Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 12.6.50

ṛg-atharva-yajuḥ-sāmnāḿ

rāśīr uddhṛtya vargaśaḥ

catasraḥ saḿhitāś cakre

mantrair maṇi-gaṇā iva

SYNONYMS

ṛk-atharva-yajuḥ-sāmnām — of the Ṛg, Atharva, Yajur and Sāma Vedas; rāśīḥ — the accumulation (of mantras); uddhṛtya — separating out; vargaśaḥ — in specific categories; catasraḥ — four; saḿhitāḥ — collections; cakre — he made; mantraiḥ — with the mantras; maṇi-gaṇāḥ — gems; iva — just as.

TRANSLATION

Śrīla Vyāsadeva separated the mantras of the Ṛg, Atharva, Yajur and Sāma Vedas into four divisions, just as one sorts out a mixed collection of jewels into piles. Thus he composed four distinct Vedic literatures.

PURPORT

When Lord Brahmā first spoke the four Vedas with his four mouths, the mantras were mixed together like an unsorted collection of various types of jewels. Śrīla Vyāsadeva sorted the Vedic mantras into four divisions (saḿhitās), which thus became the recognizable Ṛg, Atharva, Yajur and Sāma Vedas.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
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