á¹›g-atharva-yajuḥ-sÄmnÄá¹
rÄśīr uddhá¹›tya vargaÅ›aḥ
catasraḥ saá¹hitÄÅ› cakre
mantrair maṇi-gaá¹‡Ä iva
á¹›k-atharva-yajuḥ-sÄmnÄm - of the Ṛg, Atharva, Yajur and SÄma Vedas; rÄśīḥ - the accumulation (of mantras); uddhá¹›tya - separating out; vargaÅ›aḥ - in specific categories; catasraḥ - four; saá¹hitÄḥ - collections; cakre - he made; mantraiḥ - with the mantras; maṇi-gaṇÄḥ - gems; iva - just as.
ÅšrÄ«la VyÄsadeva separated the mantras of the Ṛg, Atharva, Yajur and SÄma Vedas into four divisions, just as one sorts out a mixed collection of jewels into piles. Thus he composed four distinct Vedic literatures.
When Lord BrahmÄ first spoke the four Vedas with his four mouths, the mantras were mixed together like an unsorted collection of various types of jewels. ÅšrÄ«la VyÄsadeva sorted the Vedic mantras into four divisions (saá¹hitÄs), which thus became the recognizable Ṛg, Atharva, Yajur and SÄma Vedas.
