Chapter 6 - Introductory—Vedic Literature and Its Cultural Significance

In its character and form the Vedic literature is very different from the Classical Sanskrit literature. Its expression differs materially from its later evolute. It is no wonder, therefore, that it is treated by scholarly community, both eastern and western, as a separate discipline. The community has continued to engage itself for the past century and a half in delineating its history, writing the grammar of its language, describing its mythology and preparing its word concordance. Though broadly confined to include in its connotation the Mantra meaning the Samhitas, the Rg, the Yajus, the Sama and the Atharva and the Brahmanas, the exegetical texts thereon, mantrabrahmanayor vedanamadheyam, it stretches to include the Aranyakas and the Upanisads too, the last one carrying the alternate name of Vedanta, signaling the end of the Veda, the sense in which it is used by such celebrities as Kalidasa: Vedantesu yam ahur ekapurusam vyapya sthitam rodasi. Contentwise it is divided broadly into two, the first three, the Samhitas, the Brahmanas and the Aranyakas forming one set and the last one, the Upanisads, forming the other one. The first three form the Karmakanda, the Ritual and the fourth one the Jnanakanda, the Knowledge, the Philosophy. The term Veda literally means knowledge, the knowledge, as the tradition has it, that was revealed to seers. It is this

knowledge that became the source of dharma, the conduct, the ideal and pristine, vedo ' khilo dharmamulam , the mainstay of society. Though the Veda is an umbrella term for all of its four stages, as enumerated above, in different periods of time it stood to denote just the Samhitas, the term meaning literally the compilations. The Vedas are to be recited in strict accentuation, the three accents, the udatta, the higher pitch, the anudatta, the lower pitch and the svarita, the mixture of the two, with no deviation permissible, for that could be disastrous, sometimes leading to meanings exactly opposite to those intended. or: There are strict rules for accentuation. Take compounds, for instance. The general rule is that they have to have accent on the final vowel. But in the case of Bahuvrihi compound the rule is that its first member will retain its accent. The classic example of wrong pronunciation of accent that just reverses the meaning intended is provided by the word indrasatruh. Now, as it is, it can be dissolved in its Tatpurusa form as Indrasya satruh, the enemy of Indra or in its Bahuvrihi form, Indrah satruh (=satayita, destroyer) yasya, whose destroyer is Indra. Now, it is the accent that is to decide as to how it is to be interpreted. If it is pronounced with accent on the last vowel, it would be Tatpurusa meaning, the enemy (the destroyer) of Indra, if it is pronounced with the accent on the initial of the compound, it is Bahuvrihi meaning whose destroyer is Indra. As the story goes, the Asuras, the demons wanted a being to be created that could destroy Indra. They approached the divine architect Tvast for the purpose. He performed a sacrifice for them. In the sacrificial pit a being, the destroyer of Indra, was taking shape and was in the process of coming out. At that point of time Tvastr addressing the being said, O ye, the Indrasatru, grow. It is here that he mispronounced the word, the mispronunciation relating to the CC-0. Prof. Satya Vrat Shastri Collection, New Due Dusedof sthandwrong accent

according to which the word meant, the one whose destroyer is Indra with the result that the being that was coming out of the sacrificial pit perished in the pit itself thus defeating the very purpose of the demons who had organized the sacrifice. All efforts were made therefore to preserve the purity of the text. Since it was Sruti, to be handed down orally, great care was taken in its transmission in the correct form. Several, eight to be precise, ways of its recitation, Pathas, technically called Vikrtis, some of them rather intricate, were invented. These are Jata, Mala, Sikha, Ratha, Dhvaja, Danda, Rekha and Ghana. Generations after generations of reciters devoted themselves to practicing these recitations. There are families that specialize in a particular type of recitation out of these eight. They carry/ carried their identification thereby, the Ghanapathins, the Jatapathins and so on. By way of illustration the eight Vikrtis are reproduced hereunder : astau vikrtayah | samhitamantrah | osadhayahsamvadantesomenasaharajna | yasmaikrnotibrahmanastarajanparayamasi || (r. astaka 8, a . 5, va . 11 ; mam . 10, su . 67, mam . 22 ) vikrti-laksanani | saisiriye samamnaye vyalinaiva ' maharsina | jatadya vikrtirastau laksyante nativistaram||1|| jata mala sikha rekha dhvajo dando ratho ghanah | astau vikrtayah proktah kramapurva maharsibhih||2|| astau vikrtayah kramapurva bhavanti | tasu jata - dandasamjnake dve vikrti mukhye | yata etabhyamevanya vikrtayah sambhavanti | tatra jatam sikhanusarati | tatha ca dandam mala-rekha-dhvaja-ratha anusaranti | ghanastu jatadandavanusarati | 1 vyalina =vyadina |

(1) jata | prathamam jatalaksanam tiq anulomavilomabhyam trivaram hi pathet kramam| vilome padavatsamdhih anulome yathakramam|| dvitiyam jatalaksanam | krame yathokte padajatameva dvirabhyaseduttarameva purvam | abhyasya purva ca tathottare pade 'vasanamevam hi jatabhidhiyate|| jata = anulomah 1-2 + vilomah 2-1 + anulomah 1-2 || (kramah 1-2 + vyutkramah 2-1 + samkramah 1-2 ) jatapathah | osadhayas sam, samosadhaya, osadhayas sam|| sam vadante, vadante, sam, sam vadante|| 2 2 1 1 2 2 3 3 2 23 1 vadante somena somena vadante, vadante somena || somena saha, saha somena somena saha || 3 4 4 3 3 4 4 5 5 4 saha rajna, rajna ' saha, saha rajna || rajneti rajna || 5 6 6 5 5 . 6 6 6 yasmai krnoti krnoti yasmai, yasmai krnoti || 7 8 7 7 krnoti brahmano, brahmanah krnoti krnoti brahmanah || 8 E 6 8 brahmanastam tam brahmano, brahmanastam|| E in the s , 610106 6 10 tam rajan, rajastam, tam rajan || 10 11 1110 10 11 rajanparayamasi, parayamasi rajan, rajanparayamasi || prarayamasiti parayamasi|| 1|| 11 12 12 11 11 12 12 12 (2) mala malaya dvau bhedau puspamala - kramamala ceti | tatra kramamalayah laksanam- krama-malalaksanam |

bruyatkramaviparyasavardharcasyadito'ntatah | antam cadim nayedevam kramamaleti giyate| (1 krama-mala ) osadhayah sam | rajneti rajna|| sam vadante | rajna saha || vadante somena | saha somena || 12662 3 6 5 3 4 54 somena saha | somena vadante || saha rajnaॊ | vadante sam || rajneti rajna | samosadhayah|| 45 4 3 56 3 2 6 6 2 1 yasmai krnoti '| parayamasiti parayamasi || krnoti brahmanah | parayamasi rajan|| 7 8 12 12 parayamasiti parayamasi|| krnoti yasmai || + krama- mala osadhayah sam | 1 sam vadante | 3 vadante some | 5 somena saha | 7 saha rajna ' | e rajneti rajna| 11 yasmai krnoti | 13 krnoti brahmanah | 15 brahmanastam | 17 tam rajan | 16 E 12 11 2 rajneti rajna 4 rajna saha | 6 saha somena | 8 somena vadante | 10 vadante sam | 12 samosadhayah | 14 parayamasiti parayamasi | 16 parayamasi rajan| 18 rajamstam | 20 tam brahmanah | rajan parayamasi | 21 22 brahmanah krnoti | parayamasiti parayamasi | 23 24 krnoti yasmai | (krama - mala ) (adito'ntatah ) : (antam cadim nayet ) = (1) osadhayah sam sam vadante - rajneti rajna 6 1 rajna saha 5 + kramamalayah pathanakramo'nankah pradarsitah | Prof. Satya Vrat Shastri Collection, New Delhi. Digitized by S 3 Foundation USA

