Hindu texts Prior to the start of the common era, the Hindu texts were composed orally, then memorized and transmitted orally, from one generation to next, for more than a millennia before they were written down into manuscripts. This verbal tradition of preserving and transmitting Hindu texts, from one generation to next, continued into the modern era. The Vedas are a large body of Hindu texts originating in ancient India, with its Samhita and Brahmanas complete before about 800 BCE. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit hymns, the texts constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism. Hindus consider
Aranyaka Aranyaka The Aranyakas (; Sanskrit: "" ) constitutes the philosophy behind ritual sacrifice of the ancient Indian sacred texts, the Vedas. They typically represent the later sections of Vedas, and are one of many layers of the Vedic texts. The other parts of Vedas are the Samhitas (benedictions, hymns), Brahmanas (commentary), and the Upanishads (spirituality and abstract philosophy). "Aranyakas" describe and discuss rituals from various perspectives, but some include philosophical speculations. For example, the Katha Aranyaka discusses rituals connected with the "Pravargya". The Aitareya Aranyaka includes explanation of the "Mahavrata" ritual from ritualisitic to symbolic meta-ritualistic points of view. "Aranyakas",