Notes On Vedas

Since July 2009 I had been forwarding short instalments on the contents of the vast Vedic literature to my numerous friends. A number of them wrote back a reciating their content. !ence I have now decided to ut all of them together so that the reader can find them in a single file Ashok Joshi" #ecember 2009

Introduction to Vedic literature

Although I am a Hindu by birth, except for the names of the four Vedas and a few Upanishads I knew ery little else! Hence when "r N #opalakrishnan, "irector of Indian Institute of $cientific Heritage %II$H& started a weekly newsletter on Vedic literature and related sub'ects two years ago I began compiling together the rele ant information in his newsletters! (he series is still continuing but I shall not wait for its completion since he has so far co ered the ground substantially )rankly I was ama*ed with the astness and depth of this literature which constitutes the core of our religion! Hence it is a great pity that almost all modern Hindus do not e en ha e an inkling of its greatness and content! + en a list of this literature looks forbidding and ery few will ha e the patience and time to study its contents further! $o my idea is basically to list the contents of the Vedic literature with a brief note on what each work contains in a series of short newsletters! I ha e retained "r #opalakrishnan,s text except for minor editing and a few explanatory sentences I shall purposely keep each installment short so that a reader can -uickly skim through it at leisure and get a broad idea of the sub'ect! .ut please do remember that this is only, so to say, a primer on this sub'ect with a limited goal of informing the reader and encouraging him to study the sub'ect further! /our comments are most welcome! I shall be greatly obliged if you could forward these installments to all your Hindu friends so that they too become aware of our glorious heritage! I ha e II$H,s three "V"s which contain the chanting of all the Vedas! Unfortunately "r #opalakrishnan has not pro ided a suitable index for the 012 files in them in spite of a few reminders! Hence one does not often know what one is listening to! If anyone is interested in ha ing these "V"s please let me ha e your postal address so that I can send them /ou will get more information on this and related sub'ects on the II$H website www!iish!org (he newsletters can be accessed at3 http344www!iish!org4index!php5option6com7content8 iew6category8id6298Itemid6::

;!! "irect Vedic <iterature

"irect Vedic literature is the base for all Indian cultural books %Vaideeka saahitya&! (hey are the Veda, .rahmana, Aaranyaka and Upanishad =VEDAS3 (here are four Vedas! >ig Veda, /a'ur eda, $ama Veda and Athar a Veda! >ig Veda has ?: recensions %branches& /a'ur eda has;@A recensionsB $ama Veda has;@@@ recensions and Athar a Veda has :@ recensions! (he word Crecension,, in $anskrit is known as C$aakhas,! %/a'ur eda is further di ided into two streams $ukla /a'ur eda ha ing only erses and no prose and Drishna /a'ur eda ha ing both prose and erses! Hence in our discussions, sometimes you will see the usage as four E one Vedas 6 >ig Veda E $ukla /a'ur eda,E Drishna ya'ur eda E $ama Veda E Athar a Veda &! A summary of the contents of each Veda will be gi en later =BRAHMANAS are the literature which discuss mainly the /agas and /a'naas! (hey also include a ariety of historical facts and truths! (hey are classified under these four E one Vedas! Rigvedeeya %means belonging to >ig Veda& brahmanaas are Aithareya brahmana, $ankhaayana brahmana and Dousheethakee brahmana Sukla yajurveda has only one brahmana namely $atha patha brahmana a ailable in two ersions! One with ;@@ chapters belonging to aa'asaneyee maadhyndina ya'ur eda saakha and other ha ing ;@F chapters belonging to Daanwa ya'ur eda saakha! Krishna Yajurvedeeya brahmana are two (haithireeya brahmana and 0aithraayaneeya brahmana Samavedeeya brahmanas are many! )ew among them are Gaimineeya brahmana, thaandya brahmana, aarsheya brahmana, shad imsa brahmana, chaandokhya brahmana, saama idhaana brahmana, abhootha brahmana, amsa brahmana and samhithopanishad brahmana! Atharva Veda has only one brahmana namely #opatha brahmana! =AARANYAKAS discuss about the philosophical aspects of life and the rituals to be performed during sanyasa and anaprastha asrama! Aaranyakaas are also classified under each Veda like brahmana literature3 >ig edeeya aranyakas are Aithareya aranyka and kousheethakee aranyaka, $ukla ya'ur eda has no aranyaka, Drishna ya'ur eda has 0aithraayaneeya aranyaka and thaithireeya aranyaka! $ama Veda and Athara a Veda do not ha e aranyaka, e en though their brahmanas contain few aranyaka based sub'ects ! =UPANISHADS3 (he fourth part of Vedic literature is the Upanishad! (hey are the essence of Vedas and Vedic messages and are most popular in the Vedic literature! $ince they are coming as the end4 last part of Vedic literature, they are known as CVedaanthaas, %means which are coming in the end of Vedas! Veda antha 6 end of Vedic literature&! (here are ?

many Upanishads of which the most important are ;@A! (hese Upanishads are classified under four E one Vedas as follows! Rigvedeeya Upanishads3 Aaithareya Upanishad, kousheethakee Upanishad, naada bindu Upanishad, aathma bhodha Upanishad, nir aana Upanishad, mulgala Upanishad, akshamaalika Upanishad, tripura Upanishad, soubhaagya lakshmi Upanishad, bah rucha Upanishad! %total ten Upanishads& Sukla yajurvedeeya Upanishads3 +esaa asya Upanishad, .ruhadaaranyaka Upanishad, Hamsa Upanishad, 1arama Hamsa Upanishad, $ubaala Upanishad, manthrika Upanishad, (hrisikhi .raahmana Upanishad, Niraalamba Upanishad, 0andala .raahmana Upanishad, Ad aya Upanishad, (haaraka Upanishad, .hikshuka Upanishad, adhyaathma Upanishad, 0uktika Upanishad, (haaraasara Upanishad, /a'na alkya Upanishad, s,aatyaayana Upanishad, thuriyaatheetha a adhootha upanishad %(otal eighteen Upanishads& Krishna Yajurvedeeya Upanishads3 Datha Upanishad, thaithireeya Upanishad, brahma Upanishad, kai alya Upanishad, swethaaswethara Upanishad, garbha Upanishad, mahanaaraayana Upanishad, amruthabindu Upanishad, amruthanaada Upanishad, kaalaagnirudra Upanishad, kshurika Upanishad, sar asaara Upanishad, sukarahasya Upanishad, the'obindu Upanishad, dhyaana bindu Upanishad, brahma idya Upanishad, yogathathwa Upanishad, dakshinaamoorthy Upanishad, skanda Upanishad, saareerika Upanishad, yogasikha Upanishad, ekaakshara Upanishad, akshi Upanishad, a adhootha Upanishad,katarudra Upanishad, rudrahrudaya Upanishad, panchabrahma Upanishad, praanaagni hotra Upanishad, araaha Upanishad,yogakundalini Upanishad, kalisantharana Upanishad, saraswathee rahasya Upanishad %(otal thirty two Upanishads& Saamavedeeya Upanishads3 Dena Upanishad, chaandokhya Upanishad, aarunee Upanishad, maithraayanee Upanishad, maithreyee Upanishad, a'rasoochika Upanishad, yogachoodaamony Upanishad, asude a Upanishad, mahopanishad , sanyaasa Upanishad, a yakta Upanishad, kundika Upanishad, saa itri Upanishad, 'aabaala Upanishad, darsana Upanishad, rudraaksha 'aabaala Upanishad %$ixteen Upanishads& Atharvavedeeya Upanishads3 1rasna Upanishad, 0undaka Upanishad, maandukya Upanishad, athar as,ira Upanishad, athar as,ikha Upanishad, bruhad'aabaala, Upanishad, seetha Upanishad, s,arabha Upanishad, mahaanarayana Upanishad, , raamarahasya Upanishad, ramathaapini Upanishad, s,aandilya Upanishad, paramahamsa Upanishad, annapoorna Upanishad, , soorya Upanishad, aathma Upanishad, paas,upatha Upanishad parabrahma Upanishad, thripurathaapini Upanishad, de i Upanishad, bhaa ana Upanishad, bhasma Upanishad, ganapati Upanishad, mahaa akya Upanishad, gopalathaapini Upanishad, sreekrishna Upanishad, hayagree a Upanishad, datthathreya Upanishad, garuda Upanishad, narasimhapoor a thaapini Upanishad, narasimha uttara thapini Upanishad, naarada pari raa'aka Upanishad %(hirty two Upanishads&

?!! Other Vedic <iterature

(he Vedic seers did not restrict themsel es only to rituals and philosophical discussions! 0any branches of arts and science flowered simultaneously! (hese are listed below! Although their de elopment and compilation commenced during the Vedic period, additions were made to many of these branches e en after the format of the four Vedas was finalised by 0aharshi Vyasa! (hey show how ast our ancient literature is and how many fields of arts and science were co ered by the ancients 2

= Vedangas
(here are six Vedangas! (hey are $iksha, Nirukta, Vyaakarana, Hhandasaastra, Dalpasaastra, Gyothisha! A number of books are a ailable on these six Vedangas! It is said that;A books on each Vedanga are a ailable! + en though they are not strictly classified under each Veda, it is known that specific books discusses on specific Vedas!

=Upa edas
Next comes the Upa edas which are the subsidiaries of Vedas! In fact they are scientific literature which are specified for each Veda! (hese Upa edas are Arthasaastra, "hanur eda, #aandhar a Veda and Ayur eda E $thaapthya Veda! Artha saasthra is economics it is the upa eda of >ig eda! "hanur eda is the upa eda of /a'ur eda, #aandhar a eda is the upa eda of $aama eda and Ayur eda E $thaapathya eda%Vaastu& are the upa edas of Athar a Veda!! 0ore details we will discussed later! =1uranas After the upa edas comes the 1uraanaas! (here are eighteen puranaas and same number of upapuranaas! (he ;A puranaas are Vishnu puraana, bha ishya puraana, garuda puraana, agni puraana, mahabhaga atha puraana, si apuraana puraana, markandeya puraana, linga puraana, brahma ai artha puraana, mathsya puraana, koorma puraana, araaha puraana, aamana puraana, skanda puraana, brahmaanda puraana, padma puraana, aayu puraana, naaradeeya puraana! (here are less important puraanas which are known as upa puranas which are also ;A in number! (hey are $aamba puraana, de ee bhaga atha puraana, kaalika puraana, laghu naaradeeya puraana, hari amsa puraana, ishnudharmotthara puraana, kalki puraana, mulgala puraana, aadi puraana, aathma puraana, brahma puraana, ishnudharmotthara puraana, narasimha puraana, kriyaayoga saara puraana, soorya puraana, bruhad naaradeeya puraana, purushotthama puraana, bruhad Vishnu puraana ! ="arsanas "arsanaas are separate class of literature which are wrongly described as philosophical texts! (hey are not philosophy but isions of arious acharyaas! $ince they are the isions the words darsana %that which is seen& is used! Nyaaya darsana of #outhama 0aharshi, Vaiseshika darsana of Danaada maharshi, $aankhya darsana of 0aharshi Dapila, /oga darsana of 0aharshi 1atan'ali, poor a meemamsa darsana of Gaimini and Uttara meemaamsa of 0aharshi Veda yaasa! (hese six darsanaas are known as shaddarsana and one more darsana which is powerful and high standard atheism is by 0aharshi Hhar aaka known as chaar aaka darsana! =+pics (here are two more %epics& literature which you all know are the +pics! (he Valmeeki >amayana and the Vyasa 0aha .haratha! =$mruthis $mruthies are yet another section sometimes considered as the part of Dalpasaastra, and are classified separately! (hey are considered separate branch of Indian dharma saastra literature! (hese smruthies are ery important cultural part of the Indian literature connected with the day to day life of Indians! (hey are Usana smruthi, /a'na alkhya smruthi, Vishnu smruthi, manusmruthi, aangeerasa smruthi, yama smruthi, athri smruthi, sam artha smruthi, F

bruhath parasara smruthi, bruhath smruthi, daksha smruthi, saathaathapa smruti, likhitha smruthi, yaasa smruthi, paraasara smruthi, sankha smruthi, gouthama smruthi, asishta smruthi! (here may be many more smruthies but these are said to be less important! It will be seen from the abo e that the Vedic literature which has come down to us is enormous e en though numerous texts are not a ailable to us at present! Ie shall now take a detailed look at the Vedas! .ut before doing that let us summarise the salient points

1oints to note
= Vedas are the base of all Indian knowledge! = None knows exactly when they were composed so they are known as anaadi! = None knows who composed them so it is apourusheya! = (hey were composed by hundreds Vedic >ushies who were known as manthra dhrushtaatra % those who could see and experience the manthras& ! = Drishnadwaipayana Veda Vyasa compiled them into four Vedas! = (he first Veda shows 'naana marga known as >ig eda! = second Veda shows karma marga known as /a'ur eda! = the third Veda guides to the base of arts and music known as $ama Veda = the fourth one inform us about common %man,s& sub'ects known as Athar a eda! = .rahamanas are the literature which discuss mainly the /agas and /a'naas ! = (hey also include ariety of historical facts and truths = All the four Vedas ha e brahmanas ! = $atha patha brahmana, 1rouda brahmana, $had imsath brahmana and #opatha brahmana are a treasury of knowledge about ancient India! =In the Vedic literature, after the brahmanas come the Aranyakas which discuss about the philosophical aspects of life and the rituals to be performed during sanyasa and anaprastha asrama! = Ie ha e to go through the commentaries for understanding the Vedas, .rahmanas and Aranyakas ! = + ery word, e ery line and e ery mantra has a ariety of meaning and what we understand in the first step of reading may not be the real message! = 0any nonJIndians ha e written commentaries in recent times! (hey were primarily aiming at confusing Indian mind but se eral present day writings are good! = (ry to understand the Vedic literature with the help of books and commentaries written by Indian scholars who do ha e the knowledge and spirit of the culture of this country! = 0erely understanding the meaning of the Vedic literature using modern $anskrit dictionary may not gi e us what is really needed4expected! = Upanishads are the essence of Vedas and Vedic messages! = (hey are edanthas which comes as the fourth part in the Vedic literature! = Understanding them takes time and need patience! = $till it is good to understand and work using the message in our day to life to make the life worth li ing! = (he +esaa asya Upanishad is one of the great Upanishads among all the other Upanishads!

