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Vedas

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Scriptures
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Divine scribblings

The Vedas are holy writings by the Indo-Aryan civilization (not the Nazis) from ancient India and are among the oldest sacred texts of any religion, dating from 1500 BCE.[1] They consist of readings, incantations, spells, hymns, and formulas for priests to read.

You should probably resist the urge to say "Darth" in front of the name.

There are four main Vedic texts:

  • Rigveda
  • Yajurveda
  • Samaveda
  • Atharvaveda

The Rigveda is among the first known sources of agnostic and humanist writing. The Nasadiya Sukta[2] raises rational doubts concerning the philosophical problems with the notion of the Universe being created.

The Samaveda contains numerous religious hymns and music that mantras contained in the rigveda are meant to be set to. It is said that Indian classical music has its roots in this text.

The Yajurveda, also known as the Karma-Veda, contains mantras dealing with the nature and motivation behind human action and common religious sacrifices and rituals during the period it was written.

The Atharvaveda mainly consists of magical chants and remedies and a small number of curses to be used against enemies.[3]

See also

References

  1. Compare with the Jewish Torah, which is generally dated to 600 BCE.
  2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasadiya_Sukta#Metre
  3. http://www.enlightengroup.org/the-four-vedas.html