Vedas (lit. Knowledge)- these are the most ancient sacred Indian scriptures, which were formed on the territory of North-West India during the period of the late 2nd - early 1st millennium BC. All the Vedas are written in Sanskrit, very little has been translated into Russian. There are no Vedas originally written in Russian and never have been. At least, such texts are unknown to science.
These are the most famous scriptures of Hinduism. It is believed that the Vedas have no author, and that they were “clearly heard” by the holy sages of the distant past, and many millennia later, when, due to the spiritual decline of mankind with the onset of Kali Yuga, fewer and fewer people sought to study the Vedas and transmit them orally (such as demanded by tradition) from generation to generation, Vedavyasa (“compiled the Vedas”) structured the sacred scriptures that remained available at that time and organized their recording, formalizing these texts into the four Vedas: Rigveda, Samaveda, Yajurveda and Atharvaveda.
The Vedas became widely known in the Western world after A.Ch. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the greatest scientist and religious figure, translated such Vedic texts as Bhagavad-Gita, Srimad-Bhagavatam, Caitanya-Caritamrita and several others from Sanskrit into English. In fact, even before this there were various translations of Vedic texts, and many famous people were interested in them. It is known that Einstein specially studied Sanskrit in order to read in the original the sections of the Vedas that described the general laws of physical nature. A lot others famous people, such as Kant, Hegel, Tolstoy, Gandhi recognized the Vedas as an invaluable source of diverse knowledge. However, the Vedas became widely known precisely after the translations of A.Ch. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.
He not only translated the most important Vedic texts, but also provided them with commentaries, in which he provided many references to other Vedic scriptures.
Getting to know these books is amazing. They contain information from almost all areas modern knowledge, and not just information, but information that allows us to conclude that previously there was a very powerful civilization on our planet, which in many ways surpassed us in its level of development.
What are the Vedas made of?
The Vedas consist of their main text, which is called the Samhitas, as well as three additional sections, which most pandits (Vedic scholars) do not classify as the actual text of the Vedas:
1) brahmins- hymns and mantras that are used for Hindu rituals,
2) Aranyaki- commandments for forest hermits
3) Upanishads- philosophical texts.
It is worth mentioning here that texts such as the Mahabharata, Srimad Bhagavatam, Ramayana and other Hindu epics and teachings (as well as all Krishna literature) from the completely official scientific point of view of Vedicology both in India and throughout the world are not Vedic texts, and they refer to “Vedic literature” exclusively in a figurative sense, in fact, in the desire of the Krishna Prabhupadas to wishful thinking.
The Samhitas of the Vedas reflect on a verbal level the ecstasy of the rapture of God of the ancient rishis, who realized God with their whole being, with every part of it. Sanskrit (lit. “culture”, “ennobled”), in which the Vedas are written, is the language closest to the world of the gods, and the sound and vibration of Sanskrit literally conveys the meaning and vibrational essence of things with subtle plan, which actually makes any Sanskrit word or sentence a mantra (incantation), and the Sanskrit alphabet graphically conveys the vibrations of the spoken words (the Sanskrit alphabet - Devanagari - literally means "from the abode of the gods"), being somewhat similar to Lissajous figures, and this is one of reasons why it is so complicated compared to other more modern alphabets, during the creation of which the convenience of using the language has become more important than the accuracy of conveying the vibrational essence of things.
The long-standing dispute between “naturalists” and “conventionalists”, dating back to Plato’s dialogue Cratylus, may be mentioned here. The naturalist Cratylus argues that words reflect the “natural similarity” between the form of the word and the thing it represents; the conventionalist Hermogenes, who objects to him, on the contrary, says that “whatever name someone establishes for something will be correct.” Socrates' argument in favor of naturalists is interesting, in particular, because it starts from the thesis about the “instrumentality” of language: “a name is a kind of instrument ... for the distribution of entities, like, say, a shuttle is an instrument for the distribution of thread.” Since language is an instrument, and names serve to distinguish the things they designate, they cannot help but reflect the nature of the things themselves. And although this debate is still relevant for modern scientists, the point of view on this issue of the holy sages of antiquity, who created Sanskrit, is completely clear. But, despite all this, the Vedas - shining example texts in which almost the entire essence of the things described is lost when it is reduced to the verbal level. The situation is further aggravated by the fact that due to the huge number of multi-level nested discourses (super-phrase units) contained in the Vedas (with the play of synonyms, homonyms, compounding and words with partial similarity), it is impossible to carry out any full translation of them into any other verbal language. And what makes the situation even worse is the fact that many Sanskrit words have three or more (often five) different meanings depending on the level of their use - mundane, associated with subtle worlds or spiritual, and the meaning of a word on a worldly level can be completely opposite to its meaning on a spiritual level, as, for example, in the case of the word “aghora,” and the same verse in Sanskrit, depending on the level of understanding of the reader, can have different meanings.
