Vedas are the most ancient and sacred books of
Hindus, followers of
Hinduism. Hinduism is not a caste by itself, but a collection of castes and ideologies of various sects of people in ancient
India and the vedas govern the life of a Hindu.
There are four different Vedas, viz., Rg, Yajur, Sama and Adharva, each comprising of many Sanskrit compositions or Slokas.
The Vedas are believed to be as old as 6000 years and according to veda itself, it is created by the supreme God himself at the time of creation of life. Though the Vedas are said to be compositions by Rshis or Rishis (Sanskrit: Rishi - sage), the belief is that Vedas have been seen by the Rshis and not composed by them.
The language of the Vedas, Vedic Sanskrit, gives immense of importance to the Shabda or the acoustics of its Slokas. It is believed that the Vedic chant could control the Cosmical energy surrounding us. To prevent any loss in the Shabda of the Slokas the Vedas were not written down as scriptures until 300BC and they were taught vocally.