The Vedas

The Vedas are a collection of ancient sacred texts originating in India, forming the foundation of Hindu philosophy, spirituality, and rituals. Composed in early Sanskrit, they are believed to have been written between 1500 and 500 BCE. The Vedas are divided into four main collections: Rigveda, Samaveda, Yajurveda, and Atharvaveda. Each Veda consists of hymns, chants, rituals, and philosophical teachings that address the nature of the universe, gods, and the essence of life. The Vedas are regarded as timeless wisdom, passed down orally for centuries before being written.

Sacred Literature: The Vedas

Introduction

Before proceeding with the history of the Aryans in India, it will be well to give a short account of the Veda, their sacred literature, as practically everything we know about them is derived from this source alone. But even apart from this, there are other reasons why we should give a prominent place to the Vedic literature. It is the oldest literary work not only of the Indo-Aryans, but of the entire Aryan group known as the Indo-Germans, and, as such, occupies a very distinguished place in the history of the world literature. Besides, for about four thousand years, the Vedas have been looked upon as revealed words of God by millions of human beings, and they have formed the basis of their culture and religion amid continual changes and successive developments.

The Vedic Literature

The word “VEDA” means “knowledge.” “Knowledge par excellence, i.e., the sacred, spiritual knowledge. It does not signify either any individual literary work as the “Koran” or even a collection of a definite number of books arranged at a particular time, such as the Bible or the Tripitaka. It is a mass of literature that had grown up in the course of many centuries and was orally handed down from generation to generation. It consists of three successive classes of literary productions. To each of these belong a number of single works, some of which still exist, but many have completely disappeared. These three classes are:

(a) The Samhitas or Mantras

As the name signifies, these are collections of hymns, prayers, charms, litanies, and sacrificial formulas.

(b) The Brahmanas

These are massive prose texts which contain “speculations on the meaning of the hymns, give precepts for their application, relate stories of their origin in connection with that of sacrificial rites, and explain the secret meaning of the latter. In short, they form a kind of primitive theology and philosophy of the Brahmans.”

(c) The Aranyakas and Upanishads

These are partly included in the Brahmanas or attached thereto and partly exist as separate works. They embody philosophical meditations of the hermits and ascetics on soul, God, world, and man.

Four Samhitas

A large number of Samhitas must have existed among the different schools of priests and singers. But many of them are only different recensions of one and the same Samhita. There are, however, four Samhitas, which are notably different from one another and which have reached us in several recensions. These are:

• (a) The Rigveda Samhita: A collection of hymns.
• (b) The Atharvaveda Samhita: A collection of spells and charms.
• (c) The Samaveda Samhita: A collection of songs mostly taken from the Rigveda.
• (d) The Yajurveda Samhita: A collection of sacrificial formulas. (There are two distinct classes of this Samhita, viz., the Samhitas of the Black-Yajurveda and the Samhitas of the White-Yajurveda.)

Rishis or sages

These four Samhitas have formed the basis of four different Vedas, and every work belonging to the second and third classes of Vedic literature, viz., the Brahmanas, the Aranyakas, and the Upanishads, is attached to one or other of these Samhitas and is said to belong to one of the four Vedas. There are thus not only Samhitas but Brahmaņas, Aranyakas and Upanishads of the Rigveda, and the same thing holds good with regard to the other three Vedas. Every single work of this vast literature belongs to the category of Veda, and the authors of these works are always referred to as ‘Rishis’ or sages. Sometimes the names of these Rishis or sages denoted not so much an individual as a group, and thus the hymns attributed to Viśvamitra, for example, were probably composed not by a single individual of that name but by various members of his family or school. It may be noted that women and people of the lowest classes of society are mentioned as composers of some of these hymns.