vadante somena somena saha saha rajna = rajneti rajna (adito'ntatah ) = (2) 7 yasmai krnoti 8 krnoti brahmanah 6 brahmanas tam 10 tam rajan Waw oc - saha somena 4 - somena vadante 3 2 1 - - vadante sam samosadhayah ( antam cadim nayet ) 11 rajan parayamasi 12 parayamasiti parayamasi (2 puspamala ) puspamala - laksanam - - - - I IS parayamasiti parayamasi 12 parayamasi rajan rajastam tam brahmanah brahmanah krnoti krnoti yasmai 11 10 hino 7 maleva puspanam padanam granthini hi sa | avartante trayastasyam kramavyutkramasamkramah|| jatavadeva puspamala bhavati | tatra pratipadam virama itikarasceti visesah | kecicca puspamalayakaram padasandhisthane'pi vadanti | yatha - "samosadhaya " iti 'sam osadhayah | 'sam osadhayah ' | "brahmanastam " brahmanah tam ' | "rajamstam " iti rajan nam | ityadih| (samkramah ) (kramah ) viramah osadhayah sam ( vyutkramah ) viramah samosadhayah osadhayah sam | iti | (viramah ) sam vadante vadante sam sam vadante " " vadante somena somena vadante vadante somena " somena saha saha somena somena saha " " saha rajna rajna saha saha rajna " " rajneti rajna yasmai krnoti krnoti yasmai krnoti brahmanah brahmanah krnoti brahmanastam tam brahmanah yasmai krnoti krnoti brahmanah brahmanastam " " " " " " tam rajan rajastam tam rajan " " CC rajanparayamasi | Shasparayamasi rajan Delhi rajanparaya marsi oundation USA at "

parayamasiti parayamasi | (3) sikha | sikha-laksanam | padottaram jatameva sikhamaryah pracaksate | osadhayah sam, samosadhaya, osadhayah sam, - vadante | 1 1 2 2 9 2 3 sam vadante, vadante sam sam vadante somena | 2 3 3 2 2 3 4 vadante somena, somena vadante, vadante somena, - saha | 4 5 456 somena saha, saha somena somena saha - rajn | 4 5 5 4 4 5 6 saha rajna, rajna saha, saha rajnam | 5 6 6 5 5 6 rajneti rajna | 6 6 yasmai krnoti, krnoti yasmai, yasmai krnoti, -brahmanah | 7 8 7 7 E krnoti brahmano, brahmanah krnoti krnoti brahmanas - tam | 8 E E brahmanastam tam brahmano, brahmanastam 6 10106 E tam rajan, rajastam, tam rajan, 10 11 11 1011 8 E 1 , • rajan | 10 11 - parayamasi | 12 rajanparayamasi, padayasi rajana, rajana parayamasi | 10 11 12 12 1111 parayamasiti parayamasi | 12 12 12 F P) (ka) (D)

(4) rekha kramad dvitricatuspancapadakramamudaharet| prthakprthagviparyasya lekhamahuh punah kramat|| purvardhasya- 2 (padadvayam ) = osadhayah sam | samosadhayah | osadhayah sam|| 3 (padatrayam ) = sam vadante somena somena vadante sam | sam vadante|| 4 (padacatuska ) = vadante somena saha rajn | rajna saha somena vadante | vadante somena somena saha | saha rajn | rajneti rajno | uttarardhasya- 2 = yasmai krnoti | krnoti yasmai | krnoti|| 3 = krnoti brahmanastam | tam brahmanah krnoti | krnoti brahmanah|| | | 4 = brahmanastam rajan parayamasi | parayamasi rajamstam brahmanah | brahmanastam || tam rajan | rajan parayamasi | parayamasiti parayamasi || (yadva sarvasya mantrasya ) I 2 (padadvaya ) = osadhayah sam| samosadhayah | osadhayah sam|| 3 (padatrayam ) sam vadante somena vadante sam | sam vadante|| 4 (padacatuska ) = vadante somena saha rajn | rajna saha somena vadante | vadante somena saha | 5 (padapancaka ) = somena saha | 6 (padasatka ) = somena saha rajna yasmai krnoti '| krnoti yasmai rajna saha saha rajna yasmai krnoti brahmanastam | tam brahmanah krnoti yasmai rajnaॊ saha | saha rajna || 7 (padasaptaka ) = rajna yasmai krnoti brahmanastam rajan parayamasi | parayamasi rajastam brahmanah krnoti yasmai rajna| rajna yasmai|| yasmai krnoti | krnoti brahmanah | brahmanastam | tam rajan | rajan parayamasi | parayamasiti parayamasi || (5) dhvajah dhvaja-laksanam bruyadadeh kramam samyagantaduttarayedyadi | varge ca rci va yatra pathanam sa dhvajah smrtah||h varge va rsi va yah syatpathitah CC-0. Prof. Satya Vrat Shashi smrtah| iti va patha tited by S 3 Foundation USA

(adeh kramah ) (antaduttarana ) 1 osadhayah sam | 2 parayamasiti parayamasi | 3 sam vadante | 4 rajan parayamasi | 5 vadante somena 1 6 tam rajan | 7 somena saha | 8 brahmanastam | € saha rajna ' | 10 krnoti brahmanah | 11 rajneti rajna 12 yasmai krnoti | 13 yasmai krnoti 14 rajneti rajna 16 saha rajna| 15 krnoti brahmanah 17 brahmanastam| 18somena saha | 16 tam rajan | 20 vadante somena | 21 rajan parayamasi| 22 sam vadante | 23 parayamasiti parayamasi | 24 osadhayah sam | atra visesah 1atra dhvajasya pathanakramo'nkah pradarsitah | 2yatha mantrasyaikasyaivam dhvajo bhavati, tathaiva panca sat - sapta- mantrasamkhyakasya vargasyapyevameva dhvajo tatra vargadisthitasya padadvayasya vargantasthena padena dviruktenetikarasahitena ca sambamddho jnatavyah | yatha 'agnimile ... a gamaditi a gamat iti prathamasya vargasya rgvedasya dhvajo boddhavyah | (6) dandah danda- laksnam kramamuktva viparyasya punasca kramamuttaram ardhacadivamukto'yam kramadando'bhidhiyate|| purvardhasya- osadhayah || samosadhayah | osadhayah sam | sam vadante|| vadante samosadhayah| osadhayah sam| sam vadante | vadante somena somena vadante samosadhayah | osadhayah sam | sam vadante | vadante somena | somena saha | saha somena vadante samosadhayah |

osadhayah sam| sam vadante| vadante somena saha | saha rajn|| rajna saha somena vadante samosadhayah | osadhayah | sam vadante | vadante somena somena saha | saha rajna || rajneta rajna | uttarardhasya- yasmai krnoti|| krnoti yasmai| yasmai krnoti|| krnoti brahmanah| brahmanah krnoti yasmai| yasmai krnoti|| krnoti brahmanah | brahmanastam || tam brahmanah krnoti yasmai | yasmai krnoti krnoti brahmanah | brahmanastam | tam rajan | rajan parayamasi|| parayamasi rajamstam brahmanah krnoti yasmai | yasmai krnoti krnoti brahmanah | brahmanastam | tam rajan | rajan parayamasi|| parayamasiti parayamasi | (7) rathah ratha-laksnam padaso'rdharcaso vapi sahoktya dandavadrathah | rathasnividhah| dvicakrastricakrascatuscakrasceti | tatra dvicakro ratho'rdharcaso bhavati | tricakrastu rathah pratipade samasamkhyayutasya gayatrichandaskasyaiva mantrasya bhavati | catuscakro rathastu padasa eva bhavati | (1) dvicakro rathah (ardharcasah ) (purvardhah ) (uttarardhah ) (1) (1) osadhayah sam | yasmai krnoti | (prathama ekapathah ) samosadhayah | krnoti yasmai | (vyutkramah ) (2) (1) osadhayah sam | yasmai krnoti | (dvitiyo dvipathah ) (2) sam vadante | krnoti brahmanah | (dvipathah ) (3) vadante samosadhayah | brahmanah krnoti yasmai | (vyutkramah ) (1) osadhayah sam | yasmai krnoti | (trtiyascipathah ) (2) sam vadante | krnoti brahmanah | (") (3) vadante somena | brahmanastam | (") Shastri somena 'vadanta | Collection, New Delhi. Digitized by S 3 Foundation USA samosadhayah | tam brahmanah krnoti yasmai | (vyutkramah ) CC-0. Prof. Sa

