They are the original scriptures of hindu teachings, containing spiritual knowledge encompassing all aspects of life. Every hymn of the vedas is like a part of a three dimenstional jigsaw pussle, which when put together reveals the supreme hindu god. The four vedas contain the divine, infallible knowledge revealed to those primal men whose soul was specially illuminated to by the grace of god to receive and impart humanity the words of almighty god. They are similar in terms of core message of monotheism. The vedas are a large body of texts originating in ancient india. As part of the four vedas, yajur veda was the main vedic scripture that was mostly used by the priests in ancient india. The vedas contain hymns, incantations, and rituals from ancient india. The vedas contain prayers, hymns and mantras to guide practitioners. No definite date can be ascribed to the composition of the vedas, but the period of about 15001200 bce is acceptable to most scholars. For hindus, the veda is a symbol of unchallenged authority and.
Vedas are also used for religious activities and rituals. Hindus value many sacred writings as opposed to one holy book. The puranas are holy books of hinduism that date back to gupta empire in ancient india. Vedas are the revelation of god to the human being through the sages. What are some facts from the vedas that have been proven by. Besides vedas, bhagavad gita is a popularly known holy book of hindus. However, the puranas are supposed to be complied by muni vyasa. Man must have been primitive several thousand years ago. The vedas scriptures guide hindus in their daily life. The vedas are the oldest religious scriptures available to us. India the land of vedas, the remarkable works contain not only religious ideas for a perfect life, but also facts which science has proved true. Littleknown but essential facts about vedas for everyone seeking. The holy vedas is an exceptional anthology of verses taken from the revered four vedas of hindu mythology, translated into english for the benefit of the mass the four vedas of hindu culture, the rigveda, yajurveda, atharvaveda, and samaveda, are considered to be the scriptures that defined the lifestyle and beliefs of all hindus. The golden book of holy vedas primarily explains rig veda.
This veda is divided into a series of ten smaller books, called mandalas, which contain odes dedicated to the various hindu deities. Vedas facts, history and quotes what are the vedas. Some scholars date the rig veda as early as 12000 bce 4000 bce. The inner meaning of vedas are revealed by contemplation, not understood by intellect. The vedas are relevant to all geographies of world and all periods and not restricted to a particular geography or period like quran or bible. Mar 17, 2015 the sacred texts of hinduism fall into one of two categories. In rig veda, all the mantras are organized into ten books known as mandalas or circles. They were sung by the hindu priests and other hindus during religious activities. The actual reason why vedas are the most sacred hindu books. The philosophical maxims of vedic literature have stood the test of time, and the vedas form the highest religious authority for all aspects of hinduism and are a. Vedas, upanishads, the epic sagas of ramayan and mahabhart are the part of indian literary heritage.
Many scholars liken hinduism to a family of religions, with all affiliated members bearing a family resemblance. Knowledge a collection of poems or hymns composed in archaic sanskrit by indoeuropeanspeaking peoples who lived in northwest india during the 2nd millennium bce. Vedic literature was composed by the knowledgeable pandits or brahmins of that era. The most sacred scriptures of hinduism are the vedas books of knowledge, a collection of texts written in sanskrit from about 1200 bce to 100 ce as sruti revealed texts, the vedas are regarded as the absolute authority for religious knowledge and a test of hindu orthodoxy both jains and buddhists reject the vedas. The hymns formed a liturgical body that in part grew up around the soma. Students of hinduism and eastern religion should also avoid this book, as it has been whitewashed with too much western judeochristian terminology to be of much use for the study of hinduism and indian spirituality. Unpanishads the upanishads are also called as vedantas or the end of the vedas. Hinduism does not just have one sacred book but several scriptures. Rig veda is considered as the oldest, obscure, distant and difficult for.
The vedas are the four holiest books of the by mankind to the next, perhaps over thousands of years each book has four major kinds of text the samhitas mantras and benedictions, the aranyakas text on rituals, ceremonies, sacrifices and symbolicsacrifices, the brahmanas commentaries on rituals, ceremonies and sacrifices, and the upanishads texts discussing meditation, philosophy. The author has tried to retain the spirit of the original sanskrit mantras in english renderings and to impart some of the holy ambience of these sacred texts which are the fountainhead of hindu philosophy and culture. Electricity, radium, electronics, airship, all were known to the seers who founded the vedas. The mantras in the rig veda are organized into ten books called mandalas or circles.
