7.1.1 The four Vedas: Samhitas, Shakhas, Brahmanas and ritviks

Explained

What each Veda mainly contains (asked as "understand" items in 2026).

• Rigveda: hymns (riks) of praise and prayer to Agni, Indra, Varuna, Soma, the Ashvins, Ushas and others. It is the oldest and the source of most Samaveda verses. Its first hymn praises Agni as the purohita.
• Yajurveda: the yajus, a formula that states the duty or procedure of each act of the yagna, largely in prose. It is the priest's working manual, from building the altar (vedi) to offering havis; it also shows the rise of great rites such as the Rajasuya and Ashvamedha.
• Samaveda: Sama means song. Its samans are verses (almost all from the Rigveda, mostly Mandalas 8 and 9) set to fixed notes for singing at the Somayaga. It is taken as the origin of Indian classical music; in the Gita (10.22) Krishna says "among Vedas I am the Samaveda".
• Atharvaveda: medicine and herbs, charms for long life, protection, harmony at home, agriculture and kingship; mantras against bhuta, preta and pishacha, vashikarana (enchantment) and abhichara (black magic); the customs of non-Aryan tribes; and philosophical hymns such as the Prithvi (Bhumi) Sukta. It widened the Veda from the priestly yagna to the common person's daily life.

The Rigvedic world.

• Sapta Sindhu ("land of seven rivers"), roughly today's Punjab and Sindh, was the first home of the Rigvedic Aryans: the Indus, its five Punjab tributaries and the Saraswati.
• Society was pastoral and tribal (Bharata, Puru, Yadu, Turvasa; the Bharatas were the leading tribe). Cows were wealth. There were no temples and no idols: worship was by hymns and fire offerings.

• Purusha Sukta (10.90): the world and the four varnas come from the sacrifice of the Virat Purusha: the Brahmana was his mouth, the Rajanya (Kshatriya) his arms, the Vaishya his thighs, the Shudra came from his feet.
• Later Vedic changes: iron, settled farming in the Ganga plain, kingdoms (janapadas), a rigid hereditary varna order and the gotra; Indra and Agni lost ground to Prajapati, Vishnu and Rudra, and costly royal yagas grew.

Rigveda in detail.

• Divisions: Mandala → Anuvaka → Sukta → Rik (also an older Ashtaka → Adhyaya → Varga system: 8 Ashtakas, 64 Adhyayas). The exam answer to "Rigveda is divided into ten ___" is Mandalas.
• Family books (Mandalas 2–7), the oldest core of the Rigveda, each tied to one rishi family:

• Mandala 8: Kanva and Angirasa families; contains the Valakhilya hymns (8.49 to 8.59).
• Mandala 9: the Pavamana Mandala, all hymns to Soma being purified as it flows through the strainer.
• Mandalas 1 and 10 are the later books. Mandala 10 has the Purusha Sukta (10.90), the Nasadiya Sukta (10.129, creation), the Hiranyagarbha Sukta (10.121) and the wedding hymn (10.85).
• Shakhas surviving: Shakala is the only complete one (the printed text); the Bashkala recension is known mainly by name and is largely lost.

Yajurveda: Shukla and Krishna.

• Shukla (White) Yajurveda: mantras kept apart from their explanation, which sits in the Shatapatha Brahmana. Samhita = Vajasaneyi Samhita (40 adhyayas), received by Yajnavalkya from the Sun. Shakhas Madhyandina and Kanva. It names yagas such as the Vajapeya, Purushamedha and Ashvamedha. The Isha Upanishad is its 40th adhyaya; the Brihadaranyaka closes the Shatapatha.
• Krishna (Black) Yajurveda: mantras and prose explanation mixed together, hence "black". Samhitas: Taittiriya (the best known, so the Krishna Yajurveda is also called the Taittiriya Samhita), Maitrayani, Kathaka, Kapishthala. Brahmana = Taittiriya Brahmana; Aranyaka = Taittiriya Aranyaka.
• Story of the name Taittiriya: Yajnavalkya, quarrelling with his guru Vaishampayana, gave back (vomited) the Yajus he had learnt; the other pupils took the form of partridges (tittiri) and picked it up. Yajnavalkya then prayed to Surya and received the Shukla Yajus.
• Yajurveda branches are the most asked number: 101.

Samaveda.

• Two parts: Purvarchika and Uttararchika; about 1,875 verses in the Kauthuma text, only about 75 not found in the Rigveda.
• Song books (ganas): Gramageya, Aranyageya, Uha, Uhya.
• Surviving Shakhas: Kauthuma, Ranayaniya, Jaiminiya (Talavakara).
• The Samaveda's priest is the Udgata, who sings the samans at the right moment of the Somayaga.

Atharvaveda.

• 20 Kandas, about 730 hymns, about 6,000 mantras.
• Shakhas: Shaunaka (the printed text) and Paippalada.
• Brahmana: Gopatha, the only one. Upanishads: Mundaka, Mandukya, Prashna. It has no Aranyaka.

The Brahmanas: what each is known for. Brahmanas are prose commentaries on the Samhitas that set out how and why each yagna is done; they are the bridge from the hymns to the Upanishads.

The four ritviks. A ritvik is a priest chosen by the yajamana (sponsor) to perform a Shrauta yagna.

• In a full Soma yagna each chief has three assistants, making 16 ritviks: Hota's group (Maitravaruna, Achhavaka, Gravastut), Adhvaryu's (Pratiprasthata, Neshta, Unneta), Udgata's (Prastota, Pratiharta, Subrahmanya) and Brahma's (Brahmanachhamsi, Agnidhra, Pota). See HC-VD-03 for the yagna itself.

The four layers explained.

• Samhita: the basic mantra text, the "seed" of the Veda, used in worship.
• Brahmana: prose manuals telling how and why each rite is done, with stories.
• Aranyaka: "forest books" for vanaprasthas who had finished household life; they turn from doing the ritual to its inner meaning, a bridge between the Brahmanas (Karma kanda) and the Upanishads (Jnana kanda).
• Upanishad: the end of the Veda (Vedanta), on Brahman, Atman and liberation. Philosophy and mystical knowledge are found mainly in the Upanishads (asked 2026). See HC-VD-02.
• Sutras are not one of the four layers: they are later Vedanga literature.