Overview
The Vedas (Sanskrit: वेदः, meaning "knowledge") are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, they constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and are regarded as the oldest scriptures of Hinduism. There are four Vedas: the Rigveda, the Yajurveda, the Samaveda and the Atharvaveda.
Each Veda is traditionally divided into four parts. The Samhitas contain mantras and benedictions; the Brahmanas offer commentaries and explanations on rituals, ceremonies and sacrifices (yajñas); the Aranyakas deal with rituals, ceremonies and symbolic-sacrifices; and the Upanishads explore meditation, philosophy and spiritual knowledge. Some scholars add a fifth category, the Upāsanās, concerned with worship. The Upanishads, in particular, discuss ideas that are also encountered in the heterodox śramana traditions.
The Vedas are classified as śruti ("what is heard"), which distinguishes them from other religious texts known as smr̥ti ("what is remembered"). In Hindu tradition, they are considered apauruṣeya, meaning "not of a man" or "impersonal, authorless"—understood as revelations of sacred sounds and texts received by ancient sages in deep meditation. The texts have been orally transmitted since the 2nd millennium BCE with the help of elaborate mnemonic techniques designed to preserve their precise sounds and intonation.
The mantras, which form the oldest portion of the Vedas, continue to be recited in the modern era largely for their phonology rather than their semantic content. Within the tradition, they are regarded as "primordial rhythms of creation" that precede the forms to which they refer; their recitation is believed to regenerate the cosmos by sustaining the forms of creation at their base. Indian philosophies and Hindu sects have, however, taken differing positions on the Vedas. Schools of Indian philosophy that recognise the authority of the Vedas are classified together as the six "orthodox" (āstika) schools, while śramaṇa traditions such as