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 Vangmaya.

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 includes various texts collectively making up a huge volume of literature.

1. वेदाङ्गानि || Vedangas (6)
2. वेद-उपाङ्गानि || Veda-Upangas (4)
3. उपवेदाः || Upa-Vedas (4)
4. पुराणानि || Puranas (18)
5. उपपुराणानि || Upa-Puranas (18)
6. पञ्चमवेदः || Panchamaveda (1)
7. दर्शनानि || Darshanas (6)
8. परिशिष्टम् || Parishistas

 विद्यास्थानानि ॥ Vidyasthanas

According to Vachaspatyam, Nandi Purana

वेदादिषु चतुर्दशसु विद्यासु। ताश्च “विद्याश्चतुर्दश प्रोक्ताः क्रमेण तु यथास्थिति। षडङ्गमिश्रितावेदा धर्म्मशास्त्रं पुराणकम्। मीमांमातर्कमपि च एता विद्याश्चतुर्दश” नन्दि पु०।

Meaning :

According to Vachaspatyam,

“पुराणन्यायमीमांसाधर्म्मशास्त्राङ्गमिश्रिताः। वेदाः स्थानानि विद्यानां धर्म्मस्य च चतुर्दश” या० स्मृतौ विद्यास्थानत्वोक्तेस्तासां तथात्वम्।

Summary: Purana, Nyaya, Mimamsa, Dharmashastras combined with vedangas, and vedas form the 14 vidyastanas as given in Yagnavalkya Smriti.

चतुर्दशविद्याः ॥ Chaturdasha vidyas are called the विद्यास्थानानि ॥ Vidyasthanas as they give comprehensive knowledge of dharma. Attaining proficiency in them is said to be vidya or education in ancient days. These include learning the Chaturvedas (Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda and Atharvanaveda), Shad(ved)angas (Shiksha, Kalpa, Vyakarana, Nirukta, Chandas and Jyotish), and 4 Upangas (Puranas, Nyaya shastra, Mimamsa and Dharmashastra) of Vedas.

वेदाङ्गानि || Vedangas

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

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

śikṣā kalpo vyākaraṇaṃ niruktaṃ chandasāṃ cayaḥ । jyotiṣāmayanaṃ caiva vedāṅgāni ṣaḍeva tu ॥

According to the above shloka, Vedangas are six in number namely Shiksha, Kalpa, Vyakarana, Nirukta, Chandas, Jyotish.

Title	Subject Dealt With
1.शिक्षा || Shiksha	Science of phonetics or pronunciation and intonation.
2.व्याकरणम् || Vyakarana	Science of the grammar of language
3.निरुक्तम् || Nirukta	Etymology or the science of origin, meaning and explanation of the Vedic words.
4.छन्दस् || Chandas	Prosody or science of composition of the hymns like meter, rhyme, पाद (quarter) etc. of the mantras
5.ज्योतिष् || Jyotish	Astronomy and astrology mainly directed towards fixing up of auspicious moments for the performance of the Vedic sacrifices
6.कल्पः || Kalpa	Science or manual of yagna kriyas or 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 ॥

chandaḥ pādau tu vedasya hastau kalpo'tha ucyate । jyotiṣāmayanaṃ cakṣurniruktaṃ śrotramucyate ॥

śikṣā ghrāṇaṃ tu vedasya mukhaṃ vyākaraṇaṃ smṛtam । tasmāt sāṅgamadhītyaiva brahmaloke mahīyate ॥

In पाणिनीयशिक्षा, these six vedangas are described in the above shloka which means - "Chandas forms the feet of the Vedapurusha, while Kalpas are the hands, Jyotish is the eye, Nirukta forms the ears, Shiksha is the nose, while the face (speech) is formed by Vyakarana. Only by studying vedas (Vedapurusha) along with vedangas (different parts) will one attain the brahmaloka".

वेद-उपाङ्गानि || Veda-Upangas

Puranas, Mimamsa, Nyaya and Dharma shastras are included in Upangas of Vedas.

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 philosophy. According to some scholars, the Shad-darshanas may be classified as Upangas of Vedas. However, traditionally the Chaturdasha vidyas consider the above given shastras as Veda Upangas.

It is to be noted that Dharma, Nyayashastra and Mimamsa are categorized and studied under the following headings.

• The Kalpa Vedanga studies, for example, expounded the Dharma-sutras (vaidika kriyas), which later expanded into Dharma-shastras (smritis). While Kalpa Dharmasutras generally lay down the code of conduct of a person during procedures related to vaidika yagna kriyas, Dharmasastras (classified under Upangas) lay down the general moral code of conduct applicable for every human being. Dharmashastras are also mentioned as Smritis, for ex: Manu Smriti, on which the present day Bharatiya judicial system is founded on.
• The Nyaya shastra given by Gautama rishi is also studied as part of the Shad-darshanas. Nyaya shastra is the science of logic, also called as हेतुविद्या ॥ Hetu-vidya.
• Mimamsa is divided into Purvamimamsa and Uttaramimamsa. Purva Mimamsa highlights the discriminating and decision making qualities of the Vedas by analysis. Here, Purva Mimamsa is generally what is considered for the term Mimamsa. Uttara Mimamsa is also called as Vedanta, which is classified under the Jnanakanda.

