Vedas - Origin

Hindu religious literature, the most ancient writings in the world, is of two types: primary scriptures (Sruti) and secondary scriptures (Smriti). The Sruti scriptures are of divine origin, whose truths were directly revealed to ancient rishis (sages) in their deep meditations. The Smriti scriptures are of human origin and were written to explain the Sruti writings and make them understandable and meaningful to the general population. Sruti scriptures include the four Vedas (Rig, Yajur, Sãma and Atharva) and the Bhagavad Gîtã, and constitute the highest religious authority in Hindu religion. Smriti scriptures include five distinct groups of writings :

• Itihãsas (History or Epics)
• Purãnas (Mythology)
• Dharma Shãstras Law Codes
• Ãgamas & Tantras Sectarian Scriptures.
• Darshanas Manuals of Philosophy

It may be asked, how were the Vedas established? What were their origins? What is their history? How were they divided and why does it seem that there are different paths to choose from within the Vedas? First of all there are two ways to answer these questions: one is to consider the theories presented by some of the contemporary scholars and historians in regard to when the Vedas appeared, and the second way is to consider the traditional account as presented in the Vedic literature itself. Many modern historians held the idea that it was the Aryans who invaded India in the second millennium B.C. that were the founders of the Indian culture and Vedic traditions. They say that the Aryans came from somewhere near the southern part of Russia bringing their Vedic rituals and customs with them.
This theory, however, does not hold as much weight as it used to. For example, the culture of the Indus valley, where the Aryans are said to have invaded, flourished between 3500 and 2500 B.C. The two main cities were Harappa and Mohenjo-daro. Many finds have come from the archaeological excavations from Harappa which give evidence to suggest that many aspects of later Hinduism were already a part of the early Indus valley culture. Such things have been found as images of yogis sitting in meditation, as well as many figures of a god similar to Lord Shiva. Evidence has also been found to suggest that temple worship played a major role in daily life, which is what the Veda has prescribed as the process for attaining the greatest amount of spiritual advancement for people of that time.

Keeping in mind that the Indus valley enveloped a vast area and the cultural traits of that society continued to serve for a long time, then how could the pre-Aryan language of the Indus valley people, which is not known today, die out without leaving any trace of its existence? Maybe there actually wasn't any pre-Aryan language. And if not, if this is where the Aryan invaders were supposed to have appeared when they brought their Vedic culture with them, maybe there really wasn't any Aryan invasion, not at least the way some scholars seem to think.
Furthermore, most scholars agree that the earliest Vedic hymns seem to belong to a pre-1500 B.C. date, which means it was not necessarily invaders to had brought Vedic culture with them, since at least the oldest Vedic books, if not most of them, were already in existence by the time any invaders arrived. Let's consider another point using nothing more than our common sense. It is generally accepted that Lord Buddha appeared about 2,500 years ago, and we know that Lord Buddha preached against the Vedas. So the Vedas had to have been existing at that time, otherwise how could he preach against them?

In fact the reason why he no longer accepted the Vedas was because many of the leading Vedic followers were no longer truly following them, but were abusing them. And any student of history knows that abuse of something takes place after there is a flourishing. So if the deterioration had reached such an extreme 2,500 years ago that people embraced Buddha's teachings, then clearly such gradual degeneration had been going on for many hundreds of years. Since the Vedas were a highly developed form of philosophy, it would indicate that they must have been in existence and quite widespread several thousand years before that. Therefore we can easily understand how old the Vedas must be.
Considering the above mentioned points, it is safe to say at this time that the migration and the homes of the Vedic people, or where and when the Vedas originally appeared, can not be proved archaeologically. Furthermore, let us not forget that it was the British Sanskritists and educators in India, during the 1700 and 1800's, who first portrayed Vedic literature and culture as something barbaric, inferior and recent.

They formed estimated dates on when different Vedic books were written according to such things as the contents of the books and style of writing. But it should be pointed out that even the Vedic tradition describes that once the Vedic knowledge had been divided and the different volumes were written, they were handed down to sages who became expert in the content of that portion of the Vedic knowledge who then continued to hand it down to others who formed sub branches of it. Thus it may look like the Vedas gradually evolved as if they had been influenced and changed by many authors over a long period of time, but actually that is not necessarily the case.

We also have to remember that for many years the Vedic literature was written on palm leaves and would have to be copied when they wrote out or when other copies were wanted. Down through the years as other copies were repeatedly made, certain conventional modifications of the script would have taken place making some scholars think their origin was more recent. But in the case of the Bhagavat Puranas, the Sanskrit text still contained the archaic form of writing, verifying its antiquity. Nonetheless, the English scholars said the author of the Purana must have purposely used the archaic script to make people think it was older than it was. Why the English proposed this sort of theory in an attempt to disqualify its ancient origins simply shows how biased they were against the Vedic literature.

