Vedas are the wordsof the eternal truth (Sat) revealed by the sages (rishis). These are words which came to them through God, after they had undergone prolonged penance and meditation. Vedas are the basic books of knowledge which give us immortal spiritual truthsThe Vedas contain the revelation of the spiritual state attained by the Rishis when they contemplated on the mysteries of the existence of the entire cosmos.

The first portion of the Vedas called the Samhita are the result of their curiosity about the nature of creation , about who created life and who created nature. The Vedic thinkers ascribed creation to celestial beings and gods. Hence the Samhitas are largely a collection of hymns in praise of the deities of creation.

Making of material offerings followed the songs and hymns eulogizing the deities to the gods. Since fire has the capacity to consume any thing, the fire god became predominant in this form of worship. The second section of the Vedas called the Brahman's contains mantras dedicated to the deities and description of the offerings of suitable foods during worship.

The Brahman's gives examples of the many different kinds of ritual ceremonies. This was the ceremonial phase of religious life, which was elaborate, exotic and dramatic. But this phase too passed into another to answer the new curiosities of man, the new phase developed as an answer to a new question--- what if this elaborate ceremonial life was not possible then what path was there for people to follow?

It was then that the third section of the Vedas was produced, called the Aranyaka. Aranya means forests and aranyaka denotes that which relates to forests or forest life. In the Aranyaka are prescribed various kinds of meditation upon the deities.

Turned inwards away from the objects of the world, the mind of man became concentrated. The clarity of vision increased manifold and took them to transcendental, spiritual levels of the mind and consciousness. There were direct, intuitive glimpses of spiritual philosophical truth. Thence came the last section of the Vedas, the Upanishads.

They were called the Vedanta.

Vedanta- the end of Vedic thinking.

Vedanta - the completion of the thinking of their authors.

In realizing the true nature of the soul lies the fulfillment of mans life. Towards this realization of the self, Contemplation (sadhna) is necessary. And the Sadhana is that of knowledge(vichara) The Upanishads show us this very direction. You may now ask ---- how can these so very ancient directions be applied to the modern world and life?

The answer to this is that, all that advances of the modern world have done is to touch the externals, the objective part of life, none has touched the internal, the core of man. Has not the structure of man remained the same. Our hearts, brain etc etc. are in the same place as designed originally---isn't that so. Our needs, ideas, desires have remained the same. And, so the Vedanta is as relevant today as it was that many years ago for it answers the same questions that plagued man then and today


WHAT DOES EACH VEDA CONSIST OF?

The Vedas consist mainly of:

1. Samhitas. Basic texts for hymns, formulas and chants
2. Brahman's. Directions for performance of rituals.
3. Aranyakas. Contain Mantras and interpretations of rituals.
4. Upanishads. These are a number of texts revealing the ultimate spiritual truths and various suggestions of ways to realize them. The word Upanishad is composed of Upa(near), Ni (down) and Shad (to sit). An Upanishad is a teaching taught by the Guru when the disciple sits very close so that nobody overhears the teachings.


Vedantic way of life: Karma Yoga : Bhakti Yoga : Gyana Yoga : Dyana Yoga