The Vedas
The Vedas (meaning knowledge) are the most ancient surviving books of the human race. They represent the first outpourings of the human mind. They remain unique after all these centuries.
There are four Vedas - Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama Veda & Atharva Veda.
Rig Veda
Rig Veda is the oldest and has 10 mandalas (books), 1028 suktas (hymns or chapters) and 10,589 mantras (verses). It contains perfect knowledge which the sages wrote after life-long penance e.g. knowledge of science, matter of the universe like sun, moon, air body etc. It is the Veda of knowledge of all subjects under the sun. The Rig Veda accounts in detail the social, religious, political and economic background of the Rig-Vedic civilization. It was written around 2000 BC.
Yajur Veda
Next comes the Yajur Veda, meaning the scripture for yajnas or sacrifices. Most of its 1575 hymns are taken from the Rig veda; only 75 are original. Yajurveda gives knowledge of all the deeds and duties to be performed by men or women, students, leaders, king, agriculturist etc. It contains sacrificial formulas and instructions for priests to follow. It practically served as a guidebook for the priests. There are no less than six complete recessions of Yajur Veda – Madyandina, Kanva, Taittiriya, Kathaka, Maitrayani and Kapishthala.
Sama Veda
The third, the Sama Veda, is the grand pioneering source of all systems of music and art. It also gives knowledge how to worship God, details of Yoga philosophy, qualities, supreme deeds and nature of the God is also given. 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. As Vedic Scholars put it, if the Rig Veda is the word, Sama Veda is the song or the meaning and if Rig Veda is the knowledge, Sama Veda is its realization.
Atharva Veda
The last one, the Atharva Veda, got its name from seer Atharvan and is completely different from the other three Vedas. It has 731 hymns, comprising 5,977 verses. About one-fifth are drawn from the Rig Veda. Its hymns are of a more diverse character than the Rig Veda and are also simpler in language. They also contain magic spells. 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.
The Upanishads
The Upanishads form the core of Indian philosophy. These were composed between 800 to 400 BC.
They are an amazing collection of writings from original oral transmissions, which have been aptly described by Shri Aurobindo as “the supreme work of the Indian mind”. It is here that we find all the fundamental teachings that are central to Hinduism — the concepts of ‘karma’ (action), ‘samsara’ (reincarnation), ‘moksha’ (nirvana), the ‘atman’ (soul), and the ‘Brahman’ (Absolute Almighty).
They also set forth the prime Vedic doctrines of self-realization, yoga and meditation. Although there are more than 200 Upanishads, only thirteen have been identified out as presenting the core teachings. They are the Chandogya, Kena, Aitareya, Katha, Mundaka, Taittriyaka, Brihadaranyaka, Svetasvatara, Isa, Prasna, Mandukya and the Maitri Upanishads.
The authors of the Upanishads were many, but they were not solely from the priestly caste. They were poets prone to flashes of spiritual wisdom, and their aim was to guide a few chosen pupils to the point of liberation, which they themselves had attained. According to some scholars, the main figure in the Upanishads is Yajnavalkya, the great sage who propounded the doctrine of ‘neti-neti’, the view that “truth can be found only through the negation of all thoughts about it”. Other important Upanishadic sages are Uddalaka Aruni, Shwetaketu, Shandilya, Aitareya, Pippalada, Sanat Kumara.
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