Question

Which one of the following is a Vedanga?
A) Sruti
B) Smriti
C) Nirukta
D) Samhita

Answer 1

Hint: Vedangas arose as a supplement to the Vedas, but their insights into metres, sound and language structure, grammar, linguistic analysis, and other topics affected post-Vedic studies, arts, culture, and diverse schools of Hindu philosophy. The Dharma-sutras, for example, arose from the Kalpa Vedanga studies, which later expanded into Dharma-shastras.

Complete answer:
The Vedanga are six Hindu auxiliary disciplines that originated in ancient times and are linked to the study of the Vedas.
I) Shiksha: During a Vedic recitation, this supplementary discipline focuses on the letters of the Sanskrit alphabet, accent, quantity, stress, melody, and norms of euphonic combination of words.
II) Chandas: This auxiliary discipline focuses on poetic metres, such as those with a set number of syllables per verse and those with a certain number of morae each verse.
III) Vyakarana: This supplemental discipline focuses on grammatical rules and linguistic analysis in order to determine the exact structure of words and sentences in order to properly communicate concepts.
IV) Nirukta: This auxiliary discipline focuses on linguistic analysis in order to determine the right meaning of words based on their context.
V) Kalpa: This field centred on standardising Vedic rituals, rites of passage rituals related with important life events like as birth, marriage, and death in the family, as well as examining personal conduct and the duties of an individual at various periods of his life.
VI) Jyotisha: This Vedic auxiliary discipline was concerned with keeping track of time.

Thus the correct answer is option ‘C’.

Note: The study of Nirukta may be traced back to the Brahmanas layer of the Vedic literature in the later centuries of the 2nd millennium BCE. Yska is the most well-known academic in this topic, having written the Nighau (glossary book), the first work in this field. Nirukta is the name given to his text.