Talk:The Vedas:Sadanga

By Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati Swami

Among the foundational texts of Hinduism, the six Vedāṅga-s, or limbs of the Vedas, are next in importance only to the Vedas themselves. The Vedapuruṣa is described as possessing six limbs or organs—mouth, nose, eyes, ears, hands, and feet. These are collectively known as the Ṣaḍaṅga-s. The Tamil word caṭaṅgu, meaning a ceremony or ritual, is derived from this term. The Tēvāram itself refers to the Ṣaḍaṅga-s in the line:

Vēdamōḍu aṟu aṅgam āyiṉān.

In earlier times, all religious and charitable endowments were inscribed upon the stone walls of temples. In one sense, the temple served as the registrar's office of those days, recording every act performed in the cause of dharma.

In the princely state of Travancore there was an official known as the Tirumaṇḍira Ōlai. Similar officials existed under the Tamil kings of earlier times. His role was much like that of a modern private secretary. It was his duty to record the king's commands and communications and convey the royal orders to those concerned.

In those days, all acts of private charity had to be reported to the king. Such endowments required royal approval and were formally instituted through royal orders. The ōlai recorded these orders, concluding with the instruction that they were "to be inscribed on stone and copper." The order was then sent to the locality receiving the endowment, where it was engraved upon the walls of the temple. Most of the inscriptions found today on temple walls are of this nature.

These records were also engraved upon copper plates. Where more than one plate was required, they were pierced and fastened together with a ring. The local assembly had to ratify these grants. The copper plates were then preserved within the temple premises in a secure repository known as the kṣema. The welfare and continuity of the land were entrusted to the presiding Devatā of the temple. It was therefore natural that the temple functioned not only as a place of worship but also as the repository of legal, historical, and administrative records, fulfilling roles comparable to those of a registrar's office and an archive.

Let me now turn to the subject of the local assemblies.

Every village possessed a Brāhmaṇa sabhā. Membership was open only to those who had studied the Vedas and the Mantra-Brāhmaṇa-s. Those guilty of certain offences, together with their close relatives, were disqualified from membership. The names of eligible candidates were written on slips of palm leaf, and a child was asked to draw one from among them. The individual whose name appeared on the selected slip became a member of the assembly. Details of this method of election are preserved in the Uttaramerur inscriptions.

Within the sabhā there were separate committees responsible for matters such as irrigation, taxation, and other public affairs. All charitable endowments, whether of land, money, cattle presented to temples, or lamps endowed for perpetual worship, had to be administered through this assembly. Every such act required the written approval of its members.

It is through these inscriptions that we have come to know the names and titles of many Brāhmaṇas. Among the titles frequently encountered are Ṣaḍaṅganirata and Ṣaḍaṅgavid. The latter, though sometimes appearing in inscriptions in an abbreviated form, literally means "one who is proficient in the six Vedāṅga-s."

These inscriptions show that even in small villages there were numerous Brāhmaṇas thoroughly versed in the Ṣaḍaṅga-s. It is for this reason that Vedic rites themselves came to be called caṭaṅgu in Tamil. The Brāhmaṇa who gave his daughter in marriage to Sundaramūrti Svāmigal was himself known as Caṭaṅgavi Śivācāriyar.

The six Vedāṅga-s are Śikṣā (phonetics), Vyākaraṇa (grammar), Nirukta (etymology and lexicon), Kalpa (ritual procedure), Chandas (prosody), and Jyotiṣa (astronomy and astrology). Every Brāhmaṇa is expected to be acquainted with all of them. It goes without saying that he must first master the Vedas themselves. After learning to chant them correctly, proficiency in the six Vedāṅga-s enables him to penetrate their deeper meaning.

Śikṣā is the nose of the Vedapuruṣa, Vyākaraṇa His mouth, Kalpa His hands, Nirukta His ears, Chandas His feet, and Jyotiṣa His eyes. The reason each of these disciplines is identified with a particular limb of the Vedapuruṣa will become clear as I speak of them individually.