Sanatana Dharma Scriptures


Sanatana Dharma Scriptures

Sanatana Dharma scriptures are broadly divided into two categories as follows:

Sruti
Smriti
  • That which is heard (Revelation)
  • Sruti, comprises the essential tenets of Sanatana Dharma. It consists of revelation, unquestionable truth and is considered as eternal.
  • It refers mainly to the Vedas (Sama Veda, Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, and Atharva Veda), which were divinely heard by the Rsihi Munis (sages) from Lord Brahma (which himself learned from Supreme Personality of Godhead Shri Krishna).
  • That which is remembered (Written)
  • Smriti is supplementary and may change over time. It follows to the base of Sruti. The Smriti was composed after the Vedas around 500 BCE
  • The most notable of the Smritis are the Itihas, (Mahabharata and Ramayana). Puranas (such as Srimad Baghavatam) which illustrate Hindu ideas through narratives, also come under Smritis.

Note: The Bhagavad Gita (integral parts of Mahabharata), spoken by Shri Krishna, described as the essence of the Vedas. However Gita, sometimes called Gitopanishad, is more often placed in the Sruti, category, being Upanishadic in content.



THE FOUR VEDAS

The Vedas “Books of Knowledge” are collections, of hymns, melodies, rituals and prayer. The Vedas have been revealed by Supreme Personality of Godhead Shri Krishna Himself, and also considered as Sruti. The word veda comes from the Sanskrit root vid, means "to know." Vedas are considered as apaurusheya i.e. not created by human beings. 

The four Vedas are:  
Rig Veda (Veda of Worship)
Yajur Veda (Veda of Sacrificial Formulas)
  •  It contains hymns recited by the hotar
  • It contains hymns (mantras) addressed to the gods about the mythology and ancient-most Vedic ritual practice;
  • Total Verses: 10,552
  • It contains hymns recited by the adhvaryu
  • It contains mantras and verses extracted from the Rigveda used in ritual, in addition to detailed commentaries on the sacrifices.
  • Total Verses: 1,975
Sama Veda ( Veda of Chants of Melodies)
Atharva Veda (Veda of the Wise)
  • It contains hymns recited by the udgata
  • It consists of mantras mostly from the Rigveda, arranged in an order that was used for singing at the Soma sacrifice.      
  • Total Verses : 1,875
  • A collection of speculative hymns
  • It comprises magical spells against enemies, sorcerers, diseases and mistakes made during the sacrificial ritual, as well as hymns dealing with household and royal rites.
  • Total Verses : 5,977

Note: hotar, adhvaryu, udgati, are the Vedic Priesthoods.

Composition of The Four Vedas

Within each of the four Vedas, there are four types of composition. The first two “Samhitas and Brahmanas” relate to the performance of sacrificial rituals (the karma-kanda section), whereas the second pair “Aranyakas and Upanishads” consists of philosophy (the jnana-kanda section). The Samhitas comprise the true Vedas.

Samhitas
Brahmanas
  • It contains hymns (mantras) to be used in Vedic Sacrifices for praising various Vedic Deities. They form the Veda proper.
  • The primary Deities of Vedas are:  Agni, Indra, Varuna, Mitra, Soma, Rudras,  Vasus etc.
  • The Deities of the Sruti Vedas are primarily "nature" Gods and these Samhita hymns were used to call upon these Deities for rain, food and other necessities of life. These hymns formed the substance of the rituals used to propitiate these Deities.
  • (Note Composed during roughly 1500 BC to 1000 BC).
  • It contains the Working Details of Rituals mentioned in Samhitas, along with prose commentaries explaining the meaning of the mantras and rituals.
  • They are technical books describing the details of the Agni Hotra or fire and other rituals.
  • They describe the articles to be used in the ceremonies as well as the cosmic significance of the rituals to the universe; forming the beginnings of Sanatana Dharma theological reflections.
  • (Note: Composed during Brahmanic Period 900 BC  to 500 BC)

The Brahmanas are further classified in two classes:

Aranyakas
Upanishads
  •  Aranyaka means "in the forest." They are "forest books" for hermits and saints. They are philosophical treatises
  • These forest works continue the theological speculations of early Sanatana Dharma
  • They go beyond the rituals and start to develop the theology of the early Aryans that eventually takes mature form in the Upanishads which, today, are the most well-known part of the Sruti Vedas.
  • Aranyakas deal with the philosophical aspects of the Vedas.
  • The Upanishads are leading theological discussions on Sanatana Dharma.
  • They appear mainly in the form of dialogues between students and teachers discussing questions such as: What is soul? What is God? What is the nature of reality? What is death? and so forth.
  • The Upanishads teach the means of liberation from rebirth and suffering. They are also called Vedanta (end of the Vedas) since they teach the ultimate secret to reach the highest metaphysical state.



Vedangas and Upavedas

There are two additional literature associated with the Vedas.

Vedangas

Vedangas are limbs (body parts) of the Vedas. There are six technical subjects related to Vedas, knows as Vedangas. Vedangas are defined to provide explanation of science required to understand and apply the Vedas.
Six Vedangas
Kalpa Sutras
(Ritual Detail)
Siksha
(Pronunciation)
Vyakarana
(Grammar)
Nirukti
(Etymology)
Chandas
(Meter)
Jyotisha
(Astronomy/Astrology)

Upavedas

The Upavedas “following the Vedas”, are applied knowledge used in literature to designate the subjects of certain technical works. They are usually considered as Smriti. Upavedas deal with the four traditional arts and sciences.

Four Upaveda
Ayur Veda
(Medicine)
Dhanur Veda 
(Warfare)
Shilpa Veda (Architecture)
Gandharva Veda
(Music and Dance)


Sources: Wikipedia, Google.com etc. (Next: Puranas)

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