Codification of the Vedas

It is believed that the potency of the Vedas started decaying with the departure of Bhagawan Sri Krishna from this world. Even this was considered to be a Divine Plan for the Kali Yuga as per which only a part of the glory and effulgence of the Vedas is to be left over from total extinction. This Divine Arrangement could be put through the agency of Sage Veda Vyasa. This sage was then not known under this name. His name was Dwaipayana as he was born in an island (Dweepa). He was considered as a manifestation of Bhagawan Sri Krishna himself for fulfilling a specific purpose in this world and hence he was known as Krishna Dwaipayana. He was also known as Badarayana.

The word ’Vyasa’ means an essay or composition. It also means dealing with a matter subject wise and classifying it suitably. As Krishna Dwaipayana did all these tasks for the proper study and understanding of the Vedas he became famous as Sage Veda Vyasa. His contribution to the codification of the Vedas is so great that he is more widely known as Veda Vyasa than by any other name. Sage Veda Vyasa collected all the Mantras in existence during his period, edited, codified and organized them into four groups which he taught to his four chief disciples. These are as under:

Vedic Texts

The Vedas were mainly utilized in the performance of Yajnas (sacrifices) which were the most common form of early Vedic religion. Such uses of the Veda led to its division based upon the convenience of the chief priests conducting the sacrifices.

All the hymns used by the priest whose function was to invoke the deities to the sacrifice (who is called Hotra) became the Rig Veda. The part of the Veda used by the chief executor of the sacrificial rites (called Adhvaryu) formed Yajur Veda. Collection of all the musical chants to be sung by the concerned priest (called Udgatir, the singer) became Sama Veda. The rest of the hymns dealing with a variety of topics was called Atharva Veda which was assigned to a priest considered as the supervisor over the whole process of sacrifice (called Brahma).

Auxiliary and Subsidiary Texts of the Vedas

Because of the difficulty in understanding the Vedas, the sages evolved a system of auxiliaries to the Vedas known as I.Vedangas, II.Veda-Upangas both meaning the limbs of the Vedas, and III. Upa-Vedas meaning subsidiary parts of the Vedas,

I.Vedangas

They are six in number viz.

II.Veda-Upangas

These are the six systems of Hindu philosophy which is known as Shad Darsanas.
They are:

C. Upa Vedas

They are called the subsidiary Vedas. They are four in number one attached to each Veda viz.

Vedas are thus a storehouse of knowledge needed for mankind, not merely spiritual but also secular or temporal. They are not compositions made in any one particular period. They are spread over a period of time; one group separated from the other probably by centuries and handed down from one generation to the other through word of mouth.