| Veda |
| Generally means ``knowledge'' from
the verb `vid-'. Also called ``"Sruti'', in
contrast to ``sm.rti''. The vedas
are a collection of a vast array
of texts. They are essentially connected to the
rituals. The Vedic corpus can be divided into four
divisions according to various
priestly roles in rituals, and
therefore to the families who trasmitted their
particular text. Certain
families were assigned to carry on certain functions
in the
rituals---Rgveda (Veda of .rc),
Samaveda (Veda of saaman), Yajurveda (Veda of yajus), and Atharvaveda (Veda of atharvan). Of
these four, Atharvaveda was not considered a part of
Vedic corpus until later. Each Veda has several divisions, although not all the texts in the Vedic corpus can perfectly fit into a category and their borders are not always clear--Sa.mhitaa, Braahma.na, Ara.nyaka, and Upani.sad. It is generally considered that the order of composition/compilation of the Vedic corpus accords to the orders of above two. It might help to understand this if one imagines a matrix consisted of two axis as below.  It should, however, be stressed that the composition/compilation of Vedic corpus was much more complex than it seems from this picture. Substantial studies on Vedic literature have been conducted, and continues to be. Accordingly considerable number of texts and secondery literatures are available. For a brief outline of the structure of the entire Vedic corpus, James A. Santucci, An Outline of Vedic Literature, Missoula, Montana 1976 might help. Another work which gives in great detail the totality of what can be considered Vedic literature is K. Parameswara Aitha's Veda-Lak.sa.na : Vedic Ancillary literature, a descriptive bibliography (Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1991 (Penn Call # South Asia Ref BL1112.26 P37 1991) Also Renou et Filliozat, L'inde Classique has good introduction to the Vedic literature. If one wishes to learn more about Vedas, especially the .Rgveda, Jan Gonda, Vedic Literature, A History of Indian Literature, vol. 1, Wiesbaden 1975 is a good starting point. We have prepared a brief overview of Vedic literatures (based on Tsuji's Indo Bnumei no Akebono, Tokyo 1968. at the following link: <http://www.library.upenn.edu/etext/sasia/skt-mss/ved_table.html> |
| .Rgveda |
| Collection of
.rc-s (hymn, praises of deities). The oldest Veda.
In general, the name ``.Rgveda'' applies only to the
Sa.mhitaa part. the name ``.Rgveda'' is used in the
sense of the .Rgvedasa.mhitaa. It consists of 1028
hymns (suukta-s) and divided into 10 books
(ma.n.dala-s). Each hymn can consist of a various
number of stanzas. There is another method of
dividing the text--- into a.s.takas. This is to divide the
text mechanically by the length. Each A.s.taka then
is divided into adhyaayas. And then into
vargas. |
| Saamaveda |
| Collection of
saaman-s (melodies sang during rituals). Most of them
are from the .Rgveda(sa.mhitaa). |
| Yajurveda |
| Collection of the
formulas of rituals (yajus). |
| Black Yajurveda
(K.r.s.nayajurveda) |
| A class of Yajurveda
in which Braahma.na text is woven into Sa.mhitaa
text. Cf. White Yajurveda. |
| White Yajurveda
("Suklayajurveda) |
| A class of Yajurveda of whose
Sa.mhitaa is separated from Braahma.na. |
| Atharvaveda |
| Taittiriiyasa.mhitaa |
| One of Black Yajurveda. |
| Suukta |
| n. 'well said'. "A hymn of the RV as
distinguished from a .rc (verse)." Sen |
| Khila |
| `Supplement'', properly a pieace of
waste land situated between cultivated fields, ``that
which fills a gap''), as obviously more reccent
material, never found admission into the
padapaa.tha and anukrama.niis.
Although they occur in the manuscripts which follow
the a.s.taka grouping as annexes to some particular
suuktas or ma.n.dala and always in the
same places, they are in the adhyaaya divisions but
regarded as non-existent and not commented upon by
Saaya.na. [Gonda, VedicLiterature,
p.35.] |
| A.s.taka |
| A unit to divide .Rgvedic text.
Instead of dividing the text according to the
contents, a.s.taka division is solely based
on the length of text. |
| Adhyaaya |
| A section of a text. In the
context of .Rgveda, it particularly refers to a part
of an a.s.taka, a mechanical division based
on length. |
| Padapaatha |
| ``Word-text'', prepared for
purpose of study, mnemonics and the correct
preservation of the text. All the words of the
continuous text (sa.mhitaapa.tha) are
separated and given in their original form, unaffected
by the rules of sandhi (euphonic coalition of
words etc.); moreover, most compounds and some
derivatives and inflected forms are analyzed. (Gonda,
Vedic Literature, pp.16--17.) |
| Praati"saakya |
| Suutra (in Vedic context) |
| Nirukta |
| Braahma.na |
| Saaya.na |
| "Saka (calendar) |
| Sa.mvat (calendar) |