Vedas

Veda means knowledge. The word comes from the Sanskrit language and is derived from the verb root vid, 'to know'. The Vedas are considered the earliest literary record of Indo-Aryan civilization, and the most sacred books of India

The Veda contain hymns, rituals, and mantras.

The four Vedas Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda and Atharvaveda are divided into four sections:
Samhitas: Mantras and Hymns
Brahmanas: Rituals
Aranyakas: Meditations
Upanishads: Philosophy, known as Vedanta, or the end of the Vedas

There are also auxiliary texts called Vedangas.

Vedanga (Ved = knowledge, anga = part) are the disciplines necessary to read and understand the Vedas fully. These are six in number:

a) Siksha, i.e. pronunciation and phonetics;
b) Chhanda, i.e. metre;
c) Vyakarana, i.e. grammar (Panini's rules and views);
d) Nirukta, i.e. etymology (Yaska's writings);
e) Jyotisha, i.e. astronomy;
f) Kalpa, i.e. rules for sacrifices and ceremonies in accordance with the Vedas. Also known as Kalpa-sutras or Sautra-sutras.

The Vedas are also divided into two parts, namely, the Karmakanda and the Jnanakanda. Karmakanda deals with rituals and sacrifices whereas Jnanakanda deals with the Vedanta philosophy. For thousands of years only Karmakanda was more popular as the real Veda. Vedanta part of the Vedas was meant only for the sanyasins (monks). It was Shri Shankaracharya who wrote Bhashyas (commentaries) on a few selected Upanishads, called the Principal Upanishads, and made their studies popular.

In Vedas, the 11 sections of Sri Rudram are considered the most sacred. Sri Rudram occurs in Krishna Yajur Veda. There are seven chapters in this Veda and Sri Rudram occurs in the fourth or middle chapter. There are two important and well known Mantras in Sri Rudram. Panchakshari Mantra and Mrithunjaya Mantra. The Panchakshari mantra is also known as Sharanagati mantra. Sharanagati means surrender to the Lord.

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Upavedas: Secondary Knowledge

Medicine (Ayur Veda), associated with the Rigveda
Archery (Dhanur Veda), associated with the Yajurveda
Music and Dance (Gandharva Veda), associated with the Samaveda
Military science (Shastrashastra), associated with the Atharvaveda