2a!! (he Vedas %#eneral&

Ihat are Vedas5 One should analyse the Vedas ery carefully e en from the meaning of the word! C Veda, word was e ol ed from vid meaning knowledge! It is another form of idya! Hence Veda means knowledge! Veda #rantha means the book containing knowledge! Vedas were composed by hundreds of >ishies! (he authors of each Veda mantra are known as :

0anthra drushtara i!e! those who ha e seen the manthra % not those who ha e heard manthra&! $eeing a manthra means experiencing with inner eyes the realities of knowledge %from within&! (he Veda mantras were written many thousand years ago! Hence Vedas are known as anaadi % the days when it was written remain unknown&! Vedas are not written by one or a few >ishies K Various mantras were written by different >ishies and they were compiled by >ishies from Vyasa Dula particularly Veda Vyasa! Drishna "waipaayana %meaning the black coloured born in an island& is the famous among Vyasa Dula >ishies! (hese >ishies are known as Vyasas because they classified the total mantras into four di isions under >ig E /a'us E $ama E Athar a Veda K %vyasa means classifying4separating&! Vedas can ne er ne er be compared with .ible and Luran because Vedas are $ookthas gi ing eternal truths without gi ing stories or explanations! (he Vedas gi e only uni ersal messagesMMMultimate truths K Hence Vedic messages are beyond caste, creed, religion, linguistic background, national boundaries! (he Veda manthra may either be written in prose or as poems!

(ypes of 0antras
(here are four types of mantras! (hey are Veda mantras %0antras chanted with sruthies or tunes which are taken from Vedas&, 1urana mantras %these mantras do not ha e any sruthi and are taken from ;A puranas or ;A upapuranas&, Itihasa mantras %mantras which are taken from either 0ahabharata or >amayana& and Darma mantras %which are literal explanation of what we are doingB it can also be a prayer&!

Iho should chant the Vedas5

(here is a belief that Veda mantras should not be chanted by e eryone! (his belief sprouted only because, Veda mantra chanting has ten difficult sruthies %udaattha, anudaattha, swaritha, repha, hraswa, pracheya, anunaasika, kampa, deergha kampa and plutha&! It takes years together for anyone to learn the Veda mantras with sruti! <earning should be started from ery young age itself, like : 4 9 year old! Learning Veda with sruthi is n t that easy and Veda mantra sh uld be chanted nly with sruthi! because the sruthi is as imp rtant as the message f the mantra" Hence Vedas are also known as sruthies! If one is chanting without sruthi, it is not good! It may be compared like taking fi e $aridon tablets when we do not ha e a headache! It can cause more negati e effect than gi ing positi e effect! Hence it is instructed that e eryone should not chant Veda mantra! Anyone whether Hindu, Hhristian, 0uslim and ladies can chant Veda mantra pro ided, they can chant with sruthi! I am specifically explaining the abo e statement because Veda mantras were not exclusi ely composed by .rahmins! (hey were also written by Dashatriyas and other castes! Veda mantras were in fact classified by Vyasa whose mother was a fisherwoman! (he Aacharas were not written by .rahmins but by 0aheedasa Aitareya who hailed from a Hhandaala %"alit& family! 0any of our great rishies, both modern and ancient, were not .rahmins! (his is true e en in the case of A ataaras, <ord Drishna and >ama do not belong to .rahmin class! (hus one need not worry too much about the caste 4 religion 4place of origin etc for learning the Vedas! (hey should only ascertain, whether they ha e the endurance power to sit and learn the Vedas for about fi e years, uninterrupted! >emember If the sruthi has gone wrong, e en the meaning and the message changes and e en becomes negati e! +xample3 in #ayatri manthra CM!dhiyo yo na3 prachodayaath,! Here, the word 4letter Na3 if not properly chanted will gi e the meaning NO instead of U$ %i!e COh lord $un do NO( enlighten with dharmic wisdom, instead of COh <ord $un enlighten U$ with dharmic wisdom,&! I would like to inform you that e ery instruction gi en by our >ishies has a specific logic! Unfortunately due to our ignorance and biased approach we think they are all superstition! 9

>emember that no one is compelling us %including a .rahmin& to learn the Vedas! If we are learning then follow the instructions! (his is what they said, but we misinterpret their instruction and say, it is savarna aadhipatya and superstition, etc!

2b!! (he Vedas %#eneral& #c ntd"$

Ihy is shruti important5
"etailed studies ha e been carried out by professors of music from Hle eland Uni ersity on the Vedic sruthies! + en today lot of research work is going on in this sub'ect! (he sruti of all the four Vedas ary and that of $ama Veda is completely different! Veda thrayee means Vedas ha e been written partly as poems %padya style&, prose %#adya style& and 0usic %geetha4gaana&! (his is the actual meaning of Veda thrayee! $ome people think that Veda thrayee means >ig eda, ya'ur eda and sama Veda! (hey wrongly say Athar a eda is not to be included! (his is a superstition or mistake! )or chanting the Veda manthra, it is not compulsory to know the meaning! Hhanting of Veda manthra has two merits3 one its ibrations which create or the Neurolinguistic effect and the other the message for the mankind! (he Neurolinguistic effect is obtained by anyone who listens or chants the manthra in the prescribed tone! (his gi es a music therapeutic effect by way of producing curati e chemicals in the brain! It is well known that more than ?@ curati e hormones which are curati e in nature are produced resulting in balanced brain wa es and optimum heart functioning, blood pressure, le el of cholesterol and also the le el of adrenaline in blood! (his effect is being positi ely utili*ed while undertaking stressJfull work like dri ing a ehicle, performing mechanical and computer tasks, for reducing the pain of cancer patients, reducing tension and confusion, lowering the .1, calming the brain, reducing head ache, etc! (his is particularly useful in the modern life especially for those who perform high tension mental of physical work! Hence using Veda manthra can be termed as manthra therapy! It is not a superstition, nor religion and science mixing, nor retrograding, nor con erting a durachara into a sadachara! It is pure applied science! /ou can see manthra chanting cassettes4H"s4etc in many cancer hospitals, mental health centers, research laboratories, etc! Ie repeat that while listening to Veda manthra one need not know the meaning of the manthra, the therapeutic effect can be deri ed directly from its sruthi4tone!

(he Vedic 0essage

(he second effect of the Vedas will be deri ed if and only if you know the meaning of the manthras! 0ost of India,s message to the world4mankind is deri ed from Vedas prompting some to say that e erything is in Veda ! <iterally this is not correct, but when we go deep into the significance of this statement, we see that almost all knowledge of Indian origin, is directly or indirectly linked with Vedas! It is for this reason that the scholars say that e erything is in Vedas! Vedas differ significantly from other scriptures like the .ible or Luran! (hey are entirely different in their contents or in the way of presentation! "ifferent sookthas %ha ing 2 to ?@ lines with ery specific number of letters in each line& known as riks were written by different Vedic sages %they are known as 0anthra drushtaara& and the great >ishi%es& from Vyasa kula compiled them into the four Vedas! (he edic messages touch all aspect of human life!

(here are three types of meanings for each manthra! Hence generally after chanting a Veda manthra, we also chant Om $anthi, $anthi $anthi! (he three santhies are adhyaathma santhi, aadhi bh uthika santhi and adhi devatha santhi! <ike this there are adhyathma sandesha O aadhi bhoudhika sandesha and adhi de atha sandesa %meaningB message& for each of the Veda manthra! Understanding all these meaning may take a long long time for a student of Veda! Unfortunately without knowing any of these facts many of the so called progressi es, atheists and politicians critici*e our heritage!

Hompiling and classifying the )our Vedas

.efore coming to each of the Vedas, let us try to understand why there are four Vedas! (he Veda mantras were composed by more than two hundred >ishies whom we generally call as manthra drushtara, which means those who could see the manthra! (hey compiled by their own method the mantras on different de athas %Vedic deities& ha ing ?F, ?A, 2?, 29, F@, FF, FA, :? or :9 letters per line, known as chandas! )or example a manthra ha ing ?F letters in one line is said to be composed in #ayatri chanda! (he mantras are also known as sookthas like purusha sookthas, sree sookthas, bhagya sookthas, and so on! .efore chanting each sooktha, the name of the >ishi, the chandas and the de atha of the manthra used to be chanted! $o, knowing the >ishi, chandas, and de atha of each sooktha is not at all difficult! (here are thousands of sookthas composed during different periods, by different >ishies, in different chandas for different de athas ! (hese sookthas 4mantras were compiled in Vedas! 0ore than a thousand sookthas are compiled in >ig Veda, some other mantras and also some from >ig Veda are compiled in /a'ur eda, few mantras from >ig Veda are chanted with excellent musical tone as songs %$aama gaana& which is known as $ama Veda! $ome >ig Veda manthra E some /a'ur eda and some other mantras are compiled to form Athar a eda! (his compiling and classification were done by the >ishies of Veda Vyasa Dula particularly Drishna "waipayana Veda Vyasa! (hus we say Veda Vyasa classified the Veda mantras into four Vedas! (he base of classification may be defined like this! (he message with knowledge %Gnaana kaanda& are compiled in >ig eda! (he message which con ey 'naana and karma are compiled in ya'ur eda for performing yagaas, the musical way of chanting as entertainment for the di inity or gods and also for human beings form $ama eda! (hese $ama mantras are mainly from >ig Veda but are sung with an entirely different pattern to form $ama Veda! (he common man,s social, political, agricultural, day to day life aspectsMetc are compiled as sookthas, exactly in the same pattern as >ig Veda which forms the Athar a Veda ! (here are many mantras which are present in all the four Vedas some are common for three Vedas, some for two Vedas! /a'ur eda is further di ided into two! )irst, Drishna ya'ur eda samhitha which has both poems4stan*as and prose! (he second is Va'asaneyee madhyandina sukla ya'ur eda samhitha which has only poetical presentation! Ie shall next make a broad sur ey of each Veda before citing examples of a few salient and inspiring erses as well as explaining the method of chanting them

