The Yajur Veda is primarily comprised of prose mantras for worship rituals. An ancient Vedic Sanskrit text, it is a compilation of ritual-offering formulas that were said by a priest while an individual performed ritual actions.

The Sama Veda, or Veda of Holy Songs, third in the usual order of enumeration of the three Vedas, ranks next in sanctity and liturgical importance to the Rig Veda, or the Veda of Recited Praise. Its Sanhita, or metrical portion, consists chiefly of hymns to be chanted by the Udgatar priests at the performance […]

An ancient Indian collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns. It is one of the four sacred canonical Hindu texts known as the Vedas. There are just over one thousand hymns in the Rig Veda, made up of more than ten thousand verses.

Read a column about Diwali gift-giving by author Arthur Magida, posted at Beliefnet.com.

Read an Oct. 28, 2005, Associated Press article about Pope Benedict XVI condemning human trafficking for sex and calling for the humane treatment of women migrants.

Read a story, posted at Beliefnet.com, about how Hindus in America celebrate Diwali.

This online encyclopedia is the 1917 version. Journalists should be aware that it contains no updates, such as church reforms made during Vatican II and should not be relied upon for current information.

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Mark S. Burrows is a faculty member at the University of Applied Sciences in Bochum, Germany, having moved to Germany after a career of almost a quarter-century teaching at several graduate theological schools in the US and in Europe. He wrote “Gospel Fantasy: Dismantling The DaVinci Code” in the June 1, 2004, Christian Century magazine and is author […]