Vaidika Vangmaya (वैदिकवाङ्मयम्)

Vedic literature includes extensive volumes of texts which can be classified as the Ancillary and Subsidiary Texts of the Vedas. To clarify the Vedas and in understanding them, over a period of time, different explanatory shastras evolved to explain the subtle concepts presented in Vedas and they are grouped under Veda Vangmayam.

Understanding vedic literature itself developed into many branches covering different aspects of the subject. While some have developed independently (such as Jyotisha - to explain muhurtas in vedic rituals), others summarize (such as Kalpa which is a manual of material from different vedas) and a few others are simplified (like the Puranas in story format) for easy understanding (including the Mahabharata). Vaidika Vangmayam include various texts collectively making up a huge volume of literature.

1. वेदाङ्गानि || Vedangas
2. वेद-उपाङ्गानि || Veda-Upangas
3. उपवेदाः || Upavedas
4. पुराणानि || Puranas
5. उपपुराणानि || Upa-Puranas
6. पञ्चमवेदः || Panchamavedah
7. परिशिष्टम् || Parishistam

Contents

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• 1 वेदाङ्गम् || Vedaangas
• 2 वेद उपाङ्गम् || Veda-Upaangas
• 3 उपवेदम् || Upavedas 
• 4 पुराणानि ॥Puranas and Upapuranas
• 5 परिशिष्टम् || Parisista
• 6 पञ्चमवेदः || Panchamavedam
• 7 References

वेदाङ्गम् || Vedaangas[edit | edit source]

The word अङ्ग ॥ Anga is used in the sense of "उपकारकः ॥ Upakaraka (useful tool)", and with reference to understanding vedajnana or the knowledge of vedas, these six shastras are extremely useful, hence they are called Vedaangas.

"शिक्षा कल्पो व्याकरणं निरुक्तं छन्दसां चयः । "ज्योतिषामयनं चैव वेदंगानि षडेव तु ॥"

According to the above sloka Vedaangas are six in number namely Siksha, Kalpa, Vyakarana, Niruktam, Chandas, Jyotisha.^[1]

Title	Subject Dealt With
1.शिक्षा || Siksha	Science of phonetics or pronunciation and intonation.
2.व्याकरण || Vyakarana	Science of the grammar of language
3.निरुक्तम् || Nirukta	Etymology or the science of origin, meaning and explanation of the Vedic words.
4.छन्दः || Chandas	Prosody or science of composition of the hymns like meter, rhyme, paada etc. of the mantras
5.ज्योतिष || Jyotisha	Astronomy and astrology mainly directed towards fixing up of auspicious moments for the performance of the Vedic sacrifices
6.कल्प || Kalpa	Science or manual of sacrificial rituals, both Vedic and domestic.

छन्दः पादौ तु वेदस्य हस्तौ कल्पोऽथ उच्यते । ज्योतिषामयनं चक्षुर्निरुक्तं श्रोत्रमुच्यते ॥

शिक्षा घ्राणं तु वेदस्य मुखं व्याकरणं स्मृतम् । तस्मात् साङ्गमधीत्यैव ब्रह्मलोके महीयते ॥

In Paninineeyasiksha these six vedaangas are divided as given in the above sloka which means - "Chandas forms the feet of the Vedapurusha, while Kalpas are the hands, Jyotisha are the eyes, Nirukta forms the ears, Siksha is the nose, while the face (speech) is formed by Vyakaranam. Only by studying vedas (Vedapurusha) along with vedangas (different parts) will one attain the brahmaloka".^[2]

वेद उपाङ्गम् || Veda-Upaangas[edit | edit source]

"कणादेन तु संप्रक्तं शास्त्रं वैशेषिकं महत् । गौतमेन तथा न्यायं सांख्यं तु कपिलेन वै ॥"

Meaning : The great Vaiseshika shastra has been given by Kanada, while the Nyaya shastra was elucidated by Goutama rushi, and Saankhya shastra was by Kapila rushi.

Above Sloka from from Padma puranam shows that these darsanas belong to ancient period and not in later time period.

These are the six systems of Hindu philosophy which is known as Shad Darsanas. They are:

Shad Darshana Or Six  Systems Of Hindu Philosophy
न्याय || Nyaya	वैसेषिक	Vaiseshika	साङ्ख्य	Samkhya	योग || Yoga	पूर्व मिमांसा || Poorva Mimamsa	उत्तर मिमांसा || Uttara Mimamsa or वेदान्त || Vedanta.

उपवेदम् || Upavedas [edit | edit source]

They are called the subsidiary Vedas. They are four in number one attached to each Veda^[3] viz.

Title	Subject Dealt with	Associated with
आयुर्वेदः || Ayurveda	Science of healthy living including the prevention and cure of diseases	Rig Veda
गन्धर्व वेदः || Gandharva Veda	Science of fine arts like music and dance	Sama Veda.
अर्थ वेदः || Artha Veda	Science of finance, economics, politics and statesmanship	Atharva Veda
धनुर्वेदः || Dhanurveda	Science of archery and warfare	Yajurveda.

