The Four Vedas (चतुर्वेदाः)

The word वेद || Veda means to know implying that the subject of the Vedas is Knowledge. Here knowledge does not mean facts about the external world like physics or chemistry. It means the knowledge of the eternal, sacred, spiritual wisdom. It is about the nature of man himself. It tells him who he really is. It is the knowledge of the Changeless and Supreme Reality behind the ever changing objective world of men and matter.

परिचय || Introduction

Vedas are texts containing knowledge of आत्मा || Atma, पुरुष || Purusha and the परमात्मा || Paramatma have no authorship, no time frame within which they had been authored. They are called अपौरुषेय ॥ Apaurusheya meaning that they are not authored by any Purusha or human mind. They were revealed to the ऋषी || Rishis (Seers) - the द्रष्टा || Drashtas, men of wisdom, during the depths of their meditation. These sages were merely the instruments of Bhagavan to spread His words.

Their utterances were called ‘Mantras’ which were not the result of any intuition but were the result of Divine Vision which is called मन्त्र दृष्टि || Mantra Drishti. Their inner and outer meanings were really known only to those to whom they were revealed. Hence none can challenge them on grounds of reason or logic. There is no final authority beyond the Vedas; in today’s management jargon the buck stops at the table of the Vedas.

Etymology and usage

The samskrit word वेद (véda) "knowledge, wisdom" is derived from the root विद् (vid) - "to know".

The samskrit term veda as a common noun means "knowledge", but can also be used to refer to fields of study unrelated to spiritual knowledge, e.g. in अगद-वेद || agada-veda (medical science), सस्य-वेद || sasya-veda (science of agriculture) or सर्प-वेद || sarpa-veda (science of snakes), already found in the early Upanishads.

Nine terms found in literature that are synonymous with the term "Veda" namely

1. श्रुति || Shruti
2. अनुश्रवम् || Anushravam
3. त्रयी || Trayii
4. आम्नय || Aamnaya
5. समम्नय || Samamnaya
6. छन्दः || Chandaha
7. स्वाध्यायम् || Swaadhyayam,
8. आगमम् || Aagamam
9. निगमम् || Nigamam

The term "Vedic texts" is used in two distinct meanings: Texts composed in Vedic Samskrit during the Vedic period and other texts considered as "connected to the Vedas" or a "ancillary of the Vedas".

महर्षिवेदव्यासेन संहितीकरण || Codification by Maharshi Vedavyasa

It is believed that the potency of the Vedas started decaying with the departure of Bhagavan Sri Krishna from this world. Even this was considered to be a Divine Plan for the Kali Yuga as per which only a part of the glory and effulgence of the Vedas is to be left over from total extinction. This Divine Arrangement could be put through the agency of वेदव्यासः ॥ Vedavyasa, the son of Sage Parashara. He was known as Dwaipayana as he was born in an island (Dweepa). He was considered as a manifestation of Bhagawan Sri Krishna himself for fulfilling a specific purpose in this world and hence he was known as Krishna Dwaipayana. He was also known as Badarayana.

The word व्यास || Vyasa means an essay or composition. It also means dealing with a matter subject wise and classifying it suitably. As Krishna Dwaipayana did all these tasks for the proper study and understanding of the Vedas he became famous as Maharshi Veda Vyasa. His contribution to the codification of the Vedas is so great that he is more widely known as Veda Vyasa than by any other name. Sage Veda Vyasa collected all the Mantras in existence during his period, edited, codified and organized them into four groups which he taught to his four chief disciples. These are as under:

CLASSIFICATION OF THE VEDAS
Name Of The Veda	Taught To Rushi
ऋग् || Rig	Paila
यजुस् || Yajus	Vaishampayana
साम || Sama	Jaimini
अथर्वण || Atharvan	Sumantu

चातुर्होत्र || Four Chief Priests of Yagna

The Vedas were mainly utilized in the performance of Yajnas (sacrifices) which were the most common form of early Vedic religion. Such uses of the Veda led to its division based upon the convenience of the chief priests conducting the sacrifices.

होत्र || Hotra : The chief priest whose function was to chant the Rigveda mantras and invoke the deities to the sacrifice.

अध्वर्यु || Adhvaryu : The chief executor of the Yajurveda part used to perform the sacrificial rites and was in charge of the physical details of the sacrifice. He also takes care of the construction of the yajnavedi and associated things.

उद्गात्रि || Udgatri : The chief singer who sings the collection of all the Samaveda mantras or musical chants.

ब्रह्म || Brahma : The chief overseer who would recite the mantras of Atharvaveda and was considered as the supervisor over the whole process of sacrifice.

