Essence of Vedas

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It is a well established fact that 'Vedas' are the oldest form of written books in our literature. Vedas contain the priceless teachings to human life forever. These preachings make us understand to discriminate between the permanent and the transient, the good and the evil. Vedas have been the gems of wisdom to mankind- the eternal values of life: how to be a perfect human being, to see self in all creations, and to treat all objects equal. Vedas convey the greatest doctrine of brotherhood and universality in the present scenario: "Melt all illusory differences. Remove all barriers that separate man for man. Embrace all for the self is the same."
This treatise is a compilation of all the four Vedas- Rigveda, Samveda, Yajurveda and Atharvaveda- in an easy-to-understandable language and simple diction for the common readers.

The Vedas are the oldest tomes of the most ancient civilization and culture broadly called Hinduism. They record what man felt at the dawn of human consciousness when having fully developed as 'Homo sapiens' he started to comprehend the environs enveloping his existence. Believed to have been compiled a few millennia ago- although the scholars still debate on their actual time of compilation- the Vedas reveal the human curiosity about life, nature and all its supporting agencies.
The Rig (or Rik) Veda, the first of the four Vedas, the oldest religious text, is a collection of hymns for use at the sacrifices (the Yagyas) of the aristocratic Aryan cult. The three later Vedas, viz. the Yajur, Sama and Atharva, are of somewhat different character. The Sama Veda, believed to be the origin of Indian school of music, is in fact a collection of certain verses of the Rig Veda arranged for liturgical purposes. The Yajur Veda, compiled a century or two later than the Rig Veda, contains sacrificial formulae in prose and verse to be pronounced by the 'Adhvaryu' or priest who performs the manual part of the sacrifice. It exists in various recensions ('Samhitas') which are of two types: the 'Black'-giving the formulae with rubricated instructions-and the 'White', adding detailed instructions in a lengthy appendix called a 'Brahmana'. The Atharva Veda consists mainly of magic spells and the Mantras (incantations) in verse, which was certainly compiled after the Rig and Yajur Vedas. It possesses, however, an atmosphere of simple or sympathetic magic on a lower cultural level than that of the Rig Veda, deriving from the plebiean religion of the Aryan and containing many non-Aryan elements as well. The massive Brahmanas, which were looked down upon as appendices to the Vedas and the mystical Aranyakas and the Upanishads, are in turn appendices to the Brahmanas. This complete set of literature is called Vedic literature.