VEDAS. Specifically, the Vedas are often understood to comprise four collections of hymns and sacrificial formulas. In a more general sense, however, the term Veda does not denote only these four books, or any single book, but a whole literary complex, including the Saṃhitās, the Brāhmaṇas, the Ᾱraṇyakas, the Upaniṣads, the Sūtras, and the Vedāṅgas. The many texts, varied in form and content, that make up the Veda were composed over several centuries, in different localities, and by many generations of poets, priests, and philosophers. Tradition, however, will not admit the use of the word compose in this context, for the Veda is believed to be apauruṣeya, "not produced by human agency." It is eternal. Its so-called authors have merely "seen" or discovered it, and they are thus appropriately called ṛṣis, or seers.

Vedic tradition notes that the...