What is the significance of the Vedas in Freemasonry?

In Craft Masonry, the study of the liberal arts and sciences in the Fellow Craft degree has been compared to traditional educational pathways, where students who qualified themselves in foundational subjects would proceed to higher esoteric study and the examination of the Vedas to attain expert knowledge, as an article hosted on the Grand Lodge of India website notes.

Beyond such comparative interpretations of degree symbolism, the primary role of the Vedas in Freemasonry is as a Volume of the Sacred Law. In multicultural jurisdictions, particularly in India, candidates take their obligations upon the scripture sacred to their own faith. For Hindu candidates, the Vedas or other sacred texts such as the Bhagavad Gita serve as the open scripture on the altar, representing the revelation of the Supreme Being and binding the candidate's conscience.