E.

Ancient Scriptures
The Vedas
The Vedas are the four holiest books known to mankind. They are written
in Sanskrit.
Although they seem to be written down around 1.500 BC, they are much older.
They were passed down orally from one generation to the next, perhaps over
thousands of years. They contain instructions for rituals, hymns, poetry, and prayers.
The four Vedas are:
 Rigveda
 Yajurveda
 Samaveda
 Atharvaveda
Rigveda
Rigveda is the first of the four Vedas. Rigveda means a Veda of praise. This Veda
has several verses (hymns), These hymns praise several gods. This Veda is also the
oldest known holy book.
Rig Veda mainly contains various hymns for praying to Vedic Gods such as Agni
(Fire God), Indra (The lord of Heavens), Mitra, Varuna (Water God), Surya (Sun God)
etc. These hymns are called Riks. Hence the Veda is called Rik-Veda or Rig Veda. This
writing consists of 10 writings. The Rigveda has 1,028 hymns and 10,600 verses.
Samaveda
Samaveda is the second Veda of the four Vedas. Samaveda means the Veda of
sacred songs. This Veda also has many hymns. They were sung by the Hindu priests
and other Hindus during religious activities.
Yajurveda
Yajurveda is the third of the four Vedas. Yajurveda means the Veda of the Yajus.
Yajus were mantras sung during religious activities. Yajurveda is divided into two
parts. The name of the first part is Krishna Yajurveda, called Taittiriya. The name of
the second part is Shukla Yajurveda, called Vajasaneyi.
Atharvaveda
Atharvaveda is the fourth of the four Vedas. Atharvaveda means the Veda of
knowledge. The Atharvaveda holds key for the massive vedic knowledge on the
sciences like medicine, sorcery and has many facts that the present generation is still
trying to crack