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The Vedas are a large body of Sanskrit texts that constitute the oldest layer of “Shruthi” literature that were not composed by anyone but heard by ancient sages as revelations of sounds after intense meditation.
Maharishi Krishna Dvaipāyana (Veda Vyasa) compiled and organized them into four distinct Vedas: the Rigveda, the Yajurveda, the Samaveda and the Atharvaveda. Each Veda has four subdivisions – the Samhitas (mantras and benedictions), the Aranyakas (text on rituals, ceremonies, sacrifices and symbolic-sacrifices), the Brahmanas (commentaries on rituals, ceremonies and sacrifices), and the Upanishads (texts discussing meditation, philosophy and spiritual knowledge).
The Samhitas date to roughly 1700–1100 BCE, and the allied texts, as well as the abridged versions of the Samhitas, date to c. 1000–500 BCE, resulting in a Vedic period, spanning the mid-2nd to mid-1st millennium BCE, or the Late Bronze Age and the Iron Age. The Vedic period reached its peak after the composition of the mantra Samhitas and the Brahmana commentaries and ended around 150 BCE.
The Upanishads
The last part of the Vedas are the Upanishads. In the classical Vedic tradition, the Samhita is likened to a tree, the Brahmanas are its flowers, the Aranyakas are its unripe fruits and the Upanishads are the ripe fruits. The word ‘Upanishad’ means ‘sitting nearby devotedly’: obviously referring to the shishya sitting down near his guru at the time of instruction.
The Vedas are generally considered to have two portions viz., Karma-Kanda (dealing with action or rituals) and Jnana-Kanda (dealing with knowledge). The Samhitas and the Brahmanas represent mainly the Karma-Kanda, whereas the Upanishads chiefly represent the Jnana-Kanda. The Upanishads, which belong to the Shruti category are at present, the most popular and extensively read Vedic texts.
The Upanishads are often called ‘Vedanta.‘ Literally, Vedanta means the end of Veda: vedasya antah, the conclusion (anta) as well as the goal (anta) of the Vedas. They represent the central aim of the Vedas as they deal with Moksha or Supreme Bliss.
There is no unanimity concerning the number of Upanishads. One hundred and eight Upanishads are enumerated in the Muktikopanishad. Of these, 10 Upanishads are from the Rigveda, 19 from the Shukla-Yajurveda, 32 from the Krishna-Yajurveda, 16 from the Samaveda and 31 from the Atharvaveda.
Among these, ten Upanishads known as ‘Dashopanishad, considered the most important from the point of view of Vedantic Philosophy are: Aitareya (Rigveda), Brihadaranyaka and Isha (Shukla-Yajurveda), Taittiriya and Katha (Krishna-Yajurveda), Chandogya and Kena (Samaveda) and Mundaka, Mandukya and Prashna (Atharvaveda). Adi Shankara has written bhashyams (explanatory treatises) for these ten which are often quoted in his Brahma Sutra Bhashyam.
The Puranas
The Puranas belong to the class of Suhrit-Samhitas, or the Friendly Treatises, while the Vedas are called the Prabhu-Samhitas or the Commanding Treatises with great authority. The language and the subtle philosophy of the Vedas and Upanishads are generally difficult to grasp and assimilate. The Puranas which are under the Smrithi category have therefore been written to propagate the essence and teachings of the Vedas amongst the masses and to generate in them devotion to God, through myths, stories, legends and allegories.
There are eighteen main Puranas and an equal number of subsidiary Puranas or Upa-Puranas. The main Puranas are: Vishnu Purana, Naradiya Purana, Srimad Bhagavata Purana, Garuda (Suparna)Purana, Padma Purana, Varaha Purana, Brahma
Purana, Brahmanda Purana, Brahma Vaivarta Purana, Markandeya Purana, Bhavishya Purana, Vamana Purana, Matsya Purana, Kurma Purana, Linga Purana, Siva Purana, Skanda Purana and Agni Purana. Interestingly, the trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwara are glorified by six Puranas each.
The Vedas, Upanishads, and Puranas form the three major pillars of Sanathani spiritual literature. If the Vedas are the foundation and the Upanishads explain deep philosophical truths, the Puranas are narrative texts that explain complex Vedic and Upanishadic ideas and spiritual truths through stories.
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