वेदवर्गीकरण || Classification of Vedas

There are four Vedas as compiled by the Great Rushi Veda Vyasa said to be for the ease of understanding them:

1. ऋग्वेदम् || The Rigveda
2. यजुर्वेदम् || The Yajurveda
3. सामवेदम् || The Samaveda
4. अथर्वणवेदम् || The Atharvaveda.

Of these, the first three were the principal original division, also called त्रयी विद्या || trayī vidyā, that is, "the triple science" of reciting hymns (Rigveda), performing sacrifices (Yajurveda), and chanting songs (Samaveda). The Rigveda is the oldest work, which according to the Western Indologist Witzel, is probably from the period of 1900 to 1100 BC. However, till date no authentic dating method has been able to date literary works accurately. Only one version of the Rigveda is known to have survived into the modern era. Several different versions of the Sama Veda and the Atharva Veda are known, and many different versions of the Yajur Veda have been found in different parts of South Asia.

वेदविभागम् || Sub Classification of Vedas

Each Veda has been sub-classified into four major text types –

1. संहिता || Samhitas (mantras)
2. अरण्यक || Aranyakas (method of conducting rituals, ceremonies, sacrifices and symbolic-sacrifices)
3. ब्राह्मण || Brahmanas (commentaries on rituals, ceremonies and sacrifices)
4. उपनिषद् || Upanishads (discussion about meditation, philosophy and spiritual knowledge).

Some scholars add a fifth category namely the उपासना || Upasanas (worship).

The various Indian philosophies and denominations have taken differing positions on the Vedas. Schools of Indian philosophy which cite the Vedas as their scriptural authority are classified as आस्तिक || āstika (orthodox). Other traditions, such as Lokayata, Charvaka, Ajivika, Buddhism and Jainism, which did not regard the Vedas as authorities are referred to as नास्तिक || nāstika ("heterodox" or "non-orthodox") schools. Despite their differences, just like the texts of the श्रमण || śramaṇa traditions, the layers of texts in the Vedas discuss similar ideas and concepts.

While composition of Brahmanas and Aranyakas ceased with the end of the Vedic period, additional Upanishads were composed after the end of the Vedic period.

The Brahmanas, Aranyakas, and Upanishads, among other things, interpret and discuss the Samhitas in philosophical and metaphorical ways to explore abstract concepts such as the Absolute (Brahman), and the soul or the self (Atman). The subjects of soul, परब्रह्म || parabrahma and the Ultimate purpose of life being moksha or liberation are extensively discussed in the end part of Vedas hence they are called Vedanta.

Vedanta includes philosophical discussions collectively put together in the Upanishads and is one of the major trends of Hinduism. In other parts, they show evolution of ideas, such as from actual sacrifice to symbolic sacrifice, and of spirituality in the Upanishads.

Adi Shankara classified each Veda into कर्मकाण्ड || karma-kanda (action/ritual-related sections) and ज्ञानकाण्ड || jnana-kanda (knowledge/spirituality-related sections).

Dating सनातन धर्म || Sanatana Dharma

The Vedas are among the oldest sacred texts known to mankind. Although many Western scholars have given their versions about the age of Vedas, it is generally accepted that Vedas are the oldest known texts available as is Sanatana Dharma. The Vedic period was blooming with the composition of the mantra texts, with discussions and debates on the Samhitas and Brahmanas, with the exposition of Dharmic principles by Suta and Sounaka rishis, with the establishment of the various shakhas all over भारतखण्ड || Bharatakhanda which was as far as Afghanistan or खण्डहार || Khandahar on the west and Indonesia in the South East. It flourished well and was given the grammatical structure by Panini, in the 2nd Century B.C.

The modern researchers are still struggling to fix the exact period of the Vedas and there is no final conclusion as yet. Their conclusions differ as widely as 25000 years B.C. to 1000 years B.C. However, the general consensus among most of the Indian scholars is to consider the Mohenjadaro-Harappa culture i.e. about 3000 B.C. to be the later phase of Vedic culture. This brings us to conclude that the date of the Rig-Veda, considered as the earliest in human history, is around 10,000 B.C.

However, with the advent of Islam and Christianity in the West and Buddhism and Jainism, with various shakhas at war with each other,various philosophies with different ideologies have impacted the Indian religious concepts, with many views questioning the veracity of Vedas in the present age.

The largely publicized myths about Vedas, by Western Indologists such as Witzel, Jack Goody, Renou, Bloomfield, Kenneth Zysk, Axel Michaels, Max Muller and the many others, have been around, for the past three hundred years when Indian subcontinent was colonized and plundered by the Western civilizations. Many of these myths are being questioned and are diligently being proved false by the present generations of Vedic scholars lately.

वेदपरिरक्षण || Preservation of Vedas

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. http://ignca.nic.in/vedic_portal_introduction.htm