1. Atharva Veda In English
2. Atharva Veda Pdf Sanskrit Free

The Atharva Veda (Sanskrit: अथर्ववेद, Atharvaveda from atharvāṇas and veda, meaning 'knowledge') is the 'knowledge storehouse of atharvāṇas, the procedures for everyday life'.^[1] The text is the fourth Veda, but has been a late addition to the Vedic scriptures of Hinduism.^[2][3]

The Atharvaveda is composed in Vedic Sanskrit, and it is a collection of 730 hymns with about 6,000 mantras, divided into 20 books.^[4] About a sixth of the Atharvaveda texts adapts verses from the Rigveda, and except for Books 15 and 16, the text is in poem form deploying a diversity of Vedic matters.^[4] Two different recensions of the text – the Paippalāda and the Śaunakīya – have survived into modern times.^[5] Reliable manuscripts of the Paippalada edition were believed to have been lost, but a well-preserved version was discovered among a collection of palm leaf manuscripts in Odisha in 1957.^[5]

Full text of 'Atharva-Veda samhita; translated with a critical and exegetical commentary by William Dwight Whitney.Revised and brought nearer to completion.

The Atharvaveda is sometimes called the 'Veda of magical formulas',^[1] an epithet declared to be incorrect by other scholars.^[6] In contrast to the 'hieratic religion' of the other three Vedas, the Atharvaveda is said to represent a 'popular religion', incorporating not only formulas for magic, but also the daily rituals for initiation into learning (upanayana), marriage and funerals. Royal rituals and the duties of the court priests are also included in the Atharvaveda.^[7]

The Atharvaveda was likely compiled as a Veda contemporaneously with Samaveda and Yajurveda, or about 1200 BC - 1000 BC.^[8][9] Along with the Samhita layer of text, the Atharvaveda includes a Brahmana text, and a final layer of the text that covers philosophical speculations. The latter layer of Atharvaveda text includes three primary Upanishads, influential to various schools of Hindu philosophy. These include the Mundaka Upanishad, the Mandukya Upanishad and the Prashna Upanishad.^[10][11]

• Oct 14, 2013  Atharva Veda (Sanskrit Text, English Translation and Explanaotry Notes) (Set of 6 Volumes) R.L. Kashyap on Amazon.com.FREE. shipping on qualifying offers. Language: Sanskrit Text With English Translation Pages: 2131 About the Author Dr. Kashyap is Professor Emeritus of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Purdue University.
• There are four Vedas in which atharva veda is on fourth number.Atharva Veda full Mantra Chanting. Listen the mantra in peace place definitely you will feel some power near you. Krishna Yajurveda.

• 2Text
• 4Contents
  • 4.1Samhita
  • 4.3Upanishads
• 6Influence

Etymology and nomenclature[edit]

The Veda may be named, states Monier Williams, after the mythical priest named Atharvan who was first to develop prayers to fire, offer Soma, and who composed 'formulas and spells intended to counteract diseases and calamities'.^[12] Monier Williams notes that the now obsolete term for fire used to be Athar.^[12] The name Atharvaveda, states Laurie Patton, is for the text being 'Veda of the Atharvāṇas'.^[1]

The oldest name of the text, according to its own verse 10.7.20, was Atharvangirasah, a compound of 'Atharvan' and 'Angiras', both Vedic scholars.^[13] Each school called the text after itself, such as Saunakiya Samhita, meaning the 'compiled text of Saunakiya'.^[13] The 'Atharvan' and 'Angiras' names, states Maurice Bloomfield,^[13] imply different things, with the former considered auspicious while the latter implying hostile sorcery practices. Over time, the positive auspicious side came to be celebrated and the name Atharva Veda became widespread.^[13] The latter name Angiras which is linked to Agni and priests in the Vedas, states George Brown, may also be related to Indo-EuropeanAngirôs found in an Aramaic text from Nippur.^[14]

Michael Witzel states Atharvan roots may be *atharwan or '[ancient] priest, sorcerer', with links to Avestan āθrauuan 'priest' and Tocharian <*athr, 'superior force'.^[15]

The Atharvaveda is also occasionally referred to as Bhrgvangirasah and Brahmaveda, after Bhrigu and Brahma respectively.^[13]

Text[edit]

The Atharvaveda is a collection of 20 books, with a total of 730 hymns of about 6,000 stanzas.^[4] The text is, state Patrick Olivelle and other scholars, a historical collection of beliefs and rituals addressing practical issues of daily life of the Vedic society, and it is not a liturgical Yajurveda-style collection.^[16][17]

Recensions[edit]

The Caraṇavyuha, a later era Sanskrit text, states that the Atharvaveda had nine shakhas, or schools: paippalāda, stauda, mauda, śaunakīya, jājala, jalada, brahmavada, devadarśa and cāraṇavaidyā.^[18]

Of these, only the Shaunakiya recension, and the more recently discovered manuscripts of Paippalāda recension have survived.^[5] The Paippalāda edition is more ancient.^[19] The two recensions differ in how they are organized, as well as content.^[19] For example, the Book 10 of Paippalada recension is more detailed and observed carefully not doing a single mistake, more developed and more conspicuous in describing monism, the concept of 'oneness of Brahman, all life forms and the world'.^[20]

Organization[edit]

The Atharvaveda Samhita originally was organized into 18 books (Kāṇḍas), and the last two were added later.^[21] These books are arranged neither by subject nor by authors (as is the case with the other Vedas), but by the length of the hymns.^[17] Each book generally has hymns of about a similar number of verses, and the surviving manuscripts label the book with the shortest hymns as Book 1, and then in an increasing order (a few manuscripts do the opposite). Most of the hymns are poetic and set to different meters, but about a sixth of the book is prose.^[17]

Most of the hymns of Atharvaveda are unique to it, except for the one sixth of its hymns that it borrows from the Rigveda, primarily from its 10th mandala.^[17][21] The 19th book was a supplement of a similar nature, likely of new compositions and was added later.^[17] The 143 hymns of the 20th book of Atharvaveda Samhita is almost entirely borrowed from the Rigveda.^[22]

The hymns of Atharvaveda cover a motley of topics, across its twenty books. Roughly, the first seven books focus primarily on magical poems for all sorts of healing and sorcery, and Michael Witzel states these are reminiscent of Germanic and Hittite sorcery stanzas, and may likely be the oldest section.^[23] Books 8 to 12 are speculations of a variety of topics, while Books 13 to 18 tend to be about life cycle rites of passage rituals.^[23]

The Srautasutra texts Vaitāna Sūtra and the Kauśika Sūtra are attached to the Atharvaveda Shaunaka edition, as are a supplement of Atharvan Prayascitthas, two Pratishakhyas, and a collection of Parisisthas.^[24][25] For the Paippalada edition of Atharvaveda, corresponding texts were Agastya and Paithinasi Sutras but these are lost or yet to be discovered.^[26]

Dating and historical context[edit]

The ancient Indian tradition initially recognized only three Vedas.^[5][27] The Rigveda, the verse 3.12.9.1 of Taittiriya Brahmana, the verse 5.32-33 of Aitareya Brahmana and other Vedic era texts mention only three Vedas.^[3] The acceptance of the Atharvanas hymns and traditional folk practices was slow, and it was accepted as another Veda much later than the first three, by both orthodox and heterodox traditions of Indian philosophies. The early Buddhist Nikaya texts, for example, do not recognize Atharvaveda as the fourth Veda, and make references to only three Vedas.^[28][29] Olson states that the ultimate acceptance of Atharvaveda as the fourth Veda probably came in the 2nd half of the 1st millennium BCE.^[27] However, notes Max Muller, the hymns of Atharvaveda existed by the time Chandogya Upanishad was completed (~700 BCE), but were then referred to as 'hymns of Atharvangirasah'.^[30]

Frits Staal states that the text may be a compilation of poetry and knowledge that developed in two different regions of ancient India, the Kuru region in northern India and the Pancalas region of eastern India.^[5] The former was home to Paippalāda, whose name was derived from the sacred fig tree named Pippala (Sanskrit: पिप्पल). This school's compositions were in the Rigvedic style.^[5] The Pancalas region contributions came from composer-priests Angirasas and Bhargavas, whose style was unlike the metric Rigvedic composition, and their content included forms of medical sorcery. The Atharvaveda editions now known are a combination of their compositions.^[5]

The core text of the Atharvaveda falls within the classical Mantra period of Vedic Sanskrit, during the 2nd millennium BC - younger than the Rigveda, and roughly contemporary with the Yajurveda mantras, the Rigvedic Khilani, and the Sāmaveda.^[31] There is no absolute dating of any Vedic text including the Atharvaveda.^[8] The dating for Atharvaveda is derived from the new metals and items mentioned therein; it, for example, mentions iron (as krsna ayas, literally 'black metal'), and such mentions have led the scholars to the estimate that the Atharvaveda hymns were compiled in the early Indian Iron Age, c. 1200 to 1000 BC,^[8][32] corresponding to the early Kuru Kingdom.^[33]

Contents[edit]

The Atharvaveda is sometimes called the 'Veda of magical formulas',^[1] an epithet declared to be incorrect by other scholars.^[6] The Samhita layer of the text likely represents a developing 2nd millennium BCE tradition of magico-religious rites to address superstitious anxiety, spells to remove maladies believed to be caused by demons, and herbs- and nature-derived potions as medicine.^[34] Many books of the Atharvaveda Samhita are dedicated to rituals without magic and to theosophy.^[6] The text, states Kenneth Zysk, is one of oldest surviving record of the evolutionary practices in religious medicine and reveals the 'earliest forms of folk healing of Indo-European antiquity'.^[35]

The Atharvaveda Samhita contains hymns many of which were charms, magic spells and incantations meant to be pronounced by the person who seeks some benefit, or more often by a sorcerer who would say it on his or her behalf.^[21] The most frequent goal of these hymns charms and spells were long life of a loved one or recovery from some illness. In these cases, the affected would be given substances such as a plant (leaf, seed, root) and an amulet.^[21] Some magic spells were for soldiers going to war with the goal of defeating the enemy, others for anxious lovers seeking to remove rivals or to attract the lover who is less than interested, some for success at a sporting event, in economic activity, for bounty of cattle and crops, or removal of petty pest bothering a household.^[21][36][37] Some hymns were not about magic spells and charms, but prayer qua prayer and philosophical speculations.^[38]

The contents of the Atharvaveda contrasts with the other Vedas. The 19th century Indologist Weber summarized the contrast as follows,

The spirit of the two collections [Rigveda, Atharvaveda] is indeed widely different. In the Rigveda there breathes a lively natural feeling, a warm love for nature; while in the Atharva there prevails, on the contrary, only an anxious dread of her evil spirits and their magical powers. In the Rigveda we find the people in a state of free activity and independence; in the Atharva we see it bound in the fetters of the hierarchy and superstition.

