The Vedas (वेद in Devanagari, Sanskrit: knowledge), are a whole of texts of the Indo-Aryan religion, resulting from the Shruti, at the origin of the Védisme, religion mother of the Hindouisme. The Hindus think that Vedas exist since the creation of the world and regard them as the " knowledge révélée". The oldest part, the Rig-Veda, would go back to 1800 with 1500 av. J. - C. (but the oral transmission would be much older). The compilation of these texts is allotted to wise Vyasa. The most recent parts of the Vedas would go back to 500 av. J. - C. Vedas undoubtedly constitute the oldest corpus of knowledge that one knows and are the base of the Indian Littérature. They treat Astrologie, of Astronomie, of ritual, and how those are connected to the spiritual life of humanity.

Warning: the words Sanskrits will be quoted in italic, in the form of the naked topic followed by an indent (to indicate the absence of ending) as they appear in the dictionaries.

Indo-Aryan design

  • the Veda - is a lucky find and a knowledge, resulting from an attentive listening (the çruti -).
  • (the Indo-Aryan noun stem veda -, last such as it is in Sanskrit, a vowel set of themes adds - has with the root VID- transformed into VED- by vocalic alternation: VID- > VED- > veda -. The lexeme VID- gives also two verb stems differentiated but from complementary directions: VID- > VED- > VET- > vetti (it knows) and VID- > VIND- > vindati (it finds: hij vindt in Dutch, He finds in English). ( believed > çruti - is with the clean direction " the action of écouter").
  • the çruti - is at the origin of the veda -: listening leads to the lucky find and the knowledge. Who listens? The r.sh I -. And what do they hear? The r.ta -, the rate/rhythm of the cosmos expressed in the regular course of the stars ( r.ksha -), regular succession of the seasons ( r.tu -), the simplicity ( r.jutâ -) of a right and honest control ( r.ju -) which leads to prosperity ( r.ddhi -) with the fruitfulness of the male ( r.sabh -, also meaning bull), fruitfulness and prosperity which make debtor ( r.nî -) of an obligation ( r.na -) new, that to regularize the expression of their wishes in verses ( r.câ -) given rhythm well songs vedic ( r.k-, r.g- > r.gveda- ) which constitute a weapon ( r.sh Ti -) powerful against the forces of chaos and the disorder (the nirr.ti -, it not r.ta -).
  • (the root of all these words is R. -, one of the rare lexemes Sanskrits without consonants initial neither final, pure travelling vocalic which expresses the dynamism (capacity) of a universal vibration without beginning nor end, opened, without limits, impersonal, eternal).
  • Ainsi the eternal listening ( çruti -) of the order eternal ( r.ta -) allows the r.sh I - to know ( veda -) this order and to find ( veda -) the means of expressing it in stanzas ( r.câ -) rythmées, measured well, which will be regularly transmitted to us word of mount, and exceed us, eternally transmitted to the future generations.
  • After the r.sh I -, the arya - then the Hindus will consider the veda - as single, méta-temporal, and normative of the expression of their wishes ( vrata -). This expression will flower in a multitude of " poèmes" ( r.g -) orally transmitted, that the invention of the writing will make it possible to note, then to gather in a compilation of texts ( samhitâ -) being used as memorandum: but only the conscious and correct recitation and aloud will take the value of veda -.
  • This collection of verses, the R.gvedasamhitâ -, will be followed melodies to sing these worms, melodies of which the collection, the Sâmavedasamhitâ -, itself will be followed of votive formulas used at the time of the vedic ceremonies, formulas gathered in a third collection, the Yajurvedasamhitâ -. These three samhitâ - form the corpus of triple veda -, that an abuse language names " les" veda -, because there is only a veda - (" une" lucky find, " un" to know) expressed through a multitude of traditions and texts successively conveyed by the r.sh I -, the arya - ( rear-ya born from R. -, of the order), medieval Brahmans, Hindus, then those of the era Internet .
  • the first text to integrate the veda - after the three samhitâ - preceding is the Atharvavedasamhitâ -, compilation of texts useful for the purohita - (the guard, the man-doctor) but not used during the liturgy of the yajñâ - (sacrifices vedic). Added to the three original collections, it makes it possible to speak (wrongly) about the four veda -. Into the wire of the history many other texts will be integrated into the veda - without one speaking about 5 (or 6, or 100) veda -!

Precautions

  • the Védisme used a whole of concepts expressed by words that the Hindouisme will receive in heritage, that it " remplira" new and unknown designs of old the arya .
the Hindus will use the verses ( r.câ ) as will mantra allowing to interiorize them, but the arya , which did not invent an interior spiritual life yet ( bhakti ), exteriorizes in r.câ calls (évocatifs) to the capacities of the regularity ( r.ta ).
  • the root sanskrite VID evolved well to Latin video which gave Visio and " vision" in French, but old the arya if they used a direction, it would be rather that of hearing (çruti).
  • the Hindus allot the drafting of their old texts to Vyâsa (the diffusing action) with which one assigns the drafting of the epopee Mahâbhârata, but the arya knew other authors with the veda only the seven traditional r.sh I .
  • Traduire deva by god will be an innovation hindouist, because the deva - for the arya - was literally the action brilliant, luminous, of one of the unforeseeable capacities of the r.ta ( DIV means to illuminate like the day, but also to play dice, and deva is the action of DIV ).
  • These capacities are grammatically named with the masculine or the female one, but are not " déesses" like Junon or Venus among Romans.
  • the Brahman will become Brahmâ among Hindus who will integrate it within a Trimurti, but the brahman vedic is this energy of the r.ta whose function is to found the order, to fix it, and not a person or a thing.
  • the mentality of the r.sh I had not invented yet the concepts of Deus , or Spirit, or transcendence, because their thought Moniste did not create any division in this world (not even that of the Caste S, later invention it also).