FaJ >ig eda

>ig eda is the oldest literature of human race! It has been composed by many >ishies and not by one >ishi! (he >ig Veda is so known because it is composed of >iks! >iks means two lines of poems with ery stringent sruthies 4 tones to chant! +ach suktha may ha e two or more >iks in it! (hose who compose the Veda mantras are known as 0anthra drushtara3 A

means who could see the Veda manthra! 0a'ority of the names of Vedic >ishies are not known to us! (hese mantras were composed o er se eral centuries or e en millennia and not at a particular period! (he first part of the >ig eda appears to be old Vedic $anskrit and the last part appears to be modern $anskrit languages! In short there is an opinion that the first part and second part of >ig Veda manthra are composed in slightly different $anskrit style! As mentioned earlier, >ishies from Veda Vyasa kula classified4 rearranged the manthras to the present form as seen now in >ig eda! 0a'ority of the Veda hymns are composed by the >ishies of Viswamitra kula during different periods! All the hymns are adoring the Vedic de athas! >ig eda is composed almost fully in poetical style and no prose is seen! >ig Veda has ?: recensions %sakhas&! Only four are now a ailable known as $aakala, .haashkala, $aankhyayana, Dousheethakee saakhas! (he recensions ha e only minor ariations! (hese sakhas are wrongly interpreted in +nglish as branches! NoK (hey are recensions! Out of the ?: sakhas only four are a ailable now, the remaining are lost for e er! +ach sakha is known in the name of respecti e >ishies! (hey are $aakala sakha, .haashkala sakha, $aankhyaayana sakha, and Dousheethakee sakha are most important and they are composed or organi*ed in the present status by $aakala, .haashkala, $aankhyayana and Dousheethakee 0aharushies! 0a'or difference among these Vedic recensions of >ig eda are in the arrangements of many mantras %>iks& and also in the organi*ation of the 1arisishta mantras % parisishta mantras are those mantras which are not strictly part of Vedas but they are chanted in between Veda mantras as a custom&! In different sakhas in some places synonyms are also used like baahubhyam is changed to hasthaabhyam! (he >ig eda mantras are arranged in the .haskala sakha as mandala krama! All the mantras of the >ig eda has been included in ten mandala! In the $aakala sakha the arrangement is in ashtaka as the bunch of eight chapters! (here are totally 9F chapters and they are arranged in A ashtakas! )ew mantras are also rearranged in different sookthas in bhashkala saakha! Very few mantras are missing too! It is interesting to note that a few sookthas, which most probably might ha e got added during a later period are known as parisishtas and chanted after certain edic sookthas of a particular adhyaaya in an ashtaka! (hese parisishta mantras also ary to some extent in bhaskala saakha as compared to saakala saakha! One simple example is gi en here3 In saakala saakha there are ;; sookthas known in the name aalakhilya mantras, but in bhaashkala saakha only N sookthaas are included under this head! the remaining sookthaas are there in the same pattern in this eda but they are not known as aalakhilya sookthas! $imilarly $aankhyaana saakha and Dousheetaki saakha ha e also got similar type of minor ariations! (he $aakala saakha of >ig eda has ;P2A;9 words which are composed by 2PN?9: letters! (here are ;@::? >iks %stan*as& which are composed using ;P2A;9 words and they are organi*ed in ?@?F argas! (hese many argas are included in 9F chapters %adhyaayaas& and eight each of this form ashtakas and hence $aakala sakha of >ig eda has 9F adhyaayaas or A ashtakas! All these mantras included in 9F chapters of $akala $akha are classified in a different method in the .haskala sakha of >ig eda %with minor ariations& into ten mandalas! (he first mandala has ;P; sookthas, then in the order from ?nd to ;@th mandalas, respecti ely F2, 9?, :A, AN, N:, ;@F, ;@2, ;;F and ;P; sookthas are present! (he number of >iks in each P

suktha or each mandala also aries significantly! $ay for example in the first mandala there are ?@@9 >iks included in ;P; sookthas and in the last 0andala has ;P; sookthas but consists of only ;N:F >iks! Ie might ha e heard the names of some of these >ishies who ha e composed our puranas, itihasas etc! .ut we might not ha e heard the names of ma'ority of the >ishies who composed Veda mantra! Howe er if a researcher would like to go deep into the sub'ect of the Cnames, of these Vedic >ishies, he will understand that these names ha e ery special meaning or connotation! #i en below are the names of >ishies who composed the >ig Veda! (hese names are presented here only 'ust to gi e an awareness on the names of the Vedic >ishies 3 Danwa, $unssepha, Aangeeras, 1raskanwa, $a ya Aangeeras, Nodha #outhama, #outhama rahoogana, Duthsa angeeras, Dasyapa, "hairghathamas, >omasa, "ai odaasi, Ouchadthya, Agasthya, <opaamudra, #urthsamada sounaka, Viswamitra gaadhina, >ushabha iswamitra, Utkeela kaathya, Datho iswamitra, #aathee kousika, .hartha, 1ra'apati iswamitra, Vamadef a gouthama, (hrasadsyu, Athreya, Dumara Athreya, Vruso'aana, Vasusrutha, Isha athreya, #aya athreya, $uthambhara athreya, "haruna angeeras, 1ururathreya, Vaprirathreya, 1rayaswantha athreya, $asa athreya, Viswasaama athreya, #opayana, <oupaayana, Vasooya a athreya, .haratha >a'a, Viswamithrarathreya, .abhrurathreya, #aathurathreya, 1rabhu asurangeeras, Athri bhouma, A athsaara kasyapa, $adaa uruna athreya, 1rathikshathra athreya, Achanaana athreya, .haradhwaa'a, .harhaspathya, $uhotra bharadwa'a, .haradhwa'a, $amyu bruhaspati, #argya bhradwa'a, %0any >ishies of .haradwaa'a kula, 0aitra aruna, Vasisthaputra, Viswamanu, Vai aswatha manu, 0edhathithi kanwa, $yaa ascha athreya, Naabhakakanwa, $yaa ascha athreya, Viroopa angeeras, (hrisoka kanwa, Vasosa ya, #hora karna, .haga praagatha, 1ragaatha kanwa, 1urhanma angeerasa, Haryatha praaagaatha, #opa ana athreya, Durusutri kanwa, Druthsa bharga a, +kadhyunoundhas, Duseedikanwa, Drishna aangeeras, Nrumedha angeeras, (hirascheera angeeras, >epha kasyapa, Nomobharga a, Gamadagnir bharga a, $obhari kanwa, 0edhathithi kanwa, Hiranyasthoopa angeeras, "arddyachyutha, .indhurangeeras, Nidhru ee kasyapa, Ambareesha, /ama, /amee, /ama ai aswatha, /aamayatha, Vimada aindra, Vasuka, aindra, Da asha ailoosha, <usadhana, Abhithaapa sourya, #hosha kaakshi ati, $uhashtya ghousheya, $aptha guru angeeras, Agni souchika, #ayaplaatha, Vasu karna, Vasukra, Aayaasya angeerasa, $umitra Vandhyaswa, .eruhaspati <ounkhya, Viswakarma bhou ana, 0anyuthaapasa, $uryasaaa itri, Vrushtikaama, Vaikhanasa, 0ulagala bharmaswa, durmitra, Vairoopa, Agniyutha, .hiskshurangeerasa, Athar ana, Vasishta, Hiranyagarbha, Vagamdhruni, Dusika, 1arameshti, $akapootha, 1ai'a ana, Aapsathya, .rahma, Nainruthi, Vairraa'a, Vathayana, Aghamarshana, $am anana, are the Vedic >ishies who composed >ig eda manthra! I ha e tried to include almost all the names! $till there can be some omissions! (hus it will be seen that the Vedas are a compilation of insights and de otions of innumerable indi iduals and not a re elation or message of C(he Hhosen One,!

FbJ >ig Veda #c

ntinued$

Ihen one reads or chants the >ig eda manthra, 'ust before reading, he is expected to chant the name of the >ishi who composed the manthra, the chandas %chandas is based on the number of letters in each >ik4mantra in the suktha& and also the Vedic deity of adoration %the deity of the manthra&! .efore starting the chanting, it goes like this 3 #aadhino ;@

iswamitra >ishi, Anushtub chandas3 mitro de ataM!then the Veda mantra is to be chanted! Here the author of the manthra is #aadhina iswamitra, (he chandas is anushtub and the Vedic "eity is mitra %$un&! Aapasthamba >ushi, Gagati chanda Agnirde ataM Here the name of the >ishi, the chandas and the de atha are gi en in the order! $o it is easy to understand who has composed each manthra! (here are many mantras composed by the same >ishi! (here are also mantras composed by the family members of the same >ishi! In the >ig eda text, you can read the names of the composer of each manthra! 0ore information will follow! Dindly again read the names gi en earlier to know the names of the composers of the greatest and the earliest literature in the world, >ig Veda!

(he meanings of Vedic mantras

+ ery Veda manthra has three types of meaning! (hese meaning are known as aadhtyaatmika, aadhibhouthika and aadhidai atha artha! (his is the reason why after chanting e ery Veda manthra we chant three times Om $anthi $anthi $anthi for aadhyatmika saanthi, aadhi bhouthika saanthi and aadhi dai athaa saanthi! How can we understand what are these three meanings 5 /askacharya has interpreted three meaning in a different way! /aa'nikam, dai atham and aathmeeyam! Ihen you take the meaning as yaa'neekam, then we consider that all whate er is ours we submit them to the di ine power! Ie sacrifice them and get detached from them! (he second daai atha meaning is that we are doing all these for making the god and di ine power happy for their blessings as common man does! In the athmeeya meaning we consider the aathma paramaathma relation and look into the spiritual aspect of the manthra! In a nutshell, if a line of mantra on the animal sacrifice is chanted it can ha e these three meaning! ;! In this meaning the Gee athma of the animal is getting dissol ed in the paramaathma chaitanya which is symbolically explained as animal sacrifice! %aadhi dai atha artha& ?! (he animal is the symbol of animal instinct like ego, anger, etc of the man and it is sacrificed or it is also the sacrifice of ignorance of human beings which is characteristics of the animals! %aadhyaathmika artha&! (here will not be any animal sacrifice according to this, it is only in explanation 2! Aadhi bhouthika artha in which the animal is sacrificed as offering to god 4 de atha for getting the benefits from the god! % In old testaments of .ible and also in Luran animal sacrifice is described in e ery place, including for .akrid! It is known that in India also during the olden days animal sacrifice was common& Veda mantras are chanted in all the Vedic rituals where the materials are offered to fire! All the Vedic rituals are known as offering through Agni using the word swaaha! (hese mantras play ery important role in $omayaga, Aswamedha yaga, 1utra kameshti yaga, Va'apeya yaga, and many other yaagas! (hey are also chanted in some special rituals with the thantra! (here are some mantras which are ery commonly used, like 1urusha sukta, bhagya sukta, Vishnu sukta, $ree $ukta, and so on! (hey are always chanted! )ew mantras are chanted in e ery rituals! All these mantras are expected to be chanted with ten sruthies %tones& known as udaattha, anudhaatta, swaritha, repha, hraswa, pracheya, anunaasikaa, kampa, deergha kampa and plutha! (hree among these are present in #ayatri manthra! In all the three Vedas #ayatri mantra written by Viswamitra is included! (here are many Vedic scholars in India who know the >ig Veda by heart! In fact a person is known as a CVedic scholar, pro ided he can chant a Veda mantra, when asked to chant a line ;;

or a suktha from anywhere from the Vedic text, from any chapter at any part ! $ay for example3 the 9th ashtaka, 2rd chapter, Pth sukta! If it is told to chant like this, the scholar is expected to recollect this mantra and chant! $o learning Vedas is not done 'ust like that! +xcellent examination procedure is also adopted for erifying the knowledge of the Vedas, by the examiners! (he method of chanting the Veda mantra by Derala Namboothiries is known as $ounaka siksha method! (he method followed by (amil4 Darnataka4(elugu Vedic scholars is known as /a'na alkhya sikhsa and the scholars from North India and 0aharastra chant Veda in Narayana $iksha! If a person ha ing no background of Veda mantra listens to these three ways of chanting he can ne er know that all are chanting the same mantra in three different method without any change in e en a line!

:aJ /a'ur eda

Now we shall go through the /a'ur eda samhitha which is the second Veda in the series of the Vedic literature ! As mentioned in our earlier messages, the >ig Veda gi es the Gnaana kaanda, /a'ur eda gi es the karma kaanda, $aama Veda gi es the arts and related sub'ects and the Athar a eda gi es the social and related messages 4 concepts4 bases! In short all the Indian literature connected with 'naana kaanda ha e their base on >ig eda, and all the karma yoga based messages and literature can be seen directly linked with the /a'ur eda! (he sapatha swara! thaala, aadya, mela, raga, keerthana, gaana, sruthi, laya and so on ha e their basic principles in the $aama eda chanting ! All the social concepts, family bondages, nation, agriculture, diseases, medicines, satru naasana, success in the battles, etc are the sub'ects gi en as mantras in athar a eda!

