The Structure of Our Vedas

What is the structure of our Vedas?
Everyone knows that Vedas are divided into four — Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda, and Atharva Veda.
These are not four books. These are four branches.
There are multiple scriptures within each branch.

Understand that Vedas are not holy books.
Vedas are not even supposed to be in book formats.
They are meant to exist as sound inside people who know the Vedas.

There are people who strongly believe that the fall of Vedic culture — not Vedas, Vedic culture — started after they began getting available in book format.
See how calculators have destroyed our arithmetical skills.
Suppose you are allowed to carry your textbooks and notes inside the exam hall,
will any student bother to learn and memorize?

When Veda books became available, there came less interest in memorizing the Vedas.
The system of Veda learning itself is based on listening — memorizing — contemplation.
If you have memorized it, it is inside you — then only contemplation will happen on your own.
Otherwise, you will just be contemplating on somebody’s opinion and interpretation.

Can art be taught? No. Techniques can be taught, not art.
Art has to be inside you. Then it blossoms.
In the same way, if Veda is inside you, then it will blossom.
This was the vision of our Rishis.

Anyway, let’s look at the structure of Vedas — either in book format or as it is originally meant to be, in sound format.

Every branch of Veda has got its own branches.
Like Rigveda has 21 branches — like Shakala, Bashkala.
Yajurveda has got 101 branches.
Samaveda has got 1000 branches.
Atharva Veda has got 9 branches.
So a total of 1131 branches.
Out of these, only very few are left — less than 10, you can say.
Efforts are on to revive some of them.

At one point in time, there were only two scholars who knew the Shaunaka Shakha of Atharva Veda — one in Kashi and one in Gujarat.
Through their efforts, at least we have a few hundreds today.
Like this for other branches also.

Any branch if you take — take Shukla Yajurveda Madhyandina for example — this is one branch complete in itself.
In this, there are two kinds of books.
I am using the word books because there is no other option — otherwise you won’t understand.
There is the mantra portion and the brahmanam portion.

In this, the first portion — mantra portion — is known as Samhita.
Shukla Yajurveda Madhyandina Samhita.
This book will essentially have three kinds of content — knowledge, praise, and history.

History here means portions which are connected to creation and what all happened or happens subsequently.
Events will be there in the Vedas even before they actually happen in the real world.
So don’t get confused about the word 'history'.

The second portion — Brahmanam — has three sections:

• Karma — procedures

• Upasana

• Knowledge

Knowledge is there in both mantra bhaga and Brahmana bhaga.
These are broad indications.

The karma part, the vidhi part — like how to do a yajna — you will find this in books called Brahmanam.
Aitareya Brahmanam of Rigveda, Shatapatha Brahmanam of Shukla Yajurveda.
In Taittiriya Samhita of Krishna Yajurveda, a large portion of vidhi or procedure is embedded in the Samhita itself — even though there is a separate Taittiriya Brahmanam.
Such variations are there.

So essentially, the mantra bhaga or Samhita bhaga is about praises, knowledge, and events.
The Brahmana bhaga is about procedure, upasana, and knowledge.

Upasana in the Vedic corpus are books called Aranyaka — which are part of Brahmana bhaga.
Knowledge in the Brahmana bhaga is books called Upanishads.

Our Rishis believed that action and knowledge are inseparable.
You learn by doing.
Can someone learn surgery from a book?
Practice is essential to learn.
Knowledge is acquired through practice.

The lofty principles of the Vedas are all there in the conduct of yajnas.
When you conduct a yajna, you will be able to connect all these principles.
This gives you real knowledge.

You can say, tell someone after reading somewhere that, through yajnas you can manifest whatever you want.
This is superficial.
But if you actually do a yajna and see it happening, then this knowledge is 100%.
You are convinced. There are no doubts.
This is just an example.

This is the reason our sages never disassociate knowledge from action.
Knowledge without having understood action is weak.

Don’t go very far.
You want to restore a mobile phone to factory settings.
You have never seen a mobile phone, used a mobile phone.
You watch a YouTube video of how it is done.
You know English. You have learned by heart whatever is said in that video.
You can reproduce those words.
You can tell anyone — this is how it is done.
But will you be actually able to do it when you get a mobile phone in your hand?
You won’t even know how to switch it on.

I remember one incident — a real incident.
Computers were new in India.
The first manufacturer — he had supplied to the defence.
Some army camp in interior UP.

A batch of service engineers were being trained in Delhi.
The training was over — two months of intense training.
Then there was some issue with the computer in the army camp.
I am talking about the 80s.

One of these engineers was asked to attend.
He took a train, reached the place.
From the railway station, the army vehicle came, picked him up.
He reached there.

The funny part is — he didn’t know how to open the CPU.
You know those old systems — they had a tricky lock.
Not like you remove a few screws and then you can open it.

In the training camp, all the systems were open.
Except how to open the box, they learned everything.
Can you imagine his plight?
No mobile phones. If you had to get help, then you had to book a trunk call and wait.

He reached the place after 10–15 hours of travelling.
And he can’t even open the box.
This is the problem of knowledge which is not connected to action.

So, this is the basic structure of the Vedas.

The content of the Vedas exists in three formats — poem, prose, and songs.
Songs are essentially only in Samaveda.
Prose is in Yajurveda.
Poems are in Rigveda and Atharva Veda.
Because the Veda has got three formats, it is called Trayee Vidya.

Ramaswamy Sastry and Vighnesh Ghanapaathi