bhaarati: The veeda-s |
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The veeda-s form the very foundation of "sanaatana dharma", the eternal philosophy of India. This is a natural philosophy of the man-kind, not to be confused with other religions which have all had a beginning, a founder (prophet or messenger or messiah or whatever name you give), a scripture and a church. sanaatana dharma is not founded by any one, it is not based on a single scripture, it is not controlled by a single church of any kind. Religion, as we normally know it, is the wrong term but if one were to insist on that word, this is a natural, religion of all human beings, nay, all humane beings, as old as the human race itself.
The term veeda is derived from the root 'vid' - to know. veeda-s are books of knowledge, compendia of wisdom. There is no aspect of knowledge that is left out. The traditional system of education in India included only one subject: the veeda-s.
veeda-s are referred to as sRti, 'the heard', because the truths they proclaim were not fabricated but were 'heard' or discovered by RSis of yore. The veeda-s are considered to be apauruSeeya (impersonal, not man-made) in the sense that they were directly revealed to the seers. Hence they are not subject to the limitations of human thinking. veeda-s are therefore complete, absolute, perfect. There is nothing more to know. The veeda-s, along with the ancialliary subjects required for the proper understanding of the veeda-s, constitute the entirety of human knowledge.
Tradition has it that it was the great sage vyaasa who re-organized the veeda-as into four - Rk, yajur, saama and atharva. Rgveeda is the veeda of hymns. The yajurveeda consists of Rk hymns and prose formulae arranged for use in the performance of sacrifices. It must be understood that the emphasis is on inner-yajna - performance of sacrifices entirely in the mind. The saamaveeda too consists of hymns selected mostly from Rgveeda and arranged liturgically with reference to the sooma sacrifice. The atharva veeda, the last to be added, combined veedic religion and philosophy with secular subjects such as medicine as also popular cults and practices.
The Four veeda-s:
| 1. Rk-veeda | 2. yajur-veeda | 3. saama-veeda | 4. atharva-veeda |
Each veeda has four components. The saMhita part consists of maMtra-s: holy hymns, poetic expressions of revealed Truth. The braahmaNa-s may be called guide books for the performance of sacrificial rites. The araNyaka-s or 'forest books', give philosophic interpretations of the rituals and prescribe various modes of meditation. Finally come the upaniSat-s or veedaaMta - the 'aMta' or concluding portion of the veeda-s. They are also the 'aMta' or summit of the Vedas, the acme of human thought.
Hinduism itself has often come to be equated with veedaaMta. Some even think of veedaaMta as a brilliant amendment that supersedes the veeda-s. However, this is a mistaken, superficial understanding of the veeda-s. The upaniSat-s have only made explicit the religio-philosophic truths implicit in the veedic maMtra-s. In fact the upaniSat-s frequently cite the maMtra texts to give authority to what they teach. The veeda-s are the sturdy tree on which blossom the fragrant upaniSat-s. To ignore the veeda-s in our enthusiasm for veedaaMta is to forgo the capital for the sake of the interest.
The veeda-s contain all the thoughts and ideas that appear in the upaniSat-s, puraaNa-s, bhakti and all other kinds of literature.
Contrary to what some believe, the veeda-s teach neither polytheism nor primitive forms of nature worship or totemism. The depth and maturity of understanding is unmatched. We should all consider it great if we could understand and assimilate even a small part of what the veeda-s teach.
It is extremely difficult to fix the date of the veeda-s. veeda-s have traditionally been passed on from generation to generation entirely through oral tradition. Estimates vary widely, ranging from 25000 BC to 1000 BC. However, there is some general consensus that the Harappa-Mohenjodaro culture (c. 4000 BC) forms the latter phase of veedic culture. Given this, earliest of the veeda-s can be placed around 10,000 BC. That means about 12,000 years ago.
The Date of the Rgveeda as suggested by various scholars is shown in the table below:
| Name of the Scholar | Date Suggested |
|---|---|
| A C Das | 25,000 BC |
| S Srikanthashastry | 10,000 BC |
| S V Venkateshwara | 10,000 BC |
| B G Tilak | 6000 BC |
| Hermann Jacobi | 4500 BC |
| Haug M | 2400 BC |
| Moriz Winternitz | 2000 BC |
| Max Muller | 1200 BC |
It must be noted that these dates have been arrived at mostly based on indirect evidence such as the evolution of language, astronomical data, changes in socio-political systems etc., none of which form very strong and infallible evidence. There is a substantial degree of intuition and guess work.
