Vedas - A Brief Outline

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Vedas

 

The word Veda means knowledge, and the Vedas are considered the most sacred

scripture of Hinduism referred to as sruti, meaning what was heard by or

revealed to the rishis or seers. The most holy hymns and mantras were put

together into four schools of thought called the Rig, Sama, Yajur, and Atharva

Vedas. Vedas are difficult to date, because they were passed on orally for

thousands of years before they were written down. There is still a third and

yet more restricted meaning of the word "Veda;" it is used to refer to what is

probably the most ancient part of each Veda, the Samhitas or hymns and prayers

that make up the first of the four broad stages into which the Vedas (in the

second meaning of the term) are generally divided.

 

Samhitas

The Samhitas are the hymns belonging to the earliest stage. As the word

Samhita implies, they represent the basic collection of hymns and as such are

the oldest materials in each school. The oldest and most important is the Rig

Veda Samhita, which contains more than 10,000 verses in the form of a little

more than 1,000 hymns. These are written in various meters. Each of the

Samhitas provides the texts for one of the groups of priests of the Vedic

rituals. Thus the Rig Veda belonged to the Hotr priests and was recited by

them at the sacrifices. The Sama Veda contains chants and melodies (saman),

chanted by the priests of that name. With the exception of 75 stanzas, the

text is borrowed and rearranged from the Rig Veda. The Yajur Veda consists of

sacrificial formulas of the Adhvaryu priests, and many of these also are taken

from the Rig Veda. It has come down to us in several recensions, the Krisna or

"Black" Yajur Veda whose Samhitas are the Taittiriya, the Maitrayani, and the

Kathaka, and the "White" or Shukla Yajur Veda whose Samhita, is the Vajasanei.

The Atharva Veda is somewhat removed from the other three by virtue of the

"popular" character of many of the prayers against ills, incantations, and

spells which it contains. It also has, however, a number of hymns with an

important philosophical content.

 

Mantras

To grasp the relevance of this sacred text we must recall the importance of a

mantra, especially in

the Vedic period, though the mantra is a primordial human phenomenon to be

found in practically all religious traditions. Mantras are not magic formulas,

nor are they merely logical sentences; they connect, in a very special way,

the objective and subjective aspects of reality. A simple example is ofen

given to illustrate this function. A king asks his minister, who is advanced

in the spiritual life and practices japa (i.e., the recitation of mantras), to

teach him his mantra. The minister declines but the king insists. The minister

tells a page who is standing nearby to lay hold on the king, but, despite

repeated injunctions, the page does not move. Finally, the enraged king tells

his page to lay hold on the minister and the boy does so immediately. The

minister bursts out laughing and explains to the king: our orders were the

same and so was their recipient; yet in the one case the command was not

heeded and in the other it was. In the case of a mantra all depends on the

authority and the spiritual preparation of the one who says it. The word

"mantra" means that which has been thought or known or that which is

privately--or even secretly by initiation (diksa) transmitted and which

possesses power to liberate.

 

Brahmanas

The Brahmanas form the second broad stage, attached to the various branches of

the Samhitas.

Clearly later works, as their language reveals, they are written largely in

prose and give lengthy

explanations and descriptions of the rituals and prayers connected with the

sacrifice. They contain more than simple instructions for rituals, and much of

the explanatory matter is of a symbolic character.

 

Aranyakas

The Aranyakas, or "forest treatises," are in a sense continuations of the

Brahmanas, dealing with the speculations and spirituality of forest dwellers

(vanaprastha) those who have renounced the world. They represent a step toward

interiorization, as the hermit in the forest could not perform the elaborate

rituals demanded of the householder. Like the Brahmanas, they are attached to

the various branches and schools of the Samhitas.

 

Upanishads

The Upanisads are the fourth or final stage of the process, and are known

therefore as the Vedanta, or "end of the Veda." They represent the mystical

and philosophical culmination of the Vedas. They contain the teachings of the

great masters which point toward the path of moksa or liberation.

 

Rig Veda

The hymns of the Rig Veda are considered the oldest and most important of the

Vedas. More than a thousand hymns are organized into ten mandalas or circles

of which the second through the seventh are the oldest and the tenth is the

most recent. The Hindu tradition is that even the Vedas were gradually reduced

from much more extensive and ancient divine revelations but were perverted in

the recent dark age of Kaliyuga. As the only writings from this ancient

period of India they are considered the best source of knowledge we have, but

the ethical doctrines seem to have improved from the ancient hymns to the

mystical Upanishads. Essentially the Rig Veda is dominated by hymns praising

the Hindu gods for giving them wealth and prosperity. Agni, Varuna, Indra, Sun

and Mitra are the popular gods and Agni, the fire-god considered a messenger

of the gods. Surya the sun-god is referred to as the eye of Varuna and the son

of Dyaus and rides through the sky on his chariot led by his twin sons, the

Asvins who represent his rays; Ushas the dawn is his wife or daughter. Maruts

are storm-gods shaped by Rudra.

 

Sama Veda

The Sama Veda contains the melodies or music for the chants used from the Rig

Veda for the sacrifices; almost all of its written verses are traceable to the

Rig Veda, mostly the eighth and ninth books and most to Indra, Agni, or Soma.

These are considered the origin of Indian music and probably stimulated great

artistry to make the sacrifices worthwhile to their patrons who supported the

priests. The Sama Veda helped to train the musicians and functioned as a

hymnal for the religious rites. The animal sacrifices did not use the Sama

chants, but they were used extensively in agricultural rites and in the soma

rituals for which the plant with inebriating and hallucinogenic qualities was

imported from the mountains to the heartland of India. By this time the

priests were specializing in different parts of the sacrifices as professional

musicians and singers increased. As the sacrifices became more complex, the

priestly class used them to enhance their role in the society. Many considered

this musical portion the most important of the Vedas.

 

Yajur Veda

Though also following many of the hymns of the Rig Veda, the Yajur Veda

deviates more from the original text in its collection of the ritual formulas

for the priests to use in the sacrifices, which is what yaja means. It

explains how to construct the altars for new and full-moon sacrifices and

other ceremonies. The Yajur Veda has two collections or samhitas called White

and Black, the latter being more obscure in its meanings.

 

Atharva Veda

The latest and fourth Veda is in a different category. For a long time many

referred to only three Vedas, by which complete ceremonies could be conducted

with the Rig hotr reciting, the Sama udgatri singing, and the Yajur adhvaryu

performing the ritual. Even later the Atharvan Brahman's part was often

performed unaccompanied by the other three priests. The Atharva Veda is much

longer than the Sama and Yajur and only about a sixth of it is from the Rig

Veda. The Atharva Veda is primarily magical spells and incantations. The line

between prayer and magic and between white and black magic is usually drawn by

ethical considerations. The bheshajani are for healing and cures using herbs

to treat fever, leprosy, jaundice, dropsy, and other diseases.

 

Source: Compiled from the Book: Vedas - Hinduism's Contemporary Holy Bible,

By Professor Raimon Panikkar,Motilal Banarsidass, Bungalow Road, Jawahar

Nagar, Delhi, 110 007 INDIA.