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Vedas
Four vedas
Cuatro Vedas
Información
Religiónhinduismo
IdiomaSánscrito védico
PeríodoC. 1500-1200 a. C. ( Rig Veda ), [1] [nota 1]
c. 1200–900 a. C. ( Yajur Veda , Sama Veda , Atharva Veda ) [1] [2]
Versos20,379 mantras [3]
Parte de una serie sobre
Escrituras y textos hindúes
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Vedas

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Upanishads
Rig vedic

Sama védica

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Los Vedas son antiguos textos sánscritos del hinduismo. Arriba: una página del Atharvaveda .

El Vedas ( / v eɪ d ə z , v i - / ; [4] sánscrito : वेदः vedaḥ , " conocimiento ") son una gran cantidad de textos religiosos originarios de la India antigua . Compuestos en sánscrito védico , los textos constituyen la capa más antigua de la literatura sánscrita y las escrituras más antiguas del hinduismo . [5] [6] [7]

Hay cuatro Vedas: el Rigveda , el Yajurveda , el Samaveda y el Atharvaveda . [8] [9] Cada Veda tiene cuatro subdivisiones: los Samhitas ( mantras y bendiciones ), los Aranyakas (texto sobre rituales, ceremonias, sacrificios y sacrificios simbólicos), los Brahmanas (comentarios sobre rituales, ceremonias y sacrificios) y los Upanishads (textos que discuten la meditación, la filosofía y el conocimiento espiritual). [8] [10] [11] Algunos eruditos agregan una quinta categoría: las Upasanas(Adoración). [12] [13] Los textos de los Upanishads discuten ideas afines a las tradiciones heterodoxas sramana . [14]

Los Vedas son śruti ("lo que se escucha"), [15] que los distingue de otros textos religiosos, que se denominan smṛti ("lo que se recuerda"). Los hindúes consideran que los Vedas son apauruṣeya , que significa "no de un hombre, sobrehumano" [16] e "impersonal, sin autor", [17] [18] [19] revelaciones de sonidos y textos sagrados escuchados por los sabios antiguos después de una intensa meditación. . [20] [21]

Los Vedas se han transmitido oralmente desde el segundo milenio a. C. con la ayuda de elaboradas técnicas mnemotécnicas . [22] [23] [24] Los mantras, la parte más antigua de los Vedas, se recitan en la era moderna por su fonología más que por la semántica, y se consideran "ritmos primordiales de creación", que preceden a las formas a las que se refieren. [25] Al recitarlos, el cosmos se regenera, "animando y nutriendo las formas de la creación en su base". [25]

Las diversas filosofías indias y denominaciones hindúes han adoptado posiciones diferentes sobre los Vedas; las escuelas de filosofía india que reconocen la autoridad primordial de los Vedas se clasifican como "ortodoxas" ( āstika ). [nota 2] Otras tradiciones śramaṇa , como Lokayata , Carvaka , Ajivika , el budismo y el jainismo , que no consideraban a los Vedas como autoridades, se denominan escuelas "heterodoxas" o "no ortodoxas" ( nāstika ). [14] [26]

Etimología y uso

La palabra sánscrita véda "conocimiento, sabiduría" se deriva de la raíz vid- "conocer". Esto se reconstruye como derivada de la proto-indoeuropeo de la raíz * u̯eid- , que significa "ver" o "saber". [27] [28]

El sustantivo proviene del protoindoeuropeo * u̯eidos , afín al griego (ϝ) εἶδος "aspecto", "forma". Esto no debe confundirse con la 1ª y 3ª persona del singular del tiempo perfecto véda , afín al griego (ϝ) οἶδα (w) oida "Yo sé". Los cognados de la raíz son el griego ἰδέα , el ingenio inglés , etc., el videō latino "veo", el wissen alemán "saber", etc. [29]

El término sánscrito veda como sustantivo común significa "conocimiento". [27] El término en algunos contextos, como el himno 10.93.11 del Rigveda , significa "obtener o encontrar riqueza, propiedad", [30] mientras que en algunos otros significa "un montón de hierba juntos" como en una escoba o para el fuego ritual . [31]

Los Vedas se llaman Maṛai o Vaymoli en partes del sur de la India. Marai significa literalmente "oculto, un secreto, misterio". Pero el Tamil Naan Marai mencionado en Tholkappiam no es Vedas sánscrito. [32] [33] En algunas partes del sur de la India (por ejemplo, las comunidades Iyengar ), la palabra veda se utiliza en los escritos tamil de los santos Alvar . Tales escritos incluyen el Divya Prabandham (también conocido como Tiruvaymoli ). [34]

Textos védicos

Manuscrito de Rigveda en Devanagari

Corpus védico en sánscrito

El término "textos védicos" se usa con dos significados distintos:

  1. Textos compuestos en sánscrito védico durante el período védico ( Edad del Hierro en la India )
  2. Cualquier texto que se considere "relacionado con los Vedas" o un "corolario de los Vedas" [35]

El corpus de textos sánscritos védicos incluye:

  • The Samhitas (Sanskrit saṃhitā, "collection"), are collections of metric texts ("mantras"). There are four "Vedic" Samhitas: the Rig-Veda, Yajur-Veda, Sama-Veda and Atharva-Veda, most of which are available in several recensions (śākhā). In some contexts, the term Veda is used to refer only to these Samhitas, the collection of mantras. This is the oldest layer of Vedic texts, which were composed between circa 1500-1200 BCE (Rig Veda book 2-9),[note 1] and 1200-900 BCE for the other Samhitas. The Samhitas contain invocations to deities like Indra and Agni, "to secure their benediction for success in battles or for welfare of the cln."[36] The complete corpus of Vedic mantras as collected in Bloomfield's Vedic Concordance (1907) consists of some 89,000 padas (metrical feet), of which 72,000 occur in the four Samhitas.[37]
  • Los Brahmanas son textos en prosa que comentan y explican los rituales solemnes, además de exponer su significado y muchos temas relacionados. Cada uno de los Brahmanas está asociado con uno de los Samhitas o sus recensiones. [38] [39] El más antiguo data de alrededor del 900 a. C., mientras que los brahmanas más jóvenes (como el Shatapatha Brahmana ) se completaron alrededor del 700 a. C. [40] [41] Los Brahmanas pueden formar textos separados o pueden integrarse parcialmente en el texto de los Samhitas. También pueden incluir los Aranyakas y Upanishads.
  • Los Aranyakas , "textos del desierto" o "tratados forestales", fueron compuestos por personas que meditaban en el bosque como reclusos y son la tercera parte de los Vedas. Los textos contienen discusiones e interpretaciones de ceremonias, desde puntos de vista ritualistas hasta meta-ritualistas simbólicos. [42] Se lee con frecuencia en la literatura secundaria.
  • Older Mukhya Upanishads (Bṛhadāraṇyaka, Chandogya, Kaṭha, Kena, Aitareya, and others),[43][1] composed between 800 BCE and the end of the Vedic period.[44] The Upanishads are largely philosophical works, some in dialogue form. They are the foundation of Hindu philosophical thought and its diverse traditions.[45][46] Of the Vedic corpus, they alone are widely known, and the central ideas of the Upanishads are still influential in Hinduism.[45][47]
  • Los textos considerados "védicos" en el sentido de "corolarios de los Vedas" están menos claramente definidos y pueden incluir numerosos textos posvédicos , como los últimos Upanishads y la literatura Sutra , como Shrauta Sutras y Gryha Sutras , que son smriti textos. Juntos, los Vedas y estos Sutras forman parte del corpus sánscrito védico. [1] [nota 3] [nota 4]

Si bien la producción de Brahmanas y Aranyakas cesó al final del período védico, se compusieron Upanishads adicionales después del final del período védico. [48] Los Brahmanas , Aranyakas y Upanishads , entre otras cosas, interpretan y discuten los Samhitas de formas filosóficas y metafóricas para explorar conceptos abstractos como el Absoluto ( Brahman ) y el alma o el yo ( Atman ), introduciendo la filosofía Vedanta. , una de las principales tendencias del hinduismo posterior. En otras partes, muestran la evolución de las ideas, como del sacrificio real al sacrificio simbólico, y de la espiritualidad en los Upanishads. Esto ha inspirado a los eruditos hindúes posteriores, como Adi Shankara, a clasificar cada Veda en karma-kanda (कर्म related, secciones relacionadas con el ritual de acción / sacrificio, los Samhitas y Brahmanas ); y jnana-kanda (ज्ञान खण्ड, secciones relacionadas con el conocimiento / espiritualidad, principalmente los Upanishads '). [49] [50] [51] [52] [53] [nota 5]