(4) (1) osadhayah sam | yasmai krnoti | (caturthascatuspathah ) (2) sam vadante | krnoti brahmanah| (") vadante somena | brahmanastam | (") (4) somena saha | tam rajan | (") (vyutkramah ) saha somena vadante samosadhayah | rajamstam brahmanah krnoti yasmai | (5) (1) osadhayah sam | yasmai krnoti | (pancamah pancapathah ) (2) sam vadante | krnoti brahmanah | (") | (3) vadante somena | brahmanastam | (") (4) somena saha | tam rajan | (") (5) saha rajna | rajan parayamasi | (8) ghanah (") rajneti rajn| parayamasiti parayasi | (samapti ) ghanascaturvidhah| ghano ghanavallabhasca | tau ca pratyekam dvidha bhavatah | (1) prathamam ghana-laksanam antatkramam pathetpurvamadiparyantamanayet | adikarma nayedantam ghanamahurmanisinah || (1) purvardhasya (antadadiparyantam ) (1) rajneti rajn | saha rajn | somena saha | vadante somena | sam vadante | osadhayah sam - (adito'ntaparyantam ) sam vadante | vadante somena | somena saha | saha rajnaॊ | rajneti rajna ' | (2) uttarardhasya ( antadadiparyantam ) (2) parayamasiti parayamasi | rajan parayamasi | tam rajan | brahmanastam | krnoti brahmanah | yasmai krnoti - (adito'ntaparyantam ) dor voranility krnoti brahmanah | brahmanastam | tam rajan | rajan parayamasi | parayamasiti parayamasi | (2) dvitiyam dhanalaksanam sikhamuktva viparyasya tatpadani punah pathet | ayam dhana iti proktah (ityastau vikrtih pathetu ) ||

(1) sikhapathah tasya viparyasah tatpadanam punah pathah osadhayah sam samosadhaya osadhayah sam vadante (s) vadante samosadhaya osadhayah sam vadante || sam vadante vadante sam sam vadante somena somena vadante sam sam vadante somena|| vadante somena somena vadante vadante somena saha saha somena vadante vadante somena saha|| somena saha saha somena somena saha rajna rajna ' saha somena somena saha rajna|| saha rajna rajna saha saha rajna|| rajneti rajna || (2) yasmai krnoti krnoti yasmai yasmai krnoti brahmano brahmanah krnoti yasmai yasmai krnoti brahmanah|| krnoti brahmano brahmanah krnoti krnoti brahmanastam tam brahmanah krnoti krnoti brahmanastam || brahmanastam tam brahmano brahmanastam rajan rajastam brahmano brahmanastam rajan|| tam rajan rajastam tam rajan parayamasi parayamasi rajastam tam rajan parayamasi|| rajan parayamasi parayamasi rajan | rajan parayamasi || parayamasiti parayamasi | your Earlier the young ones were imparted training in Vedic recitation in keeping with the specialization going with their family by fathers and grandfathers early on in life who took it their sacred duty to keep up the tradition. Joint family being the norm in India, the young ones from the extended family also were introduced to Vedic recitation which they had to practice rigorously. If willing, young ones from other families would also join them forming a sort of a class. Their physical needs were taken care of by their teachers who were their family elders by and large or by the rich philanthropists in the villages or the towns or by the income from the land grants provided by the Rajas and the Maharajas. Now it is the Govt, which provides

them scholarships and stipends through its statuary body set up for the purpose called Maharshi Sandipani Veda Vidya Pratishthan with its headquarters at Ujjain in the central State of Madhya Pradesh. It also provides assistance towards the salary of the teachers engaged by the Vedic schools (Pathasalas). Apart from one Vedic University, the Sri Venkateswara Vedic University, Tirupati, the Vedic teaching forms a part of the curriculum of every existing Sanskrit University in India which has a separate Department of Veda providing exclusively the Vedic education. Apart from that, there is special Vedic group available to M.A. Sanskrit students in general universities. For Vedic research, there are two prominent institutions in India at the moment, one, the Vedic Sanshodhana Mandala at Pune and the other, the Vishveshvarananda Vedic Research Institute, Hoshiarpur, the former also having a Vedic museum with exhibits of all the necessary equipment and wherewithal for performing Vedic sacrifices which can and should serve as the laboratory for acquiring practical experience of Vedic sacrifices in all their elaborate processes requiring extreme precision and finesse. What is the norm now-a-days is learning the theory. This needs to be supplemented with practice. That will complete the ritualistic knowledge. Just as the Vedas have been the devoted pursuit in India since time immemorial, so have they been in the West for the past two centuries or so. A galaxy of scholars has dedicated its life-time to their study and interpretation. This galaxy had its own approach to them armed as it was with the knowledge of newly-developed disciplines, the disciplines of Comparative Linguistics and Comparative Mythology. Its approach, therefore, to Vedic interpretation was refreshingly original and not restricted by tradition. There is a tendency sweeping across the country at the moment which may not find much merit in this approach. It may denigrate it as motivated to misinterpret Vedic knowledge to

belittle it, to belittle the upholders of it, the Indians. This tendency makes the present generation of Vedic scholars in India look suspiciously at the approach of the galaxy of Western Vedic scholars and some of their Indian followers without even bothering to examine what it has said, let alone refuting it with cogent arguments. Even in India in earlier times the Vedas were interpreted by specialists in different disciplines, the etymologists, the Nairuktas; the Pauranikas, experts in Puranic lore and so on. They were quoted as members of Schools by interpreters like Yaska in his Nirukta, Saunaka in his Brhaddevata and others under the terms iti nairuktah, iti pauranikah, iti naigamah. If their interpretations were given due consideration, there is no reason why interpretations of Western scholars be not shown that consideration. It is very unkind to dismiss their interpretations as motivated. The Western scholars of the Veda apart from their original and innovative approach had the added benefit of the knowledge of Comparative Philosophy and Comparative Philology which their Indian counterparts before the introduction of Western system of education did not have. With their knowledge of Greek and Latin which share with Sanskrit and Pali the family relationship they were able to solve many a mystery of the Vedic lore. An outline of Vedic literature The Vedic Samhitas: The Rgveda, the Yajurveda, the Samaveda, the Atharvaveda. Of 1127 Sakhas of the Vedas the Rgveda has two : Sakala and Baskala. The Yajurveda has six: Madhyandina, Kanva, Taittiriya, Kathaka, Kapisthala, Maitrayani The Samaveda has three Sakhas: Ranayaniya, Jaiminiya, Kauthumi The Atharvaveda has two: Saunaka, Paippalada. CC-0. Prof. Satya Vrat Shastri Collection, New Delhi. Digitized by 53 Foundation USA sb.

Of the available Sakhas the Sakalasakha is Rgveda, the Madhyandina is Yajurveda, the Ranayaniya is Samaveda and the Saunaka is Atharvaveda. The Padapatha is an important segment of Vedic literature. In this the words of each Mantra are shown separately. The break-up of the compounds is shown with the sign s called Avagraha. As separate entities the words have their own accentuation system which the Padapatha shows and which gets influenced by succeeding words in the running form. The Padapatha also is helpful in determining which visarjaniya is original and which is resultant. The visarjaniya in punah is original while the same in Ramah is resultant, the original one being s. The original one is indicated in the Padapatha with the use of the word iti with the word of which it is part like punar iti. The available Padapathas and their authors: Rgveda Padapatha-Author: Sakalya Rgveda Padapatha-Author: Ravana Padapatha of Taittiriya Sakha of Yajurveda-Author: Atreya Samaveda Padapatha-Author: Gargya Padapatha of Kanva Sakha of Yajurveda-Author: Anonymous Though Veda is one, it is termed three because of the difference in the nature and the purpose of each. Every Mantra of the Veda is divided in quadrants, Padas, a division conditioned by meaning: tesam rk yatrarthavasena padavyavastha which gives the name Rk to it. The Mantras that are sung are Samans. The rest of them that are used for sacrificial purposes are called Yajus. This division of the Vedic Mantras gave them the names Rgveda, Samaveda and Yajurveda called the Vedatrayi or simply Trayi. While referring to the Trayi, the three ever present, sasvata Vedas, called Rk, Yajus and Saman the Manusmrti says Lord EC-0. Prof. Satya Vrat Shastri Collection, New Delhi. Digitized by S 3 Foundation USA

