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Biography

The Vedas ( Sanskrit , " knowledge ") are a large body of texts originating in Vedic period|ancient India . Composed in Vedic Sanskrit , the texts constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest Hindu texts|scriptures of Hinduism .see e.g. ; Witzel, Michael, "Vedas and ", in: ; ; Sanskrit literature (2003) in Philip's Encyclopedia. Accessed 2007-08-09Sanujit Ghose (2011). "" in Ancient History Encyclopedia . The Vedas are apaurusheyatva| ("not of human agency").Apte, pp. 109f. has "not of the authorship of man, of divine origin" They are supposed to have been directly revealed, and thus are called ("what is heard"), distinguishing them from other religious texts, which are called ("what is remembered").

The Vedic texts or are organized around four canonical collections of metrical material known as s, of which the first three are related to the performance of yajna ( sacrifice ) in historical historical Vedic religion|Vedic religion :
# The Rigveda , containing hymns to be recited by the ;
# The Yajurveda , containing formulas to be recited by the Vedic priesthood|adhvaryu or officiating priest;
# The Samaveda , containing formulas to be sung by the .
# The fourth is the Atharvaveda , a collection of spells and incantations, apotropaic charms and speculative hymns.Bloomfield, M. The Atharvaveda and the Gopatha-Brahmana, (Grundriss der Indo-Arischen Philologie und Altertumskunde II.1.b.) Strassburg 1899; Gonda, J. A history of Indian literature: I.1 Vedic literature (Samhitas and Brahmanas); I.2 The Ritual Sutras. Wiesbaden 1975, 1977

The individual verses contained in these compilations are known as . Some selected Vedic mantras are still recited at prayers, religious functions and other auspicious occasions in contemporary Hinduism.

The various Indian Hindu philosophy|philosophies and Hindu denominations|sects have taken differing positions on the Vedas. Schools of Indian philosophy which cite the Vedas as their scriptural authority are classified as "orthodox" ( Astika and nastika|astika ). Other traditions, notably Buddhism and Jainism , which did not regard the Vedas as authorities are referred to by traditional Hindu texts as "heterodox" or "non-orthodox" ( Astika and nastika|nastika ) schools."The brahmin by caste alone, the teacher of the Veda , is (jokingly) etymologized as the 'non-meditator' ( ajjhayaka ). Brahmins who have memorized the three Vedas ( tevijja ) really know nothing: it is the process of achieving Enlightenment& nbsp;— what the Buddha is said to have achieved in the three watches of that night& nbsp;— which constitutes the true 'three knowledges.'" R.F. Gombrich in Paul Williams, ed., "Buddhism: Critical Concepts in Religious Studies." Taylor and Francis 2006, page 120. In addition to Buddhism and Jainism, Sikhism and Brahmoism ,"Eclecticism and Modern Hindu Discourse, Brian Hatcher, OUP 1999" many non-Brahmin Hindus in South India The Dravidian Movement by Gail Omvedt do not accept the authority of the Vedas. Certain South Indian Brahmin communities such as Iyengars consider the Tamil language|Tamil Divya Prabandham or writing of the Alvars|Alvar saints as equivalent to the Vedas.The Vernacular Veda by Vasudha Narayanan

Etymology and usage

The Sanskrit word "knowledge, wisdom" is derived from the root vid- "to know". This is reconstructed as being derived from the Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European root , meaning "see" or "know".;

As a noun, the word appears only in a single instance in the Rigveda, in Mandala 8|RV 8 .19.5, translated by Griffith as "ritual lore":
:
:"The mortal who hath ministered to Agni with oblation, fuel, ritual lore, and reverence, skilled in sacrifice."K.F. Geldner. Der Rig-Veda, Harvard Oriental Series 33-37, Cambridge 1951

The noun is from Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European , cognate to Greek language|Greek "aspect", "form" . Not to be confused is the homonymous 1st and 3rd person singular perfect tense , cognate to Greek (w)oida "I know". Root cognates are Greek idea|?d?a , English language|English wit , etc., Latin video "I see", etc.see e.g. Pokorny's 1959 Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch s.v. ²; Rix' Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben , .

In English, the term Veda is often used loosely to refer to the Samhitas (collection of mantra s , or chants) of the four canonical Vedas ( Rigveda , Yajurveda , Samaveda and Atharvaveda ).

The Sanskrit term as a common noun means "knowledge", but can also be used to refer to fields of study unrelated to liturgy or ritual, e.g. in "medical science", "science of agriculture" or "science of snakes" (already found in the early Upanishads ); means "with evil knowledge, ignorant". Monier Monier-Williams|Monier-Williams (1899)

Chronology

The Vedas are among the Ancient literature|oldest sacred texts . The Samhitas date to roughly 1500–1000 BCE, and the "circum-Vedic" texts, as well as the shakha|redaction of the Samhitas, date to c. 1000-500 BCE, resulting in a Vedic period , spanning the mid 2nd to mid 1st millennium BCE, or the Bronze Age|Late Bronze Age and the Iron Age India|Iron Age . Gavin Flood sums up mainstream estimates, according to which the Rigveda was compiled from as early as 1500 BCE over a period of several centuries.
The Vedic period reaches its peak only after the composition of the mantra texts, with the establishment of the various shakha s all over Northern India which annotated the mantra samhitas with Brahmana discussions of their meaning, and reaches its end in the age of Gautama Buddha|Buddha and Pa?ini|Panini and the rise of the Mahajanapadas (archaeologically, Northern Black Polished Ware ). Michael Witzel gives a time span of c. 1500 BCE to c. 500-400 BCE. Witzel makes special reference to the Near Eastern Indo-Aryan superstrate in Mitanni|Mitanni material of the 14th c. BCE the only epigraphic record of Indo-Aryan contemporary to the Rigvedic period. He gives 150 BCE ( Patañjali ) as a Terminus post quem|terminus ante quem for all Vedic Sanskrit literature, and 1200 BCE (the early Iron Age India|Iron Age ) as terminus post quem for the Atharvaveda.Witzel, Michael, "Vedas and ", in:

Transmission of texts in the Vedic period was by oral tradition alone, preserved with precision with the help of elaborate Vedic chant|mnemonic techniques . A literary tradition set in only in post-Vedic times, after the rise of Buddhism in the Maurya Empire|Maurya period , perhaps earliest in the Kanvas|Kanva recension of the Yajurveda about the 1st century BCE; however oral tradition predominated until c. 1000 CE.For the possibility of written texts during the first century BCE see: Witzel, Michael, "Vedas and ", in: ; For oral composition and oral transmission for "many hundreds of years" before being written down, see: .

Due to the ephemeral nature of the manuscript material (birch bark or palm leaves), surviving manuscripts rarely surpass an age of a few hundred years. The Benares Sanskrit University has a Rigveda manuscript of the mid-14th century; however, there are a number of older Veda manuscripts in Nepal belonging to the Vajasaneyi tradition that are dated from the 11th century onwards.

Categories of Vedic texts

The term "Vedic texts" is used in two distinct meanings:
#Texts composed in Vedic Sanskrit during the Vedic period ( Iron Age India )
#Any text considered as "connected to the Vedas" or a "corollary of the Vedas"according to International Society for Krishna Consciousness|ISKCON , , "Hindus themselves often use the term to describe anything connected to the Vedas and their corollaries (e.g. Vedic culture)".

Vedic Sanskrit corpus

The corpus of Vedic Sanskrit texts includes:

The Samhita (Sanskrit , "collection"), are collections of metric texts (" mantra s"). There are four "Vedic" Samhitas: the Rigveda|Rig-Veda , Samaveda|Sama-Veda , Yajurveda|Yajur-Veda , and Atharvaveda|Atharva-Veda , most of which are available in several recension s ( ). In some contexts, the term Veda is used to refer to these Samhitas. This is the oldest layer of Vedic texts, apart from the Rigvedic hymns, which were probably essentially complete by 1200 BC, dating to ca. the 12th to 10th centuries BC. The complete corpus of Vedic mantras as collected in Maurice Bloomfield|Bloomfield 's Vedic Concordance (1907) consists of some 89,000 pada (Hindu mythology)|pada s ( Foot (prosody)|metric feet ), of which 72,000 occur in the four Samhitas.37,575 are Rigvedic. Of the remaining, 34,857 appear in the other three Samhitas, and 16,405 are known only from Brahmanas, Upanishads or Sutras