Jan Gonda cautions that it would be incorrect to label Atharvaveda Samhita as mere compilation of magical formulas, witchcraft and sorcery.^[6] While such verses are indeed present in the Samhita layer, a significant portion of the Samhita text are hymns for domestic rituals without magic or spells, and some are theosophical speculations such as 'all Vedic gods are One'.^[6][40] Additionally, the non-Samhita layers of Atharvaveda text include a Brahmana and several influential Upanishads.^[41]

Samhita[edit]

Surgical and medical treatment[edit]

Atharva Veda In English

The Atharvaveda includes mantras and verses for treating a variety of ailments. For example, the verses in hymn 4.15 of the recently discovered Paippalada version of the Atharvaveda, discuss how to deal with an open fracture, and how to wrap the wound with Rohini plant (Ficus Infectoria, native to India):^[42]

Let marrow be put together with marrow, and joint together with joint,
together what of the flesh fallen apart, together sinew and together your bone.
Let marrow come together with marrow, let bone grow over together with bone.
We put together your sinew with sinew, let skin grow with skin.

Charms against fever, jaundice and diseases[edit]

Numerous hymns of the Atharvaveda are prayers and incantations wishing a child or loved one to get over some sickness and become healthy again, along with comforting the family members. The Vedic era assumption was that diseases are caused by evil spirits, external beings or demonic forces who enter the body of a victim to cause sickness.^[43] Hymn 5.21 of the Paippalāda edition of the text, for example, states,

Heaven our father, and Earth our mother, Agni the men-watcher,
let them send the ten days fever far away from us.
O fever, these snowy mountains with Soma on their back have made the wind, the messenger, the healer for us,
Disappear from here to the Maratas.
Neither the women desire you, nor the men whosoever,
Neither a small one, nor a grown-up weeps here from desire of fever.
Do not harm our grown-up men, do not harm our grown-up women,
Do not harm our boys, do not harm our girls.
You who simultaneously discharge the balasa, cough, udraja, terrible are your missiles,
O fever, avoid us with them.

Remedy from medicinal herbs[edit]

Several hymns in the Atharvaveda such as hymn 8.7, just like the Rigveda's hymn 10.97, is a praise of medicinal herbs and plants, suggesting that speculations about the medical and health value of plants and herbs was an emerging field of knowledge in ancient India.^[45] The Atharvavedic hymn states (abridged),

The tawny colored, and the pale, the variegated and the red,
the dusky tinted, and the black – all Plants we summon hitherward.
I speak to Healing Herbs spreading, and bushy, to creepers, and to those whose sheath is single,
I call for thee the fibrous, and the reed like, and branching plants, dear to Vishwa Devas, powerful, giving life to men.
The conquering strength, the power and might, which ye, victorious plants possess,
Therewith deliver this man here from this consumption, O ye Plants: so I prepare the remedy.

Spells and prayers to gain a lover, wife[edit]

The contents of Atharvaveda have been studied to glean information about the social and cultural mores in Vedic era of India.^[47] A number of verses relate to spells for gaining a husband, or a wife, or love of a woman,^[48] or to prevent any rivals from winning over one's 'love interest'.^[49]

May O Agni!, a suitor after our own heart come to us, may he come to this maiden with fortune!
May she be agreeable to suitors, charming at festivals, promptly obtain happiness through a husband!
As this comfortable cave, O Indra!, furnishing a safe abode hath become pleasing to all life,
thus may this woman be a favourite of fortune, beloved, not at odds with her husband!
Do thou ascend the full, inexhaustible ship of fortune;
upon this bring, hither the suitor who shall be agreeable to thee!
Bring hither by thy shouts, O lord of wealth, the suitor, bend his mind towards her;
turn thou the attention of every agreeable suitor towards her!

Speculations on the nature of man, life, good and evil[edit]

The Atharvaveda Samhita, as with the other Vedas, includes some hymns such as 4.1, 5.6, 10.7, 13.4, 17.1, 19.53-54, with metaphysical questions on the nature of existence, man, heaven and hell, good and evil.^[51] Hymn 10.7 of Atharvaveda, for example, asks questions such as 'what is the source of cosmic order? what and where is planted this notion of faith, holy duty, truth? how is earth and sky held? is there space beyond the sky? what are seasons and where do they go? does Skambha (literally 'cosmic pillar',^[52] synonym for Brahman^[51]) penetrate everything or just somethings? does Skambha know the future? is Skambha the basis of Law, Devotion and Belief? who or what is Skambha?'^[53]

The wonderful structure of Man

(..) How many gods and which were they,
who gathered the breast, the neck bones of man?
how many disposed the two teats? who the two collar bones?
how many gathered the shoulder bones? how many the ribs?
Who brought together his two arms, saying, 'he must perform heroism?'
(..) Which was the god who produced his brain, his forehead, his hindhead?
(..) Whence now in man come mishap, ruin, perdition, misery?
accomplishment, success, non-failure? whence thought?
What one god set sacrifice in man here?
who set in him truth? who untruth?
whence death? whence the immortal?

The Atharvaveda, like other Vedic texts, states William Norman Brown,^[51] goes beyond the duality of heaven and hell, and speculates on the idea of Skambha or Brahman as the all pervasive monism.^[51] Good and evil, Sat and Asat (truth and untruth) are conceptualized differently in these hymns of Atharvaveda, and the Vedic thought, wherein these are not dualistic explanation of nature of creation, universe or man, rather the text transcends these and the duality therein. Order is established out of chaos, truth is established out of untruth, by a process and universal principles that transcend good and evil.^[51][55]

Prayer for peace[edit]

Some hymns are prayer qua prayer, desiring harmony and peace. For example,

Give us agreement with our own; with strangers give us unity
Do ye, O Asvins, in this place join us in sympathy and love.
May we agree in mind, agree in purpose; let us not fight against the heavenly spirit
Around us rise no din of frequent slaughter, nor Indra's arrow fly, for day is present !

Brahmana[edit]

The Atharvaveda includes Gopatha Brahmana text, that goes with Atharva Samhita.^[57]

Upanishads[edit]

The Atharvaveda has three primary Upanishads embedded within it.^[58]

Mundaka Upanishad[edit]

The Mundaka Upanishad, embedded inside Atharvaveda, is a poetic-style Upanishad, with 64 verses, written in the form of mantras. However, these mantras are not used in rituals, rather they are used for teaching and meditation on spiritual knowledge.^[59] In ancient and medieval era Indian literature and commentaries, the Mundaka Upanishad is referred to as one of the Mantra Upanishads.^[60]

The Mundaka Upanishad contains three Mundakams (parts), each with two sections.^[61][62] The first Mundakam, states Roer,^[61] defines the science of 'Higher Knowledge' and 'Lower Knowledge', and then asserts that acts of oblations and pious gifts are foolish, and do nothing to reduce unhappiness in current life or next, rather it is knowledge that frees. The second Mundakam describes the nature of the Brahman, the Atman (Self, Soul), and the path to know Brahman. The third Mundakam continues the discussion and then asserts that the state of knowing Brahman is one of freedom, fearlessness, liberation and bliss.^[61][62] The Mundaka Upanishad is one of text that discuss the pantheism theory in Hindu scriptures.^[63][64] The text, like other Upanishads, also discusses ethics.^[65]

Through continuous pursuit of Satya (truthfulness), Tapas (perseverance, austerity), Samyajñāna (correct knowledge), and Brahmacharya, one attains Atman (Self, Soul).

Mandukya Upanishad[edit]

The Mandukya Upanishad is the shortest of all the Upanishads, found in the Atharvaveda text.^[67] The text discusses the syllable Om, presents the theory of four states of consciousness, asserts the existence and nature of Atman (Soul, Self).^[67][68]

The Mandukya Upanishad is notable for inspiring Gaudapada's Karika, a classic for the Vedanta school of Hinduism.^[69] Mandukya Upanishad is among the oft cited texts on chronology and philosophical relationship between Hinduism and Buddhism.^[70]

Prashna Upanishad[edit]

The Prashna Upanishad is from the Paippalada school of Atharvavedins.^[71]

The text contains six Prashna (questions), and each is a chapter with a discussion of answers.^[72][73] The first three questions are profound metaphysical questions but, states Eduard Roer,^[73] do not contain any defined, philosophical answers, are mostly embellished mythology and symbolism. The fourth section, in contrast, contains substantial philosophy. The last two sections discuss the symbol Om and Moksha concept.^[73]

The Prashna Upanishad is notable for its structure and sociological insights into the education process in ancient India.^[74]

Manuscripts and translations[edit]

The Shaunakiya text was published by Rudolf Roth and William Dwight Whitney in 1856, by Shankar Pandurang Pandit in the 1890s, and by Vishva Bandhu in 1960–1962. Ralph Griffith translated some chapters into English in 1897, while Maurice Bloomfield published one of the most relied upon translations of the Shaunakiya recension of Atharvaveda in 1899.^[75]

A corrupted and badly damaged version of the Paippalāda text was edited by Leroy Carr Barret from 1905 to 1940 from a single KashmirianŚāradā manuscript (now in Tübingen). Durgamohan Bhattacharyya discovered palm leaf manuscripts of the Paippalada recension in Odisha in 1957.^[5] His son Dipak Bhattacharya has published the manuscripts. Thomas Zehnder translated Book 2 of the Paippalada recension into German in 1999, and Arlo Griffiths, Alexander Lubotsky and Carlos Lopez have separately published English translations of its Books 5 through 15.^[76]

Influence[edit]

Medicine and health care[edit]

Kenneth Zysk states that the 'magico-religious medicine had given way to a medical system based on empirical and rational ideas' in ancient India by around the start of Christian era, still the texts and people of India continued to revere the ancient Vedic texts.^[77] Rishi Sushruta, remembered for his contributions to surgical studies, credits Atharvaveda as a foundation.^[78] Similarly, the verse 30.21 of the Caraka Samhita, states it reverence for the Atharvaveda as follows,

Therefore, the physician who has inquired [in verse 30.20] about [which Veda], devotion to the Atharvaveda is ordered from among the four: Rigveda, Samaveda, Yajurveda and Atharvaveda.