Śruti y smriti

Los Vedas son śruti "lo que se escucha"), [15] que los distingue de otros textos religiosos, que se denominan smṛti ("lo que se recuerda"). Este sistema autóctono de categorización fue adoptado por Max Müller y, aunque está sujeto a cierto debate, todavía se utiliza ampliamente. Como explica Axel Michaels:

Estas clasificaciones a menudo no son sostenibles por razones lingüísticas y formales: no hay solo una colección a la vez, sino varias transmitidas en escuelas védicas separadas; Los Upanişads [...] a veces no deben distinguirse de los Āraṇyakas [...]; Los brāhmaṇas contienen estratos más antiguos del lenguaje atribuidos a los Saṃhitās ; hay varios dialectos y tradiciones localmente prominentes de las escuelas védicas. No obstante, es aconsejable ceñirse a la división adoptada por Max Müller porque sigue la tradición india, transmite la secuencia histórica con bastante precisión y subyace a las ediciones, traducciones y monografías actuales sobre la literatura védica " [43].

Paternidad literaria

Los hindúes consideran que los Vedas son apauruṣeya , que significa "no de un hombre, sobrehumano" [16] e "impersonal, sin autor". [17] [18] [19] Los Vedas, para los teólogos indios ortodoxos, se consideran revelaciones vistas por los antiguos sabios después de una intensa meditación, y textos que se han conservado con más cuidado desde la antigüedad. [20] [21] En el Mahabharata épico hindú , la creación de los Vedas se le atribuye a Brahma . [54] Los propios himnos védicos afirman que fueron hábilmente creados por Rishis (sabios), después de una creatividad inspirada, tal como un carpintero construye un carro.[21][note 6]

The oldest part of the Rig Veda Samhita was orally composed in north-western India (Punjab) between c. 1500 and 1200 BC,[note 1] while book 10 of the Rig Veda, and the other Samhitas were composed between 1200-900 BCE more eastward, between the Yamuna and the Ganges, the heartland of Aryavarta and the Kuru Kingdom (c. 1200 – c. 900 BCE).[56][2][57][58][59] The "circum-Vedic" texts, as well as the redaction of the Samhitas, date to c. 1000–500 BCE.

Según la tradición, Vyasa es el compilador de los Vedas, quien organizó los cuatro tipos de mantras en cuatro Samhitas (Colecciones). [60] [61]

Cronología, transmisión e interpretación

Ver también: período védico

Cronología

Los Vedas se encuentran entre los textos sagrados más antiguos . [62] [63] La mayor parte del Rigveda Samhita se compuso en la región noroeste (Punjab) del subcontinente indio , muy probablemente entre c. 1500 y 1200 aC, [2] [56] [64] aunque una aproximación más amplia de c. También se ha dado 1700-1100 AC. [65] [66] [nota 1] Se considera que los otros tres Samhitas datan de la época del Reino de Kuru , aproximadamente c. 1200–900 a. C. [1] Los textos "circunvédicos", así como la redacción of the Samhitas, date to c. 1000–500 BCE, resulting in a Vedic period, spanning the mid 2nd to mid 1st millennium BCE, or the Late Bronze Age and the Iron Age.[note 7]The Vedic period reaches its peak only after the composition of the mantra texts, with the establishment of the various shakhas all over Northern India which annotated the mantra samhitas with Brahmana discussions of their meaning, and reaches its end in the age of Buddha and Panini and the rise of the Mahajanapadas (archaeologically, Northern Black Polished Ware). Michael Witzel da un lapso de tiempo de c. 1500 a c. 500–400 a. C. Witzel hace especial referencia al material Mitanni del Cercano Oriente del siglo XIV a. C., el único registro epigráfico de Indo-Ario contemporáneo al período Rigvédico. Él da 150 a. C. ( Patañjali ) como terminus ante quem para toda la literatura sánscrita védica, y 1200 a. C. (la temprana Edad del Hierro ) como terminus post quem para el Atharvaveda. [67]

Transmisión

Los Vedas se transmitieron oralmente desde su composición en el período védico durante varios milenios. [68] [22] [69] La transmisión autorizada [70] de los Vedas es por tradición oral en una sampradaya de padre a hijo o de maestro ( guru ) a alumno ( shishya ), [69] [71] [23 ] [72] [22] se cree que fue iniciado por los rishis védicos que escucharon los sonidos primordiales . [73] Only this tradition, embodied by a living teacher, can teach the correct pronunciation of the sounds and explain hidden meanings, in a way the "dead and entombed manuscript" cannot do.[71][note 8] As Leela Prasad states, "According to Shankara, the "correct tradition" (sampradaya) has as much authority as the written Shastra," explaining that the tradition "bears the authority to clarify and provide direction in the application of knowledge."[74]

El énfasis en esta transmisión [nota 9] está en la "correcta articulación y pronunciación de los sonidos védicos", como se prescribe en el Shiksha , [76] el Vedanga (estudio védico) del sonido tal como se pronuncia en una recitación védica, [77] [78] dominar los textos "literalmente hacia adelante y hacia atrás de manera totalmente acústica". [70] Houben y Rath señalan que la tradición textual védica no puede caracterizarse simplemente como oral, "ya que también depende significativamente de una cultura de la memoria". [79] Los Vedas se conservaron con precisión con la ayuda de elaboradas técnicas mnemotécnicas , [22] [23] [24] such as memorizing the texts in eleven different modes of recitation (pathas),[70] using the alphabet as a mnemotechnical device,[80][81][note 10] "matching physical movements (such as nodding the head)[disputed – discuss] with particular sounds and chanting in a group"[82] and visualizing sounds by using mudras (hand signs).[83] This provided an additional visual confirmation, and also an alternate means to check the reading integrity by the audience, in addition to the audible means.[83]Houben y Rath señalan que existía una fuerte "cultura de la memoria" en la antigua India cuando los textos se transmitían oralmente, antes del advenimiento de la escritura a principios del primer milenio de nuestra era. [81] Según Staal , al criticar la hipótesis de Goody- Watt "según la cual la alfabetización es más fiable que la oralidad", [84] esta tradición de transmisión oral "está estrechamente relacionada con las formas científicas indias" y "con mucho más notable "que la tradición relativamente reciente de transmisión escrita. [nota 11]

While according to Mookerji understanding the meaning (vedarthajnana[87] or artha-bodha[88][note 12]) of the words of the Vedas was part of the Vedic learning,[88] Holdrege and other Indologists[89] have noted that in the transmission of the Samhitas the emphasis is on the phonology of the sounds (śabda) and not on the meaning (artha) of the mantras.[89][90][71] Already at the end of the Vedic period their original meaning had become obscure for "ordinary people,"[90][note 13] and niruktas, etymological compendia, were developed to preserve and clarify the original meaning of many Sanskrit words.[90][92] According to Staal, as referenced by Holdrege, though the mantras may have a discursive meaning, when the mantras are recited in the Vedic rituals "they are disengaged from their original context and are employed in ways that have little or nothing to do with their meaning."[89][note 14] The words of the mantras are "themselves sacred,"[93] and "do not constitute linguistic utterances."[25] Instead, as Klostermaier notes, in their application in Vedic rituals they become magical sounds, "means to an end."[note 15] Holdrege notes that there are scarce commentaries on the meaning of the mantras, in contrast to the number of commentaries on the Brahmanas and Upanishads, but states that the lack of emphasis on the "discursive meaning does not necessarily imply that they are meaningless."[94] In the Brahmanical perspective, the sounds have their own meaning, mantras are considered as "primordial rhythms of creation", preceding the forms to which they refer.[25] By reciting them the cosmos is regenerated, "by enlivening and nourishing the forms of creation at their base. As long as the purity of the sounds is preserved, the recitation of the mantras will be efficacious, irrespective of whether their discursive meaning is understood by human beings."[25][note 16] Frazier further notes that "later Vedic texts sought deeper understanding of the reasons the rituals worked," which indicates that the Brahmin communities considered study to be a "process of understanding."[95]

