Vedic mythology: Encyclopedia - Vedic mythology

Vedic mythology

Vedic mythology that occupies a pivotal position in the history of religions, is a significant aspect of Hindu mythology and has directly contributed to the evolution and development of Hinduism. Vedic mythology, which finds expression in a number of Vedic rituals and symbolism, also contains a number of religious concepts, which are generally indistinguishable from Hindu traditions.

Vedic mythology - Background

The Vedic mythology is best recorded in the four Vedas, also called the Vedam, which are part of the Hindu Shruti. In Sanskrit the word means Knowledge or Truth, and is cognate with the word "wisdom" in English (as well as "vision" through Latin).

Hindus believe that the Vedas existed since time immemorial as vibrations in space, some portions of which are believed to have been perceived by seers and sages, and transmitted accordingly through an oral tradition. Some believe that the Vedas were transmitted orally for up to 8000 years (see Fisher). Most Western and a few Indian commentators see this as an exaggeration and date the earliest part of the Veda, the Rig-Veda Samhita, to around 1800–800 BC. However, it is acknowledged by most that the Vedas did indeed have a long oral tradition and were passed from teacher to disciple for at least many centuries before first being written down.

Vedic mythology - Dimensions

The vedic mythology has several dimensions.

Vedic mythology - The deities

Vedic mythologies contain certain elements which are common to other mythological traditions, like the mythologies of Persia, Greece, and Rome. Indra, a mythological god of the Vedas, is like Dyaus Pitar, the Sky Father, and is like Zeus and Iuppiter. The Vedic god Yama, the god who collects the dead, is Yima of Persian mythology and Emma in the Buddhist tradition of Japan. Vedic mythology contains descriptions and celestial hymns praising several other natural and super natural phenomenon and lays down an elaborate groundwork of concepts for 33 major devas, that is, divinities, consisting of eight Vasus, eleven Rudras, twelve Adityas, and Prajapati Brahma. These divinities are said to belong to three dimensions of the universe, the earth, the heavens, and the intermediate, that is the space. Some major deities of the Vedic tradition include Indra, Surya, Agni, Vayu, Varuna, Yama, Kubera, Soma,Mitra, Kama, Gayatri, Aditi, Ushas, Sarasvati and Rudra.

Vedic mythology - The rituals

• One of the most widely practiced Vedic rituals involved offerings and sacrifices in fire, which was known as Yagyas. Over a period of time, the vedic ritual of Yagyas became Yajna.
• The Saptapadi, which literally means the seven steps, involves the groom and the bride taking seven rounds around a sacred fire. This ritual has a Vedic origin, as after completing the last round, that is the seventh step, the groom declares: Let us come closer and make a vow together. We shall be of one mind and heart, and observe our vows together. I shall be the Sama-Veda and you the Rig-Veda. We shall live united and beget children, and other riches. Come closer, O my sweet-worded damsel. This ritual of the Vedic mythology still continues to be a cardinal principle of traditional Hindu marriage ceremony, and no Hindu marriage is considered complete in the absence of the Saptapadi.

Vedic mythology - The concepts

Vedic mythology - Vedic quotes

• The universe is in the glory of God: the Shiva, the God of love.
• In the heaven, there is no fear at all, the death does not stalk there, and the thought of growing old does not make one tremble. There is no hunger and the thirst in the heaven, and away from the reach of sorrow and suffering, all rejoice there.

See also

• Vedic deities
• Hinduism
• Hindu mythology
• Wars of Hindu Mythology

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Vedic mythology", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki