Veda – Ancient Hindu Sacre Literature

Veda which in Sankrit means knowledge is the most ancient sacred literature of Hinduism,or individual books belonging to that literature.This body of ancient literature consists primarily of four collections of hymns, detached poetical portion, and ceremonial formulas. The collections are called the Rig-Veda, the sama-Veda, the Yajur-Veda and the Sama-Veda and the Atharva-Veda. They are known also as the Samhitas roughly "collection". The four Venda were composed in Vedic, early form of sanskrit. The oldest portions are beleived by scholars to have originated largely with the Arayan invanders of India some time between 1500 and 1000BC;however, the Vedas in their present form are belived to date only from the close of the 3rd century BC. Before the writing down of the present texts, sages called risbis transmitted the Vedic matter orally, changing and elaborating it in the process. Large masses of material probably taken from the orginal Aryan milieu or from the Dravidian culture of India were preserved, however, and are distinguishable in  the texts. The first three Samhitas  are primarily ritual handbooks that were used in the Vedic period by the three classes of priests who officiatged at ceremonial sacrifies. The Rig-Veda contains more than 1000 hymns  composed  in various poetic meters and arranged in ten books. It was used by the botri or reciters, who invoked gods by reading its hymns aloud. The Sama-vedacontains verse portionstake mainly from the Rig-Veda.

It was used by the udgatri, or chanters, who sangs its hymns,or melodies. The Yajur-veda,  which now consits of two recensions,both of them partly in prose and partly in verse and both containing roughly the same material , contakins sacrificial formulas.It was used by the adbvarya, priests who recited apporiate formulas from the Yajur-Veda while actually performing the sacrificial actions.