Vedic mythology

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Vedic mythology

Vedic mythology refers to the mythological aspects of the historical Vedic religion

Historical Vedic religion

The religion of the Vedic period is the historical predecessor of Hinduism. Its liturgy is reflected in the Mantra portion of the four Vedas, which are compiled in Sanskrit....
and Vedic literature. It has directly contributed to the evolution and development of later Hinduism

Hinduism

'Hinduism' is the predominant religion of the Indian subcontinent. Hinduism is often referred to as , a Sanskrit phrase meaning "the eternal dharma", by its practitioners....
and Hindu mythology

Hindu mythology

Hindu mythology is the large body of traditional narratives related to Hinduism, notably as contained in Sanskrit literature, such as the Sanskrit epics and the Puranas....
. The four Vedic Samhitas

Vedas

The Vedas are a large body of texts originating in History of India. They form the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest Hindu scripture of Hinduism....
are part of the Hindu

Hinduism

'Hinduism' is the predominant religion of the Indian subcontinent. Hinduism is often referred to as , a Sanskrit phrase meaning "the eternal dharma", by its practitioners....
Sruti. Sanskrit veda means "knowledge".

c lore contains numerous elements which are common to Indo-European mythological traditions, like the mythologies of Persia

Persian mythology

By Persian mythology is meant the myths and sacred narratives of the culturally and linguistically related group of ancient peoples who inhabited the Iranian Plateau and its borderlands, as well as areas of Central Asia from the Black Sea to Khotan ....
, Greece

Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the Ancient Greece concerning their List of Greek mythological figures#Immortals and Greek hero cult, Cosmology#Metaphysical cosmology, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices....
, and Rome

Roman mythology

Roman mythology, or more appropriately, Latin mythology, refers to the mythology beliefs of the Italic people inhabiting the region of Latium and its main city, Rome....
, and that of the Celtic, Germanic and Slavic peoples.

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Vedic mythology refers to the mythological aspects of the historical Vedic religion

Historical Vedic religion

Hinduism

'Hinduism' is the predominant religion of the Indian subcontinent. Hinduism is often referred to as , a Sanskrit phrase meaning "the eternal dharma", by its practitioners....
and Hindu mythology

Hindu mythology

Vedas

The Vedas are a large body of texts originating in History of India. They form the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest Hindu scripture of Hinduism....
are part of the Hindu

Hinduism

Vedic mythology

Vedic lore contains numerous elements which are common to Indo-European mythological traditions, like the mythologies of Persia

Persian mythology

Greek mythology

Roman mythology

Indra

Indra is the god of War and Weather, also the King of the gods or Deva and Lord of Heaven or Swarga in Hinduism. Mentioned first as the chief deity in the sacred Hindu text of Rig Veda, Indra is bestowed with a heroic and almost brash and amorous character....
in part corresponds to Dyaus Pita

Dyaus Pita

In the historical vedic religion is the Sky Father, husband of Prithvi and father of Agni and Indra .Derivatives can be found in the Proto-Indo-European religion sky god *Dyeus, who appears in Greek language as Zeus pater , in Latin as Jupiter , in Slavic mythology as Rod , and Germanic and Norse mythology as Tyr or Ziu....
r, the Sky Father, Zeus

Zeus

Zeus in Greek mythology is the king of the gods, the ruler of Mount Olympus and the god of the sky father and List of thunder gods. His symbols are the thunderbolt, eagle, bull , and oak....
and Jupiter

Jupiter (mythology)

In Roman mythology, Jupiter or Jove was the king of the gods,and the god of sky and thunder. He is the equivalent of Zeus in the Greek pantheon....
. The deity Yama

Yama

Yama , also known as Yamaraja in India, Yanluowang or simply Yan in China, and Enma in Japan, is the lord of death, first recorded in the Vedas....
, the lord of the dead, is Yima

Jamshid

Jamshed, Jamshid or Jam in Middle Persian and New Persian, or Yima in Avestan is a mythological figure of Greater Iranian culture and tradition....
of Persian mythology and the (later) Buddhist Yanluo or Emma

Yama (Buddhism and Chinese mythology)

Yama is the name of the Buddhism dharmapala and judge of the dead, who presides over the Buddhist Naraka , "Hells" or "Purgatories". Although ultimately based on the god Yama of the Hindu Vedas, the Buddhist Yama has developed different myths and different functions from the Hinduism deity....
in the traditions of China and Japan. Vedic hymns refer to these and other deities, often 33, consisting of eight Vasus, eleven Rudras, twelve Adityas, and the late Rigvedic Prajapati. These deities belong to the three dimensions of the universe/heavens, the earth, and the intermediate space. Some major deities of the Vedic tradition include Indra

Indra

Surya

In Hinduism, Surya is the chief solar deity, one of the Adityas, son of Kasyapa and one of his wives Aditi, of Indra, or of Dyaus Pitar . The term "Surya" also refers to the Sun, in general....
, Agni