A literary tradition is traceable in post-Vedic times, after the rise of Buddhism in the Maurya period,[note 17] perhaps earliest in the Kanva recension of the Yajurveda about the 1st century BCE; however oral tradition of transmission remained active.[68] Jack Goody has argued for an earlier literary tradition, concluding that the Vedas bear hallmarks of a literate culture along with oral transmission,[97][98] but Goody's views have been strongly criticised by Falk, Lopez Jr,. and Staal, though they have also found some support.[99][100]

Los Vedas se escribieron solo después del 500 a. C., [101] [68] [22], pero solo los textos transmitidos oralmente se consideran autorizados, dado el énfasis en la pronunciación exacta de los sonidos. [70] Witzel sugiere que los intentos de escribir los textos védicos hacia el final del primer milenio a. C. no tuvieron éxito, lo que resultó en reglas smriti que prohibían explícitamente la escritura de los Vedas. [68] Debido a la naturaleza efímera del material del manuscrito (corteza de abedul u hojas de palma), los manuscritos que se conservan rara vez superan los pocos cientos de años. [102] La Universidad Sampurnanand Sanskrit tiene un manuscrito Rigveda del siglo XIV; [103]sin embargo, hay varios manuscritos Veda más antiguos en Nepal que datan del siglo XI en adelante. [104]

Aprendizaje védico

Artículo principal: Svādhyāya

Los Vedas, los rituales védicos y sus ciencias auxiliares llamadas Vedangas , formaban parte del plan de estudios en universidades antiguas como Taxila , Nalanda y Vikramashila . [105] [106] [107] [108] Según Deshpande, "la tradición de los gramáticos sánscritos también contribuyó significativamente a la preservación e interpretación de los textos védicos". [109] Yāska (siglo IV a. C. [110] ) escribió el Nirukta , que refleja las preocupaciones sobre la pérdida de significado de los mantras, [nota 13] mientras que Pāṇinis (siglo IV a. C.)Aṣṭādhyāyī es el texto sobreviviente más importante de las tradiciones Vyākaraṇa. El erudito Mimamsa Sayanas (siglo XIV d. C.) mayor Vedartha Prakasha [nota 18] es uncomentariopoco común [111] sobre los Vedas, al que también se refieren los eruditos contemporáneos. [112]

Yaska y Sayana, que reflejan una comprensión antigua, afirman que el Veda se puede interpretar de tres maneras, dando "la verdad sobre los dioses , el dharma y el parabrahman ". [113] [114] [nota 19] El pūrva-kāņda (o karma-kanda ), la parte del Veda que se ocupa del ritual, da conocimiento del dharma , "que nos brinda satisfacción". El uttara-kanda (o jnana-kanda ), [nota 20], la parte del Veda que trata del conocimiento de lo absoluto, da conocimiento de Parabrahma , "que satisface todos nuestros deseos". [115] According to Holdrege, for the exponents of karma-kandha the Veda is to be "inscribed in the minds and hearts of men" by memorization and recitation, while for the exponents of the jnana-kanda and meditation the Vedas express a transcendental reality which can be approached with mystical means.[116]

Holdrege señala que en el aprendizaje védico "se ha dado prioridad a la recitación sobre la interpretación" de los Samhitas. [111] Galewicz afirma que Sayana, un erudito de Mimamsa , [117] [118] [119] "piensa en el Veda como algo que debe ser entrenado y dominado para ponerlo en un uso ritual práctico", notando que "no es el significado de los mantras que es más esencial [...] sino más bien el dominio perfecto de su forma de sonido. " [120] Según Galewicz, Sayana vio el propósito ( artha ) del Veda como el " artha de llevar a cabo el sacrificio", dando prioridad al Yajurveda . [117]Para Sayana, si los mantras tenían significado dependía del contexto de su uso práctico. [120] Esta concepción del Veda, como un repertorio a dominar y ejecutar, tiene prioridad sobre el significado interno o "mensaje autónomo de los himnos". [121] La mayoría de los rituales de Śrauta no se realizan en la era moderna, y los que sí lo son son raros. [122]

Mookerji señala que el Rigveda y el comentario de Sayana contienen pasajes que critican como una mera recitación infructuosa de las Ŗik (palabras) sin comprender su significado interno o esencia, el conocimiento del dharma y Parabrahman . [123] Mookerji concluye que en la educación rigvédica de los mantras "la contemplación y comprensión de su significado se consideraba más importante y vital para la educación que su mera repetición mecánica y pronunciación correcta". [124] Mookerji se refiere a Sayana diciendo que "el dominio de los textos, akshara-praptī , es seguido por artha - bodha, percepción de su significado ". [88] [nota 12] Mookerji explica que el conocimiento védico fue percibido por primera vez por los rishis y munis . Sólo el lenguaje perfecto de los Vedas, en contraste con el habla ordinaria, puede revelar estas verdades, que fueron preservados dejándolos en la memoria. [126] Según Mookerji, mientras que estas verdades son impartidas al estudiante por los textos memorizados, [127] "la realización de la Verdad " y el conocimiento de paramatman revelado a los rishis es el verdadero objetivo del aprendizaje védico, y no la mera recitación de textos. [128] El conocimiento supremo del Absoluto,para Brahman-jnana, the knowledge of rta and satya, can be obtained by taking vows of silence and obedience[129] sense-restraint, dhyana, the practice of tapas (austerities),[114] and discussing the Vedanta.[129][note 21]

Vedic schools or recensions

Main article: Shakha

Los cuatro Vedas se transmitieron en varias śākhā s (ramas, escuelas). [131] [132] Cada escuela probablemente representaba una comunidad antigua de un área o reino en particular. [132] Cada escuela siguió su propio canon. Se conocen múltiples recensiones para cada uno de los Vedas. [131] Por lo tanto, afirma Witzel y Renou, en el segundo milenio antes de nuestra era, probablemente no existía un canon de un texto védico ampliamente aceptado, ni una "Escritura" védica, sino sólo un canon de varios textos aceptados por cada escuela. Algunos de estos textos han sobrevivido, la mayoría perdidos o aún por encontrar. El Rigveda que sobrevive en los tiempos modernos, por ejemplo, se encuentra en una sola escuela de Śåkalya extremadamente bien conservada, de una región llamada Videha., en el moderno norte de Bihar , al sur de Nepal . [133] El canon védico en su totalidad consiste en textos de todas las diversas escuelas védicas tomadas juntas. [132]

Cada uno de los cuatro Vedas fue compartido por las numerosas escuelas, pero revisado, interpolado y adaptado localmente, durante y después del período védico, dando lugar a varias recensiones del texto. Algunos textos se revisaron a la era moderna, lo que generó un debate significativo sobre partes del texto que se cree que se corrompieron en una fecha posterior. [134] [135] Cada uno de los Vedas tiene un Índice o Anukramani , siendo el principal trabajo de este tipo el Índice general o Sarvānukramaṇī . [136] [137]

La antigua cultura india dedicó una energía prodigiosa a garantizar que estos textos se transmitieran de generación en generación con una fidelidad desmesurada. [138] Por ejemplo, la memorización de los sagrados Vedas incluía hasta once formas de recitación del mismo texto. Posteriormente, los textos fueron "revisados" comparando las diferentes versiones recitadas. Las formas de recitación incluían la jaṭā-pāṭha (literalmente "recitación en malla") en la que cada dos palabras adyacentes en el texto se recitaban primero en su orden original, luego se repetían en orden inverso y finalmente se repetían en el orden original. [139]Que estos métodos han sido efectivos, lo atestigua la preservación del texto religioso indio más antiguo, el Rigveda , redactado en un solo texto durante el período Brahmana , sin ninguna lectura variante dentro de esa escuela. [139]

Los Vedas se transmitieron oralmente mediante la memorización durante muchas generaciones y se escribieron por primera vez alrededor del año 1200 a. C. [140] [141] Sin embargo, todas las ediciones impresas de los Vedas que sobreviven en los tiempos modernos son probablemente la versión existente alrededor del siglo XVI d. C. [142]

