The legend says that vritra kept all the waters trapped in his mountain lair, and indra was the one who slew the demon in order to release the waters. The vedas scriptures guide hindus in their daily life. The hymns formed a liturgical body that in part grew up around the soma. The actual reason why vedas are the most sacred hindu books. These are the most ancient religious texts which define truth for hindus. The vedas are ancient texts that are sacred in india and renowned the. They are similar in terms of core message of monotheism. The vedas are a collection of hymns and other ancient religious texts. Shruti works are considered to have been heard and transmitted by earthly sages, as contrasted to smriti, or that which is remembered by ordinary human. Besides vedas, bhagavad gita is a popularly known holy book of hindus. Composed in vedic sanskrit, the texts constitute the oldest layer of sanskrit literature and. They are the original scriptures of hindu teachings, containing spiritual knowledge encompassing all aspects of life.
Vedas, upanishads, the epic sagas of ramayan and mahabhart are the part of indian literary heritage. Mar 17, 2015 the sacred texts of hinduism fall into one of two categories. The vedas are relevant to all geographies of world and all periods and not restricted to a particular geography or period like quran or bible. The most sacred scriptures of hinduism are the vedas books of knowledge, a collection of texts written in sanskrit from about 1200 bce to. Here are some facts about hinduism, the main religion of the indian subcontinent, and one of the most popular religions worldwide. The vedas a collection of hymns praising the vedic gods. These texts are glorious tales of the hindu trinity brahma, vishnu and maheshwar shiva. Vedas facts, history and quotes what are the vedas.
The veda is a rather unusual collection of literature. The vedas are the sacred heritage not only of india but of all mankind. But the most important holy books of hinduism are the vedas. Students of hinduism and eastern religion should also avoid this book, as it has been whitewashed with too much western judeochristian terminology to be of much use for the study of hinduism and indian spirituality. The vedas are considered the earliest literary record of indoaryan civilization and the most sacred books of india. Veda is from the root word vida, meaning knowledge or to know. Quran rejects the christian idea that jesus was god or son of god, because 1. It is divided into ten books called mandalas and has 1028 hymns in praise of various deities.
India the land of vedas, the remarkable works contain not only religious ideas for a perfect life, but also facts which science has proved true. The most holy of the hindu books is written in sanskrit and is referred to as the vedas. Mar 01, 2006 for example, this book has the gayatri mantra in the yajur veda, which is not incorrect, but everyone expects it in the rig veda since thats where it originally is from. They have phrases called mantras which are chanted at the religious ceremonies although they were finally written down around 1,500 bc, they are actually much much older. The vedic period reaches its peak only after the composition of the mantra texts, with. Feb 18, 2017 the most sacred scriptures of hinduism are the vedas books of knowledge, a collection of texts written in sanskrit from about 1200 bce to 100 ce as sruti revealed texts, the vedas are regarded as the absolute authority for religious knowledge and a test of hindu orthodoxy both jains and buddhists reject the vedas. Please read or obtain a book titled, the holy vedas. Hindus value many sacred writings as opposed to one holy book.
Theres more of a library of hinduism holy books than a single book. The aryans gave hinduism its priestly language, sanskrit. What are some facts from the vedas that have been proven by. Sruti scriptures are considered divinely inspired and fully authoritative for belief and practice, while smruti are recognized as the products of the minds of the great sages.
Hence vedas must be later than that the fact remains that despite so much of publicity everywhere, including text books of children and students, there is not one single credible, authoritative evidence be it in archaeology or otherwise that can establish the fancy earlyman theory and that of evolution of humans from apes. No definite date can be ascribed to the composition of the vedas, but the period of about 15001200 bce is acceptable to most scholars. The vedas are the oldest religious scriptures available to us. Rig veda is considered as the oldest, obscure, distant and difficult for. The rigveda is the foundational holy book of ancient hinduism, which essentially served as a source for everything that came after it. The scriptures of the vedas are meant to guide hindu believers in their daily lives. The most important and, according to scholars, oldest of the vedas. Every hymn of the vedas is like a part of a three dimenstional jigsaw pussle, which when put together reveals the supreme hindu god.
