The Vedanga (IAST vedāṅga, "member of the Veda") are six auxiliary disciplines for the understanding and tradition of the Vedas.

1. Shiksha (śikṣā): phonetics and phonology (sandhi)
2. Chandas (chandas): meter
3. Vyakarana (vyākaraṇa): grammar
4. Nirukta (nirukta): etymology
5. Jyotisha (jyotiṣa): astronomy
6. Kalpa (kalpa): ritual

The Vedangas are first mentioned in the Mundaka Upanishad as topics to be observed by students of the Vedas. Later, they developed into independent disciplines, each with its own corpus of Sutras.

Literature

• Moritz Winternitz: Geschichte der Indischen Literatur, Leipzig, 1905 - 1922, Vol. I - III. English translation: History of Indian Literatur, Motilal Barnarsidass, Delhi, 1985, Vol I - III

This article incorporates text from the public domain 1907 edition of The Nuttall Encyclopaedia. Vedangas Vedanga