The colonizers in India taught us that the supreme book of Hindus viz., the Vedas are some three or four thousand years old. These were written by the race called Aryans who were not native to the land of India. The content is crude rituals which are meant for the dead or at best it’s nature worship. Philosophy is a later development hardly related to the Vedas. For them, the Vedas are a collection of four books, namely the Rik, the Sam, the Yajur and the Atharv.
The situation is pathetic that from school-going children to the aspirants preparing for the Civil Services have this
understanding only. The worst part is that even the proud and active Hindus didn’t
understand the traditional views on the Vedas.
The Vedas are not a collection of books, verily it’s
not a book in any sense, however, the documented texts of the Vedas may fill
any large library of the world. The above-mentioned four names are for the
Samhitas of the Vedas which are fundamental, however, comprise a small portion
of the corpus of the Vedas.
The long tradition brought to us an understanding that the Vedic texts are of three types
viz., Rik, Sam and Yajur. The Vedic meaning for these words is poem, music and
ritual respectively. The Upanishads which are an essential part of the Vedic
corpus are nothing but the philosophy par excellence. The Samhitas, the Brahmans
and the Aranyakas which are the different parts of the Vedic corpus are indeed
full of lofty philosophy. The Vedic texts touch on the various subject
matters of human existence and experience which includes dead and the
nature, however, the Vedas are more interested in immortality and the One who
transcends nature yet is imminent in nature.
To understand the position of the Vedas as a traditional Hindu, let’s make a comparison with other religions. The Smriti texts such as the Gita for the Hindus stand equal to the Bible for the Christians and the Quran for the Muslims. The only difference is that Christians and Muslims have only one book as they believe in one God. On the other hand, the Hindus have endless Smritis as they have endless names and forms of God. The Vedas are ranked above the Smriti. Note: this does not mean that Smriti is inferior in any sense. The Smritis are the highest yet the Vedas are more than the highest.
For a traditional Hindu, the Vedas were not created. They are not the product of the human mind. They are eternal. Thus, their positioning on a time scale, a geographical location and a human race are out of the question. But on what basis such high claims are made by the traditional Hindus? Let’s explore.