Atharva Veda Pdf Sanskrit Free

The roots of Ayurveda – a traditional medical and health care practice in India—states Dominik Wujastyk, are in Hindu texts of Caraka Samhita and Sushruta Samhita, both of which claim their allegiance and inspiration to be the Vedas, especially Atharvaveda.^[79] Khare and Katiyar state that the Indian tradition directly links Ayurveda to Atharvaveda.^[80]

Wujastyk clarifies that the Vedic texts are more a religious discourse, and while herbal health care traditions can be found in Atharvaveda, the purely medical literature of ancient India are actually Caraka Samhita and Sushruta Samhita, these two are the real roots of Ayurveda.^[79][81] Kenneth Zysk adds Bhela Samhita to this list.^[77]

Literature[edit]

The verse 11.7.24 of Atharvaveda contains the oldest known mention of the Indic literary genre the Puranas.^[82]

The 1st millennium AD Buddhist literature included books of magico-religious mantras and spells for protection from evil influences of non-human beings such as demons and ghosts.^[83][84] These were called Pirita (Pali: Paritta) and Rakkhamanta ('mantra for protection'), and they share premises and style of hymns found in Atharvaveda.^[83][84]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^ ^abcdLaurie Patton (2004), Veda and Upanishad, in The Hindu World (Editors: Sushil Mittal and Gene Thursby), Routledge, ISBN0-415215277, page 38
2. ^Carl Olson (2007), The Many Colors of Hinduism, Rutgers University Press, ISBN978-0813540689, pages 13-14
3. ^ ^abLaurie Patton (1994), Authority, Anxiety, and Canon: Essays in Vedic Interpretation, State University of New York Press, ISBN978-0791419380, page 57
4. ^ ^abcMaurice Bloomfield, The Atharvaveda, Harvard University Press, pages 1-2
5. ^ ^abcdefghFrits Staal (2009), Discovering the Vedas: Origins, Mantras, Rituals, Insights, Penguin, ISBN978-0143099864, pages 136-137
6. ^ ^abcdeJan Gonda (1975), Vedic Literature: Saṃhitās and Brāhmaṇas, Vol 1, Fasc. 1, Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, ISBN978-3447016032, pages 277-280, Quote: 'It would be incorrect to describe the Atharvaveda Samhita as a collection of magical formulas'.
7. ^Parpola, Asko (2015), 'The Atharvaveda and the Vrātyas', The Roots of Hinduism: The Early Aryans and the Indus Civilization, Oxford University Press, Chapter 12, ISBN978-0-19-022692-3
8. ^ ^abcMichael Witzel (2003), 'Vedas and Upaniṣads', in The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism (Editor: Gavin Flood), Blackwell, ISBN0-631215352, page 68
9. ^M. S. Valiathan. The Legacy of Caraka. Orient Blackswan. p. 22.
10. ^Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 2, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN978-8120814691, pages 605-609
11. ^Max Muller, The Upanishads, Part 2, Prasna Upanishad, Oxford University Press, pages xlii-xliii
12. ^ ^abMonier Monier Williams, Sanskrit English Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Entry for Atharvan, page 17
13. ^ ^abcdeMaurice Bloomfield, The Atharvaveda, Harvard University Press, pages 7-10
14. ^Brown, George William (1 January 1921). 'Note on Angarôs, in Montgomery's 'Aramaic Incantation Texts from Nippur''. Journal of the American Oriental Society. 41: 159–160. doi:10.2307/593717. JSTOR593717.; For the text Brown refers to, see: Aramaic Incantation Texts from Nippur, By James Alan Montgomery, p. PA196, at Google Books, pages 196, 195-200
15. ^Michael Witzel (2003), Linguistic Evidence for Cultural Exchange in Prehistoric Western Central Asia Sino-Platonic Papers, No. 129, page 38
16. ^Patrick Olivelle (2014), Early Upanishads, Oxford University Press, ISBN978-0195352429, page 8 footnote 11
17. ^ ^abcdeWilliam Whitney, History of the Vedic texts, Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 4, pages 254-255
18. ^BR Modak (1993), The Ancillary Literature of the Atharva-Veda, Rashtriya Veda Vidya Pratishthan, ISBN9788121506076, pages 15 (footnote 8), 393-394
19. ^ ^abJan Gonda (1975), Vedic Literature: Saṃhitās and Brāhmaṇas, Vol 1, Fasc. 1, Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, ISBN978-3447016032, pages 273-274
20. ^Jan Gonda (1975), Vedic Literature: Saṃhitās and Brāhmaṇas, Vol 1, Fasc. 1, Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, ISBN978-3447016032, pages 296-297
21. ^ ^abcdeMax Muller, The Gopatha Brahmana (in A History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature), p. 455, at Google Books, Oxford University Press, pages 454-456
22. ^Ralph Griffith, The Hymns of the Atharva Veda, Volume 2, 2nd Edition, EJ Lazarus, pages 321-451
23. ^ ^abMichael Witzel (2003), 'Vedas and Upaniṣads', in The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism (Editor: Gavin Flood), Blackwell, ISBN0-631215352, page 76
24. ^Jan Gonda (1977), The Ritual Sutras, in A History of Indian Literature: Veda and Upanishads, Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, ISBN978-3447018234, pages 543-545
25. ^SS Bahulkar (2003), Samskararatnamala: An Atharvanic Prayoga, in Pramodasindhu (Editors: Kalyan Kale et al, Professor Pramod Ganesh Lalye’s 75th Birthday Felicitation Volume), Mansanman Prakashan, pages 28–35
26. ^Michael Witzel (2003), 'Vedas and Upaniṣads', in The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism (Editor: Gavin Flood), Blackwell, ISBN0-631215352, pages 100-101
27. ^ ^abCarl Olson (2007), The Many Colors of Hinduism, Rutgers University Press, ISBN978-0813540689, page 13
28. ^Frits Staal (2009), Discovering the Vedas: Origins, Mantras, Rituals, Insights, Penguin, ISBN978-0143099864, page 135
29. ^Alex Wayman (1997), Untying the Knots in Buddhism, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN978-8120813212, pages 52-53
30. ^Max Muller, Chandogya Upanishad 3.4.1 Oxford University Press, page 39
31. ^Michael Witzel (1997). 'The Development of the Vedic Canon and its Schools : The Social and Political Milieu. Harvard University, Harvard Oriental Series'(PDF). Retrieved 30 June 2014.
32. ^Michael Witzel. 'Autochthonous Aryans?The Evidence from Old Indian and Iranian Texts'(PDF).
33. ^Michael Witzel. 'Early Sanskritization.Origins and Development of the Kuru State'(PDF). Archived from the original(PDF) on 20 February 2012.
34. ^Kenneth Zysk (2012), Understanding Mantras (Editor: Harvey Alper), Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN978-8120807464, pages 123-129
35. ^Kenneth Zysk (1993), Religious Medicine: The History and Evolution of Indian Medicine, Routledge, ISBN978-1560000761, pages x-xii
36. ^Max Muller, The Sacred Books of the East, Volume 42, p. 94, at Google Books, Oxford University Press, pages 94-108
37. ^Ralph Griffith, Atharva Veda Vol 1, EJ Lazarus, pages 344-352
38. ^Ralph Griffith, The Hymns of the Atharva Veda: Hymn 13.4, Volume 2, 2nd Edition, EJ Lazarus, pages 154-158
39. ^Ralph Griffith, The Hymns of the Atharva Veda, Volume 1, EJ Lazarus, page v
40. ^William Whitney, Atharvaveda Samhita 13.4, Harvard Oriental Series Vol. 8, Harvard University Press, pages 732-737
41. ^Jan Gonda (1975), Vedic Literature: Saṃhitās and Brāhmaṇas, Vol 1, Fasc. 1, Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, ISBN978-3447016032, pages 277-297
42. ^ ^abFrits Staal (2009), Discovering the Vedas: Origins, Mantras, Rituals, Insights, Penguin, ISBN978-0143099864, pages 137-139
43. ^Kenneth Zysk (2010), Medicine in the Veda: Religious Healing in the Veda, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN978-8120814004, pages 7-9
44. ^Alexander Lubotsky (2002), Atharvaveda Paippalada Kanda Five, Harvard University, ISBN1-888789050, pages 76-77
45. ^Kenneth Zysk, Religious Medicine: The History and Evolution of Indian Medicine, Transaction, ISBN978-1560000761, pages 238-247, 249-255
46. ^Ralph Griffith, Atharva Veda, Hymn VII Vol 1, EJ Lazarus, pages 408-411
47. ^Rajbali Pandey (1969), Hindu Saṁskāras: Socio-religious Study of the Hindu Sacraments, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN978-8120803961, pages 162-163, Chapter 8
48. ^Max Muller, The Sacred Books of the East, Volume 42, p. 100, at Google Books, Oxford University Press, pages 99-101
49. ^Max Muller, The Sacred Books of the East, Volume 42, p. 107, at Google Books, Oxford University Press, pages 107-108
50. ^Max Muller, The Sacred Books of the East, Volume 42, p. 94, at Google Books, Oxford University Press, pages 94-95
51. ^ ^abcdeWilliam Norman Brown (Editor: Rosane Rocher) (1978), India and Indology: Selected Articles, Motilal Banarsidass, OCLC5025668, pages 18-19 note 7, 45
52. ^Francesco Pellizzi (2007), Anthropology and Aesthetics, Peabody Museum Press, ISBN978-0873657754, pages 20-25
53. ^Ralph Griffith, Atharva Veda, Hymn VII Vol 2, 2nd Edition, EJ Lazarus, pages 26-34
54. ^WD Whitney, Atharva Veda, Book X.2 Vol 2 Books VIII to XIX, Harvard University Press, pages 568-569
55. ^Barbara Holdrege (1995), Veda and Torah: Transcending the Textuality of Scripture, State University of New York Press, ISBN978-0791416402, pages 41-42
56. ^Ralph Griffith, Atharva Veda, Book 7 Vol 1, EJ Lazarus, page 351, Hymn LII
57. ^Frits Staal (2009), Discovering the Vedas: Origins, Mantras, Rituals, Insights, Penguin, ISBN978-0143099864, pages 80-82
58. ^Patrick Olivelle (1998), Upaniṣhads, Oxford University Press, ISBN0-19-282292-6, pages 1-17
59. ^Max Muller (1962), The Upanishads - Part II, Dover Publications, ISBN978-0486209937, pages xxvi-xxvii
60. ^Max Muller, Introduction to the Upanishads, Volume XV, Oxford University Press, page xliii
61. ^ ^abcEduard Roer, Mundaka Upanishad^{[permanent dead link]} Bibliotheca Indica, Vol. XV, No. 41 and 50, Asiatic Society of Bengal, pages 142-164
62. ^ ^abMax Muller (1962), Manduka Upanishad, in The Upanishads - Part II, Dover Publications, ISBN978-0486209937, pages 27-42
63. ^Norman Geisler and William D. Watkins (2003), Worlds Apart: A Handbook on World Views, Second Edition, Wipf, ISBN978-1592441266, pages 75-81
64. ^Robert Hume, Mundaka Upanishad, Thirteen Principal Upanishads, Oxford University Press, page 371-372
65. ^ ^abRobert Hume, Mundaka Upanishad, Thirteen Principal Upanishads, Oxford University Press, pages 374-376
66. ^MP Pandit (1969), Mundaka Upanishad 3.1.5, Gleanings from the Upanishads, OCLC81579, University of Virginia Archives, pages 11-12
67. ^ ^abPaul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 2, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN978-8120814691, pages 605-637
68. ^Hume, Robert Ernest (1921), The Thirteen Principal Upanishads, Oxford University Press, pp. 391–393
69. ^Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 2, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN978-8120814691, pages 556-557
70. ^Michael Comans (2000), The Method of Early Advaita Vedānta: A Study of Gauḍapāda, Śaṅkara, Sureśvara, and Padmapāda, Motilal Banarsidass, pages 97-98
71. ^Max Muller, The Upanishads, Part 2, Prasna Upanishad, Oxford University Press, pages xlii-xliii
72. ^Robert Hume, Prasna Upanishad, Thirteen Principal Upanishads, Oxford University Press, pages 378-390
73. ^ ^abcEduard Roer, Prashna Upanishad^{[permanent dead link]} Bibliotheca Indica, Vol. XV, No. 41 and 50, Asiatic Society of Bengal, pages 119-141
74. ^Charles Johnston, The Mukhya Upanishads: Books of Hidden Wisdom, (1920-1931), The Mukhya Upanishads, Kshetra Books, ISBN978-1495946530 (Reprinted in 2014), Archive of Prashna Upanishad, pages 46-51, 115-118
75. ^Maurice Bloomfield, The Atharvaveda, Harvard University Press
76. ^Carlos Lopez (2010), Atharvaveda-Paippalāda Kāṇḍas Thirteen and Fourteen, Harvard University Press, ISBN978-1888789072
77. ^ ^abcdKenneth Zysk(2012), Understanding Mantra (Editor: Harvey Alper), Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN978-8120807464, pages 125-126, 133
78. ^Stephen Knapp (2006), The Power of the Dharma, ISBN978-0595393527, page 63
79. ^ ^abDominik Wujastyk (2003), The roots of Ayurveda, Penguin Classics, ISBN978-0140448245, pages xxviii - xxx
80. ^CP Khare and CK Katiyar (2012), The Modern Ayurveda, CRC Press, ISBN978-1439896327, page 8
81. ^Rachel Berger (2013), Ayurveda Made Modern, Palgrave Macmillan, ISBN978-0230284555, pages 24-25, 195 note 2
82. ^Freda Matchett (2003), 'The Puranas', in The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism (Editor: Gavin Flood), Blackwell, ISBN0-631215352, page 132
83. ^ ^abMartin Wiltshire (1990), Ascetic Figures Before and in Early Buddhism: The Emergence of Gautama As the Buddha, Walter de Gruyter, ISBN978-0899254678, pages 245-264
84. ^ ^abRita Langer (2007), Buddhist Rituals of Death and Rebirth, Routledge, ISBN978-0415544702, pages 19-23

