Posts Tagged ‘Saṃhitās’

Hindu Scriptures VI

Tuesday, November 17th, 2009

The Vedas – Part IV

Samhitās:

Sahitās are also spelled as “Sanhitās” or “Samhitas”. The Samhitas are the collections of the Mantras or Hymns sung or recited to the devatās without much ritual. Most often, traditionally, the Samhita portion alone is referred to as the Veda. For example, the word ‘Rigved’ would typically mean the Rigved Samhita. In the case of the Rigved, Samved and Atharvaved, there is a clear-cut separation between the Samhita and the Brahmana portions. In contrast, in the Shukla (white) Yajurved, the Samhita and the Brahmana portions are separate from each other. In the Krishna (black) Yajurved, the Samhita and the Brahmana portions are intermixed. Thus, the Taittiriya Samhita, which belongs to the Krishna Yajurved, has the Samhita interspersed with Brahmana portions. Even the Taittiriya Brahmana has both Mantras and Brahmana passages mixed with each other. The mantras of Samhitas are mostly written in verse, meaning, in the form of poetry or hymns whereas the Brahmanas are predominantly in prose. It is the samhitas which shows us that poems were written by the human beings first than the prose were written. The Vedas sometimes refer only to the Samhitas. It seems that, as we will see later on, Sanhitas were taught the very first in the life of a person, right from the childhood (galthuthi), also called “Brahmcharyāshram” or the learning age in the Vedic society. There are many well known books written in the post-vedic period, possibly after 6th century BCE, also known as “Samhitās” or “Sanhitās”, because, the word “Samhita” means “Compilation of knowledge”. Vedic samhitas should not be confused with these samhitas of post-vedic period, such as, Gherand Samhita and Shiva Samhita related to Hatha Yoga; Sushrut Samhita, Charak Samhita, Kashyap Samhita, and other, related to Ayurved Medicine; Garga Samhita related to Astrology; another Garga Samhita describing the life of Krishna; Deva Samhita describing the origin of Jats from Shiv’s locks; etc. are also post-vedic samhitas.

Brāhmanas:

The Brahmanas lay out the precepts, rituals and religious duties. It seems that the Brahmanas are prescribed for mainly the adult life called “Grahasthāshram.” A well established social human being functioning as the householders with all responsibilities of the family and raising the children belongs to Grahasthashram. The Brahmanas contain formulas for rituals, rules and regulations for rites and sacrifices and also outline other religious duties. The formulas and rules for conducting extremely complex rituals are explained to the minutest detail. And every ritual is performed for a specific purpose for which a specific effect or benefit is expected. It can be inferred that, in Vedic society there was nothing that could not be achieved by sacrifices.

Aranyakas:

Aranyakas were prescribed for the later period of life of semi-retirement, called “Vānprasthāshram,” meaning, the age group “towards retirement to the forest” when the people who had fulfilled their duties of raising and supporting their families and children, and were on the way to the retirement, usually, to the forests (the usual retirement place in ancient time was forest and not the vacation homes) and spend the remaining active life in meditation and contemplation of God. Thus, Aranyakas derived their name from the word “Aranya” meaning “wilderness”, “forest”, or “woods”. The Aranyakas provide the link between the ritualistic Brahmanas and the philosophical Upanishads. The symbolic and spiritual aspects of the sacrificial religion are meditated upon in the Aranyakas while philosophical issues are discussed in the Upanishads. Most of the famous Upanishads are found in the Aranyakas.

Upanishads:

The Upanishads consists of philosophical discussions that examine and propound the wisdom in the earlier part of the Vedas. Since they appear at the end of the Vedas they are also called “Vedānta,” meaning, the end (anta) part of the Vedas. All subsequent Hindu thoughts or visions, called Darshans, were derived from the discussions found in the Upanishads. The Upanishads were prescribed for that period of life known as retirement, called “Sanyāsāshram,” meaning “renunciation” or “full retirement.” Sanyasashram is the period of life of people when they already have had lived and enjoyed their whole life doing rituals prescribed in the Brahmanas; have spent their remaining active semi-retired life peacefully, usually in the forests close to the nature, meditating and contemplating on God as prescribed in the Aranyakas; have broken all the emotional ties with their families and relatives; and are physically and mentally ready to leave without any more worldly desires remained for fulfilling in this very rare and precious God-given human life in this world. In short, the Upanishads are meant to provide us the very essence and the meaning of life.

