Vedas: Difference between revisions

| period  = {{circa|1500}}–1200 BCE ([[Rig Veda]]),<ref name="Flood 2003 69" />{{refn|group=note|name="dating"}}<br />c. 1200–900 BCE ([[Yajur Veda]], [[Sama Veda]], [[Atharva Veda]])<ref name="Flood 2003 69"/>{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=37}}

| verses  = 20,379 mantras<ref>{{cite web |title=Construction of the Vedas |website=VedicGranth.Org |url=https://sites.google.com/a/vedicgranth.org/www/what_are_vedic_granth/the-four-veda/interpretation-and-more/construction-of-the-vedas?mobile=true |access-date=3 July 2020 |archive-date=17 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210717035126/https://sites.google.com/a/vedicgranth.org/www/what_are_vedic_granth/the-four-veda/interpretation-and-more/construction-of-the-vedas?mobile=true |url-status=dead }}</ref>

}}{{Pp-semi-protected|vandalism|small=yes}}{{Hindu scriptures}}

The '''Vedas''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|v|eɪ|d|ə|z}},<ref>[http://www.dictionary.com/browse/veda "Veda"]. ''[[Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary]]''.</ref> {{IAST3|veda}}, {{Lang-sa|वेदः|lit=knowledge}}) are a large body of [[religious texts]] originating in [[ancient India]]. Composed in [[Vedic Sanskrit]], the texts constitute the oldest layer of [[Sanskrit literature]] and the oldest [[Hindu texts|scriptures]] of [[Hinduism]].<ref>see e.g. {{Harvnb|Radhakrishnan|Moore|1957|p=3}}; {{Harvnb|Witzel|2003|p=68}}; {{Harvnb|MacDonell|2004|pp=29–39}}.</ref><ref>''Sanskrit literature'' (2003) in Philip's Encyclopedia. Accessed 2007-08-09</ref><ref>Sanujit Ghose (2011). "[http://www.worldhistory.org/article/230/ Religious Developments in Ancient India]" in ''World History Encyclopedia''.</ref>

There are four Vedas: the [[Rigveda]], the [[Yajurveda]], the [[Samaveda]] and the [[Atharvaveda]].<ref name=gflood/><ref>Bloomfield, M. The Atharvaveda and the Gopatha-Brahmana, (Grundriss der Indo-Arischen Philologie und Altertumskunde II.1.b.) Strassburg 1899; Gonda, J. ''A history of Indian literature'': I.1 Vedic literature (Samhitas and Brahmanas); I.2 The Ritual Sutras. Wiesbaden 1975, 1977</ref> Each Veda has four subdivisions – the [[Samhita]]s ([[mantra]]s and [[benediction]]s), the [[Aranyakas]] (text on rituals, ceremonies, sacrifices and symbolic-sacrifices), the [[Brahmanas]] (commentaries on rituals, ceremonies and sacrifices), and the [[Upanishads]] (texts discussing [[meditation]], philosophy and spiritual knowledge).<ref name=gflood>Gavin Flood (1996), ''An Introduction to Hinduism'', Cambridge University Press, {{ISBN|978-0-521-43878-0}}, pp. 35–39</ref><ref name="A Bhattacharya 2006 pp. 8–14">A Bhattacharya (2006), ''Hindu Dharma: Introduction to Scriptures and Theology'', {{ISBN|978-0-595-38455-6}}, pp. 8–14; George M. Williams (2003), Handbook of Hindu Mythology, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0-19-533261-2}}, p. 285</ref><ref name="Jan Gonda 1975">Jan Gonda (1975), Vedic Literature: (Saṃhitās and Brāhmaṇas), Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, {{ISBN|978-3-447-01603-2}}</ref> Some scholars add a fifth category – the [[Upasana]]s (worship).{{sfn|Bhattacharya|2006|pp=8–14}}{{sfn|Holdrege|1995|pp=351–357}} The texts of the Upanishads discuss ideas akin to the heterodox ''sramana''-traditions.{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=82}}

