[155] The Rajasuya rituals, performed with the coronation of a king, "set in motion [...] cyclical regenerations of the universe. The Rigveda is regarded as the oldest text of Hinduism. The "Yajur Veda" is more of a guidebook for priests and contains rituals and ceremonial instructions. [47] The Brahmanas, Aranyakas, and Upanishads, among other things, interpret and discuss the Samhitas in philosophical and metaphorical ways to explore abstract concepts such as the Absolute (Brahman), and the soul or the self (Atman), introducing Vedanta philosophy, one of the major trends of later Hinduism. Rigveda contains prayers to Gods (Riks are the mantras). In fact, the “Rigveda” is the oldest of the four Vedas that includes “Yajur Vedas,” “Sama Veda,” and “Atharva Veda.” The “Rig Veda” contains Sanskrit hymns that are dedicated to Rig-Vedic deities. Rig means ritual, and it contains mainly hymns and prayers (Mantras) in the worship of the universal forces called the demigods. [37] They also incorporate myths, legends and in some cases philosophy. [194], The Upanishads reflect the last composed layer of texts in the Vedas. They are mainly thoughts, ideas, speculation, and poetry about man and the universe, plus prescriptions for sacrifice and ritual. The term veda means “knowledge” in that they are thought to contain the fundamental knowledge relating to the underlying cause of, function of, and personal response to existence. The four Vedas are known as the "Rig Veda," the " Yajur Veda," the " Sama Veda " and the " Atharva Veda." It is the Rig veda is called so because it consist of mantras called ‘Riks’ which correctly describe the properties, action and nature of all things. Each veda has it’s own Brahmana, Aranyaka, Samhita and Upanishad. "Divya Prabandha", for example Tiruvaymoli, is a term for canonical Tamil texts considered as Vernacular Veda by some South Indian Hindus. Griffith's introduction mentions the recension history for his text. [170], There are two major groups of texts in this Veda: the "Black" (Krishna) and the "White" (Shukla). Witzel notes that the rituals, rites and ceremonies described in these ancient texts reconstruct to a large degree the Indo-European marriage rituals observed in a region spanning the Indian subcontinent, Persia and the European area, and some greater details are found in the Vedic era texts such as the Grhya Sūtras. He gives 150 BCE (Patañjali) as a terminus ante quem for all Vedic Sanskrit literature, and 1200 BCE (the early Iron Age) as terminus post quem for the Atharvaveda. [217] The earliest reference to such a "fifth Veda" is found in the Chandogya Upanishad in hymn 7.1.2.[218]. [19][20] In the Hindu Epic Mahabharata, the creation of Vedas is credited to Brahma. [124], Mookerji notes that the Rigveda, and Sayana's commentary, contain passages criticizing as fruitless mere recitation of the Ŗik (words) without understanding their inner meaning or essence, the knowledge of dharma and Parabrahman. [174][175], The Artharvaveda Samhita is the text 'belonging to the Atharvan and Angirasa poets. For the Atharvaveda, there are 79 works, collected as 72 distinctly named parisistas. [107][108][109][110] According to Deshpande, "the tradition of the Sanskrit grammarians also contributed significantly to the preservation and interpretation of Vedic texts. Root cognates are Greek ἰδέα, English wit, etc., Latin videō "I see", German wissen "to know" etc. C Each Veda consists of four parts--the Samhitas (hymns), the Brahmanas (rituals), the Aranyakas (theologies) and the Upanishads (philosophies). These are: The Rig Veda The Yajur Veda The Sama Veda The Atharva Veda Today, you come to know everything about The Rig Veda. For example, the first chapter of the Chandogya Brahmana, one of the oldest Brahmanas, includes eight ritual suktas (hymns) for the ceremony of marriage and rituals at the birth of a child. G [134], Each Veda has been subclassified into four major text types – the Samhitas (mantras and benedictions), the Aranyakas (text on rituals, ceremonies such as newborn baby's rites of passage, coming of age, marriages, retirement and cremation, sacrifices and symbolic sacrifices), the Brahmanas (commentaries on rituals, ceremonies and sacrifices), and the Upanishads (text discussing meditation, philosophy and spiritual knowledge). The collection of mantras or hymns is called the Samhita. The Four Vedas Rig Veda is mainly composed of joyful songs praising the divinity of nature. The first hymn of this text is dedicated to the god of fire, Lord Agni. see: For 1875 total verses, see the numbering given in Ralph T. H. Griffith. 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