Sacred Learning
The four Vedas
Four recitations, many shakhas, one house of hearing.
Index only — text still opening
Śruti means that which is heard. The four Vedas are four ways of keeping that hearing: ṛk, yajus, sāman, and the Atharvan hymns.
This page names the collections and the principal surviving śākhās. Verses open as each sourced slice is ready.
Rigveda
Ten maṇḍalas in the Śākala recension; hymn 1.1 is opened as a first hearing.
Yajurveda
Two recension families: Śukla (Vājasaneyi) and Kṛṣṇa (Taittirīya and kin).
Samaveda
Chanted knowledge. Surviving schools include Kauthuma, Rāṇāyanīya and Jaiminīya.
Atharvaveda
Hymns of Atharvan and Aṅgiras. Śaunaka and Paippalāda recensions survive.