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NOVEMBER 2014
PRABUDDH JEEVAN
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a collection of 1,028 Vedic Sanskrit hymns and 10,600 with the material world or world of man and in this reverses in all, organized into ten books (Sankrit: spect differs from the other three vedas. Atharvaveda mandalas). The hymns are dedicated to Rigvedic dei- also sanctions the use of force, in particular circumties. The books were composed by poets from differ- stances and similarly this point is a departure from the ent priestly groups over a period of several centuries. three other vedas. Rigvedic manuscripts were selected for inscription in Brahmanas Karma Kanda UNESCO's Memory of the World Register in 2007.
The mystical notions surrounding the concept of the Yajurveda
one 'Veda' that would flower in Vedantic philosophy The Yajurveda Samhita consists of archaic prose have their roots already in Brahmana literature. The mantras and also in part of verses borrowed and knowledge of the Vedas is endless, compared to them, adapted from the Rigveda. Its purpose was practical, humam knowledge is like mere handfuls of dirt. The in that each mantra must accompany an action in sac- universe itself was originally encapsulated in the three rifice but, unlike the Samaveda, it was complied to ap- Vedas. ply to all sacrificial rites, not merely the Somayajna. Vedanta Jnana Kanda There are two major groups of recensions of this Veda,
While contemporary traditions continued to mainknown as the 'Black' (Krishna) and "White' (Shukla).
tain Vedic ritualism Vedanta renounced all ritualism Yajurveda (Krishna and Shukla Yajurveda respec
and radically re-interpreted the notion of Veda' in purely tively). While White Yajurvada separates the Samhita
philosophical terms. The association of the three Vedas from its Brahmana (the Shatpath Brahmana), the Black
with the bhur bhuva sva mantra is found in the: 'Bhuis Yajurvada intersperses the samhita with Brahmana
the Rigveda, bhuva is the Yajurveda, sva is the commentary. Of the Black Yajurveda four major recen
Samveda' (1.3.2). The Upanishads reduce the `essions survive (Maitrayani, Katha, Kapisthala-Katha,
sence of the Vedas' further, the syllable Aum. Thus, Taittiriya).
the Katha Upanishad has: Samaveda
The goal, which all Vedas declare, which all ausThe Samaveda Samhita (from saman, the term forterities aim at, and which humans desire when they a melody applied to metrical hymn or song of praise live a life of continence, I will tell you briefly it is Aum' consists of 1549 stanzas, taken almost entirely (except (1.2.15) for 78 stanzas) from the Rigveda.
Vedic way of life Like the Rigvedic stanzas in the Yajurveda, the
The ancient texts of the Hindu sages speak of three Samans have been changed and adapted for use in
debts that are to be paid during ones life. These three singing. Some of the Rigvedic verses are repeated more
debts known in sanskrit as a trayi, are considered centhan once.
tral to the life of the Hindu where the obligation of fulfillAtharvaveda
ing these debts are not ideals but rather obligatory. The Atharvaveda Samhita is the text belonging to Also more importantly the Taittiriya Samhita verse the Atharvan and Angirasa' poets. It has 760 hymns, further elucidates that these debts are directed to a and about 160 of the hymns are in common with the
child born to a brahmin family, however though we could Rigveda. Most of the verses are metrical, but some sec- take this verse literally and dismiss it's importance to tions are in prose. It was compiled around 900 BCE, society in general, the wider and more befitting applialthough some of its material may go back to the time cation and interpretation would be for those born in the of the of the Rigveda and some parts of the Athava- Vedic faith. thus encapsulating all Hindus. Taking this Veda are older than the Rig Veda though not in lin
understanding each debt would thus be applicable for guistic form.
all followers of the Vedic tradition. We'll now attempt to The Atharvaveda is a comparatively late extension explain how the debts have come about. of the Three Vedas' connected to priestly sacrifice to 1. Rsi rna - the debt to the sages. a canon of Four Vedas'. The Atharvaveda is concerned