The Authorship of the Vedic Literature

Although the hymns are attributed to these Rishis, pious Hindus have always laid stress upon their divine origin. They maintain that these hymns were merely revealed to the sages and not composed by them. Thus the Vedas are called apaurusheya (not made by man) and nitya (existing in all eternity), while the Rishis, or sacred poets to whom they are ascribed, are known as mantradrashta, i.e., inspired seers who saw or received the mantra by sight directly from the supreme Creator. These ideas about the sanctity of the Vedas have ever formed the cardinal doctrines of Hinduism, and no religious sect that refuses to subscribe to them can have any legitimate place within its fold.

The Vedangas or the Sutras

• (1) Besides the revealed literature, described above, to which alone the name Veda may be properly applied, there is another class of works that, strictly speaking, belong to the Vedic literature, but which cannot claim to be ranked in that category, as its authorship is ascribed to human beings. These are called Sutras or Vedangas.
• (2) There are altogether six Vedangas. This does not mean six distinct books or treatises, but merely six subjects, ‘the study of which was necessary either for the reading, the understanding, or the proper sacrificial employment of the Veda. These six subjects are siksha (pronunciation), Chbandas (metre), Vyakarana (grammar), Nirukta (explanation of words), Jyotisha (astronomy), and Kalpa (ceremonial). ‘The first two are considered necessary for reading the Veda, the two next for understanding it, and the last two for employing it at sacrifices’.
• (3) These doctrines were originally embodied in the Brahmanas and Aranyakas, but, later on, separate text books were written on each of them. These texts were written in a very peculiar style. They consisted of a series of extremely concise formulas called ‘Sutras’, which, in point of brevity, may almost be compared to algebraic formulas. From this fact, the texts are also called ‘Sutras’. These were, however, mostly composed in later periods and will be dealt with in a later chapter.

The Upavedas

What has been said of the Vedangas applies equally well to another class of literature, called the Upavedas or subsidiary Vedas, dealing with secular subjects such as medical science (Ayurveda), military science (Dhanurveda), music (Gandharvaveda), art, architecture, and analogous subjects.

Detailed Account of the Vedic Literature

Having given a general description of the Vedic literature, we may now proceed to give a short account of the more important individual works, the composition of which may be roughly placed during the period under review.

The Rigveda

(a) The Samhita

Of the various Samhitas of the Rigveda, only one has reached us, viz., that belonging to the Sakalaka school. It contains 1028 (according to some 1017) suktas (hymns), divided into ten mandalas and again in eight ashlakas. This Samhita is the earliest work in the Vedic literature, but its different portions must have been composed at different ages and put together at a subsequent date. The oldest hymns occur in mandalas 2–7, each of which is ascribed to a family of priests, viz., Gritsamada, Visvamitra, Vamadeva, Atri, Bharadvaja, and Vasishtha. The ninth mandala is wholly devoted to Soma drink and the God Soma. The first and ten mandalas are the latest additions, although they contain many old passages. The Samhita contains hymns addressed to various deities. An idea of their poetical beauty and general nature may be gathered from the specimens given at the end of Chapter III Besides, the Sahluta throws a flood of light on the carly life of the Aryans, which will be discussed in detail in Chapter III.

(b) The Brahmanas

There are two Brahmanas belonging to the Rigveda; The first, the Aitareya Brahmaņa, is traditionally regarded as the work of Mahidasa Aitareya. It deals principally with the great Soma sacrifices and the different royal inauguration ceremonies. The second, the Kaushitaki or Sankhayana Brahmaņa, deals not only with the Soma but also with various other sacrifices.

(c) Aranyaka and Upanishads

To the Aitareya Brahmana belongs the Aitareya Aranyaka, which includes the Aitareya Upanishad. The Kaushitaki Brahmana contains Kaushitaki Aranyaka, a portion of which is known as the Kaushitaki Upanishad.

