The Vedas are the body of knowledge, which are the basic foundation of Sanatan Dharma (Eternal Religion), now commonly known as Hindu religion. Veda means ‘knowledge’ and Rig Veda is the world's oldest known text of any Indo-European language. The knowledge of Vedas was preserved in India for over 5000 years by oral tradition alone.

Who composed the Vedas?
It is believed that humans did not compose the revered compositions of the Vedas, which were handed down through generations by the word of mouth from time immemorial. The general assumption is that the Vedic hymns were revealed themselves to the sages who were the seers or “mantradrasta” of the hymns. Thus, the Vedas are considered authorless, they were transmitted verbally as it was received by Sages over the generations and do not change, they are preserved in its original form. Seers, both male (Rishis) and female (Rishiska) made the contribution to the Vedas. Following were the most important Seers who contributed to Vedas.

Rishis: Agastya, Atri, Bhardwaja, Gautam, Jamadagni, Vashista, Visvamitra, Kasyapa, Bhrigu, Gungu, Agastya, Gritsamada, Kanwa, Vamadeva and Atharvan

Rishikas: Romasha, Lopamudra, Apala, Kadru, Visvavara, Ghosha, Juhu, Vagambhrini, Paulomi, Yami, Indrani, Savitri, Devayani, Nodha, Akrishtabhasha, Sikatanivavari and Gaupayana.

It was said that initially, all the Vedic knowledge were put together as one. But later for simplicity, it was compiled and divided into four parts by Vyasa.

Written by : Sri Ganesha
Compiled by: Vyasa Krishna Dwaipayana also popularly known as Veda Vyasa
Compilation Period: 1500 BCE approx.

Structure of Vedas:
Each consists of four parts –

The collection of mantras or hymns are called the Samhita. The Brahmanas are ritualistic texts and include precepts and religious duties. Each Veda has several Brahmanas attached to it. The Upanishads form the concluding portions of the Veda and therefore called the “Vedanta” or the end of the Veda and contains the essence of Vedic teachings. The Upanishads and the Aranyakas are the concluding portions of the Brahmanas, which discuss philosophical problems. The Aryanyakas (forest texts) intend to serve as objects of meditation for ascetics who live in forests and deal with mysticism and symbolism.