Yajur veda helps in creating a deeper level of consciousness among. The author has tried to retain the spirit of the original sanskrit mantras in english renderings and to impart some of the holy ambience of these sacred texts which are the fountainhead of hindu philosophy and culture. For hindus, the veda is a symbol of unchallenged authority and. It is the oldest book in any indoeuropean language and contains the earliest form of all sanskrit mantras, dating back to 1500 bce bce. Vedas are supposed to be heard and experienced, not read. Vedas were not written at any time but they were transferred from one generation to another through teacher disciple tradition.
Man must have been primitive several thousand years ago. Vedas are written in vedic sanskrit not conventional sanskrit which is mother of all languages of the world. The philosophical maxims of vedic literature have stood the test of time, and the vedas form the highest religious authority for all aspects of hinduism and are a. Thus, their beliefs and rituals formed the hindu religion, and their vedas became the most sacred hindu scriptures. The holy vedas goodreads meet your next favorite book. The most ancient sacred texts of the hindu religion are written in sanskrit and called the vedas. Vedic literature was composed by the knowledgeable pandits or brahmins of that era. The most sacred scriptures of hinduism are the vedas books of knowledge, a collection of texts written in sanskrit from about 1200 bce to 100 ce as sruti revealed texts, the vedas are regarded as the absolute authority for religious knowledge and a test of hindu orthodoxy both jains and buddhists reject the vedas. What are some of the most facinating facts about vedas. Jan 30, 2020 the rig veda is a collection of inspired songs or hymns and is a main source of information on the rig vedic civilization. Vedas simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The vedas contain hymns, incantations, and rituals from ancient india. There are dozens of answers on this page, claiming that vedas foretold everything from the ozone layer and evolution to nuclear energy and time dilation. Despite the fact that the rigveda deals with many gods, there are.
The vedas contain prayers, hymns and mantras to guide practitioners. As part of the four vedas, yajur veda was the main vedic scripture that was mostly used by the priests in ancient india. The vedas are a large body of texts originating in ancient india. The vedas are the four holiest books of the hindu religion.
They were sung by the hindu priests and other hindus during religious activities. Knowledge a collection of poems or hymns composed in archaic sanskrit by indoeuropeanspeaking peoples who lived in northwest india during the 2nd millennium bce. They are written in an earlier indian language called sanskrit. These include indra, agni, vishnu, rudra, varuna, and other early or vedic gods. The rig veda consists of 1,028 mantras or hymns that are chanted to the gods and. Besides their spiritual value, they also give a unique view of everyday life in india four thousand years ago. Some scholars date the rig veda as early as 12000 bce 4000 bce. For example, this book has the gayatri mantra in the yajur veda, which is not incorrect, but everyone expects it in the rig veda since thats where it originally is from. Disciples used to memorize the vedas and then they used to teach their disciples when they become teachers.
But, when one digs deeper into the meaning of yajur veda, they can realize that it has much deeper magnitude than a book talking about rituals. Hinduism is not based on a strict set of rules, it is not based on a single holy book. The samhitas date to roughly 17001100 bce, and the circumvedic texts, as well as the redaction of the samhitas, date to c. According to scholars and sages, rig veda is one of the oldest and. The name of this book should have been excerpts of the holy vedas, as that would have been much more accurate.
Hinduism does not just have one sacred book but several scriptures. Aum or om is considered as the holy sound because it is believed that consciousness manifested itself as a form through the sound of aum. Buy the holy vedas book online at low prices in india. Bible and quran are continuation of the same chain of abrahamic religions, which is to assert oneness of god. The rigveda is considered by many to be the most important of the vedas. How are the vedas, the bible, and the koran similar. An introduction the following are some references from hindu scriptures. The rishi of taittiriya upanishad is addressing the ent. The primary sacred texts, known as the vedas, were composed around 1500 b. The upanishads are part of a large collection of sacred books of hindu people, called the vedas.