The Vedas are attributed divine origin. It is believed that the Vedas were transmitted to people by the gods through sages (rishis), who acquired them through inner insight. The Vedas in abstract poetic form tell about the creation of the world, relationships with the gods, etc. All subsequent philosophical works of orthodox Hindu schools are, to one degree or another, commentaries on the Vedas. It is believed that the Vedas are infallible and tell about the entire universe. They are extremely allegorical and therefore practically incomprehensible without commentary.
In fact, even in India there have never been people who lived according to the Vedas, but there were people who based their spiritual life on certain interpretations of the Vedas.
Below are examples of typical Vedic text:
Who surpassed the sky in greatness -
Mithra, far-reaching, -
With glory (he) transcended the earth.
We want to meet this desired one
The shine of the god Orderly,
Which should encourage our poetic thoughts!
It is noteworthy that the last verse is a translation of the Gayatri mantra, made in Soviet times at the Order of the Red Banner of Labor Institute of Oriental Studies, which allows us to draw a conclusion about the “quality” of their other translations, “made from Sanskrit.” When reading the text of the old Vedas, it is impossible to understand the sublime state that their “author”, the seer rishi, experienced.
The main character of Pelevin’s fifth novel spoke about it this way: “Dead crusts of words will remain, and you will think that there is still something wrapped in them. All people think so. They seriously believe that they have spiritual treasures and sacred texts ". The smoky acquaintance of the author of Pelevin’s fifth novel with other worlds has led to the fact that on the pages of this decent Internet project “Spiritual and Sacred Scriptures,” dedicated to such a purely indecently antisocial topic as spirituality, not a single name of the main character of this novel can be mentioned, not even its second name. But still, after the above-mentioned acquaintance of the author of “The Recluse and the Six-Fingered” * and even despite the attempt to bribe him by 4 (!) oil giants at once - KUKIS, YUKIS, YUKSI and PUX - they offered him a bribe in the form of building a playground for potential candidates " Matrices" in polar Hyperborea (the homeland of the Vedas), so that he would not collapse (hustle) the humanitarian mission of Coca-Cola, McDonald's and other offices useful from the point of view of the "junta" governments and commercial medical institutions, the author nevertheless found in himself civil courage to break out of philistine stereotypes and recognize that “a smoker borrows well-being from his future and turns it into health problems.”
In fact, any drug from alcohol to heroin acts on the same principle - being an unconscious matter, in which for this reason there is and cannot be any “independent” pleasure, the drug transforms part of the potential most refined energy of the human soul receiving it into a kinetic, rougher one (the only valued by rakshasas, the vulgar crowd and “hatha yogis”) is the energy of prana moving along the meridians, which often leads to an artificial feeling of dull pleasure and, in some cases, a slight momentary increase in the speed of thinking (although drug addicts and those who love drugs themselves are weakly sane " spiritual" radicals and members of various semi-spiritual settling tanks founded by "spiritual terrorists" (maybe quotation marks are not needed?) like to actively rant about the need to "kill the mind" and talk other nonsense, including about their exclusive spiritual coolness), subtly quickly giving way to long-term drug addiction stupor.
At the same time, the stock of potential human energy that preserves the soul, accumulated through merit - meditation, introspection and good deeds, decreases accordingly. Consciousness-intoxicating substances can indeed turn off the mind (manomaya-kosha), forcing the “assemblage point” to leave the restless mind, but instead of the desired transition into superconsciousness, which does not occur due to the lack of any developed vijnanamaya-kosha among radicals and rakshasas ( not to mention the Anandamaya Kosha), they descend and find themselves face to face with their subconscious and the hellish worlds, the gates to which are opened slightly by stupidity.
Regular use of weak drugs such as marijuana will make intoxication several times worse over the course of a dozen or two years, which can be attributed to senile insanity ;-) But with narcotic contamination, the meridians are unnaturally overloaded (akin to scale in pipes) and the resulting descent of the soul into hell begins to require the transfer of more energy each time, which leads to a transition to heavier drugs, which, drawing larger portions of the potential energy of the soul, spend up its entire typical supply in a maximum of a few years and transform ordinary person into a complete idiot, throwing him back dozens of lives in the process of soul development to the animal or plant level of existence. During actual meditation, a person also experiences pleasure, but it is caused by the movement of energy “up” and not “down” (as is the case with drugs), which makes meditation not only pleasant, but also useful for personal development.