    • Enfin, these opening remarks that we could multiply by no means do not claim to devaluate the contribution hindouist with the Indian culture, far from there, but they try to underline the danger to amalgamate two levels of the religious evolution of India, which would carry out to ignore original specificities, and of the old vedism, and the more recent hindouism.

    Literature and vedic philosophy

    The Samhitas

    • the Rig-Veda (ऋग्वेद in Devanāgarī) contains anthems to congratulate and call the deva S (demigods). Rig-Veda is the basic collection from which are derived other Vedas. It comprises 1028 anthems divided into 10462 stanzas, the first being dedicated to Agni, guard of Rig-Veda. They constitute a poetic treasure in which one draws to find liturgical prayers or recitations on the most various occasions.
    • the Sama-Veda consists mainly of stanzas drawn from the Rig-Veda and adapted to the sung recitation. It is the canticle with musical notations and indications of melodies.
    • the Yajur-Veda gathers formulas in worms and prose mixed, directly assigned to the worship and laid out in the order where they are used in the ceremonies of the liturgy.
    • the Atharva-Veda contains magic charms of long life, against the disease, the démoniaque possession, to gain the love of others or the richness.

    Old texts in prose: Vedas, independently of the anthems (Mantra or Samhitā , in Devanagari: संहिता), also integrates three layers of comments.

    • the Brāhmanas (ब्राह्मण, ritual explanations of Brahman) fundamental, containing comments of prose on the ritual ones;
    • the Āranyakas (आरण्यक), containing the esoteric and mystical explanations will mantras;
    • and the Upanishad S (उपनिषद्), containing philosophical writings and metaphysics treating of nature and the report/ratio the heart (the atman) with the supreme spirit Brahman.

    Later texts in prose:

    • Each Veda has also various books of law and ritual handbooks which depend on him: Dharmashastras , Grihyasutras , etc, but the majority of the scholars do not regard them as integral part of the literature resulting from the Shruti or Vedas in prose.

    The vedic company

    Veda are four books “revealed” by the divinities with wise of the vedic time, supposed containing all divine wisdom. They enable us to know the bases of the culture of the Aryens. They refer to the enemies of Aryan as being Dâsas (slaves), described like black of skins (perhaps the Dravidiens). The Aryan ones constitute the tribal monarchies directed by the rajah (râja), term connected with Latin rex. He shares his sovereignty with two councils of tribe, the sabhâ and the samiti , which takes part in its election. He is assisted by a general (senâni) and a large priest (purohita) who by sacrifices, the prosperity of the tribe and its victory in the war ensures.

    It is during the age vedic that four great divisions of the Aryan company are constituted (varna): the Brahmans (priests), the kshatriyas (warlike), the vaisyas (country) and will śudras them (serfs). The family constitutes the basic cell of the company, the village is frequently described like the regrouping of a line rather than like a territorial regrouping. She is of type patriarchal and patrilineal. The woman is submitted to her husband and the marriage is monogamic and insoluble.

    The religion

    The vedic religion is a social and nonindividual religion. At the seven years age, the young boy, up to that point high by the women in gynécée, receives initiation (upanayana) and must then start to learn his religious duties. A Master teaches rites to him while making him repeat formulas, while reporting the myths which explain them. At seventeen years, whereas it controls the religious knowledge (Veda), it Marie. The girls are excluded from initiation.

    The domestic religion comprises a certain number of obligatory rites as will agnihotra it, daily sacrifice which consists of a milk drinking coldly milked before the rising of the sun, then the evening. Other sacrifices relate to animal victims on special occasionss, which are put at died and their flesh, cooked according to strict rules, is consumed by the faithful ones. Vegetable substances in parallel are offered, but another important group of rites, reserved with an elite of initiates, organizes itself around the consumption of a crowned beverage, Summoned it (what was obtained starting from a factory, unknown today).

    The Pantheon vedic is composed of three prevalent divinities: Agni, Varun has and Indra. There are 33 divinities in all. In Vedas, the demigods form a true company. Agni was the current priest. Mitra symbolizes alliance between the men and the demigods, Varuna the punishment which those deserve which break it. They are assisted of Aryaman and Bhaga. Mitra keeps the light, Varuna governs the night. Indra holds the warlike function. The demigods of the production of the richnesses and prosperity, are very in withdrawal in Veda. They are in general related to the production of the light, like Aśvins, riders of the sky twin which appear with the dawn.

    See too

    Related article

    External bonds

    • Site on Veda

    • Songs vedic
    • All on India
    • Origin and symbolic system of Vedas

    • max Müller, Test of compared mythology , Foreword and introduction, First part, Second part and conclusion, Editions A. Durand, Paris, 1859,103 pages.

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