The oldest scriptures of India, the Vedas (literally "knowledge," or "sacred teachings"), are a vast collection of Sanskrit hymns, prayers, and rituals, composed between the fifteenth and tenth centuries B.C. These works are divided into four books: the Rig Veda, the Veda of hymns, which praises the gods, the elements, and the bounty of earth; the Yajur Veda, the Veda of sacrificial texts; the Sama Veda, the Veda of songs; and the Atharva Veda, the Veda of Atharva, overseer of the sacred fire ceremony. The Rig Veda is the first Veda-and the oldest existing scripture of India.
Source : Jonathan Star, The Inner Treasure
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