>ecsensions
In ya'ur eda, it is said that there are more than ;@@ recensions! +ach of the recensions has further branched into branchlets! Hence ya'ur eda is known as ya'ur eda ruksha %/a'ur eda tree&! + en though it is ery difficult for a common man to understand, let us 'ust glance through the names of the ya'ur eda texts recensions! Aalambi, kalinga, kamala, ruchaabha, aaruni, thandya, syaamaaayana, kata, kaalaapi are the prime saakhas %recensions&! )rom among this, the kata saakha has been further expanded by arious rushies into charaka kata, aahwaraka kata, bhra'ishtala kata, kapishtala kata, chaaraayaneeya kata, praapya kata swetha kata, swethaswethara kata, oupamanya a kata, paathaandineya kata and maithraayaneeya kata, pin'ula kata, oudala kala, sapicchala kata, mudgala kata, srungala kata, soubhara kata, mourasa kata chuchu kata, yoga kata, hapila kata, bhousala kata, ghosha kata, 'rumbhakata kata etc (o illustrate the further branching of each saakha let us consider the kaalaapi saakha! It has been further expanded into haaradra eeya, cchagalina, thoumburu ina, oulupina saakha! $imilarly the abo e mentioned maithrayaneeya saakha has further grown into maana a, aaraaha, dundubha, aikeya, syaama, syaamaayaneeya, haaridra eeya! (he latter haaridra eeya saakha has further grown into aasurina, gaargya, saarkaraakshya, maarga, aasa eeya! I know well that it is impossible for you to remember these names and how the classification and subJclassification of /a'ur eda has been made! Howe er what each of us should know is that the /a'ur eda book %samhitha& is not a single book, but it is se eral books written by many many rishies o er se eral thousand years! In the present day for the common manQs ;?

understanding we need only know that the ya'ur eda is classified into two saakhas as sukla ya'ur eda which has forty chapters and composed fully in the poetical style without and prose! Only two books are known in this saakha3 Vaa'asaneyee madhyandina ya'ur eda samhita and Daanwa samhitha! All other saakhas mentioned abo e come under Drishna ya'ur eda which are known to ha e both prose and poems! (he kaanwa samhita and aa'asaneyee samhitha of sukla ya'ur eda do not differ significantly whereas all the saakhas %recensions& of the Drishna ya'ur eda differ significantly in its composition! (here are some manthras which are common in >ig Veda and ya'ur eda! (he number of >ig eda manthras aries in different ya'ur eda saakha! In prose and the hymns, the mantras are presented in such a way that they are to be used directly for performing yaagaas or sroutha karmas! In >ig eda the Vedic hymns were presented as compilation where the manthras can be used for different purposes depending upon the message of the manthra! In /a'ur eda depending upon the message of the manthra they are used for a $1+HI)IH 1U>1O$+ that is for a specific karma! All these manthras do ha e a role in karma kaanda that is a ritual! Hence we say ya'ur eda is compiled for performing yagaas!

$ukla /a'ur eda

(here are two recensions for sukla ya'ur eda known as Vaa'asaneyee maadhyndina ya'ur eda samhitha and kaanwa samhitha which do not ary significantly! Almost P: R of the hymns remain the same in these two recensions! (he a'asaneyee maadhyandina saakha followers are known as aa'asaneyins and those who follow kaanwa saakha are known as kaanwas in the Vedic scholars circle! .oth the Vedic recensions ha e forty chapters in the book! In both the saakhas the last chapter is the well known +esaa aasya Upanishad! <et us 'ust glance through the arrangements of the hymns in aa'asaneyee maadhyandina ya'ur eda samhitha3 "o not worry e en if you could not understand anything! (his is 'ust to inform you that we cannot understand anything unless we go deep into the Vedas! (hat is the reason why our ancestors ha e decided to inform us that e eryone need not learn Vedas! It needs a thapascharya and a life long sacrifice of time, energy, money and brain! In aa'asaneyee samhitha the first two chapters are darsapoorna maasi yaaga, 2rd 8 Fth chapter chaathurmaasya customs, agnyaadhaanam and agniupasthaanam for the yaaga %making and consecrating the fire in yaaga saala&! In the fifth chapter the preliminary steps of yaaga to extracting soma rasa are narrated as manthra part! )rom the reception of the guests and priests to consecrating the yoopa in yaaga saala are explained as hymns in :th chapter then upto Pth chapter extracting soma 'uice, sa annas for each day upto third day of yaaga, In the Pth to ;Fth chapters special rituals connected with aa'apeya yaaga, raa'asooya yaaga soutraamani yaaga ritual, etc are specially explained as manthras! After wards upto ??nd chapters are explained as mantras, the most important rituals of the yaagas! )rom ?2rd to ?:th chapters, aswamedha yaaga manthras are compiled! Upto 2@th chapter the fifth day rituals and a special ritual known as soutramani are explained as manthras! Upto 2Pth chapter arious manthras connected with rituals like gharma, pra argya,sambharana proshana,prayaschittha, puroshaada kriya, pithrumedha, etc of arious types of yaagas %which is beyond the scope of this abstract presentation & are gi en! (he F@th chapter is as explained earlier, the eesaa asya upaishad! 0ore than :@R of the ya'ureda manthra are directly or indirectly connected with rig eda

;2

:bJ /a'ur eda

#% ntinued$

.enefits of chanting manthras

Now the -uestion is how we will know which, when, how, where, these manthras are to be chanted ! In /aa'ur eda, when manthras are chanted in the yaaga 4 ya'na, the message is made ery clear directly or indirectly as in a prayer! (hus, if a systematic analysis of the yaaga customs and rituals is done in order to understand the meaning of that ritual, you will definitely get the message of the manthra which can then be recited in our day to day life! Ihat are the present day use of the mantra5 (hese mantras are being learned and taught as the key words in con eying deep messages connected with management principles, health information, alues in the family and society, scientific knowledge, psychological benefits, etc! Ancient Indian method of learning the manthra by heart had an ad antage that, it can be -uoted at any time at any place to anyone which con ey excellent messages as subhashithams! $o learning mantra has many ad antage pro ided it is used rationally, logically and scientifically! 0any doctors in the Iest are ad ising the patients suffering from .1 or psychosomatic problems, to listen to mantras while sleeping, working, dri ing etc! It is also common e erywhere to chant4 listen specific mantra while doing pranayama, yoga, morning or e ening walk and e en while dong modern exercises! /our religion, caste, ision, language, political background etc will not ha e any bearing on your chanting or listening to a mantra! + en you need not ha e to ha e faith in mantras for listening to them! .ut if you can spare few minutes, it is easy to understand which manthra is to be chanted at a particular time4occasion and also about its meaning! >emember mantras can be chanted by anyone! If possible it should be chanted with sruti or the Vedic tone for getting the excellent effect!! (he best way is to listen instead of chanting with a wrong sruti! One should remember that learning to chant a manthra takes lot of your time, or e en a part of life time! .ut listening is the best because you can do it from H"s and cassettes! /a'ur eda is the source of many mantras which may be applied in our day today life, because they con ey the message when and where each mantra is to be chanted!

Ihich mantras to chant5

$ome of our readers ha e asked a few -uestions on the mantras! (he answers are3 those who want to chant mantras can chant #ayantri manthra, 0ruthyun'aya manthra, the fi e saanthi mantras of Upanishads, purusha sookthas, .hagya sookthas, Narayana sookthas, >udra sookthas, >udhra and chamaka, Upanishads, etc! 1referably listen to those mantras before learning them %if you are learning without the help of a teacher&! + ery one can chant4 learn the mantras preferably morning and e ening, sitting in poo'a room or a clean place! 0ake sure that the chanting is done with clear sound and slowly and steadily! (he .ritishers who translated or interpreted the /a'ur eda has gi en the name for sukla /a'ur eda as white /a'ur eda and Drishna /a'ur eda as .lack /a'ur eda! Unfortunately many publishers follow the same method e en today! >emember that there is neither black nor white in /a'ur eda! (his is a glaring example of misinterpretation of $anskrit words into +nglish and ice ersa! I ha e informed you that in Va'asaneyee maadhnadina samhitha of $ukla /a'ur eda has ;PN: mantras which are hymns and composed in poetical style! $ree >udra and Hhamaka for performing many >udra yagas are the part of this book! (here is another recension of sukla ;F

/a'ur eda known as Daanwa samhitha in which ma'or ariations are not seen except in the number of a few mantras, the number of chapters and other contents remain the same without much ariations! (haithireeya samhitha is the part of Drishna /a'ur eda which has both prose and poems! .ut all are chanted with the Vedic sruthi! (he thaithireeya samhitha is classified into kandas %parts& and each kaanda has further been classified into prapaatakaas! +ach prapaataka describes each ritual in yaagas!

/aagas
One should remember that there are two type of yaagas! (he yaagas which are performed for prosperity and fulfilling all the wishes and needs of the life! 0ake the life happy with all the luxuries through the yaagas which are known as kaamya yaagas or Damyeshties %Ishti means yaagas&! $ome of the yaagas are performed purely for attaining moksha %in other words for attaining hea enly abode& which are known as moksheshti ! 0oksheshties are for relin-uishing the earthly life and slowly preparing for gi ing up the earthly life! /a'ur eda elaborately describes all that are connected with the construction of the yaaga saala, each and e ery ritual connected with making of the fire, consecrating, the chanting of saama gaana, the role of ya'amaana and his wife, the offering to fire, the mantras to be chanted etc! Hooperation and support of e ery section of the society right from the king to the pot maker, forest tribes, fishermen, soldier, trader, farm worker, hunter, and people from all walks of life is necessary! (his benefits the indi idual, family, society and nation by strengthening the social bondage! It helps the economical, agricultural, industrial, scientific and technological aspects of a illage or nation directly or indirectly! (hus we can see that /aagas are not meant merely for spirituality but for social relations and bondage too, in concurrence with high -uality message for alue based life! (hese messages are gi en either as prayers or ad ise to people or as part of explanations in Vedas! One should clearly remember that these Vedas and Vedic composition and Vedic messages are no way comparable with the 0essages gi en in .ible, Doran or any other texts of any other religion -ualitati ely or -uantitati ely or structurally or composition wise!

:cJ /a'ur eda

#% ntinued$

0aithrayaneeya samhitha is yet another important branch or sakha of Drishna /a'ur eda! )our ma'or parts are well demarked in the text of this Veda! Variety of yaagas and their manthrs are gi en here! An crucial difference what we can obser e in this Veda is that the shodasa acharas like anna prasana, 'aatha karma, naama karana, i aha, etc are also described with manthras %i!e! family rituals like sacred thread ceremony, marriage, birthday celebrations, naming ceremony, etc&! (he shodasa acharas are the ;9 sacraments to be performed for e ery Hindu, right from the garbhaadhaana till death %anthyeshti&! #enerally this type of sub'ects are described in #ruhyasutra part of Dalpasutra %the fifth edanga& (here are many manthras which are common in (haithireeya samhitha and maitrayaneeya samhitha! 0any manthras are from >ig eda and Athar a eda! Now if you search the location of the edic scholars, you will know that many of them are located in isolated places, as one or two families! Howe er /a'ur eda scholars and >ig eda scholars are seen in ma'or part of India! .ut from among them, those who follow or those who know specific recension may be one or two or maximum half a do*en pandits! (hose ;:

Vedic scholars who follow 0athrayaneeya samhitha are now li e mainly in #u'arat, and Andraparadesh, in the banks of Narmada and #oda ari ri ers! (he (haithireeya sakha edic scholars li e almost e erywhere in India where as Data sakha followers are again only in southern banks of the #oda ari ri er! (he Daanwa sakha followers are scattered in their huts on the banks of the Drishna ri er! (he Va'asaneeyee madhynadina sakha of ya'urf eda followers are settled in the ri er banks of $arayu ! /a'ur eda manthras has the sruti almost similar to >ig eda manthras! One should learn the Vedas from the guru otherwise the sruti may go wrong while chanting! Ihen some of the manthras are repeated in different Vedas, minor changes are also seen either in letters, or in words or sometimes in lines! (he tone of chanting or the sruti of /a'ur eda mantras is almost the same as the >ig eda mantras! (he method of learning %paatas& also resemble ery much with that of >ig eda! Ihen >ig eda is considered as Gnaana kaanda, /a'ur eda is focusing on karma kaanda! (he F@th Hhapter of $ukla /a'ur eda is known as eesaa aasya upanishd! (his is the only Upanishad out of ;@A upanishad, which is the inseparable part of a Veda! (he ;A lines of eesaa aasya upanishd gi e ;A greatest messages of Hindu dharma! It is to be chanted with sruti! (here is a sakha of /a'ur eda known as maitraayaneeya sakha! (he maitraayaneeya Upanishad and maithreyee Upanishad are also considered as the part of the eda but considered as parisishta % addentum&! Anyone who would like to listen to all the four Vedas can down the mantras from http344www!nandanmenon!com