The Brahmana s are prose texts that discuss, in technical fashion, the solemn sacrificial rituals as well as comment on their meaning and many connected themes. Each of the Brahmanas is associated with one of the Samhitas or its recensions. The Brahmanas may either form separate texts or can be partly integrated into the text of the Samhitas. They may also include the Aranyakas and Upanishads.

The Aranyaka s, "wilderness texts" or "forest treaties", were composed by people who meditated in the woods as recluses and are the third part of the Vedas. The texts contain discussions and interpretations of dangerous rituals (to be studied outside the settlement) and various sorts of additional materials. It is frequently read in secondary literature.

Some of the older Mukhya Upanishads ( Brihadaranyaka Upanishad| , Chandogya Upanishad|Chandogya , Katha Upanishad| )..Witzel, Michael, "Vedas and ", in: .

Certain Sutra literature, i.e. the Shrautasutra s and the Kalpa (Vedanga)|Grhyasutra s.

The Shrauta Sutras , regarded as belonging to the smriti, are late Vedic in language and content, thus forming part of the Vedic Sanskrit corpus.For a table of all Vedic texts see Witzel, Michael, "Vedas and ", in: .
The composition of the Shrauta and Grhya Sutras (ca. 6th century BC) marks the end of the Vedic period, and at the same time the beginning of the flourishing of the "circum-Vedic" scholarship of Vedanga , introducing the early flowering of classical Sanskrit literature in the Maurya Empire|Mauryan and Gupta Empire|Gupta periods.

While production of Brahmanas and Aranyakas ceases with the end of the Vedic period, there is a large number of Upanishads composed after the end of the Vedic period. While most of the ten Mukhya Upanishads can be considered to date to the Vedic or Mahajanapada period, most of the 108 Upanishads of the full Muktika|Muktika canon date to the Common Era.

The Brahmana s, Aranyaka s, and Upanishads often interpret the polytheistic and ritualistic Samhitas in philosophical and metaphorical ways to explore abstract concepts such as the Absolute ( Brahman ), and the soul or the self ( Atman (Hinduism)|Atman ), introducing Vedanta philosophy, one of the major trends of later Hinduism .

The Vedic Sanskrit corpus
is the scope of A Vedic Word Concordance ( ) prepared from 1930 under Vishva Bandhu, and published in five volumes in 1935-1965. Its scope extends to about 400 texts, including the entire Vedic Sanskrit corpus besides some "sub-Vedic" texts.
:Volume I: Samhitas
:Volume II: Brahmanas and Aranyakas
:Volume III: Upanishads
:Volume IV: Vedangas
A revised edition, extending to about 1800 pages, was published in 1973-1976.

Shruti literature

The texts considered "Vedic" in the sense of "corollaries of the Vedas" is less clearly defined, and may include numerous post-Vedic texts such as Upanishads or Sutra|Sutra literature . These texts are by many Hindu sects considered to be Sruti|shruti (Sanskrit: ; "the heard"), divinely revealed like the Vedas themselves. Texts not considered to be shruti are known as smriti (Sanskrit: ; "the remembered"), of human origin. This indigenous system of categorization was adopted by Max Müller and, while it is subject to some debate, it is still widely used. As Axel Michaels explains:

These classifications are often not tenable for linguistic and formal reasons: There is not only one collection at any one time, but rather several handed down in separate Vedic schools; Upanisads ... are sometimes not to be distinguished from IAST|Ara?yakas...; IAST|Brahma?as contain older strata of language attributed to the IAST|Sa?hitas; there are various dialects and locally prominent traditions of the Vedic schools. Nevertheless, it is advisable to stick to the division adopted by Max Müller because it follows the Indian tradition, conveys the historical sequence fairly accurately, and underlies the current editions, translations, and monographs on Vedic literature."

