The Vedas (Sanskrit: वेद) are the main scriptural texts of Hinduism, also known as the Sanatana Dharma, and are a large corpus of texts originating in Ancient India. The Vedas, regarded as śruti ("that which is heard"), form part of an oral tradition in the form of an ancient teacher-disciple tradition. As per Hindu tradition the Vedas were 'revealed' to the Rishis referred to in the texts, not composed or written by them.[1] Even though many historians have tried to affix dates to the Vedas there is, as of yet, no common consensus as there is for the scriptures of other religions. The Vedas are arguably the oldest surviving scriptures in the world. The Vedanta and Mimamsa schools of Hindu philosophy assert that the Vedas are apaurusheya ("unauthored"), that is, they have neither human nor divine origin, and are eternal in nature.[2] As per Hindu tradition, the sage Vedavyasa divided the Vedas into Rig-Veda, Yajur-Veda, Sama-Veda and Atharva-Veda at the beginning of the Kali Yuga.
The Sanskrit word veda means "knowledge", more particularly "sacred book".[3] In its strict sense, veda designates the four collections (Samhitas) of hymns and prayers composed for different ritualistic purposes: the Rig-Veda, Sama-Veda, Yajur-Veda, and Atharva-Veda. Of these only the first three were originally regarded as canonical (trayividya, "threefold-knowledge"); the fourth attained to this position after a long doctrinal struggle. In its widest sense, however, the term veda applies not only to these sacred texts, but also to the voluminous theological and philosophical literature attached thereto, the Brahmanas, Aranyakas, Upanishads, and Sutras (see Brahminism). Though differences exist in the language of the four Vedas, still there is such agreement on cardinal points as against later Sanskrit that the term Vedic, which is in common use for the oldest form of the language of India, is amply justified. Multiple recensions are known for each of the Vedas, through different traditional disciplines or schools (shakha) of oral transmission, but few have survived intact to the present day.
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