The Atharvaveda

(a) Samhita

The Samhita is known to us in two recensions, the Saunaka and Paippalada, but the latter is very imperfectly known. The Saunaka recension contains 731 (according to some 760) hymns, divided into 20 books. The last two books seem to be later additions. The Samhita contains many verses that occur in the Rigveda. It deals mostly with charms, magic, and spells, by which one could overcome demons and enemies, win over friends, and gain worldly successes. For this reason, the Samhita was not included in the Vedic literature for a long time. It preserves many old popular cults and superstitions.

(b) Brahmana

No ancient work of the Brahmana class belonging to Atharvaveda is known. The Gopatha Brahmana, although classed as a Brahmana, really belongs to the Vedanga literature and is a very late work.

(c) Aranyakas and Upanishads

There are three Upanishads, viz., (1) The Mundaka-Upanishad. (2) The Prasna-Upanishad. (3) The Mandukya-Upanishad. All these are comparatively late works.

The Samaveda

(a) Samhita

The Puranas refer to thousand Samhitas of the Samaveda. But only one has reached us in three recensions, viz., ‘the Kauthuma current in Gujarat, the Jaiminiya in the Carnatic, and the Ranayaniya in the Mahratta country’. It consists of a collection of hymns, which were sung by a particular class of priests, called Udgatar, at the Soma sacrifices. These hymns are 1810, or omitting the repetitions, 1549 in number, but all of them, with the exception of 75, are taken from the Rik Samhita. The 75 verses, which are not found in that Samhita, occur partly in the other Samhitas and partly in different Brahmanas or other works on Ritual. These texts were, however, merely used for the melody, which was all important for the followers of the Samaveda. Thus, while the Samaveda is very important for the history of Indian music and throws interesting light on the growth of sacrificial ceremonies, its value as a literary work is practically nil.

(b) Brahmanas

• (1) The Tandya-maha-Brahmana, also called Panchavimsa (i.e., consisting of twenty-five chapters), is one of the oldest and most important of Brahmanas. It contains many old legends and includes the Vratyastoma, a ceremony by which people of non-Aryan stock could be admitted into the Aryan family.
• (2) The Shadvimsa Brahmana (the twenty-sixth Brahmana) is merely a supplement to Panchavimsa Brahmana. The last portion of this forms what is known as ‘Adbhuta Brahmana’, a Vedanga-text dealing with omens and super-natural things.
• (3) The last one is the Jaiminiya Brahmana. Very little is at present known of this book.

(c) Aranyakas and Upanishads

• (1) The Chhandogya Upanishad, the first part of which is merely an Aranyaka, belongs to a Brahmana of the Samaveda, probably the Tandya-maha-Brahmana.
• (2) The Jaiminiya-Upanishad-Brahmana is an Aranyaka of the Jaiminiya or Talavakara school of Samaveda, and a part of it forms the Kena-Upanishad, also called the Talavakara Upanishad.

The Yajurveda

(a) Samhitas

The grammarian Patanjali speaks of the 101 schools of Yajurveda. At present, however, only the following five are known. Of these, the first four belong to the Black Yajurveda and the last to the White Yajurveda.

• (1) The Katiaka Samhita of the Katha school.
• (2) The Kapishthala-Katha-Samhita-koown only in fragments.
• (3) The Maitrayani-Samhita, i.e., the Saibhita of the Maitrayaniya school.
• (4) The Taittiriya Samhita, the Samhita of the Taittiriya school.
• (5) The Vajasaneyi Sachiita, known in two rosenaone of the Kanva and Madhyandina schools.