Man has lived on this earth for a very long time but the western cultures, many of them being very new indeed, find it difficult to believe that such heights of human excellence could be achieved so long ago. There is always a tendency for the western mind to place events closer to today.
According to tradition, the veeda-s are apauruSeeya, not a creation of the human mind, but given directly by Him and directly heard or experienced by the great seers. veeda-s have no authors.
In any case, instead of dry, polemical discussions over secondary issues such as date, which serve no big purpose other than satisfying our intellectual curiosity, we must focus on what the veeda-s say and what that means to us today.
The Four veeda-s: yajnya-s and yaaga-s, veedic sacrifices, were common in the early veedic period. veedic maMtra-s were used for the performance of these sacrifices. veedic sacrifices were conducted by four chief priests assisted by several others. The four main priests were called the hoota (who invokes the varies deities), adhvaryu (the chief executer of the sacrificial rites), the udgaatR (the singer), and the brahma (the supervisor of the whole process). The hymns used by the hoota forms the Rgveeda. The liturgical parts useful for the adhvaryu forms the yajurveeda. Those hymns suitable for musical expressions by the udgaatR, especially during the sooma sacrifice, became the saamaveeda. The remaining parts, miscellanea and addenda became the atharva veeda.
Why Divide?: Tradition has it that sage kRSNa dvaipaayana vyaasa, effected this division and reorganization of the veeda-s into Rk, yajur, saama and atharva. His four main disciples specialized in one each: paila took up Rgveeda, vais'ampaayana took up yajurveeda, jaimini took up saamaveeda and sumaMtu took up the atharva veeda. veeda-s are big and it makes sense to divide it so that people can pick up at least one part properly. Of course one could learn all the four veeda-s. Even today, there are sir names such as dviveedi (one who knows two veeda-s), triveedi (one who knows three veeda-s) and caturveedi (one who knows all four veeda-s). It is foolish to fight over the different veeda-s, they are all the one and the same, divided purely for the sake of convenience.
Topical Division: Each veeda has four components. The saMhita part consists of maMtra-s: holy hymns, poetic expressions of revealed Truth. The braahmana-s may be called guide books for the performance of sacrificial rites. The araNyaka-s or 'forest books', give philosophic interpretations of the rituals and prescribe various modes of meditation. Finally come the upaniSat-s or veedaaMta - the 'aMta' or concluding portion of the veeda-s. They are also the 'aMta' or summit, the pinnacle of the Vedas, the acme of human thought.
In terms of usage, only the saMhita part is often intended when we talk of a veeda. Thus Rgveeda may mean only Rgveedic maMtra-s. The other parts have their own names and may be considered as separate.
The Recensions: Perhaps due to the spread of geography, time and people themselves, the veeda-s developed s'aakha-s or recensions. Of the large numbers of s'aakha-s cited, only a few are extant today.
Given the fact that the veeda-s are extremely old and have been passed down from generation to generation only through the word of mouth, the remarkable accuracy with which these voluminous works have been retained over thousands of years is the most singularly unique achievement of mankind. Even now, hypothetically, if one were to destroy all copies of say, Rgveeda, nothing will have been lost. There are people who can recite the entire text by-heart and not an iota will be lost. Imagine what happens if all available copies of the works of, say Shakespeare were to be destroyed! It is foolish to think that writing, printing and all the electronic media we have today give us any extra power or security or stability beyond what God has already given every one of us. Sounds are not ephemeral and transient and written books are not permanent and ever lasting. The basis of this whole universe is sound, vibration, energy.
Indian systems are based on the assumption that every human being is divine and as such as infinite capabilities. Why write down when you can simply memorize? Writing is itself a sign of weakness of the mind! It only takes proper training and practice to manifest the inexhaustible powers lying dormant within every one of us. The purpose of education is to manifest this hidden power. In contrast, the entire western thought, it appears, is based on the assumption that man is a helpless, undependable, unreliable sinner and we need to develop science and technology to overcome the limitations of man, to replace man by machines! Knowledge in the books, in the photocopied articles, in the downloaded web pages or on your hard disks and CDs and memory sticks are like the holy scriptures and great books being carried by donkeys. Only the knowledge you have in your own mind, in our own finger tips will come to your rescue in times of need. It is foolish to become so very dependent on technology, almost to the verge of enslaving ourselves to technology. The greatest truths in the history of mankind have been discovered by people in remote villages with absolutely no sign of any kind of technology. Today you cannot even live your normal daily life without electricity, computers and the Internet. If you are true thinker, academician, researcher, scientist, think of doing your work with no instrument other than your own mind!