Cuatro Vedas

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Vedas y sus Shakhas
Rig veda
Shakala
Bhashkala
Samaveda
Ranayana
Shatyamukhya
Vyasa
Bhaguri
Olundi
Goulgulvi
Bhanumanoupamayava
Karati
Mashaka Argya
Varshgagavya
Kuthuma
Shakugitre
Jaiminiya
Krishna Yajurveda
Taittiriya Samhita
Maitrayani Samhita
Karaka Katha Samhita
Kapisthala Kahta Samhita
Kathaka
Shukla Yajurveda
Kanava
Madhyandin
Atharvaveda
Shaunaka
Paippalada
Stauda
Mauda
Jajala
Jalada
Kuntap
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Devadarsa
Caranavaidya
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La división canónica de los Vedas es cuádruple ( turīya ) a saber, [143]

  1. Rigveda (RV)
  2. Yajurveda (YV, con la división principal TS vs. VS )
  3. Samaveda (SV)
  4. Atharvaveda (AV)

De estos, los tres primeros fueron la principal división original, también llamada " trayī vidyā "; es decir, "la triple ciencia" de recitar himnos (Rigveda), realizar sacrificios (Yajurveda) y cantar canciones (Samaveda). [144] [145] El Rig Veda probablemente se compuso entre c. 1500 y 1200. [nota 1] Witzel señala que es el período védico mismo, donde las listas incipientes dividen los textos védicos en tres (trayī) o cuatro ramas: Rig, Yajur, Sama y Atharva. [132]

Each Veda has been subclassified into four major text types – the Samhitas (mantras and benedictions), the Aranyakas (text on rituals, ceremonies such as newborn baby's rites of passage, coming of age, marriages, retirement and cremation, sacrifices and symbolic sacrifices), the Brahmanas (commentaries on rituals, ceremonies and sacrifices), and the Upanishads (text discussing meditation, philosophy and spiritual knowledge).[8][10][11] The Upasanas (short ritual worship-related sections) are considered by some scholars[12][13] as the fifth part. Witzel notes that the rituals, rites and ceremonies described in these ancient texts reconstruct to a large degree the Indo-European marriage rituals observed in a region spanning the Indian subcontinent, Persia and the European area, and some greater details are found in the Vedic era texts such as the Grhya Sūtras.[146]

Only one version of the Rigveda is known to have survived into the modern era.[133] Several different versions of the Sama Veda and the Atharva Veda are known, and many different versions of the Yajur Veda have been found in different parts of South Asia.[147]

The texts of the Upanishads discuss ideas akin to the heterodox sramana-traditions.[14]

Rigveda

Main article: Rigveda
Nasadiya Sukta (Hymn of non-Eternity):

Who really knows?
Who can here proclaim it?
Whence, whence this creation sprang?
Gods came later, after the creation of this universe.

Who then knows whence it has arisen?
Whether God's will created it, or whether He was mute;
Only He who is its overseer in highest heaven knows,

He only knows, or perhaps He does not know.

—Rig Veda 10.129.6–7[148]

The Rigveda Samhita is the oldest extant Indic text.[149] It is a collection of 1,028 Vedic Sanskrit hymns and 10,600 verses in all, organized into ten books (Sanskrit: mandalas).[150] The hymns are dedicated to Rigvedic deities.[151]

The books were composed by poets from different priestly groups over a period of several centuries between c. 1500 and 1200 BC,[note 1] (the early Vedic period) in the Punjab (Sapta Sindhu) region of the northwest Indian subcontinent. According to Michael Witzel, the initial codification of the Rigveda took place at the end of the Rigvedic period at ca. 1200 BCE, in the early Kuru kingdom.[152]

The Rigveda is structured based on clear principles. The Veda begins with a small book addressed to Agni, Indra, Soma and other gods, all arranged according to decreasing total number of hymns in each deity collection; for each deity series, the hymns progress from longer to shorter ones, but the number of hymns per book increases. Finally, the meter too is systematically arranged from jagati and tristubh to anustubh and gayatri as the text progresses.[132]

The rituals became increasingly complex over time, and the king's association with them strengthened both the position of the Brahmans and the kings.[153] The Rajasuya rituals, performed with the coronation of a king, "set in motion [...] cyclical regenerations of the universe."[154] In terms of substance, the nature of hymns shift from praise of deities in early books to Nasadiya Sukta with questions such as, "what is the origin of the universe?, do even gods know the answer?",[148] the virtue of Dāna (charity) in society,[155] and other metaphysical issues in its hymns.[note 22]

There are similarities between the mythology, rituals and linguistics in Rigveda and those found in ancient central Asia, Iranian and Hindukush (Afghanistan) regions.[156]

Samaveda

Main article: Samaveda

The Samaveda Samhita[157] consists of 1549 stanzas, taken almost entirely (except for 75 mantras) from the Rigveda.[43][158] While its earliest parts are believed to date from as early as the Rigvedic period, the existing compilation dates from the post-Rigvedic Mantra period of Vedic Sanskrit, between c. 1200 and 1000 BCE or "slightly later," roughly contemporary with the Atharvaveda and the Yajurveda.[158]

The Samaveda samhita has two major parts. The first part includes four melody collections (gāna, गान) and the second part three verse “books” (ārcika, आर्चिक).[158] A melody in the song books corresponds to a verse in the arcika books. Just as in the Rigveda, the early sections of Samaveda typically begin with hymns to Agni and Indra but shift to the abstract. Their meters shift also in a descending order. The songs in the later sections of the Samaveda have the least deviation from the hymns derived from the Rigveda.[158]

In the Samaveda, some of the Rigvedic verses are repeated.[159] Including repetitions, there are a total of 1875 verses numbered in the Samaveda recension translated by Griffith.[160] Two major recensions have survived, the Kauthuma/Ranayaniya and the Jaiminiya. Its purpose was liturgical, and they were the repertoire of the udgātṛ or "singer" priests.[161]

Yajurveda

Main article: Yajurveda

The Yajurveda Samhita consists of prose mantras.[162] It is a compilation of ritual offering formulas that were said by a priest while an individual performed ritual actions such as those before the yajna fire.[162] The core text of the Yajurveda falls within the classical Mantra period of Vedic Sanskrit at the end of the 2nd millennium BCE - younger than the Rigveda, and roughly contemporary with the Atharvaveda, the Rigvedic Khilani, and the Sāmaveda.[163] Witzel dates the Yajurveda hymns to the early Indian Iron Age, after c. 1200 and before 800 BCE.[164] corresponding to the early Kuru Kingdom.[165]

A page from the Taittiriya Samhita, a layer of text within the Yajurveda

The earliest and most ancient layer of Yajurveda samhita includes about 1,875 verses, that are distinct yet borrow and build upon the foundation of verses in Rigveda.[166] Unlike the Samaveda which is almost entirely based on Rigveda mantras and structured as songs, the Yajurveda samhitas are in prose and linguistically, they are different from earlier Vedic texts.[167] The Yajur Veda has been the primary source of information about sacrifices during Vedic times and associated rituals.[168]

There are two major groups of texts in this Veda: the "Black" (Krishna) and the "White" (Shukla). The term "black" implies "the un-arranged, motley collection" of verses in Yajurveda, in contrast to the "white" (well arranged) Yajurveda.[169] The White Yajurveda separates the Samhita from its Brahmana (the Shatapatha Brahmana), the Black Yajurveda intersperses the Samhita with Brahmana commentary. Of the Black Yajurveda, texts from four major schools have survived (Maitrayani, Katha, Kapisthala-Katha, Taittiriya), while of the White Yajurveda, two (Kanva and Madhyandina).[170][171] The youngest layer of Yajurveda text is not related to rituals nor sacrifice, it includes the largest collection of primary Upanishads, influential to various schools of Hindu philosophy.[172][173]

Atharvaveda

Main article: Atharvaveda

The Artharvaveda Samhita is the text 'belonging to the Atharvan and Angirasa poets. It has about 760 hymns, and about 160 of the hymns are in common with the Rigveda.[174] Most of the verses are metrical, but some sections are in prose.[174] Two different versions of the text – the Paippalāda and the Śaunakīya – have survived into the modern times.[174][175] The Atharvaveda was not considered as a Veda in the Vedic era, and was accepted as a Veda in late 1st millennium BCE.[176][177] It was compiled last,[178] probably around 900 BCE, although some of its material may go back to the time of the Rigveda,[2] or earlier.[174]

The Atharvaveda is sometimes called the "Veda of magical formulas",[179] an epithet declared to be incorrect by other scholars.[180] The Samhita layer of the text likely represents a developing 2nd millennium BCE tradition of magico-religious rites to address superstitious anxiety, spells to remove maladies believed to be caused by demons, and herbs- and nature-derived potions as medicine.[181][182] The text, states Kenneth Zysk, is one of oldest surviving record of the evolutionary practices in religious medicine and reveals the "earliest forms of folk healing of Indo-European antiquity".[183] Many books of the Atharvaveda Samhita are dedicated to rituals without magic, such as to philosophical speculations and to theosophy.[180]

The Atharva veda has been a primary source for information about Vedic culture, the customs and beliefs, the aspirations and frustrations of everyday Vedic life, as well as those associated with kings and governance. The text also includes hymns dealing with the two major rituals of passage – marriage and cremation. The Atharva Veda also dedicates significant portion of the text asking the meaning of a ritual.[184]

Embedded Vedic texts

Manuscripts of the Vedas are in the Sanskrit language, but in many regional scripts in addition to the Devanagari. Top: Grantha script (Tamil Nadu), Below: Malayalam script (Kerala).

