Whilst the priests (brahmins) had previously been the ones who, through ritual and sacrifice, had restricted access to the divine, now the knowledge of the universe was open to those of the high and middle castes willing to learn from a teacher. The early Upanishads are concerned with understanding the sacrificial rites.Ĭentral to the Upanishads is the concept of brahman the sacred power which informs reality. Later Upanishads continued to be composed right down to the 16th century. The major Upanishads were largely composed between 800-200 BCE and are partly prose, partly verse. These texts developed from the Vedic tradition, but largely reshaped Hinduism by providing believers with philosophical knowledge.

The Upanishads were so called because they were taught to those who sat down beside their teachers. 900 BCE) preserves many traditions which pre-date the Aryan influence and consists of spells, charms and magical formulae.

Sama-Veda Samhita consists of chants and tunes for singing at the sacrifices.

Yajur-Veda Samhita is used as a handbook by priests performing the vedic sacrifices.

1200 BCE) is the oldest of the four vedas and consists of 1028 hymns praising the ancient gods.

The Upanishads consist of the mystical and philosophical teachings of Hinduism.

The Aranyakas concern worship and meditation.

The Brahmanas are rituals and prayers to guide the priests in their duties.

The Samhitas are the most ancient part of the Vedas, consisting of hymns of praise to God.

The Vedas are made up of four compositions, and each veda in turn has four parts which are arranged chronologically. For hundreds, maybe even thousands of years, the texts were passed on orally. Vedic texts are sometimes called shruti, which means hearing.

Hindus believe that the texts were received by scholars direct from God and passed on to the next generations by word of mouth. They got their present form between 1200-200 BCE and were introduced to India by the Aryans. These are the most ancient religious texts which define truth for Hindus.

Sama veda text