Agni

Agni is a Hindu and Rigvedic deities. The word agni is Sanskrit for "fire" , cognate with Latin ignis , Russian ????? , Polish "ogien," Lithuanian - ugnis - all with the meaning 'fire' -, with the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European root being h1?gni-....
, Vayu

Vayu

In Hinduism Vayu is a primary deity, the father of Bhima and the spiritual father of Lord Hanuman. He is also known as Vata ???, Pavana ??? , or Prana....
, Varuna

Varuna

In Historical Vedic religion, Varuna or Waruna is a god of the sky, of waters and of the celestial ocean, as well as a god of law and of the underworld....
, Mitra

Mitra (Vedic)

This article is about the Rigvedic deities Mitra. For other divinities with related names, see the general article Mitra.Mitra was an important divinity of Indo-Aryans culture, descended, together with the Zoroastrian yazata Mithra, from a common Proto-Indo-Iranian deity *Mitra, a god of the oath....
Aditi

Aditi

Aditi [from a without + diti bound from the verbal root da to bind] boundless, free; as a noun, infinite and shoreless expanse. In the Vedas, Aditi is Devamatri as from and in her cosmic matrix all the heavenly bodies were born....
, Yama

Yama (Hinduism)

This article is about the deity Yama in Hinduism. For yama in the sense of a code of conduct, see Yamas. For a general article about Yama, see Yama....
, Soma

Soma

Soma , or Haoma , from Proto-Indo-Iranian *sauma-, was a ritual drink of importance among the early Indo-Iranians, and the later Vedic civilization and Greater Iran cultures....
, Ushas

Ushas

Ushas , Sanskrit for "dawn", is a Vedic deity, and consequently a Hindu deities as well.Ushas is an exalted divinity in the Rig Veda, sometimes spoken of in the plural, "the Dawns." She is portrayed as welcoming birds and warding off evil spirits, and as a beautifully adorned young woman riding in a golden chariot on her path across the sk...
, Sarasvati and Rudra

Rudra

Rudra is a Rigvedic deities of the storm, the wind, and the hunt. The name has been translated as "Roarer", "Howler", "Wild One", and "Terrible"....
.

The Vedas in Puranic mythology

The Vishnu Purana

Vishnu Purana

The Vishnu Purana is a religious Hindu text and one of eighteen Puranas. It is considered one of the most important Puranas and has been given the name Puranaratna ....
attributes the current arrangement of four Vedas to the mythical sage Vedavyasa. Puranic tradition also postulates a single original Veda that, in varying accounts, was divided into three or four parts. According to the Vishnu Purana

Vishnu Purana

The Vishnu Purana is a religious Hindu text and one of eighteen Puranas. It is considered one of the most important Puranas and has been given the name Puranaratna ....
(3.2.18, 3.3.4 etc) the original Veda was divided into four parts, and further fragmented into numerous shakhas, by Vishnu

Vishnu

Vishnu , , is the Supreme God in Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of panchadeva, and his supreme status is declared in the Hindu sacred texts like Yajurveda, the Rigveda and the Bhagavad Gita....
in the form of Vyasa

Vyasa

Vyasa is a central and revered figure in the majority of Hinduism traditions. He is also sometimes called Veda Vyasa , or Krishna Dvaipayana ....
, in the Dvapara Yuga

Dvapara Yuga

Dvapara Yuga or Dwapara Yuga is the third out of four yugas, or ages, described in the scriptures of Hinduism. This yuga comes after Treta Yuga and is followed by Kali Yuga....
; the Vayu Purana

Vayu Purana

The Vayu Purana is a Shaiva Purana, a Hindu religious text, dedicated to the god Vayu , containing about 24,000 shlokas....
(section 60) recounts a similar division by Vyasa, at the urging of Brahma

Brahma

Brahma is the Hinduism god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. He is not to be confused with the Supreme Cosmic Spirit in Hindu Vedanta philosophy known as Brahman....
. The Bhagavata Purana

Bhagavata purana

The Bhagavata Purana is one of the "Maha" Puranic texts of Hinduism literature, and is Sanskrit for "The Book of God". Its primary focus is the process of bhakti yoga, which is Sanskrit for "Union with God through devotion for Him", in which Krishna is unequivocally declared to be Svayam Bhagavan....
(12.6.37) traces the origin of the primeval Veda to the syllable aum

Aum

This article is about the mystical syllable. For other uses of "om" or "aum" or similar, see Om .Aum is a mystical or sacred syllable in the Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism religions....
, and says that it was divided into four at the start of Dvapara Yuga, because men had declined in age, virtue and understanding. In a differing account Bhagavata Purana (9.14.43) attributes the division of the primeval veda (aum) into three parts to the monarch Pururavas

Pururavas

Pururavas , According to Vedas, is a Hindu mythology entity associated with the Surya and Usha , and is believed to resided in the middle region of the cosmos....
at the beginning of Treta Yuga

Treta Yuga

The Treta Yuga is the second out of four yugas, or ages of man, in the religion of Hinduism, following the Satya Yuga of perfect morality and preceding the Dvapara Yuga....
.

Vedic mythology

Vedic mythology

The Vedas in Puranic mythology

See also