Let us now get back into the details of the structure of the four veeda-s.
The oldest of all veeda-s. Said to have 21 s'aakha-s but only the following five are extant. The differences are mostly limited to order of arrangement of the suukta-s.
Rgveeda has 10 maMDala-s divided into 85 anuvaaka-s comprising of 1028 suukta-s containing 10,552 maMtra-s. The first and the eighth maMDala contain the suukta-s of s'atarcin-s and pragaatha-s respectively. The maMDala-s two to seven contain suukta-s revealed to the RSi-s of a particular lineage. For example, second maMDala contains suukta-s revealed to the RSi-s of the gRtsamada lineage and those in the third were revealed to the descendants of vis'vaamitra. The suukta-s of the ninth maMDala are all in praise of the deity sooma pavamaana and are further classified according to their metres. The last maMDala includes a miscellany of suukta-s mostly dealing with metaphysical topics.
There is another alternative structure. There are 8 aSTaka-s, divided into 64 adhyaaya-s (chapters) comprising of 2024 varga-s containing a total of 10,552 maMtra-s.
> braahmaNa-s: aitareeya and kauSiitakii
> araNyaka-s: aitareeya and s'aaMkhaayana
> upaniSat-s: aitareeya and kauSiitakii
yajurveeda branches off into kRSNa (black) and s'ukla (white) yajurveeda. It is not very clear how and why these have come about. kRSNa yajurveeda includes prose along with poetry, therefore perhaps termed black as compared to s'ukla yajurveeda which is purely metrical poetry. Or perhaps kRSNa yajurveeda being more ancient is more difficult to comprehend and hence black.
A. kRSNa yajurveeda: Of the 85 s'aakha-s only the following four are extant:
> braahmaNa-s: taittiriiya
> araNyaka-s: taittiriiya
> upaniSat-s: taittiriiya
> upaniSat-s: kaTHa
B. s'ukla yajurveeda also known as vaajasaneeyii saMhita: Entirely in verse form, resembling Rgveeda, said to have been collected by yaajnyavalkya. Although said to have 17 s'aakha-s, only two are available now:
> braahmaNa-s: s'atapatha, the biggest of all the braahmaNa-s
> araNyaka-s: bRhadaaraNyaka
> upaniSat-s: bRhadaaraNyaka, iis'aavaasya
Hymns selected from Rgveeda and set to musical scale. There are several styles of rendering such as rathaantara saama and bRhat saama. Said to have 1000 s'aakha-s but only three are available now:
The aarcikaa part contains 585 maMtra-s and the uttaraarcikaa part contains 964, totalling to 1549. Except 75, the rest are all from Rgveeda. The total becomes 1821 if we count the repetitions of 272 maMtra-s. (Another figure quoted is 1875).
> braahmaNa-s: taaNDyamahaabraahmaNa (biggest, most important) and eight others
> araNyaka-s: talavakaara or jaiminiiya
> upaniSat-s: chaaMdoogya, keena (also called talavakaara)
Considered to be more recent than other veeda-s. Of the 9 s'aakha-s, only 2 are extant:
There are 6077 maMtra-s in 736 suukta-s spread over 20 kaaMDa-s in 4 prapaaThaka-s. The last kaaMDa borrows heavily from Rgveeda saMhita.
> braahmaNa-s: goopatha
> araNyaka-s:
> upaniSat-s: pras'na, muMDaka, maaMDuukya
Every veedic maMtra is associated with a RSi (the sage to whom it was first revealed), the deevata (the deity to whom it is addressed) and the chaMdas (metre) in which it is cast. There are more than 800 RSi-s and more than 19 chaMdas-s including the minor variations.