An introduction the following are some references from hindu scriptures. The most holy of the hindu books is written in sanskrit and is referred to as the vedas. Quran rejects the christian idea that jesus was god or son of god, because 1. The vedas are a collection of hymns and other ancient religious texts. Nov 04, 2008 the aryans gave hinduism its priestly language, sanskrit. The vedas are the four holiest books of the hindu religion.
The aranyakas forest books contain similar material as the brahmanas and discuss rites deemed not suitable for the village thus. They have phrases called mantras which are chanted at the religious ceremonies although they were finally written down around 1,500 bc, they are actually much much older. What is heard in hinduism, the mostrevered body of sacred literature, considered to be the product of divine revelation. Jan 30, 2020 the rig veda is a collection of inspired songs or hymns and is a main source of information on the rig vedic civilization. The vedas an englishonly, indexed version of the 4 veda samhitas in one document issue 1, draft 2 compiled by the dharmic scriptures team november 24, 2002 ano bhadraha kritavayo yantu vishwataha let noble thoughts come from every side rg veda 1. Other than a few quirks like this, this is the only book i could find that gives a good, lucid, prose overview or flavor of the contents of all the vedas. Vedas are used as guidance for daily life in hinduism.
They are place at the end of the vedas and they primarily deal with knowledge or wisdom. It is the oldest book in any indoeuropean language and contains the earliest form of all sanskrit mantras, dating back to 1500 bce bce. For example, this book has the gayatri mantra in the yajur veda, which is not incorrect, but everyone expects it in the rig veda since thats where it originally is from. The vedas are the sacred heritage not only of india but of all mankind. The most common language for hindu scriptures is sanskrit the oldest language in the world. Disciples used to memorize the vedas and then they used to teach their disciples when they become teachers. However, all of these texts can be broadly classified as vedas veydthus. Theres more of a library of hinduism holy books than a single book. The primary sacred texts, known as the vedas, were composed around 1500 b. They are written in an earlier indian language called sanskrit. The veda is a rather unusual collection of literature. The vedas are considered the earliest literary record of indoaryan civilization and the most sacred books of india. Here are some facts about hinduism, the main religion of the indian subcontinent, and one of the most popular religions worldwide.
The most important and, according to scholars, oldest of the vedas. According to scholars and sages, rig veda is one of the oldest and. The upanishads are part of a large collection of sacred books of hindu people, called the vedas. The most sacred scriptures of hinduism are the vedas books of knowledge, a collection of texts written in sanskrit from about 1200 bce to. But the most important holy books of hinduism are the vedas. Most interesting facts about hinduism sanatana dharma. Please read or obtain a book titled, the holy vedas.
These texts are glorious tales of the hindu trinity brahma, vishnu and maheshwar shiva. Jun 30, 2008 vedas are written in vedic sanskrit not conventional sanskrit which is mother of all languages of the world. It is divided into ten books called mandalas and has 1028 hymns in praise of various deities. Shruti works are considered to have been heard and transmitted by earthly sages, as contrasted to smriti, or that which is remembered by ordinary human. The history of indian literature has been very rich, with so many different languages and scholars in india. This video gives a brief introduction to these mystic texts. The rishi of taittiriya upanishad is addressing the ent.
What are the books one should read to understand hinduism. The holy vedas hardcover by pandit satyakam vidyalankar. The aryans gave hinduism its priestly language, sanskrit. What are some of the most facinating facts about vedas. At the outset, the vedas were remembered by the word of mouth from generation to generation. It contains spells and incantations for healing illnesses, exorcising evil spirits, and other purposes. Aum or om is considered as the holy sound because it is believed that consciousness manifested itself as a form through the sound of aum.