The Upanishads are largely philosophical works in dialog form. They discuss questions of nature philosophy and the fate of the soul, and contain some mystic and spiritual interpretations of the Vedas. For long, they have been regarded as their putative end and essence, and are thus known as Vedanta ("the end of the Vedas"). Taken together, they are the basis of the Vedanta school.

Vedic schools or recensions

Study of the extensive body of Vedic texts has been organized into a number of different schools or branches (Sanskrit , literally "branch" or "limb") each of which specialized in learning certain texts.. Multiple recensions are known for each of the Vedas, and each Vedic text may have a number of schools associated with it. Elaborate methods for preserving the text were based on memorizing by heart instead of writing. Specific techniques for parsing and reciting the texts were used to assist in the memorization process. ( See also: Vedic chant )

Prodigous energy was expended by ancient Indian culture in ensuring that these texts were transmitted from generation to generation with inordinate fidelity. For example, memorization of the sacred Vedas included up to eleven Vedic chant|forms of recitation of the same text. The texts were subsequently "proof-read" by comparing the different recited versions. Forms of recitation included the (literally "mesh recitation") in which every two adjacent words in the text were first recited in their original order, then repeated in the reverse order, and finally repeated again in the original order.

That these methods have been effective, is testified to by the preservation of the most ancient Indian religious text, the Rigveda| , as Redaction|redacted into a single text during the Brahmana period, without any variant readings.

The four Vedas

The canonical division of the Vedas is fourfold ( ) viz.,; Witzel, Michael, "Vedas and ", in:
# Rigveda (RV)
# Yajurveda (YV, with the main division Taittiriya Shakha|TS vs. Shakha|VS )
# Samaveda|Sama-Veda (SV)
# Atharvaveda|Atharva-Veda (AV)
Of these, the first three were the principal original division, also called " ", that is, "the triple sacred science" of reciting hymns (RV), performing sacrifices (YV), and chanting (SV).Witzel, M., "" in This triplicity is so introduced in the Brahmana s ( Shatapatha Brahmana|ShB , Aitareya Brahmana|ABr and others), but the Rigveda is the older work of the three from which the other two borrow, next to their own independent Yajus, sorcery and speculative mantras.

Thus, the Mantras are properly of three forms:
1. Ric , which are verses of praise in metre, and intended for loud recitation; 2. Yajus , which are in prose, and intended for recitation in lower voice at sacrifices; 3. Saman , which are in metre, and intended for singing at the Soma ceremonies.

The Yajurveda, Samaveda and Atharvaveda are independent collections of mantras and hymns intended as manuals for the Vedic priesthood|Adhvaryu , Udgatr and Brahman priests respectively.

The Atharvaveda is the fourth Veda. Its status has occasionally been ambiguous, probably due to its use in sorcery and healing. However, it contains very old materials in early Vedic language. Manusm?ti|Manusmrti , which often speaks of the three Vedas, calling them trayam-brahma-sanatanam , "the triple eternal Veda". The Atharvaveda like the Rigveda, is a collection of original incantations, and other materials borrowing relatively little from the Rigveda. It has no direct relation to the solemn Srauta sacrifices, except for the fact that the mostly silent Brahmán priest observes the procedures and uses Atharvaveda mantras to 'heal' it when mistakes have been made. Its recitation also produces long life, cures diseases, or effects the ruin of enemies.

Each of the four Vedas consists of the metrical Mantra or Samhita and the prose Brahmana part, giving discussions and directions for the detail of the ceremonies at which the Mantras were to be used and explanations of the legends connected with the Mantras and rituals. Both these portions are termed Sruti|shruti (which tradition says to have been heard but not composed or written down by men). Each of the four Vedas seems to have passed to numerous Shakha s or schools, giving rise to various recensions of the text. They each have an Index or Anukrama?i|Anukramani , the principal work of this kind being the general Index or .