Brahma in the beginning of the aeon, kalpadau, drew forth, dudoha, them from fire , wind and sun, agnivayuravibhyah, for purposes of performance of sacrifices , yajnasiddhyartham (1.22). For long it was only the three Vedas, the Trayi or Trayam, Rk, Yajus and Saman. The fourth one, the Atharvaveda, was added to them later. The word Veda is derived from √vid 'to know'. Veda, therefore, means 'knowledge'. It has seeds in it of every kind of literary writing. Drama had its origin from it. Bharata in his Natyasastra has said that all the four principal components of a play, the script, the song, the acting and the sentiments he drew from the Vedas; the script from the Rgveda, the song from the Samaveda, the acting (theatrical actions) from the Yajurveda and the sentiments from the Atharvaveda: jagraha pathyam rgvedat samabhyo gitam eva ca/ yajurvedad abhinayan rasan atharvanad api// and created thereby a new Veda, the Natyaveda, the fifth Veda. The Vedas have episodes like the battle of ten kings, dasarajna, the battle between Indra and Vrtra which are forerunners of the later Kathas and Akhyayikas. They have highly poetic descriptions of dawn embellished with figures of speech which could well be taken to be the harbingers of later classical poetry, the Mahakavyas, Khandakavyas, Gitikavyas. The Atharvaveda has hymns for cure of diseases. It also mentions herbal medicines for treatment of them which are the precursor of Ayurveda . There are hymns there for longevity called Ayusyani. There is mention of a leg being implanted to one Vispala which is indicative of the existence of some system of surgery which Susruta later carried forward. Rightly has it been said that the Veda comprises all kinds of knowledge, sarvajnanamayo hi sah and that it is a source of everything, past and future, bhutam bhavyam bhavisyac ca sarvam vedat prasidhyati. Sayana in his introduction to the

Taittiriyasamhitabhasya gives the etymology of the word as that text which conveys to one the supernatural/uncommon means to gain what is desirable and to avoid what is not so, istapraptyanistapariharayor alaukikam upayam yo grantho vedayati sa vedah. Others though tracing the word to √vid, 'to know' have a different explanation for it. To them it is Veda because it makes one know all the objects, vedayati visvapadarthan avagamayati iti vedah. Still others include the same root with a different meaning 'to attain', vid(1) labhe along with the root meaning 'to know' to explain the word. To them it is Veda because through it the aims of life like dharma are known or attained, vidyante jnayante labhyante va anena dharmadipurusarthah. Swami Dayananda Saraswati presses into explaining all the four vid roots of different meanings (vid jnane, vid sattayayam, vid! labhe, vid vicarane), and of different conjugations in explaining as to why Vedas are called so: vidanti jananti, vidyante bhavanti, vindanti labhante, vindanti (?) vicarayanti sarve manusyah satyavidyam yair yesu va tatha vidvamsas ca bhavanti te vedah, Vedas are those (texts) through which or in which all the people acquire true knowledge by finding it therein and become enlightened. Some connoisseurs find in the Veda the means of true knowledge which cannot be attained either through perception or inference: pratyaksenanumitya va yas tupayo na budhyate/ etam vidanti vedena tasmad vedasya vedata// The Srimadbhagavata-purana declares Veda to be Narayana incarnate, Vedo Narayanah saksat. It is known to be svayambhu, self-born, svayambhur iti visrutah. Whatever is enjoined by it is dharma, the reverse of it is adharma. According to the Apastamba Samhita it is present in all beings sarvesu bhutesu tatha 'sti yo vai as is present fragrance in flowers, kusumesu gandhah; tree in seeds, bijesu vrksah; gold in rocks, drsatsu hema. The great grammarian-philosopher Bhartrhari declares it as the means to

attain Brahman, praptyupayah, it is its visible form, anukarah. Since Brahman is one, Veda is one. It is a different matter that the sages have been reciting it taking it to be of different forms, the four forms, Rk, Yajus, Saman and Atharvangirasa. That is what explains the use of the term Veda both in singular and plural, itihasapuranabhyam Vedam samupabrmhayet (Mahabharata, 1.1.68), Brahmanena niskaranah sadango vedo dhyeyo jneyas ca, a Brahmana should learn and grasp the meaning of Veda together with its six auxiliaries (angas) for no extraneous consideration, niskaranah (=just as a matter of duty), Vedo 'khilo dharmamulam, the Veda is source of dharma in its entirety, anadhitya dvijo vedam anyatra kurute sramam '(if) a Brahmana without studying Veda puts in efforts (to pursue other discipline/s), bibhety alpasrutad vedo mam ayam praharisyati, 'Veda is afraid of one of little knowledge lest he were to hurt it', Vedanam Samavedo 'smi (Lord's statement in the Bhagavadgita), 'I am Samaveda among the Vedas', ekatas caturo Veda Bharatam caitad ekatah, (one side of the scale) the four Vedas and the other side Bharata (=Mahabharata), the Bharata (outweighs the Vedas). Originally the Veda was one but was later split up into four. There are several references to this in ancient literature: caturhotram karmasuddham prajanam viksya vaidikam/ vyadadhad yajnasantatyai Vedam ekam caturvidham// (Bhagavata-purana) Vedam ekam catuspadam caturdha vyabhajat prabhuh/ (Vayu-purana) ekasya Vedasyajnanad Vedas te bahavah smrtah/ (Sanatsujatiya). The word Veda has been in use both for Mantra and Brahmana: mantrabrahmanayor vedanamadheyam. By reciting the Mantras the sacrifices are performed and the deities invoked are eulogized. The treatises that explain the sacrificial ritual and CC-0. Prof. Satya Vrat Shastri Collection, New Delhi. Digitized by $3 Foundation USA

its purpose are termed Bramanas. Brahmanas are marked by three divisions, the Brahmanas themselves, the Aranyakas and the Upanisads. The Aranyakas describe the life of the noble souls who free from attachment to worldly objects live their life in forest, aranya. They are aranyakas, forest-dwellers, the term that also applies to the treatises composed by them. Vedic literature thus has four divisions: the Mantra or the Samhita, the Brahmanas, the Aranyakas and the Upanisads. The Upanisads form the philosophical treatises. There is another section of the Vedic literature which deals with sacrifices. It goes by the name Kalpa-sutras. The description of the sacrificial ritual in the Brahmanas had become so elaborate and complicated that it was felt necessary to abridge it and present it in an handy format. For this was invented the sutra style. The texts describing the sacrifices and the rituals connected with such ceremonies as marriage were given the name Kalpasutras which are of four types: Srautasutras that deal with the rules governing the performancne of the sacrifices as described in the Brahmana texts, the Grhyasutras that record the instructions about the sacrifices to be performed in home fires, the grhya agni and the ceremonies, the Samskaras, the forty of them with a focus on the sixteen prominent ones among them like the sacred thread ceremony, the marriage ceremony, the funeral rites, the Sraddha and so on. The Dharmasutras deal with the duties of the different castes and the stages of life with particular reference to the duties of a king. The Sulba-sutras deal with such matters as the selection of the proper place for putting up the sacrificial altars, their size as per the requirement of the sacrifice and the planning for conducting it. Sulba literally means rope or thread. The Sulba-sutras represent the earliest form of Indian Geometry. Besides the Trayi, there is another Veda too and that is the Atharvaveda. Atharvan means 'the worshipper of fire'. The Atharvaveda is a compendium of Mantrras that have both the

fierce and the benevolent forms. The benevolent ones cure ailments. The fierce ones kill , marana , stupefy; mohana, confuse, do away with concentration, uccatana, and so on. With the Atharvaveda, also called on the basis of the different nature of its Mantras, ghorangirasah, the number of Vedas goes up to four. Samhitas The collection of the Mantras is called Sammhita. As remarked earlier, there are four such collections: the Rgveda Samhita, the Yajurveda Samhita, the Samaveda Samhita and the Atharvaveda Samhita. Due to the difference in collection, the inclusion/noninclusion of the Mantras and the difference in pronunciation the Samhitas came to have many Sakhas, Branches. With Sakha came to be connected the word Carana. It means the group of learners restricted only to a particular Sakha. Patanjali in the Paspasahnika of his Mahabhasya records 21 Sakhas of the Rgveda, 100 of the Yajurveda, 1000 of the Samaveda and 9 of the Atharvaveda. A large number of the Sakhas listed by Patanjali have disappeared. Ideally each Sakha should have its own Brahmana, Aranyaka and Upanisad. In that case the number of the Vedic texts would have been enormous which is not the case at present. Obviously, the Vedic literature has suffered huge loss with the passage of time. The number of the adherents of the Sakhas and the allied literature has dwindled, the dwindling coming to a point of extinction over a period of time. Rgveda Samhita Of all the Vedic Samhitas it is the Rgveda Samhita which holds the pride of place. The Western scholars take it to be older than the other Samhitas in language and thought. According to the Caranavyuha its main Sakhas are five though Patanjali mentions CC-0. Prof. Satya Vrat Shastri Collection, New Delhi. Digitized by S 3 Poundation USA