उपवेदाः || Upavedas

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

Title	Subject Dealt with	Associated with
आयुर्वेदः || Ayurveda	Science of healthy living including the prevention and cure of diseases	Rig Veda
गान्धर्ववेदः || Gandharvaveda	Science of fine arts like music and dance	Sama Veda.
अर्थशास्त्रम् || Arthashastra	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.

पुराणानि उपपुराणानि च ॥ Puranas and Upapuranas

The Puranas are 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 Mahapuranas (Great Puranas) and 18 Upapuranas (Minor Puranas), containing over 400,000 verses.

The 18 Mahapuranas and Upapuranas as listed in Agni Puranam are as follows

अष्टादश महापुराणानि

मत्स्यपुराणम् || Matsya Purana	मार्कण्डेयपुराणम् || Markandeya Purana	कूर्मपुराणम् || Kurma Purana
भागवतपुराणम् || Bhagavata Purana	भविष्यपुराणम् || Bhavishya Purana	ब्रह्माण्डपुराणम् || Brahmanda Purana
ब्रह्मवैवर्तपुराणम् || Brahmavaivarta Purana	ब्रह्मपुराणम् || Brahma Purana	वामनपुराणम् || Vamana Purana
वराहपुराणम् || Varaha Purana	विष्णुपुराणम् || Vishnu Purana	वायुपुराणम् || Vayu Purana
अग्निपुराणम् || Agni Purana	नारदपुराणम् || Narada Purana	पद्मपुराणम् || Padma Purana
लिङ्गपुराणम् || Linga Purana	गरुडपुराणम् || Garuda Purana	स्कन्दपुराणम् || Skanda Purana

अष्टादश उपपुराणानि

सनत्कुमारीयम् ॥ Sanatkumareeya	नारसिंहम् ॥ Narasimha	नन्दीयम् ॥ Nandeeya
शिवरहस्यम् ॥ Shivarahasya	दौर्वासम् ॥ Daurvasa	कपिलम् ॥ Kapila
नारदीयम् ॥ Naradeeya	वामनम् ॥ Vamana	वारुणम् ॥ Varunam
देवीभागवतम् ॥ Devibhagavata	वासिष्ठम् ॥ Vasishta	साम्बपुराणम् ॥ Samba
कल्की / कालिका॥ Kalki / Kalika	हंसम् ॥ Hamsa	सौरम् ॥ Saura
गाणपत्यम् / मुद्गलम् ॥ Ganapatya / Mudgala	पराशरम् ॥ Parashara	भार्गवम् ॥ Bhargava

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 Mahapuranas.

== परिशिष्टम् || Parishishtam == Parishishta (supplement, appendix) is the term applied to various ancillary works of Vedic literature, dealing mainly with details of ritual. They are elaborations of the texts logically and chronologically prior to them namely Samhitas, Brahmanas, Aranyakas and Sutras. Naturally, classified with the Veda to which each pertains, Parishishta works exist for each of the four Vedas. However, only the literature associated with the Atharvaveda is extensive.

The Ashvalayana Grhya Parishishta is associated with the Rigveda.

The Gobhila Grhya Parishishta is a short text consisting of two chapters, with 113 and 95 verses respectively.

The Katiya Parishishtas, ascribed to Katyayana, consist of 18 works enumerated self-referentially in the fifth of the series (the Charanavyuha) and the Katyayana Shrauta Sutra Parishishta.

The Krshna Yajurveda has 3 Parishishtas - The Apastamba Shrauta Parishishta, which is also found as the second prashna of the Satyasadha Shrauta Sutra', and the Varaha Shrauta Sutra Parishishta.

षड्दर्शनानि ॥ Shad Darshanas

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

kaṇādena tu saṃproktaṃ śāstraṃ vaiśeṣikaṃ mahat । gautamena tathā nyāyaṃ sāṃkhyaṃ tu kapilena vai ॥

Meaning : The great Vaisheshika shastra has been given by Kanada, while the Nyaya shastra was elucidated by Gautama Rishi, and Sankhya shastra was by Kapila Rishi.

Above Shloka from from Padma Purana shows that these darshanas belong to ancient period and are not of later time period as popularly believed.

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

1.  न्यायः || Nyaya
2.  वैशेषिकः || Vaiseshika
3.  साङ्ख्यः || Samkhya
4.  योगः || Yoga
5.  पूर्वमीमांसा || Poorva Mimamsa
6. उत्तरमीमांसा || Uttara Mimamsa or वेदान्त || Vedanta. 

पञ्चमवेदः || Panchamaveda 

भारतः पञ्चमो वेदः || bhārataḥ pañcamo vedaḥ ||

As given in Mahabharata, expounds that Mahabharata which covers numerous topics related to human relationships is considered as the "Fifth Veda".

पुराणं पञ्चमो वेद इति ब्रह्मानुशासनम् || (Skan. Pura. 5.3.1.18)

purāṇaṃ pañcamo veda iti brahmānuśāsanam || (Skan. Pura. 5.3.1.18)

Puranas are also considered as Panchamaveda according to the Skandapurana.

Apart from the Mahabharata and the Puranas, later texts such as Bharata's Natyashastra are also called as Panchamaveda by a few scholars.