Vedas and Upanishads - Dr. Sheela Daga - Nature of Vedas
Nature of Vedas
Many people are eager to know about the Vedas. The name of the Vedas is heard, but even highly educated people do not know about them. Many people have never even seen the Vedas. Those who quote Vedas as proof of something have never read the Vedas, or if they read, then they did it only in Hindi or English. There are only a few scholars who can read the Vedas through Vedic Sanskrit. Therefore, it is natural to be eager to know about the book called Veda and its structure. And indeed, it should be known.
It is commonly said that there are four Vedas – Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda and Atharvaveda. The word trilogy has been used in ancient literature for the Vedas. This makes one suspect whether the Vedas are three. Scholars differ in this matter. In some opinions, the trilogy refers to prose, verse and lyrical anthem. However, some modern scholars have a different view.
According to the language and words used, the subjects related to the society of that time. Atharva Veda was not counted with the other Vedas for a long time but was added later. One can see the book ‘Vedic Literature and Culture’ by famous Vedic scholar Acharya Baladeva Upadhyaya as proof of this view. However, many other scholars do not support this view because the Atharvaveda is mentioned in the Chandogya and Brihadaranyaka Upanishads, and the Mahabhashya of Patanjali.
As said earlier, the Vedas had been kept safe for a very long time only by remembering mantras. Tradition suggests that later, Maharishi Veda Vyasa arranged the Veda mantras by dividing them into four parts. These books are called Samhita. There were many Samhitas of Vedas, but today only two or three can be found.