The Vedas are undoubtedly highly praiseworthy. But Dattatreya said the following: “The Vedas are the most beautiful of all. Carrying out all kinds of yajnas is even better. Repetition of mantras (japa) is even better than yajnas. The path of Knowledge (jnana marga) is better than japa. But knowledge (self-inquiry) is even better ) meditation in which all the aggregate impurities coloring it disappear (raga, i.e. dualism and attachments). [It is] in such [meditation] that the eternal Achievement-Awareness should be achieved" ("Yoga-rahasya" ("Mystery of Yoga") 3.25).
The main character of Pelevin’s fifth novel, in a dialogue with her friend, said the following: “Being in a “bad place” (the character named this place in one word, which is located in the region of the lowest of the seven chakras, and in this word there are as many letters as there are petals this chakra; symbolically, it is in this “fundamental” or “specific” chakra that the consciousness of most people is most often located), you can do two things: firstly, try to understand why you are in it. Secondly, get out of there "The mistake of individuals and entire nations is that they think that these two actions are somehow connected. But this is not so. And getting out of a “bad place” is much easier than understanding why you are in it. - Why? - You only need to get out of the “bad place” once, and after that you can forget about it. But to understand why you are in it, you need your whole life. Which you will spend in it.”
In other words, studying the Vedas without the much more important and beneficial effort to transform consciousness through meditation and introspection is an attempt at the mental level to understand the divine state of consciousness of the rishis, which has been emasculated by describing it in words. The semantics of verbal language does not allow the transmission of transcendental concepts (author of the site). This task is impossible and doomed to failure.
Without meditation, scholastic study of the Vedas will not bring the highest benefit, and this is exactly what Dattatreya said in Yoga Rahasya. Swami Vivekananda said this: “Clinging to books only corrupts the mind of man. Is it possible to imagine a more terrible blasphemy than the statement that a particular book contains the knowledge of God? How dare a person proclaim the infinity of God and try to squeeze Him between the covers of a meager little book! Millions people died because they did not believe what was written in books, because they refused to see God on the pages of books. Of course, now they are no longer killed because of this, but the world is still chained to book faith." (Raja Yoga, 1896).
The best description of Raja Yoga (the best among yogas, which is mainly devoted to working with the mind, not the body; as can be seen from the mention of even sex as a practice in the ancient and almost extinct authoritative Sanskrit text "Yoga Shastra" (there is no sex in yoga! in the present;-), in ancient times there was one general teaching that included everything possible types practitioner; then orthodoxies and dogmatists appeared, and practices that required a higher starting level of development of consciousness were forced to take shape in the form of separate teachings, such as tantra, etc.) and meditation sadhana, the author of this article came across the brilliant Samdhong, beloved by all Tibetans, in an English-language book Rinpoche “Buddhist Meditation”, which the author of this article discovered in the Sheshadri Swamigala Ashram in Tiruvannamalai and happily translated into Russian in 11 days in June 2003.
It took one Moscow publishing house 2 years to publish this 80-page translation, and if the first edition of the translation made the text of the book simply useless, then the second edition, which looked “better” (as much better as the change of the witch’s surname in the film “Robin Hood” was better) - men in tights"), in the struggle for her editorial minimum of 30% of the soiled text, in every possible way emasculated and “nailed” the meaning, in places distorting it into the exact opposite, as, for example, on page 34: “Most of us manage our mind, or rather, part of your fragmented and weakened mind."
In the translator's version, this phrase (correctly translated from English) sounds like this: “Most of us are controlled by our mind, or, to be precise, by some part of our fragmented and weakened mind.” Apparently, the editor did not even for a moment allow the thought that he, “the man, the king and God of the universe,” could be under any control or conditioning, and when editing, as editors often do, he was either terribly inattentive in relation to meaning in general and the meaning of Russian words in particular in his desire to tarnish the required minimum of 30%, or felt like the main co-author.
Four Vedas known as Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharva, these four Vedas are usually called the original Vedic scriptures.
Rig means ritual and basically this Veda contains hymns and prayers (mantras) for the worship of the universal powers known as demigods.
Yajur means ceremony, and this Veda basically describes how to perform rituals.
Herself means chanting, and this Veda contains many other mantras and strict rules on how to chant these mantras according to the mystic vibrations.