Vedas are thus a storehouse of knowledge needed for mankind, not merely spiritual but also secular or temporal. They are not compositions made in any one particular period. They are spread over a period of time; one group separated from the other probably by centuries and handed down from one generation to the other through word of mouth. 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. The Kalpa Vedanga studies, for example, gave rise to the Dharma-sutras, which later expanded into Dharma-shastras.

पुराणानि ॥Puranas and Upapuranas[edit | edit source]

The Puranas is a vast genre of encyclopedic Indian texts about a wide range of topics particularly legends and traditional lore. Several of these texts are named after major devatas such as Vishnu, Shiva and Devi. There are 18 Maha Puranas (Great Puranas) and 18 Upa Puranas (Minor Puranas), containing over 400,000 verses.^[4]

The 18 MahaPuranas listed in Agni Puranam are as follows

अष्टादश महापुराणानि

मत्स्य पुराणम् || Matsya puranam	मार्कण्डेय पुराणम् || Markandeya puranam	भागवत पुराणम् || Bhaagavata puranam
भागवत पुराणम् || Bhaagavata puranam	भविष्यात पुराणम् || Bhavishyat puranam	ब्रह्माण्ड पुराणम् || Brahmanda puranam
ब्रह्मवैवर्त पुराणम् || Brahmavaivarta puranam	ब्रह्म पुराणम् || Brahma puranam	वामन पुराणम् || Vamana puranam
वराह पुराणम् || Varaaha puranam	विष्णु पुराणम् || Vishnu puranam	वायु पुराणम् || Vaayu puranam
अग्नि पुराणम् || Agni puranam	नारद पुराणम् || Naarada puranam	पद्म पुराणम् || Padma puranam
लिङ्ग पुराणम् || Linga puranam	गरुड पुराणम् || Garuda puranam	स्कन्द पुराणम् || Skaanda puranam

कूर्म पुराणम् || Koorma puranam is also listed according to another classification.

The following are the 18 Upa Puranas

अष्टादश उपपुराणानि

Sanathkumareeyam	Naarasimham	Nandeeyam
Shivarahasyam	Daurvaasam	Kapilam
Naaradeeyam	Vaamanam	Vaarunam
Devibhagavatam	Vaasishtam	Saamba
Kalki / Kaalika	Hamsam	Sauram
Gaanapatya or Mudgala	Paraashara	Bhaargava

The Puranas have been influential in the development of Bharateeya samskriti. They are considered Vaidika (congruent with Vedic literature) or pertaining to vedas.

The Bhagavata Purana has been among the most celebrated, popularly studied and the principles practiced with reverence presently by people all over the world. The Puranic literature has become more popular with the Bhakti movement in India. Both Dvaita and Advaita scholars have given bhasyas or commentaries on the various vedantic philosophies of the Maha Puranas.

परिशिष्टम् || Parisista[edit | edit source]

Pariśiṣṭa "supplement, appendix" is the term applied to various ancillary works of Vedic literature, dealing mainly with details of ritual and elaborations of the texts logically and chronologically prior to them are the Samhitas, Brahmanas, Aranyakas and Sutras. Naturally classified with the Veda to which each pertains, Parisista works exist for each of the four Vedas. However, only the literature associated with the Atharvaveda is extensive.

The Āśvalāyana Gṛhya Pariśiṣṭa is associated with the Rigveda.

The Gobhila Gṛhya Pariśiṣṭa is a shorttext consisting of two chapters, with 113 and 95 verses respectively.

The Kātiya Pariśiṣṭas, ascribed to Kātyāyana, consist of 18 works enumerated self-referentially in the fifth of the series (the Caraṇavyūha) and the Kātyāyana Śrauta Sūtra Pariśiṣṭa.

The Kṛṣṇa Yajurveda has 3 parisistas The Āpastamba Hautra Pariśiṣṭa, which is also found as the second praśna of the Satyasāḍha Śrauta Sūtra', and the Vārāha Śrauta Sūtra Pariśiṣṭa

पञ्चमवेदः || Panchamavedam[edit | edit source]

भारतः पञ्चमो वेदः || Bharatah Panchamavedaha - As given in Mahabharata expounds that Mahabharatam which covers numerous topics related to human relationships is considered as the "Fifth Veda".

पुराणंपञ्चमोवेद इति ब्रह्मानुशासनम् (Skan. Pura. 5.3.1.18)

Puranas are also considered as Panchamaveda according to the Skaandapurana.^[5]

Apart from Shrimad Mahabharatam and Puranas, later texts such as Bharata's Natyashastram also called as Panchamavedam by a few scholars.

References[edit | edit source]

1. Jump up↑ Vedangas Introduction
2. Jump up↑ The Vedangas (Organs of the Vedas) by Dr. S. Yegnasubramanian
3. Jump up↑ Upavedas Introduction
4. Jump up↑ 18 Puranas English Translation
5. Jump up↑ Skaandapuranam (Revakhandam 5.3.1.18)