Sanatan Dharm Beauty

HINDU VEDAS

Hinduism is not a religion promoted by any one person. One of its basis is Vedadi scriptures, whose number is very large.

Vedas are the oldest Hindu scriptures. The word Veda is derived from the root 'Vid' of Sanskrit. Vid means to know or to acquire knowledge, therefore Vedas can be called "the book of knowledge". According to Indian belief, knowledge is eternal, that is, knowledge was there even before the creation of the universe, and even after the destruction of the universe, only knowledge will remain. Vedas came out from the mouth of God and Brahma ji listened to them, hence Vedas are also called Shruti.Vedas are four in number which are the pillars of Hindu religion.

Vedas are four in number which are the pillars of Hindu religion.

1] Rigveda
2] Samaveda
3] Atharvaveda
4] Yajurveda

1] Rigveda :- The earliest source of Sanatana Dharma. It has 10 mandalas, 1028 suktas and at present 10,462 mantras, there is some difference of opinion among scholars regarding the number of mantras. Deities have been praised in mantras. It contains mantras for invoking the deities in Yagya. This is the first Veda. Historians consider the Rigveda to be one of the earliest available works of the Indo-European language family. This is one of the first texts in the world whose recognition in some form remains in the society till date. This is the main book of Sanatan Dharma. The sage who read the works of Rigveda is called Hotra.

2] Samaveda :- Samaveda is music-oriented. Sama-gana was performed by the ancient Aryans. The Samaveda is the smallest of the four Vedas in terms of size and all but 99 of its 1875 mantras are from the Rigveda. Only 17 mantras are found in Atharvaveda and Yajurveda. Still, its reputation is the highest, one of the reasons for which is called Vedanam Samavedosmi by Krishna in the Gita.
Samveda Samhita has two parts, Archika and Gana. The details found in the Puranas give information about the existence of one thousand branches of the Samaveda. At present, 13 branches are known by looking at Prapanch Hridaya, Divyavadana, Charanvyuh and Jaimini Grihasutra. Out of these thirteen branches of three Acharyas are found- (1) Kauthumiya, (2) Ranayaniya and (3) Jaiminiya. The pundits who study this are called Panchvish or Udgata.

3] Atharvaveda :- The Atharvaveda Samhita (Brahmi:𑀅𑀣𑀭𑁆𑀯𑀯𑁂𑀤) is the code of the Atharvaveda i.e. the Mantra part of the fourth Veda, the holiest of the Vedas of Hinduism. This Veda is also called Brahmaveda. In this, along with the praise of the gods, there are also mantras of medicine, science and philosophy. It has been said about the Atharvveda code that the king in whose kingdom a scholar who knows the Atharvaveda is engaged in the work of establishing peace, that nation continues to progress without disturbance.
God first gave the knowledge of Atharvaveda to Maharishi Angira, then Maharishi Angira gave that knowledge to Brahma.

4] Yajurveda :- Yajurveda is an important Shruti scripture of Hinduism and one of the four Vedas. It contains prose and verse mantras for the actual process of Yagya. It is one of the four holiest major texts of Hinduism and is often considered the second Veda after the Rigveda - it contains 663 hymns of the Rigveda. Yet it is considered distinct from the Rigveda because the Yajurveda is primarily a prose text. Prose mantras that are said in Yagya are called "Yajus". The versed mantras of Yajurveda are taken from Rigveda or Atharvaveda. There are very few independent versed mantras in them. There are two branches in Yajurveda: Krishna Yajurveda prevalent in South India and Shukla Yajurveda branch prevalent in North India.
While the Rigveda was composed in the Sapta-Sindhu region, the Yajurveda was composed in the region of Kurukshetra.

Upaveda of Vedas: Ayurveda of Rigveda, Dhanurveda of Yajurveda, Gandharvaveda of Samaveda and Sthapatyaveda of Atharvaveda