Vedas: Vedas are our oldest scriptures. There are many branches and sub-branches of Vedas. Today, let us think carefully about these Vedas. There is a story in Taittiriya Aranyaka, according to which, once Bharadwaj, after crossing three ages, i.e. childhood, youth and old age, performed the ritual of celibacy.
‘Vedas are infinite’ “Ananta Vai Vedah
When he became old, Indra came to him and said, “Bhardwaj! If I give you the fourth age, what will you do in that age?” He replied- ‘I want to see the end of the Vedas. Therefore, whatever life I am given, I will continue to practice celibacy and study the Vedas. Indra showed Bhardwaj three great mountains, which had no end anywhere.
Indra said- “These are the three Vedas, how can you attain their end?” Further, Indra gave one handful each to Bharadwaja and said – ‘This is enough for human society, the Vedas are infinite’ “Ananta Vai Vedah”.
There are four divisions of one Veda – Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda and Atharvaveda.
According to Veda numbers, these three handfuls received by Indra appeared in the form of Vedatrayee (Rik, Yajuh, Sama). Before the end of Dwapara Yuga, the collection of these three word styles and the collection of words worth studying in a specific way was called Veda. Even at that time, reading and practicing the Vedas was not an easy task. Keeping in mind the powerlessness and short life of human beings in Kaliyuga, Shri Ved Vyas ji, the incarnation of Vedapurush Lord Narayan, Shri Ved Vyas ji divided one Veda into four parts keeping in mind the use of Yagyanushthan etc. Nowadays these departments are famous by the names of Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda and Atharvaveda.
Only 12 left out of 1131 branches of Vedas
Many branches of each Veda have been described. For example, there are 21 branches of Rigveda, 101 branches of Yajurveda, 1000 branches of Samveda and 9 branches of Atharvaveda. In this way there are total 1131 branches. Out of these 1131 branches, only 12 branches are available in the original text, out of which texts of 2 branches of Rigveda, 6 of Yajurveda, 2 of Samaveda and 2 branches of Atharvaveda are available. But out of these 12 branches, the study style of only 6 branches is available at present. Mainly the Vedic vocabulary of each of these branches of Veda is available in four parts: –
(1) ‘Code’ Mantra part of Veda,
(2) ‘Brahmin‘In which the method of Yagyanushthan along with the attainment of results and methods etc. have been described,
(3) ‘Aranyaka‘- This part inclines man towards spiritual realization and lifts him above worldly bondages. Due to the spirit of renunciation of the world, for Vanaprastha Ashram, there is a special method of studying and self-studying it in the forest, hence it is called Aranyaka and
(4)’Upanishad’ In this, only spiritual thinking has been given priority. Their propounded are Brahma and Atmatattva.
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