Rigveda

The Rigveda|Rigveda Samhita is the oldest extant Indo-Aryan languages|Indic text.see e.g. . It is a collection of 1,028 Vedic Sanskrit hymn s and 10,600 verses in all, organized into ten books (Sanskrit: mandalas ).For 1,028 hymns and 10,600 verses and division into ten mandalas, see: . The hymns are dedicated to Rigvedic deities .For characterization of content and mentions of deities including Agni, Indra, Varuna, Soma, Surya, etc. see: .

The books were composed by poets from different priestly groups over a period of several centuries, commonly dated to the period of roughly the second half of the 2nd millennium BCE (the early Vedic period ) in the Punjab region|Punjab ( Sapta Sindhu ) region of the Indian subcontinent .see e.g. . Max Müller gave 1700–1100 BCE, Michael Witzel gives 1450-1350 BCE as terminus ad quem .

There are strong linguistic and cultural similarities between the Rigveda and the early Iranian Avesta , deriving from the Proto-Indo-Iranian language|Proto-Indo-Iranian times, often associated with the Andronovo culture ; the earliest horse-drawn chariots were found at Andronovo sites in the Sintashta-Petrovka cultural area near the Ural Mountains and date to ca. 2000 BCE.

Rig Veda manuscripts have been selected for inscription in UNESCO's "Memory of the World" Register 2007. http://hinduism.about.com/od/scripturesepics/a/rigveda.htm

Yajurveda

The Yajurveda|Yajurveda Samhita consists of archaic prose mantras and also in part of verses borrowed and adapted from the Rigveda. Its purpose was practical, in that each mantra must accompany an action in sacrifice but, unlike the Samaveda, it was compiled to apply to all sacrificial rites, not merely the Somayajna .
There are two major groups of shakha|recension s of this Veda, known as the "Black" (Krishna) and "White" (Shukla) Yajurveda (Krishna and Shukla Yajurveda respectively).
While White Yajurveda separates the Samhita from its Brahmana (the Shatapatha Brahmana ), the
e Black Yajurveda intersperses the Samhita with Brahmana commentary. Of the Black Yajurveda four major recensions survive (Maitrayani, Katha, Kapisthala-Katha, Taittiriya).

Samaveda

The Samaveda|Samaveda Samhita (from , the term for a melody applied to metrical hymn or song of praise.) consists of 1549 stanzas, taken almost entirely (except for 78 stanzas) from the Rigveda.
Like the Rigvedic stanzas in the Yajurveda, the Samans have been changed and adapted for use in singing. Some of the Rigvedic verses are repeated more than once. Including repetitions, there are a total of 1875 verses numbered in the Samaveda recension translated by Griffith.For 1875 total verses, see numbering given in Ralph T. H. Griffith. Griffith's introduction mentions the recension history for his text. Repetitions may be found by consulting the cross-index in Griffith pp. 491-99. Two major recensions remain today, the Kauthuma/Ranayaniya and the Jaiminiya. Its purpose was liturgical, as the repertoire of the udgatr| or "singer" priests who took part in the sacrifice.

Atharvaveda

The Atharvaveda|Artharvaveda Samhita is the text 'belonging to the Atharvan and Angiras (sage)|Angirasa poets.
It has 760 hymns, and about 160 of the hymns are in common with the Rigveda.. Most of the verses are metrical, but some sections are in prose.
It was compiled around 900 BCE, although some of its material may go back to the time of the Rigveda,. and some parts of the Atharva-Veda are older than the Rig-Veda though not in linguistic form.

The Atharvaveda is preserved in two recensions, the Paippalada and Saunaka. According to Apte it had nine schools ( shakha s ).. The Paippalada text, which exists in a Kashmir and an Orissa version, is longer than the Saunaka one; it is only partially printed in its two versions and remains largely untranslated.

Unlike the other three Vedas, the Atharvanaveda has less connection with sacrifice..Witzel, Michael, "Vedas and ", in: . Its first part consists chiefly of spells and incantations, concerned with protection against demons and disaster, spells for the healing of diseases, for long life and for various desires or aims in life..

