The Sanskrit root “Vid” stands for knowledge and represents all the knowledge in the universe. When the universe was created, this knowledge was with Lord Brahma and it was left to the Sages of the ancient times to discover these and pass it on through the generations.
In the earlier Yugas, the Vedas were taught verbally and hence these were also referred to as the “Srutis”, meaning that which is to be heard & understood.In the later times, towards the dark ages of Kali Yuga, Sage Vyasa took the effort to classify, and put these exhaustive verbal knowledge into written texts. These books now contain the exhaustive research and knowledge that the Rishis painstakingly discovered in the ancient times. These are the Hindu scriptures or written works of Vedic knowledge.
Sage Vyasa categorized the entire available wisdom into four scriptures:
- Rig Veda (The most ancient among the Vedic scriptures)
- Yajur Veda (which was later amended into a Shukla part and a Krishna Yajur Veda part / or the white and dark parts)
- Sama Veda
- Atharva Veda
At the very core, the Vedas attempt to delve into the evolution of the material universe, & the source of all creation, which they call as the “Ultimate Truth” or the ‘Satya’. The texts approach this fundamental truth through various means including hyms, poems, rites and rituals and finally philosophical discussions. The idea is to generate the curiosity and lead an individual towards realization of the “Supreme Being” and finally to ‘Moksha’. The Vedas also deal with culture, practices, values, rights and ethics, and the way of living a happy and successful life.
While the Vedas are known and passed over generations as Sruti, more advanced texts such as the Manusmriti are “Smritis” and must be memorized. Thus Sruti and Smriti combined form the complete wealth of knowledge in the Hindu system.
The Vedic texts are categorized further and consist of:
- The Samhita portion: The Samhita portion appears at the beginning of each chapter and consists or mantras, hymns, or poems which outline the basic theory or fundamentals behind each concept.
- The Brahmana portion: The Brahmanas expound the concept in the Samhita and prescribes elaborate rituals or practices which the student must perform. The understanding here is that before the student delves into the deeper understanding of the theories presented, he must be ready mentally and physically to contemplate and fully understand the greater meaning behind it. The Brahmana rituals are infact a preparation for the student while he readies himself to assimilate fully the truths to be told here
- The Aranyaka: As the name suggests, “Aranyaka” relates to the forest. This portion outlines the philosophical details that were outlined in the Samhita portion and leads the pupil into deeper contemplation or meditation (as a sage does in a forest). The pupil is to meditate and contemplate, so as to understand the knowledge proposed here completely
- Vedantas or Upanishads: TheUpanishads are actually a part of the Aranyaka portion and appears at the very end. Since it appears at the end of the Vedas, its also called Vedanta (Veda + Anta, meaning the end of the Vedas). The Upanishads are philosophical treatise delving into the deeper truth for the student to understand. These philosophical truths are the crux of all Vedas and is given utmost importance amongst all and is held with the highest reverence.
Upanishads being valuable is held with the highest reverence and is taught even today in several Vedantic schools globally. The Vedic scriptures originally had several thousands of Upanishads, but in the course of time, sadly we lost a great portion of these very valuable texts to foreign invasions, calamities and so on. We now have in our possession, about 100 of these literary works. Ten among these are held in very high importance and studied even today. These 10 are Ishopanishad, Brihadaranyaka-upanishad, Mandukyopanishad, Kathopanishad, Kenopanishad, Taittirya-upanishad, Mundakopanishad, Prashnopanishad, Chandogyaupanishad & Aitreya-upanishad. Adi Sankara wrote elaborate commentaries on each of these ten and this is also why these are held among the most important works.
This is a humble attempt to bring forth to the reader the content and importance of the scriptures to the modern man and is an attempt to inculcate some interest in the studies of these. In the modern times where education is westernized, there is even more a need to preserve and spread the ancient works that we have have so far treasured and cherished.