Vedanga

 ( Indian Philosophy ) 

The Vedanga ( , "limb of the Veda-s";

Plural: वेदाङ्गानि ) are six auxiliary disciplines of Vedic studies that developed in Vedic period and post-Vedic times.James Lochtefeld (2002), "Vedanga" in The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Vol. 1: A-M, Rosen Publishing, , pages 744-745

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List of the Vedanga

1. Shiksha (Sanskrit: शिक्षा , "instruction, teaching"): phonetics, phonology, pronunciation. This auxiliary discipline has focused on the letters of the Sanskrit alphabet, accent, quantity, stress, melody and rules of euphonic combination of words during a Vedic recitation.
   Sures Chandra Banerji (1989). 9788120800632, Motilal Banarsidass. . ISBN 9788120800632
2. Sanskrit prosody (Sanskrit: छन्द , "metre"): prosody.James Lochtefeld (2002), "Chandas" in The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Vol. 1: A-M, Rosen Publishing, , page 140 This auxiliary discipline has focused on the poetic meters, including those based on fixed number of syllables per verse, and those based on fixed number of morae per verse.
   Peter Scharf (2025). 9780191643446, Oxford University Press. . ISBN 9780191643446
3. Vyakarana (Sanskrit: व्याकरण , "grammar"): grammar and linguistic analysis.W. J. Johnson (2009), A Dictionary of Hinduism, Oxford University Press, , Article on VyakaranaJames Lochtefeld (2002), "Vyakarana" in The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Vol. 2: N-Z, Rosen Publishing, , page 769 This auxiliary discipline has focused on the rules of grammar and linguistic analysis to establish the exact form of words and sentences to properly express ideas.
4. Nirukta (Sanskrit: निरुक्त , "etymology"): etymology, explanation of words, particularly those that are archaic and have ancient uses with unclear meaning.James Lochtefeld (2002), "Nirukta" in The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Vol. 2: N-Z, Rosen Publishing, , page 476 This auxiliary discipline has focused on linguistic analysis to help establish the proper meaning of the words, given the context they are used in.
5. Kalpa (Sanskrit: कल्प , "proper. fit"): ritual instructions. This field focused on standardizing procedures for Vedic rituals, rites of passage rituals associated with major life events such as birth, wedding and death in family, as well as discussing the personal conduct and proper duties of an individual in different stages of his life.
   Wendy Doniger (1999). 9780877790440, Merriam-Webster. . ISBN 9780877790440
6. Jyotisha (Sanskrit: ज्योतिष , "astrology"): Right time for rituals with the help of position of nakshatras and asterisms and astronomy.
   (1997). 9780792340669, Springer. ISBN 9780792340669
   Kireet Joshi (1991). 9788120808898, Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN 9788120808898
   This auxiliary Vedic discipline focused on time keeping.James Lochtefeld (2002), "Jyotisha" in The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Vol. 1: A-M, Rosen Publishing, , pages 326-327
   Yukio Ohashi (1999). 9780792355564, Springer Science. . ISBN 9780792355564

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History and background The character of Vedangas has roots in ancient times, and the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad mentions it as an integral part of the layer of the Vedic texts. These auxiliary disciplines of study arise with the codification of the Vedas in Iron Age India. It is unclear when the list of six Vedangas were first conceptualized. The Vedangas likely developed towards the end of the Vedic period, around or after the middle of the 1st millennium BCE. An early text of the genre is the Nighantu by Yaska, dated to roughly the 5th century BCE. These auxiliary fields of Vedic studies emerged because the language of the Vedic texts composed centuries earlier grew too archaic to the people of that time.

Vedangas developed as ancillary studies for the Vedas, but its insights into meters, structure of sound and language, grammar, linguistic analysis and other subjects influenced post-Vedic studies, arts, culture and various schools of Hindu philosophy. The Kalpa Vedanga studies, for example, gave rise to the Dharma-sutras, which later expanded into Dharma-shastras.

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See also

• Sruti (श्रुति , "that which is heard")
• Smriti (स्मृति , "that which is remembered")
• Gurukula

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Bibliography

• George Cardona (1997). 9788120814943, Motilal Banarsidass. . ISBN 9788120814943
• Harold G. Coward (1990). 9788120804265, Princeton University Press. . ISBN 9788120804265
• Guy L. Beck (1995). 9788120812611, Motilal Banarsidass. . ISBN 9788120812611
• Tibor Kiss (2025). 9783110377408, Walter de Gruyter. . ISBN 9783110377408
• Patrick Olivelle (1999). 9780192838827, Oxford University Press. . ISBN 9780192838827
• Sheldon Pollock (2025). 9780520932029, University of California Press. . ISBN 9780520932029
• Edward Vernon Arnold (2025). 9781113224446, Cambridge University Press (Reprint 2009). . ISBN 9781113224446
• Moritz Winternitz: Geschichte der Indischen Literatur, Leipzig, 1905 - 1922, Vol. I - III. English translation: History of Indian Literature, Motilal Barnarsidass, Delhi, 1985, Vol I - III
• (2025). 9783110181593, Walter de Gruyter. . ISBN 9783110181593
• Maurice Winternitz (1963). 9788120800564, Motilal Banarsidass. . ISBN 9788120800564

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External links

• "Vedanga" in the Hindu Encyclopedia

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