Indian Vedas: universal sacred knowledge. What are the Vedas made of?

The beginning of the folding of the Vedas dates back to the period when the ancient Aryans had not yet moved to India, and even the separation of the two main branches of this people, the Indian and Iranian, had not yet occurred.

There are only four Vedas: , Samaveda, Yajurveda, Atharva Veda. Each Veda consists of three divisions: Samhitas, Brahmins and Sutra.

Samhitas, Brahmins and Sutras

1) Samhitas - this is that part of the Vedas that contains collections of hymns, prayers and sacrificial formulas of the Vedic religion, arranged according to the families of the singers to whom they are attributed, and belonging to different times.

2) Brahmins , as the famous scholar Albrecht Weber says in the History of Indian Literature, have as their purpose "to give sacrificial hymns and forms along with an exposition of sacrificial rites." These divisions of the Indian Vedas contain the oldest statutes of the rites of the Vedic religion, the oldest explanations of the words of this ritual, the oldest of the stories preserved in tradition, and the oldest philosophical speculations. “All these departments of the Vedas,” continues Albrecht Weber, “belong to the times of transition from Vedic customs and concepts to the Brahminist way of thinking and life. They are intermediate degrees of this transition, and some of them are closer to the beginning of it, others to the end.

Indra, one of the main gods of the Indian Vedas

3) Sutra - this is that part of the Vedas, which sets out additions and explanations to the Brahmins, containing dogmatics; their purpose is to give a coherent overview of the mass of dogmatic details found in the Brahmins, so that it will be easier to remember all this. They deal especially with the ritual of Indian religious sacrifices, other liturgical rites and the rules that must be observed in the celebration of birth, marriage and other important occasions. In addition, in the Sutras there are attempts to present Indian laws and set out the rules of versification.

Almost all those scholarly and philosophical treatises of ancient India, which are called upanishads(sessions, lectures); they belong to different times, some quite early, others very late; there are 225 of them. The Upanishads can be called philosophical commentaries on the Brahmins.

The Vedas themselves are collections of works belonging to different times. The oldest part of the Vedas is without a doubt the songs of the Rigveda; it contains over 1,000 hymns. Some of them belong to the time when the ancestors of the Indians lived only on the Indus and its tributaries, and the Vedic religion, which was still in a childishly naive form, was reduced to a primitive worship of the forces of nature.

Manuscript of the Rigveda from the early 19th century

The chronological ordering of the hymns of the Vedas is a work far from being fully completed by scholars. The Indian Vedas were collected already after the conquest of the Ganges basin by the Aryans, hardly earlier than the 7th century BC. Not all Vedic hymns have a religious content; some belong to secular poetry, even the realm of jokes.

Samaveda

The collection of hymns of the Samaveda is an anthology of the hymns of the Rig Veda. In it are selected those verses that need to be sung with the sacrifice of Soma. Here, as in the hymns of the Yajurveda, it is in vain to look for connections between parts of the hymns. Each verse must be regarded as a separate play, receiving its true meaning only in connection with the course of the rite to which it belongs. The religious hymns and their passages are arranged in the Samaveda in the order of worship; the meter was of rather great importance in this distribution. The passages were collected in the form that survived in Indian worship, and only those that were needed for worship. Therefore, the question arose: whether in these fragments of hymns or in the whole hymns of the Rig Veda, the most ancient form for the Indian Vedas has been preserved. Of the 1,549 verses of the Samaveda, only 78 were not found in the Rigveda. It turned out that religious verses in the Samaveda almost always have a form older than in the Rigveda.

Yajurveda

The Yajurveda differs from the Samaveda in that it contains hymns for all the rites of Indian sacrifice, and constitutes the general service of these rites, while the Samaveda is limited to the sacrifice of Soma. The Yajurveda consists of half of the verses found in the Rig Veda, the other half of it is made up of sacrificial formulas, fragments of hymns that are not found in other Vedas, and invocations to the gods, which have not a poetic, but a prose form.

