The Four Vedas

The Four Vedas

The four Vedas are:

Rig Veda, which was revealed to Agni

Yajur Veda, which was revealed to Vayu

Sama Veda, which was revealed to Aditya

Atharva Veda, which was revealed to Angira.

They are also called Sruti and Samhitas and deal with a large number of sciences.

 

The Rig Veda contains a vast knowledge of physical, metaphysical and spiritual nature. It is the greatest amongst the Vedas in terms of content. It contains

 

10 mandala,

1028 Suktas and10581 Rik Mantra.

The Rig Veda has been translated by various schools in various languages.

 

The Yajur Veda deals with a number of topics and in particular the conduct in order to reach Moksha, the ultimate goal of life.

It contains:

40 Adhyaya, and 

1975 Yaju Mantra.

 

The Sama Veda deals mainly with that knowledge and activity with which the soul of the human being is lifted from the cycle of life and death. It is dedicated to the worship of the Supreme Lord, the manifestation of his powers and the way of disciplines for spiritual advancement.

Amongst the Vedas, Sama is the shortest in terms of numbers of the Mantras.

It contains two chapters, Purvacika and Uttaracika, and 1874 Mantra in total.

 

The Atharva Veda deals with the knowledge of a number of sciences.

It has 20 Kandas,

111 Anuvaka,

731 Sukta, and

5977 Mantra.

 

Upavedas

The following sciences are considered Upaveda:

1) Ayurveda, the science of medicine

2) Dhanurveda, the military science

3) Gandharva Veda, the science of music

4) Shilpa Veda, architecture and 64 other arts

5) Artha Veda, sociology, economics and politics

 

Vedanga

The Vedanga are concerned with the correct interpretation of the Vedas. Mundaka Upanisad states that there are six Vedanga:

1) Siksha, education,

2) Kalpa, the creation,

3) Vyakarana, grammar,

4) Nirukta, etymology,

5) Chhanda, metric and

6) Jyotisha, mathematics and astronomy.

This is a section of the book “Brilliant As the Sun”(English).

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