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Library » Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (Bhāgavata Purāṇa) » Canto 12: The Age of Deterioration » CHAPTER SIX

ŚB 12.6.50

Devanagari

ऋगथर्वयजु:साम्नां राशीरुद्‍धृत्य वर्गश: ।
चतस्र: संहिताश्चक्रे मन्त्रैर्मणिगणा इव ॥ ५० ॥

Text

ṛg-atharva-yajuḥ-sāmnāṁ
rāśīr uddhṛtya vargaśaḥ
catasraḥ saṁhitāś cakre
mantrair maṇi-gaṇā iva

Synonyms

ṛk-atharva-yajuḥ-sāmnām — of the Ṛg, Atharva, Yajur and Sāma Vedas; rāśīḥ — the accumulation (of mantras); uddhṛtya — separating out; vargaśaḥ — in specific categories; catasraḥ — four; saṁhitāḥ — collections; cakre — he made; mantraiḥ — with the mantras; maṇi-gaṇāḥ — gems; iva — just as.

Translation

Śrīla Vyāsadeva separated the mantras of the Ṛg, Atharva, Yajur and Sāma Vedas into four divisions, just as one sorts out a mixed collection of jewels into piles. Thus he composed four distinct Vedic literatures.

Purport

When Lord Brahmā first spoke the four Vedas with his four mouths, the mantras were mixed together like an unsorted collection of various types of jewels. Śrīla Vyāsadeva sorted the Vedic mantras into four divisions (saṁhitās), which thus became the recognizable Ṛg, Atharva, Yajur and Sāma Vedas.