Vedas

Examples of Vedas in the following topics:

• The Vedas

  • There are four Indo-Aryan Vedas: the Rig Veda contains hymns about their mythology; the Sama Veda consists mainly of hymns about religious rituals; the Yajur Veda contains instructions for religious rituals; and the Atharva Veda consists of spells against enemies, sorcerers, and diseases.
  • (Depending on the source consulted, these are spelled, for example, either Rig Veda or Rigveda.)
  • The verses of the Sam Veda are taken almost completely from the Rig Veda, but arranged differently so they may be chanted.
  • The Atharva Veda includes charms and magic incantations written in the style of folklore.
  • The Aryan pantheon of gods is described in great detail in the Rig Veda.

• The Rise of Hinduism

  • There are four Indo-Aryan Vedas: the Rig Veda contains hymns about mythology; the Sama Veda consists mainly of hymns about religious rituals; the Yajur Veda contains instructions for religious rituals; and the Atharva Veda consists of spells against enemies, sorcerers and diseases.
  • (Depending on the source consulted, these are spelled, for example, either Sama Veda or Samaveda.)
  • The Aryan pantheon of gods is described in great detail in the Rig Veda.
  • The Upanishads are found in the conclusion of the commentaries on the Vedas, and have been passed down by oral tradition.
  • The Rig Veda describes the varied deities of Vedic religion.

• The Sramana Movement

  • Most history of this period is derived from the Vedas, the oldest scriptures in the Hindu religion.
  • Vedas, meaning "knowledge," were composed by the Aryans in Vedic Sanskrit between 1500 and 500 BCE, in the northwestern region the Indian subcontinent.
  • There are four Indo-Aryan Vedas: the Rig Veda contains hymns about their mythology; the Sama Veda consists mainly of hymns about religious rituals; the Yajur Veda contains instructions for religious rituals; and the Atharva Veda consists of spells against enemies, sorcerers, and diseases.
  • (Depending on the source consulted, these are spelled, for example, either Rig Veda or Rigveda.)
  • The Sramanas rejected the authority of the Brahmins, who were considered the protectors of the sacred learning found in the Vedas.

• The Caste System

  • These roles and their importance, including the levels of power and significance based on patriarchy, were influenced by stories of the gods in the Rig-Veda epic.
  • One of these four sacred canonical texts, the Rig-Veda, described the origins of the world and points to the gods for the origin of the caste system.
  • The institution of marriage was important, and different types of marriages—monogamy, polygyny and polyandry—are mentioned in the Rig Veda.
  • A page of the Rig-Veda, one of the four sacred Veda texts, which described the origins of the world and the stories of the gods.
  • The Rig-Veda influenced the development of the patriarchal society and the caste systems in Aryan India.

• Sanskrit

  • Vedic Sanskrit is the language of the Vedas, the most ancient Hindu scripts, compiled c. 1500-500 BCE.
  • The Vedas contain hymns, incantations called Samhitas, and theological and philosophical guidance for priests of the Vedic religion.
  • Believed to be direct revelations to seers among the early Aryan people of India, the four chief collections are the Rig Veda, Sam Veda, Yajur Vedia, and Atharva Veda.
  • (Depending on the source consulted, these are spelled, for example, either Rig Veda or Rigveda.)
  • Sanskrit evolved from Proto-Indo-European languages and was used to write the Vedas, the Hindu religious texts compiled between 1500-500 BCE.

• Jainism

  • Sramana existed in parallel to, but separate from, Vedic Hinduism, which followed the teachings and rituals found in the Vedas, the most ancient texts of the Vedic religion.
  • Sramana, meaning "seeker," was a tradition that began around 800-600 BCE, when new philosophical groups, who believed in a more austere path to spiritual freedom, rejected the authority of the Vedas and the Brahmins (the priests of Vedic Hinduism).

• The Indo-Aryan Migration and the Vedic Period

  • Most history of this period is derived from the Vedas, the oldest scriptures in Hinduism, which help chart the timeline of an era from 1750-500 BCE, known as the Vedic Period.
  • Most history of this period is derived from the Vedas, the oldest scriptures in the Hindu religion, which were composed by the Aryans in Sanskrit.

• Buddhism

  • Sramana existed in parallel to, but separate from, Vedic Hinduism, which followed the teachings and rituals found in the Vedas, the most ancient texts of the Vedic religion.
  • Sramana, meaning "seeker," was a tradition that began when new philosophical groups who believed in a more austere path to spiritual freedom rejected the authority of the Vedas and the Brahmins, the priests of Vedic Hinduism, around 800-600 BCE.