Atharva means a priest who has secret knowledge, and this Veda describes many various types worship and spells. In a broader sense, Atharva also includes scriptures with material knowledge such as Ayurveda (pharmacology and health).
Purpose of the Four Vedas— to convince a person that he is not an independent being, but a particle of the universal organism, which depends on higher powers. The most important lesson learned from the four Vedas is acceptance of the highest authority. By connecting with divine forces through rituals and understanding, a person gains materially and achieves peace and harmony.
Tantric scriptures
Not everyone can strictly follow the principles of the Vedas, which require perseverance, purity, faith and patience. Impatient, ignorant people demand immediate results and these can be achieved through magic, spirit worship, etc. By providing such knowledge, the Vedas awaken the faith of occultists who will one day in this or another life become interested in the higher aspects of the Vedas. Such activity takes place in the modes of passion and ignorance.
Upanishads
The red thread in the four Vedas is the philosophical discourses called Aranyakas and Brahmanas. The most notable of these are the Upanishads (“to sit near”, i.e. “knowledge received from a spiritual teacher”). Their texts show that all material forms are only temporary manifestations of the eternal energy above material duality. They show unity behind diversity, and inspire all those who are passionate about the rituals of the Vedas to go beyond their short-term goals.
Vedanta Sutras
By providing common ground evidence for everyone philosophical schools, the 560 pithy aphorisms of the Vedanta Sutra define Vedic truths in the most general terms. Therefore, commentaries on the Vedanta Sutras usually consist of many volumes.
Itihasa
These are historical works, the main of which are “Ramayana” (the story of the incarnation of Rama), 18 Puranas and 18 sub-Puranas (the universal history of creation and destruction, about the incarnations of God and great kings, saints and teachers) and “Mahabharata” (the history of ancient India, or Bharatas, up to the appearance of Krishna five thousand years ago). These scriptures are significant because they extend the understanding of the Absolute beyond an abstract impersonal platform. The Absolute is supremely perfect and complete, which manifests itself in both impersonal and personal aspects. However, the personal aspect is the original source of the secondary impersonal existence of the Lord, because the impersonal energy cannot be the source of personalities. Itihas show these personality traits, gradually introducing and defining them, culminating in the purely monotheistic revelations of the Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam (Bhagavata Purana).
Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam 
Vedic scriptures define these sacred texts as the most important and essential revelations. They directly explain the nature, energy and personality of God, who is the eternal (as Vishnu) and transcendental (as Krishna) source of everything, the cause of all causes, and manifests in personal and impersonal aspects. Bhagavad-gita (Song of God) is the words of God Himself, and Srimad-Bhagavatam (Divine Revelation) is the words about God told by His representatives.
The structure of the Vedic scriptures described here sheds light on New World on itself Vedic tradition and deserves careful study. However, the purpose of these scriptures is to lead people to the Supreme, and mere theoretical study of them is not enough. Scripture also implies practical consequences. Simply academically studying the Vedic scriptures can be compared to reading a cookbook or a piece of music. Until we come to prepare or play, we will miss the goal.
), which belong to the category of shruti (heard).
The main part of the Vedas are the Samhitas - collections of mantras, to which are adjacent the Brahmanas, Aranyakas and Upanishads - texts that are commentaries on the Vedic Samhitas. The mantras contained in the Vedas are repeated as prayers and used in various religious rituals.
For many centuries the Vedas were transmitted orally in poetic form and were only written down much later. The Hindu religious tradition considers the Vedas apaurusheya - uncreated by man, eternal revealed scriptures that were given to humanity through holy sages. Authorship details are provided in the anukramani.
Origin story
The Vedas are considered one of the most ancient scriptures in the world. They were first passed down orally from generation to generation, and before the Vedas were written down, there was an oral tradition of their transmission for many centuries.
In Hinduism, it is believed that at the beginning of each cosmic cycle, immediately after the creation of the Universe, Brahma (God the Creator) receives Vedic knowledge. At the end of the cosmic cycle, Vedic knowledge goes into an unmanifested state, and then appears again in the next cycle of creation. Great rishis (sages) have received this knowledge and passed it on orally for millions of years.
Hindus believe that more than 5,000 years ago, the surviving part of Vedic knowledge was written down and divided into four Vedas by the great sage Vyasa (Vedavyasa), who also outlined its main essence in the form of aphorisms of the Vedanta Sutra.
