KNOW ABOUT ALL VEDAS.....IF NOT ATLEAST YOUR OWN VEDA!!!!!
Four Vedas and their importance....
The basic Vedic texts are the Samhita “Collections” of the four Vedas:
Rig-Veda “Knowledge of the Hymns of Praise”, for recitation.
Sama-Veda “Knowledge of the Melodies”, for chanting.
Yajur-Veda “Knowledge of the Sacrificial formulas”, for liturgy.
THE FOUR PRIMARY VEDAS.......
The Vedic literature is composed of many books. The oldest texts are the Rig-veda, Yajur-veda, Sama-veda, and the Atharva-veda. It is said in the Muktikopanishad that these four Vedas had 21, 109, 1000, and 50 branches respectively, with over 100,000 verses. Now, however, we can only find around 20,023 (some say 20,379) verses in total from these four Vedas.
The Rig-veda, the “Veda of Praise:-
Contains 1,017 hymns, or 10,522 verses, arranged in ten books or mandalas. The first eight mostly contain hymns of praise to the various demigods, such as Indra and Agni. The ninth book deals primarily with the somaritual, which was the extraction and purification of the juice of the soma herb. The tenth book contains suktas or verses of wisdom and mantras that would cause certain magical effects to take place. The Rig-veda hymns were mainly of praise to the gods that were invoked during the Vedic ceremonies for ensuring immediate material needs. These were chanted by the four priests who conducted the Vedic rituals, namely the hota who calls the gods with the mantras from the Rig-veda; the adhvaryu who performs all the rituals of the ceremony according to the Yajur-veda; the udgata who sings the Sama-veda mantras; and the brahmana who supervises the general ceremony. However, it was usually only the brahmana priests who could be sure of chanting the mantras accurately to produce the desired result. If the mantra was chanted incorrectly by someone who was not qualified, the desired result would not take place and often something undesirable or horrible would happen instead.
The main Gods in the Rig-veda were Indra (the God of heaven and rain), Agni (The fire God) and Surya (The sun God). Surya is invoked in the sacred Gayatri mantra. However, Surya is also called Surya-Narayana in the Rig-veda. So the hymns to Surya and his different forms can also be related to Narayana or Vishnu, especially those to Savitur. Vishnu is also known as the Pervader, meaning that all the Vedic Gods are absorbed in Him, and thus must also emanate from Him. They would be absorbed in Him during the time of cosmic annihilation, but would also emanate from Him during the time of the creation. There were also verses to three other names and forms of the Sun God, namely Savitri, Mitra and Pooshan. Other Gods included Dyos (a celestial God),
Varuna (God of the seas), Soma, Marut (God of air or wind called Vayu in other places), Rudra (a form of Shiva) and Vishnu. All of these gods are celestial Gods, or demigods, except for Rudra and Vishnu. There is also the important Purusha Sukta hymn in the 90th chapter of the Rig-veda’s tenth mandala.
The Rig-veda is also a mystical text that contains knowledge in its abstract imagery of what the seers had realized. It has information on yoga, the spinal current and the chakras, as well as the planets and their orbits. Many aspects of this mystical knowledge are also contained in the other Vedas. The Rig-veda is said to have had 21 branches, out of which only two are still available. Much of the Shakal branch is still available, along with the Brahmana and Aranyaka of the Shankhayan branch. Although there are some stories in the Rig-veda, there are few historical records of the early Vedic kings. This has been a mistake amongst various linguists and researchers who study the Rig-veda to try to get an historical understanding of the early Vedic kingdom and Aryans.
The Yajur-veda is the “Veda of Rituals:-
Contains 1975 verse-mantras in 40 chapters, many of which are similar to those in the Rig-veda and used in rituals, usually by the adhvaryu priest. These contain different levels of knowledge and wisdom. The Yajur-veda once had 109 branches of knowledge, but now only parts of seven branches are found, of which the Vajasaneyi is prominent. The Yajur-veda, however, has two samhitas, or collections of verses, known as the White Yajur-veda (or Vajasaneyi-samhita) with the hymns and rituals, and the Black Yajur-veda (or Taittiriya-samhita) with their interpretations. These were primarily for the priests to use as a guide in performing sacred rituals, such as the ashvamedha or rajasuya, since they also contain directions or formulas that the priests use along with the verses that are sung during the ceremony.
The Sama-veda, the “Veda of Melodies:-
Contains 1549 verses meant to be used as songs in various ceremonies, primarily for the udgata priest. Most of them are taken from the Rig-veda and arranged according to their use as utilized in particular rituals. From the original 1000 branches of the Sama-veda, three are still available, of which the Kauthumiya and Jaiminiya are prominent.
