The Vedas are the oldest holy books of Hinduism, written in Sanskrit in ancient India more than three thousand years ago. They are the deepest layer of the religion — hymns, prayers, and instructions for religious ceremonies. There are four of them, and the best known is the Rigveda.

The Vedas are the oldest holy books of Hinduism吠陀經是印度教最古老的聖典 written in Sanskrit in ancient India用梵文寫成，出現在古印度 more than three thousand years ago距今超過三千年前 They are the deepest layer of the religion它們是這個宗教最根本的一層 hymns, prayers, and instructions for religious ceremonies內容是讚歌、禱詞，還有宗教儀式的指示 There are four of them一共有四部 and the best known is the Rigveda最有名的是Rigveda梨俱吠陀

Notice two things about how the word behaves. First, it is a proper noun, so it takes a capital V. Second, people usually say 'the Vedas' in the plural when they mean the whole collection, and 'a Veda' or 'the Rigveda' when they mean one of the four.

Notice two things about how the word behaves關於這個字的用法，有兩件事要注意 First, it is a proper noun第一，它是專有名詞 so it takes a capital V所以V要大寫 Second, people usually say 'the Vedas' in the plural第二，講整套的時候通常會用複數'the Vedas' when they mean the whole collection指整個吠陀經合集 and 'a Veda' or 'the Rigveda' when they mean one of the four而講四部裡的其中一部時，會說'a Veda'或'the Rigveda'

This is a specialised word: you will meet it in a history class, a religion class, or a book about India, not in daily conversation. The adjective from it is Vedic, as in 'Vedic Sanskrit' or 'the Vedic period' — the stretch of Indian history when these texts were being made.

This is a specialised word這是一個比較專門的字 you will meet it in a history class, a religion class, or a book about India你會在歷史課、宗教課，或講印度的書裡看到它 not in daily conversation不會出現在日常對話裡 The adjective from it is Vedic它的形容詞是Vedic as in 'Vedic Sanskrit' or 'the Vedic period'像'Vedic Sanskrit'吠陀梵語或'the Vedic period'吠陀時期 the stretch of Indian history when these texts were being made也就是這些經文被寫成的那段印度歷史時期