text suggests that the compendium of Samhitas and associated Vedic texts were far larger than currently available. However, most have been lost at some point or over a period of Indian history.

Historically, there were five recensions of the Rigveda Samhita, but now only one survives. The Samaveda has three Samhitas (Kauthuma, Ranayaniya and Jaiminiya), two of which are quite similar, while the Atharvaveda has two. The term "samhita" also appears in titles of some non-Vedic texts like the Pancharatra