Varuna, one of the main gods of the Vedas. 17th century Indian miniature

Atharva Veda

The Atharva Veda is the latest of the Indian Vedas. This Veda is composed not of incoherent fragments, but of whole hymns, and they are arranged in it according to the subjects of content. In this respect, it is similar to the Samhita of the Rigveda, and it can be called an addition to the Rigveda, which contains songs from the time when " mantra”(invocation to the gods) was no longer among the ancient Indians an expression of direct religious feeling, but became the formula of a magic spell. Therefore, the main content of the Atharvaveda is made up of songs that protect against the harmful effects of divine forces, from diseases and harmful animals, curses to enemies, appeals to herbs that heal diseases and help in various everyday affairs, conspiracies that protect on the way, give happiness in the game, and so on. In those hymns of the Atharva Veda which are in common with the Rigveda, the text has been greatly altered by rearrangements and alterations. The language of those places which belong to the Atharvaveda proper approaches the fluidity of Indian speech of later times; but the grammatical forms are still the same as in the ancient songs. Albrecht Weber says that the Atharvaveda is composed not so much of priestly as of Indian folk traditions; that in her language there is much dilapidated and vulgar, and that some hostility to the other three Vedas is noticeable in her.

The poetic merit of the religious hymns of the Indian Vedas varies greatly. Many of them are terribly boring and empty: these are monotonous requests that the gods patronize their worshipers, give them food, herds, offspring and longevity; for patronage, the Vedic gods are promised praise and sacrifice. But among this mediocrity, there are gems in the Vedas: very strong and peculiar manifestations of Indian religious feeling are often found, emanating from the depths of the soul, striving for truth and God, expressed in artless, but beautiful language, with the childlike strength of faith.

The poetry of the Indian Vedas does not know any hierarchy between the gods. The deity to which the hymn invokes is the highest god, and all other gods are forgotten for the time being.

In the fifth millennium BC. between the rivers Indus and Ganges, one of the first civilizations on the planet was born. It was the ancient Aryans, the tribes of white-faced people who, according to legend, came from Atlantis and went there after several hundred years, gave the world the first ancient written language - Sanskrit, in which the Vedas were written.

Vedas is the first collection of sacred texts of Hinduism . Translated, this word means "heard knowledge", that is, this knowledge was passed from mouth to mouth, and much later was recorded on palm leaves or tree bark.

Initiated Hindus believe that the Vedas were given to the Brahmins by the Gods in order for them to enlighten people. This term is usually combined with others, for example, Sasya Veda is the science of land use, and Agada Veda is the science of treating people.

In the Purana, another ancient Hindu book, it is said that the great Brahma receives Vedic knowledge at the beginning of each round of the cosmic cycle, i.e. at the formation of a new civilization, and then passes it on to people.

Types of Vedic Literature

Currently, four Vedas are known, differing in their content:

• The Rigveda is the most famous work of ancient Indian literature, consisting of tens of thousands of sacred hymns and mandala books glorifying the gods.
• "Yanjur Veda" is a collection of mantras that have a deep religious meaning, they can be compared with the prayers that a person reads daily, turning to the Higher Forces.
• "Sama Veda" - includes mantras intended for singing. In Hinduism, there are rituals in which special singers take part, praising Brahma and other Gods during religious rituals.
• The Atharva Veda is the last book in which incantations and hymns are inscribed in the process of sacrifice and other rituals.

Also in the Vedas, you can find esoteric formulas for fighting demons and creatures from the dark world, for protecting the aura from evil spells and activating vital energy.

Who wrote the Vedas?

According to scientific research, the Vedas began to be compiled in the middle of the second millennium BC, and finished in the middle of the first, around the fifth century BC. Since what was written on the bark and leaves disappeared without a trace, only a few copies, rewritten at a later time, have survived to this day.

The earliest copy of the Rig Veda is dated XIcentury AD

Who exactly wrote these treatises is not known for certain, but according to legends and legends, their copyist was the virtuous monk and sage Vyasa, who compiled most of the ancient Indian treatises - the Vedas, Puranas, Upanishads. It is believed that Vyasa was the son born out of wedlock of the philosopher and sage Parashata, and lived on an island at the mouth of the Jumna River.

Also in books you can read about the deeds of Vishnu, Krishna or Shiva and hymns composed in their honor. The Yazhrur Veda explains in detail the rules for conducting religious rituals and ceremonies, as well as a detailed interpretation of mantras and hymns.

Vedic literature can rightly be called an encyclopedia of the life and life of the ancient Indian tribes, their needs and aspirations, the rules for all ceremonies and rituals.