Brahmanas

Further information: Brahmanas

The Brahmanas are commentaries, explanation of proper methods and meaning of Vedic Samhita rituals in the four Vedas.[38] They also incorporate myths, legends and in some cases philosophy.[38][39] Each regional Vedic shakha (school) has its own operating manual-like Brahmana text, most of which have been lost.[185] A total of 19 Brahmana texts have survived into modern times: two associated with the Rigveda, six with the Yajurveda, ten with the Samaveda and one with the Atharvaveda. The oldest dated to about 900 BCE, while the youngest Brahmanas (such as the Shatapatha Brahmana), were complete by about 700 BCE.[40][41] According to Jan Gonda, the final codification of the Brahmanas took place in pre-Buddhist times (ca. 600 BCE).[186]

The substance of the Brahmana text varies with each Veda. For example, the first chapter of the Chandogya Brahmana, one of the oldest Brahmanas, includes eight ritual suktas (hymns) for the ceremony of marriage and rituals at the birth of a child.[187][188] The first hymn is a recitation that accompanies offering a Yajna oblation to Agni (fire) on the occasion of a marriage, and the hymn prays for prosperity of the couple getting married.[187][189] The second hymn wishes for their long life, kind relatives, and a numerous progeny.[187] The third hymn is a mutual marriage pledge, between the bride and groom, by which the two bind themselves to each other. The sixth through last hymns of the first chapter in Chandogya Brahmana are ritual celebrations on the birth of a child and wishes for health, wealth, and prosperity with a profusion of cows and artha.[187] However, these verses are incomplete expositions, and their complete context emerges only with the Samhita layer of text.[190]

Aranyakas and Upanishads

Further information: Vedanta, Upanishads, and Aranyakas

The Aranyakas layer of the Vedas include rituals, discussion of symbolic meta-rituals, as well as philosophical speculations.[13][42]

Aranyakas, however, neither are homogeneous in content nor in structure.[42] They are a medley of instructions and ideas, and some include chapters of Upanishads within them. Two theories have been proposed on the origin of the word Aranyakas. One theory holds that these texts were meant to be studied in a forest, while the other holds that the name came from these being the manuals of allegorical interpretation of sacrifices, for those in Vanaprastha (retired, forest-dwelling) stage of their life, according to the historic age-based Ashrama system of human life.[191]

The Upanishads reflect the last composed layer of texts in the Vedas. They are commonly referred to as Vedānta, variously interpreted to mean either the "last chapters, parts of the Vedas" or "the object, the highest purpose of the Veda".[192] The central concern of the Upanishads are the connections "between parts of the human organism and cosmic realities."[193] The Upanishads intend to create a hierarchy of connected and dependent realities, evoking a sense of unity of "the separate elements of the world and of human experience [compressing] them into a single form."[194] The concepts of Brahman, the Ultimate Reality from which everything arises, and Ātman, the essence of the individual, are central ideas in the Upanishads,[195][196] and knowing the correspondence between Ātman and Brahman as "the fundamental principle which shapes the world" permits the creation of an integrative vision of the whole.[194][196] The Upanishads are the foundation of Hindu philosophical thought and its diverse traditions,[45][197] and of the Vedic corpus, they alone are widely known, and the central ideas of the Upanishads have influenced the diverse traditions of Hinduism.[45][198]

Aranyakas are sometimes identified as karma-kanda (ritualistic section), while the Upanishads are identified as jnana-kanda (spirituality section).[50][51][52][note 5] In an alternate classification, the early part of Vedas are called Samhitas and the commentary are called the Brahmanas which together are identified as the ceremonial karma-kanda, while Aranyakas and Upanishads are referred to as the jnana-kanda.[53]

Post-Vedic literature

Vedanga

Main article: Vedanga

The Vedangas developed towards the end of the vedic period, around or after the middle of the 1st millennium BCE. These auxiliary fields of Vedic studies emerged because the language of the Vedas, composed centuries earlier, became too archaic to the people of that time.[199] The Vedangas were sciences that focused on helping understand and interpret the Vedas that had been composed many centuries earlier.[199]

The six subjects of Vedanga are phonetics (Śikṣā), poetic meter (Chandas), grammar (Vyākaraṇa), etymology and linguistics (Nirukta), rituals and rites of passage (Kalpa), time keeping and astronomy (Jyotiṣa).[200][201][202]

Vedangas developed as ancillary studies for the Vedas, but its insights into meters, structure of sound and language, grammar, linguistic analysis and other subjects influenced post-Vedic studies, arts, culture and various schools of Hindu philosophy.[203][204][205] The Kalpa Vedanga studies, for example, gave rise to the Dharma-sutras, which later expanded into Dharma-shastras.[199][206]

Parisista

Main article: Parisista

Pariśiṣṭa "supplement, appendix" is the term applied to various ancillary works of Vedic literature, dealing mainly with details of ritual and elaborations of the texts logically and chronologically prior to them: the Samhitas, Brahmanas, Aranyakas and Sutras. Naturally classified with the Veda to which each pertains, Parisista works exist for each of the four Vedas. However, only the literature associated with the Atharvaveda is extensive.

  • The Āśvalāyana Gṛhya Pariśiṣṭa is a very late text associated with the Rigveda canon.
  • The Gobhila Gṛhya Pariśiṣṭa is a short metrical text of two chapters, with 113 and 95 verses respectively.
  • The Kātiya Pariśiṣṭas, ascribed to Kātyāyana, consist of 18 works enumerated self-referentially in the fifth of the series (the Caraṇavyūha) and the Kātyāyana Śrauta Sūtra Pariśiṣṭa.
  • The Kṛṣṇa Yajurveda has 3 parisistas The Āpastamba Hautra Pariśiṣṭa, which is also found as the second praśna of the Satyasāḍha Śrauta Sūtra', the Vārāha Śrauta Sūtra Pariśiṣṭa
  • For the Atharvaveda, there are 79 works, collected as 72 distinctly named parisistas.[207]

Upaveda

The term upaveda ("applied knowledge") is used in traditional literature to designate the subjects of certain technical works.[208][209] Lists of what subjects are included in this class differ among sources. The Charanavyuha mentions four Upavedas:[210]

  • Archery (Dhanurveda), associated with the Yajurveda
  • Architecture (Sthapatyaveda), associated with the RigVeda.
  • Music and sacred dance (Gāndharvaveda), associated with the Samaveda
  • Medicine (Āyurveda), associated with the Atharvaveda.[211][212]

"Fifth" and other Vedas

Some post-Vedic texts, including the Mahabharata, the Natyasastra[213] and certain Puranas, refer to themselves as the "fifth Veda".[214] The earliest reference to such a "fifth Veda" is found in the Chandogya Upanishad in hymn 7.1.2.[215]

Let drama and dance (Nātya, नाट्य) be the fifth vedic scripture. Combined with an epic story, tending to virtue, wealth, joy and spiritual freedom, it must contain the significance of every scripture, and forward every art. Thus, from all the Vedas, Brahma framed the Nātya Veda. From the Rig Veda he drew forth the words, from the Sama Veda the melody, from the Yajur Veda gesture, and from the Atharva Veda the sentiment.

