Vedas

The Vedas are a large corpus of ancient Indian sacred texts that form the core of Hindu religious literature. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, they are generally dated to the second and first millennia BCE, with scholarly estimates ranging roughly from 1500 BCE to 500 BCE. In Hindu tradition, the Vedas are considered sruti, that is, revealed knowledge perceived by ancient seers and transmitted orally before being written down.

The four Vedas are Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda, and Atharvaveda. Each is organized into a Samhita collection containing hymns, mantras, and prayers; many sections are further interpreted in Brahmanas, Aranyakas, and Upanishads. The Rigveda comprises hymns dedicated to deities; the Yajurveda provides ritual prose and verse; the Samaveda is primarily melodic renderings of Rigvedic verses; the Atharvaveda includes spells, charms, and practical hymns. The Upanishads, part of or appended to the Vedic corpus, explore philosophical questions about the self (atman), the ultimate reality (brahman), and liberation (moksha).

Traditionally transmitted orally by Brahmin priests and other scholars, the Vedas were eventually written down in various scripts. They have influenced Hindu worship, liturgy, and philosophy, and have left a mark on the broader Indian thought. The Vedic legacy also intersects with the development of other Indian religious traditions, and the term vedic is used to describe later Vedic-era literature that continues to shape ritual and scholarly discourse.