Hindu scripture series :- 1.The Vedas.

THE VEDAS

          The Vedas are ancient texts which are composed by gods (as some Hindu texts described). They are passed orally through so many generations and in 1500BCE it was composed in texts. it includes so much knowledge about the world and Hindu rituals at that time. it's like a treasure of knowledge. 

          Vedas are a collection of hymns and other ancient religious texts. it includes liturgical material, as well as poems, prayers formulas considered to be sacred by Vedic religion.
          as we know after migration of  nomad tribes of Aryans, the Aryan language get ascendancy over the local subcontinental language. the language of the Vedas is Sanskrit, the ancestor of most of the modern languages speak in Asia.
         Vedas were firstly composed in 1500 BC to 1000 BC in the north western region of Indian subcontinent. the Vedas were transmitted orally over many generations before eventually being committed to writing.
          The oldest text is Rigveda. according to some scholars  that the four Vedas completed in 2nd millennium of BCE.

The Four Vedas:-

RIGVEDA:-

          it consists knowledge of hymns of praise for recitation.

          It is the largest and most important text of Vedic collection. it consists 1028 hymns and it is divided into 10 books called as mandalas. it is difficult text that are hard to understand for modern readers. 

for more information about Rigveda, refer earlier post Rigveda.

  

SAMVEDA:-

          It consists of melodies for chanting.

          The Samveda has verses that are copied from Rigveda, but arranged in different manner since they are meant to be chanted.

YAJURVEDA:-

          

         it consists knowledge of sacrificial formulas for the liturgy.

         Yajurveda divided in two parts:- Black Yajurveda and White Yajurveda.

         it contains explanatory prose commentaries on how to perform religious rituals and sacrifices.

ATHARVVEDA:-

              

           it consists knowledge of the magic formulas.

          it contains charms and magical incantation.

the Vedas present multitude of gods from which most are natural forces as storms, fire and water.

         the veadas also have hymns which describes Purush who sacrificed his deity by other gods.

for creation of world. his mind becomes moon, his eyes becomes sun, his head forms sky, his foot forms earth. in same passage, we have description of cast system as:-

 The Bhramnas:- priests comes from Purush's mouth.

 The Kshatriya:-  warriors comes from the arms of Purush.

 The Waishyas:-   land owners and merchants comes from Purush's thighs.

 The Shudras:-     labors and servants comes from Purush's feets. 

from 800 BC to 500 BC the priest class started questioning. and they composed Upnishadas on that basis.

 for more information refer earlier post Trinity Gods.