The second part of the text contains speculative and philosophical hymns.
"The latest of the four Vedas, the Atharva-Veda, is, as we have seen, largely composed of magical texts and charms, but here and there we find cosmological hymns which anticipate the Upanishads, -- hymns to Skambha, the 'Support', who is seen as the first principle which is both the material and efficient cause of the universe, to Prana, the 'Breath of Life', to Vac, the 'Word', and so on." .

The Atharvaveda is a comparatively late extension of the "Three Vedas" connected to priestly sacrifice to a canon of "Four Vedas". This may be connected to an extension of the sacrificial rite from involving three types of priest to the inclusion of the Brahman overseeing the ritual.
"There were originally only three priests associated with the first three , for the Brahman as overseer of the rites does not appear in the and is only incorporated later, thereby showing the acceptance of the Atharva Veda , which had been somewhat distinct from the other and identified with the lower social strata, as being of equal standing with the other texts.".

The Atharvaveda is concerned with the material world or world of man and in this respect differs from the other three vedas. Atharvaveda also sanctions the use of force, in particular circumstances and similarly this point is a departure from the three other vedas.

Brahmanas

The mystical notions surrounding the concept of the one "Veda" that would flower in Vedanta|Vedantic philosophy have their roots already in Brahmana literature, for example in the Shatapatha Brahmana .
The Vedas are identified with Brahman , the universal principle (SBM 10.1.1.8, 10.2.4.6). Vac "speech" is called the "mother of the Vedas" (SBM 6.5.3.4, 10.5.5.1). The knowledge of the Vedas is endless, compared to them, human knowledge is like mere handfuls of dirt ( Taittiriya Shakha|TB 3.10.11.3-5). The universe itself was originally encapsulated in the three Vedas (SBM 10.4.2.22 has Prajapati reflecting that "truly, all beings are in the triple Veda").

Vedanta

While contemporary traditions continued to maintain Vedic ritualism ( Srauta , Mimamsa ), Vedanta renounced all ritualism and radically re-interpreted the notion of "Veda" in purely philosophical terms.
The association of the three Vedas with the bhur bhuva? sva? mantra is found in the Aranyaka#Aitareya_Aranyaka|Aitareya Aranyaka : " Bhu? is the Rigveda, bhuva? is the Yajurveda, sva? is the Samaveda" (1.3.2). The Upanishads reduce the "essence of the Vedas" further, to the syllable Aum (). Thus, the Katha Upanishad has:
:"The goal, which all Vedas declare, which all austerities aim at, and which humans desire when they live a life of continence, I will tell you briefly it is Aum " (1.2.15)

In post-Vedic literature

Vedanga

Six technical subjects related to the Vedas are traditionally known as "limbs of the Veda". V. S. Apte defines this group of works as:

"N. of a certain class of works regarded as auxiliary to the Vedas and designed to aid in the correct pronunciation and interpretation of the text and the right employment of the Mantras in ceremonials."Harvnb|Apte|1965|p=387.

These subjects are treated in Sutra literature dating from the end of the Vedic period to Maurya Empire|Mauryan times, seeing the transition from late Vedic Sanskrit to Sanskrit|Classical Sanskrit .

The six subjects of Vedanga are:

Phonetics ( Shiksha| )

Ritual ( Kalpa (Vedanga)| )

Grammar ( Vyakarana| )

Etymology ( Nirukta )

Meter ( Vedic meter| )

Astronomy ( Vedanga Jyotisha| )

Parisista

"supplement, appendix" is the term applied to various ancillary works of Vedic literature, dealing mainly with details of ritual and elaborations of the texts logically and chronologically prior to them: the Samhita s, Brahmana s, Aranyaka s and Kalpa (Vedanga)|Sutras . Naturally classified with the Veda to which each pertains, Parisista works exist for each of the four Vedas. However, only the literature associated with the Atharvaveda is extensive.

The is a very late text associated with the Rigveda canon.

The is a short metrical text of two chapters, with 113 and 95 verses respectively.

The , ascribed to Katyayana| , consist of 18 works enumerated self-referentially in the fifth of the series (the Shakha| )and the .

