Veda

—Vedaic /vi day"ik/, adj. —Vedaism /vay"deuh iz'euhm, vee"-/, n.

/vay"deuh, vee"-/, n. Hinduism.

1. Sometimes, Vedas. the entire body of Hindu sacred writings, chief among which are four books, the Rig-Veda, the Sama-Veda, the Atharva-Veda, and the Yajur-Veda.

2. Also called Samhita. each of these four books.

3. Vedas, these four books, along with the Brahmanas and Upanishads.

[ < Skt]

* * *

Any of a group of sacred hymns and verses composed in archaic Sanskrit, probably in the period 1500–1200 BC.

Together they form a body of liturgical literature that grew up around the cult of the soma ritual. They extol the hereditary deities that personified various natural and cosmic phenomena. The entire corpus of Vedic literature, including the Upanishads, was considered the product of divine revelation. The Vedas were handed down orally for many generations before being committed to writing. Even today, several are recited with intonation and rhythm associated with the early days of Vedic religion. See also Rig Veda, Vedanta.

* * *

▪ Hinduism

Sanskrit“Knowledge”

      a collection of poems or hymns composed in archaic Sanskrit and known to the Indo-European-speaking peoples who entered India during the 2nd millennium BCE. No definite date can be ascribed to the composition of the Vedas, but the period of about 1500–1200 BCE is acceptable to most scholars. The hymns formed a liturgical body that in part grew up around the soma ritual and sacrifice and were recited or chanted during rituals. They praised a wide pantheon of gods, some of whom personified natural and cosmic phenomena, such as fire ( Agni), the Sun ( Surya and Savitr), dawn (Usas, a goddess), storms (the Rudras (Rudra)), and rain ( Indra), while others represented abstract qualities such as friendship ( Mitra), moral authority (Varuna (Varuṇa)), kingship (Indra), and speech (Vach, a goddess).

      The foremost collection, or Samhita, of such poems, from which the hotri (“reciter”), drew the material for his recitations, is the Rigveda (“Knowledge of the Verses”). Sacred formulas known as mantras (mantra) were recited by the adhvaryu, the priest responsible for the sacrificial fire and for carrying out the ceremony. These mantras and verses were drawn into the Samhita known as the Yajurveda (“Knowledge of the Sacrifice”). A third group of priests, headed by the udgatri (“chanter”), performed melodic recitations linked to verses that were drawn almost entirely from the Rigveda but were arranged as a separate Samhita, the Samaveda (“Knowledge of the Chants”). Along with these three Vedas—Rig, Yajur, and Sama, known as the trayi-vidya (“threefold knowledge”)—is a collection of hymns, magic spells, and incantations known as the Atharvaveda (“Knowledge of the Fire Priest”), which includes various local traditions and remains partly outside the Vedic sacrifice. A few centuries later, perhaps about 900 BCE, the Brahmana (Brāhmaṇa)s were composed as glosses on the Vedas, containing many myths and philosophical discussions. The Brahmanas were followed by other texts, Aranyaka (Āraṇyakas)s (“Forest Books”) and Upanishads, which took philosophical discussions in new directions, invoking a doctrine of monism and freedom from the cycle of rebirth.

      The entire corpus of Vedic literature—the Samhitas, the Brahmanas, the Aranyakas, and the Upanishads—was considered Shruti (Śruti) (“What Is Heard”), the product of divine revelation. The whole of the literature seems to have been preserved orally (although there must have been early manuscripts to assist memory). To this day, several of these works, notably the three oldest Vedas, are recited with subtleties of intonation and rhythm that have been handed down from the early days of Vedic religion in India.

Wendy Doniger

 

* * *