Vyasa gave each Veda to one of his disciples for ordering. Paila arranged the hymns of the Rigveda. Mantras that were used in religious and social ceremonies were collected by Vaishampayana in the Yajurveda. The Samaveda hymns were collected by Jaimini. The Atharva Veda, which is a collection of hymns and charms, was ordered by Sumanta.
The Vedas were supposedly compiled over a period that lasted about a thousand years. It began with the composition of the Rig Veda around the 16th century BC. and ended in the 5th century BC. However, since the Vedas were written on short-lived material (palm leaves, tree bark), the age of the manuscripts that have reached us does not exceed several hundred years.
On this moment The Vedas are the most ancient philosophical teaching that was brought to India by the Aryans. The Vedas are very strong, powerful, super-logical and humanistic knowledge! In the “wrong” hands this knowledge can turn into a terrible poison, in the “right” hands it can become the salvation of humanity. For a long time this knowledge was under the protection of the Brahmin priests. The Vedas contain the Great Truth. There is an opinion that the Vedas are the legacy of an ancient highly developed civilization that has survived to this day.
What are the Vedas? Why was this knowledge kept secret? Where did this knowledge originally come from, who wrote the Vedas? How was the transfer of knowledge going? After watching the video, you will come closer to understanding what this mysterious and powerful Vedic knowledge contains.
Basic texts of the Vedas
The Vedas include four samhitas (collections of mantras):
1. The Rig Veda (Veda of Hymns) consists of mantra hymns intended to be repeated by the chief priests.
The Rig Veda is considered the oldest surviving Indian text, from which the other three Vedas borrow some material. The Rig Veda consists of 1,028 hymns in Vedic Sanskrit and 10,600 texts, which are divided into ten books called mandalas. The hymns are dedicated to the Rigvedic gods, the most frequently mentioned of which are Agni, Indra, Rudra, Varuna, Savitar and others. All the mantras of the Rig Veda were revealed to 400 rishis, 25 of whom were women. Some of these rishis were celibate, while others were married.
Scholars believe that the books of the Rig Veda were compiled by poets from various groups of priests over a period of five hundred years. According to Max Muller, the Rig Veda was compiled between the 18th and 12th centuries BC. in the Punjab region. Other researchers give later or earlier dates, and some believe that the period of compilation of the Rig Veda was not so long and took about one century between 1450-1350 BC.
There are great linguistic and cultural similarities between the Rig Veda and the early Iranian Avesta. This kinship goes back to pre-Indo-Iranian times and is associated with the Andronovo culture. The oldest horse-drawn chariots were discovered in the Ural Mountains and approximately date back to the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC.
2. Yajurveda (Veda of sacrificial formulas) contains mantras intended for priestly assistants to adhvaryu.
The Yajurveda consists of 1984 verses, partly borrowed and adapted from the Rigveda and presented in prose. The Yajurveda mantras have a practical purpose - each mantra is intended to be used during a specific part of the sacrificial ritual. The mantras of this Veda were compiled for all Vedic rituals, and not just for the Soma ritual, as in the Samaveda.
There are two main editions of this Veda - Shukla Yajurveda and Krishna Yajurveda. The origin and meaning of these editions are not precisely known. The Shukla Yajurveda contains exclusively the texts and formulas necessary for performing sacrifices, and their explanation and philosophical interpretation are highlighted in a separate text to the Shatapatha Brahmana. This is very different from the Krishna Yajurveda, in which explanations and interpretations of mantras are integrated into the main text and usually follow immediately after each mantra.
3. Samaveda (Veda of Chants) contains mantras intended to be repeated by the Udgatri priest-chanters.
The Samaveda consists of 1875 verses, most of which are taken from the Rigveda. Rigvedic texts are modified and adapted for chanting, some of them repeated several times.
Samaveda served as a collection of hymns for priest-choristers who took part in the liturgy. The priests who chanted hymns from the Samaveda during Vedic rituals were called udgatri, a word that comes from the Sanskrit root ud-gai (“to chant” or “to chant”). The style of chanting played a key role in the use of hymns in liturgies. Each hymn had to be sung according to a strictly defined melody - hence the name of this Veda (saman translated from Sanskrit - the melody of a praise song or hymn).
4. Atharvaveda (Veda of Spells) is a collection of mantra-spells.
The Atharva Veda consists of 760 hymns, a fifth of which are shared with the Rig Veda. Most of the texts are metrical, and only some sections are written in prose. According to most scholars, the Atharva Veda was composed around the 10th century BC, although some parts of it date back to the Rigvedic period and some are even older than the Rig Veda.
