About Vedas - Part I

In this Universe, created by the great Creator, among living things, which include humans, plants and animals, the humans are considered to be the most precious and great.  Humans are precious because of the intelligence they possess which gives them ability to analyze the things and decide what is good and what is not good.

Human life is a journey which starts from birth and ends in death. This journey should be such that all duties should be completed resulting in contended life and also achieving ultimate goal of life i.e. eternal bliss. The knowledge about these duties has been passed on to us by forefathers through scriptures such as Vedas and Puranas. There are 14 basic scriptures and additional 4 which together are called as ashtadasha-vidya

In this article we are enumerating names and short description of 18 vidyas - 4 vedas, 6 angas of Veda, 4 upangas of Veda and 4 upavedas 

Vedas (4)

1. Rgveda - "Rk" means a "stotra", a hymn. Rgveda samhita is a collection of hymns in praise of deities. Each rk is a mantra and the group of mantras chanted in praise of certain deity constitutes a sukta
2. Yajurveda - "Yajus" word comes from root "yaj" meaning "to worship". From same root there is also a word "Yajna". "Yajus" means worship associated with sacrifices. Whereas Rigveda is full of hymns, Yajurveda is an application of hymns to perform sacrifices or yajnas.
3. Samaveda - "Sama" means that when chanted or sang brings tranquility to the mind. The goal of Sama is to establish a friendship through affection. Sama, daana, danda and bheda are four ways to resolve conflicts or deal with people. Through sama one can establish friendship, even with God by singing His glories.
4. Atharvaveda - "Atharvan" means priest i.e. purohit. There was  sage with name Atharvan who saw this veda and hence it got his name. It contains mantras with the help of which one can overcome misfortunes and disasters. It is a mixture of prose and poetry.

Each veda is again divided in four parts Samhita, Brahmana, Aranyaka and Upanishad. Samhita is main part or text of a veda. Samhita means systematized collection. It is a collection of hymns. Usually when any veda is referred it points to its samhita part. Brahmana part of a veda describes various rites and procedure to perform them. Essentially it is a guide to conduct yajnas. Aranyaka part of veda explains hidden meaning of veda. Upanishad is the final part of veda. The main goal of upanishad is deep inquiry of ultimate reality and achieving a stage where one becomes detached from all karmas or rather detached from fruits of karmas and hence achieves eternal bliss. 

Personified Veda is called Vedapurusha. Scriptures listed below are called limbs (angas and upangas) of Vedapurusha.

Angas of Veda (6)

1. Shiksa - this is considered as nose of Vedapurusha. Nose helps in breathing. Shiksa is the life-breath of Veda mantras. Shiksa explains how the vedas should be pronounced to get exact sound (note) as Vedas were originally perceived as sound waves only. Efficacy of mantras chanted depends on how a syllable is vocalized. Hence this science deals with achieving perfection in vocalizing mantras from vedas. There are number of books on this subject like Vyasa Shiksha, Vyali Shiksha. Shiksha also explains the techniques involved in pronouncing a particular alphabet to get the exact pronunciation.
2. Vyakarana - this is considered as mouth of Vedapurusha.  Vyakarana lays down the principles of speaking the Sanskrit language. The method of pronouncing the alphabet differs when Sanskrit language is used in Vedas and in day-to-day life. There are a number of texts on this subject. It is presumed that Lord Hanuman knew nine different texts of this grammar and was known as the greatest knowledgeable person of Vyakarana.
3. Chandas - this is considered as foot of Vedapurusha. This deals with formation of sentences. Vedas consist of poetry and prose. The poetry has meters which are measurements for example there is a measurement for each syllable in mantra in terms of number of matras. The basic meters are Gayatri, Ushnik, Anushtubh, Brhati, Pankti, Trishtubh and Jagati.
4. Nirukta - this is considered as ear of Vedapurusha. This text deals with origins or roots of the words. So it serves as a dictionary. In Vedas we come across a term having different meaning and at same time different terms having the same meaning. Nirukta explains the context in which these have to be understood.
5. Jyotisha - this is considered as eye of Vedapurusha. This explains how to calculate the time for performing karmas. This is divided into parts. Phalashashtra – this deals with astrology i.e. effect of planet on human life due to their movement in the Zodiac. Besides this it helps in calculating the time and the date for performing various religious right and the effect of those rights when performed at that particular time. It explains about the Devatas connected with the planets and stars. The other part deals with astronomy i.e. examining position of planets and other heavenly bodies.
6. Kalpa - this is considered as hand of Vedapurusha. This explains the method and the places where the rites (karmas) have to be performed as stated in Vedas. It deals with details of how rituals are to be performed, how many priests are needed, how to construct Yajna mandap (Shala), what should be the size of the yajna kunda, in what directions they have to be placed and what are the methods of performing Homa etc. Kalpa contains Grihyasutras and Srautasutras which deal with 40 samskaras to be performed from the time of conception to the death. There are many sages who contributed to Kalpa for example Apastamba, Bodhayana etc.

Upangas of Veda (4)

1. Mimansa - Mimansa word comes from the root "Mam", "san" is pratyaya (qualifying prefix). "Mimansa" means sacred inquiry of Vedas
2. Nyaya - science of reasoning. It seeks to prove existence of god through inference.
3. Purana- this is magnifying glass of Vedas. Puranas contain stories that elaborate principles and rules of dharma from Vedas
4. Dharmashastra - This deals with describing orderly way of doing things pertaining to household and personal matters. It provides answers to questions such as how we build our houses, how we should dress, what to eat, what not to eat with the goal of performing actions that do not accumulate any sin. 

Upavedas (4)

1. Ayurveda - This is the veda which pertains to medicines as well as method to be adopted to lead healthy and peaceful life. It gives guidelines for maintaining healthy mind and body. This was perceived by Maharshi Dhanvantari. The medicines and methods stated in this Veda are useful even in these modern days. There are other granthas also about this Ayurvedic Shastra written by Madhava, Charaka, Vagbhata etc.
2. Arthashastra - This deals with justice and governance i.e. guideline and rules for the kings (rulers) for ruling the kingdom and for delivering judgments. It also deals with collection of taxes from people and other smaller rules. Besides this it explains the methods of escaping from the enemies and the rajatantra to overthrow enemies and other rulers.
3. Dhanurveda - This has 2 branches namely, Astra and Shastra. Astra deals with use of weapons like arrow, blades of sacred grass to be launched by reciting mantras. Shastra deals about weapons like sword, lance, axe, shield etc. Dhanurveda deals with manufacturing of above weapons. Besides this it also deals with methods of deployment of army in a battle field like Garuda or Padma, shape of deployment.
4. Gandharvaveda - This explains various aspects of music, dance and musical instruments.

This information is based on study of lectures of His Highness Shri Shankaracharya of Kanchi published in a Tamil Spiritual magazine. Apologies for any mistakes or omissions in conveying the information.