The Vedanga (Sanskrit: वेदाङ्ग vedāṅga, “limb of the Veda-s”; plural: वेदाङ्गानि vedāṅgāni) are six auxiliary disciplines of Vedic studies that developed in Vedic and post-Vedic times.
List of the Vedanga
1. Shiksha (शिक्षा, śikṣā) — “Instruction, Teaching”
- Focus: Phonetics, phonology, pronunciation
- Details:
- Focused on the letters of the Sanskrit alphabet, accent, quantity, stress, melody, and rules of euphonic combination of words during Vedic recitation.
2. Chanda (छन्द, chanda) — “Metre”
- Focus: Prosody
- Details:
- Focused on poetic meters, including those based on fixed number of syllables per verse and those based on fixed number of morae per verse.
3. Vyakarana (व्याकरण, vyākaraṇa) — “Grammar”
- Focus: Grammar and linguistic analysis
- Details:
- Rules of grammar and linguistic analysis to establish the exact form of words and sentences to properly express ideas.
4. Nirukta (निरुक्त, nirukta) — “Etymology”
- Focus: Etymology, explanation of words
- Details:
- Deals with archaic words and those with unclear meanings.
- Uses linguistic analysis to establish proper meaning in context.
5. Kalpa (कल्प, kalpa) — “Proper, Fit”
- Focus: Ritual instructions
- Details:
- Standardizes procedures for Vedic rituals, rites of passage (birth, wedding, death), personal conduct, and duties in different life stages.
6. Jyotisha (ज्योतिष, jyotiṣa) — “Astrology”
- Focus: Timing of rituals, astronomy
- Details:
- Determines right time for rituals using positions of nakshatras and asterisms.
- Focused on timekeeping and astronomy.