Introduction to Vedas

The Holy Vedas-Rig, Yajur, Sama, Atharva Veda !

The holy Vedas :

The Vedas are ancient texts that are sacred in India and renowned the world over. The word veda literally means knowledge. The root is vid, 'to know'. The vedas are thus texts that provide knowledge.

There are four vedas, known as the Rig veda, the Yajur veda, the Sama veda and the Atharva Veda. Many years ago, the vedas were referred to as 'trayi' or three. There must have been some point of time, when there were only three vedas. These are acknowledged to have been the Rig vedas, the Yajur veda and the Sama veda. The Atharva veda is believed to have been a later addition to the sacred canon.

The word 'trai' is also interpreted in a different sense. Although the interpretation does seem to be slightly arificial, it is following. The three paths to salvation are believed to be those of jnana (knowledge), bhakti (devotion) and karma (action). Since the vedas teach these three paths to salvation, they are referred to as trayi. The Rig veda is identified with the path of knowledge, the Yajur veda with the path of action, and the Sama veda with the path of devotion.

Each of the vedas has two parts, a samhita and the brahmanas. The samhita part consists of mantras or incantations. These were hymns that were used in sacrifies. But these mantras are difficult to interpret without commentaries. This is what the brahmanas set out to do. They explain the hymns and indiate how these are to be used in sacrifices. the brahmanas also have detailed descriptions of sacrifices and how they are to he conducted. The samhita and the brahmanas are often known as karma kanda,. that is, the part of the vedas that deals with rituals.

In addition, vedic literature also includes jnana kanda. This is the part that deals with supreme knowledge. Included in jnana kanda are the aranyakas and the upanishads.These are identified with various vedas.

We can therfore have a narrow definition of a veda as well as a broad one, The narrow definition would take the word veda to mean the samhita alone. The broad difinition would include, in addition, associated brahmanas, aranyakas and upanishads. By the word veda, we will mean the samhita alone.

when were the vedas composed and who composed them ? Strictly speaking, there is no answer to these questions. The vedas were revealed; they were shrutis. They were not written down or composed. They were communicated by the supreme godhead or the divine essence (brahman) , to the ancient seers, (rishis). These rishis did not compose the vedas; they merely obtained this divine knowledge through their extraordinary powers. In this sense, the vedas are apourusheya, that is, not the handiwork of men. Their authorship cannot be ascribed to any human author.

In the hindu conception of time, time is divided into four eras. These are known as Satya yuga, Treta yuga, Dvapara yuga and Kali yuga. As one moves from Satya yuga towards kali yuga, the poweer of righteousness diminishes and evil starts to rear its ugly head. To bring men back to the righteous path, the sacred knowledge that is in the vedas must be disseminated amongst them. But the veda are abstract an esoteric, too difficult for ordinary mortals to comprehend. To make the dissemination and assimilation easier, the vedas must be conveniently partitioned and divided into various groups. A person who is thus divides (Vyasa) the Vedas has the title of vedavyasa or Vyasadeva conferred on him.

In every Dvapara yuga, such a Vedavyasa is born to perform this sacred task. the Vedavyasa born in the dvapara Yuga immediately preceded the present kali uga, was krishna Dvaipayana vedvyasa. It is he born in the Dvapara yugas tha immediately preceded the present Kali uga was dvaipayana vedavyasa. It is he who is credited with having divided the original unified vedas into the four segments of the Rig veda, the Yajur veda, the Sama veda and the Atharva veda. krishna Dvaipayana vedavyasa did not compose the vedas, he merely recapitulatad what was already known, incidentally krishna dvaipayana vedavyasa is also credited with the omposion of the great epic, the mahabharata.

Just as it is impossible to determine who composed the vedas, it is also impossible to deterimine when they were composed. Widely different dates have been suggested by scholars. Tilak suggested a date of around 6000 BC; while Jacobi's date was around 4500 B.C. Most scholars would agree that the vedas were compilled some time between 4000 B.C and 1000 B.C. and that it is impossible to narrow down the range further. The earliest of the vedas is clearly the Rig veda. this reached a stage of final compilation between 1000 B.C and 900 B.C.


The Rig veda Samhita :

It is first important to understand that there were four classes of priests who were reauired at any sacrifice, or yajna. The first class consisted of officiating priests or acolytes (hotri). They invoked the gods by reciting the mantras, prepared the sacrificial ground and the altar, and poured out the libations. The hyms of the Rigveda are for this class of priests. The second class of priests consisted of the choristers (udgatri). These were the ones who chanted the sacred hymns and the hymns of the Sama veda are for this class of priests. The third class of priests consisted of the reciters (adhvaryu). They carried out sacrificial rites while chanting the sacred texts and the hyms of the Yajur veda are for this class of priests. The fourth class of priests consisted of brahmana overseers. They supervised the sacrifice and the hyms of the Atharva veda are for this class of priests.