The various [[Indian philosophy|Indian philosophies]] and [[Hindu denominations]] have taken differing positions on the Vedas; schools of Indian philosophy which acknowledge the primal  authority of the Vedas are classified as "orthodox" ([[Āstika and nāstika|āstika]]).{{refn|group=note|name="Freschi_2012"}} Other [[śramaṇa]] traditions, such as [[Charvaka]], [[Ajivika]], [[Buddhism]] and [[Jainism]], which did not regard the Vedas as authorities, are referred to as "heterodox" or "non-orthodox" ([[Āstika and nāstika|nāstika]]) schools.{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=82}}<ref name="EB_astika">[http://www.britannica.com/topic/astika "astika"] and [http://www.britannica.com/topic/nastika "nastika"]. ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica Online]]'', 20 April 2016.</ref>

The noun is from [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]] ''{{PIE|*u̯eidos}}'', cognate to [[Greek language|Greek]] {{lang|grc|(ϝ)εἶδος}} "aspect", "form" . This is not to be confused with the homonymous 1st and 3rd person singular perfect tense ''{{IAST|véda}}'', cognate to Greek {{lang|grc|(ϝ)οἶδα}} ''(w)oida'' "I know". Root cognates are Greek [[idea|ἰδέα]], English ''[[wit]]'', etc., [[Latin]] ''videō'' "I see", German ''wissen'' "to know" etc.<ref>see e.g. Pokorny's 1959 ''[[Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch]]'' s.v. ''{{PIE|u̯(e)id-}}''²; Rix' ''[[Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben]]'', ''{{PIE|u̯ei̯d-}}''.</ref>

Vedas are called ''Maṛai'' or ''Vaymoli'' in parts of South India. Marai literally means "hidden, a secret, mystery". But the Tamil [[Naan Marai]] mentioned in [[Tolkāppiyam|Tholkappiam]] is not Sanskrit Vedas.<ref>Vasudha Narayanan (1994), The Vernacular Veda: Revelation, Recitation, and Ritual, University of South Carolina Press, {{ISBN|978-0-87249-965-2}}, p. 194</ref><ref name="John Carman 1989 pp. 259–261">John Carman (1989), The Tamil Veda: Pillan's Interpretation of the Tiruvaymoli, University of Chicago Press, {{ISBN|978-0-226-09305-5}}, pp. 259–261</ref> In some parts of [[South India]] (e.g. the [[Iyengar]] communities), the word ''veda'' is used in the [[Tamil language|Tamil]] writings of the [[Alvars|Alvar]] saints. Such writings include the [[Divya Prabandham]] (aka [[Tiruvaymoli]]).<ref name="Vasudha Narayanan 1994 pp. 43, 117">Vasudha Narayanan (1994), The Vernacular Veda: Revelation, Recitation, and Ritual, University of South Carolina Press, {{ISBN|978-0-87249-965-2}}, pp. 43, 117–119</ref>

* The [[Samhitas]] (Sanskrit ''{{IAST|saṃhitā}}'', "collection"), are collections of metric texts ("[[mantra]]s"). There are four "Vedic" Samhitas: the [[Rigveda|Rig-Veda]], [[Yajurveda|Yajur-Veda]], [[Samaveda|Sama-Veda]] and [[Atharvaveda|Atharva-Veda]], most of which are available in several [[recension]]s (''{{IAST|śākhā}}''). In some contexts, the term ''Veda'' is used to refer only to these Samhitas, the collection of mantras. This is the oldest layer of Vedic texts, which were composed between circa 1500–1200 BCE (Rig Veda book 2–9),{{refn|group=note|name="dating"}} and 1200–900 BCE for the other ''Samhitas''. The Samhitas contain invocations to deities like [[Indra]] and [[Agni]], "to secure their benediction for success in battles or for welfare of the cln."{{sfn|Prasad|2020|p=150}} The complete corpus of Vedic mantras as collected in [[Maurice Bloomfield|Bloomfield]]'s ''Vedic Concordance'' (1907) consists of some 89,000 [[pada (Hindu mythology)|padas]] ([[Foot (prosody)|metrical feet]]), of which 72,000 occur in the four Samhitas.<ref>37,575 are Rigvedic. Of the remaining, 34,857 appear in the other three Samhitas, and 16,405 are known only from Brahmanas, Upanishads or Sutras</ref>

