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"Veda" redirects here. For other uses, see Veda (disambiguation).| Part of a series on |
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The Vedas (Sanskrit: वेद) are an extremely large series of writings originating in Ancient India. They are considered to be one of the integral scriptural foundations of Hinduism. Many Hindus believe that the Vedas were not written by anyone including Ishvara (the term used for God among the Hindus), but are eternally existing (apaurusheya). While many historians regard the Vedas as some of the oldest surviving texts in the world, they estimate them to have been written down between 2500 and 500 BCE.
Introduction
The Vedas are the most ancient books in the World, and they are the Foundation of Hinduism. Veda means knowledge. Any form of Knowledge acquired is considered as a Veda whereby it has no beginning or end. While it might surprise people how a book can have no beginning or end, the ancient Rishis who wrote these accepted that the complete knowledge of the Universe could never fit in any book, so there would always be new things to discover. This philosophy makes Hinduism a very tolerant religion, always ready to accept new ideas from other cultures.
The Vedas were compiled by the great sage Krishna Dwipayana during the Dwapara Yuga with the goal to come up with a de-facto standard of education. Upon gathering all the teachings passed on from the Acharyas(Teachers) to their Sishyas(Students) from Kingdom to Kingdom, he compiled them into 4 standard structures; the Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda and Atharvaveda. Upon completion of this great feat he was given the title "Veda Vyasa" which means "Compiler of the Vedas".
The Vedas are considered Shruti (or Sruti), or revealed texts. They were not given by a prophet, but heard by many different Rishis (or very advanced Yogis) during deep meditation. These verses were combined and written in the Vedas in poetic form.
The Vedas are not Polytheistic. Dr David Frawley, in his book "Wisdom of the Ancient Seers" mentions "The Gods, though they have a human facet, are not anthromorphic. The Gods represent not the Divine in the image of Man, but rather man in the image of Divine, in the image of all creation."
Regarding the charge of Pantheism, he says in the same book "The natural imagery of the ancients reflects not the Divine reduced to natural world but the natural world as a reflection of the inner truth".
So Agni, the God of Fire, is not normal fire, but the fire of transformation. He burns our inner demons, and lights the way to Enlightenment. Soma, the God of Wine, is the Divine bliss we feel when reach the Divine, and feel him in all creation. Saraswati is not a river or Goddess of a River, but rather the River of Divine knowledge that continuously flows from heaven. When the Demons block this river and the Gods fight them, it is not a literal battle, but a figurative one when the Divine qualties inherent in Man fight the Demons of ignorance.
Organization
The Mantras are collected into anthologies called Samhitas. There are four Samhitas: the Rk (poetry), Sāman (song), Yajus (prayer), and Atharvan (a kind of priest). They are commonly referred to as the Rigveda, Samaveda, Yajurveda, and Atharvaveda respectively. Each Samhita is preserved in a number of versions or recensions (shakhas), the differences among them being minor, except in the case of the Yajur Veda, where two "White" (shukla) recensions contain the Mantras only, while four "Black" (krishna) recensions interspersed the Brahmana parts among the Mantras.
The Rigveda contains the oldest part of the corpus, and consists of 1028 hymns. The Samaveda is mostly a rearrangement of the Rigveda for musical rendering. The Yajurveda gives sacrificial prayers and the Atharvaveda gives charms, incantations and magical formulae. In addition to these there are some stray secular material, such as legends.
The next category of texts are the Brahmanas. These are ritual texts that describe in detail the sacrifices in which the Mantras were to be used, as well as comment on the meaning of the sacrificial ritual. Each of the Brahmanas is associated with one of the Samhitas. The Brahmanas may either form separate texts, or in the case of the Black Yajur Veda, can be partly integrated into the text of the Samhita. The most important of the Brahmanas is the Shatapatha Brahmana of the White Yajur Veda.
The Aranyakas and Upanishads are theological and philosophical works. They are mystic or spiritual interpretations of the Vedas, and are considered their putative end and essence, and thus known as Vedānta ("the end of the Vedas"). They often form part of the Brahmanas (e.g. the Brhadaranyaka Upanishad). They are the basis of the Vedanta school of Darsana.
Position and compilation
Hindu tradition regards the Vedas as uncreated, eternal and being revealed to sages (Rishis). The rishi Krishna Dwaipayana, better known as Veda Vyasa – "Vyasa" meaning "editor" or "compiler" – reputedly distributed this mass of hymns into the four books of the Vedas, each book being supervised by one of his disciples. Paila arranged the hymns of the Rig Veda. Those that were chanted during religious and social ceremonies were compiled by Vaishampayana under the title Yajus mantra Samhita (see Yajur-Veda). Jaimini is said to have collected hymns that were set to music and melody — "Saman" (see Sama-Veda). The fourth collection of hymns and chants known as the Atharva Samhita was collated by Sumanta.
