Vedas v. Rig Veda?

Question

What is the difference between the Vedas and the Rig Veda? Same thing, two names?

Answer 1

The Vedas are the four ancient Indian collections of hymns and ritual formulae of the Samhitā period (c. 2000–1100 BCE), works known as the Rig Veda, the Atharva Veda, the Sāma Veda, and the Yajur Veda. The word veda means “knowledge,” and the Veda, as a collective noun, has come to mean not only the four Vedas themselves, but the commentaries on them. These include the Brāhmanas and Āranyakas of the period between c. 100 BCE until c. 800 BCE; the UpaniṢads, compiled between 800 and 500 BCE; and various sūtras and Vedāngas.

RIG VEDA is one of the 4 Vedas. The Rig-Veda Samhita is the oldest part of the corpus. It is a collection of 1028 Vedic Sanskrit hymns dedicated to Rigvedic deities.

Based on internal evidence (philological and linguistic), the Rigveda was composed roughly between 1700–1100 BC (the early Vedic period) in the Punjab (Sapta Sindhu) region of the Indian subcontinent. This would put the Rigveda among the world's oldest religious texts, as well as among the oldest texts of any Indo-European language. However, this early period does not have several of the cultural features typical for the text (such as horses, chariots that were introduced in India only after 2000 BC).-

Answer 2

Classically there are four Vedas (plural): Rig Veda, Atharva Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama Veda. If you apply the term Vedas loosely it can also include Upanishads and other Hindu literature. Rig Veda is the oldest of all the Vedas. Vedas are collection of Hindu ancient literature.