Further reading[edit]

• Alexander Lubotsky, Atharvaveda-Paippalada, Kanda Five, Harvard College (2002).
• Thomas Zehnder, Atharvaveda-Paippalada, Buch 2, Idstein (1999).
• Dipak Bhattacharya, Paippalada-Samhita of the Atharvaveda, Volume 2, The Asiatic Society (2007).

External links[edit]

• Ralph Griffith, The Hymns of the Atharvaveda 1895-96, full text
• Maurice Bloomfield, Hymns of the Atharva-veda, Sacred Books of the East, v. 42 (1897), selection
• Śaunaka Recension, 'Atharva Veda Saṁhitā' [Sanskrit]. Published at Titus Project. Accessed, 14 April 2014.
• William Whitney, Index verborum to the published text of the Atharvaveda Vedas, University of Michigan
• Madhav M Deshpande, Recitational Permutations of the Saunakiya Atharvaveda, Harvard University Press, based on six Atharvaveda manuscripts found in Pune, India
• The Kashmiri Paippalada Recension of the Atharvaveda, Images of 16th century birch-bark manuscript of Atharvaveda (University access rights required)
• George Bolling and Julius Negelein, The Parisistas of the Atharvaveda, Johns Hopkins University (with downloadable PDF file)

The Vedas (/ˈveɪdəz, ˈviː-/;^[1]Sanskrit: वेदveda, 'knowledge') are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism.^[2][3] Hindus consider the Vedas to be apauruṣeya, which means 'not of a man, superhuman'^[4] and 'impersonal, authorless'.^[5][6][7]

Vedas are also called śruti ('what is heard') literature,^[8] distinguishing them from other religious texts, which are called smṛti ('what is remembered'). The Veda, for orthodox Indian theologians, are considered revelations seen by ancient sages after intense meditation, and texts that have been more carefully preserved since ancient times.^[9][10] In the Hindu Epic the Mahabharata, the creation of Vedas is credited to Brahma.^[11] The Vedic hymns themselves assert that they were skillfully created by Rishis (sages), after inspired creativity, just as a carpenter builds a chariot.^{[10][note 1]}

According to tradition, Vyasa is the compiler of the Vedas, who arranged the four kinds of mantras into four Samhitas (Collections).^[13][14] There are four Vedas: the Rigveda, the Yajurveda, the Samaveda and the Atharvaveda.^[15][16] Each Veda has been subclassified into four major text types – the Samhitas (mantras and benedictions), the Aranyakas (text on rituals, ceremonies, sacrifices and symbolic-sacrifices), the Brahmanas (commentaries on rituals, ceremonies and sacrifices), and the Upanishads (texts discussing meditation, philosophy and spiritual knowledge).^[15][17][18] Some scholars add a fifth category – the Upasanas (worship).^[19][20]

The various Indian philosophies and denominations have taken differing positions on the Vedas. Schools of India philosophy which cite the Vedas as their scriptural authority are classified as 'orthodox' (āstika).^{[note 2]} Other śramaṇa traditions, such as Lokayata, Carvaka, Ajivika, Buddhism and Jainism, which did not regard the Vedas as authorities, are referred to as 'heterodox' or 'non-orthodox' (nāstika) schools.^[22][23] Despite their differences, just like the texts of the śramaṇa traditions, the layers of texts in the Vedas discuss similar ideas and concepts.^[22]

• 2Chronology
• 3Categories of Vedic texts
• 5Four Vedas
  • 5.5Embedded Vedic texts
• 6Post-Vedic literature

Etymology and usage

The Sanskrit word véda 'knowledge, wisdom' is derived from the root vid- 'to know'. This is reconstructed as being derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *u̯eid-, meaning 'see' or 'know',^[24] cognate to Greek(ϝ)εἶδος 'aspect', 'form'. This is not to be confused is the homonymous 1st and 3rd person singular perfect tense véda, cognate to Greek (ϝ)οἶδα(w)oida 'I know'. Root cognates are Greek ἰδέα, Englishwit, etc., Latinvideō 'I see', etc.^[25]

The Sanskrit term veda as a common noun means 'knowledge'.^[26] The term in some contexts, such as hymn 10.93.11 of the Rigveda, means 'obtaining or finding wealth, property',^[27] while in some others it means 'a bunch of grass together' as in a broom or for ritual fire.^[28]

A related word Vedena appears in hymn 8.19.5 of the Rigveda.^[29] It was translated by Ralph T. H. Griffith as 'ritual lore',^[30] as 'studying the Veda' by the 14th-century Indian scholar Sayana, as 'bundle of grass' by Max Müller, and as 'with the Veda' by H.H. Wilson.^[31]

Vedas are called Maṛai or Vaymoli in parts of South India. Marai literally means 'hidden, a secret, mystery'. But the Tamil Naan Marai mentioned in Tholkappiam isn't Sanskrit Vedas.^[32][33] In some parts of south India (e.g. the Iyengar communities), the word veda is used in the Tamil writings of the Alvar saints. Such writings include the Divya Prabandham (aka Tiruvaymoli).^[34]

Chronology

The Vedas are among the oldest sacred texts.^[35][36] The Samhitas date to roughly 1700–1100 BCE,^[37] and the 'circum-Vedic' texts, as well as the redaction of the Samhitas, date to c. 1000–500 BCE, resulting in a Vedic period, spanning the mid 2nd to mid 1st millennium BCE, or the Late Bronze Age and the Iron Age.^[38]The Vedic period reaches its peak only after the composition of the mantra texts, with the establishment of the various shakhas all over Northern India which annotated the mantra samhitas with Brahmana discussions of their meaning, and reaches its end in the age of Buddha and Panini and the rise of the Mahajanapadas (archaeologically, Northern Black Polished Ware). Michael Witzel gives a time span of c. 1500 to c. 500–400 BCE. Witzel makes special reference to the Near Eastern Mitanni material of the 14th century BCE, the only epigraphic record of Indo-Aryan contemporary to the Rigvedic period. He gives 150 BCE (Patañjali) as a terminus ante quem for all Vedic Sanskrit literature, and 1200 BCE (the early Iron Age) as terminus post quem for the Atharvaveda.^[39]

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,^{[note 3]} perhaps earliest in the Kanva recension of the Yajurveda about the 1st century BCE; however oral tradition of transmission remained active. Witzel suggests the possibility of written Vedic texts towards the end of 1st millennium BCE.^[41] Some scholars such as Jack Goody state that 'the Vedas are not the product of an oral society', basing this view by comparing inconsistencies in the transmitted versions of literature from various oral societies such as the Greek, Serbia and other cultures, then noting that the Vedic literature is too consistent and vast to have been composed and transmitted orally across generations, without being written down.^[42] However, adds Goody, the Vedic texts likely involved both a written and oral tradition, calling it a 'parallel products of a literate society'.^[40][42]

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.^[43] The Sampurnanand Sanskrit University has a Rigveda manuscript from the 14th century;^[44] however, there are a number of older Veda manuscripts in Nepal that are dated from the 11th century onwards.^[45]

Ancient universities

The Vedas, Vedic rituals and its ancillary sciences called the Vedangas, were part of the curriculum at ancient universities such as at Taxila, Nalanda and Vikramashila.^{[46][47][48][49]}

Categories of Vedic texts

The term 'Vedic texts' is used in two distinct meanings:

1. Texts composed in Vedic Sanskrit during the Vedic period (Iron Age India)
2. Any text considered as 'connected to the Vedas' or a 'corollary of the Vedas'^[50]

Vedic Sanskrit corpus

The corpus of Vedic Sanskrit texts includes:

• The Samhitas (Sanskrit saṃhitā, 'collection'), are collections of metric texts ('mantras'). There are four 'Vedic' Samhitas: the Rig-Veda, Sama-Veda, Yajur-Veda, and Atharva-Veda, most of which are available in several recensions (śākhā). In some contexts, the term Veda is used to refer to these Samhitas. This is the oldest layer of Vedic texts, apart from the Rigvedic hymns, which were probably essentially complete by 1200 BCE, dating to c. the 12th to 10th centuries BCE. The complete corpus of Vedic mantras as collected in Bloomfield's Vedic Concordance (1907) consists of some 89,000 padas (metrical feet), of which 72,000 occur in the four Samhitas.^[51]
• The Brahmanas are prose texts that comment and explain the solemn rituals as well as expound on their meaning and many connected themes. Each of the Brahmanas is associated with one of the Samhitas or its recensions.^[52][53] The Brahmanas may either form separate texts or can be partly integrated into the text of the Samhitas. They may also include the Aranyakas and Upanishads.
• The Aranyakas, 'wilderness texts' or 'forest treaties', were composed by people who meditated in the woods as recluses and are the third part of the Vedas. The texts contain discussions and interpretations of ceremonies, from ritualistic to symbolic meta-ritualistic points of view.^[54] It is frequently read in secondary literature.
• Older Mukhya Upanishads (Bṛhadāraṇyaka, Chandogya, Kaṭha, Kena, Aitareya, and others).^[55][56]

The Vedas (sruti) are different from Vedic era texts such as Shrauta Sutras and Gryha Sutras, which are smriti texts. Together, the Vedas and these Sutras form part of the Vedic Sanskrit corpus.^[56][57][58]

While production of Brahmanas and Aranyakas ceased with the end of the Vedic period, additional Upanishads were composed after the end of the Vedic period.^[59]

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), introducing Vedanta philosophy, one of the major trends of later Hinduism. In other parts, they show evolution of ideas, such as from actual sacrifice to symbolic sacrifice, and of spirituality in the Upanishads. This has inspired later Hindu scholars such as Adi Shankara to classify each Veda into karma-kanda (कर्म खण्ड, action/ritual-related sections) and jnana-kanda (ज्ञान खण्ड, knowledge/spirituality-related sections).^[19][60]