The Atharva-veda is the “Veda of Chants:-
Once had 50 branches of which we have only the Shaunak branch today. It is a book of 5977 verses in 20 chapters containing prayers, spells, and incantations which in some respects resemble magical instructions found in the Tantras and even various magical incantations found in Europe. The Atharva-veda contains a small section of verses of instruction, wisdom, descriptions of the soul and God, but the majority of it consists of rules for worshiping the planets, rules for oblations and sacrifices, prayers for averting evil and disease, incantations for the destruction of foes, for fulfilling personal desires, etc., mostly for the material needs of people.
The Vedas are considered the earliest literary record of Indo-Aryan civilization. It is the most sacred scriptures of India. They were meant to be mantras (incantations) in praise of various Aryan Gods, it being the age when the Aryans were finding their feet in India. What they also reflect is a startlingly vivid picture of life. Vedas are the treasure troves containing spiritual knowledge encompassing all aspects of our life. Vedic literature with its philosophical maxims has stood the test of time and is the highest religious authority for all sections of Hindus in particular and for mankind in general. The word Veda means wisdom, knowledge or vision, and it is revered as the language of the Gods in human speech. The essence of the Vedas is to regulate the social, legal, domestic and religious customs of the Hindus which is meticulously pursued to the present day. All the rituals of Hindus conducted upon birth, marriage, death etc. are based upon Vedic doctrines and they are being followed from time immemorial.
PERIOD OF THE VEDAS :.....The Vedas are probably the earliest documents of the human mind. As the ancient Hindus seldom kept any historical record of their religious, literary and political realization it is indeed difficult to precisely say when the earliest portions of the Vedas came into existence and what is their period. Historians provide us many guesses but none of them is free from ambiguity. However it is believed that it is in 1200 B.C., when the first Aryan immigrants in India started composing the various hymns that are part of the books. The Rig Veda is said to be date back to 1500 B.C. 1000 B.C. Some scholars date the Rig Veda as early as 12000 B.C. 4000 B.C. The traditional date goes back to 3000BC, something which the German scholar Max Mueller accepted. Inspite of the controversy over the period of Rig Veda going on for long time, modern historians have now reached a consensus that its oldest parts were written around a 1200 B.C. The Sama Veda, Yajur Veda and Atharva Veda were compiled after the age of the Rig Veda and are ascribed to the Vedic period.THE FOUR VEDAS .........AGAIN........1. The Rig Veda : The Book of Mantra.......The Rig Veda is a collection of brilliant songs or hymns and is a main source of information in detail on the social, religious, political and economic background of the RigVedic civilization. It is the oldest book in any IndoEuropean language and contains the earliest form of all Sanskrit mantras. Even though some of the hymns of Rig Veda characterize monotheism (belief in the existence of one God), naturalistic polytheism (belief in more than one God,) and monism (belief of different paths to the one God), in general, can be found in the hymns of Rig Veda. The RigVedic 'samhita' (collection of mantras) consists of 1,017 'suktas' (hymns) divided into eight 'ashtakas' (songs) each having eight 'adhyayas' (sections), which are subdivided into various groups with a total of about 10,600 stanzas. The hymns are collection of the work of many authors called 'rishis' (according to post Vedic tradition "seers"). Atri, Kanwa,Vashistha, Vishwamitra, Jamadagni, Gotama and Bharadwaja are considered as the seven primary seers. The hymns are devoted to thirtythree different Gods, most of them nature Gods like Indra (rain God), Agni (fire God), Rudra (storm God) etc. A sizeable chunk of the verses are also dedicated to Soma (air God).2. The Sama Veda : The Book of Chant........The Sama Veda is purely a collection of 'samans' (chants) derived from the eighth and ninth books of the 'original Veda', the RigVeda. The hymns in the Sama Veda, used as musical notes have no distinctive lessons of their own. Hence, its text is a reduced version of the Rig Veda. Vedic Scholar David Frawley says that if the Rig Veda is the word, Sama Veda is the song or the meaning, if Rig Veda is the knowledge, Sama Veda is its realization, if Rig Veda is the wife, the Sama Veda is her husband. Sama Veda was meant for the priests who performed the rituals of the soma ceremonies [rituals of the threefold realm of life & death (samsara)]. As time went on rituals and ceremonies of worship became increasingly complex and so a need arose to compile all the rituals and their chants in a book, as a sort of reference point for the priests. The emphasis was on the specific style of its poetry and its literary content had no relevance. There are also very strict instructions in SamaVeda as to how particular hymns must be sung. Great emphasis was put upon sounds of the words of the mantras so that they could have accomplished effects on the environment and the person who pronounced them.3.The Yajur Veda : The Book of Ritual......The YajurVeda or the wisdom of sacrifices is also a liturgical collection and was made to meet the demands of a ceremonial religion. It lays down various "yajurs" (sacred incantations) which were chanted by a particular sect of priests called adhvaryu. They performed the sacrificial rites. The Yajur Veda practically served as a