A Sanskrit word that in its essence means "“knowledge”. The earliest and most authoritative collection of Hindu holy scriptures, also known as shruti ("heard").
These words, according to legend, were not written by humans but rather by the original vibrations of the universe itself.
The ancient sages, whose perceptual powers had been refined
by arduous religious practice, were able to "hear" and comprehend
these vibrations, and they were able to transfer them to others in a lineage of
learning.
On one level, the word veda appears in the titles of four
separate texts: the Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda, and Atharva Veda, each with
its own purpose and substance.
The Vedic hymns (samhitas), the Brahmanas, the Aranyakas, and the Upanishads all use the word veda to refer to the information found in these works or its appendices.
Although these four collections of writings are all deemed
Vedic, their forms and characteristics are vastly diverse.
The samhitas are praise songs dedicated to certain deities,
and they are mostly found in the Rig Veda and the Sama Veda.
The Brahmanas, on the other hand, are precise ritual manuals
that outline how to conduct intricate sacrifice ceremonies; the Aranyakas and
Upanishads, on the other hand, are theoretical musings on the nature of the
world.
The Vedas were regarded so holy that they were not written down for 3,000 years, instead being passed down orally, a method of transmission that is still used today.
The Vedas' power derives not from their exact meaning, but
from the sound of them, which is the same sound heard by the sages thousands of
years ago.
To keep this tradition alive, Hindus devised a complex
system of mnemonics to guarantee that the writings were not changed or damaged,
keeping their power.
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