The cultural prejudice was the result of deliberate undermining with the disguised intention of asserting the superiority of their own Christian-based values and outlook, as well as the perpetuation of colonial rule. This intention actually played a prominent role in the reason why they wanted the Sanskrit texts interpreted into English and to have their Christian scripture interpreted into Sanskrit. And many of the notable professors at the time had the audacity to consider themselves to be better authorities on their questionable interpretations of the Vedas than the Indian scholars.
In any case, the attempts to belittle the Vedic literature made only a minor impact. In fact by interpreting such texts, many of the notable writers and poets in the West, as mentioned in the previous chapter (chapter two of "The secret Teachings of the Vedas), were allowed to see what lofty views of the world the Vedic literature held and were indeed very impressed and influenced by them.
So where did the Vedas come from? Though modern historians may offer their many changing theories about how the Vedas were compiled and where they originated, we can see that this is their attempt to find an oversimplified key to understanding Vedic thought, or to even discredit the value of the Vedas. But they must admit that they are still unsure of their theories and lack detailed evidence for many of their opinions. In fact most historians today feel that any accurately recorded history only goes back to around 600 B.C.., and prior to this period all events and stories related in the scriptures are simply imaginary myths and legends. This reflects and extremely narrow-minded way of looking at things. Many Vedic authorities and self-realised sages in the past have accepted the stories, as found in the Mahabharata and Puranas, to be factual, and have also attained lofty states of consciousness by following the Vedic instructions for spiritual perfection. Therefore, the best way to understand the history of how the Vedas were formed is to simply let the Vedic literature speak for itself."

Initially the Vedas were considered so sacred that they were only transmitted orally from one generation of brâhmans to the next. The passages of the Vedas were eventually written in Sanskrit, we believe, near the end of the third century BC, and primarily consist of four collections called the Rig-Veda, the Sama-Veda, the Yajur-Veda, and the Atharva-Veda. Collectively, these are referred to as the Samhitas.
The first three Samhitas were used in the Vedic period by the priestly class as ritual handbooks. Containing 1,028 poetic hymns, the Rig-Veda was used by the hotri who called on the gods by reciting the hymns aloud. The hymns vary in style and length, and praise a pantheon of gods. Although Indra, the god of war and weather, is the most frequently mentioned, there appears to be no hierarchy. Agni, the god of fire, is the second most prominently mentioned deity. The Sama-Veda consisted of various portions taken from the Rig-Veda and were utilized by the udgatri chanters. The Yajur-Vedas was used by the adhvaryu priests. This work contains specific sacrificial formulas which were recited during that form of ceremony.
The final Veda, the Atharva-Veda, is attributed to a sage, or rishi, named Atharvan, and consists of a number of hymns and magical incantations. Some scholars believe that this scripture may have originated with the original pre-Aryan culture of indigenous peoples, and because it deviated form the other Vedas, it was not at first readily accepted. Eventually it too was adopted as a ritual handbook by the Brahmans, the higest class of priests.
Although the Rig-Veda is still considered the most important of these ancient texts, it was still never very popular. Much of this comes from the fact of its composition by and for a religious aristocracy. In contrast, the Atharva-Veda, compiled perhaps as late as 500 BC, frequently refers to many lesser functional gods considered useful in the daily lives and simple rituals of the ordinary Aryan that did not need the mediation of priests.

Each of the gods, of the Vedic Period, had a primary function, or Vrata. Usually these functions were closely connected to the forces of nature such as light, fire, and heaven which in turn followed the cosmic order (rta) of the universe. The demons of darkness and chaos, headquartered under the earth, arrayed their power against the righteousness of the gods. In this dualistic approach, the demons sought to disrupt the system of nature, therefore practicing anrta. During a later period, rta gave way to the concept of dharma, which could be translated as "virtue."
Although the deities of the Rig-Veda are not organized hierarchically, each could, in its own right, be looked upon as the supreme god. Nevertheless, Indra, the god of war and weather, receives the most attention in the ancient Vedic text, and is frequently referred to as the eka deva, or "one god." According to the Rig-Veda (6.7), creation began once Indra slew Vritra, the serpent demon, who had locked up the waters necessary for human existence in mountain caves. With the waters now released, he then placed the sun in the sky thus establishing the cosmic order (rta) under the god Varuna.
Varuna, then, sits in the palace of heaven and oversees the world below. As the guardian of the moral order, both earthly and cosmic, Varuna punishes the sinner with disease, or for all time by condemning them to the House of Clay following death. Aryans who practiced right deeds, or performed the proper ritual would forever celebrate happiness after death. Varuna is aided in his efforts by many spies who fly through the cosmos at his command.
Less important than Indra, but still held in high regard among the numerous deities of the Aryan religion, was Agni, the fire god. Agni descends from the darkened clouds as lightning, shines on the world as the sun, and manifests in the flame of the sacrifice. Through the sacrificial offering, Agni served as the intermediary between the gods and man, and the correct performance of this important ritual could beneficially reward the devotee. Rituals based on the fire sacrifice could be as personal as dumping clarified butter in the family hearth, to the production of soma juice. As part of the sacrificial ritual, parts of the soma plant were pressed between stones, mixed with milk, and filtered through a sheepskin. An hallucinogen, soma consumed during sacrifices supposedly produced a sense of superhuman strength and visions of the gods. Soma would later become the moon god.
The cosmic order of the Aryan universe remained fairly simple. The heavens served as the residence of the major gods and the souls of the righteous. The region between heaven and earth was called the antariksa. This region, where the birds flew and the clouds crossed the sky, was also home to the demigods. Below the earth, in the darkness of the House of Clay, dwelled the spirits of the unrighteousness and the demons that sought to disrupt rta. The concept of birth and rebirth had not yet become part of the Indian cosmology that would later be indicative of all Indian religion.
Religion during the Vedic Age revolved around the sacrifice. Within the home, the patriarch of the family daily sacrificed at the domestic hearth while the brahmans performed great rituals slaughtering numerous animals to the gods. In each case, the idea was to communicate with the gods who would descend from the heavens granting the devotees health, happiness, and success. Over time, these rituals became so complex that the brahmans, who knew the correct ritual, became indispensable.

This wonderful site has the contents of the Vedas.