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| | Principles
and Practice of Hindu Religion | | Hindu
Heritage Study Program
| Chapter
- IV : The
Scriptures and The Sacred Works | An
Analysis of the Texts Available that gives the Divine Message
for
Every One to Study, Understand and Follow as a Way of Life |
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| Lesson
- 55 : | Selections
and Collections of Rig and Yajur Vedas
What
are the divisions and how much of it we have got | Please
see below for
Lesson - 56 |
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| | Rig
Veda Samhita consists of 10,170 Riks, or hymns, collected as 1028 Sookthas,
divided into 21 Sakhas [Sections]. Rig Veda is written wholly in the form of hymns
in praise of various devathas like Agni or fire. It is taken to elevate the Soul's
Consciousness or the glow of the soul's awakening. They are mostly prayers to
Vedic Deities and rituals of sacrifice for fire. In Rig Veda, one can see the
earliest human thoughts, prayers to natural elements and early versions of poetry
and drama with artistic dialogues in Hindu literature. There should have been
five Samhiathas for this: 1. Sakala, 2. Bashkala, 3. Asvalayana, 4. Sankhayana
and 5. Mandukayana. Of these we have Sakala and small fragments of Bashkala
that are scattered. We have Two Brahmanas, Two Aranyakas and Three Upanishads
in this Veda. We see the earliest ideas that Atman produces everything and we
see the thoughts of Evolution and Creation of the Universe in this Veda. Yajur
Veda contains 109 Sakhas.
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In
Yajur Veda, the term Yajus refers to worship, "Yajna" or sacrificial rites.
It gives the mantras of Rig Veda in the form of a Yajna or worship. It describes
in prose the procedural details of performing different rituals and Yajnas using
the hymns of Rig Veda. There are two branches of Yajur Veda. The earlier Krishna
Yajur Veda was taught by Sage Vaisampaayana. Later, Rishi Yaajnavalkya is
believed to have brought the Sukla Yajur Veda or Vaajsaneyi Samhitha from Sun-God
as a different version. Here "Krishna" means dark or impure, and this form of
Yajur Veda was said to be arranged in a wrong order. It is said that when Sage
Vaisampayana refused to teach his version Yajur to Yaagnavalkya, the latter is
said to have got his divine teachings directly from Sun-God himself in the correct
order and called it Sukla or Pure. Today we have two samhithas in Sukla Yajur
Veda, Madhyadhina and Kanva Samhitha. Krishna Yajur Veda has four,
Thaitthiriya, Maithrayani, Katha and Kapishthala Katha Samhithas.
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| | \ | | Rig
Veda - First three verses | Agnimeele'Purohitham
Yagyasya De'vam Rithvijam Hothaaram
Rathna Dhaathamam - [ Rik - 1 ] 1.
I pray to Agni, the household priest who is the god of the sacrifice, the
one who chants and invokes and brings most treasure. | Agnih'
Poorve'bhirrishibhi Ridhyo' Noothanairutha Sa
De'vaan E'ha Vakshathi - [ Rik - 2 ] 2.
Agni earned the prayers of the ancient sages, and of those of the present too;
he
will bring the gods here. | Agninaa
Rayimashshnavath Poshameva Dhive'dive' Yashasam
Veervaththamam - [ Rik - 3 ] 3.
Through Agni one may win wealth, and growth from day to day, glorious
and most abounding in heroic sons. | \ |
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| Lesson
- 56 : | The
Arrangement of Sama and Atharva Vedas
The
Special features of Art, Music and Magic in the Vedas | |
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| Saama
Veda has 1000 Sections and the mantras are the same as in Rig Veda.
All these hymns and mantras are set to music in it. Saama means "to bring `Shanthi'
or `Peace' to the minds." The chanting of the Saama Veda really gives peace of
mind and exhilarates the hearer. "Of the Vedas, I am Saama Veda" says Sri Krishna
in Srimad Bhagavat Gita [10-22]. The main Samhitha of this Veda belongs to the
Kauthama school, which is popular. There are also Ranayaniya and Jaiminiya schools
in vogue, which show slight variations. The Samhitha is divided into two parts:
Archika which are collection of Rik Hymns and Gaana which are songs. The scientific
study of Indian Music has evolved basically from these Saama-Gaanas. Saama Veda
has their own set of nine Brahmamnas and three Upanishads. | |
| Atharva
Veda has 50 Sakhas, and contains 598 hymns and 5038 verses. They are
mantras in prose and as hymns, pertaining to Devathas not mentioned in the other
three Vedas. It contains many mantras and many `magic formulas' designed to ward
off evil and hardship and to destroy enemies. It also contains hymns about creation.
They were brought to light by a Rishi named Atharvan. The word 'Atharvan' means
fire priest. We have the Sounaka school of this Veda and small fragments of the
Kashmirian version of Paippalada Samhitha. Arthasasthra and Ayurveda
are considered to be offshoots of this Veda. It has Gopatha Brahmana and has Prasna,
Mundaka and Mandukya Upanishads. | |
| The
four Vedas contain not only Philosophical and Theological verses, but also
large segments of every aspect of mathematics and science. We can see astronomical
calculations, Nuclear Physics, Space Technology, Biology and Chemistry and all
Sciences of the past, present and the future. It is said that the Vedic trigonometry
gives references by Saint Bhodayana who first gave the theory on right
angle triangles. This was given to the Western world as theory of Pythogoras,
which every High school student studies. | |
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| | | | Atharva
Veda | A
Vratya there was, just going about He stirred up Prajapati . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . XV, 1.1 He,
Prajapati, saw in Himself gold ; He generated that " Hiranyagarbham" . . . . XV,
1.2
| That
became One; that became star - marked ; That became Great ; that became Chief
; That
became Brahman ; that became Truth ; There with He had Progeny . . . . . . . .
. . . . XV, 1.3 He
increased ; He became Great ; He became the great God, Mahadeva. !! . . . . .
. . . .. . XV, 1.4
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