— First chapter of Nātyaśāstra, Abhinaya Darpana [216][217]

"Divya Prabandha", for example Tiruvaymoli, is a term for canonical Tamil texts considered as Vernacular Veda by some South Indian Hindus.[33][34]

Other texts such as the Bhagavad Gita or the Vedanta Sutras are considered shruti or "Vedic" by some Hindu denominations but not universally within Hinduism. The Bhakti movement, and Gaudiya Vaishnavism in particular extended the term veda to include the Sanskrit Epics and Vaishnavite devotional texts such as the Pancaratra.[218]

Puranas

Main article: Puranas

The Puranas is a vast genre of encyclopedic Indian literature about a wide range of topics particularly myths, legends and other traditional lore.[219] Several of these texts are named after major Hindu deities such as Vishnu, Shiva and Devi.[220][221] There are 18 Maha Puranas (Great Puranas) and 18 Upa Puranas (Minor Puranas), with over 400,000 verses.[219]

The Puranas have been influential in the Hindu culture.[222][223] They are considered Vaidika (congruent with Vedic literature).[224] The Bhagavata Purana has been among the most celebrated and popular text in the Puranic genre, and is of non-dualistic tenor.[225][226] The Puranic literature wove with the Bhakti movement in India, and both Dvaita and Advaita scholars have commented on the underlying Vedanta themes in the Maha Puranas.[227]

Authority of the Vedas

The various Hindu denominations and Indian philosophies have taken differing positions on the authority of the Vedas. Schools of Indian philosophy which acknowledge the authority of the Vedas are classified as "orthodox" (āstika).[note 23] Other śramaṇa traditions, such as Lokayata, Carvaka, Ajivika, Buddhism and Jainism, which did not regard the Vedas as authorities, are referred to as "heterodox" or "non-orthodox" (nāstika) schools.[14][26]

Though many religious Hindus implicitly acknowledge the authority of the Vedas, this acknowledgment is often "no more than a declaration that someone considers himself [or herself] a Hindu,"[229][note 24] and "most Indians today pay lip service to the Veda and have no regard for the contents of the text."[230] Some Hindus challenge the authority of the Vedas, thereby implicitly acknowledging its importance to the history of Hinduism, states Lipner.[231]

Hindu reform movement such as Arya Samaj and Brahmo Samaj accepted the authority of Vedas,[232] while the authority of the Vedas has been rejected by Hindu modernists like Debendranath Tagore and Keshub Chandra Sen;[233] and also by social reformers like B. R. Ambedkar.[234]

Western Indology

Further information: Sanskrit studies

The study of Sanskrit in the West began in the 17th century. In the early 19th century, Arthur Schopenhauer drew attention to Vedic texts, specifically the Upanishads. The importance of Vedic Sanskrit for Indo-European studies was also recognized in the early 19th century. English translations of the Samhitas were published in the later 19th century, in the Sacred Books of the East series edited by Müller between 1879 and 1910.[235]Ralph T. H. Griffith also presented English translations of the four Samhitas, published 1889 to 1899.

Rigveda manuscripts were selected for inscription in UNESCO's Memory of the World Register in 2007.[236]

See also

  • Hindu philosophy
  • Historical Vedic religion
  • Pyramid Texts
  • Shakha
  • Vedic chant
  • Brahminism

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f It is certain that the hymns of the Rig Veda post-date Indo-Iranian separation of ca. 2000 BC and probably that of the relevant Mitanni documents of c. 1400 BC. The oldest available text is estimated to be from 1200 BC. Philological estimates tend to date the bulk of the text to the second half of the second millennium:
    • Max Müller: "the hymns of the Rig-Veda are said to date from 1500 B.C."[237]
    • The EIEC (s.v. Indo-Iranian languages, p. 306) gives 1500–1000 BC.
    • Flood and Witzel both mention c. 1500–1200 BC.[2][56]
    • Anthony mentions c. 1500–1300 BC.[64]
    • Thomas Oberlies (Die Religion des Rgveda, 1998, p. 158) based on 'cumulative evidence' sets a wide range of 1700–1100 BC.[65] Oberlies 1998, p. 155 gives an estimate of 1100 BC for the youngest hymns in book 10.[238]
    • Witzel 1995, p. 4 mentions c. 1500–1200 BC. According to Witzel 1997, p. 263, the whole Rig Vedic period may have lasted from c. 1900 BCE to c. 1200 BCE: "the bulk of the RV represents only 5 or 6 generations of kings (and of the contemporary poets)24 of the Pūru and Bharata tribes. It contains little else before and after this “snapshot” view of contemporary Rgvedic history, as reported by these contemporary “tape recordings.” On the other hand, the whole Rgvedic period may have lasted even up to 700 years, from the infiltration of the Indo-Aryans into the subcontinent, c. 1900 B.C. (at the utmost, the time of collapse of the Indus civilization), up to c. 1200 B.C., the time of the introduction of iron which is first mentioned in the clearly post-vedic hymns of the Atharvaveda."
  2. ^ Elisa Freschi (2012): "The Vedas are not deontic authorities in absolute sense and may be disobeyed, but are recognized as a deontological epistemic authority by a Hindu orthodox school."Freschi 2012, p. 62 This differentiation between epistemic and deontic authority is true for all Indian religions.
  3. ^ For a table of all Vedic texts see Witzel 2003, pp. 100–101.
  4. ^ The Vedic Sanskrit corpus is incorporated in A Vedic Word Concordance (Vaidika-Padānukrama-Koṣa) prepared from 1930 under Vishva Bandhu, and published in five volumes in 1935–1965. Its scope extends to about 400 texts, including the entire Vedic Sanskrit corpus besides some "sub-Vedic" texts. Volume I: Samhitas, Volume II: Brahmanas and Aranyakas, Volume III: Upanishads, Volume IV: Vedangas; A revised edition, extending to about 1800 pages, was published in 1973–1976.
  5. ^ a b Edward Roer (Translator), Shankara's Introduction at Google Books to Brihad Aranyaka Upanishad at pp. 1–5: "The Vedas are divided in two parts, the first is the karma-kanda, the ceremonial part, also (called) purva-kanda, and treats on ceremonies; the second part is the jnana kanda, the part which contains knowledge, also named uttara-kanda or posterior part, and unfolds the knowledge of Brahma or the universal soul."
  6. ^ "As a skilled craftsman makes a car, a singer I, Mighty One! this hymn for thee have fashioned. If thou, O Agni, God, accept it gladly, may we obtain thereby the heavenly Waters". – Rigveda 5.2.11, Translated by Ralph T.H. Griffith[55]
  7. ^ Gavin Flood sums up mainstream estimates, according to which the Rigveda was compiled from as early as 1500 BCE over a period of several centuries.[2]
  8. ^ Broo 2016, p. 92 quotes Harold G. Coward and K. Kunjunni Raja.
  9. ^ Of the complete Veda, by pāțha-śālā (priestly schools), as distinguished from the transmission in the pūjā, the daily services.[75]
  10. ^ Several authors refer to the Chinese Buddhist Monk I-Tsing, who visited India in the 7th century to retrieve Buddhist texts and gave examples of mnemonic techniques used in India:[80] "In India there are two traditional ways in which one can attain great intellectual power. Firstly by repeatedly committing to memory the intellect is developed; secondly the alphabet fixes (to) one's ideas. By this way, after a practice of ten days or a month, a student feels his thoughts rise like a fountain, and can commit to memory whatever he has heard once."[81][80]
  11. ^ Staal: [this tradition of oral transmission is] "by far the more remarkable [than the relatively recent tradition of written transmission], not merely because it is characteristically Indian and unlike anything we find elsewhere, but also because it has led to scientific discoveries that are of enduring interest and from which the contemporary West still has much to learn." Schiffman (2012, p. 171), quoting Staal (1986, p. 27)
    Staal argued that the ancient Indian grammarians, especially Pāṇini, had completely mastered methods of linguistic theory not rediscovered again until the 1950s and the applications of modern mathematical logic to linguistics by Noam Chomsky. (Chomsky himself has said that the first generative grammar in the modern sense was Panini's grammar).[85] These early Indian methods allowed the construction of discrete, potentially infinite generative systems. Remarkably, these early linguistic systems were codified orally, though writing was then used to develop them in some way. The formal basis for Panini's methods involved the use of "auxiliary" markers, rediscovered in the 1930s by the logician Emil Post.[86]
  12. ^ a b Artha may also mean "goal, purpose or essence," depending on the context.[125]
  13. ^ a b Klostermaier 2007, p. 55: "Kautas, a teacher mentioned in the Nirukta by Yāska (ca. 500 BCE), a work devoted to an etymology of Vedic words that were no longer understood by ordinary people, held that the word of the Veda was no longer perceived as meaningful "normal" speech but as a fixed sequence of sounds, whose meaning was obscure beyond recovery."

