Vedas are the fundamentals on which the sanatana dharma is based on. Vedas are also known as Sruthi or Amnaya. Sruthi means that which is heard. In the ancient times, the vedas which originated by itself (swayambhu) let themselves to be heard by the rishis who were doing penance. Thus, even those rishis are not the authors of the vedas. There are four Vedas: the Rigveda, the Yajurveda, the Samaveda and the Atharvaveda. Each Veda has been subclassified into four major text types – the Samhitas (mantras), the Aranyakas (rituals), the Brahmanas (commentaries), and the Upanishads (philosophy). In the olden days, the vedas were transmitted through oral tradition unlike the present days in which there are written manuscripts. Intonations are very important while reciting the vedas as different tones may attribute different meanings to the same mantra. The upward, downward and median tones (swaras) are termed udaaatta, anudaatta and swaritha respectively. To elucidate ...
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