of them. These five are: Sakala, Baskala, Asvalayana, Sankhayana and Mandukya. These are found at present in the region south of the Vindhyas. The sakha of the Rgveda currently in vogue is the Sakala. The burly text of the Rgveda is divided in two forms, in the form of Astakas and in the form of Mandalas. In the Astaka form each Astaka is divided in eight Adhyayas while each Adhyaya is divided in Vargas. The entire Rgveda in this division therefore has 8 Astakas, 64 Adhyayas and 24006 Vargas. The division into Mandalas is more scientific. According to it the entire Rgveda is divided in 10 Mandalas which accounts for its name Dasatayi in such texts as the Nirukta. Each Mandala has a number of Suktas and each Sukta has a number of Rks. Katyayana in his Sarvanukramani gives the figure of each one of them. According to him the 10 Mandalas have 1017 Suktas, the Mandalawise figure of them being 191+43+62+58+87+ 75+104+92+114+191. Besides these there are 11 other Suktas called Valakhilya which occur amidst Suktas 49 to 59 that comprise 80 Mantras. Vala means supplement, an addition. The main Suktas in the eighth Mandala are 92. With the Valakhilyas the figure goes up to 103. The Valakhilyas are not accompanied by the Padapatha nor are their syllables included in the count of the total number of them of the Veda. According to Western scholars the Rgveda comprises both the type of Mantras, older and newer. From Mandala two to seven forms the older part of the Rgveda. Each Mandala in this group is connected with some sage, rsi or the other or his descendants. The rsi of the second Mandala is Grtsamada, of the third Visvamitra, of the fourth Vamadeva, of the fifth Atri, of the sixth Bharadvaja and of the seventh Vasistha. Their being associated with some family or the other, these Mandalas are also called Family Books. The rsis of the eighth Mandala are Kanva and Angiras. The peculiarity of the ninth Mandala is that it is only one deity in it that is eulogized. That deity is Soma.

Another name for Soma is Pavamana. Hence the Mandala has I come to be known as Pavamana Mandala in addition to Somamandala. A School of Vedic scholars is of the view that after the main compilation in the form of Mandalas 2 to 9 had been completed, Mandalas 1 and 10 were added. In this way the Veda came to have 10 Mandalas. That the Mandalas 1 and 10 were later additions is proved by their expression, metres, the new deities and the new strand of thinking. Both these Mandalas, Mandala 1 and 10, have the same number of Suktas. This number is 191. According to Saunaka the Rgveda Samhita has 10580 Mantras, 153826 words and 432000 syllables. The Mantras are in 14 different metres. The expression in the Samhita itself gives indication as to which of its portions are older and which are newer. A comparative study of the occurrence of r and I and the occurrence of the words ending in i and u would help in determining their chronology. The Rgveda furnishes instances of beautiful poetry embellished with figures of speech, the secondary and the figurative mode of expression and other poetical appurtenances. It represents the earliest stirrings of the human mind.As instances could be memtioned the following: rayir na citra suro na sandrg ayur na prano nityo na sunuh/ takva na bhunir vana sisakti payo na dhenuh sucir na vibhavall dadhara ksemam oko na ranvo na pakvo jeta jananam/ rsir na stubhra diksu prasasto vaji na prito vayo dadhati// The Rgveda is a bulky collection of prayers addressed to different deities by different rsis. Of these deities the following three are prominent: 1. Agni 2. Varuna. 3 Indra. Of these Indra claims the largest number of hymns though Varuna is the older deity who is said to be the upholder of eternal order, rta, while the beginning and the closure of the Rgveda is with hymns for Agni. Indra, being the powerful deity of victory, claims the

largest number of hymns. Here a point to be noted is that the hymns were revealed to the seers at different periods. There is a reference in the Rgveda to the earlier seers, purana rsayas ca te, which presupposes the existence of the later rsis. That is why the importance of the deities fluctuated. Varuna who was allimportant at one point of time yielded place to Indra who in turn yielded place to Agni which accounts for the beginning and the end of the Samhita with hymns devoted to that deity. The worship of Agni gained the upper hand and he came to serve as a 'witness' for individual and social relationships and was prayed to lead to people to good path, agne naya supatha. Savitr has a special place among the deties in the Rgveda, he being the infuser of life, the one who impels one to activity. The next deity invoked was Visnu whose third foot is the spring of honey, 'madhu' (the best things) the attainment of which is the aim of life. Marut, Rudra, Vasu, Aryaman are the other deities who are invoked in this Veda. Of them Rudra occupies a higher place for, apart from his being Rudra he is Jalasabhesaja; while his one hand holds a whip the other hand holds herbs that provide relief. It is not difficult to surmise that it is Rudra, the malevolent and the benevolent, that makes his appearance in the form of Nilakantha Mahadeva in the later period. Just as men and women form a unit in the mortal word so do they form in the world of deities. Indra has Saci with him. So has Savitr Usas and Varuna Varunani. seusens ni In the Tenth Mandala of the Rgveda, along with the eulogies and prayers to deities, new topics like Sraddha, a ceremony performed in honour of the spirits of the departed relatives, the marriage ceremony, the gambling and the lament of the gambler, the eulogy for charity, danastuti, the polity, the Mantric cure of the diseases and so on come to the fore. The most remarkable part of this Mandala is the dialogue hymns that apart from being highly poetic, could be taken to be the forerunners of the dialogues in the Sanskrit drama. Of particular

interest among these dialogue hymns are the dialogue between Yama and Yami, Pururavas and Urvasi and Sarama and Panis. Smitten with passion Yami speaks out to Yama in the course of the conversation that the Creator who is Tvastr and Savity and is present in all forms had made us husband and wife in the womb itself. Who will break his rules? O Yama! The earth knows this kinship of ours. So does the sky: garbhe nu nau janita dampati kar devas tvasta savita visvarupah/ nakirasya pra minanti vratani veda nav asya prthivi uta dyauh // How touching are Yami's words! She wants sexual gratification, even if it is from her brother. But Yama is a true man, an embodiment of restraint. Says he, "O Yami! Who knows that first day, who has seen that, who will be able to tell about that? Why do you utter untoward words, O Yami, the follower of the dirty path? You leave philosophy to itself. Do not bring it in personal relations. We are what we are: brother and sister. That is the command of Varuna. That is the rule that Mitra has laid: ko asya veda prathamasyahnah ka im dadarsa ka iha pra vocat/ brhan mitrasya varunasya dhama kadu brava ahano vicya nrn// The 95 th hymn of the Tenth Mandala relates the dialogue of Pururavas and Urvasi which is remarkable. Though couched in abstruse terms, it is clear in its implication and hits the head and the heart straight. Says Pururavas haye jaye manasa tistha ghore vacamsi misra krnavavahai nul na nau mantra anuditasa ete mayaskaran paratare canahan/ "O ye my cruel wife, wait awhile. Come, let us have talk for a while. We have not had it openly till now. We have not had peace of mind till now." Urvasis's response to this is: kim eta vaca krnava tavaham prakramisam usasam agriyeva/ Pururavah punar astam parehi durapana vata ivaham asmi//

