The Vedas & Upanishads

The Vedas are the oldest extant Indian scriptures.  They are a collection of hymns which were compiled by rishis, ‘seers’, thousands of years ago; it is said they are at least 5,000 years old.  Which is fascinating since one of our favorite mantras, the Gayatri, comes from the oldest veda – The Rig-Veda – and is still a popular hit 🙂 !

There are four vedas in total:  Rig-Veda, Yajur-Veda, Sama-Veda and Atharva-Veda.  They are full of symbolism and mythology and written in Vedic Sanskrit, therefore very difficult to comprehend.



Les Vedas sont les Ă©critures Hindoues les plus anciennes que l’on connaisse. Il s’agit d’une compilation d’hymnes, composĂ©s par les rishis, des sages voyants, il y a des milliers d’annĂ©es ; il est dit qu’ils ont plus de 5000 ans. Cela est fascinant puisque l’un de nos mantras prĂ©fĂ©rĂ©, le Gayatri, vient du plus ancien veda – le Rig-Veda – reste encore aujourd’hui en tĂȘte des hits â˜ș !
Il existe quatre Vedas au total : Rig-Veda, Yajur-Veda, Sama-Veda et Atharva-Veda. Ils sont emplis de symbolisme et de mythologie et Ă©crits en Sanskrit vĂ©dique, et par consĂ©quent trĂšs difficiles Ă  comprendre. 

The Upanishads are bodies of work dedicated to elaborating the Truths revealed.  Upanishad means “to sit down near” because these are teachings said to be taught to disciples by their teachers.  There are over 200 hundred Upanishads;  the oldest were composed almost 4,000 years ago and the youngest are from this century. 

Les Upanishads sont des Ɠuvres destinĂ©es Ă  expliquer les VĂ©ritĂ©s rĂ©vĂ©lĂ©es. Upanishad signifie « s’asseoir prĂšs de », car ces enseignements sont censĂ©s ĂȘtre transmis des professeurs aux disciples. Il existe plus de 200 Upanishads ; les plus anciens ont Ă©tĂ© composĂ©s il y a prĂšs de 4000 ans et les plus rĂ©cents datent de ce siĂšcle.