Shruti literature

The texts considered 'Vedic' in the sense of 'corollaries of the Vedas' is less clearly defined, and may include numerous post-Vedic texts such as the later Upanishads and the Sutra literature. Texts not considered to be shruti are known as smriti (Sanskrit: smṛti; 'the remembered'), or texts of remembered traditions. This indigenous system of categorization was adopted by Max Müller and, while it is subject to some debate, it is still widely used. As Axel Michaels explains:^[55]

These classifications are often not tenable for linguistic and formal reasons: There is not only one collection at any one time, but rather several handed down in separate Vedic schools; Upanişads .. are sometimes not to be distinguished from Āraṇyakas..; Brāhmaṇas contain older strata of language attributed to the Saṃhitās; there are various dialects and locally prominent traditions of the Vedic schools. Nevertheless, it is advisable to stick to the division adopted by Max Müller because it follows the Indian tradition, conveys the historical sequence fairly accurately, and underlies the current editions, translations, and monographs on Vedic literature.'^[55]

The Upanishads are largely philosophical works, some in dialogue form. They are the foundation of Hindu philosophical thought and its diverse traditions.^[61][62] Of the Vedic corpus, they alone are widely known, and the central ideas of the Upanishads are at the spiritual core of Hindus.^[61][63]

Vedic schools or recensions

The four Vedas were transmitted in various śākhās (branches, schools).^[64][65] Each school likely represented an ancient community of a particular area, or kingdom.^[65] Each school followed its own canon. Multiple recensions are known for each of the Vedas.^[64] Thus, states Witzel as well as Renou, in the 2nd millennium BCE, there was likely no canon of one broadly accepted Vedic texts, no Vedic “Scripture”, but only a canon of various texts accepted by each school. Some of these texts have survived, most lost or yet to be found. Rigveda that survives in modern times, for example, is in only one extremely well preserved school of Śåkalya, from a region called Videha, in modern north Bihar, south of Nepal.^[66] The Vedic canon in its entirety consists of texts from all the various Vedic schools taken together.^[65]

Each of the four Vedas were shared by the numerous schools, but revised, interpolated and adapted locally, in and after the Vedic period, giving rise to various recensions of the text. Some texts were revised into the modern era, raising significant debate on parts of the text which are believed to have been corrupted at a later date.^[67][68] The Vedas each have an Index or Anukramani, the principal work of this kind being the general Index or Sarvānukramaṇī.^[69][70]

Prodigious energy was expended by ancient Indian culture in ensuring that these texts were transmitted from generation to generation with inordinate fidelity.^[71] 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. Forms of recitation included the jaṭā-pāṭha (literally 'mesh recitation') 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 in the original order.^[72] That these methods have been effective, is attested 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.^[72]

The Vedas were likely written down for the first time around 500 BCE.^[73] However, all printed editions of the Vedas that survive in the modern times are likely the version existing in about the 16th century AD.^[74]

Four Vedas

The canonical division of the Vedas is fourfold (turīya) viz.,^[75]

1. Rigveda (RV)
2. Yajurveda (YV, with the main division TS vs. VS)
3. Samaveda (SV)
4. Atharvaveda (AV)

Of these, the first three were the principal original division, also called 'trayī vidyā'; that is, 'the triple science' of reciting hymns (Rigveda), performing sacrifices (Yajurveda), and chanting songs (Samaveda).^[76][77] The Rigveda is the oldest work, which Witzel states are probably from the period of 1900 to 1100 BCE. Witzel, also notes that it is the Vedic period itself, where incipient lists divide the Vedic texts into three (trayī) or four branches: Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharva.^[65]

Each Veda has been subclassified into four major text types – the Samhitas (mantras and benedictions), the Aranyakas (text on rituals, ceremonies such as newborn baby's rites of passage, coming of age, marriages, retirement and cremation, sacrifices and symbolic sacrifices), the Brahmanas (commentaries on rituals, ceremonies and sacrifices), and the Upanishads (text discussing meditation, philosophy and spiritual knowledge).^[15][17][18] The Upasanas (short ritual worship-related sections) are considered by some scholars^[19][20] as the fifth part. Witzel notes that the rituals, rites and ceremonies described in these ancient texts reconstruct to a large degree the Indo-European marriage rituals observed in a region spanning the Indian subcontinent, Persia and the European area, and some greater details are found in the Vedic era texts such as the Grhya Sūtras.^[78]

Only one version of the Rigveda is known to have survived into the modern era.^[66] 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.^[79]

Rigveda

Who really knows?
Who can here proclaim it?
Whence, whence this creation sprang?
Gods came later, after the creation of this universe.

Who then knows whence it has arisen?
Whether God's will created it, or whether He was mute;
Only He who is its overseer in highest heaven knows,

—Rig Veda 10.129.6–7^[80]

The Rigveda Samhita is the oldest extant Indic text.^[81] It is a collection of 1,028 Vedic Sanskrithymns and 10,600 verses in all, organized into ten books (Sanskrit: mandalas).^[82] The hymns are dedicated to Rigvedic deities.^[83]

The books were composed by poets from different priestly groups over a period of several centuries from roughly the second half of the 2nd millennium BCE (the early Vedic period), starting with the Punjab (Sapta Sindhu) region of the northwest Indian subcontinent.^[84] The Rigveda is structured based on clear principles – the Veda begins with a small book addressed to Agni, Indra, Soma and other gods, all arranged according to decreasing total number of hymns in each deity collection; for each deity series, the hymns progress from longer to shorter ones, but the number of hymns per book increases. Finally, the meter too is systematically arranged from jagati and tristubh to anustubh and gayatri as the text progresses.^[65] In terms of substance, the nature of hymns shift from praise of deities in early books to Nasadiya Sukta with questions such as, 'what is the origin of the universe?, do even gods know the answer?',^[80] the virtue of Dāna (charity) in society,^[85] and other metaphysical issues in its hymns.^[86]

There are similarities between the mythology, rituals and linguistics in Rigveda and those found in ancient central Asia, Iranian and Hindukush (Afghanistan) regions.^[87]

Samaveda

The Samaveda Samhita^[88] consists of 1549 stanzas, taken almost entirely (except for 75 mantras) from the Rigveda.^[55][89] The Samaveda samhita has two major parts. The first part includes four melody collections (gāna, गान) and the second part three verse “books” (ārcika, आर्चिक).^[89] A melody in the song books corresponds to a verse in the arcika books. Just as in the Rigveda, the early sections of Samaveda typically begin with hymns to Agni and Indra but shift to the abstract. Their meters shift also in a descending order. The songs in the later sections of the Samaveda have the least deviation from the hymns derived from the Rigveda.^[89]

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In the Samaveda, some of the Rigvedic verses are repeated.^[90] Including repetitions, there are a total of 1875 verses numbered in the Samaveda recension translated by Griffith.^[91] Two major recensions have survived, the Kauthuma/Ranayaniya and the Jaiminiya. Its purpose was liturgical, and they were the repertoire of the udgātṛ or 'singer' priests.^[92]

Yajurveda

The Yajurveda Samhita consists of prose mantras.^[93] It is a compilation of ritual offering formulas that were said by a priest while an individual performed ritual actions such as those before the yajna fire.^[93]

The earliest and most ancient layer of Yajurveda samhita includes about 1,875 verses, that are distinct yet borrow and build upon the foundation of verses in Rigveda.^[94] Unlike the Samaveda which is almost entirely based on Rigveda mantras and structured as songs, the Yajurveda samhitas are in prose and linguistically, they are different from earlier Vedic texts.^[95] The Yajur Veda has been the primary source of information about sacrifices during Vedic times and associated rituals.^[96]

There are two major groups of texts in this Veda: the 'Black' (Krishna) and the 'White' (Shukla). The term 'black' implies 'the un-arranged, motley collection' of verses in Yajurveda, in contrast to the 'white' (well arranged) Yajurveda.^[97] The White Yajurveda separates the Samhita from its Brahmana (the Shatapatha Brahmana), the Black Yajurveda intersperses the Samhita with Brahmana commentary. Of the Black Yajurveda, texts from four major schools have survived (Maitrayani, Katha, Kapisthala-Katha, Taittiriya), while of the White Yajurveda, two (Kanva and Madhyandina).^[98][99] The youngest layer of Yajurveda text is not related to rituals nor sacrifice, it includes the largest collection of primary Upanishads, influential to various schools of Hindu philosophy.^[100][101]

Atharvaveda

The Artharvaveda Samhita is the text 'belonging to the Atharvan and Angirasa poets. It has about 760 hymns, and about 160 of the hymns are in common with the Rigveda.^[102] Most of the verses are metrical, but some sections are in prose.^[102] Two different versions of the text – the Paippalāda and the Śaunakīya – have survived into the modern times.^[102][103] The Atharvaveda was not considered as a Veda in the Vedic era, and was accepted as a Veda in late 1st millennium BCE.^[104][105] It was compiled last,^[106] probably around 900 BCE, although some of its material may go back to the time of the Rigveda,^[107] or earlier.^[102]

The Atharvaveda is sometimes called the 'Veda of magical formulas',^[108] an epithet declared to be incorrect by other scholars.^[109] The Samhita layer of the text likely represents a developing 2nd millennium BCE tradition of magico-religious rites to address superstitious anxiety, spells to remove maladies believed to be caused by demons, and herbs- and nature-derived potions as medicine.^[110][111] The text, states Kenneth Zysk, is one of oldest surviving record of the evolutionary practices in religious medicine and reveals the 'earliest forms of folk healing of Indo-European antiquity'.^[112] Many books of the Atharvaveda Samhita are dedicated to rituals without magic, such as to philosophical speculations and to theosophy.^[109]

The Atharva veda has been a primary source for information about Vedic culture, the customs and beliefs, the aspirations and frustrations of everyday Vedic life, as well as those associated with kings and governance. The text also includes hymns dealing with the two major rituals of passage – marriage and cremation. The Atharva Veda also dedicates significant portion of the text asking the meaning of a ritual.^[113]

Embedded Vedic texts

Brahmanas

The Brahmanas are commentaries, explanation of proper methods and meaning of Vedic Samhita rituals in the four Vedas.^[114] They also incorporate myths, legends and in some cases philosophy.^[114][53] Each regional Vedic shakha (school) has its own operating manual-like Brahmana text, most of which have been lost.^[115] A total of 19 Brahmana texts have survived into modern times: two associated with the Rigveda, six with the Yajurveda, ten with the Samaveda and one with the Atharvaveda. The oldest dated to about 900 BCE, while the youngest Brahmanas (such as the Shatapatha Brahmana), were complete by about 700 BCE.^[116][117] According to Jan Gonda, the final codification of the Brahmanas took place in pre-Buddhist times (ca. 600 BCE).^[118]

The substance of the Brahmana text varies with each Veda. For example, the first chapter of the Chandogya Brahmana, one of the oldest Brahmanas, includes eight ritual suktas (hymns) for the ceremony of marriage and rituals at the birth of a child.^[119][120] The first hymn is a recitation that accompanies offering a Yajna oblation to Agni (fire) on the occasion of a marriage, and the hymn prays for prosperity of the couple getting married.^[119][121] The second hymn wishes for their long life, kind relatives, and a numerous progeny.^[119] The third hymn is a mutual marriage pledge, between the bride and groom, by which the two bind themselves to each other. The sixth through last hymns of the first chapter in Chandogya Brahmana are ritual celebrations on the birth of a child and wishes for health, wealth, and prosperity with a profusion of cows and artha.^[119] However, these verses are incomplete expositions, and their complete context emerges only with the Samhita layer of text.^[122]

