Primary or Classic Vedas consist of invocations to the One Divine and the divinities of nature, such as the Sun, the Rain, the Wind, the Fire and the Dawn - as well as prayers for matrimony, progeny, prosperity, concord, domestic rites, formulas for magic, and more. They are composed in beautiful metrical verses, generally of three or four lines.

 

 

 

Vedic literature went through four stages of development: the Samhitas (c. 1000 bc), the Brahmanas (c. 800 bc), the Aranyakas (c 700 bc) and the Upanishads (c. 600-500 bc). The Samhitas were Iyrical collections of hymns, prayers, incantations, and sacrificial and magical formulae. From what must have been a vast corpus of such writings, four great collections have come down to us - the oldest surviving literary efforts of mankind.

 

 

 

Veda means knowledge. The original knowledge is the teachings of the Vedas. In the conditioned state our knowledge is subjected to many deficiencies. There are four defects that a conditioned soul has: committing mistakes, subject to illusion, cheating propensity and imperfect senses. These deficiencies make us unfit for having perfect knowledge. Therefore we accept the Vedas as they are.