Veda (q.v.) and anga, limb; hence, literally, "the limb of (the body of) the Veda"—is the name of six Sanskrit works, the object of which is to teach how to read and understand correctly the Vedic texts, and how to apply them correctly to sacri ficial purposes. Whether the number of these works was originally the same as it now is, and already was at the time of the Upanishads, may be doubtful. Tradition mentions the following Vedangas: 1 S'ikshil, or the science of proper pronunciation. It is repre sented by a short treatise of 35, or, In another recension, of 59 verses, which explains the nature of letters, accent, and pronunciation, and is ascribed to Rimini (q.v.). 2. Chhandas, or (a work on) meter, which is ascribed to Pingala. 3. Kyiikaran'a, or grammar, by vvhich native authorities understand the celebrated work of n'ini (q.v.); but never those short books, especially concerned in Vedic peculiarities, called Prcitis'illeltyas, the existing representatives of which, iu all probability, are posterior to Pan'ini (see Gold Wicker's Pa'n'ini, etc., p. 183, ff.). 4. Nip/LT.1a (q.v.) 5. Jyotisha, or astronomy. "Its chief object is to convey such knowledge of the heavenly bodies as is necessary for fixing the days and hours of the Vedic sacrifices." 6. Kato, or works on the Vedic ceremo nial, which systematize the ritual taught by the Bralnan'a portio-, of the Veda, omit ting, however, all legendary or mystical detail. They are composed in the Sfitra style. See SUTRA. The Kalpa, or 'Sranta, Sfitras belonging to the ll'igveda are the As'weltiyana-, Siinkluiyana, and S aunake &lbws; those relating to the Sffinaveda, the Ldtydyana-, and Dreilyilyan'a Stitras; those of the Black Yajuveda, the Apes temba-, Baudltdyana-, Setylislukthe-, Hiradyakain-, Blairadroja-, fadhfine-, Vaikheinese-, Langiikshi-, Nedra-, Kathe-, and Viiriihe Sutras. The White Yajurveda
has only one Kalpa, or 'Sranta, Stara connected with it, the Jdifydyana Sfitra, and the Atharveda likewise only one, the Ens'ika Sdt,a.—At a later period these works were supplemented by a similar class of works, which, however, merely describe the domestic ceremonies, viz., " the marriage rite, the rites to be performed at the conception of a child, at various periods before his birth, at the time of his birth, the ceremony of naming the child, of carrying him out to see the sun, of feeding him, of cutting his hair, and lastly, of investing him as a student, and handing him to a guru, under whose care he is to study the sacred writings." Works of this kind are called Or'lltya-Siitras (from house), and to these, again, were added the Siiinaylielairi•a-Sidres (from sanotyll claim, conventional practice), which treat of customs sanctioned by the practice of pious men, but not enjoined or expressly stated in the Geihya-Sfitras. The two last classes of Sffiras, which are not comprised amongst the Kalpa works, then grew into the _Dlatrnnt s'eistra8, or law-books, of which that of Mane is the chief representative. See 1Nlilller's Ancient Sanskrit Literature, p. 108, ff.