Construction of Vedic texts

The structure of Vedic literature can be compared to a ladder. A person, climbing up from step to step, receives more and more knowledge about the world and is inspired by his efforts to new feats of asceticism.

According to Hindu religious beliefs, a person's life is not limited to only one life. From life to life, a person improves himself, and making his way through the steps of knowledge, he comprehends the secrets of the universe and approaches the Highest divine knowledge.

All Vedic literature is divided into three categories (kandas), which can be conditionally divided according to the degrees of maturity of the soul and mind. The first is karma-kanda, the second is jnana-kanda, and the third is upasana-kanda.

The first kanda is intended for those who have not yet departed from matter, appreciate well-being and prosperity, are subject to ordinary human weaknesses and perform rituals strictly following the prescribed rules.

The second kanda calls to give up desires and passions, indulge in asceticism and meditation, forget about the mortal and strive for perfection.

The third kanda is for those who want to comprehend God and merge with the Absolute. They, having passed the first two stages of understanding and understanding, are able to control their desires and subordinate the body to the mind.

Theory of Vedic knowledge

The first theme of Vedic literature is the theory of the state of the soul and its transitions from body to body, from birth to birth. In addition, the Vedas provide the knowledge necessary for a person in the process of a long and fulfilling life. This is somewhat esoteric knowledge, but useful in practice: how to build and run a house, how to arrange furniture in it, run a household, what to do and what not to do, so as not to get sick and have prosperity and peace.

It was here that the first knowledge about - the science of longevity and health, about harmonious merging with the cosmos and the ability to plan your life by day and hour, so that not a single minute was lost.

These treatises also have a section on music, which describes the seven basic notes associated with the chakras in the human body. This makes it possible, with the help of melodies, to heal and calm a person, give him psychological comfort, or, conversely, destroy his aura and make him angry and aggressive.

The Vedas also introduce us to yoga, special techniques that allow you to subjugate the body to the mind, free it from natural physiological needs and desires, and make it serve the purpose of freeing internal energy from the oppression of a mortal body.

There are sections devoted to martial arts, strategy and tactics, as well as the warrior code. In other sections, they teach mystical practices, the correct conduct of rituals and ceremonies, casting spells and singing mantras. There are special texts devoted to the economy and government, lawmaking and diplomacy.

And, finally, Kama Shustra is devoted entirely to the science of intimate relationships between a man and a woman. It teaches to give up gross physical pleasures that bring man closer to the animal, since its goal is only the satisfaction of sexual desire. It is designed to teach those who are initiated into its secrets to release sexual energy and direct it towards self-improvement and merging with the Absolute.

The laws of the universe, set forth in the ancient Vedas, are still valid today, since all knowledge is universal and valid in any country and at any time. For example, Ayurveda reveals the laws of longevity and proper lifestyle, the secrets of plants and the principles of proper nutrition. At the same time, it also contains reservations about how these recipes will work in other countries, with a different climate and economic systems.

That is, the principles of the secrets of longevity are the same and eternal for everyone, and the methods change depending on the circumstances involved.

Systematization of the existing and existing Vedic tradition.

The Sanskrit word véda means “knowledge”, “wisdom” and comes from the root vid-, “know”, akin to the Proto-Indo-European root ueid-, meaning “know”, “see” or “know”, i.e. “knowing” as an expert and as a narrating "knower".

How the noun is mentioned just one time in the Rig Veda. It is related to Proto-Indo-European ueidos, Greek (ϝ)εἶδος "aspect", "form" - the source of the Greek root ἰδέα, Russian to know, reconnoiter, taste, manage, English wit, witness, wisdom, vision (the latter from the Latin video, videre), German wissen ("to know", "knowledge"), Norwegian viten ("knowledge"), Swedish veta ("to know"), Polish wiedza ("knowledge"), Belarusian Veda ("knowledge"), Latin video ("I see" ), Czech vím ("I know") or vidím ("I see"), and Dutch weten ("to know").

The Sanskrit word veda in its basic meaning "knowledge" is also used in relation to subjects of study that are not related to liturgy and religious rites, examples of this are: agada-veda "medical science", sasya-veda "agricultural science" or sarpa- Veda "science of snakes" (which is already mentioned in the early Upanishads); durveda means "ignorant".

