Introduction and Classification of Vedas

Vedabhumi, the land of knowledge, that has been one of the names of India.
India has been one of the very few civilizations which has had a very advanced, most
comprehensive and complex education systems of the world. This was India’s status before
1080 AD, that’s before Mughal invasions and the European colonization. Travelers from
Europe, Persia, China used to travel to India to obtain the knowledge as part of this Vedic
culture. The books written by Megasthenese, Al-Biruni or Hiuen Tsang are a testimony of the
vastness of the rich Vedic culture.
The ancient Indian education and value system as we know today has been largely preserved
by the three main sources:
1. Inscriptions on the temples
2. Manuscripts
3. Verbal transmission from a teacher to a student

There are broadly six categories of Indian scriptures which hold the entire knowledge
system.
1. Shruti
2. Smriti
3. Puranam
4. Ithihasam
5. Aagamam
6. Siddhatam
These sects are a foundation of the Vedic culture in India. They cover a diverse set of fields
of education like mathematics, physics, biology, philosophy, astronomy, health Sciences,
linguistics and many other branches of science and technology besides the theological
concepts.

1.Shruti
Shruti should be understood as transcendental Knowledge which has been revealed (directly
acquired by hearing) to the ancient Rishis. Shruti is basically the four Vedas which have
known to exist since the existence of the earth. There are four of Vedas

1. Rig Veda
2. Yajur Veda
3. Samma Veda
4. Atharav Veda

Rig Veda Rig, means praise, a form of expressing gratitude. It is in the form of various
hymns praising the elements of nature and cosmos.
Yajur Veda Yajur means worship.It explains about different procedures of worship of the
nature and cosmos.
Samma Veda Sama means song. It gives a music driven canonical format to the other Vedas
for ease of recitation.
Atharav Veda Athar means stable mind. It sets the rules for a steady state daily life activities
that needs to be observed in a Vedic culture.

All these four Vedas are not like any other ordinary books. You will not understand a word of
it unless you are blessed with a Guru (teacher)who can explain them.
Each of the four Vedas has four fundamental blocks
1. Aranyaka -mysticism associated with Vedas. It was taught only by Rishis dwelling in
the forests and was not supposed to be known to any commoner
2. Brahmana-commentaries on Vedas in form of prose and prayers
3. Samhita-These were hymns on various aspects of Vedas
4. Upanishad Thee are also called Vedanta ,meaning the summary of philosophlcal
aspect of Vedas in the end in the form of Question and answers between the student
and teacher. There are 108 important Upanishads.

Each of the four Vedas is supported by six external blocks

1. Siksha : study of phonetics
2. Vyakarana : study of grammar
3. Chandas: study of linguistic rhythm
4. Nirukta: study of etymology (origin of words in a language)
5. Jyotisha : study of astronomy
6. kalpa : study of rituals
That is how the four Vedas are supported by the six Vedangas. Therefore, Vedangas are
basically studied first to understand the Vedas

Each of the four vedas has four offshoots, the Upavedas. These include

Ayurveda, study of life sciences , ascribing to Rigveda

Gandharva Veda, study of music, art and dance ascribing to Samaveda
Dhanurveda ,study of archery and warfare ascribing to Yajur Veda
Arthashastra, study of business administration and political sciences ascribing to Atharav
Veda

This is the complete picture of what we call today in simple words as Vedas
2.Smriti
Smriti is authored by the sages and saints who mastered Shruti ie. the Vedas
and brought in their own experiences and revelations.It is much like our modern day PhDs,by
each of them and hence by their name.These doctorates were a lifetime project of detailed
research and explanation of Vedas by these learned sages. Here Shruti remained the final
authority.
There are 18 such smritis written by different Rishis and they are

1. Atri 2. Bruhaspati
3. Vishnu 4. Prashara
5. Harita 6. Vyasa
7. Nasi 8. Sankhya
9. Angirasa 10. Likhita
11. Yama 12. Daksha
13. Apastamba 14. Gautama
15. Samavarta 16. Stapata
17. Katyana 18. Vashishta