(b) Distinction between the White and the Back-Yajurveda

• (1) The principal distinction between the White and the Back-Yajurveda consists in the fact that while the Vajasaneyi Samhita, belonging to the former, contains only the hymns, i.e., the prayers and sacrificial formulas, the Sailitas of the Black-Yajurveda contain, in addition, the prose commentaries, which should properly be relegated to the Brahmana portion. It seems that the Black-Yajurveda belongs to an earlier period, when the Samhita and the Brahmana portions were mixed up together, and that it is only at a later time that necessity was felt to separate the two, as had probably already been done in the case of the other Vedas.
• (2) The Vajasaneyi Samhita consists of forty chapters, and about two thousand verses, including repetitions. It consists of hymns, many of which are borrowed from the Rigveda and the Atharvaveda, as well as sacrificial formulas in prose. As the Samaveda Samhita contains only those hymns which were sung by the Udgatar priests, so the Yajurveda Samhita consists only of texts which were to be recited by the Adivaryu priests in connection with the more important sacrifices

(c) The Brahmanas

• (1) The Taittiriya Brahmana belongs to the Black Yajurveda. As has been already pointed out, the Black-Yajurveda Samhitas contain both Samhita and Brahmaņa. The Taittiriya Brahmana therefore contains only later additions to the Taittiriya Samhita.
• (2) The Satapatha Brahmana, belonging to the White Yajurveda, is the most voluminous and, at the same time, the most important of all the Brahmanas. Like the Vajasaneyi Samhita, of which it is a commentary, it occurs in two recensions, the Kanva and the Madhyandina. The Satapatha Brahmana is a very important source of information, not only about the sacrificial ceremonies of ancient India but also about her theology and philosophy, as well as her thoughts, ideas, manners, and customs.

(d) Aranyakas and Upanishads

• (1) The Taittiriya Aranyaka is practically a continuation of the Taittiriya Brahmana. Its concluding portion constitutes the Taittiriya Upanishad and the Maha-Narayana Upanishad, the last one being a comparatively late work.
• (2) The first portion of the fourteenth book of Satapatha Brahmana really constitutes an Aranyaka, while the last portion of the same book constitutes the famous Brihadaranyaka Upanishad.
• (3) The Kathaka-Upanishad, belonging to Black-Yajurveda.
• (4) The Isa-Upanishad forms the concluding chapter of the Vajasaneyi Samhita.
• (5) The Svetasvatara-Upanishad, belonging to the Black Yajurveda.
• (6) The Maitrayaniya-Upanishad, belonging to the Black Yajurveda, is a late work.

Antiquity of the Rigveda

Of all the books noticed above, the Samhita of the Rigveda is the earliest. It must have been finally arranged in its present form long before the Samhitas of the other Vedas, so far as they are independent of the Rigveda, began to be composed as such. Again, the composition of the Samhitas of the Sama, Yajur, and Atharva-veda must have preceded the prose Brahmanical texts. It is probable, however, that the final arrangement of the Yajurveda and the Atharvaveda Samhitas took place at a time when the Brahmana literature had already commenced to take shape, so that the latest portion of the former is sometimes contemporary with the oldest portion of the latter.

The age of the Vedas

• (1) So far the conclusions are easy to draw and, on the whole, reliable, but when we try to fix the time of these different compositions, our difficulty at once commences. The date of the Vedic literature has formed the subject of a keen and protracted discussion.
• (2) Max Muller, who first dealt with the question in a critical manner, held that the hymns of the Rigveda must have been composed before 1200-1000 B. C. He was, however, loath to lay down any positive date for its composition and expressly remarked that the question, whether this date should be fixed as 1000, 1500, 2000, or 3000 years before Christ, can never be solved.
• (3) As Winternitz observes, later scholars have, without offering any new argument, regarded 1200-1000 В. С., which was merely looked upon by Max Muller as terminus ad quem, as the date of the composition of the Rik Samhita.
• (4) On the other hand, scholars like Jacobi and Tilak have, on astronomical grounds, referred the date of the Rik Samhita to a much higher antiquity than was contemplated by Max Muller. Thus Tilak refers some Vedic texts to a period as far back as 6000 B. C. According to Jacobi, the Vedic civilization flourished between 4500 and 2500 BC., and the Samhitas were composed during the latter half of the period.
• (5) The present position about this question may be summed up in the following lines of Winternitz, the latest authority on this subject. “The available evidence merely proves, that the Vedic period extends from an unknown past, say X, to 500 B. C., none of the dates 1200-500 В. С., 1500-500 B. C., and 2000-500 B. C., which are usually assumed, being justified by facts.
• (6) Only it may be added, as a result of recent researches, that 800 B. C. should probably be substituted for 500 B.C. and that the unknown date X more probably falls in the third, rather than in the second, millenium before Christ.”