    The tenth through twelfth volumes of the first Prapathaka of the Chandogya Upanishad (800-600 BCE) describe a legend about priests and it criticizes how they go about reciting verses and singing hymns without any idea what they mean or the divine principle they signify.[91]
  14. ^ According to Holdrege, srotriyas (a group of male Brahmin reciters who are masters of sruti[70]) "frequently do not understand what they recite" when reciting the Samhitas, merely preserving the sound of the text.[89]
  15. ^ Klostermaier: "Brahman, derived from the root bŗh = to grow, to become great, was originally identical with the Vedic word, that makes people prosper: words were the pricipan means to approach the gods who dwelled in a different sphere. It was not a big step from this notion of "reified speech-act" to that "of the speech-act being looked at implicitly and explicitly as a means to an end." Klostermaier 2007, p. 55 quotes Deshpande 1990, p. 4.
  16. ^ Coward 2008, p. 114: "For the Mimamsa the ultimate reality is nothing other than the eternal words of the Vedas. They did not accept the existence of a single supreme creator god, who might have composed the Veda. According to the Mimamsa, gods named in the Vedas have no existence apart from the mantras that speak their names. The power of the gods, then, is nothing other than the power of the mantras that name them."
  17. ^ The early Buddhist texts are also generally believed to be of oral tradition, with the first Pali Canon written many centuries after the death of the Buddha.[96]
  18. ^ Literally, "the meaning of the Vedas made manifest."
  19. ^ Sayana repeats Yaska; see interpretation of the Vedas.
  20. ^ The Upanishads.[51]
  21. ^ Mookerji also refers to the Uśanā smriti (81-2), which "states that mastery of mere text of Veda is to be followed up by its meaning" by discussing the Vedanta.[129] where-after they were able to engage in doscourses on the Vedas.[130][95]
  22. ^ For example,
    Hymn 1.164.34, "What is the ultimate limit of the earth?", "What is the center of the universe?", "What is the semen of the cosmic horse?", "What is the ultimate source of human speech?"
    Hymn 1.164.34, "Who gave blood, soul, spirit to the earth?", "How could the unstructured universe give origin to this structured world?"
    Hymn 1.164.5, "Where does the sun hide in the night?", "Where do gods live?"
    Hymn 1.164.6, "What, where is the unborn support for the born universe?";
    Hymn 1.164.20 (a hymn that is widely cited in the Upanishads as the parable of the Body and the Soul): "Two birds with fair wings, inseparable companions; Have found refuge in the same sheltering tree. One incessantly eats from the fig tree; the other, not eating, just looks on.";
    Sources: (a) Antonio de Nicholas (2003), Meditations Through the Rig Veda: Four-Dimensional Man, ISBN 978-0-595-26925-9, pp. 64–69;
    Jan Gonda, A History of Indian Literature: Veda and Upanishads, Volume 1, Part 1, Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, ISBN 978-3-447-01603-2, pp. 134–135;
    Rigveda Book 1, Hymn 164 Wikisource
  23. ^ Elisa Freschi (2012): "The Vedas are not deontic authorities in absolute sense and may be disobeyed, but are recognized as a deontological epistemic authority by a Hindu orthodox school."[228] This differentiation between epistemic and deontic authority is true for all Indian religions.
  24. ^ Lipner quotes Brockington (1981), The sacred tread, p.5.

