Vedāṅga
वेदाङ्ग
Everyday Hindi: वेदांग
The six auxiliary disciplines for studying and using the Veda.
Definition
The Vedāṅgas ('limbs of the Veda') are six auxiliary sciences: śikṣā (phonetics), kalpa (ritual), vyākaraṇa (grammar), nirukta (etymology), chandas (metre) and jyotiṣa (time-reckoning). The Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad (1.1.5) lists them, and the Pāṇinīya Śikṣā pictures them as the body of the Veda, with jyotiṣa as its eyes. Jyotish thus enters the tradition as the discipline that fixes the times of Vedic rites.
Articles that use this term
- VedaExplainer
What the Vedic sciences are, and how they connect
A map of India's classical knowledge traditions, from the Vedas through the six Vedangas to the applied sciences, and where Jyotish sits among them.
7 min read · 17 October 2026
- Ganita
Shunya: how India gave the world zero, and why it matters to Jyotish
Zero as a placeholder, zero as a number, and the astronomers who needed both to compute the sky.
7 min read · 16 October 2026
- PanchangaExplainer
Tithi: why the Hindu day is a lunar day
Twelve degrees between Sun and Moon: how the tithi is defined, why it varies in length, and why festivals follow it.
6 min read · 14 October 2026
- Panchanga
Muhurta: choosing a time, the Kalpa way
From the ritual sutras to the Muhurta Chintamani: how the tradition thinks about doing an act at a fitting moment.
7 min read · 5 October 2026
- PanchangaExplainer
Adhika masa: the leap month
Twelve lunar months fall about eleven days short of the solar year. How the calendar inserts a thirteenth month, when it does so, and what the rare lost month is.
6 min read · 25 September 2026