tman_and_moksa

Author(s): G N Joshi
Publisher: Gujarat University

Page 35

Acharya Shri Kailashsagarsuri Gyanmandir
CHAPTER I
THE VEDAS
The history of Indian Philosophy begins with the Vedic Hymns. The Vedic Hymns were not composed by a single individual or by a body of individuals; they are supposed to be non-human (apauruseya-3701677) in their origin. The Vedas are supposed to have a Divine origin. The ancient sages, whose names are associated with them had not intentionally composed them in the form of verses, but it is believed that they were revealed to them in their intuitive experiences and they were uttered by them in their ecstacies. No script was devised in the Vedic period and therefore, they had been transmitted to the later generations orally. There was every possibility of interpolations being made to them by the later sages who happened to receive them from their predecessors. It is, therefore, difficult to prove or disprove any authority as there never was any authoritative text or version of the Vedas.
Out of the four Vedas, - the RgVeda, the Sāma. Veda, the Yajur Veda and the Atharva Veda,- the Rg Veda is supposed to be the basis of philosophical thought. The Vedas are not in fact metaphysical works, written with any particular view, nor are they consistent philosophical treatises. The Vedas consist of verses which were the free utterances of
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