Can anybody tell me briefly about vedas and explain its' features?

Answer 1

Hi, How interesting to see a question on Vedas on Yahoo!Answers. Vedas are probably the oldest structured and compiled knowledge of the mankind known today.

There are 4 vedas :
1. Rigveda - Deals with the unknown, philosophy etc.
2. Yajurveda - Deals with the modes of worships, protection of
kingdom etc.
3. Sam Veda - Deals with our normal life in context of God,
worship, living and happiness
4. Atharva Veda - Application vedas in normal life deals how
to of business and job, music, art, literature,
finearts, probably ancient medical system
known as "Ayurveda" etc.

It is believed by the Hindus that Vedas were created by
the Sages (Rishis) when they heard them as a cosmic voice (God's voice) from the space (Akash). So humans did not create Vedas. They simply heard it and noted them down.

When the world was created by the God (Bramha), he created Vedas (in the form of Cosmic sound) so that the people of the world will be adorned by the knowledge of Vedas (Wisdom).
Thus people will have a source of knowledge to guide their daily lives and spiritual pursuits.

The sages heard them and noted them down.
Since then the Vedas are being passed down from one generation of scholars to another. However today only a few parts of Vedas are actually avaiablable to us.
Thanks to the history of violence and the old method of passing down the knowledge in a verbal but not a written form.

Knowlege of Vedas is complicated to interpret and understand.
They are written in Sanskrit language.
However even a Sanskrit scholar may not be able to interpret the Veda knowledge correctly.
Many a times the knowledge in presented in a symbolic form or a codified form.

However the Hindus believe that Vedas contain wisdom and the knowledge on a path to wisdom.
Vedas can not be read like a book.
For example - proper care should be taken while reading vedas.
Like taking bath before reading them, cleanliness, sitting on a nonconductive cloth / material (Asana), no funny things with Vedas please.
Veda book should be dealt carefully and with respect.

Also reading Vedas daily is not a good idea.
One can read it sometimes then give a gap of a few days then again read it. This is a much better and a safer way of doing it.

Answer 2

There are 4 Vedas: Rg Veda, Atharva Veda, the Yajur Veda, and the Sama Veda. The Rg (or Rig) Veda is the most famous. It is a collection of hymns to the various gods and godesses of the early Hindu pantheon. Some of the hymns are very beautiful. They all provide clues to the beliefs, values, and world view of Hinduism about 1500 bce (before the common era). The Vedas are held to be eternal.
The other Vedas have more to do with ritual proscriptions, magic spells, healing spells, herbalism and so on. The native Indian medical system of Ayurveda comes from one of the Vedas (Atharva, I believe).

Answer 3

Vedas are compiled collections of knowledge gained by ancestors assimilated in various sections; however at the anvil of science some statements made in it are yet to be proved, in a nutshell these are old treasures of knowledge obtained by through imaginations and discussions.