Dear reader, here we partly conclude the information on Vedas in short. It is an attempt to provide a gross picture or idea of Hindu scriptures. The minute details and precise informations can be obtained and verified individually by referring the authentic text books. The original Sanskrit text and its translation also needs to be verified personally for its authenticity and truthfulness. In future, we will discuss Samhitās, Brāhmanas, Aranyakas, Upanishads and also the other scriptures in detail. Let us not forget that the information only becomes knowledge when one puts it into practice. Unless we put aside our ego that “I am such and such person and this body is me,” called the “deha-bhāv” in Hinduism, and attain the “ātmā-bhāv”, that is, “the soul inside my body is real me,” all that is described in the scriptures is in vein or it just remains as merely an information and never becomes knowledge called Shākshātkār. Though individually may our knowledge of scriptures be limited, our understanding of the scriptures should be thorough. The difference between Hinduism and other major philosophies is that, whereas other philosophies discuss God as “paroksh (parā-aksh),” Hinduism discusses God as “pratyaksh (prati-aksh)”, “murtimān” ,or “sākshāt (sa akshata).” Paroksh means manifestation of God beyond our reach or beyond our vision, that is, the form of God in His abode only. Pratyaksh means manifestation of Godin front of our eyes, either by Himself (Swayam) in human form, in form of His Avatars, in the form of His holy words as Scriptures, in the form of His holy image or object of worship as Murtis, or through His legacy called “Guru paramparā” that passes the very essence of His scriptures through many generations and by creating His very presence keeping Him alive through many millenniums. To begin with Hinduism was given not just for Indians only, but was given for the whole mankind. Ordinarily speaking, Hinduism is a factory of transforming out hearts and mind for the betterment of our society. It is a factory of transforming our physique and psych for the betterment of our individual lives. Spiritually speaking, Hinduism is a factory of transforming our souls for making them capable of staying with God in His abode enjoying His very bliss forever.

At the end, we rest here by quoting the very essence of all the scriptures.

 “… and the essence of all the scriptures is that one should only do which pleases God…” (a quote from the Vachanāmrut, Gadhadā II-28, of Bhagwān Swāminārāyan)

Hindu Scriptures V

Friday, October 16th, 2009

The Vedas – Part III

As we have seen previously, each of the four Vedas, namely, Rigved, Sāmved, Yajurved, and Atharvaved, consist of four components known as Samhitās, Brāhmanas, Aranyakas and Upanishads. The Samhitas are considered the Vedas proper; the Brahmanas, the Aranyakas and the Upanishads are periodic additions, made by way of growing with the changing times. The fourth and the last portions of the Vedas, the Upanishads, are called Vedānta. The Veda texts were preserved orally long before the methods of preservation of written material became robust. It is said that they were all compiled by Veda Vyasa. Vedas in all contain about 20,389 hymns. Each Ved has a different focus. The Rigved involves mainly a metaphysical consideration of the nature of God. The Sām and Yajur Vedas prescribe liturgical functions. The Atharvaved is believed to be of a distinctly later period than the other three Vedas. One can see that the definite priest-hood system was established by the Atharvaved period. In earlier Vedic period the head of the household would normally perform the religious rituals himself. In the priest-hood period the priests were supposed to conduct all major rituals so that they were performed exactly as specified because only they were learned and it was believed that if the rituals were faulty the purpose of the rituals would not be achieved. Thus, it was in the later part of the Vedic period that the priests or the Brahmins seemed to become powerful and dominant in the society. So when Ved Vyās compiled all the Vedas (i.e. possibly around Mahabharat period – around 3101 to 5561 BCE) the Vedic system was fully established, the teachings of Upanishads was also well spread, and after that the preaching of Purāns became more dominant.