Vedas are ''{{IAST|[[śruti]]}}'' ("what is heard"),{{sfn|Apte|1965|p=887}} distinguishing them from other religious texts, which are called ''{{IAST|[[smṛti]]}}'' ("what is remembered"). This indigenous system of categorization was adopted by [[Max Müller]] and, while it is subject to some debate, it is still widely used. As Axel Michaels explains:

The oldest part of the Rig Veda ''Samhita'' was orally composed in north-western India ([[Punjab, India|Punjab]]) between {{circa}} 1500 and 1200&nbsp;BC,{{refn|group=note|name="dating"}} while book 10 of the Rig Veda, and the other Samhitas were composed between 1200 and 900 BCE more eastward, between the Yamuna and the Ganges, the heartland of [[Aryavarta]] and the [[Kuru Kingdom]] (c. 1200 – c. 900 BCE).{{sfn|Witzel|1995|p=4}}{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=37}}{{sfn|Anthony|2007|p=49}}{{sfn|Witzel|2008|p=68}}{{sfn|Frazier|2011|p=344}} The "circum-Vedic" texts, as well as the [[shakha|redaction]] of the Samhitas, date to c. 1000–500 BCE.

==Chronology, transmission, and interpretation==

The Vedas were orally transmitted since their composition in the [[Vedic period]] for several millennia.<ref name="Witzel2003"/>{{sfn|Wood|2007}}{{sfn|Holdrege|1995|p=344}} The authoritative transmission{{sfn|Holdrege|1996|p=345}} of the Vedas is by an [[oral tradition]] in a ''[[sampradaya]]'' from father to son or from teacher (''guru'') to student (''shishya''),{{sfn|Holdrege|1995|p=344}}{{sfn|Broo|2016|p=92}}{{sfn|Hexam|2011|p=chapter 8}}{{sfn|Pruthi|2004|p=286}}{{sfn|Wood|2007}} believed to be initiated by the Vedic ''[[rishis]]'' who heard the [[Nāda yoga|primordial sounds]].{{sfn|Holdrege|2012|p=165}} Only this tradition, embodied by a living teacher, can teach the correct pronunciation of the sounds and explain hidden meanings, in a way the "dead and entombed manuscript" cannot do.{{sfn|Broo|2016|p=92}}{{refn|group=note|{{harvnb|Broo|2016|p=92}} quotes Harold G. Coward and K. Kunjunni Raja.}} As Leela Prasad states, "According to [[Adi Shankara|Shankara]], the "correct tradition" (''sampradaya'') has as much authority as the written Shastra," explaining that the tradition "bears the authority to clarify and provide direction in the application of knowledge."{{sfn|Prasad|2007|p=125}}