"What have I to do with these words O Pururavas! From your house I have come out as does the first dawn. Get back to your house O Pururavas. Like wind I am out of your reach". These harsh words break the heart of Pururavas. In agony he cries out sudevo adya prapated anavrt paravatam paramam gantava u/ adha sayita nirrter upasthe 'dhainam vrka rabhasaso adyuh/ "Urvasi, today your lover will go far away, that far that from there he will never return. He will then have his bed in the lap of death. There ferocious wolves will devour him." Urvasi still does not relent. In brazen disregard of Pururavas's entreaties she blurts out Pururavo ma mrtha ma prapapto ma tva vrkaso asivasa u ksan/ na vai strainani sakhyani santi salavrkanam hrdayany etah// "Pururavas, do not court death, nor run away afar. Do not fall prey to inauspicious wolves. Remember. Friendship of women is no friendship. They have the heart of wolves". Among other dialogues in the Rgveda, the more noticeable is the one between the divine bitch Sarama and Panis, the impious men who had stolen the cows of Indra. She wants them back from them. Instead of coming to the point they engage her in sweet talk addressing her as 'sister.' Failed in her mission she reports the matter to Indra. Though all the dialogues in the Rgveda have deep connotation, the one between Urvasi and Pururavas, reproduced above, is the most touching bringing to the fore the agony of a true lover at the cruel indifference of the beloved. The echo of this dialogue is heard in later works like the Satapatha Brahmana, the Visnu-purana and the Mahabharata. Kalidasa's Vikramorvasiya also seems to be inspired by it. Early on in India had been discovered unity in the midst of diversity. What exists is one, ekam sad, the wise call it by

different names, bahudha vadanti, like Agni, Yama, Matarisyan, agnim yamam matarisvanam ahuh. Many of the hymns of the Rgveda are distinguished by winsome philosophic overtones. These hymns are the Nasadiya, the Hiranyagarbha, the Vak and the Purusa of which the last proclaims Purusa himself as the present, the past and the future, purusa evedam sarvam yad bhutam yac ca bhavyam (X.902). The Samkhya took this Purusa as the base of its philosophy. The Nasadiya hymn reflects the earliest churning in the mind of the ancients about the appearance of the creation. Whence it has come is the question! There has to be a period when it did not exist. There was at that period neither non-existence nor existence, no air, no heaven, no death, no immortality, no night, no day. Was there water in the beginning, water unfathomable, profound?. From water evolved intelligence through heat. And that must have been the starting point of creation. The question still remains. What did it contain, what did it cover up? In whose protection was it then? The question still remains unanswered. May be the surveyor stationed in the highest heaven knows it but it is equally possible that even he does not know it. This is an innocent query of a sensitive mind. There are, however, more complex thought processes as well exemplified by such suktas as the Asyavamiya deriving its name from its initial words asya vamasya. (1.164) whose deep philosophy is beyond the reach of ordinary minds. It is a bunch of riddles. Yajurveda di lis dguodT The aim of the mantras of the Rgveda is to invoke deities while those of the Yajurveda is the employment of them in various sacrifices. This Veda is a compendium of Mantras that are to be recited in the course of the performance of the sacrifices. The Yajurveda has two parts, Sukla and Krsna, the former comprises Mantras to be used for performance of such sacrifices as Darsapaurnamasa while the latter has along with the Mantras

the relevant Brahmana portions as well indicating their recitation at the relevant sacrifices. At the back of the designation Krsna, dark, lies the admixture of Mantras and Brahmanas and that of Sukla, white, is their being in their pure form with no admixture of Brahmana portion. The main Sakha of the Krsna Yajurveda is Taittiriya. About its name there is a story in the Visnupurana. Once Vaisampayana in a fit of rage asked his pupil Yajnavalkya to give him back the Veda that he had learnt from him. Yajnavalkya in obedience to his preceptor vomited it out. At the behest of the preceptor his other pupils assumed the form of the francoline partridges, Tittiris, and licked it. Hence its name Taittiriya. Later Yajnavalkya propitiated the sun god and obtained the Yajus through his grace. While dealing with the Schools of Yajurveda Mahidhara in his Bhasya says that because of the dullness (mandata) of the intellect (buddhi) a School of Yajurveda came to have the name Krsna. The Yajurveda that Yajnavalkya got through the grace of the bright sun came to acquire the name Sukla. Caranavyuha records 85 Sakhas of the Yajurveda of which only four along with the relevant texts are available now. They are Taittiriya, Maitrayani, Katha, and Kapisthala-Katha. The Mantras in the Krsna Yajurveda number 18000. It has seven Kandas divided in Prapathakas. The Sukla Yajurveda is called Vajasaneyi Samhita, the name owing itself to its having been revealed to Yajnavalkya, the son of Vajaseni. It has 40 Adhyayas, of which the last one is Khila which is taken to be of a later date. The main Sakhas of this Veda are Madhyandina and Kanva of which the former is in vogue in Maharastra and the latter in North India. In ancient period Kanva was current in North India. Its Mantra 11.11 records the names of the rulers of the Kuru and Pancala countries. It has 111 Mantras in excess of those in the Madhyandina-samhita.

Samaveda It means the Veda of Samans. Saman means song. Literally it means 'that which one enjoys ' . Music and song are those that one enjoys the best. Hence Saman has come to mean song. The singer, the priest, in this Veda is called Udgatr which literally means 'one who sings aloud' . In the Samaveda the Mantras are put in a particular musical mode and are sung. The musical mode of the first Mantra of the Samaveda would be as under: 4 222 1 2 agnai | ayaihi'i vii vo ya 2 i | tau ya 2 i| 1222 11 9 grnaniha| vyadatoya' 2 i | toya S2 i | 1 221 1 nai hotasa 5 2 i | tsa S2i | 3 va 522 3 ' 2 3 4 auhova | hi ' 234 si| The collection of the hymns in the musical mode the Samaveda has in two divisions called the Purvarcika and the Uttararcika. All the Mantras in the Samaveda with the exception of 78 are from the Rgveda. The Samaveda is divided into two: Arcika and Gana. Arcika is divided into two, Purvarcika and Uttararcika. Purvarcika has six Prapathakas, chapters. Each Prapathaka has two parts called Ardha. Each Ardha has one Dasati, a certain number of Mantras , not necessarily ten though the term literally denotes 'a group of ten', which might have been the case originally. The Dasatis go with the sameness of the metre and the deity. The Mantras revealed to different seers in different Mandalas of the Rgveda have been put together in the Dasatis if they refer to the same deity. The first Prapathaka of this Veda is called Agneyakanda (Parvan) because the Mantras referring to Agni in the Rgveda are all put together here. The portion from Adhyaya two CC-0. Prof. Satya Vrat Shastri Collection, New Delhi. Dig

to four is called Aindra Parvan because in it are collected Mantras in praise of Indra. The fifth Adhyaya goes by the name of Pavamana Parvan comprising as it does the Mantras drawn from the nineth Mandala called the Pavamana Mandala of the Rgveda. The sixth Prapathaka has the name Aranyaka Parvan which in spite of its different seers and metres has a commonality in having the same mode of singing. The Rcas (Mantras) from Prapathakas 1-5 are called Grama-gana while those of the sixth Prapathaka are called Aranyaka for having been sung in forest, aranya.The Veda closes with an appendix which has ten Rcas (Mantras) called Mahanamni. The number of Mantras in the Purvarcika is 650. The Uttararcika has nine Prapathakas where the first five divided in two parts each go by the name Prapathakardha. The last four Prapatthakas have three Ardhas each. This is In the Ranayaniya Sakha. In the Kauthuma Sakha the Ardhas are called Adhyayas and Dasatis Khandas. The number of Mantras in the Uttararcika is 1225. Put together the number of Mantras in both the Purvarcika and the Uttararcika is 1875. Though the Prapancahrdaya, the Divyavadana, the Caranavyuha and the Jaiminigrhyasutra record thirteen Sakhas of Samaveda, only three of them, the Kauthumi, the Ranayaniya and the Jaiminiya are available at present. There is mention in the Puranas of the Northern and the Eastern singers of Saman. At present there are hardly any Saman singers in the East and the North. The Saman singing requires hard and prolonged practice. It is quite a task to achieve proficiency in it. There is an interesting acknowledgement of it, of all the treatises, in a grammatical one. The Panini sutra krcchragahanayoh kasah (7.2.22) enjoins the absence of augment it to the root kas when followed by suffixes kta and ktavatu (technically called Nistha) provided the word so formed has the senses of difficult and abstruse, krcchragahanayoh The word sofy 3 Foundation USA formed is kasta. The

