limbs of the vedas
Shiksha (śikṣā)
phonetics, phonology, pronunciation
This auxiliary discipline has focussed on the letters of the Sanskrit alphabet, accent, quantity, stress, melody and rules of euphonic combination of words during a Vedic recitation.
Chhandas (chandas)
prosody
This auxiliary discipline has focussed on the poetic meters, including those based on fixed number of syllables per verse, and those based on fixed number of morae per verse.
Vyakarana (vyākaraṇa)
grammar, linguistics
This auxiliary discipline has focussed on the rules of grammar and linguistic analysis to establish the exact form of words and sentences to properly express ideas.
Nirukta (nirukta)
etymology
explanation of words, particularly those that are archaic and have ancient uses with unclear meaning. This auxiliary discipline has focussed on linguistic analysis to help establish the proper meaning of the words, given the context they are used in.
Kalpa (kalpa)
ritual
This field focussed on standardizing procedures for Vedic rituals, rites of passage rituals associated with major life events such as birth, wedding and death in family, as well as discussing the personal conduct and proper duties of an individual in different stages of his life.
Jyotisha (jyotiṣa)
times
This auxiliary Vedic discipline focussed on time keeping.