The emphasis in this transmission{{refn|group=note|Of the complete Veda, by ''pāțha-śālā'' (priestly schools), as distinguished from the transmission in the ''pūjā'', the daily services.{{sfn|Wilke|Moebus|2011|pp=344–345}}}} is on the "proper articulation and pronunciation of the Vedic sounds," as prescribed in the [[Shiksha]],{{sfn|Wilke|Moebus|2011|p=345}} the [[Vedanga]] (Vedic study) of sound as uttered in a Vedic recitation,{{sfn|Banerji|1989|pp=323–324}}{{sfn|Wilke|Moebus|2011|pp=477–495}} mastering the texts "literally forward and backward in fully acoustic fashion."{{sfn|Holdrege|1996|p=345}} Houben and Rath note that the Vedic textual tradition cannot simply be characterized as oral, "since it also depends significantly on a memory culture."{{sfn|Rath|2012|p=22}} The Vedas were preserved with precision with the help of elaborate [[Vedic chant|mnemonic techniques]],{{sfn|Wood|2007}}{{sfn|Hexam|2011|p=chapter 8}}{{sfn|Dwyer|2013}} such as memorizing the texts in eleven different modes of recitation (''[[patha]]s''),{{sfn|Holdrege|1996|p=345}} using the alphabet as a [[Art of memory|mnemotechnical device]],{{sfn|Griffiths|1999|p=122}}{{sfn|Rath|2012|p=19}}<!-- **START OF NOTE** -->{{refn|group=note|Several authors refer to the Chinese Buddhist Monk I-Tsing, who visited India in the 7th century to retrieve Buddhist texts and gave examples of mnemonic techniques used in India:{{sfn|Griffiths|1999|p=122}} "In India there are two traditional ways in which one can attain great intellectual power. Firstly by repeatedly committing to memory the intellect is developed; secondly the alphabet fixes (to) one's ideas. By this way, after a practice of ten days or a month, a student feels his thoughts rise like a fountain, and can commit to memory whatever he has heard once."{{sfn|Rath|2012|p=19}}{{sfn|Griffiths|1999|p=122}}}}<!-- **END OF NOTE** --> "matching physical movements (such as nodding the head) with particular sounds and chanting in a group"{{sfn|Doniger|2010|p=106}} and visualizing sounds by using ''[[mudra]]s'' (hand signs).{{Sfn|Wilke|Moebus|2011|p=479}} This provided an additional visual confirmation, and also an alternate means to check the reading integrity by the audience, in addition to the audible means.{{sfn|Wilke|Moebus|2011|p=479}} Houben and Rath note that a strong "memory culture" existed in ancient India when texts were transmitted orally, before the advent of writing in the early first millennium CE.{{sfn|Rath|2012|p=19}} According to [[Frits Staal|Staal]], criticising the [[Jack Goody|Goody]]-Watt hypothesis "according to which literacy is more reliable than orality,"{{sfn|Schiffman|2012|p=171}} this tradition of oral transmission "is closely related to Indian forms of science," and "by far the more remarkable" than the relatively recent tradition of written transmission.<!-- **START OF NOTE** -->{{refn|group=note|name="Staal_discoveries"|Staal: [this tradition of oral transmission is] "by far the more remarkable [than the relatively recent tradition of written transmission], not merely because it is characteristically Indian and unlike anything we find elsewhere, but also because it has led to scientific discoveries that are of enduring interest and from which the contemporary West still has much to learn." {{harvtxt|Schiffman|2012|p=171}}, quoting {{harvtxt|Staal|1986|p=27}}<br />Staal argued that the ancient Indian grammarians, especially [[Pāṇini]], had completely mastered methods of linguistic theory not rediscovered again until the 1950s and the applications of modern mathematical logic to linguistics by [[Noam Chomsky]]. (Chomsky himself has said that the first [[generative grammar]] in the modern sense was Panini's grammar).<ref name=front>[http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl1825/18250150.htm An event in Kolkata] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120510134321/http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl1825/18250150.htm |date=May 10, 2012 }}, [[Frontline (magazine)|Frontline]]</ref> These early Indian methods allowed the construction of discrete, potentially infinite generative systems. Remarkably, these early linguistic systems were codified orally, though writing was then used to develop them in some way. The formal basis for Panini's methods involved the use of "auxiliary" markers, rediscovered in the 1930s by the logician [[Emil Post]].<ref>{{cite journal|author=Kadvany, John|title=Positional Value and Linguistic Recursion|journal=Journal of Indian Philosophy|year=2007|pages=487–520|volume=35|issue=5–6|doi=10.1007/s10781-007-9025-5|citeseerx=10.1.1.565.2083|s2cid=52885600}}</ref>}}<!-- **END OF NOTE** -->