The Yajurveda has 3 parisistas The , which is also found as the second prasna of the ''', the

For the Atharvaveda, there are 79 works, collected as 72 distinctly named parisistas.BR Modak, The Ancillary Literature of the Atharva-Veda, New Delhi, Rashtriya Veda Vidya Pratishthan, 1993, ISBN 81-215-0607-7

Puranas

A traditional view given in the Vishnu Purana (likely dating to the Gupta Empire|Gupta period dates it to the 4th century CE.) attributes the current arrangement of four Vedas to the mythical sage Vyasa|Vedavyasa .Vishnu Purana, translation by Horace Hayman Wilson, 1840, Ch IV, http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/vp/vp078.htm Puranic tradition also postulates a single original Veda that, in varying accounts, was divided into three or four parts. According to the Vishnu Purana (3.2.18, 3.3.4 etc.) the original Veda was divided into four parts, and further fragmented into numerous shakhas, by Lord Vishnu in the form of Vyasa , in the Dvapara Yuga ; the Vayu Purana (section 60) recounts a similar division by Vyasa, at the urging of Brahma . The Bhagavata Purana (12.6.37) traces the origin of the primeval Veda to the syllable aum , and says that it was divided into four at the start of Dvapara Yuga , because men had declined in age, virtue and understanding. In a differing account Bhagavata Purana (9.14.43) attributes the division of the primeval veda ( aum ) into three parts to the monarch Pururavas at the beginning of Treta Yuga . The Mahabharata (santiparva 13,088) also mentions the division of the Veda into three in Treta Yuga .

Upaveda

The term upaveda ("applied knowledge") is used in traditional literature to designate the subjects of certain technical works.. Accessed 5 April 2007.. Lists of what subjects are included in this class differ among sources.
The Shaunaka|Charanavyuha mentions four Upavedas:

Medicine ( Ayurveda| ), associated with the Rigveda

Archery ( Indian martial arts|Dhanurveda ), associated with the Yajurveda

Music and Indian classical dance|sacred dance (), associated with the Samaveda

Military science ( Shastrashastra ), associated with the Atharvaveda

But Sushruta Samhita|Sushruta and Bhavaprakasha mention Ayurveda as an upaveda of the Atharvaveda. Sthapatyaveda (architecture), Shilpa Shastras (arts and crafts) are mentioned as fourth upaveda according to later sources.

Buddhist and Jain views

Buddhism and Jainism do not reject the Vedas, but merely their absolute authority.

Buddhism

In the Buddhist Vinaya Pitaka of the Mahavagga (I.245)P. 494 The Pali-English dictionary By Thomas William Rhys Davids, William Stede section the Buddha declared that the Veda in its true form was declared to the Vedic rishis "Atthako, Vâmako, Vâmadevo, Vishvamitra|Vessâmitto , Jamadagni|Yamataggi , Angirasa|Angiraso , Bharadvaja|Bhâradvâjo , Vasistha|Vâsettho , Kashyapa|Kassapo , and Bhrigu|Bhagu "P. 245 The Vinaya pi?aka?: one of the principle Buddhist holy scriptures ..., Volume 1 edited by Hermann Oldenberg but that it was altered by a few Brahmins who introduced animal sacrifices. The Vinaya Pitaka's section Anguttara Nikaya: Panchaka Nipata says that it was on this alteration of the true Veda that the Buddha refused to pay respect to the Vedas of his time.P. 44 The legends and theories of the Buddhists, compared with history and science By Robert Spence Hardy

Also in the "Brahmana Dhammika Sutta" (II,7)P. 94 A history of Indian literature, Volume 2 by Moriz Winternitz of the Suttanipata section of Vinaya PitakaP. 45-46 The legends and theories of the Buddhists, compared with history and science By Robert Spence Hardy there is a story of when the Buddha was in Jetavana village and there were a group of elderly Brahmin ascetics who sat down next to the Buddha and asked him, " Do the present Brahmans follow the same rules, practise the same rites, as those in the more ancient times? " The Buddha replied, "No." The elderly Brahmins asked the Buddha that if it were not inconvenient for him, that he would tell them of the Brahmana Dharma of the previous generation. The Buddha replied: " There were formerly rishis, men who had subdued all passion by the keeping of the sila precepts and the leading of a pure life...Their riches and possessions consisted in the study of the Veda and their treasure was a life free from all evil...The Brahmans, for a time, continued to do right and received in alms rice, seats, clothes, and oil, though they did not ask for them. The animals that were given they did not kill; but they procured useful medicaments from the cows, regarding the as friends and relatives, whose products give strength, beauty and health. " So in this passage also the Buddha describes when the Brahmins were studying the Veda but the animal sacrifice customs had not yet began.

