Ve'dau ("Tl, !>(/««,• Sept. omits, but some copies have A«j', others AcCtif ; Vulg. Dan et ; A. V. "Dan also"), an Arabian city, whence wrought iron, cassia, and calamus were brought to Tyre (Ezek. xxvii. 19). The Javan mentioned in the same connection apparent- ly designates Jawan, a town in Yemen, and Vedan jirob- ably refers to the city and mart .-1 den, on the southern shores of Arabia, in the province of Yemen. Edrisi not only mentions Aden with its port on the Red Sea, whence ships sailed to India and Cliina, but also enu-
merates among its articles of merchandise the very wares mentioned by the prophet. This important place, situated on the west coast of the Strait of Babel-man- deb, commands the Red Sea and the Sea of Arabia, as Gibraltar does the Mediterranean and a portion of the Atlantic; hence Aden has been styled "the (Jibraltar of the East." It lies at the base of a mnuntain which rises to the height of 1776 feet. It was called Eden (Paradise) by the Arabs because of its splendid climate and rich trade. The town is in a hollow formed by the vast crater of an extinct volcano, and has a capital har- bor. It was a flourishing entrepot in tlie ancient com- mercial world, being known to the Greeks and Komans under the name of Adaiia or Athana. The town play- ed an important part under the Himyaritic, Abyssinian, and Sassanide dynasties, was long the ca|)ital of Yemen, and the greatest emporium of Arabia for the products of Southern Asia and Eastern Africa. It first began to decline under Turkish rule (1538-1630), and continued to do so under all changes until it passed into the hands of the English in 1839. It is now a strong garrison, a coal depot for the Indian steamers, and a station of the Indo-European telegraph line. It is rapidly increasing in trade and population. The opening of the Suez Ca- nal in 1869 gave a strong impetus to its growth, so that it has now a population of about 36,000. An extensive range of rock-cisterns was lately discovered in it, capa- ble, it is estimated, of containing 30,000,000 gallons. See Arabia.
Vedanga (from Veda [q. v.] and anga, "limb"), the name of six Sanscrit works, the object of which is to teach how to read and understand correctly the Vedic texts, and how to apply them correctly to sacrificial purposes. Their titles are as follows: (1.) Siksha, or the science of proper pronunciation. It explains the nature of letters, accent, and pronunciatinn, and is as- cribed to Paniiii (q. v.). (2.) Chliandas, or a work on meter, which is ascribed to Pingala. (3.) Vyakarana, or grammar, by which native authorities understand the celebrated work of Panini. (4.) Nirukta, or expla- nation, which explains difficult Vedic words, and is the work of Yaska, who was a predecessor of Panini. (5.) Jyotisha, or astronomy, the chief object of which is to convey such a knowledge of astronomj' as is necessary for fixing the days and hours of the Vedic sacrifices. (6.) Kalpu, or works on the Vedic ceremonial which systematize the ritual taught by the Brahmana portion of the Veda, but omitting all legendary or mystical de- tail. At a later period these works were supplemented by a similar class of works which merely describe the domestic ceremonies, such as the marriage rite, ceremo- nies at the birth of a child, naming the child, cutting liis hair, etc. S^e Miiller, Ancient Sanscrit Literature.
Vedanta (Sanscrit Veda [q. v.] and anta, "end;" literally the end or uliimate aim of the Vedas) is the second great division of the Mimansa (q. v.) school of Hindu philosophy. It is chiefly concerned in the in- vestigation of Brahman, or the supreme spirit, and the relation of the universe and the human soul to it; and in contradistinction from the Purvami-mansa, or the investigation of the former part of the Vedas, it is called Uttara-mansa, or the investigation of the latter part of the Vedas, i. e. the Arangitkas and Upanishads (q. v.), which treat of (the neuter) Brahman, or supreme spirit.
The Vetlanta endeavors to prove that the universe emanates in a successive development from a supreme spirit or soul, which is called Brahman or Parmatman; tliat the human soul is therefore iiicntical in origin with Brahman ; that the worldlv existence of the human soul is merely the result of this sameness between itself and the supreme spirit; and that its final liberation or free- dom from transmigration (q. v.) is attained by a re- moval of this ignorance, that is, by a proper understand- ing of the Vedanta doctrine. See Ballantyne, yl Lecture on the Vedanta, embracing the Text of the Vedanta Sa?-a (Allahabad, 1850) ; Biblivtheca Indica (Calcutta, 1863).
VEDDER
737
VEIL
Vedder, Hermanus, a minister of tlie Refcirmed (Dutch) Cliiirch, was born at Kotteniam, N. Y., Nov. 17, 1777. He irraduated at Union College m 17911, and liaving studied theology privately, was licensed bj' the Classis of Albany, Sept. "29, 1801. He was pastor at (ireenbnsh and Taghanic, N. Y., 1803-50; supjilied Lin- lithgo, 1806-14; and was pastor at Greenbush (Galla- tin), 18o0-(;4. He died June 29, 1873. See Corwin, Manual of the Ref. Church in America, s. v.
Vedel, NicoLAi'S, a Protestant divine of Germany, who died in 1642, at Franeker, as doctor and professor of theology, is the author of ^4 rcana A rmiiiianismi (Leyden, 1632-34,4 pts.) •.^Rationale Theoloi/icuin (Ge- neva, 1628): — Comment, de Tempore utriusqite Episco- patus Petri, seu Historia Episcopatus A niiocheni et Ro- viani Peti-i Refututa (ibid. 1624, lib. ii ; Franeker, 1640). See Winer, Handbuch der theolot/. Literatur, i, 353, 373, 565. (B. r.)