What are the Vedas and how were they created?

The word “Veda” has been derived from the verb “Vid” and stands for acquiring knowledge or the means of acquiring knowledge. It is believed that the Vedas were created by God for the welfare of mankind, much before the creation of man. This is also precisely the reason why they are called eternal (anadi).

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There are many theories regarding the creation of the Vedas, some of them are:

• The ancient seven great sages, collectively referred to as the Saptarshi authored the Vedas.

• The four Vedas originated from the four mouths of Lord Brahma.

• According to Puranic literature, the Vedas were created by different Deities, according to their functions in the Universe. It is said that the Rugveda was created by Agni (the Deity of Fire), the Yajurveda by Vayu (the Deity of Air) and the Samaveda from Aditya (the Sun Deity).

• The Vedas originated from Omkar (the word “Om”). As per the Shiva Puran, the Rugveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda and Atharvaveda have originated from the letters a (अ), u (उ), m(म). The Bhagvad Gita states that all of the Vedas have been created from the word Om.

• It is also held that the Vedas are Lord Narayan (Vishnu) Himself. Before creating man, Lord Narayan created humans, he created the Panchmahabutas” (earth, fire, water, ether and air) to fulfil the requirements of the physical body and then he created the Vedas for the spiritual upliftment of the embodied soul within each of us.

The objective of the Vedas is to help mankind retain awareness of the soul within and prevent him from becoming unhappy in the materialistic world. The Vedas are primarily meant to be followed to maintain Dharmacharan in society and keep man content. The result of following the Vedas helps man to attain Final Liberation (Moksha). However, the Vedas are not only focused on spirituality nd God-realisation, they also contain worldly concepts in them.

The history of the Vedas is mentioned in the Purans. It states that initially the Vedas were all in one text. There was a single Veda which was divided into four parts. Hence, it was difficult to study them. Upon realising this, Maharshi Vyas dedicated Himself to divide the Veda in such a manner, that it would be convenient for others to study them.

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Sage Vyas observed that the verses (shlokas) of the Vedas were scattered in different lineages (gotras). He then sorted out all the verses from the Vedas and compiled the Rugveda. He separated the verses which could be sung and compiled the Samaveda. The section of the Veda focused on performing sacrificial fires (yadnya), was included in the Yajurveda. The Atharvaveda was created by compiling the mantras useful in performing magic and helping in worldly life.

Each Veda is associated with a Deity, and has “Upvedas” (sub-Vedas). The Rugveda is associated with Lord Brahma and has 8 branches and includes the Ayurveda (medicine). The Yajurveda is associated with Lord Vishnu, has 86 branches and includes the Dhanurveda (Indian martial arts). The Samaveda is also linked with Lord Vishnu, has 1000 branches and includes the Gandharvaveda (study of all art forms: including music, dance and poetry). The Atharvaveda is associated with Lord Indra, has 9 branches and includes the Arthashastra (economic policy and military strategy).

Sage Vyas handed over the teachings of the four Vedas, Rugveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda and Atharvaveda to His four disciples, Pail, Vaishampayan, Jaimini and Sumantu respectively. These four disciples were tasked with the responsibility of propagating the four Vedas. Each disciple then became the main teacher of the corresponding Veda.

Below is a brief overview of the four Vedas:

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Rugveda

The word “Ruk” means a sentence in which the stanzas (prose) are arranged in a rhythm. The Rugveda is the first and oldest among the four Vedas and is the oldest piece of literature available on the Earth.

The entire Rugveda is based on rhythm and it mainly includes the praise and description of Deities such as Indra, Agni, Varun, etc. Those who follow the Rugveda aim to appease the Deities and to receive auspicious boons from them. Other subjects such as proper behaviour of society, spiritual rites, composition of the universe, philosophy, etc. are also covered in the Rugveda.

Rugveda teaches that there is only one Absolute Truth (God) and that everything is God and everything originates from the Absolute Truth. These principles are also propagated later in the Upanishads.  

The Rugveda also explores various Vedic/spiritual rites such as wedding rites (vivah-sanskar), ritual of offering to ancestors (Shraddhaprayog), rites of cremation (Pretakarma), thread ceremony (Upanayan), and rites performed to purify the womb and overcome defects in the ovum and the foetus (Garbhadhan). Rugveda explains how to overcome diseases such as tuberculosis as well.

Yajurveda

The word “Yajus” means mantra in prose form. The Yajurveda is thus a compilation of the specific mantras to be chanted when performing different sacrificial fires and the specific regulations to be observed during it. It also focuses on ritualistic worship and the stage of action or “Karmakand”.

The Yajurveda has two parts – the Krushna and the Shukla. There is a story behind the creation of the two types of Yajurveda:

The chief teacher of the Yajurveda was Sage Vaishampayan. Vaishampayan got angry at one of His disciples, Yadnyavalkya for some reason and asked the latter to return His Yajurveda. Yadnyavalkya vomited it out. The other disciples then assumed the form of francoline patridges (a type of bird) and swallowed it. Thereafter, Yadnyavalkya worshipped the Sun Deity and procured the Yajurveda for himself from Him. Yadnyavalkya glorified His new Veda by naming it the Shukla Yajurveda. To counter this, Sage Vaishampayan began to call the former Yajurveda the Krushna Yajurveda. Holy texts such as the Taittiriya, Mahanarayan, Maitri, Kath and Shvetashvatar are Upanishads derived from the Krushna Yajurveda.

Samaveda

“Sama” is used to refer to singing. Many mantras from the Rugveda have been incorporated into the Samaveda. The songs composed based on them are known as Sama.

The holy text Bruhaddevat states that the one who understands the Samaveda understands the implied meaning of the Vedas. In the Gita, Shri Krushna has glorified the Samaveda by proclaiming, “From among all the Vedas I am the Samaveda”. The Chandogya Upanishad states that the Omkar is the gist of the Samaveda. The praises of the Samaveda are sung in both, the Rugveda and the Atharvaveda.

Atharvaveda

The Atharvaveda has acquired its name from Sage Atharva. It contains no details about sacrificial fires, but focuses on sorcery, use of magic and acquiring superhuman abilities. About a fifth of the Atharvaveda is taken from the Rugveda.

The Atharvaveda contains information about a diverse range of topics, ranging from acts which bring peace, fortification, destruction, black magic, the attitudes and conduct in politics, relationships between women and men, business transactions, misconceptions in society, conventions, etc. The Atharvaveda is also called as the Kshatraveda as it recommends different rituals to defeat an enemy in a war.