Aranyakas and Upanishads

The Aranyakas layer of the Vedas include rituals, discussion of symbolic meta-rituals, as well as philosophical speculations.^[20][54]

Aranyakas, however, neither are homogeneous in content nor in structure.^[54] They are a medley of instructions and ideas, and some include chapters of Upanishads within them. Two theories have been proposed on the origin of the word Aranyakas. One theory holds that these texts were meant to be studied in a forest, while the other holds that the name came from these being the manuals of allegorical interpretation of sacrifices, for those in Vanaprastha (retired, forest-dwelling) stage of their life, according to the historic age-based Ashrama system of human life.^[123]

The Upanishads reflect the last composed layer of texts in the Vedas. They are commonly referred to as Vedānta, variously interpreted to mean either the 'last chapters, parts of the Vedas' or 'the object, the highest purpose of the Veda'.^[124] The concepts of Brahman (Ultimate Reality) and Ātman (Soul, Self) are central ideas in all the Upanishads,^[125][126] and 'Know your Ātman' their thematic focus.^[126][127] The Upanishads are the foundation of Hindu philosophical thought and its diverse traditions.^[61][128] Of the Vedic corpus, they alone are widely known, and the central ideas of the Upanishads have influenced the diverse traditions of Hinduism.^[61][129]

Aranyakas are sometimes identified as karma-kanda (ritualistic section), while the Upanishads are identified as jnana-kanda (spirituality section).^[19][130] In an alternate classification, the early part of Vedas are called Samhitas and the commentary are called the Brahmanas which together are identified as the ceremonial karma-kanda, while Aranyakas and Upanishads are referred to as the jnana-kanda.^[131]

Post-Vedic literature

Vedanga

The Vedangas developed towards the end of the vedic period, around or after the middle of the 1st millennium BCE. These auxiliary fields of Vedic studies emerged because the language of the Vedas, composed centuries earlier, became too archaic to the people of that time.^[132] The Vedangas were sciences that focused on helping understand and interpret the Vedas that had been composed many centuries earlier.^[132]

The six subjects of Vedanga are phonetics (Śikṣā), poetic meter (Chandas), grammar (Vyākaraṇa), etymology and linguistics (Nirukta), rituals and rites of passage (Kalpa), time keeping and astronomy (Jyotiṣa).^{[133][134][135]}

Vedangas developed as ancillary studies for the Vedas, but its insights into meters, structure of sound and language, grammar, linguistic analysis and other subjects influenced post-Vedic studies, arts, culture and various schools of Hindu philosophy.^{[136][137][138]} The Kalpa Vedanga studies, for example, gave rise to the Dharma-sutras, which later expanded into Dharma-shastras.^[132][139]

Parisista

Pariśiṣṭa 'supplement, appendix' is the term applied to various ancillary works of Vedic literature, dealing mainly with details of ritual and elaborations of the texts logically and chronologically prior to them: the Samhitas, Brahmanas, Aranyakas and Sutras. Naturally classified with the Veda to which each pertains, Parisista works exist for each of the four Vedas. However, only the literature associated with the Atharvaveda is extensive.

• The Āśvalāyana Gṛhya Pariśiṣṭa is a very late text associated with the Rigveda canon.
• The Gobhila Gṛhya Pariśiṣṭa is a short metrical text of two chapters, with 113 and 95 verses respectively.
• The Kātiya Pariśiṣṭas, ascribed to Kātyāyana, consist of 18 works enumerated self-referentially in the fifth of the series (the Caraṇavyūha) and the Kātyāyana Śrauta Sūtra Pariśiṣṭa.
• The KṛṣṇaYajurveda has 3 parisistas The Āpastamba Hautra Pariśiṣṭa, which is also found as the second praśna of the Satyasāḍha Śrauta Sūtra', the Vārāha Śrauta Sūtra Pariśiṣṭa
• For the Atharvaveda, there are 79 works, collected as 72 distinctly named parisistas.^[140]

Upaveda

The term upaveda ('applied knowledge') is used in traditional literature to designate the subjects of certain technical works.^[141][142] Lists of what subjects are included in this class differ among sources.The Charanavyuha mentions four Upavedas:^[143]

• Archery (Dhanurveda), associated with the Yajurveda
• Architecture (Sthapatyaveda), associated with the RigVeda.
• Music and sacred dance (Gāndharvaveda), associated with the Samaveda
• Medicine (Āyurveda), associated with the Atharvaveda.^[144][145]

'Fifth' and other Vedas

Some post-Vedic texts, including the Mahabharata, the Natyasastra^[146] and certain Puranas, refer to themselves as the 'fifth Veda'.^[147] The earliest reference to such a 'fifth Veda' is found in the Chandogya Upanishad in hymn 7.1.2.^[148]

Let drama and dance (Nātya, नाट्य) be the fifth vedic scripture. Combined with an epic story, tending to virtue, wealth, joy and spiritual freedom, it must contain the significance of every scripture, and forward every art. Thus, from all the Vedas, Brahma framed the Nātya Veda. From the Rig Veda he drew forth the words, from the Sama Veda the melody, from the Yajur Veda gesture, and from the Atharva Veda the sentiment.

'Divya Prabandha', for example Tiruvaymoli, is a term for canonical Tamil texts considered as Vernacular Veda by some South Indian Hindus.^[33][34]

Other texts such as the Bhagavad Gita or the Vedanta Sutras are considered shruti or 'Vedic' by some Hindu denominations but not universally within Hinduism. The Bhakti movement, and Gaudiya Vaishnavism in particular extended the term veda to include the Sanskrit Epics and Vaishnavite devotional texts such as the Pancaratra.^[151]

Puranas

The Puranas is a vast genre of encyclopedic Indian literature about a wide range of topics particularly myths, legends and other traditional lore.^[152] Several of these texts are named after major Hindu deities such as Vishnu, Shiva and Devi.^[153][154] There are 18 Maha Puranas (Great Puranas) and 18 Upa Puranas (Minor Puranas), with over 400,000 verses.^[152]

The Puranas have been influential in the Hindu culture.^[155][156] They are considered Vaidika (congruent with Vedic literature).^[157] The Bhagavata Purana has been among the most celebrated and popular text in the Puranic genre, and is of non-dualistic tenor.^[158][159] The Puranic literature wove with the Bhakti movement in India, and both Dvaita and Advaita scholars have commented on the underlying Vedanta themes in the Maha Puranas.^[160]

Western Indology

The study of Sanskrit in the West began in the 17th century. In the early 19th century, Arthur Schopenhauer drew attention to Vedic texts, specifically the Upanishads.The importance of Vedic Sanskrit for Indo-European studies was also recognized in the early 19th century.English translations of the Samhitas were published in the later 19th century, in the Sacred Books of the East series edited by Müller between 1879 and 1910.^[161]Ralph T. H. Griffith also presented English translations of the four Samhitas, published 1889 to 1899.

Voltaire regarded Vedas to be exceptional, he remarked that:

The Veda was the most precious gift for which the West had ever been indebted to the East.^[162][163]

Rigveda manuscripts were selected for inscription in UNESCO's Memory of the WorldRegister in 2007.^[164]

See also

Notes

1. ^'As a skilled craftsman makes a car, a singer I, Mighty One! this hymn for thee have fashioned. If thou, O Agni, God, accept it gladly, may we obtain thereby the heavenly Waters'. – Rigveda 5.2.11, Translated by Ralph T.H. Griffith^[12]
2. ^Elisa Freschi (2012): The Vedas are not deontic authorities in absolute sense and may be disobeyed, but are recognized as a deontological epistemic authority by a Hindu orthodox school;^[21] (Note: This differentiation between epistemic and deontic authority is true for all Indian religions)
3. ^The early Buddhist texts are also generally believed to be of oral tradition, with the first Pali Canon written many centuries after the death of the Buddha.^[40]

