Origin;

Vedas are not just an ancient scriptures but are considered to be  “apauruṣeya“, which means “not of a man” or “authorless”. Vedas are considered as the sacred sounds and texts which were heard by ancient sages after intense meditation. Vedas are not created,  Just like a soul and God both are “aj” or “ajanma” which means “That which is not born”.. See whatever we are able to think is within the constraint of time but we have to understand that spirituality and God are beyond the dimensions of time which is why God was there before time and will  be there after the time so he is never created nor can be destroyed just like energy which we study in science. 

Each Veda has 4 bhaag, the samhita, the brahmana, the Aranyakas and the upanishads also called the Vedanta or the end of veda. Samhita is the collection of mantra while others are literature or philosophical part. Also called shakhas or recensions. The four divisions of veda not only speak about the divine but also rituals and the worldy information like medicine and farming.

Like Samaveda is musical and rhytmic composition of rigveda.

Vedas were taught in schools and the interpretations of all the scholars kept adding to the strict book of vedas. Atharveda for example. It became the fourth veda after a long time. 

‘Atharvan’ was a Rishi and is considered to have sung the Atharvaveda.  You cannot ask for the original version since there is not any. Vedas are not books. Veda and its mantras has been orally transmitted with techniques to memorise, till the ages through schools and families, scattered and as education. It is known to be composed by Ved Vyasa. Finally known as the four vedas. Consider it organising all the scattered information and removing the unnecessary. Yet the addition didn’t stop to today what is considered to be the scriptures of Vedas.

The 6th adhyay’s 32nd shlok of Maitri Upanishad states that during Mahapralay when God was in a deep sleep these Vedas got “prakat” or “appeared” from his breath, This same thing is also stated in Brehdaranko upanishad in 2nd adhyay’s 4th brahman’s 10th mantra. God didn’t write these scriptures, he just made it appear as Vedas are also sanatan or “ajanma” as i mentioned. For example the wave in an ocean is not created, it just “appeared” and will similarly “dissapear” as it is part of the ocean. Similarly the vedas got “prakat” from the breath of God and will similarly get “aprakat” within God at the time of pralay.

Smriti OR Shruti?

Are vedas manual to attain god? A nice question would be, is it a smriti or shruti?

Shruti means what is heard and smriti means what is remembered. Technically Vedas, the scriptures, should be smriti as it was recited and memorised for centuries. There is a high chance that much has been modified and lost.

Yet veda is called shruti. It is what is heard. By whom and which part of vedas is orignally what is said to be heard?

The veda is known to be spread in the atmosphere when Brahma was sleeping before the start of Yuga, according to one of the theories.  It is also said that veda are exhaled by the ultimate god and hence present in the cosmic energy. The seers or the one who sees, are acclaimed to have heard that and sing, what is known to be shlokas. Of course, as it was sung in words, it was assumed by the listeners that god conveyed to the Rishis. Can cosmic sound be expressed in words. This is where religions are formed. (Religion are made out of confusion?) A community to understand and record what is said. The words are labelled sacred. 

“Bhagwan ko samajhta koi hai aur Dharma banata koi aur hai”

Interpretations?

Now, you might wonder that there are some wrong interpretations in the scriptures which are told by pandits so did the vedas which got appeared from Lord’s breath has some mistakes?

The answer is absolutely not. God can’t do any mistakes, these misinterpretations in various scriptures and teachings are because of 3 types of granths:

3 Types of Granths!

First, is Krit granth which are written by people who has not attained to god and just write their interpretation or opinions which may or may not be correct as these people are still bound by Maya.

Second, is the Smrit granth which are written by the people who has attained God and are not bound by maya so scriptures written by them are the actual “experience of God”, these people are known as Mahapurush like Ved Vyas, Tulsi Das, Shankracharya. par ek doubt aa skta h apke mann m ki ye authors bhi to human h to galti to inse bhi ho skti so can we trust this Smrit Granths to, Basically in grantho pe hum trust kar skte hai bcoz ab ye mahapurush God ke direct contact mai h and ab inka as a soul karm karne ka duty khatam ho chuka h so whatever they are doing are the direct orders from the God, isiliye kehte hai ki Ramayana valmiki ji ne nahi likhi h, swayam Ram ne likhwayi hai.

Third, is Vinirgat granth which is the VED. This is the Ved which is Authorless and written by none, it is the divine enchantment of Lord himself which are then heard by the ancient sages after intense meditation as explained earlier

The scripture vedas are recorded experience of the Rishis as well as the interpretations of it. The question is will the mantra be the same if you manage to listen to cosmic today? If not, then anything is not ultimate. The only ultimate is personal experience. We don’t know what they experienced, we only what they said.

Angirasa says in Mundaka that the four vedas are aparavidya or information while the paravidya, or the vidya of highest, the paramatma is an experience. Not what can be heard by the ear, nor seen by the eyes, and eventually not percieved by the senses, but rather known by an extraordinary experience that listens, sees and smells at the same time. You cannot experience god in the language of maya. The four composed Vedas are experiences and interpretations. Plus the information to survive in the vedic period. They are scriptures and records. The veda, the knowledge or the vidya, that also the scriptures are trying to convey is different.

As the upanishads suggest, you cannot express what it is, you can only celebrate it.

Feel free to comment down your opinions and corrections if any!
Thank you for reading!