An Introduction to the Vedas

I. Origin and The Oral Tradition

The term Veda itself derives from the Sanskrit root vid, meaning "to know" or "knowledge." These texts represent the earliest literary record of Indo-Aryan civilization and are considered to be among the world's most ancient scriptures.

• Dating: The core hymns of the Rigveda are generally dated by scholars to between c. 1500 and 1200 BCE, composed in the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent (the Punjab).
• Shruti: The Vedas are classified as Shruti ("What is Heard"), signifying their status as divine revelations perceived by ancient sages (Rishis) during deep meditation. They are traditionally held to be Apauruṣeya—not created by man, but eternal.
• Transmission: For millennia, the Vedas were preserved purely through a meticulous oral tradition, employing complex mnemonic techniques to ensure their exact phonetic and rhythmic preservation, long before they were committed to writing on perishable materials like palm leaves.

II. The Fourfold Division: Chaturveda

The entire Vedic corpus is canonically divided into four core texts, known collectively as the Chaturveda:

1. Rigveda: The "Knowledge of Verses." The oldest Veda, containing 1,028 hymns (Suktas) organized into ten books (Mandalas). It is a collection of prayers and praises directed at personified natural deities like Agni (Fire) and Indra (King of Gods), and it includes profound speculative texts like the Nāsadīya Sūktam.
2. Yajurveda: The "Worship Knowledge." Primarily a liturgical text containing formulas and mantras to be recited by the priest (Adhvaryu) while performing sacrificial rituals (Yajñas). It is divided into two main schools: Shukla (White, clear verses) and Krishna (Black, mixed verses and prose commentary).
3. Samaveda: The "Knowledge of Melodies." Consists almost entirely of verses taken from the Rigveda but set to musical scores (Gānas) for chanting by the Udgāta priest during Soma sacrifices. It is considered the foundation of Indian classical music.
4. Atharvaveda: The "Knowledge of the Fire Priest." A later addition to the canon, it focuses more on spells, charms, and incantations for practical aspects of life (healing, protection), alongside its own set of philosophical hymns.

III. The Four Subdivisions of Each Veda

Each of the four Vedas is further composed of four distinct literary categories that represent the evolution of Vedic thought, moving from ritual to philosophy:

Samhitā (Collection):

The core collection of hymns, mantras, and prayers for public ceremonies. This is the oldest layer.

Brāhmaṇas (Commentaries):

Prose texts that meticulously detail and explain the meaning, performance, and purpose of the rituals and ceremonies mentioned in the Samhitā.

Āraṇyakas (Forest Books):

"Wilderness texts" that bridge the gap between the ritualistic *Brāhmaṇas* and the philosophical *Upaniṣads*. They discuss the symbolic and symbolic-meta-ritualistic meaning of sacrifices.

Upaniṣads (Philosophical Treatises):

The final layer, known as Vedānta ("the end of the Veda"). These are profoundly philosophical works focusing on the nature of reality, the soul (Ātman), the Universal Spirit (Brahman), and the path to liberation (Moksha).

IV. What Was Lost: The Missing *Shakhas*

While the main texts that survive are considered highly pure due to the precision of the oral tradition, it is widely acknowledged that much of the complete Vedic corpus has been lost over time.

• The Recensions (Shākhās): In ancient times, the Vedas were taught and preserved across numerous schools or recensions (Shākhās), each with its own slightly varying version of the texts, particularly the Brāhmaṇas.
• The Scale of Loss: Puranic texts suggest that originally there were over 1,100 Shākhās across all four Vedas (e.g., Rigveda had 21, Samaveda had 1,000). Today, only about 12 to 13 Shākhās survive in their entirety.
• Reasons for the Loss: The vast majority of this material was lost due to a confluence of factors:
  • The immense difficulty and high cost of maintaining specialized oral traditions for less popular recensions.
  • Socio-political shifts leading to the dominance and survival of only a few major schools.
  • The perishable nature of early manuscripts (birch bark and palm leaves), making texts vulnerable to climate and destruction across centuries.

Despite this loss, the surviving core texts—especially the Samhitās and major Upaniṣads—provide an invaluable and surprisingly complete foundation for understanding the entire trajectory of Hindu philosophy.