Vedas-a treasure of secrets of life

Vedas are considered to be the bible of Hindus. The Sanskrit word véda "knowledge, wisdom" is derived from the root vid- "to know". It is a large body of knowledge text composed in Sanskrit. Vedas contains the sublime secrets of life. Vedas are also called śruti ("what is heard") literature, distinguishing them from other religious texts, which are called smṛti ("what is remembered"). Vedas were not written by anyone, but were heard by the Vedic Rishis while in deep meditation. This text has been carefully preserved since ancient times. Vedas are called Marai in parts of South India. Marai literally means "hidden secret".    

Scholars believe that they were written down some 2,500 years ago, though the tradition often dates them to the beginning of Kali-yuga (3000 BCE). Initial Veda was a one huge body of text with more than a hundred thousand shlokas. Later, it was divided into four vedas by Rishi Veda Vyasa and hence is his name, one who divided the vedas. These four are now known as Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda and Atharvaveda.

Most of the unique features of Hindu culture are based on Vedas. The sitting posture i.e., Asana, the Pranayama, the Mudras, Meditation techniques, the cleanliness Yama and Niyama, the Dharanas are explained in Vedas. The asanas explained in Vedas are mainly for the purpose of meditation. The sun salutation was the part of routine activity during that time. The Pranayama that is told in the Yajurveda, which is practiced during the regular practice, is same as Anuloma Viloma. The various types of meditation techniques are also explained in the Vedas. The practice of mudras is also explained in the Vedas. The Vedas also explain about the Tapas, Vratas and the ultimate aim of them are to attain Moksa (liberation).

The Rig-Veda

The most important and, according to scholars, oldest of the Vedas. It is divided into ten books (called mandalas) and has 1028 hymns in praise of various deities. These include Indra, Agni, Vishnu, Rudra, Varuna, and other early or "Vedic gods." It also contains the famous Gayatri mantra and the prayer called the Purusha Shukta (the story of Primal Man).

The Yajur-Veda

A priestly handbook for use in the performance of yajnas (sacrifices) It is divided into two sections, the earlier "black" and the more recent "white."

Sama-Veda

This consists of chants and melodies to be sung during worship and the performance of yajna.

Atharva-Veda

Contains hymns, mantras and incantations, largely outside the scope of yajna.

Those who contemplated on the meaning of Vedas got filled with the love and praise for this wonderful body of text. Here are some of the famous quotes about Vedas from the western world.

Guigualt 

"The Rig Veda is the most sublime conception of the great highways of humanity."

Max Muller

"In the history of the world, the Veda fills a gap which no literary work in any other language can fill."

Henry David Thoreau

"What extracts from the Vedas I have read fall on me like the light of a higher and purer luminary, which describes a loftier course through purer stratum. It rises on me like the full moon after the stars have come out, wading through some far stratum in the sky."

Alfred North Whitehead

"Vedanta is the most impressive metaphysics the human mind has conceived."

J. Robert Oppenheimer

"Access to the Vedas is the greatest privilege this century may claim over all previous centuries."

Arthur Schopenhauer

"From every sentence the Vedas deep, original and sublime thoughts arise, and the whole is pervaded by a high and holy and earnest spirit...."In the whole world there is no study so beneficial and so elevating as that of the Upanishads. They are destined sooner or later to become the faith of the people. It has been the solace of my life -- it will be the solace of my death."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

"The Vedas haunt me. In them I have found eternal compensation, unfathomable power, unbroken peace."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

"I owed a magnificent day to the Bhagavad-Gita. It was as if an empire spoke to us, nothing small or unworthy, but large, serene, consistent, the voice of an old intelligence which in another age and climate had pondered and thus disposed of the same questions which exercise us."