While according to Mookerji [[Nirukta|understanding the meaning]] (''vedarthajnana''{{sfn|Galewicz|2004|p=328}} or ''[[artha]]-[[Buddhi|bodha]]''{{sfn|Mookerji|2011|p=35}}{{refn|group=note|name="artha"}}) of the words of the Vedas was part of the [[Vedanga|Vedic learning]],{{sfn|Mookerji|2011|p=35}} Holdrege and other Indologists{{sfn|Holdrege|1996|p=346}} have noted that in the transmission of the ''Samhitas'' the emphasis is on the phonology of the sounds (''[[śabda]]'') and not on the meaning (''[[artha]]'') of the mantras.{{sfn|Holdrege|1996|p=346}}{{sfn|Klostermaier|2007|p=55}}{{sfn|Broo|2016|p=92}} Already at the end of the Vedic period their original meaning had become obscure for "ordinary people,"{{sfn|Klostermaier|2007|p=55}}{{refn|group=note|name="Kautas"|{{harvnb|Klostermaier|2007|p=55}}: "Kautas, a teacher mentioned in the ''[[Nirukta]]'' by ''[[Yāska]]'' (ca. 500 BCE), a work devoted to an etymology of Vedic words that were no longer understood by ordinary people, held that the word of the Veda was no longer perceived as meaningful "normal" speech but as a fixed sequence of sounds, whose meaning was obscure beyond recovery."<br /><br />The tenth through twelfth volumes of the first Prapathaka of the [[Chandogya Upanishad]] (800-600 BCE) describe a legend about priests and it criticizes how they go about reciting verses and singing hymns without any idea what they mean or the divine principle they signify.<ref name=pauldeussen112>Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-81-208-1468-4}}, pages 80-84</ref>}} and ''[[nirukta]]s'', etymological compendia, were developed to preserve and clarify the original meaning of many Sanskrit words.{{sfn|Klostermaier|2007|p=55}}{{sfn|Jackson|2016|p="Sayana, Vidyaranya’s brother"}} According to Staal, as referenced by Holdrege, though the mantras may have a discursive meaning, when the mantras are recited in the Vedic rituals "they are disengaged from their original context and are employed in ways that have little or nothing to do with their meaning."{{sfn|Holdrege|1996|p=346}}{{refn|group=note|According to Holdrege, ''srotriyas'' (a  group of male Brahmin reciters who are masters of ''sruti''{{sfn|Holdrege|1996|p=345}}) "frequently do not understand what they recite" when reciting the ''Samhitas'', merely preserving the sound of the text.{{sfn|Holdrege|1996|p=346}}}} The words of the mantras are "themselves sacred,"{{sfn|Holdrege|1996|pp=346–347}} and "do not constitute [[Speech act|linguistic utterances]]."{{sfn|Holdrege|1996|p=347}} Instead, as Klostermaier notes, in their application in Vedic rituals they become [[Magic (supernatural)|magical]] sounds, "means to an end."{{refn|group=note|Klostermaier: "''Brahman'', derived from the root ''bŗh'' <nowiki>=</nowiki> to grow, to become great, was originally identical with the Vedic word, that makes people prosper: words were the pricipan means to approach the gods who dwelled in a different sphere. It was not a big step from this notion of "reified [[Speech act|speech-act]]" to that "of the speech-act being looked at implicitly and explicitly as a means to an end." {{harvnb|Klostermaier|2007|p=55}} quotes {{harvnb|Deshpande|1990|p=4}}.}} Holdrege notes that there are scarce commentaries on the meaning of the mantras, in contrast to the number of commentaries on the Brahmanas and Upanishads, but states that the lack of emphasis on the "discursive meaning does not necessarily imply that they are meaningless."{{sfn|Holdrege|1996|pp=346,347}} In the Brahmanical perspective, the sounds have their own meaning, mantras are considered as "primordial rhythms of creation", preceding the forms to which they refer.{{sfn|Holdrege|1996|p=347}} By reciting them the cosmos is regenerated, "by enlivening and nourishing the forms of creation at their base. As long as the purity of the sounds is preserved, the recitation of the ''mantras'' will be efficacious, irrespective of whether their discursive meaning is understood by human beings."{{sfn|Holdrege|1996|p=347}}{{refn|group=note|name="Coward2008_mimamsa"|{{harvnb|Coward|2008|p=114}}: "For the [[Mimamsa]] the ultimate reality is nothing other than the eternal words of the Vedas. They did not accept the existence of a single supreme creator god, who might have composed the Veda. According to the Mimamsa, gods named in the Vedas have no existence apart from the mantras that speak their names. The power of the gods, then, is nothing other than the power of the mantras that name them."}} Frazier further notes that "later Vedic texts sought deeper understanding of the reasons the rituals worked," which indicates that the Brahmin communities considered study to be a "process of understanding."{{sfn|Frazier|2011|p=34}}

