There are 4 prime types of Vedas:
1) Rig Veda
2) Atharva Veda
3) Yajur Veda
4) Sam Veda
Rig Veda: It is the oldest Veda. It teaches do’s & don’t of life. It is like the ten commandments. It lays down rules of life - Yama (the discipline), the niyama (rules), and sayama (regulations) that one has to apply in life. These are steps towards salvation. When Adam and Eve stepped down from heaven, these truths of God were laid down by God as steps to go back to heaven. The main principles of Rig Veda are
1) Do not steal
2) Do not hurt
3) Do not lie
4) Do not be greedy
5) Do not hate
6) Do not seek possessions of others
7) Lust not after women
8) Respect elder and adore younger
9) Do not repent
10)Do not blame others
Rig Veda is the basic foundation on which life is based. It forms the principle of life . After this only can a man know or understand the higher purpose in life which is explained in Atharva Veda.
Atharva Veda: It is the science of healthy living. Once you establish certain principles in life and walk on that tract, then next step is to maintain a healthy body & mind. There are again principles to Atharva Veda:
1) Do not eat stale food. Do not overeat.
2) Do not eat all the time. Be balanced when eating.
3) Exercise regularly. Do not over exercise.
4) Exercise should be in form of stretching, breathing and aerobic form (yoga).
5) Do not take tensions or stress.
6) Do not have vices of gambling, wine, or drugs (nasha).
7) Do not sleep late at night . Do not eat late at night.
8) Take bath twice a day. Drink clean, healthy water.
9) Do not eat every day. Fast occasionally to detoxify body.
10) Always feed others before you feed yourself.
Yajur Veda: Once certain principles are laid down and healthy living is established , then next step on spiritual path is to now establish a contact with self (God). This is Yajur Veda. Establishing contact with self can be in the form of yoga (union), bhakti (devotion), karma (action), samarpan (surrenderness). Here God is the centre of focus and God becomes the main purpose of life. All actions are for God, all emotions are for God, all knowledge is of God. The path towards God is established. Now as an individual, he starts walking towards heaven once again. Individual now realises that he is no longer an individual. Small pleasures give way to big joys. Money, society, self becomes immaterial. Only what matters is God & only God. Gradually distance between God & individual closes. However, the individual is still not balanced in God. Till there is completeness, individuals feel apart from God.
Sam Veda: This is the final step. Here individual becomes balanced in God. There is no separation now. Two becomes one and one becomes none. Knowledge is spontaneous, actions are spontaneous and not binding. Words are truth and emotions are only of God. There is no difference between God and so called individual. Here child of God comes back to God.
Thus, Veda is knowledge laid down by God as path towards which people have to walk on to achieve their goal . Vedas belong to no religion. Vedas are truth that cannot change with time. Infact Vedas are above time. Whenever there has been anarchy in the world, God has always delivered the Vedas as path towards enlightenment. They may then be called as Gita, Quran, Guru Granth Sahib, or the Bible. But as per time, these Vedas have always emerged in different languages , through different masters in different dialects. But the truth does not change. Just as the description in English does not change the original essence of Veda, similarly true disciples will always understand the essence of each Veda in any time to come. No amount of translation, no amount of distortion can prevent passage of truth to the true seeker. What books may not describe, the truth will be self- realised, self-revealed and truth shall always emerge and re-emerge.
- These are topics of various aspects of spirituality as told by Para.