What Texts Amplify Vedas And Agamas?
Many texts support the Vedas and Agamas. Vedangas detail conduct, astrology, language and etymology. Upavedas unfold politics, health, warfare and music. Upagamas and Paddhatis elaborate the Agamic wisdom. Aum.§
A bride and groom are in the midst of their wedding; at left they hold an offering of sacred grasses. Wedding chants derive from the Vedas, Agamas and ancillary texts; attitudes and guidelines for family life are found in the Sutras and Shastras. In the background photo, a girl receives sacraments after a puja. §
UCH OF HINDUISM’S PRACTICAL KNOWLEDGE is safeguarded in venerable texts which amplify shruti. The Vedangas and Upavedas are collections of texts that augment and apply the Vedas as a comprehensive system of sacred living. Jyotisha Vedanga delineates auspicious timing for holy rites. Kalpa Vedanga defines public rituals in the Srauta and Sulba Sutras, domestic rites in the Grihya Sutras and religious law in the Dharma Sastras. Four other Vedangas ensure the purity of mantra recitation, through knowledge of phonetics, grammar, poetry and the way of words. The Upavedas expound profound sciences: Arthaveda unfolds statecraft; Ayurveda sets forth medicine and health; Dhanurveda discusses military science; Gandharvaveda illumines music and the arts; and Sthapatyaveda explains architecture. In addition, the Kama Sutras detail erotic pleasures. The Agamas, too, have ancillary texts, such as the Upagamas and Paddhatis, which elaborate the ancient wisdom. The Jnaneshvari says, “The Vedas in their perfection are as the beautiful image of the God of which the flawless words are the resplendent body. The smritis are the limbs thereof.” Aum Namah Sivaya.§