[[Radha Kumud Mukherjee|Mukherjee]] notes that the Rigveda, and Sayana's commentary, contain passages criticizing as fruitless mere recitation of the ''Ŗik'' (words) without understanding their inner meaning or essence, the knowledge of ''dharma'' and ''Parabrahman''.{{sfn|Mookerji|2011|pp=29–31}} Mukherjee concludes that in the Rigvedic education of the mantras "the contemplation and comprehension of [[Nirukta|their meaning]] was considered as more important and vital to education than their mere mechanical repetition and correct pronunciation."{{sfn|Mookerji|2011|pp=29, 34}} Mookei refers to Sayana as stating that "the mastery of texts, ''akshara-praptī'', is followed by ''[[artha]]-[[Buddhi|bodha]]'', perception of their meaning."{{sfn|Mookerji|2011|p=35}}{{refn|group=note|name="artha"|''Artha'' may also mean "goal, purpose or essence," depending on the context.<ref>See:

<br />{{*}} [http://spokensanskrit.de/index.php?tinput=artha&direction=SE&script=HK&link=yes&beginning=0 Sanskrit English Dictionary] University of Kloen, Germany (2009)

<br />{{*}} Karl Potter (1998), Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies, Volume 4, {{ISBN|81-208-0310-8}}, Motilal Banarsidass, pp 610 (note 17)</ref>}} Mukherjee explains that the Vedic knowledge was first perceived by the ''rishis'' and ''munis''. Only the perfect language of the Vedas, as in contrast to ordinary speech, can reveal these truths, which were preserved by committing them to memory.{{sfn|Mookerji|2011|pp=34–35}} According to Mukherjee, while these truths are imparted to the student by the memorized texts,{{sfn|Mookerji|2011|pp=35–36}} "the realization of [[rta|Truth]]" and the knowledge of ''[[paramatman]]'' as revealed to the ''rishis'' is the real aim of Vedic learning, and not the mere recitation of texts.{{sfn|Mookerji|2011|p=36}} The supreme knowledge of the Absolute, ''[[para Brahman]]-[[Jnana yoga|jnana]]'', the knowledge of ''[[rta]]'' and ''[[satya]]'', can be obtained by taking vows of silence and obedience{{sfn|Mookerji|2011|p=196}} sense-restraint, ''[[Dhyana in Hinduism|dhyana]]'', the practice of ''[[Tapas (Indian religions)|tapas]]'' (austerities),{{sfn|Mookerji|2011|p=34}} and discussing the [[Vedanta]].{{sfn|Mookerji|2011|p=196}}{{refn|group=note|Mookerji also refers to the Uśanā smriti (81-2), which "states that mastery of mere text of Veda is to be followed up by its meaning" by discussing the Vedanta.{{sfn|Mookerji|2011|p=196}} where-after they were able to engage in doscourses on the Vedas.{{sfn|Mookerji|2011|p=29}}{{sfn|Frazier|2011|p=34}}}}

Who really knows?<br />

Who can here proclaim it?<br />

Whence, whence this creation sprang?<br />

Who then knows whence it has arisen?<br />

Whether God's will created it, or whether He was mute;<br />

Only He who is its overseer in highest heaven knows,<br />

<br />{{*}}Translation 1: {{cite book|author=Max Müller|title=A History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature|date=1859|publisher=Williams and Norgate, London|url=https://archive.org/stream/historyofancient00mluoft#page/564/mode/2up|pages=559–565|author-link=Max Müller}}

<br />{{*}}Translation 2: {{cite book|author=Kenneth Kramer|title=World Scriptures: An Introduction to Comparative Religions|date=1986|publisher=Paulist Press|isbn=978-0-8091-2781-8|page=21}}

<br />{{*}}Translation 3: {{cite book|author=David Christian|title=Maps of Time: An Introduction to Big History|url=https://archive.org/details/mapstimeintroduc00chri_515|url-access=limited|date=2011|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-95067-2|pages=[https://archive.org/details/mapstimeintroduc00chri_515/page/n45 17]–18}}</ref>}}