3.Puranam
These are historical documents. Often Puranas are mistaken as mythology, rather these are
historical documents each having a 10 dimensional feature as follows
Sarga :history of creation of cosmos
Vissarga: history of creation of the world's
Vrutti: history of evolution of the life
Raksha :history of sustenance of life
Antarani history of the time scale and its measurement
Vansha :history of Lineage
Vansha Anucharita: history of the dynasties that ruled Bharath since times immemorial
Sanstha: history of the catastrophes or the natural calamities that have occurred in the past
Hetu: history of the prime causes of those catastrophes
Apsaryah: history of the supreme being or the different incarnations of god

There are 18 such Puranas, all written by just one rishi Sri Ved Vyasa .These are as follows:

Markhandey Purana Vamana Purana

Matsya Purana Vaayu Purana
Bhagavata Purana Agni Purana
Bhavishya Purana Narada Purana
Brahmanda Purana Padma Purana
Brahma Purana Linga Purana
Brahmavaivarta Purana Garuda Purana
Vishnu Purana Kurma Purana
Varaha Purana Skanda Purana

The amount of knowledge in these Puranas is just incredible! For instance Agni
Puranam explains about different varieties of martial arts and archery .

4.Itihasa
The word iti- hasa means –‘this is how it happened ‘Of all the scriptures, this is the one
which shaped up the ethos of India .There are only two Itihasas:
Sri Ramayanam
Mahabharata
These two scriptures are of the highest order which defined, directed and derived
the human values in India since thousands of years and Bhagavad-Gita which is the epitome
of all the sacred scriptures is an integral part of the grand epic of Mahabharata.

5.Agamas
Agamas are treaties on theology (concept of God),epistemology(Nature of origin and limit of
human knowledge), and also describes the architectural principles of Temple construction.
Basically, these are the rule books of how a temple needs to be constructed and the rituals to
be followed in the temples. All the magnificent grandeur and the exquisite carvings that we
have on the Indian temples, the source code of all the beauty is from Agamas. For instance
Shilpa shastra, the branch of knowledge
which deals with sculpting is from agamas and there are
77 Shakthi agamas
28 Shiv agamas
108 Vishnu agamas.

6.Siddhantam
Siddhantam means ,a set of principles in different fields of science and
Technology. This is the most interesting and relevant part of the scriptures for the modern
day.For instance in Astronomy itself we have 18 siddhantas which talks about
Details of planetary motions, geometrical principles, trigonometry ,calculus and a lot more.
 Sushruta Samhita by rishi Sushruta,1000BCE on surgery and medicine
Aryabhattiyam by Aryabhata,476CE on astrophysics and astronomy
Arthashastra by Chanakya 375BCEon commerce and business administration
Panch Sidhanta by Varahamihira,505CE,a treaties on astronomy
Rasendradra Mangalam by Nagarjuna,150CE on the Science of Alchemy
Patanjaliyogasastra by Patanjali,2BCE
Charak Samihita by Charaka,200BCE
Vaiseshik darshan by kanaad,6BCE
Mahajyanayanaprakara by Madhava,1340CE
the list goes on and on………

and that is a very brief and condensed history of the Vedas and the related scriptures of
ancient Indian education system. The whole knowledge system is very wide, deep and
complex.
The backbone for this entire education system is Sanskrit. If we don't have the competence of
Sanskrit, all this knowledge system is good for nothing. Post independence, Sanskrit
language has been completely ignored in India and this is the main reason that we are
completely unaware of this grand ocean of Ancient Indian knowledge. A huge wealth of
information and many scientific concepts are hidden in the Indian scriptures which are
written in Sanskrit, waiting to be decoded. It is not that all the great things in this world were
invented or discovered by Indians but all the great things that were done by Indians are not
known to the world and we ourselves are responsible for it.