+arly Iestern Hommentaries on Vedas

0any people ha e asked the -uestion which are the best commentaries of Vedas! (here are many Indian commentaries! )ollow anyone of them! (he western commentaries written in olden days did not ha e the real of aim of writing a commentary or translation ! &he aim f translati n and c mmentary f 'r f" (a) (uller! *illiam ( neir! + den! *ils n and many western sch lars was mainly t misinterpret the Vedas and c nfuse the ,ndian mind" (his confusion will make the Indian mind to gi e up the Vedas and embrace Hhristianity! (his they ha e clearly mentioned in their own books4 letters directly or indirectly! (hus learning the Vedic translation by the earlier western scholars will lead to confusion and wrong meaning! $imilarly the dictionary of 0onier is nothing but a nonsense which gi es sexual and pornographic meaning for $anskrit words gi en in Vedas! %their intentions are gi en in the website in their words www!heritageindianews!org >emember good translations of Vedas are a ailable from Indian authors, who are well ersed in the +nglish and $anskrit languages4 regional languages! Also remember that the modern $anskrit and Vedic $anskrit do ha e differences and hence learning the messages of Vedas exclusi ely using a modern $anskrit dictionary also may not be appropriate! As mentioned earlier, there are three types of meanings for Veda mantras! AadhyaatmikaJ Aadhi bhoudhika and Adhi de ata ! %1erhaps for reminding us the three meanings4messages, after chanting e ery Veda mantra we chant om saanthi, saanthi saanthi Jthree times&! If you are purchasing a good Veda text from 0otilal .anarsidas publishers or Hhaukhambha publishers or from >amakrishna mission and so on, you will see that there are special markings in each letter of the mantra! (his marking denotes the udaaata, anudaatta, swarita, repha,hraswa, pracheya, anunaasika, kampa, deergha kampa and plutha sruthi %tone& of the mantra chanting! ;9

- *hat was the aim f 'r f" (a) (uller in studying and translating the Vedas". In 0ax 0ullerQs own words through a letter written to "uke of Argyl, the then secretary to India SI shall finish the translating work of Vedas and I feel con inced, though I shall not li e to see it, that this edition of mine and the translation of the Veda will hereafter tell to a great extent on the fate of India, and on the growth of millions of souls in that country %India&T! He wrote to his wife U(his translation of mine and the translation of the Vedas will hereafter tell to a great extent on the fate of India ! ! ! It is the root of their religion and to show them what the root is, I feel sure, is the only way of uprooting all that has sprung from it in the last 2@@@ years %;AJ;?J;A9A&

9! $aama Veda
(he third Veda, $aama Veda, is said to be the most interesting Veda! In .haga ath geethaa <ord Drishna has said, U Vedaanaam saama edoasmiU % I am the $aama Veda among edas&! It is the base of all Indian music 4songs 4ragas4 and arts! #aandhar a eda %sangeetha eda& is the upa eda of $aama eda! (he saptha swara has its origin from saama eda! Sa/ri/ga/ma/pa/da/ni are the first letters f seven saama veda mantras" In $aama Veda the se en swaras are written as prathama, dwitheeya, thritheeya, chathurthi, panchami, shashti and sapthami! (he e-ui alent notation in Daranataka or Hindustani music are respecti ely madhyma %ma&, gaandhaara %ga&, rishabha %ri&, shad'a %sa&, nishaada %ni&, dai atha %dha& and panchama %pa&! All the $aama Vedic scholars when they chant $aama Veda, %saama eda gaana aalaapanam& touch the ;F 'oints 4tips of their fi e right hand fingers in a particular order based on the sruthi! According to the sruthi 4swara 4tone the fingers mo e automatically for a $aama Veda pundit! (he ;Fth swara, which is the poorna or complete swara, the index finger tip and the thumb tip come in contact which gi es the chin mudra, which has the shape of *ero % @ &! (hus e ol ed the *ero in ancient India as the symbol4message of UcompleteU %poornam& poo'yam means poo'aneeyam 6 holy, adorable, complete, whole, full etc! It is true that there is no beginning and end for *ero 6 @ % it is pointless because it is a circle&! Hence it is the poornam! As .rahmam, the cosmic di ine power does not ha e beginning and end as said in the #eethaB it is poornam and poo'yam %thus Indians disco ered *ero&! $aama eda mantras are compiled as a special and uni-ue way of chanting the >ig eda and /a'ur eda mantras with added tones 4sruthies4words and letters! (his makes the $aama % eda& gaana! (he saama gaana J musicJ singing is the most important part of any yaagas! It is said that the yaaga de athas dance in the yaaga saala when they listen and en'oy this songs4 music and they bless e eryone %this is only the literal meaning&! .ased on this saama gaana e ol ed the Darnatik and Hindustani music 4keerthans 4bha'ans 4poems4! It is the toughest among the four Vedas to learn or teach! $aama Veda has ;@@@ saakhas %recensions& ma'ority of which are lost for e er! It is said that now only thirteen recensions are now a ailable! (hey are 3 ranaayaneeya sakha, saatya mugra saakha, yaasa saakha, bhaguri saakha, oulundi saakha, goulgu i saakha, bhaanumaan saakha, oupamanya a saakha, kaaraati saakha, masaka saakha, gaargya saakha, kouthuma saakha, saalihotra saakha and 'aimineeya saakha! It appears that now the edic scholars who are ali e can chant only the following three saakhasB Douthuma saakha, Gaimineeya saakha and ranaayaneeya saakha! (hat means the other recensions are ;N

disappearing from the land of bharatha arsha for e er! + en if the text of the respecti e recensions may become a ailable in future in foreign libraries, the scholars who can chant4sing are not a ailable! (hat means the sakha is dead! Ha e you e er heard the names of the abo e saama eda saakhas5 PP!PR might not ha e heard these names! 0any so called progressi es4people4 intellectuals who make negati e comments on Vedas ha e not e en heard the names e en once in their life, but they degrade, make fun off, belittle and denigrate these Vedas e en without knowing e en the first letter of eda! (he Vedas and edic messages are uni ersal in nature and they ne er ne er teach or preach anything biased4 destructi e! I felt happy to see that there are thousands of youngsters whom I met, learning the Vedas in foreign countries! <et us wish and hope that through them these Vedas may resurrect!

$ama Veda 0antras

.rief description of sama eda is gi en here! (otal number of mantras in sama eda is ;:FP %based on different sakhas there can be minor ariations&! Out of this ?9N mantras should be repeated twice, whene er sama mantras are chanted! $o these ?9N mantras are known as punarukti %means repetition&! Including these punarukti the total number of sama eda mantra may sometimes be said as ;:FP E ?9N 6 ;A;9! $ome sakha followers say kouthuma sakha has ;AN: mantras and Gaimineeya sakha has only ;9P2 mantras! (he sama edic mantras except ;@: mantras are from $aakala sakha of >ig eda! It is also said that out of these ;@: mantras, 2@ mantras are said to be present in .haashkala sakha of >ig eda! (hus the original mantras belonging to sama eda are only N:B all other mantras of sama eda are from >ig eda! In short the >gi eda mantras are chanted as songs %sama gaana& in sama eda! In the kouthuma saakha of $ama eda, the total mantras are classified into poor archika, mahaanamnyarchika and uttararchika! In different sakhas the mantras are classified and also named differently! (he sama gaanas %the songs of sama eda& are four types! #raama geya gaanas which are sung in illage atmosphere4en ironment, whene er the yaagas are performed in illages %gramas&! (he aaranya geya gaanas are sama songs sung when the yaagas are performed in the forest! (he third category of sama ganas are those sama songs sung ery confidentially 4secretly without making much sound known and it is known as ooha gaanas! (hose songs of sama eda which are sung only in the mind with full concentration are known as oohya gaanas! (here are ;?2? grama geya gaanas, ?P; aranya geya ganas, A@? ooha gaanas and 2:? oohya gaanas in Gaimineeya sama eda sakha! One may remember that same mantra is sung in different gaanas in any one or more of the abo e method, hence the number shown abo e which when added together will go more than total number of sama eda mantras! (he chanting method of $ama Veda is gi en in samhitopanishad brahmana which is a small book explained later!

N! Athar a Veda
Athar a Veda mantras generally deal with material problems and prayers which are associated with sociology, agriculture, medicine, success and failures and so on in the life! It is also known as .hrama Veda, Athar a Agneerasa Veda, Angeerasa Veda, Dshatra Veda etc! ,t has been wr ngly stated that the Atharva Veda is inferi r # r f rbidden$ than the ther three Vedas" $ome of the cinemas 4 mo ies 4 serials appearing strengthen this misunderstanding about Athar a Veda! (his is wrongB the -uality and all other parameters ;A

of Athar a eda are similar to other Vedas! Veda thrayee only means three -ualities of Vedas which are samhita, chandas and sruti! Athar a Veda has all these three, hence it is no way inferior to other Vedas! It is said that Athar a Veda has :@ recensions4 sakhas! Only nine sakhas are known now! (heir names are 1ippalada sakha, thouda sakha, mouda sakha, sounakeeya sakha, 'aa'ala sakha, 'alada sakha, brahma ada sakha, de adarsa sakha, and charana aidya sakha! Now only two sakhas are a ailable in the complete form! (hey are sounaka sakha and pippalada sakha! Unfortunately due to the wrong understanding %misunderstanding 4 superstition& that Athar a Veda is inferior to other Vedas, there are only few students to learn and few teachers to teach this Veda! (hus Athar a Vedic scholars are ery few in number! In Deralam there may be only two or three scholars who know the mantras with sruti! + en the original sruthi of this Veda is also said to be almost lost! 0any people think that Athar a eda deals only with black magic! It is also misunderstood that, it is connected with mantra %practices& aada type of magic or kshudra prayogas! (his is absolutely wrong! (here are of course a few mantras which fall under satru nasana, rashtra i'aya, roga nasana, ra'a i'aya, and so on! (here are also many mantras which are chanted during ratha arohana, entering in palace, simhasana arohana, and for prosperity, health, long life, freedom from health problems, medicines for a ariety of diseases etc! .ut these mantras are ne er used for black magic or kshudra prayogas! (hey are chanted exclusi ely for the benefit, by anyone, in his own way and not for destroying anyone else! (he $ounakeeya sakha of Athar a Veda has N:@ sukthas compiled in ?@ Dandas %parts& ha ing :PAN mantras of which ;?@@ mantras are from >ig eda! (here are many /a'ur eda mantras too! +ach suktha has a specific purpose in chanting, hence this arrangement of the suktha by mentioning the purpose is uni-ue to Athar a Veda! It is said that the learning procedure of Athar a Veda was not as rigid as obser ed in other Vedas! Hence it is said that ariations in chanting methodology, number of mantras etc are common! (here can be ariation when a student of Derala and Dashmir sit for chanting the same Athar a Veda sakha! .ut this is not the case with the other VedasB when the scholars of the same sakha of >ig eda chant, the matras it will be the same, whether the edic scholar is from 01, A1, Haryana, Dashmir or Danykumari +ach sukta is a prayer 4 explanation for fulfilling the expectations or wishes! (hese prayers are for different purposes which reflect in the name of the suktha! Atharva vedic prayers f cus n pr sperity and peaceful life n earth f r all spiritual and physical benefits" (hey are classified under adhyatmikam, adhibouthikam and adhidai atham categories! (he adhyatmika sub'ects are included in adhyathmika prakaranam3 aathma thathwam, brahmacharyam J gruhasthaJ anaprasthaJsanyasa dharmam, description on 'ee athama, pramathma, health, pancha bhootha, pancha prana and so on! 1rayers for good health, medicines, curati e effect, long life, relief from diseases 4 health problems like leprosy 4 fe er4 small pox4 infections, and so on are also included in adhyathmika prakaranam! Adhibhoouthika sub'ects are described in adhibhootha prakaranam3 these include the prayers4manthras connected with the role of kings, ministers, ictory in war, simhasana arohanam, ra'ya i'ayam, satru nasanam, anna ardhanam, prosperity and so on! In the third part of Athar a Veda the Adhidai atha prakaranam include the prayers towards edic deities, yaga mantras, kaala sthuti, adoration of aayu, agni, mitra, medicinal plants, indra, aiswanara, mitra aruna and so on! ;P

Name of some specific Athar a Veda mantras are3 medha 'anana, roga sQamanam, paasa imochanam, yakshma naasanam, kanyaa i aranam, pushti karmam, alakshmi naasanam, raktha chamkramanam, hrudroga nasanam, 'wara nasanam, swasthayayanam, rashtraabhi ruddhi, madhu idya, agni prarthana, abhaya praapthi, bala praapthi, pasQu sam ardhanam, krimi nasanam, sreya praapti, ra'aabhishekam, ra'a kruthyam, sala nirmanam, ani'yam, anaspati ardhanam, a'araksha, putra laabham, samaruddhi, athma raksha, pasuposhanam, brahma idya, athma idya, a'eekaranam, papa mochanam, mruthyusantharanam, i'aya prarthana, sarpa isha nasanam, garbhaadhaanam, kesa ardhini oushadhi, swasti achanam, abhaya yachana, 'ala chikitsa, sarparakshanam, patilaabham, anna labham, dampathi prarthana, unmathamochanam, pasamochanam, sukrutha lokam, bhumi suktam, and so on

A! Hhanting the Veda 0antras

$o far I ha e been restricting my instalments to about ;@@@ words for -uick reading! (his instalment, howe er, is a bit long but can be -uickly skimmed through to understand how our ancients ensured that the mantras are not corrupted and interpolations4alterations are 'ust not possible! Ie must be grateful to them for the foolproof steps they ha e taken to ensure e erlasting purity of the scripture (hose edic scholars who belong to a family who know all the four edas were known in the earlier days as Hhathur edi! (hose belonging to the family of the first three edas were known as (hripaati4 (hri edi! )amilies which had studied two edas were called " i edies and if they had studied only one eda special titles were not gi en! Howe er if anyone today bears the abo e name%s& it does not necessarily mean that he know themK If any edic scholar has studied the edas in the #hana paata he is known as #hana paatee! (his is a personal title ! 0ore information on the paata 4 method of learning edas gi en below is 'ust for your understanding that how complicated is the method of learning edas! 0any of those who know chanting Veda manthras may not necessarily be Vedic scholars! (he real Vedic scholars ha e de oted their life for learning and teaching Vedas! (hey can -uote the Vedas from any chapter, any suktha without looking into eda book! (hey can go beyond the chanting le el also! (hey know the starting point of each >ik, suktha and in which chapter or from which mandala each line is present! (hey can chant them in the re erse order also!

