The Vedas are an integral part of the ancient Vedic religion. These are religious scriptures, or may be called as foundational scriptures of Hinduism. The Vedas are also called Srutis or the Amnaya, since it is believed that they were heard and have been directly revealed, these do not have any author. Veda as a term originated from the root- `Vid` and it implies knowledge. The Vedas have been transmitted by the `Rishis` or sages who in turn have been imparted the knowledge by the divine creator Brahma. Many religions owe their existence to the Vedas, which distinctly has four books or Vedas- the Rig, Sama, Yajur and Atharva.

Veda is a Sanskrit word. Vedas were written in Vedic Sanskrit, which is pre Sanskrit like the oldest Rig Veda. This word is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root, which means, "see" or "know". In the rig Veda the word appears once as a noun.

Categories Of Vedic Texts:
Vedic texts are classified into four classes; namely, the Mantra-Samhitas or hymns, the Brahmanas or explanations of Mantras or rituals, the Aranyakas, and the Upanishads. The four divisions signify the four stages in a man`s life. There are four "Vedic" Samhitas: the Rig-Veda, Yajur-Veda, Sama-Veda, and Atharva-Veda. They are metrical poems comprising prayers, hymns and incantations addressed to various deities, both subjective and objective. There are two Brahmanas, the Aitareya and the Sankhayana, which guide people to perform sacrificial rites. The Aranyakas give philosophical interpretations of the rituals. The Upanishads reveal deep spiritual truths speaking about the character of individual and the Sovereign soul.

The Four Vedas
The Rig Veda: the Rig Veda is the oldest Indian living text. This is an amalgamation of 1,028 Vedic Sanskrit hymns, and 10,600 verses in totality, and is divided into ten books or `Mandalas`. The Rig veda has its own Deities, Varuna and Indra were most important deities worshipped.

Yajur-Veda: The Yajur Veda contains ancient prose mantras and also verses that have been norroed from the Rig Veda. There are the black and the white Yajur Veda, where White yajur contains verses and sayings essential for the sacrifice with explanation in separate Brahmana work, while these explanations in the black veda is contained in it.

The Sama Veda:
The Sama Veda also has verses taken from the Rig veda. This is known as the `Veda of chants`.

Atharva Veda: The Atharva Veda has hymns that are common with the Rig Veda. The Paippalada and Saunaka are the two recensions it is preserved in. it is more associated with spells for healing, demonic recoveries, long life and so on.

The study of the Vedas has been carried out under a number of theological schools. Members of the upper three classes or varna were allowed to study the Vedas. Later on it was added that women and Shudras were excluded from the learning.

Vedanga and upaveda:
Vedangas are the texts that explain the linguistic meanings of the Vedas. They are Siksha(phonetics), Vyakaran(grammer), chandas(meter), Niruktam(etymology), Jyotisham (Astronomy) and Kalpam(Ritual Practices).

Upavedas denote the subjects that are technical in character. There are five upavedas namely Artha, Dhanur(Archery, Military science), Sthapatya(architecture and mechanics), Gandharva(music and sacred dance) and Ayur-veda(medicine). Ayurveda, which deals with health, medicine, is probably the most popular of the upavedas.

The Vedas are without any beginning or end. They have existed as entity of knowledge which is all encompassing. Truth that is common in many religions can be traced to the Vedas. Still now we hark back to the Vedas, which can provide us with truth and peace of soul. These ancient scriptures are no doubt connected with our lives even today. The store house of knowledge and wisdom the Vedas are priceless treasures revered by whole universe.