Why are there only 4 Vedas? (Decoding the logic)
“Manik, we have four Vedas (वेद), right? But why not six-seven?”
Hold on, you'll be surprised to know the truth, so here's the tea.
What most people don't get is that there was only ever one Veda, downloaded directly by our ancient rishis (ऋषि) in deep states of meditation, like some sort of a spiritual AirDrop by God.
And so we call it apauruṣeya (अपौरुषेय), authorless.
Then Krishna Dvaipayana Vyasa (कृष्ण द्वैपायन व्यास), knowing we'd have lesser braincells in the Kali Yuga (कलियुग), organised that vast knowledge into four branches, one for each kind of priest participating in a yajna (यज्ञ) or ritual.
The Rig (ऋग्वेद) contains the Rk (ऋक्), hymns of praise to devas (देव) like Agni (अग्नि), Indra (इन्द्र) and Soma (सोम) in formal verse, recited by the Hotr (होतृ) priests.
The Sama (सामवेद) contains the Rig's verses set to melody, or Saman (सामन्). It teaches us to sing the Rk, and it's used by the Udgatr (उद्गातृ) priests.
The Yajur (यजुर्वेद) contains the yajus (यजुस्), prose formulas recited while performing each step of the ritual. This is used by the Adhvaryu (अध्वर्यु) priests.
Finally, the Atharva (अथर्ववेद), recognised as the fourth Veda later, has its own hymns for protection, healing and more. It's used by the Brahman (ब्रह्मन्) priests, who supervise the ceremony and fix any errors.
The Rig is actually the largest, core text. The Sama and Yajur borrow heavily from it, with many verses re-used, often word for word.
Each of the four Vedas was taught to one primary disciple: Paila (पैल) got the Rig, Vaishampayana (वैशम्पायन) the Yajur, Jaimini (जैमिनि) the Sama, and Sumantu (सुमन्तु) the Atharva. They passed it on to many rishis, and each lineage preserved its own version, called a Shakha (शाखा). Some Shakhas are lost to time, and some are still chanted today.
In many scriptures, including the Bhagavad Gita (भगवद्गीता) (9.17), you'll find only three Vedas named. That's because the fourth one, the Atharva, originally called Atharvangirasas (अथर्वाङ्गिरसः), isn't part of the traditional three-priest, three-mantra yajna. Its Brahman priest acts more like the Quality Checker, which is why it's also called the Brahmaveda (ब्रह्मवेद).
Each of the Veda is also further divided into four layers, which I'll simplify for you in my next Reel.