guidebook for the priests who execute sacrificial acts and at the same time uttering the prayers and the sacrificial yajurs. Few hymns are also attributed to various Gods. However, the core of the Veda is dedicated to the theory of the rituals thereby making it very much ritual based. Many chants for the purpose of praying and paying respect to the various instruments that are involved in the sacrifices could also be seen the Veda. Not less than six complete recessions of Yajur Veda, viz. Madyandina, Kanva, Taittiriya, Kathaka, Maitrayani and Kapishthala are available now.The Atharva Veda : The Book of Spell......The AtharvaVeda (the wisdom of the Atharvans) is called so because the families of the atharvan sect of the Brahmins have traditionally been credited with the composition of the hymns of the Veda. This is the last of the four Vedas and is completely different from the other Vedas. It is considered next only to RigVeda with regard to history and sociology because its compilation of hymns lacks the remarkable spiritual experience that the RigVeda offers. Its hymns are of a more diverse nature than the Rig Veda and are also simpler in language and therefore it infuses a different experience. In fact, many scholars do not consider it part of the Vedas at all. The Atharva Veda consists of spells and charms prevalent at its time, and portrays a clearer picture of the Vedic society. It has incantations for everything, from success in love to the realization of otherworldly objectives.AUTHORS OF VEDAS :.......There is a strong belief among the Hindus that the revered compositions of the Vedas passed on through generations by the word of mouth from time immemorial and hence the general assumption is that the Vedic hymns were either taught by God to the sages or that they were revealed themselves to "mantradrasta" (seers). It is Vyasa Krishna Dwaipayana who was the key player in compiling the Vedas around the time of Lord Krishna (c. 1500 BC).DIFFERENT DIVISIONS OF VEDAS ......:
Each Veda consists of four parts:.....1.The Samhitas (hymns): A collection of mantras or hymns.2.The Brahmanas (rituals):.... The Brahmanas are ritualistic texts and include guidelines and religious duties. Each Veda has several Brahmanas attached to it.3.The Aranyakas (theologies): The Aryanyakas, meaning forest texts intend to serve as a guide of meditation for ascetics who live in forests and lead a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from various sorts of worldly pleasures often with the aim of pursuing religious and spiritual goals.4.The Upanishads (philosophies):.... The Upanishads form the concluding portions of the Veda and therefore called the "Vedanta" or the end of the Veda and contains the essence of Vedic teachings. The Upanishads along with the Aranyakas are the concluding portions of the Brahmanas, which discuss philosophical problems.CONCLUSION :.....The Upanishads are a set of guidelines that pave way to attain brahma-knowledge through Vedanta. The different derivations together make out that they give us both spiritual vision and philosophical reasoning.The sages who discovered them wanted to go beyond nature in search of transcendental nature of man. They dared to take up this challenge and the Upanishads are the unique record of the methods they adopted, the struggles they undertook and the victory they achieved in this astonishing adventure of human spirit. In seeking the immortal, the sages conferred the immortality upon the literature they have passed on to us. One of the oldest and longest of the Upanishads, the Brihadaranyaka says: "From the unreal lead me to the real! From darkness lead me to light! From death lead me to immortality!"The crux of the Upanishads is that this can be achieved by meditating with the awareness that one's soul ('atman') is one with all things, and that 'one' is 'Brahman', which becomes the 'all'..Vēdas contain all factual education (Vidya) of past, present and future. Vēdas contain basically two types of education, Apara Vidya and Para Vidya. From elementary particle to Prakrithi (Nature) all materials and their properties, functions and what can be achieved from them are described in Apara Vidya. The true knowledge of God is given by Para Vidya. Vēdas contain Vidyas that can be further classified as......(a) Vignana (All materials True Knowledge)(b) Karma (Duties)(c) Upasana (Being near to God)(d) Gnana (Knowledge). Utilizing Karma, Upasana and Gnana properly and knowing all the materials from the elementary particles to God and getting benefit from them is called Vignana.The above mantra is from Yajur Vēda, 31 Adhyaya, and Mantra 7. This mantra says about the origin of Vēdas. It says the Four Vēdas viz., Rig, Sāma, Atharva and Yajur are given by God.What different Maharishis got to say on the Authorship and importance of VēdasAccording to Manu “Every Arya must read or listen to Vēda at least once in a day”.According to Rishi Kanva “The descriptions in Vēdas is filled with knowledge and are given by God. The education in it is completely impartial and only truth is given. I agree to take Vēdas as proof for describing science”.According to Rishi Goutham, “Vēdas are eternal and must be taken as proof for Science”.According to Maharishi Kapila “From the knowledge of God, Vēdas were evolved. So Vēdas are self-vouching. No other proof is required”.According to Maharishi Sri Krishna Dvipayana (Vyasa Maharishi) “The four Vēdas are filled with all types of education. They are self-radiant and contain only truth and nothing but the truth. Other than God no one could give them to us”.Who can study Vēdas?According to Yajur Vēda mantra (26.2) (The above mantra), everyone in the universe is eligible to read Vēdas.
