THE VEDA MEANS KNOWLEDGE AND SPIRITUAL WISDOM - By MaddaliSwetha

"Veda" means knowledge, and it reveals the language of the gods in a person's speech.  Vedas are the earliest legendary record of Indo-Aryan civilization, and considered the most highly sacred. They contain the original scriptures of ancient Hindu teachings and spiritual wisdom encompassing all aspects of the life.

Vedic literature has stood the rigorous test of time and is one of the highest religious authorities for Hindus in particular and the entire human race in general.

 The Vedas include laws that regulate the domestic, religious, social and legal customs of the Hindus till date.  All the obligatory duties of   a Hindu individual at the instances of a new birth, marriage and death etc. owe their allegiance to these ancient Vedic rituals.

THE VEDIC TEXTS ARE AGGREGATED AROUND THE FOUR SAMHITAS,

First three are related to the performance of yajna (sacrifice). RIGVEDA, YAJURVEDA, SAMAVEDA, and the fourth is the ATHARVAVEDA.

Collectively, all these four Samhitas draw forth the thought of successive generation of thinkers, and so within them is a contained different stratum of thought.

THE RIG VEDA: THE BOOK OF MANTRA

The Rig Veda is a collection of inspired songs or hymns and is a main source of information on the Rig Vedic civilization. It is the oldest book in any Indo-European language The rig Veda accounts in detail the social, religious, political and economic background of the Rig-Vedic civilization. Even though monotheism characterizes some of the hymns of Rig Veda, naturalistic polytheism and monism can be discerned in the religion of the hymns of Rig Veda.

The Sama Veda, Yajur Veda and Atharva Veda were compiled after the age of the Rig Veda and are ascribed to the Vedic period.

THE SAMA VEDA: THE BOOK OF SONG

The Sama Veda is purely a liturgical collection of melodies (‘saman’). The hymns in the Sama Veda, used as musical notes, were almost completely drawn from the Rig Veda and have no distinctive lessons of their own. Hence, its text is a reduced version of the Rig Veda. 

If Rig Veda is the knowledge, Sama Veda is its realization, As Vedic Scholar David Frawley puts it, if the Rig Veda is the word, Sama Veda is the song or the meaning, if Rig Veda is the wife; the Sama Veda is her husband.

THE YAJUR VEDA: THE BOOK OF RITUAL

The Yajur Veda is also a liturgical collection and was made to meet the demands of a ceremonial religion. The Yajur Veda practically served as a guidebook for the priests who execute sacrificial acts muttering simultaneously the prose prayers and the sacrificial formulae (‘yajus’). It is similar to ancient Egypt’s “Book of the Dead”.

The last of the Vedas, this is completely different from the other three Vedas and is next in importance to Rig-Veda with regard to history and sociology. A different spirit pervades this Veda. Its hymns are of a more diverse character than the Rig Veda and are also simpler in language. In fact, many scholars do not consider it part of the Vedas at all.

The Atharva Veda consists of spells and charms prevalent at its time, and portrays a clearer picture of the Vedic society.