The Four Vedasचार वेद

The four Vedas

• Rigveda — the Veda of hymns (ṛk): about 1,028 hymns in ten books (mandalas) to Agni, Indra, Soma, Varuna and other devas; the Gayatri mantra is Rigveda 3.62.10.
• Yajurveda — the Veda of sacrificial formulas (yajus), in two branches: the Shukla (White) Yajurveda and the Krishna (Black) Yajurveda; the Shri Rudram is in the Krishna Yajurveda.
• Samaveda — the Veda of melodies (sāman): mostly Rigvedic verses set to music for singing at sacrifices; Indian classical music traces its roots here.
• Atharvaveda — hymns and charms for daily life, healing, protection and philosophy, including some of the earliest ideas of medicine.

The layers of each Veda

• Samhita — the collection of mantras and hymns
• Brahmana — prose explaining the rituals
• Aranyaka — "forest texts" reflecting on the inner meaning of ritual
• Upanishad — philosophical teachings on Brahman and the Self (Vedanta, "the end of the Veda")

Vedangas and Upavedas

Six Vedangas ("limbs of the Veda") help preserve and understand it: Shiksha (phonetics), Kalpa (ritual), Vyakarana (grammar), Nirukta (etymology), Chandas (metre) and Jyotisha (astronomy, for timing rituals). Four Upavedas are associated with the Vedas: Ayurveda (medicine), Dhanurveda (archery and warfare), Gandharvaveda (music and dance) and Sthapatya Veda (architecture).

How the Vedas were preserved

For thousands of years the Vedas were passed down orally, from teacher to student, with elaborate methods of recitation (pathas such as pada, krama, jata and ghana) that cross-check every syllable. In 2003 UNESCO proclaimed the tradition of Vedic chanting a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.

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