Ancient Indian Education: An Inquiry into its Origin, Development, and Ideals c4.17

c4.17

The word *Veda* really means ‘knowledge’, from the root *vid*, ‘to know’, and so was used to designate the sacred lore or collection of sacred literature. The *Ṛigveda* means the ‘Veda of hymns’, from *ṛich*, ‘a laudatory stanza’. This collection of sacred poems was probably made not so much to preserve them as literature, but because they were needed for sacrificial use.