।।संस्कृतीयम्।। Samskṛtīyam।।

The four divisions of each Vedas are: 1) Saṃhitā (संहिता), 2) Brāhmanam (ब्राह्मणम्), 3) Āranyakam (आरण्यकम्) and 4) Upanishad (उपनिषत्). For each Vedas, these are the contents of Vedas in a broader sense. One more component includes the shakhas (शाखा-s) or branches. To clarify, let's take a common example that we see now. In India, we have NCERT books. We have projects based on the NCERT syllabus. The projects submitted by the students of SCHOOL 1 are different from the SCHOOL 2. Similarly, the shakhas were having the same topics of discussion explained with minor changes. Another misconception is about the term Upanishads. 'Vedanta' is a popular term you might come across in ancient history textbooks as another name for Upanishads. Vedanta means the anta of Vedas. That is the ultimate knowledge. The misconception is that these are the end of Vedas. No, many Upanishads come in between two Aranyakas. Since the subject matter of Upanishads is philosophical such as What is th...

In this post of 'Did you Know' series, let's see the four Vedas - 1) Rigveda (ऋग्वेदः) - The oldest Samhita in ancient Indian Literature. It has 1028 hymns. They are mantras. 2) Sama Veda (सामवेदः) - Sama Veda takes some hymns from Rigveda and recites them in a musical way. It is believed that the classical music was originated from this Veda. 3) Yajurveda (यजुर्वेदः) - This Vedic composition has procedures to do sacrifices or yajna (यज्ञ). 4) Atharva Veda/Atharvana Veda (अथर्ववेदः)- This is secular in nature. It has some social science aspects even more compared to other Vedas. Krishna Dwaipayana Maharshi compiled and divided the Vedas into four divisions for the convenience of study. And he transferred this Knowledge to his disciples. Sayanacharya has written commentaries for vedas which is the most popular commentary that is available now-a-days. Hope you learnt something new from Sanskrit Literature through this post.

 'Did you Know?' is a series that we are starting to impart knowledge in Sanskrit Literature. This series aims to prepare the readers read about Sanskrit Literature. First post in this series: Did you Know? - Orientation The word 'veda' is derived from Sanskrit root 'vid'; means 'to know'. Based on this one root so many words of nouns and verbs can be formed. For example, Veda, Vaidika, Vidya, vidyate, etc. If 'vid' means 'to know', 'veda' means 'knowledge'. Now, you will get to know the meaning of the core literature of Sanskrit i.e., the four Vedas, right? Next: Four Vedas