The term veeda comes from the root 'vid' - to know. veeda-s are store houses of knowledge. All kinds of topics are included, both spiritual and secular. During the veedic times, there was no distinctions between science, philosophy or religion. The same scientific methods were applied to look for the truth, whatever may be the topic. Mathematics was discussed hand in hand with religious practices. The so called Pythagoras's theorem of geometry was discussed in the context of erecting the altar for performing a veedic sacrifice. Science was not opposed to religion, nor was religion opposed to science. Truth is one. Where is the question of difference when there is only one thing?
India had a formal system of University education much before there was any formal system of education anywhere else in the world. It used to take about 20 years for somebody to master and graduate from such a University. It takes so much of time even today to become an engineer or a doctor or whatever. But the traditional system of education was different in many significant ways compared to the modern, western system of education. The time was different. The language was different. The principles and practices were different. Knowledge had to be sought ardently and gained through great effort and seriousness. Knowledge was not "pushed" onto anybody and everybody. Nothing was written down, you had to go to a guru and seek knowledge. The guru would not simply tell you the final truth in simple plain words. Your knowledge is deep, thorough and perfect only if you have thought, pondered, reflected, questioned, analyzed and meditated upon it for a long time. The guru would like to test you now and then. The same topic may be discussed in different ways at different times based on the pre-requisites and level of maturity of the student, just as kids are taught only positive numbers to start with negative numbers are introduced a bit later. Before negative numbers are taught three minus five would make no sense but later it would get a meaning. Given this, one should not simply dig into some statement from somewhere and start reasoning with it in the light of his modern system of education and training. That would cause apparent contradictions and confusions. One has to be very careful in analyzing and interpreting ancient systems of knowledge. Often we find experts fighting over an issue and the origin of the differences of opinion would most likely be a difference in the background assumptions and interpretations. In the extreme, there are places where X is said with the intention that a true seeker of knowledge will question it and discover for himself that it is in fact not of X that is true. This happens in only extraordinary circumstances and one need need not fear that the entire body of knowledge is totally chaotic and undependable - if X is to be taken as not of X!
To get a complete and correct picture, you will need to read the original texts and the various levels of commentaries on them. Not all books in the market will be dependable. There are many levels of commentaries and the closer you go to the original sources, the better are the chances of the works being more authentic. In particular, books written by western scholars who do not have a deep knowledge of Sanskrit and who have themselves not studied in the traditional system of education in India may be suspect. Do not expect quick and direct answers to your questions. Your assumptions, your definitions, your background will influence the way you understand and interpret the statements. Be ready to put in serious effort to obtain the true, intended message.
Here we therefore attempt only to give a broad picture of the kinds of topics discussed:
1. Deities like agni, iMdra, varuNa and mitra. There are 33 veedic deities - 8 vasu-s, 11 rudra-s, 12 aaditya-s, iMdra and prajaapati. These deities are assigned to the three regions of pRthvi (earth), dyaus (heavens) and the intermediate space of aMtarikSa. These deities may appear like facets of nature but there is clear evidence to show that they are actually facets of brahma, the sole supreme truth. The veeda-s teach monotheism and not polytheism as often mistakenly assumed. It is also not primitive form of nature worship as some think.
2. Origin of the Universe, the true nature of the world and the true nature of human beings. Concepts of jnaana (knowledge), bhakti (devotion), take their origin here. Almost all the topics dealt with in the later parts in veedaMta are found here. God created the world out of Himself and rules over it. (God is considered to be omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent. He cannot 'create' the world because that would mean that He must have existed before the creation and the term creation would lose sense. The world could not have come into existence all on its own out of nothing. Something cannot come out of nothing. It is illogical to say some thing exists without ever being created.) God is ever perfect, infinitely compassionate and easily approachable by a devotee. He is our dearest friend. He grants us immortality. As per the actual processes of creation, both streams of thought namely creation and evolution found their place here. Although the existence of a soul is postulated and immortality prayed for, the life here and hereafter are harmonized - life here and now is not relegated to a secondary position.