The rituals became increasingly complex over time, and the king's association with them strengthened both the position of the Brahmans and the kings.{{sfn|Prasad|2020|pp=150–151}} The [[Rajasuya]] rituals, performed with the coronation of a king, "set in motion [...] cyclical regenerations of the universe."{{sfn|Prasad|2020|p=151}} In terms of substance, the nature of hymns shift from praise of deities in early books to [[Nasadiya Sukta]] with questions such as, "what is the origin of the universe?, do even gods know the answer?",<ref name=nasadiyasukta/> the virtue of [[Dāna]] (charity) in society,<ref>Original text translated in English: [[s:The Rig Veda/Mandala 10/Hymn 117|The Rig Veda]], Mandala 10, Hymn 117, Ralph T.H. Griffith (Translator);<br />C Chatterjee (1995), [http://jhv.sagepub.com/content/1/1/3.short Values in the Indian Ethos: An Overview]{{Dead link|date=March 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, Journal of Human Values, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 3–12</ref> and other metaphysical issues in its hymns.{{refn|group=note|For example,<br />''Hymn 1.164.34'', "What is the ultimate limit of the earth?", "What is the center of the universe?", "What is the semen of the cosmic horse?", "What is the ultimate source of human speech?"<br />''Hymn 1.164.34'', "Who gave blood, soul, spirit to the earth?", "How could the unstructured universe give origin to this structured world?"<br />''Hymn 1.164.5'', "Where does the sun hide in the night?", "Where do gods live?"<br />''Hymn 1.164.6'', "What, where is the unborn support for the born universe?";<br />''Hymn 1.164.20'' (a hymn that is widely cited in the Upanishads as the parable of the Body and the Soul): "Two birds with fair wings, inseparable companions; Have found refuge in the same sheltering tree. One incessantly eats from the fig tree; the other, not eating, just looks on.";<br />Sources: (a) Antonio de Nicholas (2003), Meditations Through the Rig Veda: Four-Dimensional Man, {{ISBN|978-0-595-26925-9}}, pp. 64–69;<br />[[Jan Gonda]], A History of Indian Literature: Veda and Upanishads, Volume 1, Part 1, Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, {{ISBN|978-3-447-01603-2}}, pp. 134–135;<br />[[s:The Rig Veda/Mandala 1/Hymn 164|Rigveda Book 1, Hymn 164]] Wikisource}}

The earliest and most ancient layer of Yajurveda [[samhita]] includes about 1,875 verses, that are distinct yet borrow and build upon the foundation of verses in [[Rigveda]].<ref>Antonio de Nicholas (2003), Meditations Through the Rig Veda: Four-Dimensional Man, {{ISBN|978-0-595-26925-9}}, pp. 273–274</ref> Unlike the Samaveda which is almost entirely based on Rigveda mantras and structured as songs, the Yajurveda samhitas are in prose, and they are different from earlier Vedic texts linguistically.<ref>Witzel, M., "[http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~witzel/canon.pdf The Development of the Vedic Canon and its Schools : The Social and Political Milieu]" in {{Harvnb|Witzel|1997|pp=270–271}}</ref> The Yajur Veda has been the primary source of information about sacrifices during Vedic times and associated rituals.<ref>Witzel, M., "[http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~witzel/canon.pdf The Development of the Vedic Canon and its Schools : The Social and Political Milieu]" in {{Harvnb|Witzel|1997|pp=272–274}}</ref>