Rigved:

The word “rig” is derived from the word ‘ric’ which literally means ‘praise or verse’, especially ‘a sacred verse recited in praise of a deity’. Rigved describes metrical hymns, which are meant to be recited loudly. It involves mainly a metaphysical consideration of the nature of God. It is the oldest Ved and is sometimes known as ‘the wisdom of the hymns’. It is divided into 10 books, with 1,028 hymns. In all the Rigved contains about 10,552 hymns or verses. Most of the early hymns of the Rigved are about nature and its personifications in the form of devas, like Agni, Surya, Indra, Varun, Vāyu, etc. The later hymns are addressed to the Supreme Being, as this concept had evolved by then. Each hymn names the sage to whom it was revealed. Most of the hymns of Rigved are repeated in the Yajur and Sam Vedas. Rigved has one Sanhita and two Brahmanas. It can be called as the creation hymn that shows us the nature worshiping society of that period.

Sāmved:

Sām or Sāman means “melody” or “song” – the poem that can be sung. The Samaved is purely a liturgical collection of melodies (sāman). Samved contains about 1,875 hymns or verses. The text of most (all but 76) of the hymns in the Samaved are drawn from the Rigved and have no distinctive lessons of their own. The remaining 76 mantras of Samved are also resumed to be from Rigved that are lost. Hence, its text is, in another way, a reduced version of the Rigved. Three recensions of the Samaved Samhita are known, namely, the Kauthuma recension (seen in Gujarat and in Bihar), the Jaiminiya (seen in the Karnatak and Kerala), and the āyanīya (seen in the Maharashtra). Bhagvad Gita (chapter 10, verse 22) in the epic Mahabharat says that the Samved is the best among the four Vedas. It is the Samved that is the foundation of all other systems of music. All verses in the same adhyāy or decade of Samved have one common meter and one deity. All the deities of Rigved are all present in theses verses. All the benefits of singing of Samved accrue only when every syllable of every verse in the entire adhyay or chapter is chanted or sung correctly. Perfection was achieved and was maintained since during that time when writing was not yet developed. Mankind had to rely upon their senses of hearing and speaking. It was an art or talent that developed in those periods of time.

Yajurved:

Yajurved is a collection of all mantras or hymns that are useful in rituals. It contains about 1,975 hymns. In Yajurved, the verses are in prose form that has no meter. Yajurved is further divided into two parts, the Sukla and the Krishna. The Krishna Yajurved Samhita exists today in various recensions, most importantly the Taittiriya Samhita and the Maitrayani Samhita. The Shukla Yajurved Samhita is preserved most prominently as the Vajasaneya Samhita. It is believed that, the Vajasaneya is a later revelation to sage Yāgnavalkya from the resplendent Sun-God. In the Krishna (“Black or dark”) Yajurved the commentary, Brahmana, the prose content is mixed with the hymns; and in the Shukla (“white or bright”) Yajurbed there is no commentary among the hymns. The contents of these two recensions are also presented in different order. The Yajurved Samhita is divided into 40 chapters and contains 1,975 verses. About 30 percent of the verses are drawn from the Rigved Samhita (particularly from chapters eight and nine). This Veda is a special collection of hymns to be chanted during yagna.

Atharvaved:

Atharvaved is considered the last Veda recorded, it consists of mostly original hymns (rather than replications from the Rig Veda). It is known as the Veda of prayer, in recognition of its abundant magical charms and spells. It also contains many Agama-like cosmological passages that bridge the earlier Vedic hymns and formulas with the metaphysics of the Upanishads. The Atharvaved contains about 5,987 hymns. According to the tradition, the Atharvaveda was mainly composed by two groups of rishis known as the Atharvanas and the Angirasa; hence its oldest name is Ātharvāgirasa. In the late Vedic Gopatha Brahmana, it is attributed to the Bhrigu and Angirasa. There are two surviving recensions or shākhās, known as Shaunakīya and Paippalāda. Atharvaved was not found in South India during the middle Ages and until very recently; and since they are the last one in the Vedas, it suggests that Vedic culture began in the southern India when India was an island near Africa (around 120 million years ago) and later on spread to the north and from there to Europe (possibly after about 45 to 10 million years ago). The Charaavyuha lists nine shakhas, or schools, of the Atharvaveda, namely, paippalāda, stauda, mauda, shaunakīya, jājala, jalada, kuntap, brahmavada, devadarsha, and chāraṇavaidyā. Of these, only the Shaunakīya and the Paippalāda recensions have survived. Two main post-Samhita texts associated with the Atharvaved are the Vaitāna Sūtra and the Kaushika Sūtra. The Vaitana Sutra deals with the participation of the Atharvaveda Brahman priests in the Shrauta ritual while the Kaushika Sūtra contains many applications of Atharvaveda mantras in healing and magic.