Origin and antiquity of the art of writing

• (1) The discussion of Vedic literature naturally leads to the cognate subject, the antiquity of the art of writing. Scholars have almost unanimously held the view that the art of writing was unknown in the period when the Sarihitas and the Brahmanas were composed. The great Vedic scholar, named Max Muller even went so far as to assert, that the art of writing was unknown to the Indians before the fourth century B. C. Fortunately, these views have since been abandoned, and most scholars now agree in referring the introduction of writing in India to seventh century B. C. They also hold that the ancient Indian alphabet, called ‘Brahmi lipi’, was derived from Semitic alphabets, although there is difference of opinion as to the particular Semitic race from which the Indians borrowed this knowledge of writing. The generally accepted view is that of Buhler, who maintained that the Indian alphabet was derived from the earliest Phoenician alphabet which was in use in the 9th century B. C.
• (2) The European views on this subject have recently been challenged by some Indian scholars, notably by Prof. D. R. Bhandarkar. He maintains that the art of writing was known to the Indians as early as the time of Rigveda, and derives the Brahmi alphabet from pre-historic alphabetic signs, such as have been recently found on pre-historic potteries dug out of the Hyderabad Cairns. It is thus impossible to form any definite opinion on the subject before further discoveries are made.
• (3) The scholars, who hold that the art of writing was unknown in the Vedic period, are naturally forced to the conclusion, that the whole Vedic literature was preserved by oral tradition only. To those who look upon this as incredible, the following lines of Max Müller would serve as a reply :

“It is of little avail in researches of this kind to say that such a thing is impossible. We can form no opinion of the powers of memory in a state of society so different from ours as the Indian Parishads are from our Universities…… Even at the present day, when manuscripts are neither scarce nor expensive, the young Brahmans who learn the songs of the Veda and the Brahmanas and the Sutras, invariably learn them from oral tradition, and know them by heart. They spend year after year under the guidance of their teacher, learning a little, day after day, repeating what they have learnt as part of their daily devotion, until at last they have mastered their subject and are able to become teachers in turn.”

“How then was the Veda learnt ? It was learnt by every Brahmana during twelve years of his studentship (forty-eight years in the case of those who did not wish to marry ). The Pratisakhya gives us a glimpse into the lecture rooms of the Brahmanic colleges…… The pupils embrace their master, and say “Sir, read.” The master gravely says ‘om’ i.e. “Yes.” He then begins to say a prasna (a question) which consists of three verses. In order that no word may escape the attention of his pupils, he pronounces all with the high accent, and repeats certain words twice.

“After the Guru (teacher) has pronounced a group of words, consisting of three or sometimes in long compounds) of more words, the first pupil repeats the first word, and when anything is to be explained, the teacher stops him and says, “Sir.” After it has been explained by the pupil who is at the head of the class. the permission to continue is given with the words “Well, Sir.” After the words of the teacher have thus been repeated by one, the next pupil has to apply to him with the word, “Sir”………… After a section of three verses has thus been gone through, all the pupils have to rehearse it again and again.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Vedas represent not only the spiritual wisdom of ancient Indian civilization but also a body of knowledge that transcends religious boundaries, influencing Indian philosophy, culture, and thought. They emphasize a cosmic order (ṛta), the unity of all beings, and the pursuit of knowledge (vidyā) and truth (satya). While their practical ritual significance has evolved over time, their philosophical insights continue to inspire seekers of truth and scholars alike.

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