A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology and Religion, Geography, History, and Literature c5.2028

c5.2028

VEDA. Root, vid, ‘know.’ ‘Divine knowledge.’ The Vedas are the holy books which are the foundation of the Hindu religion. They consist of hymns written in an old form of Sanskrit, and according to the most generally received opinion they were composed between 1500 and 1000 B.C. But there is no direct evidence as to their age, and opinions about it vary considerably. Some scholars have thought that the oldest of the hymns may be carried back a thousand years farther. It seems likely that some of the hymns were composed before the arrival of the Aryan immigrants in India, and there is no doubt that the hymns vary greatly in age and spread over a very considerable period.