Rigveda (“knowledge of the verses”):
A collection of 1028 hymns and tales about the gods and about the practice of making offerings.
Samaveda (“knowledge of the hymns”): Textbook and hymnbook according to which the cantor is trained to accompany the offerings.
Yajurveda (“knowledge of the offering formulas”): The collection of the formulas to be pronounced at the offerings.
Atharvaveda (“knowledge of the fire-priest”): A later collection of esoteric-magical “spells”.
Brahmanas and Aranyakas
Priestly text explaining and commenting on the offerings, in part with philosophical ideas,
which can be traced to the individual Vedas and their schools.
The later philosophical discursions, the so-called “Aranyakas” (“books of the forest”) were written primarily for the initiated specialists who lived as hermits in the wilderness.
Upanishads
Originally philosophical passages in the Brahmanas and Aranyakas, these texts were later extracted and combined into an independent body of texts, which in the course of time was expanded by additional passages.
Vedic gods
The ancient Indians believed in a multitude of gods (devas) and divine powers, which were active in different spheres:
• the gods of the heavens, including Rita the cosmic principle of order,
Varuna, the Vedic creator, Surya the sun-god, and Ushas, the red sky of the dawn;
• the gods of the atmosphere, in particular Indra the liberator of the primal
waters and the best loved of all the Vedic gods, and Vayu, the god of the winds;
• the gods of the earth, in particular the fire-god Agni with his many functions;
• the asurahs, demonic powers that once ruled all things but later were overcome in battle with the devas.