References

1. ^'Veda'. Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.
2. ^see e.g. Radhakrishnan & Moore 1957, p. 3; Witzel, Michael, 'Vedas and Upaniṣads', in: Flood 2003, p. 68; MacDonell 2004, pp. 29–39; Sanskrit literature (2003) in Philip's Encyclopedia. Accessed 2007-08-09
3. ^Sanujit Ghose (2011). 'Religious Developments in Ancient India' in Ancient History Encyclopedia.
4. ^Vaman Shivaram Apte, The Practical Sanskrit–English Dictionary, see apauruSeya
5. ^D Sharma, Classical Indian Philosophy: A Reader, Columbia University Press, pp. 196–197^{[ISBN missing]}
6. ^Jan Westerhoff (2009), Nagarjuna's Madhyamaka: A Philosophical Introduction, Oxford University Press, ISBN978-0195384963, p. 290
7. ^Warren Lee Todd (2013), The Ethics of Śaṅkara and Śāntideva: A Selfless Response to an Illusory World, ISBN978-1409466819, p. 128
8. ^Apte 1965, p. 887
9. ^Sheldon Pollock (2011), Boundaries, Dynamics and Construction of Traditions in South Asia (Editor: Federico Squarcini), Anthem, ISBN978-0857284303, pp. 41–58
10. ^ ^abHartmut Scharfe (2002), Handbook of Oriental Studies, Brill Academic, ISBN978-9004125568, pp. 13–14
11. ^Seer of the Fifth Veda: Kr̥ṣṇa Dvaipāyana Vyāsa in the Mahābhārata Bruce M. Sullivan, Motilal Banarsidass, pp. 85–86
12. ^'The Rig Veda/Mandala 5/Hymn 2'.
13. ^Holdrege, Barbara A. (2012). Veda and Torah: Transcending the Textuality of Scripture. SUNY Press. pp. 249, 250. ISBN9781438406954.
14. ^Dalal, Roshen (15 April 2014). The Vedas: An Introduction to Hinduism's Sacred Texts. Penguin UK. ISBN9788184757637.
15. ^ ^abcGavin Flood (1996), An Introduction to Hinduism, Cambridge University Press, ISBN978-0521438780, pp. 35–39
16. ^Bloomfield, M. The Atharvaveda and the Gopatha-Brahmana, (Grundriss der Indo-Arischen Philologie und Altertumskunde II.1.b.) Strassburg 1899; Gonda, J. A history of Indian literature: I.1 Vedic literature (Samhitas and Brahmanas); I.2 The Ritual Sutras. Wiesbaden 1975, 1977
17. ^ ^abA Bhattacharya (2006), Hindu Dharma: Introduction to Scriptures and Theology, ISBN978-0595384556, pp. 8–14; George M. Williams (2003), Handbook of Hindu Mythology, Oxford University Press, ISBN978-0195332612, p. 285
18. ^ ^abJan Gonda (1975), Vedic Literature: (Saṃhitās and Brāhmaṇas), Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, ISBN978-3447016032
19. ^ ^abcdA Bhattacharya (2006), Hindu Dharma: Introduction to Scriptures and Theology, ISBN978-0595384556, pp. 8–14
20. ^ ^abcBarbara A. Holdrege (1995), Veda and Torah: Transcending the Textuality of Scripture, State University of New York Press, ISBN978-0791416402, pp. 351–357
21. ^Elisa Freschi (2012), Duty, Language and Exegesis in Prabhakara Mimamsa, Brill, ISBN978-9004222601, p. 62
22. ^ ^abFlood 1996, p. 82
23. ^'astika' and 'nastika'. Encyclopædia Britannica Online, 20 Apr. 2016
24. ^Monier-Williams 2006, p. 1015; Apte 1965, p. 856
25. ^see e.g. Pokorny's 1959 Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch s.v. u̯(e)id-²; Rix' Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, u̯ei̯d-.
26. ^Monier-Williams, Monier (1899). A Sanskrit-English dictionary : etymologically and philologically arranged with special reference to cognate Indo-European languages. Oxford: Clarendon Press http://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/scans/MWScan/2014/web/index.php.Missing or empty title= (help), p. 1015
27. ^Monier-Williams, Monier (1899). A Sanskrit-English dictionary : etymologically and philologically arranged with special reference to cognate Indo-European languages. Oxford: Clarendon Press http://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/scans/MWScan/2014/web/index.php.Missing or empty title= (help), p. 1017 (2nd Column)
28. ^Monier-Williams, Monier (1899). A Sanskrit-English dictionary : etymologically and philologically arranged with special reference to cognate Indo-European languages. Oxford: Clarendon Press http://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/scans/MWScan/2014/web/index.php.Missing or empty title= (help), p. 1017 (3rd Column)
29. ^Sanskrit: यः समिधा य आहुती यो वेदेन ददाश मर्तो अग्नये । यो नमसा स्वध्वरः ॥५॥, ऋग्वेद: सूक्तं ८.१९, Wikisource
30. ^K.F. Geldner, Der Rig-Veda, Harvard Oriental Series 33–37, Cambridge 1951
31. ^HH Wilson, Rig-veda Sanhita Sixth Ashtaka, First Adhayaya, Sukta VII (8.19.5), p. 291, Trubner London
32. ^Vasudha Narayanan (1994), The Vernacular Veda: Revelation, Recitation, and Ritual, University of South Carolina Press, ISBN978-0872499652, p. 194
33. ^ ^abJohn Carman (1989), The Tamil Veda: Pillan's Interpretation of the Tiruvaymoli, University of Chicago Press, ISBN978-0226093055, pp. 259–261
34. ^ ^abVasudha Narayanan (1994), The Vernacular Veda: Revelation, Recitation, and Ritual, University of South Carolina Press, ISBN978-0872499652, pp. 43, 117–119
35. ^Sagarika Dutt (2006). India in a Globalized World. Manchester University Press. p. 36. ISBN978-1-84779-607-3.
36. ^Gabriel J. Gomes (2012). Discovering World Religions. iUniverse. p. 54. ISBN978-1-4697-1037-2.
37. ^Lucas F. Johnston, Whitney Bauman (2014). Science and Religion: One Planet, Many Possibilities. Routledge. p. 179.
38. ^Gavin Flood sums up mainstream estimates, according to which the Rigveda was compiled from as early as 1500 BCE over a period of several centuries. Flood 1996, p. 37
39. ^Witzel, Michael, 'Vedas and Upaniṣads', in: Flood 2003, p. 68
40. ^ ^abDonald S. Lopez Jr. (1995). 'Authority and Orality in the Mahāyāna'(PDF). Numen. 42 (1): 21–47. doi:10.1163/1568527952598800. hdl:2027.42/43799. JSTOR3270278.
41. ^Witzel, Michael, 'Vedas and Upaniṣads', in: Flood 2003, p. 69; For oral composition and oral transmission for 'many hundreds of years' before being written down, see: Avari 2007, p. 76.
42. ^ ^abJack Goody (1987). The Interface Between the Written and the Oral. Cambridge University Press. pp. 110–121. ISBN978-0-521-33794-6.
43. ^Brodd, Jeffrey (2003), World Religions, Winona, MN: Saint Mary's Press, ISBN978-0-88489-725-5
44. ^Jamison, Stephanie W.; Brereton, Joel P. (2014). The Rigveda. vol. 1. Oxford University Press. p. 18. ISBN978-0-19-972078-1.
45. ^'Cultural Heritage of Nepal'. Nepal-German Manuscript Preservation Project. University of Hamburg. Archived from the original on 18 September 2014. Retrieved 4 November 2014.
46. ^Buswell, Robert E.; Lopez, Jr., Donald S. (2013). The Princeton dictionary of Buddhism. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN9781400848058. Entry on 'Nālandā'.
47. ^Frazier, Jessica, ed. (2011). The Continuum companion to Hindu studies. London: Continuum. p. 34. ISBN978-0-8264-9966-0.
48. ^Walton, Linda (2015). 'Educational institutions' in The Cambridge World History Vol. 5. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 122. ISBN978-0-521-19074-9.
49. ^Sukumar Dutt (1988) [First published in 1962]. Buddhist Monks And Monasteries of India: Their History And Contribution To Indian Culture. George Allen and Unwin Ltd, London. ISBN81-208-0498-8. pp. 332–333
50. ^according to ISKCON, Hindu Sacred Texts, 'Hindus themselves often use the term to describe anything connected to the Vedas and their corollaries (e.g. Vedic culture)'.
51. ^37,575 are Rigvedic. Of the remaining, 34,857 appear in the other three Samhitas, and 16,405 are known only from Brahmanas, Upanishads or Sutras
52. ^Klaus Klostermaier (1994), A Survey of Hinduism, Second Edition, State University of New York Press, ISBN978-0791421093, pp. 67–69
53. ^ ^abBrahmana Encyclopædia Britannica (2013)
54. ^ ^abcJan Gonda (1975), Vedic Literature: (Saṃhitās and Brāhmaṇas), Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, ISBN978-3447016032, pp. 424–426
55. ^ ^abcdMichaels 2004, p. 51.
56. ^ ^abWitzel, Michael, 'Vedas and Upaniṣads', in: Flood 2003, p. 69.
57. ^For a table of all Vedic texts see Witzel, Michael, 'Vedas and Upaniṣads', in: Flood 2003, pp. 100–101.
58. ^The Vedic Sanskrit corpus is incorporated in A Vedic Word Concordance (Vaidika-Padānukrama-Koṣa) prepared from 1930 under Vishva Bandhu, and published in five volumes in 1935–1965. Its scope extends to about 400 texts, including the entire Vedic Sanskrit corpus besides some 'sub-Vedic' texts. Volume I: Samhitas, Volume II: Brahmanas and Aranyakas, Volume III: Upanishads, Volume IV: Vedangas; A revised edition, extending to about 1800 pages, was published in 1973–1976.
59. ^Flood 2003, pp. 100–101
60. ^Edward Roer (Translator), Shankara's Introduction at Google Books to Brihad Aranyaka Upanishad at pp. 1–5; Quote: 'The Vedas are divided in two parts, the first is the karma-kanda, the ceremonial part, also (called) purva-kanda, and treats on ceremonies; the second part is the jnana kanda, the part which contains knowledge, also named uttara-kanda or posterior part, and unfolds the knowledge of Brahma or the universal soul.'
61. ^ ^abcdWendy Doniger (1990), Textual Sources for the Study of Hinduism, 1st Edition, University of Chicago Press, ISBN978-0226618470, pp. 2–3; Quote: 'The Upanishads supply the basis of later Hindu philosophy; they alone of the Vedic corpus are widely known and quoted by most well-educated Hindus, and their central ideas have also become a part of the spiritual arsenal of rank-and-file Hindus.'
62. ^Wiman Dissanayake (1993), Self as Body in Asian Theory and Practice (Editors: Thomas P. Kasulis et al.), State University of New York Press, ISBN978-0791410806, p. 39; Quote: 'The Upanishads form the foundations of Hindu philosophical thought and the central theme of the Upanishads is the identity of Atman and Brahman, or the inner self and the cosmic self.';
    Michael McDowell and Nathan Brown (2009), World Religions, Penguin, ISBN978-1592578467, pp. 208–210
63. ^Patrick Olivelle (2014), The Early Upanisads, Oxford University Press, ISBN978-0195352429, p. 3; Quote: 'Even though theoretically the whole of vedic corpus is accepted as revealed truth [shruti], in reality it is the Upanishads that have continued to influence the life and thought of the various religious traditions that we have come to call Hindu. Upanishads are the scriptures par excellence of Hinduism'.
64. ^ ^abFlood 1996, p. 39.
65. ^ ^abcdeWitzel, M., 'The Development of the Vedic Canon and its Schools : The Social and Political Milieu', Harvard University, in Witzel 1997, pp. 261–264
66. ^ ^abJamison and Witzel (1992), Vedic Hinduism, Harvard University, p. 6
67. ^J. Muir (1868), Original Sanskrit Texts on the Origin and History of the People of India – their religion and institutions at Google Books, 2nd Edition, p. 12
68. ^Albert Friedrich Weber, Indische Studien, herausg. von at Google Books, Vol. 10, pp. 1–9 with footnotes (in German); For a translation, Original Sanskrit Texts at Google Books, p. 14
69. ^For an example, see Sarvānukramaṇī Vivaraṇa Univ of Pennsylvania rare texts collection
70. ^R̥gveda-sarvānukramaṇī Śaunakakr̥tāʼnuvākānukramaṇī ca, Maharṣi-Kātyayāna-viracitā, OCLC11549595
71. ^(Staal 1986)
72. ^ ^ab(Filliozat 2004, p. 139)
73. ^Avari 2007, pp. 69–70
74. ^Michael Witzel, 'Vedas and Upaniṣads', in: Flood 2003, p. 69, Quote: '.. almost all printed editions depend on the late manuscripts that are hardly older than 500 years'
75. ^Radhakrishnan & Moore 1957, p. 3; Witzel, Michael, 'Vedas and Upaniṣads', in: Flood 2003, p. 68
76. ^Witzel, M., 'The Development of the Vedic Canon and its Schools : The Social and Political Milieu' in Witzel 1997, pp. 257–348
77. ^MacDonell 2004, pp. 29–39
78. ^Jamison and Witzel (1992), Vedic Hinduism, Harvard University, p. 21
79. ^Witzel, M., 'The Development of the Vedic Canon and its Schools : The Social and Political Milieu' in Witzel 1997, p. 286
80. ^ ^ab
    • Original Sanskrit: Rigveda 10.129 Wikisource;
    • Translation 1: Max Müller (1859). A History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature. Williams and Norgate, London. pp. 559–565.
    • Translation 2: Kenneth Kramer (1986). World Scriptures: An Introduction to Comparative Religions. Paulist Press. p. 21. ISBN978-0-8091-2781-8.
    • Translation 3: David Christian (2011). Maps of Time: An Introduction to Big History. University of California Press. pp. 17–18. ISBN978-0-520-95067-2.
81. ^see e.g. Avari 2007, p. 77.
82. ^For 1,028 hymns and 10,600 verses and division into ten mandalas, see: Avari 2007, p. 77.
83. ^For characterization of content and mentions of deities including Agni, Indra, Varuna, Soma, Surya, etc. see: Avari 2007, p. 77.
84. ^see e.g. Avari 2007, p. 77 Max Müller gave 1700–1100 BCE, Michael Witzel gives 1450–1350 BCE as terminus ad quem.
85. ^Original text translated in English: The Rig Veda, Mandala 10, Hymn 117, Ralph T.H. Griffith (Translator);
    C Chatterjee (1995), Values in the Indian Ethos: An Overview, Journal of Human Values, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 3–12
86. '^For example,
    Hymn 1.164.34, 'What is the ultimate limit of the earth?', 'What is the center of the universe?', 'What is the semen of the cosmic horse?', 'What is the ultimate source of human speech?'
    Hymn 1.164.34, 'Who gave blood, soul, spirit to the earth?', 'How could the unstructured universe give origin to this structured world?'
    Hymn 1.164.5, 'Where does the sun hide in the night?', 'Where do gods live?'
    Hymn 1.164.6, 'What, where is the unborn support for the born universe?';
    Hymn 1.164.20 (a hymn that is widely cited in the Upanishads as the parable of the Body and the Soul): 'Two birds with fair wings, inseparable companions; Have found refuge in the same sheltering tree. One incessantly eats from the fig tree; the other, not eating, just looks on.';
    Sources: (a) Antonio de Nicholas (2003), Meditations Through the Rig Veda: Four-Dimensional Man, ISBN978-0595269259, pp. 64–69;
    Jan Gonda, A History of Indian Literature: Veda and Upanishads, Volume 1, Part 1, Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, ISBN978-3447016032, pp. 134–135;
    Rigveda Book 1, Hymn 164 Wikisource
87. ^Michael Witzel, The Rigvedic religious system and its central Asian and Hindukush antecedents, in The Vedas – Texts, Language and Ritual, Editors: Griffiths and Houben (2004), Brill Academic, ISBN978-9069801490, pp. 581–627
88. ^(from sāman, the term for a melody applied to a metrical hymn or a song of praise, Apte 1965, p. 981.
89. ^ ^abcWitzel, M., 'The Development of the Vedic Canon and its Schools : The Social and Political Milieu' in Witzel 1997, pp. 269–270
90. ^M Bloomfield, Rig-veda Repetitions, p. 402, at Google Books, pp. 402–464
91. ^For 1875 total verses, see the numbering given in Ralph T. H. Griffith. Griffith's introduction mentions the recension history for his text. Repetitions may be found by consulting the cross-index in Griffith pp. 491–499.
92. ^Annette Wilke and Oliver Moebus (2011), Sound and Communication: An Aesthetic Cultural History of Sanskrit Hinduism, Walter de Gruyter, ISBN978-3110181593, p. 381
93. ^ ^abMichael Witzel (2003), 'Vedas and Upaniṣads', in The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism (Editor: Gavin Flood), Blackwell, ISBN0-631215352, pp. 76–77
94. ^Antonio de Nicholas (2003), Meditations Through the Rig Veda: Four-Dimensional Man, ISBN978-0595269259, pp. 273–274
95. ^Witzel, M., 'The Development of the Vedic Canon and its Schools : The Social and Political Milieu' in Witzel 1997, pp. 270–271
96. ^Witzel, M., 'The Development of the Vedic Canon and its Schools : The Social and Political Milieu' in Witzel 1997, pp. 272–274
97. ^Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN978-8120814684, pp. 217–219
98. ^Michaels 2004, p. 52 Table 3
99. ^CL Prabhakar (1972), The Recensions of the Sukla Yajurveda, Archív Orientální, Volume 40, Issue 1, pp. 347–353
100. ^Paul Deussen, The Philosophy of the Upanishads, Motilal Banarsidass (2011 Edition), ISBN978-8120816206, p. 23
101. ^Patrick Olivelle (1998), Upaniṣhads, Oxford University Press, ISBN0-19-282292-6, pp. 1–17
102. ^ ^abcdMichaels 2004, p. 56.
103. ^Frits Staal (2009), Discovering the Vedas: Origins, Mantras, Rituals, Insights, Penguin, ISBN978-0143099864, pp. 136–137
104. ^Frits Staal (2009), Discovering the Vedas: Origins, Mantras, Rituals, Insights, Penguin, ISBN978-0143099864, p. 135
105. ^Alex Wayman (1997), Untying the Knots in Buddhism, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN978-8120813212, pp. 52–53
106. ^'The latest of the four Vedas, the Atharva-Veda, is, as we have seen, largely composed of magical texts and charms, but here and there we find cosmological hymns which anticipate the Upanishads, – hymns to Skambha, the 'Support', who is seen as the first principle which is both the material and efficient cause of the universe, to Prāna, the 'Breath of Life', to Vāc, the 'Word', and so on.' Zaehner 1966, p. vii.
107. ^Flood 1996, p. 37.
108. ^Laurie Patton (2004), Veda and Upanishad, in The Hindu World (Editors: Sushil Mittal and Gene Thursby), Routledge, ISBN0-415215277, p. 38
109. ^ ^abJan Gonda (1975), Vedic Literature: Saṃhitās and Brāhmaṇas, Vol 1, Fasc. 1, Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, ISBN978-3447016032, pp. 277–280, Quote: 'It would be incorrect to describe the Atharvaveda Samhita as a collection of magical formulas'.
110. ^Kenneth Zysk (2012), Understanding Mantras (Editor: Harvey Alper), Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN978-8120807464, pp. 123–129
111. ^On magic spells and charms, such as those to gain better health: Atharva Veda 2.32 Bhaishagykni, Charm to secure perfect health Maurice Bloomfield (Translator), Sacred Books of the East, Vol. 42, Oxford University Press; see also chapters 3.11, 3.31, 4.10, 5.30, 19.26;
     On finding a good husband: Atharva Veda 4.2.36 Strijaratani Maurice Bloomfield (Translator), Sacred Books of the East, Vol. 42, Oxford University Press; Atharvaveda dedicates over 30 chapters to love relationships, sexuality and for conceiving a child, see e.g. chapters 1.14, 2.30, 3.25, 6.60, 6.78, 6.82, 6.130–6.132; On peaceful social and family relationships: Atharva Veda 6.3.30 Maurice Bloomfield (Translator), Sacred Books of the East, Vol. 42, Oxford University Press;
112. ^Kenneth Zysk (1993), Religious Medicine: The History and Evolution of Indian Medicine, Routledge, ISBN978-1560000761, pp. x–xii
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115. ^Moriz Winternitz (2010), A History of Indian Literature, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN978-8120802643, pp. 175–176
116. ^Michael Witzel, 'Tracing the Vedic dialects' in Dialectes dans les litteratures Indo-Aryennes ed. Caillat, Paris, 1989, 97–265.
117. ^Biswas et al (1989), Cosmic Perspectives, Cambridge University Press, ISBN978-0521343541, pp. 42–43
118. ^Klaus Klostermaier (1994), A Survey of Hinduism, Second Edition, State University of New York Press, ISBN978-0791421093, p. 67
119. ^ ^abcdMax Müller, Chandogya Upanishad, The Upanishads, Part I, Oxford University Press, p. lxxxvii with footnote 2
120. ^Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN978-8120814684, p. 63
121. ^The Development of the Female Mind in India, p. 27, at Google Books, The Calcutta Review, Volume 60, p. 27
122. ^Jan Gonda (1975), Vedic Literature: (Saṃhitās and Brāhmaṇas), Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, ISBN978-3447016032, pp. 319–322, 368–383 with footnotes
123. ^AB Keith (2007), The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN978-8120806443, pp. 489–490
124. ^Max Müller, The Upanishads, Part 1, Oxford University Press, p. lxxxvi footnote 1
125. ^Mahadevan 1956, p. 59.
126. ^ ^abPT Raju (1985), Structural Depths of Indian Thought, State University of New York Press, ISBN978-0887061394, pp. 35–36
127. ^WD Strappini, The Upanishads, p. 258, at Google Books, The Month and Catholic Review, Vol. 23, Issue 42
128. ^Wiman Dissanayake (1993), Self as Body in Asian Theory and Practice (Editors: Thomas P. Kasulis et al), State University of New York Press, ISBN978-0791410806, p. 39; Quote: 'The Upanishads form the foundations of Hindu philosophical thought and the central theme of the Upanishads is the identity of Atman and Brahman, or the inner self and the cosmic self.';
     Michael McDowell and Nathan Brown (2009), World Religions, Penguin, ISBN978-1592578467, pp. 208–210
129. ^Patrick Olivelle (2014), The Early Upanisads, Oxford University Press, ISBN978-0195352429, p. 3; Quote: 'Even though theoretically the whole of vedic corpus is accepted as revealed truth [shruti], in reality it is the Upanishads that have continued to influence the life and thought of the various religious traditions that we have come to call Hindu. Upanishads are the scriptures par excellence of Hinduism'.
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131. ^Stephen Knapp (2005), The Heart of Hinduism: The Eastern Path to Freedom, Empowerment and Illumination, ISBN978-0595350759, pp. 10–11
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134. ^Annette Wilke & Oliver Moebus 2011, pp. 391–394 with footnotes, 416–419.
135. ^Harold G. Coward 1990, pp. 105–110.
136. ^The Encyclopædia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, Literature and General Information. Encyclopædia Britannica. 1911. p. 161.
137. ^Annette Wilke & Oliver Moebus 2011, pp. 472–532.
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140. ^BR Modak, The Ancillary Literature of the Atharva-Veda, New Delhi, Rashtriya Veda Vidya Pratishthan, 1993, ISBN81-215-0607-7
141. ^Monier-Williams 2006, p. 207. [1] Accessed 5 April 2007.
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146. ^Paul Kuritz (1988), The Making of Theatre History, Prentice Hall, ISBN978-0135478615, p. 68
147. ^Sullivan 1994, p. 385
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Further reading

