Introduction to Sanatana Dharma Scriptures - Part 1

SanskAI

Administrator
Staff member
Vedas: Literally means knowledge. These are the most important texts which are considered Apaurusheya. This literally means "not of a man", the term also means "impersonal, authorless", Vedas were realized by Rishis (saints) in their deep state of meditation. Vedas are also called - Shruti - literally means - "what is heard"
There are 4 vedas - Rigveda, yajurveda, samaveda and atharvana-veda; Vedas are sometimes divided into two parts - Karma-kanda and Gnana-kanda

Rigveda is the most ancient among the four. It has 8 ashtakas and 10 mandalas. Rigveda is in the form of poetry. Rigveda has hymns for many dieties as well as practical advise for the worldly.

Yajurveda has to parts - Krishna yajurveda and shukla yajurveda. Yajurveda has mantras used in yagnas (fire sacrificial offerings and rituals)

Samaveda gives importance to melody and singing. Samaveda mantras are sung like music (sangeeta)

Atharvana veda has a a lot of mantras from Rig veda repeated and also has its own mantras too. Some traditions don't consider Atharvana veda as another veda and hence say there are only 3 vedas.
There are 4 parts in each vedas - Samhita, brahmana, aranyakas and upanishad.

Samhitas are the first part of the vedas. It is a collection of mantras . Hence sometime Samhitas are referred to as mantras too.

Brahmanas are the second part of the vedas. They are mostly in prose format and it has explaination of mantras from Samhitas. Though Brahmanas and Samhitas deal with rituals their literal meaning should not be considered. They are symbolic and have metaphysical meaning. The Rig Veda has two Brahmanas – Aitereya Brahmana and Shankhayana Brahmana.
The Shat-Patha Brahmana of Yajur Veda is the largest of all the Brahmanas of all the Vedas.

The Aranyakas form the third part of the Vedas. However, it should be noted that the Aranyakas are sometimes considered as parts of the Brahmanas. With the advent of the Aranyakas, the emphasis on the sacrificial rites seems to be diluting. The shift towards philosophic and spiritual interpretation of the rituals and ceremonials is evident.

The Upanishads are the concluding portions of the Vedas. The Upanishads are at the end of the Vedas. The Upanishads are referred to as the Vedanta. The word Vedanta is a compound word made up of two Sanskrit words: Veda and Anta. The word anta means an end.

The word Upanishad is derived from the Sanskrit root Sad. The Sanskrit verb sad refers to the knowledge or the satya. The words upa + ni suggests sitting (before someone) with a determination. The word Upanishad can be understood as: To sit near (close to) a guru with an objective to acquire knowledge.

Most of the Upanishads are in forms of dialogues between a master and a disciple Of the 108 Upanishads, ten Upanishads are considered exquisite by distinguished scholars. Some famous veda mantras
  1. Satyam vada dharmam chara सत्यं वद धर्मं चर (tell truth, follow dharma)
  2. Ma gridaha kasya sviddhanam मा गृध: कस्य स्विद्धनं (dont steal others money)
  3. Sham no astu dvipade sham chatushpade शं नो अस्तु द्विपदे शं चतुश्पदे (let peace come to us humans and animals)
There are 6 vedangas required to study and learn more about vedas. They are:
  1. Shiksha: Means learning, lesson. It is study of letters, sound and science of making of language.
  2. Vyakarana: Grammer and linguistic analysis.
  3. Chandas: Prosody and poetic meters. e.g. Most of ramayana and mahabharata are in Anushtup chandas which has 8 letters in each line and 4 such lines.
  4. Nirukta: Etymology and explanation of words.
  5. Jyotisha: Astrology and astronomy. Science of time keeping.
  6. Kalpa: Ritual instructions. E.g. rituals at birth, wedding, death etc.
 
Top