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One of the notable features of the culture of Aryans was their Literature which is called Vedas – a huge collection of verses.

It is perhaps the oldest literary remains in the world. The word Veda means knowledge. The culture and life of the Aryan people show string influence of Vedas. This is the reason why their typical culture was termed as Vedic Culture.

Four Vedas

There are four Vedas which are listed below –

Rigveda

1. It is considered to be the oldest among four Vedas.
2. It is a collection of 1028 hymns– mostly prayers to various forces in the nature as God
3. It contains poetic description of the nature
4. 1018 hymns are grouped under 10 Mandals
5. Each stanza is called as Richa
6. 10the Mandala contains Purushsukta– Earliest reference to four varna system
7. 3rd Mandala contains Gayatri Mantra
8. These hymns were supposed to be used during sacrifices (Yajnas)

Yajurveda

1. It gives information regarding sacrifices (Yajna)
2. It consists of sacrificial formulae in prose and verses
3. These prose and verses were supposed to be recited by the priest who performed the manual part of the sacrifice.

Samveda

1. It is the collection of verses from Rigveda for liturgical purposes
2. Samveda is considered to be the foundation of the Indian Classical music
3. It contains references various Ragas

Atharvaveda

1. The nature of Atharvavda is quite different from the other Vedas.
2. It contains solutions to the day to day problems in life of common people
3. It also contains information regarding medicinal plants and their use.
4. It consists of magical spells and charms.
5. By the time of the composition of Atharvaveda, Aryans in the region of Saptasindhava have migrated and settled in the region of Ganga and Yamuna.
6. The nature of this settled life of Aryans can be seen from the references in the Atharvaveda.