HINDU ENCYCLOPEDIA

सनातन धर्म भूमिका

Meaning of "Veda"

Word

Veda

Sanskrit

वेद

IAST

veda

In General

The Vedas are the basic texts of Hindus. Hinduism is based on the Vedas and Hindus are the direct descendents of the Vedic tradition. All the diverse philosophical and religious sect within the fold

Veda

In the beginning of creation, the philosophical speculation said in Veda existed in the sound form and which was the very breath of Isvara, the creator. Vedas were not written by anyone but was revealed to humanity through the ancient Rishis during their tapas. Hence the ancient Rishis were not the creator of Vedas but only the medium through which the Vedas were made available to humanity. Since the thoughts in Vedas existed in the beginning of creation it is eternal. The empirical knowledge of Vedas as verses were scattered in many Gurukulam (the educational centers) were collected and compiled into four by Veda Vyasa. Vedas are now available to us as written text form, but it is not just a text, but an eternal knowledge source with no beginning and no end. Vedas are also pramana sastras, infallible knowledge; the concept is such that knowledge of Rishis are so profound that it would be safer to follow in their footsteps.

Vyasa divided Vedas into four as Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama Veda and Atharva Veda. According to the content each Veda is further divided into four class: Samhita, Brahmana, Aranyaka and Upanishad. Samhita part is the revelation received to various rishis and the other three are studies on Samhita by various religious sects. Vedas were written in Brahmi and Devanagari script in poetry and prose but is propagated mainly by Karna parampara(oral tradition). All the diverse concept of human knowledge can be seen in these literatures. Apart from the four main texts there are six Vedangas: Shiksha, Chandas, Vyakarana, Nirukta, Kalpa, Jyotisha and six ancilliary disciplines: Nyaya, Vaiseshika, Sakhya, Yoga, Uttara Mimamsa, Vedanta. All these disciplines are meant to make understanding of Vedas clear to the learners.

Veda comes under Sruti literature. The tradition of philosophical speculation of Veda depends on a logical thought process giving ample freedom for diverse philosophical sect to discuss them and get accommodated in. From polytheism to monism all diverse religious activities coexisted peacefully in India because of this broad view of Veda. While Dvaita philosophers give more importance to infallibility of the Pramanasastras, Advaitins and other thinkers are more comfortable with the logical conclusion in their search to find a solution for Intelligence behind creation and search the validity of basic tenets of Hinduism like, Brahman, Atman, Maya, Rebirth, etc.

Purana

Purana are meant to spread the ideas said Vedas to the common people. Purana accept the supreme position of Vedic literature. There are many stories in Puranas that the knowledge said Veda were hidden or not allowed to spread by Asuras in several instances and then recovered by the intervention of Gods.

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