Ashtau Vikruthaya
(here are eight methods %known as paatas& for a thorough mastering of Vedas! (hese are further split into se eral sub branches! %0anthra or samhitha paata %paata means recitation& is the paata we hear when the Vedic scholars chant them&! (he following line of a mantra is taken here as an example to explain the different paatas3

oshadhya sam vadanthey somena saha raa$naa

1lease note that in this mantra the word order is oshadhya J;, sam J?, adanthey J2, somena JF, saha J:, raa'naa J 9& ;! Samhitha Paatam is the first paata in which the Veda mantra is 'ust chanted without any sruthi! (he words are 'ust recited in the order ;J?J2JFJ:J9 ?@

?! Manthra Paatam: the abo e line is chanted with sruthies! (he $ruthies are ten in number3 Udaattha, anudaattha, swaritha, repha, hraswa, pracheya, anunaasika, kampa, deergha kampa and plutha are the ten sruthies in all the Vedas! (he manthra paata will now ha e the manthra dhwani! (he words are chanted in the same order as $amhita 1atam 2! Pada Paata: word by word separated as pada %word&! After each word there is a Qfull stopQ!
%shadhaya. Sam. Vadanthey. Somena. Saha. &aa$naa.

Iords are arranged as ;!?!2!F!:!9! F! Krama Paata3 in this paata the order is twisted and chanted with sruthi! And here the sruthi is not edic sruthi! It is the paata sruthi! +ach word when we chant forward and then backward as gi en below will ha e different sruthi, which should be studied under the guidance of a guru! %see the full stops gi en here&
oshadhaya' sam. sam vadanthey. vadanthey somena. somena saha. saha ra$naa. raa$neti raa$naa.

;J?! ?J2! 2JF ! FJ:! :J9 %and ending in& 9 iti 9 % raa'neti raa'naa& Fa! Pancha Sandhi Krama Paata3 from here onwards chanting the paata becomes difficult! Very clear and strict grammatical rules are to be followed when the words are chanted forward and backward! 1lease note that the essential sruthi of the paata is not included here! It is incorrect to chant this paata without sruthi!
oshadhaya' sam. sam sam. samoshadhaya' oshadhaya oshadhaya . oshadhaya sam. sam vadanthey. vadanthey vadanthey. vadanthey sam. sam sam. sam vadanthey. vadanthey somena . somena somena. somena vadenathey. vadanthey vadnathey. vadanthey somena. somena saha. saha saha. saha ra$naa. somena somena. somena saha. saha raa$naa. raa$naa.raa$naa. raa$naa saha. saha saha . saha raa$naa. raa$neti raa$naa

%the abo e lesson can be arranged word wise as gi en below& ;J?, ?J?, ?J;, ;J;, ;J? ?J2, 2J2, 2J?! ?J?, ?J2 2JF, FJF, FJ2, 2J2, 2JF FJ: :J: :JF FJF FJ: :J9 9J9 9J: :J: :J9 9 iti 9

?;

you cannot learn the abo e paata merely with word arrangements, because sruthi is important which you can get only from the guru! :! Jataapaata3
oshadhayas sam" samoshadhaya" oshadhayas sam. sam vadanthey" vadanthey sam" sam vadanthey. adanthey somena" somena vadanthey" vadanthey somena. somena saha" saha somena" somena saha. saha raa$naa" raa$naa" saha" saha raa$naa" raa$neti raa$naa.

; O?, ?J;, ;J?! ?J2, 2J?, ?J2! 2JF, FJ2, 2JF! FJ:, :JF, FJ: :J9 9J: :J9 9iti 9 9! Maalaa Paata3
oshadhaya sam. raa$neti raa$naa. sam vadanthey. raa$naa saha. vadanthey somena. saha somena somena saha. somena vadanehty. saha raa$naa. vadanthey sam. raa$neti raa$naa . somoshadhaya'

% remember the numbers are the Vedic words gi en in the order as ;,?,2,F,:,9 & connecting from the first two words and the last words in the re erse order ;J? 9 iti 9! ?J2! 9J:! 2JF! : O F FJ:! FJ2! :J9! 2J?! 9J9! ?J; 9a! Pushpa Maala Paata: (here are different methods for making a mala or garland! $imilarly there are different types of maala paata! One type of maala paatam known as pushpa maala paatam is shown below
oshadhaya' sam samoshadhaya' oshadhaya' sam . ( iti sam vadanthey vadanthey sam sam vadanthey ( iti vadanthey somena somena vadanthey vadanthey somena( iti somena saha saha somena somena saha ( iti saha raa$naa raa$naa saha raa$naa ( iti raa$neti raa$naa

;J? ?J; ;J? J iti ?J2 2J? ?J2 iti 2JF FJ2 2JF iti ??

FJ: :JF FJ: iti :J9 9J: :J9 iti 9 iti 9 N! Si ha Paata3
%shadhaya sam" samoshadhya'" oshadhaya sam" ( vadanthey sam vadanthey" vadanthey sam" sam vadnathey" ) somena vadanthey somena" somena vadanthey" vadanthey somena" ) saha somena saha" saha somena" somena saha" ) raa$naa saha ra$naa" ra$naa saha" saha ra$naa" ( ra$neti ra$naa

; O? ?J ; ;J ? O 2 ?J2 2J? ?J2 J F 2JF FJ2 2JF J : FJ:, :JF, FJ:, J 9 :J9, 9J:, :J9 J 9iti 9 A! R! ha Paata3
%shadhaya sam. samoshadhaya. oshadhaya sam. samvadnathey somena somena vadanthey sam sam vadanthey . vadanthey somena saha ra$naa ra$naa saha somena vadanthey. Vadanthey somena. somena saha . saha ra$naa. ra$neti ra$naa.

;J?, ?J;, ;J? ?J2JF, FJ2J?, ?J2 2JFJ:J9, 9J:JFJ2, 2JF FJ:J9 9J:JF, FJ: :J9 9J9 :J9 9 iti 9 Here one can see that two words are composed together, then three words, then four words and so on! If fi e, six, se en, eight words are there in one line then it goes on continuously without interruption! P! D"a#a Paata3 in this method of chanting and learning, all the words of one >ik are taken into consideration! In the example taken abo e, the full >ik or shloka has ;? words! (hus, the arrangement of words with sruthi will be from word number ; to word number ;?! Interestingly it has been pro ed that those edic scholars who ha e studied edas like this do not get Al*heimer,s disease, because of the excellent memory necessary for such chanting K
%shadhaya sam" aarayaamasi iti aarayaamasi sam vadanthey raa$an aarayaamasi vadanehty somena" tham raa$an somena saha" braahmanastham saha raa$naa" krunoti braahmana ra$neti raa$naa" yasmai krunoti yasmai krunoti" ra$nethi raa$naa krunoti braahmana" saha raa$naa braahmanastham" somena saha tham raa$an" vadanthey somena raa$an aarayaamasi" sam vadanthey aarayaamasi iti aarayaamasi" oshadhaya sam.

?2

;J?, ;?itiO;? ?J2, ;;J;? 2JF, ;@J;; FJ:, PJ;@ :J9 AJP 9JN NJA NJA 9JN AJP, :J9 PJ;@, FJ: ;@J;;, 2JF ;;J;?, ?J2 ;?iti ;?, ;J? ;@! Danda Paata:
oshadhaya sam" samoshadhaya' oshadhaya sam" sam vadanthey" vadanethy samoshadhaya' oshadhaya sam" sam vadanthey. vadanthey somena. somena vandanthey samoshadhaya' oshadhaya sam" sam vadanthey. vadanthey somena somena saha. saha somena vadanthey samoshadhaya' oshadhaya sam. sam vadanthey. vadanthey somena. somena saha. saha raa$naa. raa$naa saha somena vadanthey samoshadhaya' oshadhaya' sam. Sam vandanthey. vadanthey somena. Somena saha. Saha raa$naa. raa$neti raa$naa.

;J?, ?J; ;J?, ?J2, 2J?J; ;J?, ?J2, 2JF, FJ2J?J; ;J?, ?J2, 2JF, FJ:, :JFJ2J?J;! ;J?, ?J2, 2JF, FJ:, :J9! 9J:JFJ2J?J;! ;J?, ?J2, 2JF, FJ:, :J9, 9 iti 9! ;;! Ratha Paata: this is yet another ery interesting paata! Howe er it is impossible for me to write that in +nglish nor gi e the order because it will be ery complicated for a common reader! It can be gi en only in $anskrit! (here are different types of ratha paata, dwichakra ratha paata, thri chakra ratha paata, chathuschakra ratha paata and so on! One of the most important and tough forms of paata is #hana pata! Ie shall see how the #hana paata is applied to a manthra! Ie shall take another mantra for demonstrating this paata in #hana paata
*+aayanthi thwaa gaayathrino archanthyarka markinaA'* +aayanthi thwaa" thwaa gaayanthi" gaayanthi thwaa" gaayathrino, gaayanthrinasthwaa gaayanthi. +aayanthi thwaa gaayathrina,' thwaa gaayathrino" gaayahtrinsthwaa" thwaa gaayahtrino archanthya(archnthi gaayanthrinasthwaa . thwaa gaayathrinorchanthi. gaayathrino archanthya" archanthi gaayathrino" gaayanthrinoarchanthyarkama( arkamarchanthi gaayathrino gaayathrino. archanthyarkam. archanthyarkama ( arkamarchanthya( archanthyarkama( arkina,

?F

arkino arkamarchanthya (archanthyarkamarkina' arkamarkino ( arkinnoarkama(arkama(arkamarkina' . arkina ityarkina 0

If you go deep into the method of chanting these words4 hymns systematically, you will appreciate the effort one has to take for studying the method of chanting it without loosing the sruthi and also without referring to the book! All the four Vedas ha e the abo e pattern of learning methods i!e! their own paataas! (he rules do ary from Veda to Veda and the ten swaraas 4 sruthies ary! (he sweetest of the Vedas is the $aama eda, which when chanted with the abo e mentioned paata bhedaas gi es an unexplainable experience to the mind!

PaJ .rahmanas
(he next component of the Vedas is .rahmanas! 0a'ority of them explain the yaaga 4 ya'na rituals which is practically difficult for anyone to understand without their commentaries! (hey are basically meant for edic scholars! $ome of the brahmanas howe er may contain different sub'ects also! 0ost of the information gi en in .rahmanas are the authentic references for the history of ancient India! + en some of the U#H appro ed history texts are based on the descriptions gi en in the brahmanas %particularly satha patha brahmana and gopatha brahmana&! +ach eda has its own .rahmanas! (he yaagas are performed by the edic scholars of respecti e Veda sakha based on the explanations gi en in their respecti e brahmanas! (o sum up important points these braahmanaas can be studied4understood only with the help of commentaries the language of the abo e brahminical literature is Vedic $anskrit and hence need special knowledge to interpret the rituals in modern days their rele ance is confined to the scholars who perform the yaagas for the common men, there is not much to understand except historical information simplified ersions on the direction for performing yaagas are gi en in the fifth edaangaa known as kalpa sutra

>esearch has to be done to understand what are the messages of braahmanaas beyond the description of performing the yaagas!