The vedas are the holy books of the hindus, much revered for being the fount of all knowledge. The mantras in the rig veda are organized into ten books called mandalas or circles. Nov 04, 2008 the aryans gave hinduism its priestly language, sanskrit. Other than a few quirks like this, this is the only book i could find that gives a good, lucid, prose overview or flavor of the contents of all the vedas. The commandments of the vedas are summarised in the section of the taittiriya upa. Bramha gaudiya madhav sampradaya famous iskcon hare krishna are a part of it 2. The four vedas contain the divine, infallible knowledge revealed to those primal men whose soul was specially illuminated to by the grace of god to receive and impart humanity the words of almighty god. Electricity, radium, electronics, airship, all were known to the seers who founded the vedas. Most interesting facts about hinduism sanatana dharma. What are the books one should read to understand hinduism. They got their present form between 1200200 bce and were introduced to india by the aryans.
Each mantra of vedas can have several meanings spiritual, social, physical etc. The inner meaning of vedas are revealed by contemplation, not understood by intellect. The vedas an englishonly, indexed version of the 4 veda samhitas in one document issue 1, draft 2 compiled by the dharmic scriptures team november 24, 2002 ano bhadraha kritavayo yantu vishwataha let noble thoughts come from every side rg veda 1. Jun 30, 2008 vedas are written in vedic sanskrit not conventional sanskrit which is mother of all languages of the world. Thus any definition of hinduism is somewhat arbitrary and. Some of the other holy works and books of hinduism. Unpanishads the upanishads are also called as vedantas or the end of the vedas. However, all of these texts can be broadly classified as vedas veydthus. They are believed to be one of the oldest books ever made by mankind. Vedas are the revelation of god to the human being through the sages.
Jun 14, 2019 find yourself a genuine spiritual master from either of the 4 authorised sampradayas and under their strict guidance start your learning. The upanishads are some of the sacred books of the hindu people. They also help to preserve the religious dimensions of family and society. There have been substantial pieces of evidence that show that lots of modern science already exists in vedas. Hinduism does not have a single holy book, but many ancient texts and scriptures. The concept of hinduism being a single monolithic religion is recent, dating back only to the 19th century. In rig veda, all the mantras are organized into ten books known as mandalas or circles. The aranyakas forest books contain similar material as the brahmanas and discuss rites deemed not suitable for the village thus. This video gives a brief introduction to these mystic texts. What is heard in hinduism, the mostrevered body of sacred literature, considered to be the product of divine revelation. The most common language for hindu scriptures is sanskrit the oldest language in the world. The upanishads, 18 purana s, ramayana and mahabharata are also important hindu scriptures.
Quizlet flashcards, activities and games help you improve your grades. The holy vedas hardcover by pandit satyakam vidyalankar. Hinduism is not based on a strict set of rules, it is not based on a single holy book, and it wasnt founded. The vedas describe indra as the god who wields the thunderbolt, and his most celebrated story was the killing of the demonserpent vritra. Because they deal with knowledge portion of the vedas, they are called jnanakanda jnana means. However, smruti texts often carry almost as much authority as sruti. This veda is divided into a series of ten smaller books, called mandalas, which contain odes dedicated to the various hindu deities. The puranas are holy books of hinduism that date back to gupta empire in ancient india. Littleknown but essential facts about vedas for everyone seeking. They are place at the end of the vedas and they primarily deal with knowledge or wisdom. The history of indian literature has been very rich, with so many different languages and scholars in india. Vedas are used as guidance for daily life in hinduism. You can learn the vedas right from a guru or read the vedas wrong from any number of sources.
The oldest veda in the shruti is called the rigveda. Along with the book of the dead, the enuma elish, the i ching, and the avesta, they are among the most ancient religious texts still in existence. There are four vedas namely rigveda, yajurveda, samaveda and atharvaveda. The vedas are the four holiest books of the by mankind to the next, perhaps over thousands of years each book has four major kinds of text 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. The holy vedas is an exceptional anthology of verses taken from the revered four vedas of hindu mythology, translated into english for the benefit of the mass the four vedas of hindu culture, the rigveda, yajurveda, atharvaveda, and samaveda, are considered to be the scriptures that defined the lifestyle and beliefs of all hindus.
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