The Rig veda derives its name from the Rik, which means a mantra. There are 10, 589 verses in the Rig veda samhita. These are divided into ten mandalas or books. Each of the mandalas is subdivided into Anuvakas( lessons) and suktas (hymns). The ten Mandalas have 85 Anuvakas, 1080 suktas and 10, 589 verses. There is also a valakhilya section or supplement. This seems to have been a later addition.

Let us now see what the Rig veda has to say. Since the Rig veda is fairly long, we will have to be selective. We can not be exhaustive.

Mandala one :

This mandala has 181 suktas and 2006 mantras. The bulk of the mantras are addressed to Indra. Agni comes next in order of importance.)

Mandala two :

This mandala has 43 suktas and 429 mantras. Almost all the suktas are ascribed to a sage named Gritsamada.

Mandala three :

This mandala has 62 suktas and 617 mantras. Most of these are ascribed to the sage Vishvamitra or to his family. The bulk of the suktas are addressed to Indra, followed by Agni. But for the sake of variety, we will start with a sukta that is primarily addressed to the sacrificial post or yupa. The hymn is composed in a mixture of the metres trishtupa and anushtupa.

Mandaala four :

This mandala has 58 suktas and 589 mantras Most of these are ascribed to the sage Vamadeva, the son of sage Gautama. The bulk of the suktas are addressed toAgni. We however start with one that is addressed to the falcon (shyena). This falcon brings down some juice from the heaven. Agni, in this form of lightning, rends the clouds and brings down a shower of rain. The lightning is being compared to a falcon and the rain to some juice. The metre in which the hymn is composed is mostly trishtupa.)

Mandala five :

This mandala has 87 suktas and 727 mantras. these are ascribed to various sages. The suktas addressed mostly to Agni, followed by the vishvadevas, the Maruts, and Indra, in that order. We begin with a sukta addressed to the apris, apris is a collective name for gods and deified ojects. Many such deified objects were forms of Agni. Apri suktas were recited prior to animal sacrifices. The sukta we reproduce is ascribed to the sage Vasushruta, the son of the sage Atri. The metre is gayatri.)

Mandala six :

This mandala has 75 suktas asnd 765 mantras Almost all the suktas are ascribed to the sage Bharadwaja and his family. The suktas are addressed mostly to Indra followed by Agni. But We have already reproduced suktas addressed to Indra and Agni. Let us therefore start with a sukta that is addresed to cows. This is ascribed to a sage Bharadwaja descended from Brihaspati. It is composed in a mixture of the metres tristupa, jagati, and anustupa.

Mandala seven :

(This mandala has 104 suktas and 841 mantras. Most of the suktas are addressed to Indra, followed by those addressed to Agni. All the hymns are ascribed to the sage Vashistha, although his sons also feature in a few suktas. The first sukta that we choose glorifies Vashistha and his family. It is composed in the tristupa metre. )

Mandala eight :

(This mandala has 103 suktas and 1716 mantras. The suktas ascribed to various sages. Most of the mantras are addressed to Indra, followed by those to Agni asnd the Ashvinis. The Valakhilya section that was mentioned in the introduction forms part of this mandala. In order to learn about gods other than those who have figured earlier, we start with a sukta addressed to the Adityas. Aditi is the mother of of the gods and Aditya sigifies 'son of Aditi'. Thus, Aditya is a general expression for all gods. But the word Aditya is also used in a more specific sense. There are twelve manifestations of Surya, one for each of the twelve solar months. These are the twelve Adityas. The sukta that we reproduce is ascribed to the sage kanva and is composed in the ushnika metre. )

Mandala nine :

(There are 114 suktas and 1108 mantras in mandala nine. Barring a single exception, all the suktas are addressed to Pavamana Soma. Soma is the personification of the soma juice, and is also idenified with the moon-god. Pavamana signifies 'that' which is being purified. This refers to the purification of the exrated soma juice, to its being srained through strainers. To avoid repetition, we reproduce only one sukta from mandala nine. This is composed in the gayatri metre and is ascried o the sage Vishvamitra.

Mandala ten :

(This is the richest mandala of the Rig veda samhita. Most of the references that one finds to the Rig veda are from this mandala. As a whole, the mandala has 181 suktas and 1754 mantras.

We start with a dialogue between Yama and Yami. Yama and Yami were, respectively, the son and daughter of Vivasvana or Surya. They were thus, brother and sister. The sukta is ascribed to no particular sage. Yama and Yami are themselves referred to as the sages. The hymn is composed in the trishtupa metre. )