>ig eda
Aithareya brahmana, saankhyaayana brahmana and kousheetakee brahmana are the three brahmanas of >ig eda of which aithareya and saankhyayana brahmana are a ailable in full whereas kousheetaki brahmana is almost extinct! One of the most important and the oldest .rahmanas is the Aithareya .rahmana! (his book explains arious aspects of yaagas! It was written by 0aheedaasa Aitareya, of Duru panchaala desa! He was the son of a sudra woman namely Itara, belonging to the working class! He is the author of Aithareya .rahmana, aithareya aranyaka, aithareya upanishad and mahaitareya upanishad! As far as the sub'ect matter in this brahmana is concerned, it is primarily on yaagas performed from one day %ekaaha ya'na& to twel e days %dwaadasaaha ya'na&! (his book is composed of ;9? khandas in F@ chapters! )i e chapters are put together known as panchikas! (hus Aithareya .rahmana has eight panchikas ?:

(hey describe arious aspects of the yaaga like the yaagasaala, its dimensions, fire altar, the cleaning and purification %suddhi karma& to be performed, reception to be gi en to the yaaga dra yas %materials for yaagas& and to the priests, the edic names, -uality, -ualification and the role of the priests who are performing the yaagas, significance of the names of specific mantras, specific rituals to be performed each day, the materials to be used, recei ing the soma latha for the soma rasa, praayaschitta to be performed for omissions and errors, the role of the king in yaagas, the coronation done after the yaagas, the simhasana arohanam performed, the crowning rituals done by the priests, -ualification of the king described by narrating the examples of ideal kings like .haratha and Ganame'aya, the pledge 4 oath taken by the king, ra'a purohita and ministers, their -ualities and -ualifications and so on! Iithout a commentary % yaakhyaana& understanding the contents of Aithareya .rahmana is not easy! Howe er ma'or part of this book is not rele ant for the common man because it describes mainly yaagas! (o some extent it may be of historical importance for the academicians and history students! (he second .rahmana book of >ig eda is known as $aankhyayana .rahmana written many thousand years ago by 0aharshi $aankhyaayana in 2@ chapters! (he yaagas performed by the Vedic scholars belonging to saankhyaayana >ig eda saakha are described in this book! 0any descriptions of Aitareya brahmana are as such repeated in the $aankhyayana .rahmana also! It is said that this book is also known as Dousheetakee .rahmana which has minor difference in presenting the yaaga descriptions! Dousheethakee brahmana might ha e been written with minor modification by 0aharshi Dousheetakee!

/a'ur eda
0ost important among the brahmanas of edic literature is sathapatha brahmana! It is so called because it has hundred chapters! (he sathapatha brahmana has two ersions 4 recensions! One ha ing ;@@ chapters belonging to $ukla /a'ur eda and another ha ing ;@F chapters, belonging to Drishna /a'ur eda! Ihen it is systematically analy*ed, one can get extensi e information on the ancient history of India! In fact many Indian history books -uote a lot from this brahmana text! (he ;F kaandas or sections of sathapatha brahmana are known as ha irya'nam, ekapaadika, ad aram, grahanamam, sa am, ushasambharanam, hasthighatam, chiti, samchiti, agnirahasyam, ashtaadhyaayee, madhyamam, as amedham and bruhadaaranyakam! All these ;F kaandas ha e been classified into F2A brahmanas which are further di ined into N9?F khandikas! (here are ?F,@@@ slokas %stan*as & using N9A@@@ letters! %on the other hand >ig eda has only ;@::? >iks 4 stan*as written using 2PN?9: letters&! (hus $atha patha brahmana is almost double in si*e compared to >ig eda! It is said that this book might ha e been composed around 2@@@ .H or so by /a'na alkya 0aharshi! (his book is uni-ue among the edic literature because it is systematically composed using refined $anskrit with all perfection! (here may not be more than a few hundred people in the world who would ha e gone through the text! It,s +nglish translation is also a ailable, which is a treasury of knowledge on ancient India, for the common man! (he book has another recension known as kaanwa $athapatha brahmana, belonging to the Danwa sakha of /a'ur eda! 1robably the scholars belonging to the Danwa sakha of /a'ur eda might ha e added some more information to the former and might ha e rewritten the $athapatha brahmana in ;@F chapters! In Danwa $athapatha brahmana has ;N kandas which are distributed in ;@F chapters! (hese many chapters are subdi ided into F2: brahmanas and again subdi ided into 9A@A khandikaas! (he number of kandas, chapters and khandikas has ariation from the other $athapatha brahmana! It is also said that Danwa $athapatha brahmana has better ?9

clarity in sub'ect presentation! Danwa $athapatha brahmana has detailed descriptions of regions like Dosala, Durupanchala "esa, Videha, Ayodhya, 0ithila, and so on! It includes the history of many kings and kingdoms! Ihat we know about .uddhism and .uddha has come from $athapatha brahmana! Ie can also get the historical perspecti es of the scientific and technological knowledge that existed then! 0any stories like those of "ushyantha, .haratha, 1uroora as, Ur asi and so on are part of this book! (haithireeya brahmana of the (haithireeya sakha of the Drishna /a'ur eda has ?F chapters subdi ided into prapaatakas and further di ided in anu aakaas! At the end come (haithireeya aaranyaka and then the three ma'or Upanishads known as (haithireeya, 0ahanaaraayana and /aa'nikee which gi e the essence of the Indian philosophy! 0aithrayaneeya brahmana, belongs to the 0aithrayaneeya sakha of /a'ur eda and it is not now a ailable as full text! $imilarly at the end of 0aithraayaneeya brahmana comes the 0aithraayaneeya aaranyaka and as a continuation of this comes the 0aithraayaneeya Upanishad!

PbJ .rahmanas #c
$ama Veda

ntinued$

(here are ele en brahmanas in the $ama Veda! (hey are (haandya brahmana, Gaimineeya brahmana, Upanishad brahmana, "e athaadhyaaya brahmana, Gaimineeyopanishad brahmana, $amhithopanishad brahmana Vamsabrahmana Aarsheya brahmana, $had imsa brahmana, $aama idhaana brahmana and Hhandogya brahmana! (handya brahmana is also known as pancha imsath %means ?:& brahmana because it has ?: chapters! It is connected with the Douthuma sakha of the $ama Veda! +ach chapter of this massi e brahmana has again been subdi ided into khandas! (his brahmana has elaborate explanations on all the type of yaagas performed by the edic scholars belonging to the sama eda saakha! Here, arious musical aspects of the sama eda are also gi en! 0ore importance is gi en for their chanting in yaaga saala, as it is presumed that Vedic deities en'oy it! (hat is known as saama gaana aalaapanam in yaga sala! (he tones, ragas, and chanting methods are entirely different during the yaaga performance! It is something unimaginable for anyone who has not hitherto heard such chanting! (his brahmana gi es in detail the saama gaana chanting methods by the udgaata priests in yaagas! Udgaata word means those who are singing in a glorious way in yaaga saala! (he priests coming under udgata group are known, in yaaga saala as prasthothaa, pratihantaa and subrahmanya! (hose who are coming under the ad aryu class of priests who perform ma'or rituals of yaagas are ad aryu, pratiprasthothaa, neshtri and unneti priests! (hose who are coming under the hotru class of priests who also perform yaaga rituals with ad aryu group priests are known as hota, maithraa aruna, accha aaka and graa astut! (he priests coming under the brahma class of priests who guide the whole yaaga karma are brahmanaachaamsi, agneedran and potha! (heir roles are ery specifically gi en in the (haandya brahmana! (he next brahmana of sama eda is Gaimineeya brahmana which has three kaandas and each kaanda has further been subdi ided into khandas! In these three kaandas arious yaagas are ?N

explained! Upanishad brahmana is the third brahmana of $aama Veda which is said to be the part of the Gaimeeneeya brahmana itself and hence sometimes it is called Gaimineeyopanishad brahmana also! Unlike other brahmana texts, this book deals with the philosophical aspects like mantras and >ishi parampara! (he clan of two great >ishi families are gi en in this book and also the greatness of the gaayatri mantra! As a continuation of this brahmana comes the Denopanishad one among the ma'or ten upanishads "e athaadyaaya brahmana is the Fth brahmana of $ama Veda which has four khandas! 0a'or part of this brahmana explains the edic deities and their adoration gi en as sama eda sthuthy! It also gi es the prosody 4 chandas of the Veda mantras! (he sama gaana connected with the edic deities like agni, indra, para'aapati, soma, aruna, twashtaa, aangeeras, pooshan etc are known as saraswatha saamam, indraagnisaamam, asuJrudraJaadityasaamam and so on! (he mother and father of each saama gaana are also explained which in $anskrit is known maathru sthaana and pithru sthaana! $imilarly there are pra'aapati sthaana and de athaa sthaana for each saama Veda gaana %songs& Gaimineeyopanishad brahmana3 it is said that this brahmana is not the same as the abo e mentioned Gaimineeyoopanishad brahmana by some scholars! 0ay be that there is yet another brahmana in this name which differs from the abo e brahmana mentioned in the earlier paragraph! (his brahmana has three chapters which explain the upanishadic sub'ects only! $amhitopaniahd brahmana belonging to $ama Veda explains mainly the sama eda manthra 4samhitha %text&! Nothing connected with the yaagas are explained in this brahmana, and hence it is uni-ue in its contents! (here are fi e khandas 4parts in this brahmana each khanda gi es deep information on the philosophical aspects of sabda, Veda, sruti, raaga, gaana, samhita, upaasana of sama Veda and so on! (he second khanda gi es the rules of chanting sama Veda where srutis like sthobham, anulomaJpratiloma swaras, repha sandhi, uddattha, anudaattha, roha, abhigeeta, isarga,upagrahaa, hraswa, deergha, prasthaa a arnaas, yan'anaas are explained! (he next khanda explains the -ualities and -ualifications of the teacher and students and the method of learning sama Veda under a scholarly guru! )ourth khandas explain about the daana %offering& materials to others and the merits of gi ing materials to poor 4needy 4 and so on! Vamsa brahmana is the $ixth brahmana of sama eda which also does not gi e explanations about yaagas! .ut it explains in three small khandas the names of the >ishies as their parampara4 hierarchical order! One set of example is gi en here! (he hierarchy in this case is si adattaJgaargyaJ draahyaayanaJ nigada Jpaana alkyaJ girisaramaJ mitra archasJ supratheethaJbruhaspatiJ bha atraathaJ saakaraakshyaJ sra anadataJ kouhalaJ susaaradaJ saalankaayanaJoupamanyaJ bhaanumathaJ aananda'aJ saamaJmadakaaraJ susra aJ aarshaganyaJketur aabhyaJ sunnetha and so on in that order from one generation to next! (hese types of amsaa paramparas are gi en in this brahmana! In the next two chapters also similar explanations on the amsa parampara are gi en specifically from generation to generation for about fifty generations or e en more! If we assume the life of each generation to be thirty years then fifty generations should account for around one thousand fi e hundred yearsK

?A

PcJ .rahmanas #c
$ama Veda %contd&

ntinued$

Arsheya brahmana is associated with sama Veda and there are two Arsheya brahmanas one is associated with Douthumeeya sama Veda saakha and the other connected with Gaimineeya sakha! .oth ha e many lines and messages in common, still they are two books with same name! (here are fi e chapters which are further di ided into khandas in this book! All the chapters gi e the descriptions of sama ganas connected with arious edic deities like Agni, Indra, and so on! It gi es the mantras to be chanted as ooha gaanas, oohya gaanas, gramageya gaanas and aranyageya gaanas! (he next brahmana is shad imsa brahmana! (he word shad imsa means ?9th ! It shows that this brahmana may be a separate one but a continuation of the pancha imsa brahmana! It may be the ?9th part of the pancha imsa brahmana! (here are fi e chapters in the shad imsa brahmana! Unusually interesting and important descriptions of the sama gaana mantras are described in this book, which are connected with arious yaagas and ya'nas! $ome of the great and ery interesting sama gaana mantras are known as thri rushasthoma, panchadasasthoma, sapthadasastghoma and so on! (here are also descriptions connected with the origin of arious mantras and deities in the sama Veda! $ama idhaana brahmana is also connected with sama Veda which is uni-ue among all the edic literature! &his is the nly b k describing the yaagas and rituals c nnected with the s ul leaving the b dy after death" In short this brahmana gi es the rituals connected the bhootha pretha moksha! (he last and important brahmana of $aama Veda is chaandogya brahmana ha ing ten prapaatakas! (his is said to be the last part of thaandya maha brahmana! &he first tw prapaatakas f this brahmana describe the rituals t be perf rmed by the family members! kn wn as the 1ruhastha karmas 2acharas" All other braahmanaas described hitherto, generally gi e the description of yaagas and ya'naas, but this is the only brahmana which gi es a different sub'ect, in the first part! (he remaining eight prapaatakas 4 parts are the famous Upanishad known as the Hhaandogya Upanishad! In the first two parts known as gruhastha karma part the rituals connected with the spiritual and ritual aspects of the marriage are described! (hen the shodsa karmas %samskaraas4sacraments& like garbhaadhaana, pumsa ana, seemanthonnayana, 'aatha karma of the newly born baby, choodaakarna, nishkramana, upanayana etc of the baby are described in detail! In the second part the yaagas 4 rituals connected with the prosperity of the family are described! (he gruhastha karmas mentioned abo e in two parts are also described in detail in the ?9A sutras %messages& of #obila gruhya sootra and ghaadira gruhyasutra! $ince this brahmana was written earlier to the other gruhya sutras, it may be more appropriate to say that these ?9A mantras of the of chaandogya Upanishad are also reproduced in the two gruhyasutras! (he remaining eight parts of this brahmana are the Hhaandogya Upanishad which we shall be describing in detail when we discuss the Upanishads! Here, the order of arrangement of the books is Veda, brahmana and Upanishad! $ame is applicable for Athar a Veda also! Howe er for >ig Veda and /a'ur eda the order is Veda, .rahmana, Aaranyaka and Upanishad! (he aaranyaka sub'ects are gi en in the braahmanaas book itself and hence no separate aaranyaka is a ailable for them! It is interesting to note that all these books are written, classified, described and presented in a ery systematic method! None will get any confusion pro ided he4she knows from where he starts the learning process! ?P

