The Vedas are revered as the oldest and most authoritative scriptures of Hinduism, composed in ancient Sanskrit and preserved through a meticulous oral tradition. The very term “Veda” signifies knowledge or wisdom, and these texts are regarded as *śruti*—that which was heard—indicating a status of divine revelation rather than human authorship. Traditionally, four Vedas are recognized: the Ṛg Veda, a collection of hymns addressed to deities such as Agni, Indra, Varuṇa, and Sūrya; the Sāma Veda, which arranges many of these hymns into melodies for ritual chanting; the Yajur Veda, containing prose formulas and verses guiding sacrificial rites; and the Atharva Veda, which preserves hymns, spells, prayers, and reflections related both to daily life and to cosmic realities. Together, they offer a window into the religious, social, and cultural world of early Vedic communities and articulate a vision of cosmic order, worship, and meaning.

Each Veda unfolds through a layered structure that moves from ritual to reflection and finally to philosophical insight. The Saṁhitās gather the core hymns and mantras; the Brāhmaṇas provide ritual commentaries and detailed explanations of sacrificial practice; the Āraṇyakas, or “forest texts,” explore more inward and symbolic interpretations of those rites; and the Upaniṣads present searching inquiries into ultimate reality, the nature of the self, and the possibility of liberation. Within this vast corpus arise key concepts that later Hindu thought continually reinterprets: dharma as right order and duty, karma as action and its consequence, saṁsāra as the cycle of rebirth, mokṣa as liberation, and the profound relationship between ātman, the inner self, and Brahman, the ultimate reality. Major deities such as Indra and Agni are prominent, and early forms of later central deities like Viṣṇu and Śiva are also attested, indicating how devotional currents grow out of this older ritual and poetic matrix.

The Vedas are considered foundational because virtually every later strand of Hindu tradition defines itself in relation to them, whether by extending their ritual framework, deepening their philosophical insights, or reinterpreting their symbols. Orthodox schools of Hindu philosophy acknowledge their authority as *śruti*, even when emphasizing different portions—ritual sections for some, Upaniṣadic teachings for others. The epics, Purāṇas, Dharmaśāstras, and various philosophical systems draw upon Vedic themes, language, and concepts, thereby rooting later developments in the prestige of this earliest revelation. In this way, the Vedas provide not only the ritual and theological ground of Hindu practice, but also a shared horizon of meaning within which questions about duty, destiny, and ultimate freedom continue to be asked and answered.