The Buddha was declared to have been born as a Brahmin who was a knower of the Vedas and its philosophies in a number of his previous lives according to Buddhist scriptures. Other Buddhas too were said to have been born as Brahmins that were trained in the Vedas.

The Mahasupina Jataka P. 577 Dictionary of Pali Proper Names: Pali-English By G.P. Malalasekera and Lohakumbhi Jataka P. 30 ''The Jataka or Stories of the Buddha's Former Births By E. B. Cowell declares that Brahmin Sariputra in a previous life was a Brahmin that prevented animal sacrifice by declaring that animal sacrifice was actually against the Vedas.

Jainism

A Jain sage intereprets the Vedic sacrifices as metaphorical:
:" Body is the altar, mind is the fire blazing with the ghee of knowledge and burning the sacrificial sticks of impurities produced from the tree of karma;... "P. 92 Studies in Jain literature by Vaman Mahadeo Kulkarni, Sresh?hi Kasturabhai Lalabhai Smaraka Nidhi

Further, Jain Sage Jinabhadra in his Visesavasyakabhasya cites a numeber of passages from the Vedic Upanishads.P. 93 Studies in Jain literature by Vaman Mahadeo Kulkarni, Sresh?hi Kasturabhai Lalabhai Smaraka Nidhi

Jain are in conformity with the Vedas in reference to both the Vedas' and Jainism' acceptance of the 22 Tirthankaras:
:Of Rishabha (1st Tirthankara Rishabha) is written:
::" But Risabha went on, unperturbed by anything till he became sin-free like a conch that takes no black dot, without obstruction ... which is the epithet of the First World-teacher, may become the destroyer of enemies " (Rig Veda X.166)
:Of Aristanemi (Tirthankara Neminatha) is written:
::" So asmakam Aristanemi svaha Arhan vibharsi sayakani dhanvarhanistam yajatam visvarupam arhannidam dayase " (Astak 2, Varga 7, Rig Veda)

"Fifth" and other Vedas

Some post-Vedic texts, including the Mahabharata , the Natya Shastra|Natyasastra and certain Puranas , refer to themselves as the " fifth Veda ". The earliest reference to such a "fifth Veda" is found in the Chandogya Upanishad . " Divya Prabandha|Dravida Veda " is a term for canonical Tamil language|Tamil Bhakti texts.
Other texts such as the Bhagavad Gita or the Brahma Sutras|Vedanta Sutras are considered shruti or "Vedic" by some Hindu denominations but not universally within Hinduism. The Bhakti movement , and Gaudiya Vaishnavism in particular extended the term veda to include the Sanskrit Epics and Vaishnavite devotional texts such as the Pañcaratra|Pancaratra .

Western Indology

The study of Sanskrit in the West began in the 17th century. In the early 19th century, Arthur Schopenhauer drew attention to Vedic texts, specifically the Upanishads.
The importance of Vedic Sanskrit for Indo-European studies was also recognized in the early 19th century.
English translations of the Samhitas were published in the later 19th century, in the Sacred Books of the East series edited by Max Müller|Müller between 1879 and 1910.Müller, Friedrich Max (author) & Stone, Jon R. (author, editor) (2002). The essential Max Müller: on language, mythology, and religion . Illustrated edition. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 0-312-29309-7, ISBN 978-0-312-29309-3. Source: (accessed: Friday May 7, 2010), p.44
Ralph T. H. Griffith also presented English translations of the four Samhitas, published 1889 to 1899.

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