Overviews

• J. Gonda, Vedic Literature: Saṃhitās and Brāhmaṇas, A History of Indian literature. Vol. 1, Veda and Upanishads, Wiesnaden: Harrassowitz (1975), ISBN978-3-447-01603-2.
• J.A. Santucci, An Outline of Vedic Literature, Scholars Press for the American Academy of Religion, (1976).
• S. Shrava, A Comprehensive History of Vedic Literature – Brahmana and Aranyaka Works, Pranava Prakashan (1977).

Concordances

• M. Bloomfield, A Vedic Concordance (1907)
• Vishva Bandhu, Bhim Dev, S. Bhaskaran Nair (eds.), Vaidika-Padānukrama-Koṣa: A Vedic Word-Concordance, Vishveshvaranand Vedic Research Institute, Hoshiarpur, 1963–1965, revised edition 1973–1976.

Conference proceedings

• Griffiths, Arlo and Houben, Jan E.M. (eds.), The Vedas : texts, language & ritual: proceedings of the Third International Vedic Workshop, Leiden 2002, Groningen Oriental Studies 20, Groningen : Forsten, (2004), ISBN90-6980-149-3.

External links

• Sketch of the Historical Grammar of the Rig and Atharva Vedas, Edward Vernon Arnold, Journal of the American Oriental Society
• On the History and the Present State of Vedic Tradition in Nepal, Michael Witzel
• A Vedic Concordance, Maurice Bloomfield, Harvard University (an alphabetic index to every line, every stanza of the Vedas published before 1906)
• An Enlarged Electronic Version of Bloomfield's A Vedic Concordance, Harvard University