The Shaunakiya text is divided into four parts: Part 1: Kāṇḍas 1-7. It deals with healing and general black and white magic that is to be applied in all situations of life, from the first tooth of a baby to regaining kingship. Part 2: Kāndas 8-12. It constitutes early speculation on the nature of the universe and of humans as well as on ritual. Part 3: Kandas 13-18. It deals with issues of a householder’s life, such as marriage, death, and female rivalry. Part 4: Kandas 19 and 20. They are later editions. The Paippalada text has a similar arrangement into four parts: Part 1: Kandas 1-15, Part 2: Kandas 16-17, Part 3: Kānd 18, and Part 4: Kandas 19-20, with roughly the same contents.

The Atharvaved also deals with medicine. It identifies the causes of disease as living causative agents such as the yātudhāna, the kimīdin, the krumi or kimi and the durāma

The Atharvans seek to kill them with a variety plant based medicines in order to counter the disease. Atharvaved (hymn I.23-24) describes the disease leprosy and recommends the rajani aushadhi for its treatment. Atharvaved also informs about varieties of warfare.

Hindu Scriptures I

Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009

Hindu Scriptures – in general

The scriptures are sacred or holy books or writings of religions. They vary in form, volume, and age.  Hindu scriptures were originally oral and were passed down as memorized texts through many generations before being put in writing. This may be the reason why they were written in the poem or hymn form and can be sung. People still try to recite or chant the scriptures aloud.

It is surprising to know that the word “scripture” is also being monopolized by some! The scriptures in general are supposed to be the sacred books or writings of any religion. The literature includes all kinds of written texts, whereas, the scriptures specifically include authentic holy and sacred religious texts.

Hindu scriptures include the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Purāns, the Itihāses (such as, Rāmāyan and Mahābhārat), Bhagvad Gitā, Agams, Darshan Shāstras, major authentic commentaries called Bhāshyas of different acharyas and scholars, etc.

The Vedic scriptures are categorized as Shrutis and Smrutis.

Shrutis include:

The four Vedas:

Rig-Veda:  The Ṛigveda contains hymns (mantras) that formulate the mythology of ancient Vedic practice. Rigveda hymns (invocations and litanies).are recited by the hotr priests in the ritual or yagna ceremonies.

Yajur-Veda: The Yajurveda contains detailed prose instructions for the sacrifices. Yajurveda hymns are recited by the adhvaryu priests. The adhvaryu are usually in charge of the physical details of the sacrifice. They used to measure the ground, to build the altar, to prepare the sacrificial vessels, to fetch wood and water, to light the fire, to bring the animal and immolate it, among other duties. Each action is accompanied by supplicative or benedictive formulas (yajus), drawn from the Yajurveda.

Sāma-Veda: The Sāmaveda consists mostly of mantras from the Rigveda, but arranged in an order specifically suited to the Soma sacrifice. The soma pavamāna used to be the freshly pressed juice of the soma plant. Samaveda hymns, which are set to melodies (sāman) are recited or chanted by the udgatr priests during the Yagna or ritual ceremonies.

Atharva-Veda: The Atharvaveda comprises semi-magical spells against enemies, sorcerers, diseases and mistakes made during the sacrificial ritual, as well as kingly duties and some deeper spiritual truths. The entire performance of yagna or sacrifice is supervised by the Brāhman (Brāhmin) priests. They are responsible for correcting mistakes by means of supplementary invocations.

Each of the four Vedas is further divided into two sections: Saṃhitās and Brāhmaṇas.

1. The Sahitā portion includes Mantras. It is a collection of hymns to be used in Vedic sacrifices (Yagnas) and rituals.

2. The Brāhmaas portion (not to be confused with Brāhman or the Brāhmin priest caste), contains specific rules and regulations for the sacrifices as well as prose commentaries explaining the meaning of the mantras and rituals.

The Brāhmaṇas, describing rules and purpose of Vedic mantras of Saṃhitās, are also further divided into: Ārayakas and Upanihads.