According to Manu “educating people by teaching Vēdas is the best act that any individual or society can do”.This mantra is from Atharva Vēd 10th Mandalam, 23rd Prapātak, 4th Anuvāk, 7th Suktham and 20th mantra. From the almighty God Rig, Yajur, Sāma and Atharva Vēd were born. Atharva is equal to His Face, Sāma is equal to His hair, Yajur is equal to His heart and Rig Vēda is equal to His Prānna. He is the Vēda Kartha (creator). Here God has described the production of Vēdas with Rōpaka Alankāra. It does not mean God has a form like a human. This description gives the importance of these Vēdas and their function. For example let us discuss about the description “Yajur is like His heart”. Since God is everything of the Universe and if Universe be compared to the human body then Yajur is like heart.Introduction to Vedas.....THE RIG VEDA :RIG VEDA is the oldest extant text of any Language in the world. It is most important of a Sanatan Dharma. All Veda was one before Veda Vyas.Rig Veda is known for its sukta.2.Famous Hymns......Vishvakarma suktaPurusha suktaUrvasi / Pururuvasa suktaHiranyagarbha / Prajapati sukta.3- Famous mantraSavitri mantra/ Gayatri mantraMahamrityunjay Mantra.4 - Famous devtas :Indra: The king of heavenAgni: A mediator between human and devtas.Soma: The devta of the moonPrajapati: The creator of cultureRudra: The destroyer5 - Famous riverTHE SARASWATI: The name comes three times.THE YAMUNA: Around two times.THE Ganga: Only one time.6 - Important culture ritualsWorld's only Holy book where women wrote hymns and can perform Puja.Women can participate in the panchayatNo Rituals of Sati pratha.A woman can marry her husband's brother. If her husband is no more.YAJUR VEDA :.....THE Second Veda OF SANATAN DHARMA. THIS VEDA Upanishad Richa IN both Poem and Paragraph forms. Some of the mantras come from Rig veda and Atharvav Veda.This Veda is in two-parts first Shukla Yajur veda and second Krishna Yajur veda.The youngest layer of Yajur veda text includes the largest collection of primary Upanishads, influential to various schools of Sanatan philosophy. These include the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, the Isha Upanishad, the taitariya Upanishad, the Katha Upanishad, and the Maitreya upanishad.3 - Saam Veda :This is the third Veda in four. It is the source or Father of the music.It is the world’s oldest music book. Ravana composes its music because Lord Shiva said him to do this it is said by common people.4 - Atharva Veda :....The writer of AtharVedaa is Rishi Atharv. This Veda contain knowledge of magic.Tantra and mantra......Medicine.....Science.....&......Philosophy.5 -Veda and their Upanishad......1.RIGVedaa - Aitareya Upanishad.2.Saam Veda - Chandayog, Keno,3.YAJUR VEDA - Kath, Taittriya, Maitreya, Isha, Brihadaranyaka.4.Atharva Veda - Madukya, Mundaka Upanishad, Prashna Upanishad.This is the short details of all four Vedas..........&.............ALL SAID AND DONE.......RIG VEDA ON TOP.......FOLLOWED BY.....SAAM VEDA.....YAJUR VEDA & Lastly ADHARVA VEDAJ.KANNAN, M.Com, FIATA"WE DON'T THINK TO BREATHEWE BREATHE TO THINK"
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