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  116. ^ Holdrege 1996, pp. 355, 356–357.
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  124. ^ Mookerji 2011, pp. 29, 34.
  125. ^ See:
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     • Karl Potter (1998), Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies, Volume 4, ISBN 81-208-0310-8, Motilal Banarsidass, pp 610 (note 17)
  126. ^ Mookerji 2011, pp. 34–35.
  127. ^ Mookerji 2011, pp. 35–36.
  128. ^ Mookerji 2011, p. 36.
  129. ^ a b c Mookerji 2011, p. 196.
  130. ^ Mookerji 2011, p. 29.
  131. ^ a b Flood 1996, p. 39.
  132. ^ a b c d e Witzel, M., "The Development of the Vedic Canon and its Schools : The Social and Political Milieu", Harvard University, in Witzel 1997, pp. 261–264
  133. ^ a b Jamison and Witzel (1992), Vedic Hinduism, Harvard University, p. 6
  134. ^ J. Muir (1872), Original Sanskrit Texts on the Origin and History of the People of India, their religion and institutions, Vol. 1 at Google Books, 2nd Edition, p. 12
  135. ^ Albert Friedrich Weber, Indische Studien, herausg. von at Google Books, Vol. 10, pp. 1–9 with footnotes (in German); For a translation, Original Sanskrit Texts at Google Books, p. 14
  136. ^ For an example, see Sarvānukramaṇī Vivaraṇa Univ of Pennsylvania rare texts collection
  137. ^ R̥gveda-sarvānukramaṇī Śaunakakr̥tāʼnuvākānukramaṇī ca, Maharṣi-Kātyayāna-viracitā, OCLC 11549595
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  139. ^ a b Filliozat 2004, p. 139
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  141. ^ Brown, Brian Arthur (8 July 2016). Four Testaments: Tao Te Ching, Analects, Dhammapada, Bhagavad Gita: Sacred Scriptures of Taoism, Confucianism, Buddhism, and Hinduism. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-4422-6578-3.
  142. ^ Witzel 2003, p. 69, "... almost all printed editions depend on the late manuscripts that are hardly older than 500 years"
  143. ^ Radhakrishnan & Moore 1957, p. 3; Witzel 2003, p. 68
  144. ^ Witzel, M., "The Development of the Vedic Canon and its Schools : The Social and Political Milieu" in Witzel 1997, pp. 257–348
  145. ^ MacDonell 2004, pp. 29–39.
  146. ^ Jamison and Witzel (1992), Vedic Hinduism, Harvard University, p. 21
  147. ^ Witzel, M., "The Development of the Vedic Canon and its Schools : The Social and Political Milieu" in Witzel 1997, p. 286
  148. ^ a b Original Sanskrit: Rigveda 10.129 Wikisource;
     • Translation 1: Max Müller (1859). A History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature. Williams and Norgate, London. pp. 559–565.
     • Translation 2: Kenneth Kramer (1986). World Scriptures: An Introduction to Comparative Religions. Paulist Press. p. 21. ISBN 978-0-8091-2781-8.
     • Translation 3: David Christian (2011). Maps of Time: An Introduction to Big History. University of California Press. pp. 17–18. ISBN 978-0-520-95067-2.
  149. ^ see e.g. Avari 2007, p. 77.
  150. ^ For 1,028 hymns and 10,600 verses and division into ten mandalas, see: Avari 2007, p. 77.
  151. ^ For characterization of content and mentions of deities including Agni, Indra, Varuna, Soma, Surya, etc. see: Avari 2007, p. 77.
  152. ^ Witzel 1997, p. 261.
  153. ^ Prasad 2020, pp. 150–151.
  154. ^ Prasad 2020, p. 151.
  155. ^ Original text translated in English: The Rig Veda, Mandala 10, Hymn 117, Ralph T.H. Griffith (Translator);
    C Chatterjee (1995), Values in the Indian Ethos: An Overview, Journal of Human Values, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 3–12
  156. ^ Michael Witzel, The Rigvedic religious system and its central Asian and Hindukush antecedents, in The Vedas – Texts, Language and Ritual, Editors: Griffiths and Houben (2004), Brill Academic, ISBN 978-90-6980-149-0, pp. 581–627
  157. ^ From sāman, the term for a melody applied to a metrical hymn or a song of praise, Apte 1965, p. 981.
  158. ^ a b c d Witzel, M., "The Development of the Vedic Canon and its Schools : The Social and Political Milieu" in Witzel 1997, pp. 269–270
  159. ^ M Bloomfield, Rig-veda Repetitions, p. 402, at Google Books, pp. 402–464
  160. ^ For 1875 total verses, see the numbering given in Ralph T. H. Griffith. Griffith's introduction mentions the recension history for his text. Repetitions may be found by consulting the cross-index in Griffith pp. 491–499.
  161. ^ Wilke & Moebus 2011, p. 381.
  162. ^ a b Witzel 2003, pp. 76–77.
  163. ^ The Development of the Vedic Canon and its Schools, Michael Witzel, Harvard University
  164. ^ Autochthonous Aryans? Michael Witzel, Harvard University
  165. ^ Early Sanskritization Archived 20 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Michael Witzel, Harvard University
  166. ^ Antonio de Nicholas (2003), Meditations Through the Rig Veda: Four-Dimensional Man, ISBN 978-0-595-26925-9, pp. 273–274
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  168. ^ Witzel, M., "The Development of the Vedic Canon and its Schools : The Social and Political Milieu" in Witzel 1997, pp. 272–274
  169. ^ Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-81-208-1468-4, pp. 217–219
  170. ^ Michaels 2004, p. 52 Table 3.
  171. ^ CL Prabhakar (1972), The Recensions of the Sukla Yajurveda, Archív Orientální, Volume 40, Issue 1, pp. 347–353
  172. ^ Paul Deussen, The Philosophy of the Upanishads, Motilal Banarsidass (2011 Edition), ISBN 978-81-208-1620-6, p. 23
  173. ^ Patrick Olivelle (1998), Upaniṣhads, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-282292-6, pp. 1–17
  174. ^ a b c d Michaels 2004, p. 56.
  175. ^ Frits Staal (2009), Discovering the Vedas: Origins, Mantras, Rituals, Insights, Penguin, ISBN 978-0-14-309986-4, pp. 136–137
  176. ^ Frits Staal (2009), Discovering the Vedas: Origins, Mantras, Rituals, Insights, Penguin, ISBN 978-0-14-309986-4, p. 135
  177. ^ Alex Wayman (1997), Untying the Knots in Buddhism, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-81-208-1321-2, pp. 52–53
  178. ^ "The latest of the four Vedas, the Atharva-Veda, is, as we have seen, largely composed of magical texts and charms, but here and there we find cosmological hymns which anticipate the Upanishads, – hymns to Skambha, the 'Support', who is seen as the first principle which is both the material and efficient cause of the universe, to Prāna, the 'Breath of Life', to Vāc, the 'Word', and so on." Zaehner 1966, p. vii.
  179. ^ Laurie Patton (2004), Veda and Upanishad, in The Hindu World (Editors: Sushil Mittal and Gene Thursby), Routledge, ISBN 0-415-21527-7, p. 38
  180. ^ a b Jan Gonda (1975), Vedic Literature: Saṃhitās and Brāhmaṇas, Vol 1, Fasc. 1, Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, ISBN 978-3-447-01603-2, pp. 277–280, Quote: "It would be incorrect to describe the Atharvaveda Samhita as a collection of magical formulas".
  181. ^ Kenneth Zysk (2012), Understanding Mantras (Editor: Harvey Alper), Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-81-208-0746-4, pp. 123–129
  182. ^ On magic spells and charms, such as those to gain better health: Atharva Veda 2.32 Bhaishagykni, Charm to secure perfect health Maurice Bloomfield (Translator), Sacred Books of the East, Vol. 42, Oxford University Press; see also chapters 3.11, 3.31, 4.10, 5.30, 19.26;
    On finding a good husband: Atharva Veda 4.2.36 Strijaratani Maurice Bloomfield (Translator), Sacred Books of the East, Vol. 42, Oxford University Press; Atharvaveda dedicates over 30 chapters to love relationships, sexuality and for conceiving a child, see e.g. chapters 1.14, 2.30, 3.25, 6.60, 6.78, 6.82, 6.130–6.132; On peaceful social and family relationships: Atharva Veda 6.3.30 Maurice Bloomfield (Translator), Sacred Books of the East, Vol. 42, Oxford University Press;
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  186. ^ Klostermaier 1994, p. 67.
  187. ^ a b c d Max Müller, Chandogya Upanishad, The Upanishads, Part I, Oxford University Press, p. lxxxvii with footnote 2
  188. ^ Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-81-208-1468-4, p. 63
  189. ^ The Development of the Female Mind in India, p. 27, at Google Books, The Calcutta Review, Volume 60, p. 27
  190. ^ Jan Gonda (1975), Vedic Literature: (Saṃhitās and Brāhmaṇas), Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, ISBN 978-3-447-01603-2, pp. 319–322, 368–383 with footnotes
  191. ^ AB Keith (2007), The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-81-208-0644-3, pp. 489–490
  192. ^ Max Müller, The Upanishads, Part 1, Oxford University Press, p. lxxxvi footnote 1
  193. ^ Olivelle 1998, p. liii.
  194. ^ a b Olivelle 1998, p. lv.
  195. ^ Mahadevan 1952, p. 59.
  196. ^ a b PT Raju (1985), Structural Depths of Indian Thought, State University of New York Press, ISBN 978-0-88706-139-4, pp. 35–36
  197. ^ Wiman Dissanayake (1993), Self as Body in Asian Theory and Practice (Editors: Thomas P. Kasulis et al), State University of New York Press, ISBN 978-0-7914-1080-6, p. 39; Quote: "The Upanishads form the foundations of Hindu philosophical thought and the central theme of the Upanishads is the identity of Atman and Brahman, or the inner self and the cosmic self.";
    Michael McDowell and Nathan Brown (2009), World Religions, Penguin, ISBN 978-1-59257-846-7, pp. 208–210
  198. ^ Patrick Olivelle (2014), The Early Upanisads, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-535242-9, p. 3; Quote: "Even though theoretically the whole of vedic corpus is accepted as revealed truth [shruti], in reality it is the Upanishads that have continued to influence the life and thought of the various religious traditions that we have come to call Hindu. Upanishads are the scriptures par excellence of Hinduism".
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  232. ^ Muhammad Khalid Masud (2000). Travellers in Faith: Studies of the Tablīghī Jamāʻat as a Transnational Islamic Movement for Faith Renewal. BRILL. p. 50. ISBN 978-90-04-11622-1.
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  235. ^ Müller, Friedrich Max (author) & Stone, Jon R. (author, editor) (2002). The essential Max Müller: on language, mythology, and religion. Illustrated edition. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-312-29309-3. Source: [1] (accessed: Friday May 7, 2010), p. 44
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  238. ^ Oberlies 1998, p. 155.

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Further reading

Overviews
  • J. Gonda, Vedic Literature: Saṃhitās and Brāhmaṇas, A History of Indian literature. Vol. 1, Veda and Upanishads, Wiesnaden: Harrassowitz (1975), ISBN 978-3-447-01603-2.
  • J.A. Santucci, An Outline of Vedic Literature, Scholars Press for the American Academy of Religion, (1976).
  • S. Shrava, A Comprehensive History of Vedic Literature – Brahmana and Aranyaka Works, Pranava Prakashan (1977).
Concordances
  • M. Bloomfield, A Vedic Concordance (1907)
  • Vishva Bandhu, Bhim Dev, S. Bhaskaran Nair (eds.), Vaidika-Padānukrama-Koṣa: A Vedic Word-Concordance, Vishveshvaranand Vedic Research Institute, Hoshiarpur, 1963–1965, revised edition 1973–1976.
Conference proceedings
  • Griffiths, Arlo and Houben, Jan E.M. (eds.), The Vedas : texts, language & ritual: proceedings of the Third International Vedic Workshop, Leiden 2002, Groningen Oriental Studies 20, Groningen : Forsten, (2004), ISBN 90-6980-149-3.

External links

  • Sketch of the Historical Grammar of the Rig and Atharva Vedas, Edward Vernon Arnold, Journal of the American Oriental Society
  • On the History and the Present State of Vedic Tradition in Nepal, Michael Witzel
  • GRETIL etexts
  • A Vedic Concordance, Maurice Bloomfield, Harvard University (an alphabetic index to every line, every stanza of the Vedas published before 1906)
  • An Enlarged Electronic Version of Bloomfield's A Vedic Concordance, Harvard University
  • The Vedas at sacred-texts.com