The Atharvaveda is sometimes called the "Veda of magical formulas",<ref name=lauriepatton38>Laurie Patton (2004), Veda and Upanishad, in ''The Hindu World'' (Editors: Sushil Mittal and Gene Thursby), Routledge, {{ISBN|0-415-21527-7}}, p. 38</ref> an epithet declared to be incorrect by other scholars.<ref name=jangonda277>[[Jan Gonda]] (1975), Vedic Literature: Saṃhitās and Brāhmaṇas, Vol 1, Fasc. 1, Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, {{ISBN|978-3-447-01603-2}}, pp. 277–280, Quote: "It would be incorrect to describe the Atharvaveda Samhita as a collection of magical formulas".</ref> The [[Samhita]] layer of the text likely represents a developing 2nd millennium BCE tradition of magico-religious rites to address superstitious anxiety, spells to remove maladies believed to be caused by demons, and herbs- and nature-derived potions as medicine.<ref>Kenneth Zysk (2012), Understanding Mantras (Editor: Harvey Alper), Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-81-208-0746-4}}, pp. 123–129</ref><ref>On magic spells and charms, such as those to gain better health: [http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/sbe42/av064.htm Atharva Veda 2.32 Bhaishagykni, Charm to secure perfect health] Maurice Bloomfield (Translator), Sacred Books of the East, Vol. 42, Oxford University Press; see also chapters 3.11, 3.31, 4.10, 5.30, 19.26;<br /> On finding a good husband: [http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/sbe42/av102.htm Atharva Veda 4.2.36 Strijaratani] Maurice Bloomfield (Translator), Sacred Books of the East, Vol. 42, Oxford University Press; Atharvaveda dedicates over 30 chapters to love relationships, sexuality and for conceiving a child, see e.g. chapters 1.14, 2.30, 3.25, 6.60, 6.78, 6.82, 6.130–6.132; On peaceful social and family relationships: [http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/sbe42/av153.htm Atharva Veda 6.3.30] Maurice Bloomfield (Translator), Sacred Books of the East, Vol. 42, Oxford University Press;</ref> The text, states Kenneth Zysk, is one of oldest surviving record of the evolutionary practices in religious medicine and reveals the "earliest forms of folk healing of Indo-European antiquity".<ref>Kenneth Zysk (1993), Religious Medicine: The History and Evolution of Indian Medicine, Routledge, {{ISBN|978-1-56000-076-1}}, pp. x–xii</ref> Many books of the Atharvaveda Samhita are dedicated to rituals without magic, such as to philosophical speculations and to [[Theosophy (Blavatskian)|theosophy]].<ref name=jangonda277/>

Vedangas developed as ancillary studies for the Vedas, but its insights into meters, structure of sound and language, grammar, linguistic analysis and other subjects influenced post-Vedic studies, arts, culture and various schools of [[Hindu philosophy]].<ref>{{cite EB1911|wstitle= Hinduism |volume= 13 | pages = 501&ndash;513; see page 505 |last1= Eggeling |first1= Hans Julius }}</ref>{{Sfn|Wilke|Moebus|2011|pp=472–532}}{{Sfn|Coward|Raja|Potter|1990|p=18}} The Kalpa Vedanga studies, for example, gave rise to the Dharma-sutras, which later expanded into Dharma-shastras.{{Sfn|Olivelle|1999|p=xxiii}}<ref>{{cite book |author=Rajendra Prasad |title=A Historical-developmental Study of Classical Indian Philosophy of Morals |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1gtxVmUr1ygC |year=2009|publisher=Concept |isbn=978-81-8069-595-7 |page=147 }}</ref>

* Architecture ([[Sthapatyaveda]]), associated with the Rigveda.

Some post-Vedic texts, including the [[Mahabharata]], the [[Natya Shastra|Natyasastra]]<ref>Paul Kuritz (1988), The Making of Theatre History, Prentice Hall, {{ISBN|978-0-13-547861-5}}, p. 68</ref> and certain [[Puranas]], refer to themselves as the "[[fifth Veda]]".{{sfn|Sullivan|1994|p=385}} The earliest reference to such a "fifth Veda" is found in the [[Chandogya Upanishad]] in hymn 7.1.2.<ref>Sanskrit original: [http://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/छान्दोग्योपनिषद्_४ Chandogya Upanishad], Wikisource;<br />{{*}}English translation: [https://archive.org/stream/Shankara.Bhashya-Chandogya.Upanishad-Ganganath.Jha.1942.English#page/n383/mode/2up Chandogya Upanishad 7.1.2], G Jha (Translator), Oriental Book Agency, p. 368</ref>

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