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{{Short description|Indian Hindu Vedic studies disciplines}}{{Hindu scriptures}}The Vedanga ( {{IAST|vedāṅga}}, "limb of the Veda-s";BOOK, The Religion of the Hindus, Morgan, Kenneth W., Motilal Banarsidass Publ., 1953, 9788120803879, 269, en, plural form: वेदाङ्गानि {{IAST|vedāṅgāni}}) are six auxiliary disciplines of Hinduism that developed in ancient times and have been connected with the study of the Vedas:James Lochtefeld (2002), "Vedanga" in The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Vol. 1: A-M, Rosen Publishing, {{ISBN|0-8239-2287-1}}, pages 744-745

List of the Vedanga

1. Shiksha (Sanskrit: शिक्षा {{IAST|śikṣā}}, "instruction, teaching"): phonetics, phonology, pronunciation. This auxiliary discipline has focused on the letters of the Sanskrit alphabet, accent, quantity, stress, melody and rules of euphonic combination of words during a Vedic recitation.BOOK, Sures Chandra Banerji, A Companion to Sanskrit Literature,weblink 1989, Motilal Banarsidass, 978-81-208-0063-2, 323–324, {{Sfn|Annette Wilke|Oliver Moebus|2011|pp=477-495}}
2. Chandas (Sanskrit: छन्दस् {{IAST|chandas}}, "metre"): prosody.James Lochtefeld (2002), "Chandas" in The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Vol. 1: A-M, Rosen Publishing, {{ISBN|0-8239-2287-1}}, page 140 This auxiliary discipline has focused on the poetic meters, including those based on fixed number of syllables per verse, and those based on fixed number of morae per verse.{{Sfn|Annette Wilke|Oliver Moebus|2011|pp=391-394 with footnotes}}BOOK, Peter Scharf, Keith Allan, The Oxford Handbook of the History of Linguistics,weblink 2013, Oxford University Press, 978-0-19-164344-6, 228–234,
3. Vyakarana (Sanskrit: व्याकरण {{IAST|vyākaraṇa}}, "grammar"): grammar and linguistic analysis.W. J. Johnson (2009), A Dictionary of Hinduism, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0198610250}}, Article on Vyakarana{{Sfn|Harold G. Coward|1990|p=105}}James Lochtefeld (2002), "Vyakarana" in The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Vol. 2: N-Z, Rosen Publishing, {{ISBN|0-8239-2287-1}}, page 769 This auxiliary discipline has focused on the rules of grammar and linguistic analysis to establish the exact form of words and sentences to properly express ideas.{{Sfn|Harold G. Coward|1990|pp=105-110}}{{Sfn|Annette Wilke|Oliver Moebus|2011|pp=416-419}}
4. Nirukta (Sanskrit: निरुक्त {{IAST|nirukta}}, "etymology"): etymology, explanation of words, particularly those that are archaic and have ancient uses with unclear meaning.James Lochtefeld (2002), "Nirukta" in The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Vol. 2: N-Z, Rosen Publishing, {{ISBN|0-8239-2287-1}}, page 476 This auxiliary discipline has focused on linguistic analysis to help establish the proper meaning of the words, given the context they are used in.{{Sfn|Harold G. Coward|1990|pp=105-110}}
5. Kalpa (Sanskrit: कल्प {{IAST|kalpa}}, "proper. fit"): ritual instructions. This field focused on standardizing procedures for Vedic rituals, rites of passage rituals associated with major life events such as birth, wedding and death in family, as well as discussing the personal conduct and proper duties of an individual in different stages of his life.BOOK, Wendy Doniger, Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of World Religions,weblink registration, 1999, Merriam-Webster, 978-0-87779-044-0, 629,
6. Jyotisha (Sanskrit: ज्योतिष {{IAST|jyotiṣa}}, "astrology"): Right time for rituals with the help of position of nakshatras and asterisms and astronomy.BOOK, Yukio Ohashi (Editor: H Selin), Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine, 1997, Springer, 978-0792340669, 83–86, BOOK, Kireet Joshi, The Veda and Indian Culture: An Introductory Essay, 1991, Motilal Banarsidass, 978-81-208-0889-8, This auxiliary Vedic discipline focused on time keeping.James Lochtefeld (2002), "Jyotisha" in The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Vol. 1: A-M, Rosen Publishing, {{ISBN|0-8239-2287-1}}, pages 326-327BOOK, Yukio Ohashi, Johannes Andersen, Highlights of Astronomy, Volume 11B,weblink 1999, Springer Science, 719–721, 978-0-7923-5556-4, 9 October 2016, 11 January 2023,weblink live,