The Vedas are the oldest knowledge about the world, the oldest monuments of Indian literature, created at the end of the 2nd millennium - the 1st half of the 1st millennium BC. e. in ancient Indian (Vedic) language. The Vedas, or Vedic literature, comprise several categories of monuments, chronologically following one after another:

1. the Vedas proper or Sayahitas, four collections of hymns, chants and sacrificial formulas (Rigveda, Samaveda, Yajurveda and Atharvaveda),
2. brahmins - theological treatises explaining the priestly ritual;
3. Aranyakas and Upanishads are philosophical works in verse and prose, among which 12-14 early Upanishads stand out in terms of their significance and literary merits.

The foundation of Vedic knowledge begins with the understanding that the soul is different from the body. Almost all schools of Vedic knowledge agree with the phrase "aham brahmasmi" - "I am a soul other than this body." The soul in the Vedas is called jiva or jivatma, i.e. "living being".

Another characteristic feature of Vedic knowledge is that on Earth there is a cyclical change of four eras:

• satya-yuga, (satya-yuga lasts 1,728,000 years, during which time people on Earth lived an average of 100,000 years);
• treta-yuga, (treta-yuga lasts 1,296,000 years, at which time there were more people on Earth and their life was reduced to 10,000 years);
• Dvapara Yuga (Dvapara Yuga lasts 864,000 years, life expectancy by this time has changed to 1000 years. By the way, the Bible says that Adam and his sons lived for 900 years. The time described in the Bible is approaching Dvapara Yuga);
• Kali Yuga (Kali Yuga lasts 432,000 years. I must say that we live at the very beginning of Kali Yuga. Kali Yuga began about 5000 years ago. More precisely, on February 18, 3102 BC according to the Gregorian calendar. In Kali Yugu people live for 100 years, but by the end of Kali Yugi people will live for 10-15 years.In the Srimad-Bhagavatam, the advent of an avatar of the Lord named Kalka at the end of Kali Yuga (after 427,000 years) is predicted, which will destroy the demonic, degraded civilization and begin new satya-yuga).

But these are all retreats. Let's get back to the main books that make up the Vedas.

The Vedas are the most famous sacred scriptures of Hinduism. It is believed that the Vedas do not have an author, and that they were “clearly heard” by the holy sages of the distant past, and after many millennia, when due to the spiritual fall of mankind with the onset of the Kali Yuga, fewer and fewer people sought to study the Vedas and transmit orally (like that demanded by tradition) from generation to generation, Vedavyasa (“who compiled the Vedas”) structured the scriptures that remained available at that time and organized their recording, arranging these texts into four Vedas:

• Rigveda,
• Samaveda,
• Yajurveda and
• Atharvaveda.

The Rigveda (Rigveda-samhita is its actual text; it is a praising Veda) consists of 10522 (or 10462 in another version) shlokas (verses), each of which is written in a certain meter. The verses of the Rigveda in Sanskrit are called "rik" - "the word of enlightenment", "clearly heard". The Rig Veda is mainly devoted to hymns-mantras praising the Lord and His various incarnations in the form of deities, the most frequently mentioned among which are Agni, Indra, Varuna, Savitar and others. Consists of hymns-mantras intended to be repeated by the head priests

Samaveda (ritual chanting of mantras) consists of 1875 verses, and 90% of its text repeats the hymns of the Rig Veda, selected for the Samaveda for their special melodious sound. The Samaveda contains mantras meant to be chanted by udgatri priests.

The Yajurveda (Methods of Sacrifice, Veda of Sacrificial Formulas), consisting of 1984 verses, contains mantras and prayers used in Vedic rituals. Later, due to contradictions between the numerous philosophical schools of the Yajurveda, it was divided into Shuklayajurveda ("Light Yajurveda") and Krishnayajurveda ("Dark Yajurveda"), and thus the Vedas became five. Contains mantras meant for adhvaryu assistant priests.

Unlike the other three Vedas, the mantras of the Atharva Veda are not directly related to solemn sacrifices, with the exception of certain practices in which Brahmin priests use the mantras of the Atharva Veda to neutralize adverse effects, if during the sacrifice there were any mistakes are made. Its first part consists mainly of magical formulas and spells that are dedicated to protection from demons and disasters, healing diseases, increasing life expectancy, fulfilling various desires and achieving certain goals in life. The second part contains philosophical hymns.

