Vedas Skt., lit. “knowledge, sacred teaching”; taken collectively, the oldest texts of Indian literature, to which orthodox Hindus ascribe superhuman origins and divine authority. This vast complex of scriptures, in length constituting six times the bulk of the Bible, is divided into four parts: (1) the Rigveda, the Veda of poetry; (2) the Sāmaveda, the Veda of songs; (3) the Yajurveda, the Veda of sacrificial texts; (4) the Atharvaveda, the Veda of Atharvan, a priest of the mystical fire ceremony.
Each of these four Vedas can be subdivided into three genres according to its content, manner of presentation, and date of origin: (a) the Samhitā (collection); (b) the Brāhmana (ritual explication); to these are appended the Aranyakas (“forest” texts), and certain to the Upanishads also belong to the Brāhmanas; (c) the Sūtra (manual, guide). With regard to its propositions, each Veda is also divided into a Karma-Kānda, or section on practices, and a Jñāna-Kānda, or section on knowledge. The four Vedas initially served the chief priests as manuals for the texts and correct application of hymns and formulas used in the sacrificial cult. To perform a complete sacrifice, four different chief priests were needed: (1) the hotar (“caller”), who recited the verses of the hymns to invite the gods to partake of – soma or some other sacrificial offering. He used the Rigveda; (2) the udgátar (“singer”), who accompanied the preparation and offering of the soma with singing. He used the Sāmaveda; (3) the adhvaryu (general priest), who carried out the sacred rite and thereby murmured the appropriate verses and formulas (yajus). His manual was the Yajurveda; (4) the high priest, whose duty was the supervision and direction of the sacrifice as a whole. However, he was not particularly connected to the Atharvaveda in any way.
A vast stretch of time must be postulated for the inception of the Vedas as a whole (from 1 500 B.C.E.), for at first they were transmitted orally from generation to generation, whereby the various shākhās (“branches”) arose in relation to the various schools that studied the Vedas. There are various accounts of the origins of the Vedas, but all agree that the knowledge they hold was revealed to the rishis during states of deep contemplation. Hence the Vedas are also referred to as shruti (“that which was revealed”).
Source: The Encyclopedia of Eastern Philosophy and Religion: Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Zen. Shambhala Publications, Inc.
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External links: Vedas / Rig-Veda / Sama-Veda / Yajur-Veda / Atharva-Veda