The stream of Indian culture always emphasised the authority of the Vedas as the supreme authority for deciding the values of human living. Of the Vedas, the first is the Rg-veda. It is generally considered as composed of ten 'mandalas' or sections. In the first nine sections, hymns in praise of God under the names of Agni, Indra, Marut, Ushas, etc., are found. Historians and researchers have suggested certain theories to explain how these hymns of praise arose. Men in those days realised that Agni (Fire), Vayu (Air), Marut (Wind) etc., were far more powerful than them and so, they described their Divine qualities and propitiated them.

The second of the Vedas is the Yajurveda. This Veda has two recensions - the Krishna Yajurveda and the Sukla Yajurveda. This Veda refers to the Ganga river and its region. It is the source of the Uttara Mimamsa school of thought and interpretation. The people had by then demarcated the forest areas from the cultivable areas around the villages and had taken to habitation in the villages. There is a prominent reason that prompted the separation of certain portions of the Veda into the Yajurveda. The Yajurveda has seven sections called Aranyakas or Forest Texts, indicating by that very name, that it refers more to disciplines and spiritual exercises which can be practised only in the seclusion and silence of the forest.

The third Veda is the Sama-Veda. In this collection, many of the hymns (rks) of the Rg-Veda are repeated, but, with additional musical notes so that they may be sung during Vedic rituals and ceremonies. So the Sama-Veda is mainly Swara or musical notation. The Rg-Veda Aryans lived on the banks of the Sindhu river while the Yajur-Veda came to their awareness when they were on the banks of the Ganga. The Sama-Veda songs are also visualisations of the same era, but the people seem to have occupied even the middle region of Bharath. The Sama-Veda is referred to as the Gaana-Veda also, in order to highlight its musical nature. All musical schools are derivatives from the styles that are marked out by the Sama-Veda. All tones and notes are embedded in that Veda.