The practical emphasis of the Atharva Veda played a role in the fact that for a long time it was not recognized by the supporters of the Traya Veda (three Vedas) as one of the Vedas. The tough confrontation that began at the time of the Atharvi sages Bhrigu and Angiras and the trayavic Vasistha, in particular, cost the lives of Vasistha, His grandson Parasara and other holy sages, and only the son of Parasara - Krishna Dvaipayana (the name given to Vedavyasa at birth) at the cost of heroic diplomatic and not only efforts managed to reconcile the supporters of these four Vedas, when a 17-day yajna was held at the court of Emperor Shantanu for the first time with the participation of priests from each of the four Vedas, and Atharva-lora (“lora” - “heap of knowledge”) was recognized by the Atharva Veda.

And finally, a small interesting note: such texts as the Mahabharata, Srimad Bhagavatam, Ramayana and other Hindu epics and teachings (as well as all Krishna literature) from a completely official scientific point of view of Vedology, both in India and throughout the world, are not Vedic texts , and they refer to “Vedic literature” only in a figurative sense, in fact, in the desire of the Krishnaites-Prabhupadas to wishful thinking.

In addition, the term "upaveda" ("minor knowledge") is used in traditional literature to refer to specific texts. They are not related to the Vedas, but simply represent an interesting subject for study. There are various lists of subjects that are related to the Upaveda. Charanavyuha mentions four Upavedas:

1. Ayurveda - "medicine", adjoins the "Rig Veda".
2. Dhanur-veda - "martial arts", adjoins the "Yajur-veda".
3. Gandharva Veda - "music and sacred dances", adjoins the "Sama Veda".
4. Astra-shastra - "military science", adjoins the "Atharva Veda".

In other sources, the Upaveda also includes:

1. Sthapatya Veda - Architecture
2. Shilpa Shastras - Arts and Crafts

Thus, the Vedas are the oldest knowledge about the world. Well, about how this knowledge is correct, will show (and shows) their effective (or not effective) practical application.

According to Wikipedia and http://scriptures.ru/vedas/

ॐ भूर्भुवः स्वः
Om Bhur Bhuvah Svaha

"Rigveda" (III 62.10)

Travidya. Structure of the Vedas

Perhaps, in the very epigraph to the article dedicated to the Vedas, the whole meaning of the text that you will read is contained, since this is the first line from the Gayatri mantra (“Rigveda”), which contains the whole essence of the Vedas.

Before we begin to describe the structure of the Vedas themselves, it is necessary to comment on the above lines from the mantra, since they will give us the key to understanding both the content of the Vedas and their structure.

So, OM is Brahman, that is, that from which everything came, or, rather, that which is Everything. Also, OM is the sound of the Universe, the essence of the universe, Creation and the process of Creation.

BHUR is Prakriti (Nature), Earth, Agni. If we are talking about the Vedas, then BHUR also means "speech" - the transmission of information from mouth to mouth, and the most important thing for the topic of our article is that this syllable symbolizes or even is the "Rig Veda", the first of the three sacred Vedas. Why is the earth, or the physical plane, directly related to this highest of the Vedas, the Veda of hymns? This is because the lower physical plane is the most difficult to transform, therefore, its change requires the most effective, most powerful of means - the Rigveda.

BHUVA is the Yajurveda. Thus, the Yajurveda is the embodiment of the astral plane, the middle plane, that which connects the physical and celestial worlds. It also manifests itself in Prana as the driving energy of the universe.

SVAHA is the third Veda, "Sama Veda", the mental plane, heavenly, Surya. It is directly related to such a concept as manas, which means Mind.

Thus, having briefly outlined the concepts, or rather, these three worlds, two of which are two halves of the once single whole (BHUR and SVAHA), connected by the middle plan (BHUVA), expressed by Prana, we understand why in the first line of the Gayatri mantra from The Rigveda concentrates all the knowledge of the Vedas. From these three components of the first line of the mantra, we learn not only about the alleged structure of the world in which we are, but also about the inner psychological world of a person, where the physical and mental components are connected by the life-giving power of Prana.

After analyzing the epigraph, we can finally begin to study the structure of the Vedas themselves and realize what they really are and what significance they play in our lives.

