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The Vedic literature comprises :

1. The Vedas or Samhitas
2. The Brahmanas
3. The Aranyakas
4. The Upanishads

The Vedas or Samhitas:

Vedas are called “Apaurasheya” i.e. not created by man but God-gifted and “Nitya” i.e. existing in all eternity. The word ‘Veda‘ is derived from the Sanskrit word ‘Veda‘, means to know or knowledge per excellence. The Vedic texts are divided between ‘Shruti’ (based on hearing) which is distinct from ‘Smriti’ (based on memory)

 Four Vedas:

 Rig Veda,  Sama Veda,  Yajur Veda,  Atharva Veda

Rig Veda:

• Rig Veda is the oldest text in the worldand known as “the first testament of mankind“.
• Rig Veda was written between 1700 BC – 1500 BC when the Aryans lived in Punjab or Sapta Sindhu.
• It contains 10,500 verses and 1028 hymns, divided into ten mandalas.
• The 10th mandala contains the famous ‘Purushasukta hymn‘ that explains the origin of four Varnas(Brahmana, Kshatriya, Vaishya & Shudra).
• The hymns of Rig Veda were recited by ‘Hotri‘.

Sama Veda:

• Sama Veda derived its root from ‘Saman’ which means melody.
• It is a collection of melodiescontain 1549 verses.
• The hymns of Sama Veda were recited by ‘Udgatri‘.

Yajur Veda:

• ‘yajur‘ meaning prose mantraand ‘Veda‘ meaning knowledge. Yajur Veda is the Veda of prose mantras.
• Yajur Veda is a ritualistic Vedadivided into two parts, Krishna Yajur Veda & Shukla Yajur Veda.
• The hymns were recited by ‘Adhvaryus‘.

Atharva Veda:

• Atharva Veda is the latest Veda among the four and it is a book of magical formula.
• For a very long period, it was not included in the list of Vedas.
• This Veda contains charms and spells to ward off evil and disease

Yajur Veda:

• Yajurveda is a compound Sanskrit word composed of ‘yajur‘ meaning prose mantraand ‘Veda‘ meaning knowledge. Yajur Veda is the Veda of prose mantras.
• Yajur Veda is a ritualistic Vedadivided into two parts, Krishna Yajur Veda & Shukla Yajur Veda.
• The hymns were recited by ‘Adhvaryus‘.

Atharva Veda:

• Atharva Veda is the latest Veda among the four and it is a book of magical formula.
• For a very long period, it was not included in the list of Vedas.
• This Veda contains charms and spells to ward off evil and disease

Vedangas:

In order to understand the Vedic literature, we need to know about the Vedangas. These are treatises on science and arts. The Vedangas are six auxiliary disciplines in Vedic culture that developed in ancient times, they are –

• Shiksha(focussed on the letters of the Sanskrit alphabet, accent, stress, melody, and rules of euphonic combination of words during a Vedic recitation)
• Kalpa(focussed on standardizing procedures for Vedic rituals)
• Vyakarana (focussed on the rules of grammar)
• Chhandas (focussed on the poetic meters)
• Nirukta (explanation of words, particularly those that are archaic and have ancient uses with unclear meaning)
• Jyotisha (focused on astronomy and astrology)

Manu Smriti:

• Itis the oldest and the most famous Dharmasastra composed by King Manu.
• It classified people into 4 castes namely Brahmana,Kshatriya,Vaishya,Sudra

 Epics:

There are mainly two Mahakavyas or epics.

• The Ramayana(by Valmiki) is also known as “Adi Kavya”. It is the oldest epic of the world. At present, there are 24,000 shlokas or verses (originally consisted 6000 verses) divided into seven kandas in it. The composition of the Ramayana started in 5th century BC.
• The Mahabharata(by Ved Vyasa) is the longest epic of the world. The Mahabharata shows the social and political system from 10th century BC to 4th century A.D.

 Upvedas:

The Upvedas or the auxiliary Vedas were traditionally associated with Vedas. There are four Upavedas.

• Ayurveda(medicine) – Associated with Rig Veda
• Gandharvaveda(music) – Associated with Sama Veda
• Dhanurveda(archery) – Associated with Yajur Veda
• Arthaveda(science of craft/wealth) – Associated with Atharva Veda

Puranas:

• The word Puranas means “ancient”or”old”.
• Puranas composed primarily in Sanskrit but also in regional languages.
• There are 18 Maha Puranas & 18 Upa or Minor Puranas.
• “Matsya Purana” is the oldest Puranic text.
• The Puranas genre of literature is found in both Hinduism and Jainism.
• Puranas are mainly 18(eighteen) in nos. which are- Agri Puran, Bhagwat Puran, Bhavishya Puran, Brahma Puran, Brahmand Puran, Garuda Puran, Kurma Puran, Ling Puran, Markandya Puran, Matsya Puran, Narad Puran, Padma Puran, Shiv Puran, Skand Puran, Brahmvaivatray Puran, Vaman Puran, Varah Puran and Vishnu Puran.