LIGHTS ON THE VEDA

The author has delved deep into the India?s most ancient scripture Vedas to explore new avenues in the context of the Hindu religion. The Vedas are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism. There are four Vedasthe Rigveda, the Yajurveda, the Samaveda and the Atharvaveda. Each Veda has four subdivisions ? the Samhitas (mantras and benedictions), the Aranyakas (text on rituals, ceremonies, sacrifices and symbolicsacrifices), the Brahmanas (commentaries on rituals, ceremonies and sacrifices), and the Upanishads (texts discussing meditation, philosophy and spiritual knowledge). Some scholars add a fifth category ? the Upasanas (worship).The texts of the Upanishads discuss ideas akin to the heterodox sramanatraditions. Vedas are ?ruti (“what is heard”), distinguishing them from other religious texts, which are called sm?ti (“what is remembered”). Hindus consider the Vedas to be apauru?eya, which means “not of a man, superhuman” and “impersonal, authorless,”revelations of sacred sounds and texts heard by ancient sages after intense meditation.