All knowledge of the Vedic tradition can be divided into two parts: one, which is of divine origin, shruti (“heard”); and the creation of human thought - smriti ("remembered"). Smritis are considered to be complementary to shrutis. From this we can conclude that shrutis are the first and most important knowledge that humanity has ever received. Why do we talk about acquired knowledge? Because it is believed that everything "heard" - shruti - was directly transmitted to people as a revelation. But this knowledge was never written down. The tradition of their transmission to new generations was originally oral, and this is no coincidence, since speech, the very pronunciation of the sound component had a sacred meaning, and in the very process of memorization and oral reproduction, the world of the Vedas was essentially recreated.

For many centuries it was strictly forbidden to write down the Vedas. we are indebted to Vyasadeva. He also wrote commentaries on the Samhitas: Brahmins, Aranyakas and Upanishads. The three most important books of the Vedas came to be known as the Traividyas: the Rig Veda, the Yajur Veda and the Samaveda. Later, the Archartva Veda was also referred to as sacred texts, but the style of the latter differs significantly from the three Vedas included in Traividya.

The style of the Vedas, their difference from the smriti texts

Most of the texts of the Vedas are presented in verse, and their metric system is extremely diverse. So, for example, what we used to call the Gayatri mantra is not the only mantra and text of its kind. It is also worth taking into account that "Gayatri" does not necessarily denote the goddess of the same name, but also the form (triple) in which this mantra is transmitted.

In order for the reader to finally understand the difference between the texts of shruti and smriti, let us illustrate this with the following example: smriti includes everything that is not part of the four above-mentioned Vedas, namely: shastras, various sutras, darshanas, as well as yoga sutras, “ Ramayana" and "Mahabharata", that is, a total of 36 Puranas, plus historical texts.

However, there is a rather interesting, so-called fifth Veda - the Bhagavad Gita. But we know that it is part of the Mahabharata, so it should not be attributed to shruti, or sacred knowledge. Whatever profound message we get from the Bhagavad Gita, the philosophical dialogues between Arjuna and Krishna, it is nevertheless an addition to the Upanishads (an integral part of the Vedas, which we will talk about later) and the creation of man.

The essential difference between smriti (“memorized knowledge”) and shruti (“knowledge heard”) is that smriti is transmitted in the form of stories. They are easier to understand. The poeticized form of transferring knowledge in many shrutis to some extent makes it difficult to understand them, but it is precisely due to the poetic nature of “heard knowledge” that it transcends, becomes higher than the words that it conveys. It goes beyond the verbal transmission of information, that is, it becomes transcendental. It must be admitted that much more knowledge is always hidden in poetry than in a prose text. Therefore, often, when we especially like some text in prose, we call it poetic. Is not it?

Now let's move on to the internal structure of the Vedas themselves. Each of the books of Traividya and the Atharthaveda consists of four sections. The most important of these is called samhita. Samhita is a collection, an anthology of the Vedas. Otherwise, one could say that the Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda and Athartvaveda are the Samhitas. The remaining three sections - Brahmins, Aranyakas and Upanishads - are commentaries on the Samhitas.

Usually the main part, samhita, is combined with the brahmins and is called the "ritual part" - karma-kanda. While the Aranyakas and Upanishads are a philosophical understanding of Samhitas, Jnana-Kanda. The Aranyakas and Upanishads subsequently formed the basis of Vedanta as the last period of Vedic knowledge.

Aranyakas are the knowledge that is discovered in the process of meditation in the forest. "Upanishads" in Sanskrit means "come here" (upani), "so that I destroy you" (shad). It would seem that for what such destruction was required, but, like the content of the Upanishads, the translation of the term should be understood in an allegorical form. The destruction of not physical substance, but ideas, rather, even illusions that have developed in the process of life. In this way, the illusions will be destroyed so that in return we will receive the pure sacred knowledge of the Vedas.

The Bhagavad Gita and Its Significance for Understanding the Vedas

The Bhagavad Gita, although not a canonical and sacred part of the Vedas, nevertheless represents the quintessence of all Upanishads, i.e., a philosophical understanding of all Samhitas. No wonder the translation of "Bhagavad Gita" means "divine song". The 700 verses of the Bhagavad Gita, through dialogues between Arjuna and Krishna, talk about the nature of reality and how to turn theory into practice. The combination of theoretical knowledge and its transformation into practical is what distinguishes the knowledge of the Vedas from the sacred texts of other traditions, not to mention the fact that the Vedas also contain unusually deep scientific knowledge that can only be comprehended by scientists of our time.