History and background

The character of Vedangas has roots in ancient times, and the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad mentions it as an integral part of the Brahmanas layer of the Vedic texts.BOOK, Friedrich Max Müller, A History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature So Far as it Illustrates the Primitive Religion of the Brahmans,weblink 1860, Williams and Norgate, 110, These auxiliary disciplines of study arise with the codification of the Vedas in Iron Age India.It is unclear when the list of six Vedangas were first conceptualized.BOOK, Friedrich Max Müller, A History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature So Far as it Illustrates the Primitive Religion of the Brahmans,weblink 1860, Williams and Norgate, 108–113, The Vedangas likely developed towards the end of the Vedic period, around or after the middle of the 1st millennium BCE. An early text of the genre is the Nighantu by Yaska, dated to roughly the 5th century BCE.{{cn|date=May 2020}}These auxiliary fields of Vedic studies emerged because the language of the Vedic texts composed centuries earlier grew too archaic to the people of that time.{{Sfn|Patrick Olivelle |1999 |pages=xxiii}} Vedangas developed as ancillary studies for the Vedas, but its insights into meters, structure of sound and language, grammar, linguistic analysis and other subjects influenced post-Vedic studies, arts, culture and various schools of Hindu philosophy.EB1911, Hinduism, 13, 501–513; see page 505, Eggeling, Hans Julius, {{Sfn|Annette Wilke|Oliver Moebus|2011|pp=472-532}}{{Sfn|Harold G. Coward|1990|p=18}} The Kalpa Vedanga studies, for example, gave rise to the Dharma-sutras, which later expanded into Dharma-shastras.{{Sfn|Patrick Olivelle |1999 |pages=xxiii}}BOOK, Rajendra Prasad, A Historical-developmental Study of Classical Indian Philosophy of Morals,weblink 2009, Concept, 978-81-8069-595-7, 147,

See also

• Sruti (श्रुति {{IAST|Åšruti}}, "that which is heard")
• Smriti (स्मृति {{IAST|Smá¹›ti}}, "that which is remembered")

References

{{reflist|30em}}

Bibliography

• BOOK, George Cardona, Pāṇini: A Survey of Research,weblink 1997, Motilal Banarsidass, 978-81-208-1494-3,
• BOOK, Harold G. Coward, The Philosophy of the Grammarians, in Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies Volume 5 (Editor: Karl Potter),weblink 1990, Princeton University Press, 978-81-208-0426-5,
• BOOK, Guy L. Beck, Sonic Theology: Hinduism and Sacred Sound,weblink 1995, Motilal Banarsidass, 978-81-208-1261-1,
• BOOK, Tibor Kiss, Syntax - Theory and Analysis,weblink 2015, Walter de Gruyter, 978-3-11-037740-8,
• BOOK, Patrick Olivelle, Dharmasutras: The Law Codes of Ancient India,weblink 1999, Oxford University Press, 978-0-19-283882-7,
• BOOK, Sheldon Pollock, The Language of the Gods in the World of Men: Sanskrit, Culture, and Power in Premodern India,weblink 2006, University of California Press, 978-0-520-93202-9,
• BOOK, Arnold, Edward Vernon, 1905,weblink Vedic Metre in its historical development, Cambridge University Press (Reprint 2009), 978-1113224446,
• Moritz Winternitz: Geschichte der Indischen Literatur, Leipzig, 1905 - 1922, Vol. I - III. English translation: History of Indian Literature, Motilal Barnarsidass, Delhi, 1985, Vol I - III
• BOOK, Annette Wilke, Oliver Moebus, Sound and Communication: An Aesthetic Cultural History of Sanskrit Hinduism,weblink 2011, Walter de Gruyter, 978-3-11-018159-3,
• BOOK, Horace Hayman Wilson, An introduction to the grammar of the Sanskrit language,weblink 1841, Madden,
• BOOK, Maurice Winternitz, Moriz Winternitz, History of Indian Literature,weblink 1963, Motilal Banarsidass, 978-81-208-0056-4,

External links

• "Vedanga" in the Hindu Encyclopedia

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