Philosophies and sects that developed in the Indian subcontinent have taken differing positions on the Vedas. In Buddhism and Jainism, the authority of the Veda is repudiated, and both evolved into separate religions. The sects which did not explicitly reject the Vedas remained followers of the Sanatana Dharma, which is known in modern times as Hinduism.
Study
Elaborate methods for preserving the text (memorizing by heart instead of writing), subsidiary disciplines (Vedanga), exegetical literature, etc., were developed in the Vedic schools. Sayana, from the 14th century, is known for his elaborate commentaries on the Vedic texts. While much evidence suggests that everyone was equally allowed to study the Vedas and many Vedic "authors" were women, the later dharmashastras, from the Sutra age, dictate that women and Shudras were neither required nor allowed to study the Veda. These dharmashastras regard the study of the Vedas a religious duty of the three upper varnas (Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Vaishyas). In modern times, Vedic studies are crucial in the understanding of Indo-European linguistics, as well as ancient Indian history.
Many forms of Hinduism encourage the Vedic mantras to be interpreted as liberally and as philosophically as possible, unlike the texts of the three Abrahamic religions. In fact, over-literal interpretation of the mantras is actually discouraged, and even the three layers of commentaries (Brahmanas, Aranyakas, and Upanishads), which form an integral part of the śruti literature, interpret the seemingly polytheistic, ritualistic, and highly complex Samhitas in a philosophical and metaphorical way to explain the "hidden" concepts of God (Ishwara), the Supreme Being (Brahman) and the soul or the self (Atman). Many Hindus believe that the very sound of the Vedic mantras is purifying for the environment and the human mind.
Cosmogony
The Vedic view of the world and cosmogony sees one true divine principle self-projecting as the divine word, Vaak, 'birthing' the cosmos that we know from 'Hiranyagarbha' or Golden Womb, a primordial sun figure that is equivalent to Surya. The varied gods like Vayu, Indra, Rudra (the Destroyer), Agni (Fire, the sacrifical medium) and the goddess Saraswati (the Divine Word, aka Vaak) are just some examples of the myriad aspects of the one underlying nature of the universe.
Dating
Many historians regard the Vedas as one of the oldest surviving texts (see the ancient Egyptian texts "The Story of Sinuhe" and the "Ipuwer Papyrus", both dated 1800 BCE). The newest parts of the Vedas are estimated to date to around 500 BCE; the oldest text (RigVeda) is found to have been completed by 1500 BCE after being composed over hundreds of years, but most Indologists agree that a long oral tradition possibly existed before it was written down. They represent the oldest stratum of Indian literature and according to modern scholars are written in forms of a language which evolved into Sanskrit. They consider the use of Vedic Sanskrit for the language of the texts an anachronism, although it is generally accepted.
Some writers have used astronomical references in the Rigveda to date it to as early as the 4th millennium BC.
The Hindus fundamental belief is that the Vedas are sanatan - eternal- and apaurusheya - not composed by human entity. At the beginning of every cosmic cycle of brahma, Paramatma utters the divine words. Later, at various periods great rishis perceive these divine words and imparted this knowledge orally through generations. It is believed that this Vedic knowledge totally disappeared at the end of Brahmas cosmic cycle and reappeared again in Brahma's next cycle of creation. Later a part of vedic knowledge was written. Maha Rishi Veda Vyas simplified this one Veda by dividing it into four: Rig, Sam, Yajur, Atharva. In Bharatvarshas true tradition the vedas are eternal.
Etymology
The word "veda" means "knowledge", and is derived from the root "vid-", Sanskrit for "know", reconstructed as being derived from the Proto-Indo-European root "*weid-", meaning "see" or "know". "*Weid-" is also the source of the English word "wit", as well as "vision" through Latin. The Czech and Slovak words for "science" are "věda" resp. "veda", derived from western Slavic "vědet" resp. "vedieť" for "know".
Derivation from the Vedas-Upavedas
The Upavedas are derived from the Vedas and are specific applications of the teachings of the Vedas. The main Upavedas are:
1. Ayurveda- Indias healing system, it lays more stress on living with nature instead of fighting it, hence preventive instead of corrective medicine.
2. Dhanur Veda- Martial arts.
Ayurveda and Dhanurveda have points in common. They both work with Marma, or natural Pran(Life Energy) that flows in the body. Ayruveda heals the body, while Dhanurveda is used for killing. This concept is also known to Chinese as Acupuncture and related Chinese Martial Arts.
3. Stahapatya Veda- Architecture, sculpture and geomancy. Used especially for Temple design.
4. Gandharv Veda- Music, poetry and dance.
Some other fields like Jyotish(Indian Astrology), Tantra(based on the Puranas, which are in turn based on Vedas), Shiksha and Vyakara(Grammar and pronunciation) are also based on the Vedas.
The six schools of Vedic Philosophy
- Nyaya — The Logical School, founded by Gautama
- Vaishesika — Atomic school, founded by Kannada
- Samkhya — Cosmic Principle School, founded by Kapila
- Yoga — Yoga school(includes Raj, Hatha and Tantra Yoga), founded by Hiranyagarbha, although Patanjalis Sutras are the most popular book that has survived.
- Purva Mimamsa — Ritualistic School, founded by Jamini
- Uttara Mimasa/Vedant — Theological School, founded by Badarayana.
Vedanta was made popular by Adi Shankara also called Shankaracharya, who founded the Swami Order of Monks, and established 4 schools (or Maths) in 4 parts of India to carry on teachings of the Vedas in the 7th century.
Yoga is not just Asanas as Westerners see it, but a complete system of God Realisation. For more details see Misplaced Pages page on Yoga.
The Hidden meaning of the Vedas
The Vedas were written in poetic language. By literally translating them, Western translators lost some of the poetic beauty. Their interpretations of the shastras are often shallow. Plus, they had to force meanings where there were none. Words like Pantheism, Polytheism are used to describe Hinduism, but this shows the translators ignorance or bias.
One of the best commentaries to Vedas is written by Sri Aurobindo. Rig Veda is considered by many to be a book written by barbaric culture worshipping violent Gods. Aurobindo realised that this was due to the biased view of Westerners who had some preconceived views on Hindu culture.
So Aurobindo decided to look for hidden meanings in the Vedas. He looked at the Rig Veda as a psychological book, inspiring the people to move towards God, but in a hidden language.
So Indra is the God of Indriya, or the senses (sight, touch, hear, taste etc). Varun means air, but in esoteric terms means Pran, or the Life force. So when the Rig Vedas says “Call Indra and Varun to drink Soma Rasa” they mean use the Mind senses and Pran to receive divine bliss (Soma means wine of Gods, but in several texts also means Divine Bliss, as in Right handed Tantra).
Agni, or God of Fire, is the hidden Divine Spark in us, which we have to fan, so it grows and engulfs our whole body. So the sacrifice of the Vedas actually means sacrificing ones ego to the internal Agni, or Divine spark.
These essays originally appeared in the Arya, but have been condensed as a book form as “The Secret of the Vedas” by Sri Aurobindo.
Westerners and Vedas
The Vedas are hidden in mystic language. The Rishis hid 3-4 esoteric meanings within each verse, and it required a good Guru to explain them.
One of the few Westerners to study the Vedas with an Indian Guru is Dr David Frawley. In his excellent book "Wisdom of the Ancient Seers" he explores ideas similar to one by Sri Aurobindo.
He describes Indra as a brave soul, willing to fight evil and darkness. He is the inner Spirit, wanting to break free from the fake shackles of ego.
Frawley, who also studied Ayurveda and Tantra, says Agni also refers to Kundalini, and Soma Rasa to the Sahasra Chakra and the bliss that flows from it. Savitur is the Sun that shines in the darkness of ignorance, and guides us towards the Truth.
See also
External links
- Read the four Vedas online
- Questions on the Dating of the Vedas
- A great source of information
- A Complete Review of Vedic Literature
- The Vedas at sacred-texts.com
- Vedas: Rig, Sama, Yajur, and Artharva
- Excellent site about Vedas (Aurobindo)
- Veda and Upanishads
- VEDA - Vedas and Vedic Knowledge Online (Vaishnava and general)
- Vedic Chanting .mp3 audio files
- Photos of the performance of Vedic rituals in India
- Vedic and Spirituel Literature
- Vedic Astronomy
- Photos, Multimedia files, and explanations of Vedic traditional rituals
- Weekly podcast on Vedic Mythology and Vedic Chanting
References
- Moriz Winternitz History of Indian Literature, Vol.1 (Calcutta 1926) p.l
- Sri Aurobindo ,Secret of the Vedas
- David Frawley, Wisdom of the Ancient Seers