Kasika illustrates the use of it with reference to two lores, one grammar and the other the Samans. First grammar, kastam vyakaranam, Vyakarana, grammar is difficult and next it is the Samans which are more difficult than even grammar, tato 'pi kastatarani samani. No wonder the Lord chose the Samaveda of all the Vedas as his 'vibhuti' : Vedanam Samavedo 'smi (Bhagavadgita, 10.22). The sage Jaimini says that the songs are given the name Saman, gitisu samakhya. The life breath of giti is svara, which signifies the accent, the pitch and the note of the musical scale. The accent or pitch is divided in three, udatta, the higher, anudatta, the lower, and the combination of the two svarita. In the Rgveda udatta does not carry any sign while anudatta and svarita carry horizontal bar (-) below and perpandular bar (1) at the top. The anudattas coming after svarita do not carry any sign, e.g., agnimile. In the Samaveda udatta is represented by the figure 1, svarita by 2 and anudatta by 3. The anudatta following svarita does not carry any figure. It is called pracaya, e.g., a³gni¹ mile². The portion of the Mantra agnimile written in the Sama system would be agnimile. In music the notes of the scale are the following seven: Nisadarsabhagandharasadjamadhyamadhaivatah, pancamas cety ami sapta tantrikanthotthitah svarah (Amarakosa, 1.6.1), nisada (ni), rsabha (re), gandhara (ga) , sadja, (sa), madhyama (ma), dhaivata (dha), pancama (pa). To meet the musical requirements the Mantras are reworded. This re-wording is called Samavikara. This is of six types: 1. Vikara, change This pertains to the pronunciation of the word. Agni would be pronounced as ognayi. 2. Vislesana, separation Word is split up. Vitaye is spoken as voyi toyayi. bas 3. Vikarsana, stretching A vowel is spoken for a CC-0. Prof. Satya Vrat Shastri Collection, No longer time ayahi³USA dan New

. Abhyasa, repetition A word is repeated e.g., toyayi toyayi. 5. Virama, pause For convenience there is a pause in one word itself, e.g., havyada taye. 6. Stobha, addition of words like ho, au, hova, haua, havu, rayi. The Rk Mantra agna ayahi vitaye grnano havyadataye is sung in the Saman system as ognayi a yahi³ voyi toyayi toyayi grnano havyada taye While Samaveda may not have much of literary merit, it has its merit from the point of view of sacrifices. According to the Satapatha Brahmana a sacrifice is incomplete without singing of Saman, nasamayajno bhavati. The success of sacrifice depends on recitation of Mantras in a proper way. It appears the timehonoured practice of the recitation of the Mantras in proper accentuation and in proper mode and melody with ascending, aroha and descending, avaroha, scale of notes needed to be preserved. For that purpose a majority of Mantras from the Rgveda and some -78 to be precise-from other sources were compiled which needed to be sung according to the prescribed mode. The Mantras of the Samaveda are called by the names of Chandas, Chandasi, Chandasika and so on. This Saman musical mode was the seed that sprouted forth in the form of the Gandharvaveda, which, as says the Satapatha Brahmana, was the source of 16000 Raginis There are six primary Ragas, Bhairava, Kausika, Hindola, Dipaka, Sriraga and Megharaga and the same number of their consorts, the Raginis. Their union led to hundreds of modes. Atharvaveda fw enigad IDX aboutX The priest connected with the Atharvaveda is called Brahma. He is the head of the sacrificial ritual. His main task is to supervise

the sacrificial ceremony. It is he who keeps an eye on everything that goes on in the sacrifice. He has to have sound knowledge of all the Vedas, still his main Veda is the Atharvaveda which Angiroveda, Atharvangirasaveda. The commentators derive is called by different names like Atharvaveda, Brahmaveda , atharva from the root tharv-there is no such root in the Paniniya Dhatupatha-meaning crookedness , kautilya and violence, himsa with the negative particle nan (a) preposed to it, the resultant meaning of it being a person who has achieved stability of mind by means of straightforwardness and noninjury to beings. This gets support from the references to Yoga (Suktas 6.11; 10.2.26-28). Because Atharva Mantras speak of Para Brahman, the Supreme Being, it is called Brahmaveda. It is called Atharvangirasa because several of its Mantras were revealed to seers called Atharvana and Angirasa. Scholars in the West attribute the nomenclature to the nature of its Mantras, Atharvan and Angirasa, the former used as magical formulae for benevolent and the latter for malevolent purposes like killing, marana, expulsion, uccatana, subduing, vasikarana. There are Mantras in it for cure of diseases, as mentioned earlier, as also for curses for opponents and adversaries. The Atharvaveda has 20 Kandas, 731 Suktas and 5789 Mantras. The Suktas in the first seven Kandas are small. As a rule each Sukta of Kanda 1 has four Mantras, of Kanda II five Mantras, of Kanda III six Mantras, of Kanda IV seven Mantras, of Kanda V eight Mantras. Kanda VI has 142 Suktas each of which has the minimum of three Mantras. Kanda VII has 118 Suktas of which a majority has a Mantra or two. Kanda VIII-XII have bigger Suktas wherein there is variety of subject matter too. In Kandas XIII -XVIII there is uniformity of subject matter. Kanda XII begins with Prthvisukta which has 63 Mantras. Kanda XIII deals with spiritualism. Kanda XIV describes the marriage ceremony. Kanda XV describes the sacrifices of the Vratyas. Kanda XVI has Mantras for the elimination of bad

dreams. Kanda XVII has one Sukta of 30 Mantras where prayers are offered for prosperity. Kanda XVIII deals with Pitrmedha which gives it the character of Sraddha, the ceremonies for the departed souls. The last two Kandas, Kandas XVIV and XXV, are Khila Kandas and are accepted to be of a later date. Kanda XVIV has 72 Suktas with 453 Mantras which deal with such diverse matter as medication, national progress and spirituality. Kanda XXV has 958 Suktas which deal with Somayaga. They are drawn from the Rgveda. This Kanda also contains the Kuntapasuktas which number ten. According to the Gopatha Brahmana Kuntapa means Mantras that burn sinful acts. From the Aitareya and the Kausitaki Brahmanas it is known that these Suktas were used for sacrifice. They have an historical value as well. There is mention of King Pariksit and his country. One-fifth portion of the Atharvaveda comprises Mantras drawn from the Rgveda. In the Paspasahnika of his Mahabhasya Patanjali records nine sakhas of the Atharvaveda; navadha 'tharvano vedah, the figure upheld by Prapancahrdaya, Caranavyuha and the Introduction to Sayana Bhasya. There is difference, however, in their names. A comparative analysis would give the following names: Pippalada, Stauda (or Toda), Mauda, Saunaka, Jajala, Jalada, Brahmavada, Devadarsa, and Caranavaidya. The subject matter of the Atharvaveda can be divided in the following thirteen categories: 1. Bhaisajyani: diseases, their symptoms and prayers for their cure. 2. Ayusyani: Prayers for long life and good health. Pre 3. Abhicarikani-Krtyapratikaranani: Magical spells against demons, evil spirits, enemies and those who use such spells. 4. Strikarmani: Magical spells against women. 5. Sanjasyani: Magical spells for bringing about consistency and increasing effectiveness in an assembly.

