वेद m. 1.m. (
fr. √
1.विद्q.v. ) knowledge, true or sacred knowledge or lore, knowledge of ritual,
[RV.] ;
[AitBr.] तैत्तिरीय-संहिता N. of certain celebrated works which constitute the basis of the first period of the
Hindū religion (these works were primarily three,
viz. 1. the
ऋग्-वेद, 2. the
यजुर्-वेद [of which there are, however, two divisions See ,
वाजसनेयि-संहिता], 3. the
साम-वेद; these three works are sometimes called collectively
त्रयी, ‘the triple
विद्या’ or ‘threefold knowledge’, but the
ऋग्-वेद is really the only original work of the three, and much the most ancient [the oldest of its hymns being assigned by some who rely on certain astronomical calculations to a period between 4000 and 2500 B.C., before the settlement of the
Āryans in India; and by others who adopt a different reckoning to a period between 1400 and 1000 B.C., when the
Āryans had settled down in the
Panjāb]; subsequently a fourth
वेद was added, called the
अथर्व-वेद, which was probably not completely accepted till after
मनु, as his law-book often speaks of the three
वेदs-calling them
त्रयम् ब्रह्म सनातनम्, ‘the triple eternal
वेद’, but only once [
xi, 33] mentions the revelation made to
अथर्वन् and
अङ्गिरस्, without, however, calling it by the later name of
अथर्व-वेद; each of the four
वेदs has two distinct parts,
viz. 1.
मन्त्र,
i.e. words of prayer and adoration often addressed either to fire or to some form of the sun or to some form of the air, sky, wind &c., and praying for health, wealth, long life, cattle, offspring, victory, and even forgiveness of sins, and 2.
ब्राह्मण, consisting of
विधि and
अर्थ-वाद,
i.e. directions for the detail of the ceremonies at which the
मन्त्रs were to be used and explanations of the legends &c. connected with the
मन्त्रs [see
ब्राह्मण,
विधि], both these portions being termed
श्रुति, revelation orally communicated by the Deity, and heard but not composed or written down by men [
cf. [IW. 24 &c.] ], although it is certain that both
मन्त्रs and
ब्राह्मणs were compositions spread over a considerable period, much of the latter being comparatively modern; as the
वेदs are properly three, so the
मन्त्रs are properly of three forms, 1.
ऋच्, which are verses of praise in metre, and intended for loud recitation; 2.
यजुस्, which are in prose, and intended for recitation in a lower tone at sacrifices; 3.
सामन्, which are in metre, and intended for chanting at the
सोम or Moon-plant ceremonies, the
मन्त्रs of the fourth or
अथर्व-वेद having no special name; but it must be borne in mind that the
यजुर् and
साम-वेद hymns, especially the latter, besides their own
मन्त्रs, borrow largely from the
ऋग्-वेद; the
यजुर्-वेद and
साम-वेद being in fact not so much collections of prayers and hymns as special prayer- and hymn-books intended as manuals for the
अध्वर्यु and
उद्गातृ priests respectively [see
यजुर्-वेद,
साम-वेद]; the
अथर्व-वेद, on the other hand, is, like the
ऋग्-वेद, a real collection of original hymns mixed up with incantations, borrowing little from the
ऋग् and having no direct relation to sacrifices, but supposed by mere recitation to produce long life, to cure diseases, to effect the ruin of enemies &c.; each of the four
वेदs seems to have passed through numerous
शाखाs or schools, giving rise to various recensions of the text, though the
ऋग्-वेद is only preserved in the
शाकल recension, while a second recension, that of the
भाष्कलs, is only known by name; a tradition makes
व्यास the compiler and arranger of the
वेदs in their present form: they each have an Index or
अनुक्रमणी [
q.v. ], the principal work of this kind being the general Index or
सर्वानुक्रमणी [
q.v. ]; out of the
ब्राह्मण portion of the
वेद grew two other departments of Vedic literature, sometimes included under the general name
वेद,
viz. the strings of aphoristic rules, called
सूत्रs [
q.v. ], and the mystical treatises on the nature of God and the relation of soul and matter, called
उपनिषद् [
q.v. ], which were appended to the
आरण्यकs [
q.v. ], and became the real
वेद of thinking
Hindūs, leading to the
दर्शनs or systems of philosophy; in the later literature the name of ‘fifth
वेद’ is accorded to the
इतिहासs or legendary epic poems and to the
पुराणs, and certain secondary
वेदs or
उप-वेदs [
q.v. ] are enumerated; the
वेदाङ्गs or works serving as limbs [for preserving the integrity] of the
वेद are explained under
वेदा-ङ्ग below: the only other works included under the head of
वेद being the
परिशिष्टs, which supply rules for the ritual omitted in the
सूत्रs; in the
बृहद्-आरण्यकउपनिषद् the
वेदs are represented as the breathings of
ब्रह्मा, while in some of the
पुराणs the four
वेदs are said to have issued out of the four mouths of the four-faced
ब्रह्मा and in the
विष्णु-पुराण the
वेद and
विष्णु are identified),
[RTL. 7 &c.] ;
[IW. 5; 24 &c.] N. of the number ‘four’
[VarBṛS.] [Śrutab.] feeling, perception,
[ŚBr.] वृत्त = (
v.l. वित्त),
[L.] (
cf. 2.वेद).
वेद m. 2.m. (
fr. √
3.विद्) finding, obtaining, acquisition (See
सु-व्°)
property, goods,
[ĀśvGṛ.] वेद m. 3.m. (perhaps connected with √
1.वे, to weave or bind together) a tuft or bunch of strong grass (
कुश or
मुञ्ज) made into a broom (and used for sweeping, making up the sacrificial fire &c., in rites),
[AV.] MS. [Br.] ;
[ŚrS.] ;
[Mn.] वेद m. 4.m.N. of a pupil of
आयोद,
[MBh.]