3. Secular topics such as marriage, war, eulogy of generosity etc. From these we get to know about the society during those ancient times. Social life during the veedic times was permeated by spiritual consciousness. satya (truth), dharma (righteousness) were extolled. The varNa system had taken roots - based on the disposition and vocation, people were classified into four varNa-s. braahmaNa-s were simple living, high thinking people devoted to study and education. kSatriya-s were brave men interested in safeguarding the country and administering law and order as well as justice. vais'ya-s were those inclined towards trade, commerce as well as agriculture. s'uudra-s were those who served others in various capacities. (It must be noted that these same terms have been twisted and misused today for cheap political mileage and called the 'caste' system. varNa is not the same as caste which is based on birth. A braahmaNa's son may belong to any of the four varNa-s based on his inclinations and profession. So is a s'uudra's son. There was no question of high or low or any class dominating or suppressing or oppressing any other. All this is a twist given at later times by degenerate people for selfish ends. In all societies we find different people showing inclination for and taking up different professions even today. Don't we have ministers, soldiers, teachers, doctors and drivers today in other countries? Can we say drivers must be treated on par with doctors in every respect? Doctors do doctors' work and drivers do drivers' work. Bot have their own respective jobs and both are respected for that.) Monogamy, Polygamy and svayaMvara (the bride choosing her husband) all existed side by side. Agriculture and animal husbandry were the chief means of livelihood. Equitable distribution of wealth was advocated. Civilization was well developed and fine arts were encouraged. Religious practices had achieved a high degree of perfection.
The taittiriiya saMhita mainly describes veedic sacrifices such as paurooDaas'a, yaajamaana, vaajapeeya, raajasuuya, dars'apuurNamaasa and soomayaaga. The vaajasaneeyii saMhita describes sacrifices such as agniSTooma, vaajapeeya and raajasuuya. It must be emphasized that not all veedic sacrifices involved killing of animals. On the other hand, yajurveeda deals with purely mental sacrifices - the inner yajna. It is ignorance that is sacrificed and killed. It is a process of self purification and self realization.
athrava veeda discusses things here and now, and the sacrifices which are a means of achieving them. Diseases and cures, rites for prolonging life, rites for fulfilling one's desires, building construction, trade, commerce, statecraft, penances and propitiatory rites, black magic, philosophical thoughts like those found in the upaniSat-s, are all found here. The concepts of svarga (heaven), naraka (hell), puNya (virtue, merit), paapa (sin) appear.
God the Absolute, is also known by other names such as skambha, ucchiSTa and vraatya. The whole universe has emerged out of Him due to His will and is established in Him. He is the Lord. The Sun, also called roohita (red one) is a symbol of His power. He is also the indwelling spirit of all beings. Those who realize this, go beyond fear. Qualities like satya (truth), diikSa (discipline) and tapas (austerity) are prescribed for man to achieve perfection. The cow was highly venerated and goo-daana (gift of a cow) was considered meritorious. (Cows give milk - healthy, balanced food. From milk we make curds, butter and ghee (clarified butter). We use these in preparing a wide variety of dishes daily at home as also to make sweets. We use these items in worship and in preparing medicines. We make our shoes, drums and other articles from the leather. The cow dung forms good, natural, harmless manure. The cow dung is also used for flooring - the floor becomes smooth and prevents the growth of grass and other weeds. Dried cakes of cow dung form excellent fuel for heating water and cooking. Cow dung can also be used to generate natural gas, a cleaner form of fuel. Ashes from the cow dung cakes are good insecticides and pesticides. Purified form of this ash in fine form is used as a nano material to keep the skin healthy and protect it from skin diseases. Called vibhuuti, this purified ash is worn as an auspicious symbol on the forehead. Even the urine of cow has cleansing and purifying properties. Every part of the cow is useful. Cows are mild domestic animals dependent on us for their survival - they cannot live on their own in the wild. And we find them so very useful. There is absolutely not a single reason why men and cows should not live in harmony. God is one who grants our wishes, gives us everything. Cows give us so much. Cow is God.)
There are several commentaries (bhaaSya, Tiika, vRtti, vaarttika) on the veeda-s. These commentaries are very much useful in properly interpreting and understanding the veeda-s.
The conclusions drawn by the European scholars are often off the mark, for they are not based on saMpradaaya through a guru-s'iSya paraMpara. There are also enough grounds of suspicion to conclude that these scholars were motivated to prove the superiority of Christianity over Hinduism than to study, understand and interpret the veeda-s as such. It is therefore important to write in English projecting the true purport of the veedic tradition not only for the English speaking community of the world but also for the vast majority of Indians who do not know Sanskrit and who have not had the chance to study in the traditional way from a guru.
Snippets:aa noo bhadraaH kratavoo yantu vis'vataH "Let Noble Thoughts Come to us from All Sides" - Rgveeda |