a body of six auxiliary works to the Veda: phonetics, metre, grammar, etymology, astronomy, and ceremonial
(H2) [Printed book page 1016,3]
वेदा (vedā)ङ्ग (ṅga) b n. ‘a limb (for preserving the body) of the Veda’, N. of certain works or classes of works regarded as auxiliary to and even in some sense as part of the Veda, (six are usually enumerated [and mostly written in the Sūtra or aphoristic style]; 1. शिक्षा (śikṣā), ‘the science of proper articulation and pronunciation’, comprising the knowledge of letters, accents, quantity, the use of the organs of pronunciation, and phonetics generally, but especially the laws of euphony peculiar to the Veda [many short treatises and a chapter of the Taittirīya-āraṇyaka are regarded as the representatives of this subject; but other works on Vedic phonetics may be included under it See प्रातिशाख्य (prātiśākhya)] : 2. छन्दस् (chandas), ‘metre’ [represented by a treatise ascribed to Piṅgala-nāga, which, however, treats of Prākṛt as well as Sanskṛt metres, and includes only a few of the leading Vedic metres] : 3. व्याकरण (vyākaraṇa), ‘linguistic analysis or grammar’ [represented by Pāṇini's celebrated Sūtras] : 4. निरुक्त (nirukta), ‘explanation of difficult Vedic words’ [cf. यास्क (yāska)] : 5. ज्योतिष (jyotiṣa), ‘astronomy’, or rather the Vedic calendar [represented by a small tract, the object of which is to fix the most auspicious days for sacrifices] : 6. कल्प (kalpa), ‘ceremonial’, represented by a large number of Sūtra works [cf. सूत्र (sūtra)] : the first and second of these Vedāṅgas are said to be intended to secure the correct reading or recitation of the Veda, the third and fourth the understanding of it, and the fifth and sixth its proper employment at sacrifices: the Vedāṅgas are alluded to by Manu, who calls them, in iii, 184 , Pravacanas, ‘expositions’, a term which is said to be also applied to the Brāhmaṇas), Indian Wisdom, by Sir M. Monier-Williams (Title) 145 &c. [ID=205937]
वेदा (vedā)ङ्ग (ṅga) b n. ‘a limb (for preserving the body) of the Veda’, N. of certain works or classes of works regarded as auxiliary to and even in some sense as part of the Veda, (six are usually enumerated [and mostly written in the Sūtra or aphoristic style]; 1. शिक्षा (śikṣā), ‘the science of proper articulation and pronunciation’, comprising the knowledge of letters, accents, quantity, the use of the organs of pronunciation, and phonetics generally, but especially the laws of euphony peculiar to the Veda [many short treatises and a chapter of the Taittirīya-āraṇyaka are regarded as the representatives of this subject; but other works on Vedic phonetics may be included under it See प्रातिशाख्य (prātiśākhya)] : 2. छन्दस् (chandas), ‘metre’ [represented by a treatise ascribed to Piṅgala-nāga, which, however, treats of Prākṛt as well as Sanskṛt metres, and includes only a few of the leading Vedic metres] : 3. व्याकरण (vyākaraṇa), ‘linguistic analysis or grammar’ [represented by Pāṇini's celebrated Sūtras] : 4. निरुक्त (nirukta), ‘explanation of difficult Vedic words’ [cf. यास्क (yāska)] : 5. ज्योतिष (jyotiṣa), ‘astronomy’, or rather the Vedic calendar [represented by a small tract, the object of which is to fix the most auspicious days for sacrifices] : 6. कल्प (kalpa), ‘ceremonial’, represented by a large number of Sūtra works [cf. सूत्र (sūtra)] : the first and second of these Vedāṅgas are said to be intended to secure the correct reading or recitation of the Veda, the third and fourth the understanding of it, and the fifth and sixth its proper employment at sacrifices: the Vedāṅgas are alluded to by Manu, who calls them, in iii, 184 , Pravacanas, ‘expositions’, a term which is said to be also applied to the Brāhmaṇas), Indian Wisdom, by Sir M. Monier-Williams (Title) 145 &c. [ID=205937]
— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)