The Atharva Veda contains not only hymns, but also comprehensive knowledge devoted, in addition to the religious aspects of life, to such things as the sciences of agriculture, government and even weapons. One of the modern names of the Atharva Veda is Atharva-Angirasa, named after the holy sages and great magicians of this line.
Linguistically, the mantras of this Veda are among the most ancient examples of Vedic Sanskrit. Unlike the other three Vedas, the Atharva Veda mantras do not have direct relationship for solemn sacrifices. Its first part consists mainly of magical formulas and spells, which are devoted to protection from demons and disasters, healing diseases, increasing life expectancy, fulfilling various desires and achieving certain goals in life. The second part contains philosophical hymns. The third part of the Atharva Veda mainly contains mantras intended for use during wedding ceremonies and funerals.
Additional texts
The Vedas consist of basic texts (Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Samaveda, Atharva Veda), which are called Samhitas. Each samhita is accompanied by three collections of commentaries: the Brahmanas (hymns and mantras used for Hindu rituals), the Aranyakas (commandments for forest hermits) and the Upanishads (philosophical texts). They reveal the philosophical aspects of the ritual tradition and, together with the Samhita mantras, are used in sacred rituals. Unlike the main texts, this part of the Vedas is usually presented in prose.
The Samhitas and Brahmanas are categorized as karma-kanda (ritual section), while the Aranyakas and Upanishads belong to the category of jnana-kanda (knowledge section). While the Samhitas and Brahmanas focus on ritual practices, the main theme of the Aranyakas and Upanishads is spiritual awareness and philosophy. They discuss, in particular, the nature of Brahman, atman and reincarnation. The Aranyakas and Upanishads are the basis of Vedanta.
We invite you to additionally watch Ilya Zhuravlev’s lecture, in which he introduces listeners to ancient philosophy, described in the Vedas, Upanishads, Puranas, Tantras and other ancient sources on yoga. Description of chakras, mudras, yoga practices (asanas, pranayama, meditation) in ancient texts. Difference between ancient and modern practices.
The Upanishads are ancient Indian treatises on religious and philosophical themes. They are a continuation of the Vedas and belong to the sacred scriptures of Hinduism in the category of shruti (“heard from above, revealed by God”). They mainly discuss spiritual philosophy, meditation, issues of God, soul, karma, reincarnation, development of consciousness, liberation from suffering. These works, written in Sanskrit, are characterized by the depth and poetry of their presentation, and reflect mystical experience yogis of antiquity. Ilya Zhuravlev’s lecture examines the main themes, ideas and terms, and basic practices described in these ancient treatises on yoga.
Other post-Vedic texts, such as the Mahabharata, Ramayana and Puranas, are not considered Vedic scriptures, although in some areas of Hinduism they are positioned as the fifth Veda.
There is also a category of texts called the term "upaveda" ("secondary knowledge"). This term is used in traditional literature to designate a number of specific texts that are not related to the Vedas, but simply represent an interesting subject for study. This includes:
- “medicine”, adjacent to the “Atharva Veda”.
Dhanurveda - “martial arts”, is adjacent to the “Yajurveda”.
Gandharvaveda - “music and sacred dances”, is adjacent to the “Samaveda”.
Astra-shastra - “military science”, is adjacent to the Atharva Veda.
In other sources, the following are also considered upavedas:
Sthapatya Veda - architecture.
Shilpa Shastras - Arts and Crafts.
Until now, despite advanced engineering knowledge and modern equipment, scientists have not been able to solve the mystery of the hanging column that violates the laws of gravity.
Ancient Indian treatises contain many scientific knowledge, up to which modern science I got there quite recently or haven’t even gotten close to them yet. We offer you some facts about the amazing knowledge of scientists who lived thousands of years ago. Indian Vedas - ancient source amazing knowledge.
Vedas (Sanskrit - “knowledge”, “teaching”) - a collection of the most ancient sacred scriptures of Hinduism in Sanskrit (XVI-V centuries BC). For many centuries the Vedas were transmitted orally in poetic form and were only written down much later. The Hindu religious tradition considers the Vedas to be uncreated by man, eternal revealed scriptures that were given to humanity through holy sages.
Scholars about the Vedas
To begin with, we note that the wisdom of the ancient Vedas was recognized by many famous scientists and the greatest minds of mankind in the 19th and 20th centuries. American philosopher and writer Henry David Thoreau wrote:
“There is not a shadow of sectarianism in the great teaching of the Vedas. It is intended for all ages, climatic regions and nations and is the royal road to the achievement of Great Knowledge."
