by Agni
with 2000 mantras and Soma with 1200 mantras.
• Yajur Veda
Yajus means worship.
Yajna means sacrificial worship.
The chief purpose of Yajur Veda is to give the
mantras of the Rig Veda appearing in the form
of hymns a practical shape in the form of
yajna or worship. The Yajur Veda contains the
verses from Rig Veda .This Veda may be called
the book of sacrificial prayers.
• Sama Veda
Sama means to bring ‘shanti’ or peace of mind.
The Sama Veda consists of 1549 stanzas
distributed in two books. Except 75 verses, all
other verses of this Veda is taken entirely from
Rig Veda and were meant to be recited by the
Ugatri priest to certain fixed melodies during the
Soma sacrifices. Hence this Veda may be called
the book of chants.
• Atharva Veda
Atharva means a purohit and also a name of rishi
(Atharvana)
Atharva Veda contains references to various aspects of
spiritual and temporal importance like Brahmavidya,
kingship, marriage, treatment of ailments, poetics, etc.
This Veda is also connected with development of
Tantric system and mention the significance of Japa or
chanting of mantras to achieve material or other
benefits which form an integral part of Indian religio-
mysticism till today.
Parts of the Vedas
• The Samhitas form the first part of each of the
Vedas. A Samhita is a collection of mantras, so
the Samhitas are sometimes also referred to as
the ‘mantras’. Most of the mantras or hymns
were concerned with the nature and the deities.
The ancient man worshipped the elements of
nature as deities though it is believed that these
deities are symbolic.
Parts of the Vedas
• The Brahmanas
The Brahmanas constitute the second part of the Vedas.
• With the passage of time, the newer generations found
the mantras of the Samhitas difficult to understand. An
elaborate explanation of the mantras became necessary.
The result was the Brahmanas. The Brahmanas are
explanatory in nature.
• The Brahmanas, the second part of the Vedas, are
mostly in prose. The word ‘Brahmana’ has its root in
the word ‘brahman’ which means ‘prayer’ or
‘devotion’.
Parts of the Vedas
• The Aaranyakas
The Aranyakas form the third part of the Vedas.
• The Sanskrit word ‘aranya’ means a forest.
• The Aranyakas were developed by the hermits,
living in the forests. Due to the limited
resources in the forests, they could not perform
the conventional sacrifices, nor could they
adhere to the rituals. It was then that
the Aranyakas were developed.
Parts of the Vedas
• The Upanishads
• The Upanishads are the concluding portions of
the Vedas. The Upanishads are at the end of the
Vedas.
• The Upanishads are referred to as the Vedanta.
The word Vedanta is a compound word made up
of two Sanskrit words: ‘Veda’ and ‘Anta’. The
word ‘anta’ means an end. The
Vedanta essentially refers to the philosophy
pronounced in the Upanishads, the final parts of
the Vedas. The Vedanta broadly covers the
philosophy enunciated by the holy Scriptural
Trinity – the Upanishads, the Brahma-Sutra and
the Bhagavad Gita.
Vedangas- Limbs of the Veda
The six subjects commonly comprehended under

the title of Vedangas are
• Shiksha Siksha deals with the study of
pronunciation of words and syllables through
the correct intonation, conjunction (sandhi)
and disjunction (vichheda) of syllables,
recognized primarily as vowels and
consonants. It intends to train the students in
the art and science of articulation of words
and syllables so that they can chant the vedic
hymns perfectly, producing the desired sound
vibrations and maintain the ritual purity and
efficacy of the ceremonies they perform.
Chhanda
• Chhanda deals with the analysis of the types
of meter used in the construction of various
Vedic hymns. Chhandashastra of Pingalanaga
is considered to be the oldest text available on
the subject. It was probably composed
between 6th and 5th Century BC. In Sanskrit,
the metrical unit is known as pada (foot).
Depending upon the number of syllables
used, a pada may be of the length of eight,
eleven or twelve syllables, known as gayatri,
tristubh and jagati respectively. It also played
an important role in the emergence of
classical Indian music and Sanskrit poetry
besides providing a frame work of reference
for compositions in other languages.
Vyakarana
• Vyakarna deals with Sanskrit grammar or
the analysis and decomposition of words,
word formation, root words and complex
sentence structures, providing useful
insights into the usage of words and
sentences leading to the mastery of the
language.
Nirukta
Etymology, the object of which was to explain or
interpret difficult Vedic words. Nirukta deals with
the interpretation and analysis of difficult
words and provides insight into the hidden
content of the Vedas. Since many Sanskrit
words can be split into more than one way and
the Vedas contain many obscure and unknown
words, an in-depth study of Nirkuta will help
students discover the latent or hidden meaning
of the Vedas and understand their linguistic
and philosophic significance.
Jyotisha
• Jyotisha deals with the astronomical and
astrological aspects of fixing auspicious date
and time to perform various vedic rites and
rituals including the sacraments or rites of
passage. The auspicious time is usually
determined based on the position of the
luminous bodies (jyotis) namely the sun, the
moon, the stars and other heavenly bodies.
According to tradition, sage Bhrigu is said to
be the first person who perfected the
knowledge of Jyotisha and built a record of
the natal charts of every human being who
was to be born on earth.
Kalpa
• Kalpa deals with the practical, ceremonial, sacrificial and
ritual aspect of the Vedas. Technically it is the applied
science of the Vedas. The method and the manner in
which the sacrificial ceremonies and daily household
rituals have to be performed are established in a
compendium of sutras or aphorisms known as Kalpa
Sutras, categorized together as sruti literature. Kalpa
literally means sacred rule or law or ordinance and sutra
means a thread. Sutras are threads of knowledge or short
statements used as memorial rules. In the absence of
written language, the sutras acted as mental hooks and
helped the students remember the intricacies of
performing vedic sacrifices and observing the daily
rituals.
Purpose of the Vedas
The whole Veda is concerned with sacrifices.

But apart from yajnas and methods of
worship, the Vedas also mention many
methods of meditation and prayers. The Vedas
also deal with various kinds of medical
treatment to ensure bodily health and shantis
or methods to pacify enemies and to avert the
harm contemplated by them.
Puranas
• Puranas deal with Ancient Indian religion,
philosophy, history, geography, sociology,
politics; and they supply the material for the
study of various branches of knowledge and
ancient wisdom.
Puranas
• In other words one may describe the purana
as a class of literature which deals with the
myths of gods, asuras, sages and kings of
ancient times, contains abstracts of works in
arts, sciences, medicine, grammar,
dramaturgy, music, astrology and other
subjects, affords insight into different phases
and aspects of Hinduism - its mythology, idol
worship, theism, pantheism, love of god etc.
Classification of the Puranas
• Puranas are divided into two classes
i) Mahapurana and
ii) Upa-Purana
Each class consists of eighteen Puranas.
So in all they are thirty six in number.
Puranas
• The Maha Puranas have further been sub-
divided into three categories, according to
their preferential treatment to Vishnu, Siva
and Brahma.
• The Puranas glorifying Vishnu are styled as
Sattvika, those glorifying Brahma as Rajasa,
and those glorifying Agni and Siva as Tamasa.

L7 - Vedas Vedangas

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

L7 - Vedas Vedangas

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

L7 - Vedas Vedangas

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

LECTURE-10

The Vedas contain the divine wisdom and

The hymns of the Rig Veda were composed by

Some women Rishis who composed the

In ancient times Vedas meant only one collection

The six subjects commonly comprehended under

The whole Veda is concerned with sacrifices.

You might also like