VEDIC PHILOSOPHY.

A number of us Hindus who go about our rituals do not really know anything much about our actual religion and philosophy. We simply follow the religion without actually knowing its basis.

I feel we should at least know the basic elements on which our religion is built. I am making a very brief write up on it with a hope that at least those who bother to read it would know a little more about it. The Vedas are pure nature worship in the Samhitas which later passes onto something much more deeper in the Upanishads. There is much more that can be written on this topic but I am restricting it only to the very basics lest it should tax the minds of those who bother to read it.

A layman of philosophy considers the Vedas to be one but that is not the case. In fact each Veda consists of 4 parts.

They are:

1. Samhita, 2. Brahmana, 3. Aranyaka , 4. Upanishads.

There are 4 Samhitas and they are the 1.Rik, 2. Sama, 3.Yajur and 4. Atharva. 

A vedic sacrifice needs 4 priests:

1. Hota- Who addresses hymns in praise of the gods to invoke their presence and participation in the sacrifice.

2. Udgata- Who sings the hymns to entertain and please the gods.

3. Adhvaryu- Who performs the sacrifice according to the strict ritualistic code and gives the offerings to the gods.

4. Brahma- The general supervisor well versed in all the Vedas.

Rik is for the Hota, Sama is for the Udgata, Yajur is for the Adhvaryu and Atharva is for the Brahma.

The Samhitas are in poetry and consist of hymns to various Gods.

The Brahmanas are written in prose. They are the elaboration of the complicated ritualism of the Vedas. They deal with the rules and regulations laid down for the performance of the rites and the sacrifices. There is little philosophy in these and the Samhitas.

The appendages to the Brahmanas are the Aranyakas. They mark the transition from ritualistic to philosophic thought. There is a mystic interpretation of the Vedic sacrifices in them.

The concluding portion of the Aranyakas are the Upanishads. These are intensely philosophical and spiritual.

There are said to be 108 Upanishads in all. However, only 10 on which Sankaracharya has commented are taken as important. They are

1. Isha, 2. Kena, 3. Katha, 4. Prashna, 5. Mundaka, 6. Mandukya, 7. Aitareya, 8. Taittiriya, 9. Chandogya, 10 Brihadaranyaka.

The Upanishads regard karma kanda as secondary, being only a help to purify the mind by which one is made fit to receive the real teaching about Brahman.