Structure of Vedas

 Vedas are the ancient Indian texts of knowledge and are composed around 1500 BCE or probably before. There is no way to verify this as it was preserved orally through generations of sages and their disciples before being written down.

The research in the direction of who wrote it and when, is inconclusive and matters least to the seekers of knowledge. The knowledge that Vedas carry is sometimes called the knowledge in seed form. The seed carries all the potential of the full fledged tree but in such a compact form that, it’s incomprehensible to imagine the tree by looking at the seed. The beauty of the seed is realised when it blossoms in presence of nurturing substrate.

There are four major Vedas and each of them can be divided into four parts. 

1. Mantras – The core part containing the hymns.

2. Bramhanas – The explanations of hymns and rituals. A total of 19 Bramhana texts have survived into modern times.

3. Aranyakas – The forest book, intended for hermits who prepare themselves for taking Sanyasa.

4. Upanishads – Commonly referred as Vedanta, Upanishads contain the essence of the knowledge in the Vedas. The literal meaning of upanishad is “sitting near devotedly”. Upanishads are the teachings of learned sages to their disciples in the form of stories.

There are also some post-vedic literature emerged because the language of the Vedas, composed centuries earlier, became too archaic to the people of that time.

1. Parisistas - Various ancillary works of Vedic literature, dealing mainly with details of ritual and elaborations of the Samhitas, Brahmanas, Aranyakas and Sutras.

2. Upavedas – Applied knowledge associated with the Vedas and are subjects of certain technical works

3. Puranas - Vast genre of Indian literature about a wide range of topics, particularly legends and other traditional lore. Regarded as complements to Vedas.

4. Vedangas - Sciences focused on helping understand and interpret the Vedas that had been composed many centuries earlier.

The below table, though not comprehensive, will help understand the structure of Vedic texts.

Vedas	Rig Veda	Sama Veda	Yajur Veda Shukla Yajur Veda and Krishna Yajur Veda	Atharva Veda
Bramhanas	Aitareya Bramhana   Kausitaki or Sankhayana Bramhana	Tandya Maha Bramhana or Panchavimsa Bramhana   Samavidhana Brahmana Daivata Brahmana Samhitopanishad Brahmana Arsheya Brahmana Vamsha Brahmana Jaiminiya Brahmana Chandogya Brahmana	Satpatha Bramhana (Shukla Yajur Veda)   Taittiriya Bramhana (Krishna Yajur Veda)	Gopatha Bramhana
Aranyakas	Aitareya Aranyaka          Kaushitaki Aranyaka	Talavakara Aranyaka Aranyaka Samhita	Taittiriya Aranyaka  Maitrayaniya Aranyaka Katha Aranyaka  Brihad Aranyaka
Upanishads	Aitareya Upanishad       Kaushitaki Upanishad	Chāndogya Upanishad Kena Upanishad	Taittiriya Upanishad Katha Upanishad Śvetāśvatara Upanishad Maitrāyaṇi Upanishad   Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upanishad Īśa Upanishad	Muṇḍaka Upanishad Māṇḍūkya Upanishad Praśna Upanishad
Parisista	Āśvalāyana Gṛhya parisishta Bahvricha parisishta Sankayana parisishta	Gobhila Gṛhya parisishta Chāndogya parisishta	Kātiya parisishta   Āpastamba Hautra parisishta Vārāha Śrauta Sūtra parisishta Kātyāyana Śrauta Sūtra parisishta
Upaveda	Sthapatyaveda -  Architecture	Gāndharvaveda - Music and sacred dance	Dhanurveda - Archery	Āyurveda -Medicine
Purana	1. Agni  Purana                   7.  Kurma  Purana          13. Shiva  Purana 2. Bhagavata Purana           8.  Linga  Purana            14. Skanda  Purana 3. Brahma  Purana              9.  Markandeya Purana 15. Vamana  Purana 4. Brahmanda Purana        10. Matsya  Purana          16. Varaha  Purana 5. Brahmavaivarta Purana 11. Narada  Purana          17. Vayu  Purana 6. Garuda  Purana              12. Padma  Purana          18. Vishnu  Purana
Vedanga	Shiksha - Focussed on phonetics, phonology, pronunciation of vedic recitations.  Chandas - Focused on the poetic meters and prosody. Vyakarana - Focused on the rules of grammar and linguistic analysis. Nirukta - Focused on linguistic analysis and etymology to help establish the proper meaning of the words.  Kalpa - Focused on standardizing procedures for Vedic rituals. Jyotisha - Focused on time keeping for rituals, astrology and astronomy.