Leo Tolstoy, writing to Indian guru Premananda Bharati in 1907, remarked:
“The metaphysical religious idea of Krishna is the eternal and universal basis of all true philosophical systems and all religions.” He wrote: “Only such great minds as the ancient Hindu sages could have come up with this great concept... Our Christian concepts of spiritual life come from the ancients, from the Jewish ones, and the Jewish ones - from the Assyrian ones, and the Assyrian ones - from the Indian ones, and everything goes along vice versa: the newer, the lower, the older, the higher.”
It is curious that Albert Einstein specifically learned Sanskrit in order to read the Vedas in the original, which described the general laws of physical nature. Many other famous people, such as Kant, Hegel, Gandhi, recognized the Vedas as a source of diverse knowledge.
From zero to kalpa
Ancient mathematicians in India introduced many concepts that we still use today. Note that only in the 7th century did the number 0 first begin to be mentioned in Arabic sources, and only in the 8th century did it reach Europe.
However, in Indian mathematics the concept of zero (in Sanskrit “shunya”) has been known since the 4th century BC. Exactly at Ancient India This is the first time this figure has appeared. Note that without the concept of zero, the binary system and computers could not exist.
The decimal system was also invented in India. In ancient India, the number pi was known, as well as the Pythagorean theorem, more precisely, the theorem of Baudhayana, who first expounded it in the 6th century BC.
The most small number given in the Vedas - krati. It is equal to one thirty-four thousandth of a second. The most big number- kalpa - equals 4.32 billion years.
Kalpa is the “day of Brahma” (in Hinduism, the god of creation). After this period, the “night of Brahma” begins, equal in length to the day. Thus, the divine day lasts 8.64 billion years. A Brahma month consists of 30 such days, which is 259.2 billion years, and a year consists of 12 months. Brahma lives for 100 years (311 trillion 40 billion years), after which he dies.
Bhaskara is the first!
As we know, the Polish scientist Nicolaus Copernicus proposed that the Earth revolves around the Sun in 1543. However, 1000 years earlier, the Vedic astronomer and mathematician Aryabhata stated the same thing: “Just as a person sailing on a boat seems to move the trees on the banks, so to people living on Earth it seems that the Sun is moving.”
In a work entitled "Aryabhatiya", the scientist argued that the Earth is round, rotates on its axis and around the Sun, and "hangs" in space. In addition, he provided accurate data on the sizes of the Earth and the Moon.
The theory of attraction was also well known to ancient astronomers. The sage Bhaskara in the famous astronomical treatise “Surya Siddhanta” wrote: “Objects fall to the Earth due to the force of its gravity. The Earth, Moon, Sun and other planets are also held in their orbits by the force of gravity.”
Note that Isaac Newton discovered the law of attraction only in 1687.
In the Surya Siddhanta, Bhaskara gives the time required for the Earth to go around the Sun: 365.258756484 days. Modern scientists accept the figure as 365.2596 days.
The Rig Veda stated that the Moon is a satellite of the Earth.
“Being a satellite of the Earth, the Moon revolves around its mother planet and accompanies it in rotation around its father planet, the Sun. Total in solar system 32 satellite planets. The Moon is the only satellite that has its own individual nature. The size of the remaining satellites does not exceed 1/8 the size of their mother planets. The Moon is the only satellite of very large size.”
The origin of matter was explained by the Upanishads: “From it (the Absolute) came space, from which came the wind, from the wind came fire, from fire came water, and from water came earth.” This is very similar to the sequence of origin of matter, as modern physicists understand it: plasma, gas, energy. liquid, solid.
Amazing monuments of the past
What remained from the ancient Vedic civilization was not only theoretical knowledge, but very specific traces of material culture. The Angkor Wat temple complex in the Cambodian jungle is dedicated to the god Vishnu and is one of the most amazing monuments of Vedic civilization.
This is the largest religious building in the world. Its area is 200 square kilometers, and 500 thousand people lived on its territory!
How this amazing structure was created still remains a mystery. Here is what Yoshinori Iwasaki, director of the Georesearch Institute in the Japanese city of Osaka, writes:
“Starting in 1906, a group of French restorers worked in Angkor. In the 1950s, French experts tried to lift the stones up the steep embankment. But since the angle of the steep embankment is 40°, after the first step, five meters high, was built, the embankment collapsed. A second attempt was made, but with the same result.
