What are 'the Vedas'? This much we all know that there are altogether four Vedas - Rek, Sama, Yajuuh and Atharva. Each of the Vedas has, in turn, four divisions or parts: Samhita, Brahmana, Aranyaka and Upanishad. Aranyak does not figure in all the Vedas, but most of the Samhitas have a number of Brahmana and Upanishadic parts. Until then literatures were looked upon, as supra human, that is, these texts were not considered as compositions by man but as divine, revelations. In this context it is worth while keeping in mind that the genesis of every religion in this world was of necessity made out as a 'supra-human' creation by the society of the time, to meet some important need of its own, and the need was social cohesion. In those primitive societies everyone had to obey some rules and regulations or else there would have been acarchy. If these rules were merely injunctions from one individual, they could well have been opposed by another, and in that event social cohesion would have suffered. Therefore, it was necessary to put a supra-human construction upon every primitive religious text. Not only the Vedas, but the Quran, Avesta, Bible were all likewise 'supra-human' for the simple reason hat through this expediency the peace and unity in society could be safeguarded.

The large corpus of Vedic literature began to be composed from sometime before the twelfth century (BC) and was continued through approximately the fifth century BC. The latter part of the Vedas, the concluding part, called "Vedanga" or "Sutra", is not considered "non-human", and its period of composition was from the seventh or sixth century BC. to fourth/fifth century AD.

What do the Vedas contain? In the 'Samhitas' there are poems and some parts are in prose. These are mainly invocations to the gods and prayers offered by the devotees - for victory in battles, for gifts of cattle, wealth, food, children, health, recovery from illness and for long life. In the 'Brahamnas' procedures for conducting 'yajna' are given, along with some stories as examples. A few 'Aranyakas' give symbolic interpretations of the 'yajna'. The Upanisads are concerned with ways to prevent it through self-knowledge, that is, 'Self-as-Brahman' all these through discourses and dialogues presented in question-answer formats. Since both the Samhita and the Brahmana primarily concentrate on the 'yajna', thsese two, together are known as the "Karmakanda". The Aranyaka and the Upanisada comprise the "Gyanakando". Jnanakanda. The "Vedanga" contains supplementary information and interpretations to help understand the emaning of the Vedas and the 'yajna', including rules for conducting religious practices at home, and procedures for performing yajna, the grammar, the prosody the etymology of words etc. and finally, astronomy.

It should be borne in mind that the Sanskrit of the classics, as well as the high and sublime literatures is completely different from the Sanskrit of the Vedas, at least in those parts considered as 'Supra-human'. It is for this reason that in Panini's texts on Sanskrit grammar, the Vedic language was called "Chandas" and the language used in later texts, as "Sanskrit" or "Bhasa". Pronounciations as also the grammar of Vedic Sanskrit are different in many respects from the Sanskrit or later periods. The Vedas are meant to be recited in melodies tunes ranging from full-throated to low or in-between; the meanings, too, of Vedic words were different from those of similar words used in the Sanskrit of the later periods.

So much for the externals. The society in Vedic times, and its perception of morality and religion, its ceremonies were in many ways different from their present day versions. The elaborate rituals associated with the 'yajna' are complex and mastering them would require years of study. The cenception of Self-as-Brahma, of Jnakanda can be understood only after much study and contemplation and through serious philosophic exercises of the mind.

If the Vedas are included in the school syllabi, pupils will have scarcely any time to master this enormously laborious subject. As it is, the mainstream subjects like History, Geography, Science, and English, by themselves constitute a heavy load. These essential subjects take up so much time that students will be hard put to find some extra time to study the Vedas. On the other hand if the essential subjects are neglected in preference to the study of the Vedas, this will only bring grievous harm to their intellectual growth and development.

A question may indeed be asked - who, specifically, should study the Vedas? For those students who in later years will study Science, Economics, Technical subjects or who wish to take up careers in Medicine and Law or be experts in Computers or Biochemistry, the Vedas will bring little profit. If indeed, they are interested to know or be curious about the Vedas, a large number of books in diverse languages are available in the market, which should suffice.

The Sanghis argue that the study of the Vedas is necessary for an understanding of the tradition of India. But which India are they talking about? Is there an Indian tradition which has not embraced the pre-Aryan civilisation and culture commingled with the Dravidian, the Austric, the Mongoloid or the Islamic-Christian-Sikh-Jain streams of tradition? Each one of these is a distinct and separate cultural tradition and each of these cultures is as much Indian as the Vedic culture is Indian. If, today, the ordinary Indian citizenry is scarcely interested in these various other cultures, there is no reason why they should all of sudden be enthused over a long-lost culture in hoary Vedic times.