Athar a Veda
$ub'ect matter wise the #opatha .rahmana& may not be useful or ery rele ant for the ?;st century, but its c ntents thr w light n the great scientific! techn l gical! spiritual! psych l gical! s cial! ge graphical! #and s n$ aspects f ancient ,ndia" No other ancient book can be cited which gi es such authentic information and references on ancient India %of course satha patha brahmana does this to a great extent&! 3 r th se wh are searching f r inf rmati n n ancient ,ndia! this b k is a uni4ue s urce and is ften 4u ted in many te)ts" #opatha .rahmana is the only brahmana connected with Athar a Veda! It is perfectly organi*ed in content and literary beauty! #opatha word is said to ha e the meaning guptha 6 deep 4 secret and it also is said to ha e another meaning following the footsteps of Veda % #o means Vedas and patha means footsteps4 pathways&! $o gopatha means the footsteps of Vedas! It is as big as >ig eda and almost similar in si*e with the sathapatha brahmana! It has been di ided into two parts! In the first part there are fi e prapaatakas which are known as poor a brahmana and in the second part there are six prapatakaas which are known as uttara brahmana! In the first part the greatness of Athar a Veda and that of the Athar a edic >ishies ha e been explained! (he method of learning and teaching Athar a Veda and practicing the messages of this eda are also gi en in the first few prapaatakas of the poor a brahmana! (hese prapaatakas are further di ided into kaandas! As mentioned in other brahmanas, the rituals and customs connected with the /aagaas and ya'naas are also explained in detail! In the same way yaagas and ya'naas are explained in the second part also % uttara brahmana&! + ery aspect connected with social, psychological, spiritual and anthropological !!of the ya'naa are included in the explanation in #opatha brahmana! A ariety of great yaagas performed in our itihasas are explained in this book like putra kameshti, aa'apeya, aswamedha, pasu bandha etc!

;@! Aranyakas
In the .rahmanas the sub'ect matter was kamyeshties which are meant for prosperity, wealth, power, and so on! In short these yaagas and ya'naas are for making life happy and prosperous for the family members, kings, illage heads and also for great or rich men! .ut the next branch of Indian knowledge in Vedas is known as Aaranyakaas which describe how a retired person should lead his life in order to attain moksha or liberation! Aaranyaka means Cthat which is connected with forest,! (hey co er rituals which are to be performed by those who are going to aana prastha after gi ing up the family life and handing o er the responsibility of the family to the grown up children! Ihile li ing in forest, many rituals are to be performed with the a ailable materials in the forest! (hese rituals are not for name, fame or prosperity! (hey are meant for lea ing the life happily %moksha& without any bondage! Hence they are known as moksheshti, the yaagas which lead for moksha or detachment! Here comes a discussion of arious topics like philosophy, bondage or attachment, 'naana, bhakti, karma, dharma, Vedas, Upanishads, psychology, di inity, ultimate and relati e truths, sensory organs, functional organs etc!, associated with our life! (hese sub'ects are the part and parcel of Indian philosophy and hence lead to upanishadic knowledge through aaranyaka texts! (here are >ig edic and /a'ur edic Aranyakaas! No Aaranyakas exist for $ama Veda and 2@

Athar a Veda! Howe er the sub'ect of aaranyaka is dealt in the last part of many of the brahmanas of sama eda and also in the #opatha brahmana of athar a eda! >ig edeeya aaranyakas are aithareya aaranyaka and kousheetakee aaranyaka, /a'ur edeeya aaranyakas are maithraayaneeya aaranyaka and (haithireeya aaranyaka! )or the modern man, the aranyakas do not ha e much rele ance, in the day to day life as they are meant for aanaprasthaasrami and almost all the sub'ect matters deal with yaagas! $till we are presenting the abstract of the aaranyakas exclusi ely for getting an outline of such type of literature, existing as a part of Vedas! In the first part of this aranyaka at the end of the Aithareya aranyaka comes the Aithareya Upanishad, mahaitareya Upanishad and .ah rucha Upanishad! In the second part of the Aithareya aranyaka comes the samhitopanishad! All the sub'ect matters in this aranyaka, as mentioned earlier are connected with philosophy of life and moksha! + en few stories also appear here and there to inform the significance of the philosophical approach in our day to day life! In the Dousheetakee aranyaka too ma'or part of the explanations are connected with the spirituality and philosophy! Out of the ;: chapters in this Upanishads, 2 to 9 chapters are known as kousheetakee Upanishad! >est of the Upanishad discusses about the philosophy! Very specifically speaking one can see an unusual sub'ect in the ;2th to ;:th chapter of this book! (hey discuss about rain, lightening, celestial bodies and their rising and setting, etc! Next we enter into the ya'ur edeeya aranyaka! (here are no aranyakas for the $ukla ya'ur eda! 0aithraayaneeya aranyaka and thaithireeya aranyka are the two aranykas for the Drishna ya'ur eda! In the former, the first part discusses about the significance of the spiritual and sanyasa life by narrating the story of Ding .ruhadratha, who ga e up all his belonging and country and went for sanyasa and attained moksha! (he discussion between Ding .ruhadratha and $uni $akaayana gi en in this book will be interesting for philosophy students! In the end of this aranyaka comes the maithraayaneeya Upanishad and maithreyee Upanishad! (haithireeya aranyka has almost full description of ha ans and sacrificial rituals to be performed by a aanaprastee! (haithireeya upanishad is the part of the thaithireeya aranyaka!

;;! Upanishads
Now we are entering into the sub'ect of Upanishads! <ike se eral #eetas there are many Upanishads! It is said that now there are more than 9@@ Upanishads! $ome of them are ery recent like >amakrishnopanishad, $ai Upanishad, Draista opanishad, Alla Upanishad and so onK .ut the classical Upanishads are ;@A as recorded in other literature like 0ukthiko Upanishad itself and here we are concerned only with them Upanishad means accompanying nearer3 upa means nearer and nishad leading or accompanying! Nearer means closer to the ultimate truth and reality! $ince this branch of Vedic literature comes at the end of Vedic literature, we say Upanishads are Vedantas which means the antham of Vedas %end of Vedas& ! (here are ;@ Upanishads for >ig Veda, ;P for $ukla /a'ur eda, 2? for Drishna /a'ur eda, ;9 for $ama eda and 2; for Athar a Veda!

(he ;@A Vedic Upanishads

Ie reproduce here the list of ;@A classical Upanishads! (he dashopanishads in this list are highlighted 2;

Rigvedeeya3 Aaithareya, Dousheethakee, Naada .indu, Aathma .hodha, Nir aana, 0ulgala, Akshamaalika, (ripura, $oubhaagya <akshmi, .ah rucha! %(otal (en& Sukla Yajurvedeeya3 +esaa asya, .ruhadaaranyaka, Hamsa, 1arama Hamsa, $ubaala, 0anthrika, (hrisikhi .raahmana, Niraalamba, 0andala .raahmana, Ad aya, (haaraka, .hikshuka, Adhyaathma, 0uktika, (haaraasara, /a'na alkya,$,aatyaayana, (huriyaatheetha A adhootha %(otal +ighteen& Krishna Yajurvedeeya3 Datha, (haithireeya , .rahma, Dai alya, $wethaaswethara, #arbha , 0ahanaaraayana, Amruthabindu, Amruthanaada, Daalaagnirudra, Dshurika, $ar asaara, $ukarahasya, (he'obindu, "hyaana .indu, .rahma idya, /ogathathwa, "akshinaamoorthy, $kanda, $aareerika, /ogasikha, +kaakshara, Akshi, A adhootha, Datarudra, >udrahrudaya, 1anchabrahma, 1raanaagni Hotra, Varaaha, /ogakundalini, Dalisantharana, $araswathee >ahasya %(otal (hirty (wo& Saamavedeeya3 Dena, Hhaandokhya, Aarunee, 0aithraayanee, 0aithreyee, Va'rasoochika, /ogachoodaamony, Vasude a, 0ahopanishad, $anyaasa, A yakta, Dundika, $aa itri, Gaabaala, "arsana, >udraaksha Gaabaala %$ixteen& Atharvavedeeya3 1rasna, 0undaka, 0aandukya, Athar as,ira, Athar as,ikha, .ruhad'aabaala,, $eetha, $,arabha, 0ahaanarayana, >aamarahasya, >amathaapini, $,aandilya, 1aramahamsa, Annapoorna, $oorya, Aathma, 1aas,upatha, 1arabrahma, (hripurathaapini, "e i, .haa ana, .hasma, #anapati, 0ahaa akya, #opalathaapini, $reekrishna, Hayagree a, "atthathreya, #aruda, Narasimhapoor a (haapini, Narasimha Uttara (hapini, Naarada 1ari raa'aka %(hirty (wo&

"ashopanishads
Out of ;@A Upanishads the most important are ;@ Upanishads which are known as "ashopanishads! (hese Upanishads became the most important ones, as these were the ten Upanishads for which Adi $hankara wrote commentaries! #enerally if one reads these, the Vedantic concepts of Atman and .rahman, Gagat and Viswam, and their interJrelationships become clear a! Aitareya Upanishad of >ig eda! b! Isha asya Upanishad of /a'ur eda! c! Dathopanishad of /a'ur eda! d! (aittiriya Upanishad of /a'ur eda! e! .rihadaranyaka Upanishad of /a'ur eda! f! Denopanishad of $ama eda! g! Hhhandogya Upanishad of $ama eda! h! 1rashnopanishad of Athar a eda! i! 0undakopanishad of Athar a eda! 2?

'! 0andukya Upanishad of Athar a eda! +ach class of Upanishad has a separate saanthi mantra which is chanted in the beginning of the Upanishad! (hus >ig Vedic Upanishads start with om aang me manasi prathishtithaa!!!, $ukla /a'ur eda Upanishads start with the saanthi mantra om poorna matha poorna midam, poornath!! Drishna /a'ur eda Upanishads start with om saha naa a athu saha now bhunaakthu!!! $aama Veda Upanishads start with om apyaayanthu mamaangaani aak prana schakshu!! Athar a Veda Upanishads start with bhadram karnebhi srunuyaama de aa!

)rom the saanthi mantra itself one can understand, to which Veda that particular Upanishad belongs to! Upanishad are the essence of Hindu dharma! (hey do not ha e any religion, and are based purely on perceptions of ultimate truths! (heir contents are beyond, caste, religion, linguistic, regional, national, demarcations or separations! (hey ne er ad ocate us to do anything by compulsion, they only gi e the message! (hese messages integrate the philosophy, science, sociology, anthropology and many types of knowledge including the latest sub'ect of awareness and consciousness which are being studied today in physics as well as medicine! (hey also focus on the mind, 'naanendriyas, karmendriyas, and their functioning in experiencing arious aspects of life! (he sub'ects dealt with by Upanishads are ast and hence it will not be possible to describe each Upanishad separately! +xcellent commentaries are a ailable on the "ashopanishads! If there is sufficient interest I shall write a short commentary on the other Upanishads after "r #opalakrishnan completes this series! 0eanwhile I shall put all the instalments in a single file so that readers can sa e it and use it as a reference when re-uired!

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