Eventually the French abandoned the idea of following historical technology and installed a concrete wall inside the pyramid to preserve the earthworks. Today we do not know how the ancients could build such high and steep embankments.”
Next to Angkor is the huge Western Baray Reservoir. The dimensions of the reservoir are 8 * 2.1 kilometers, and the depth is five meters. It was made in time immemorial. The accuracy of the boundaries of the reservoir and the enormity of the work performed are amazing. This huge body of water has clear, straight boundaries, which is uncharacteristic even for modern similar structures.
Another temple, located in the village of Lepakshi in India (Andhra Pradesh state), has a mystery that haunts many researchers. The temple has 69 ordinary columns and one special one - it does not touch the ground. To entertain tourists, local guides slide a newspaper under it to show that the column really floats in the air.
For many years, experts tried to unravel the mystery of the hanging column. For example, British engineers even tried to dislodge it during the colonization of India, but, fortunately, they did not succeed. Until now, despite advanced engineering knowledge and modern equipment, scientists have not been able to solve the mystery of the hanging column that violates the laws of gravity.
Vedic culture is one of the most ancient in the world. For many centuries, Indian sages passed on invaluable knowledge and teachings from mouth to mouth, which were later written down on palm leaves and tree bark.
Representatives of the Hindu religion consider the Vedas to be uncreated by man and claim that they were transmitted to people by the god of creation Brahma. But what are the Vedas? Who wrote them and what are they about?
What does the word "Veda" mean?
Veda were written in Sanskrit, so their etymology is related to this ancient literary language of India, characterized by an extremely complex and archaic grammar. Translated from Sanskrit the word veda means "knowledge" and is derived from the root vid- (to know).
In Sanskrit, the term is usually applied to religion and liturgy, but can sometimes be found in context with other areas of life, for example, Sasya Veda means the science of agriculture, and Agada Veda means medicine.
What are the Vedas?
At its core, the Vedas are a collection of Indian scriptures that present God's revelations. According to representatives of Hinduism, this knowledge was presented to humanity by Brahma through wise elders (rish), and they, before the advent of writing, passed it on from generation to generation orally. 
In the Puranas (another ancient Hindu text) it is written that Brahma acquires Vedic wisdom at the beginning of each cosmic cycle (at the formation of the Universe), and then shares it with humanity.
What are the Vedas made of?
Today, four Vedas are known, differing in their content.
The first is called “Rigveda” and is the oldest literary work of India. It includes more than a thousand hymns and over 10 thousand texts, divided into mandala books.
The second scripture is the Yajur Veda, which includes a collection of mantras. Each text in this book has deep religious meaning and for better understanding can be compared with the psalms and psalms familiar to us.
The third book is called “Sama Veda” and consists of mantras intended for chanting. In Hinduism, there are so-called udgatris (chanters) who, during religious rituals, use verses from this scripture to praise Brahma and other deities. The Atharva Veda is the fourth book of the Vedas, containing hymns for spells during rituals and sacrifices. 
In it you can find magic formulas, through which Hindus protect themselves from diseases and demons, fulfill desires and prolong life.
When and by whom were the Vedas written?
According to research, the Vedas began to be compiled in the 16th century BC. The process of their creation continued for many centuries and ended approximately in the 5th century BC. Since most texts were written on short-lived materials, only manuscripts several hundred years old have survived to this day. The most ancient Rig Vedas date back to the 11th century.
Who exactly wrote down the sacred texts has not been reliably established. It is only known that some of them belong to the pen of the ancient sage Vyasa, who, in addition to the Vedas, compiled other Indian scriptures - the Puranas, Vedanta, Upanishads. According to legend, Vyasa was the illegitimate son of the Vedic sage Parashara and led an ascetic lifestyle, living on an island on the Jamna River.
What is told in the Vedas?
The Vedas are revealed scriptures and tell about the nature of living beings. They reveal the laws of the universe to humanity, helping to achieve Great Knowledge. Many texts are dedicated to the pantheon Indian gods and include prayers to deities such as Vishnu, Indra, Agni.
Some books focus on ritual traditions and philosophy. The Yajur Veda talks about how to make sacrifices and perform rituals. It also contains interpretations of many mantras and formulas for spells. 
The Atharva Veda records certain aspects of the life of the ancient Hindus that would not have survived to this day if not for this scripture. Some of her texts praise the gods and reflect the needs of people, their everyday needs.
“Atharva Veda” can be called a kind of encyclopedia, revealing to the smallest detail the life of the Vedic tribes, including the features of wedding and funeral ceremonies, house construction and treatment.