Hinduism is not based on a strict set of rules, it is not based on a single holy book. Apr 03, 20 the vedas are the oldest religious scriptures available to us. Sruti scriptures are considered divinely inspired and fully authoritative for belief and practice, while smruti are recognized as the products of the minds of the great sages. They are believed to be one of the oldest books ever made by mankind. The oldest veda in the shruti is called the rigveda. The holy vedas goodreads meet your next favorite book. The upanishads, 18 purana s, ramayana and mahabharata are also important hindu scriptures. The legend says that vritra kept all the waters trapped in his mountain lair, and indra was the one who slew the demon in order to release the waters. Vedas are supposed to be heard and experienced, not read. Vedas simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. But, when one digs deeper into the meaning of yajur veda, they can realize that it has much deeper magnitude than a book talking about rituals. Some of the other holy works and books of hinduism. How are the vedas, the bible, and the koran similar.
These include indra, agni, vishnu, rudra, varuna, and other early or vedic gods. Thus any definition of hinduism is somewhat arbitrary and. Despite the fact that the rigveda deals with many gods, there are. Along with the book of the dead, the enuma elish, the i ching, and the avesta, they are among the most ancient religious texts still in existence. Other holy scriptures in hinduism are called the upanisads, the smrutis, the puranas, the ramayana and the mahabharata. The vedic period reaches its peak only after the composition of the mantra texts, with. Vedas are written in vedic sanskrit not conventional sanskrit which is mother of all languages of the world. Hence vedas must be later than that the fact remains that despite so much of publicity everywhere, including text books of children and students, there is not one single credible, authoritative evidence be it in archaeology or otherwise that can establish the fancy earlyman theory and that of evolution of humans from apes. These are the most ancient religious texts which define truth for hindus. The samhitas date to roughly 17001100 bce, and the circumvedic texts, as well as the redaction of the samhitas, date to c. Each mantra of vedas can have several meanings spiritual, social, physical etc.
Thus, their beliefs and rituals formed the hindu religion, and their vedas became the most sacred hindu scriptures. The name of this book should have been excerpts of the holy vedas, as that would have been much more accurate. There have been substantial pieces of evidence that show that lots of modern science already exists in vedas. The rig veda consists of 1,028 mantras or hymns that are chanted to the gods and. Composed in vedic sanskrit, the texts constitute the oldest layer of sanskrit literature and. Because they deal with knowledge portion of the vedas, they are called jnanakanda jnana means. Bible and quran are continuation of the same chain of abrahamic religions, which is to assert oneness of god.
The upanishads are some of the sacred books of the hindu people. You can learn the vedas right from a guru or read the vedas wrong from any number of sources. Lord brahma is credited with the composition of vedas which were passed down from the great sages to their disciples. Hinduism does not have a single holy book, but many ancient texts and scriptures. Mar 01, 2006 for example, this book has the gayatri mantra in the yajur veda, which is not incorrect, but everyone expects it in the rig veda since thats where it originally is from. There are dozens of answers on this page, claiming that vedas foretold everything from the ozone layer and evolution to nuclear energy and time dilation. The vedas describe indra as the god who wields the thunderbolt, and his most celebrated story was the killing of the demonserpent vritra.
The rigveda is considered by many to be the most important of the vedas. Bramha gaudiya madhav sampradaya famous iskcon hare krishna are a part of it 2. The commandments of the vedas are summarised in the section of the taittiriya upa. There are four vedas namely rigveda, yajurveda, samaveda and atharvaveda.
The scriptures of the vedas are meant to guide hindu believers in their daily lives. Yajur veda helps in creating a deeper level of consciousness among. The most ancient sacred texts of the hindu religion are written in sanskrit and called the vedas. The vedas a collection of hymns praising the vedic gods. The rigveda is the foundational holy book of ancient hinduism, which essentially served as a source for everything that came after it. Hinduism is not based on a strict set of rules, it is not based on a single holy book, and it wasnt founded. Besides their spiritual value, they also give a unique view of everyday life in india four thousand years ago. Quizlet flashcards, activities and games help you improve your grades. Vedas were not written at any time but they were transferred from one generation to another through teacher disciple tradition.
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