These 40 branches of the Vedic Literature display the structuring dynamics of consciousness, which promote the sequential unfoldment of Veda, first into the Vedic Sounds (Shruti), and from the Vedic Sounds into the material structure of our human physiology (Sharir) and the material structure of the universe (Vishwa).
In Maharishi's analysis of these structuring dynamics, he has identified a characteristic quality of consciousness associated with each of the 40 branches of Veda and the Vedic Literature.
For example, Ṛk Veda expresses the holistic value of self-referral consciousness, the Holistic quality of intelligence.
Sama Veda expresses the Flowing Wakefulness quality of intelligence, the sequential flow of silence into the sounds and syllables of Veda. Sama Veda expresses the dynamism inherent within silence.
Yajur-Veda expresses the Offering and Creating quality of intelligence. The phenomenon of offering at its most fundamental level is the self-referral dynamics of consciousness—consciousness offering itself to itself. This quality of offering is exemplified in the process of Yajan (Yagya), expressed in Yajur-Veda.
Atharva Veda expresses Reverberating Wholeness, which Maharishi describes as the reverberation (Tharva) of Wholeness ('A'), the reverberations of the Self (Atma), the unmanifest sounds emerging from the self-interacting dynamics of WHOLENESS.
In the same way, each of the remaining 36 branches of the Vedic Literature is associated with a specific quality of consciousness, identifying its function in the structuring dynamics of pure intelligence.
The table on the next page, lists the 40 branches of the Vedic Literature, its characteristic quality as well as its form in the terminology of modern Physiology.