Preservation of the Vedas (वेदपरिरक्षणम्)

परिचय || Introduction

Transmission of texts in the Vedic period was by oral tradition, preserved with precision with the help of elaborate mnemonic techniques. A literary tradition is traceable in post-Vedic times, after the rise of Buddhism in the Maurya period, perhaps earliest in the Kanva recension of the Yajurveda about the 1st century BC; however oral tradition of transmission remained active. The Vedas were likely written down for the first time around 500 BC. However, all printed editions of the Vedas that survive in the modern times are likely the version existing in about the 16th century AD.

Due to the ephemeral nature of the manuscript material (birch bark or palm leaves), surviving manuscripts rarely surpass an age of a few hundred years. The Sampurnanand Samskrit University has a Rigveda manuscript from the 14th century; however, there are a number of older Veda manuscripts in Nepal that are dated from the 11th century onwards.

Prodigious energy was expended by ancient Indian culture in ensuring that these texts were transmitted from generation to generation with inordinate fidelity. For example, memorization of the sacred Vedas included up to eleven forms of recitation of the same text. The texts were subsequently "proof-read" by comparing the different recited versions. This ensured their verbatim preservation through ages of time.

वेदपाठपद्धती || Vedapaatha Paddhati

ऋषि || Rishis (Vedic seers) devised means of protecting and preserving the text of Vedas letter by letter, with all their accessories and accents. Vedic mantras have स्वर || Swara (accents) which preserve its original form of word- construction.

There are three प्रकृति पाठ || Prakriti Pathas for memorizing Mantras most commonly known as:

1. संहिता पाठ || Samhita-Patha -   in which Mantra remains in its true form.
2. पद पाठ || Pada-Patha-   in which each word of a Mantra is separately spoken.
3. क्रम पाठ || Krama-Patha-  in which two words of a Mantra are spoken jointly as  Ka-kha, kha-ga.

There were eight ways i.e., विकृति || Vikritis of memorizing Vedas. These are   

1. जातपाठ || Jatapatha
2. मालापाठ || Malapatha
3. शिखापाठ || Shikhapatha  
4. रेखापाठ || Rekhapatha  
5. ध्वजपाठ || Dhvajapatha
6. दण्डपाठ || Dandapatha
7. रथपाठ || Rathapatha,  and
8. घनापाठ || Ghanapatha

Among them Ghana Patha  is most difficult and the longest.

As its reach became wider, it helped in disseminating the knowledge of the Vedas, their student lineage also helped committing it to memory.

Without the use of writing a fool-proof method each Mantra was chanted in various patterns and combinations to prevent any errors creeping into the Vedas. The modes of chanting prescribe the basics like how much time one has to take for reciting a word, how to regulate breathing while reciting so that required vibrations are produced in the specific parts of the body which will yield pure word-sound.

Forms of recitation such as the jaṭā-pāṭha (literally "mesh recitation") is one in which every two adjacent words in the text were first recited in their original order, then repeated in the reverse order, and finally repeated again in the original order.

Another step was to prepare treatises known as अनुक्रमणि || Anukramanis in which the names of ऋषि || Rishi, देवता || Devata, छन्दः || Chandas  are mentioned in reference to each hymn of the Vedas. Chandas means meter which also helps in avoiding loss of content by enforcing number of syllables. 

That these methods have been effective, is testified to by the preservation of the most ancient Indian religious text, the Rigveda, as redacted into a single text during the Brahmana period, without any variant readings within that school. The Vedas, Vedic rituals and its ancillary sciences called the Vedangas, were part of the curriculum at ancient Bharata universities such as at Taxila, Nalanda and Vikramashila.

References

1. Narayanacharya, K. S. (2011). Veda Sanskritiya Parichaya, Part I. Hubli:​Sahitya Prakashana​.
2. http://ignca.nic.in/vedic_portal_introduction.htm