Vaidika Vangmaya (वैदिकवाङ्मयम्)

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

Introduction

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, Ayurveda the science of all round health) 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). They are sub classified as

1. Vedaangas
2. Veda-Upangas
3. Upa-Vedas
4. Panchamavedam
5. Puranas
6. Upa-Puranas

All these along with the other Parishistas make up a huge volume of literature which we collectively call as vaidika vaangmayam.

Vedaangas

शिक्षा कल्पो व्याकरणं निरुक्तं छन्दसां चयः ।

ज्योतिषामयनं चैव वेदंगानि षडेव तु ॥

According to the above sloka Vedaangas are six in number namely

VEDAANGAS

Title	Subject Dealt With
1.Siksha	Science of phonetics or pronunciation and intonation.
2.Vyakarana	Science of the grammar of language
3.Nirukta	Etymology or the science of origin, meaning and explanation of the Vedic words.
4.Chandas	Prosody or science of composition of the hymns like meter, rhyme, paada etc. of the mantras
5.Jyotisha	Astronomy and astrology mainly directed towards fixing up of auspicious moments for the performance of the Vedic sacrifices
6.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".

Veda-Upaangas

कणादेन तु संप्रक्तं शास्त्रं वैशेषिकं महत् ।

गौतमेन तथा न्यायं सांख्यं तु कपिलेन वै ॥

"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:

VEDA UPANGAS
Shad Darshana Or Six  Systems Of Hindu Philosophy
Nyaya	Vaiseshika	Sankhya	Yoga	Poorva Mimamsa	Uttara Mimamsa or Vedanta.

Upa Vedas 

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

UPA VEDA Or Subsidiary Vedas
Title	Subject Dealt with	Veda to which attached
Ayurveda	Science of life, of sound health including the art of preventing and curing diseases	Rig Veda
Gandharva Veda	Science of fine arts like music and dance	Sama Veda.
Artha Veda	Known as Artha-sastra science of economics, politics and statecraft	Atharva Veda
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.

Parisista

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 a very late text associated with the Rigveda.

The Gobhila Gṛhya Pariśiṣṭa is a short metrical text 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', the Vārāha Śrauta Sūtra Pariśiṣṭa

For the Atharvaveda, there are 79 works, collected as 72 distinctly named parisistas.

Panchamavedam

Bharatah Panchamavedaha - As given in Mahabharata expounds that Mahabharatam which covers numerous topics related to human relationships is considered as the fifth veda.

Puranas

The Puranas is a vast genre of encyclopedic Indian literature about a wide range of topics particularly myths, legends and other traditional lore. Several of these texts are named after major Hindu deities such as Vishnu, Shiva and Devi. There are 18 Maha Puranas (Great Puranas) and 18 Upa Puranas (Minor Puranas), with over 400,000 verses.

The 18 Puranas are as follows

• Matsya puranam
• Markandeya puranam
• Bhaagavata puranam
• Bhavishyat puranam
• Brahmanda puranam
• Brahmavaivarta puranam
• Brahma puranam
• Vamana puranam
• Varaaha puranam
• Vishnu puranam
• Vaayu puranam
• Agni puranam
• Naarada puranam
• Padma puranam
• Linga puranam
• Garuda puranam
• Koorma puranam
• Skaanda puranam

The following are the 18 Upa Puranas

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

The Puranas have been influential in the Hindu culture. They are considered Vaidika (congruent with Vedic literature) or pertaining to vedas.

The Bhagavata Purana has been among the most celebrated and popular text in the Puranic genre, and is of non-dualistic tenor. The Puranic literature wove with the Bhakti movement in India and both Dvaita and Advaita scholars have commented on the underlying Vedanta themes in the Maha Puranas.