Earliest scriptures of the Hindu faith, which are divided into four collections, all written in verse:

• Ṛg-veda, often known as the Rigveda in the West
• Yajur-veda
• Sāma-veda
• Atharva-veda.

In tradition, the sage Vyāsa compiled the Vedas. The works were probably composed from roughly 1500 to 1000 BCE, though they were probably first written down around the fifth century of the Common Era. The Vedas and the large body of associated literature capture the mainstream of Indian thought over many centuries.

The term veda – knowledge – is also used for sexual desire or sexual preference. In this sense it is one of the 14 Jain ‘gateways’ or categories of investigation of mārgaṇā or ‘soul-quest’.