. Rajakarmani: Magical spells for kings. 7. Prayers for the wellbeing of Brahmanas. 8. Paustikani: Spells for nourishment, invigoration. 9. Prayascittani: Mantras for expiation, atonement for some wrong committed. 10. Cosmology and spiritual upliftment. 11. Sacrifices and general matters 820 12. Matters pertaining to an individual (Kandas 13-18) 13. Kuntapa-sukta mon By way of specimen a couple of Mantras are reproduced below for cure of leucoderma. A herb is invoked here naktam jatasyosadhe rame krsnne asikni ca/ idam rajani rajaya kilasam palitam ca yat// kilasam ca palitam ca nirito nasaya prsat/ a tva svo visatam varnah para sulkani patayall "O herb, you are born in the night, O ye of dark and dusky colour, O ye the colouring agent, colour this white leprosy, colour this yellow spot. Drive away this leprosy spot, this yellow spot, this spot of variegated colour. Fill it with your colour. Drive away these white spots". Date of Vedas To the faithful in India the Vedas were not created or composed by man, they are apauruseyas. They were revealed to the rsis, they were the 'seers' of Mantras, mantradrastarah and not the authors of them, na tu mantrakartarah. In that eventuality there should be no question of their date. They are anadi, beginningless and would continue till the end of creation. But the Western scholars of the Veda who are not bound by tradition treating them to be revealed texts, have ventured to determine their date treating them to be pieces of literature like any other. Some Indians too followed them and then a view after view supported

by arguments well presented started tumbling out of the cupboard. Since the two other Vedas, the Yajus and the Saman-Atharva is a category in itself having earned for itself the position of Veda later-comprise most parts of the Rgveda, it is pertinent to examine the question of its date as it has been handled by a galaxy of Vedists for the past century and a half. The first Western scholar to approach this question was Max Muller. On the twin basis that there is nothing of Buddhism in the Vedic literature and that Buddhism arose as a reaction to the elaborate Vedic ritual Max Muller considers it pre-buddhistic. The Vedic literature Max Muller has divided in four periods, the Chandas period, the Mantra period, the Brahmana period and the Sutra period. For each of the periods he has assigned 200 years. Sutra texts he considers to have been written close to the Buddhist period. Lord Buddha had died in 477 B.C. Max Muler assigns the period 600-200 B.C. to the composition of the Sutra texts. The period for the composition of the Brahmana texts according to him could be 500-600 B.C. For the compilation of the Mantras in four compendiums the period according to him could be 1000-800 B.C. The period before that was the one the seers had composed the Mantras which could be 1200-1000 B.C. That was the period when the Rgveda would have been 'composed'. In opposition to Max Muller's view it is said that to assign a period of 200 years to each stage in the process of evolution of the Vedic literature is arbitrary with no scientific basis. It was severely contested by a number of scholars. It has lost relevance now. On the basis of some astronomical references in the Samhitas and the Brahmana texts, particularly the Satapatha Brahmana the Maharashtrian astronomer Shankar Balakrishna Dikshit assigns 3000 B.C. as the period for the composition of the said Brahmana. The Taittiriya Samhita is older than the Satapatha Brahmana and the Rgveda is older than that. If a

period of 250 years is assigned to the evolution of each, the date of the Rgveda would be 3500 B.C. Bal Gangadhar Tilak on the basis of the astronomical references in the Rgveda divides the Vedic period into four (1) the Aditi-period-Before 6000-4000 V.S. (Vikrama Samvat ). In this period were composed the statements about rituals called Nivid which described the names, the qualities, the special characteristics of the deities worshipped some of which were in prose and some in verse. (2) Mrgasira period-(approximately before V.S. 4000-2500) It saw the composition of a majority of Mantras of the Rgveda. (3) Krttika period-(approximately before 2500-1400 V.S. This saw the composition of the Taittiriya Samhita and the older Brahmana texts like the Satapatha. Jyotisa, one of the auxiliaries of the Veda also made its appearance in this period for there is description of the sun and the moon going round the north in the beginning of Sravistha, a situation that prevailed in 1400 V.S. The last period (1400-599 V.S.) saw the composition of the Srautasutras and the Grhyasutras. In the last part of this period arose Buddhism as a reaction to the excesses of the sacerdotal procedures. The German scholar Jacobi drew attention to the word dhruva in the Kalpasutra sentence dhruva iva sthira bhava. He studied dhruva from the standpoint of Astronomy. According to him the position of the planet Dhruva which is pressed as Simile in the sentence reproduced above belonged to the period anterior to 2780 B.C. The naming of the planet as Dhruva and the custom of viewing it at the marriage ceremony could be assigned to the first half of B.C. 3000. According to Jacobi the hymns of the Veda were composed in the period 4500-2500 B.C. A Vedic scholar Dinanath Chulet has tried to prove on astronomical ground as recounted in his book Vedakalanirnaya that the Vedas were composed three hundred thound years back!

There is mention of certain geological and geographical events in the Rgveda which can throw light on its date. Avinash Chandra Das has drawn attention to such events in his book Rgvedic India. The Rgveda (7.95.2) says that the sacred river Sarasvati flows down the lofty hills and joins the ocean. Another Mantra from the same Veda refers to the rivers Sarasvati and Sutudri entering into the ocean with loud roar. It appears in the time of the Rgveda the present desert of Rajputana was a vast ocean into which flowed certain rivers. It appears due to some geographical convulsion the ocean got converted into desert and the river Sarasvati got lost in it. The Tandya Brahmana has a clear reference to its disappearance at Vinasana and reappe arance at Plaksa-prasravana. It is known from the Rgveda that in its time the area of Saptasindhu, the habitat of the Aryans was surrounded by four oceans. A Mantra (10.136.5) refers to two oceans to the east and the west of Saptasindhu. In another Mantra, 9.33.6, Soma is prayed to bring four oceans from four directions. The reference to four oceans is more clear and direct in Mantra 10.40.2. This shows that in the hoary past the Aryans had four oceans near their habitation. Of these the eastern ocean was in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar and the southern ocean in the present desert area of Rajasthan. The western ocean was where it is at present. The northern ocean was to the north. Geologists are of the view that in ancient times to the north of Balkh and Persia was a vast ocean which could be called Asian Mediterranean. The modern Black sea, the Ural sea and the Balkan Lake are its remnants. That geographical state is assigned the period 50000-25000 B.C. On the basis of the above geological-geographical considerations the date of the Rgveda and the Vedic civilization can be carried back at the minimum to 25000 years back. The Westrn Vedic scholars do not accept this. It has no scientific basis, they say.

In 1907 at the time of the excavations in the village Bogazkoi in the eastern part of Anatolia , modern Turkey, Hugo Winkler had discovered an inscription which refers to a treaty between the Hittites and the Mitanese in the beginning of the 14 th cen. B.C. where while pledging to honour the treaty the rulers of both had invoked along with the deities of Old Babylonia and Hittis the deities Mithra (Mitra), Varuna, Indra and Nasatyau (Asvinau) who are Vedic deties. Now, the question is as to how could the deities of the Mitanese find a place among those of the Hittites. This shows that even before the 14 th cen. B.C. there was contact between the people of Asia Minor and the Vedic Aryans. This proves this much at least that by the 14 th cen B.C. the Aryan deities had come to be worshipped. It is possible that a branch of the Aryans would have migrated from India and settled there or the Mitanese would have been a branch of the Vedic Aryans. The inscriptional evidence would push the date of the composition of the Vedas to pre-14 th cen. period. This has led the Vedic scholars to assign the period 2500-2000 B.C. to the composition of the Vedas. There are hymns in the Vedas in praise of a number of deities. A careful examination of them would invite attention to the fact that in totality it is Agni that steals the thunder. Though it is Indra that excels Agni in the number of hymns, it is Agmi that occupies the centre stage. Practically every Mandala of the Rgveda begins and ends with a hymn to Agni. The Rgveda begins with Agni; its first sukta is Agni sukta; it closes with Agni, the last sukta of its tenth Mandala is Agni sukta. The worship of Agni not remained confined to any specific country. It has been prevalent in most countries in some form or the other. Around 800 years before Christ Zoroaster had laid emphasis on Agni worship. He described Agni as the symbol of truth and assigned it a central place in his religious ritual.

A comparative study of the Veda and the Avesta shows that Varuna, Ourunos of the Indo-European period, the great upholder of the principle of rta, loses his shine in the Rgveda. It almost disappears in Avesta or gets identified with Ahura. There is close similarity between ancient India and ancient Iran not only in terms of religion but also in language. The similarity is so close that with minor changes in sounds the Vedic Mantras can be converted into Avestan Gathas and vice versa. If the Avesta would have been composed around 1500 B.C. he difference in the language of the two works the Veda and the Avesta, would have been just negligible. That supports the view of the Vedic scholars who are inclined to assign the date 2000 B.C. to the composition of the Veda. Everything said and done, it is not possible to assign a particular date or period to the Vedic literature. It must have evolved in different stages, the first when the Mantras were composed or revealed, the second stage when they were compiled in the form of Samhita, the third stage when they were 'united with sacrifices' and the fourth stage when they were interpreted and expounded. The Vedas represent a culture, a civilization, a body of thought that has regulated life in India for millennia with an authority which is unique in itself in inviting spontaneous acceptance of it to the extent that one speaking ill of it, Vedanindakah, is termed nastika, a term every right-thinking person liked to shun. drive Tads Adossons anedi