It is in the Vedas and the Bhagavad Gita that we encounter such formulations as the re-creation of oneself. Note, not the creation or search for oneself, but the re-creation and rediscovery of oneself, because a person needs to understand that he is the Atman - the spirit. It follows that it is identical with Brahman, because Brahman is everything and Brahman is Atman, but Atman needs to be aware of itself. In realizing its equality with Brahman, he, Atman, acquires a real nature. Therefore, there is no need to create or search for anything. Everything is already there. The main thing is to realize your being as it really is.

Later, yoga (from the word "connection") will develop the idea of ​​merging with God and finding oneself anew, for which it will create new methods for achieving this unity with the divine. Some of them will be expressed through spiritual practice, others, such as hatha yoga, will offer methods aimed at strengthening the physical and mental processes in order to subsequently again come to spiritual union with the Supreme.

Although originally the mantras of the Vedas were intended for priests to use in their rituals of fire sacrifices, but later the knowledge of the Vedas had a different effect on us. Of the applied and used mainly in ceremonies and rituals, they were rethought thanks to the Jnana-kandams (Aranyakas and Upanishads) and in our time have definitely served as a starting point for various areas of psychology and philosophy.

Of the vast heritage of the Vedas, no more than 5% of the volume that humanity originally had has come down to us. Thanks to the preserved Vedic sources, we have an unusually wide range of knowledge, and so far only a small part of the heritage that has come down to us has been recognized and appreciated by modern society. How new and wide this knowledge is is evidenced by the fact that the best minds of our time, such as R. Emerson, G. D. Thoreau, A. Einstein, A. Schopenhauer and others carefully studied the Vedas, and R. Oppenheimer especially for reading the Vedas in the original, he learned Sanskrit.

The knowledge presented in the Vedas is so deep and represents many areas of life, starting from the spiritual path and ending with the macro- and macrocosm, that we have yet to decipher much of what the Vedas brought to us.

- [Skt. veda knowledge] the most ancient monuments of Indian literature; consist of four collections containing religious hymns, chants, spell formulas, ritual prescriptions, myths. Dictionary of foreign words. Komlev N.G., 2006. VEDAS are sacred ... ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

- (Sanskrit Veda, literally "knowledge") the most ancient monuments of Indian literature, created at the end of the 2nd millennium BC. e. in the 1st floor. 1st millennium BC e. in ancient Indian (Vedic) language. The Vedas, or Vedic literature, are... Political science. Dictionary.

- (Sanskrit Veda lit. knowledge), monuments of ancient Indian literature (end of the 2nd beginning of the 1st millennium BC) in the ancient Indian (Vedic) language. The Vedas, or Vedic literature, are collections of hymns and sacrificial formulas (Rigveda, Samaveda, ... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

The totality of the most ancient monuments of the religious literature of India (four “collections” of Sanhita and the Brahmins, Aranyakas and Upanishads commenting on them), to which the native tradition ascribes the character of revelation. In European science, the name V. is usually ... ... Literary Encyclopedia

- (Skt. veda knowledge, from the Indo-European root veid to know, see, old Slavs, Greek oida) sacred books of the ancient Hindus, representing a collection of hymns, liturgical formulas and explanations for various features of the ritual. They split into four... Encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron

Modern Encyclopedia

Monuments of ancient Indian literature (end of the 2nd beginning of the 1st millennium BC) in the ancient Indian (Vedic) language. They make up four collections of hymns, chants (Rigveda, Samaveda, Yajurveda and Atharvaveda), theological treatises (Brahmins and ... ... Historical dictionary

The Aryans, in the process of their assimilation of India, did not have a written language, and therefore, chronicles that recorded the events of external and internal political history. Their spiritual history, dating back to these and even more distant times, has come down to us in the Vedas ... ... Encyclopedia of mythology

Veda- (Sanskrit Veda, literally knowledge), monuments of ancient Indian literature (end of the 2nd beginning of the 1st millennium BC) in the ancient Indian (Vedic) language. The Vedas, or Vedic literature, are collections of hymns and sacrificial formulas ... ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary More