Originally Posted by
yajvan
Hari Om
Namaste nuno,
yes, I do not doubt your assessment here. I was in hopes of some sloka that pointed out that the Rig veda was the collection of all the other vedas.
As I understand it the mula-veda ( or root veda) had an uninterrupted flow of rchah (stuti - praise), the hymms. It is my understanding that all of the Sama Veda Samhita is contained in the Rig Veda. And there is ~ 25% of the Yajur Veda Samhita and Atharva Veda found in the Rig Veda.
That being so suggests that every mantra of samhita being one of 3 types: rik ( some write rk), yajus or sama. Hence the Rig Veda has only rk mantra, Sama Veda has only sama, the Atharva Veda has rk, yet the Yajur Veda has has a combination of rk and yajur mantras.
Tradition holds he veda was one in the krta yuga, became 3 in treta and finally 4 in dvapara.
So the question is, who then said that Yajur Veda is the original?
Sāyaṇācārya (circa 1300). His works, Vedartha Prakasha or the meaning of the Vedas made manifest, his commentaries on the Vedas.
He suggested the Yajur Veda was more basic ( hence core) then the other two; it is like a canvas on with the Rik and Sama are painted, was his orientation.
The books I read take issue with many of the word interpretations of Sayana, a Mimamsakha. RL Kashyap, T.V. Kapali Shastri, Sri Aurobindo. S.K. Ramachandra Rao, and the like use many resources to get to the word view with the most insightful meanings.. They reference Yaska work ( from ~ 200 B.C.) as a data point, yet go to the core of the words, compare and contrast their use, etc.
I have read some of Sāyaṇācārya's works. As it is flowing and beautiful, my skills are not that of being able to debate the word structure and foundations' accuracy, as the likes of RL Kashyap, T.V. Kapali Shastri, Sri Aurobindo¹. S.K. Ramachandra Rao, and look to their insights.
What are they comparing ? they look to the word use for adhiyajya (ritual) + adhidaiva ( with regard to devata) + adhyatma ( or spiritual ~ esoteric) meanings. Hence the etymological view of the word and its applications.
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