Sathya Sai Vahini - Post 31

Chapter XI

Values in Vedas

 

Knowing, knowledge, is Veda (Vetthi ithi Vedah). That is, from the Vedas, one can know the code of right activity and the body of right knowledge. The Vedas teach one’s duties from birth to death. 

They describe one’s rights, duties, obligations, and responsibilities in all stages of life —student, householder, recluse, and monk. In order to make plain the Vedic dicta and axioms and enable all to understand the meaning and purpose of the do’s and don’ts, the Vedangas, Puranas, and epic texts appeared, in course of time. So, if one is eager to grasp one’s own significance and true reality, one has to understand the importance of these later explanatory compositions also.

 

Rig Veda

 

Of the Vedas, the first is the Rigveda. It is generally considered to be composed of ten sections. In the first nine sections, hymns in praise of God under the names Agni, Indra, Maruth, etc. are found. Historians and re- searchers have suggested certain theories to explain how these hymns of praise arose. People in those days realized that fire (agni), air (vayu), wind (maruth), etc. were far more powerful than them, so they described their divine qualities and propitiated them.

 

Yajur veda

 

The second Veda, the Yajur-veda, has two recensions (reviews): the Krishna (black) Yajur-veda and Sukla (white) Yajur-veda. This Veda refers to the river Ganga (Ganges) and its region. It is the source of the later (uttara) Mimamsa school of thought and interpretation. The people had by then demarcated the forest areas from the cultivable areas around the villages and had taken to habitation in the villages. 

 

A prominent reason prompted the separation of certain portions of the Veda into the Yajur-veda. The Yajur-veda had seven sections called forest texts (aranyakas), indicating by that very name that they referred more to disciplines and spiritual exercises that can be practised only in the seclusion and silence of the forest.

 

Sama veda

 

The third Veda is the Sama-veda. Many of the hymns (riks) of the Rigveda are repeated in it, but with additional musical notes so that they may be sung during Vedic rituals and ceremonies. So the Sama-veda is mainly musical notation. 

 

The Sama-veda is also referred to as the Bell Veda (Ghana-veda) in order to highlight its musical nature. All musical schools are derivatives of the styles that are marked out by the Sama-veda. All tones and notes are embedded in that Veda.

 

Atharva veda

 

The fourth is the Athar-vana or Atharvaveda. It has been described in many diverse ways. Some have even denied it the status of a Veda. Others say that it is made up of what remained after the collation of the rest. 

In the other Vedas, the might and mystery of the Gods are described. But this Veda mentions the possibility of acquiring certain powers and mysteries by one’s own effort and exercises. This is its speciality. Hatha-yoga (the yoga of postures), the skill of rendering oneself invisible by repeating certain mantras, the eight parts of yoga or communion (ashtanga-yoga) —these are made available for humanity only in this Veda. Of course, by winning the grace of God, one can acquire even skills that are otherwise impossible to attain.

In short, it must be realized that the Vedas are very important and that they cover the entire range of knowledge. They are the source and spring of Indian (Bharathiya) culture. They are the recordings of visions and divine experiences; their source is not someone definite person. 

They were revealed by God Himself, of His own innate mercy. The Vedic inheritance has been preserved pure and unsullied even to this day, because it was handed down from master to disciple in regular succession. Since it is timeless and author less, it is worthy of acceptance. No one can afford to neglect or deny its value.

Love.

 

Sathya Sai Vahini - Post 30

Experience Godhead with faith in the Vedas

 

One fact has to be noted here. Just because people have this knowledge of the immanence of the Divine, and even of its transcendence, they cannot be honored as people of wisdom (jnanis), for the knowledge has to be digested through actual experience. This is the crucial test. It is not enough if the intellect nods approval and is able to prove that Godhead is all. The belief must penetrate and prompt every moment of living and every act of the believer. 

Wisdom should not be merely a bundle of thoughts or a packet of neatly constructed principles. Faith must enliven and enthuse every thought, word, and deed. The self must be soaked in the nectar of the spiritual wisdom.

The intellect is a poor instrument, for what the intellect approves as correct today is rejected tomorrow by the same intellect on second thought! Intellect cannot judge things finally and for all time. Therefore, seek the experience. Once that is won, the Atma can be understood “as all this”. That is the yoga of wisdom (jnana-yoga).

According to the Indian (Bharathiya) way of thought, the Vedas are taken as the voice of God. Thus, the Vedas are the primary source of all knowledge for Indians. Everything is tested based on the Vedas. The ancient sages have laid down that what agrees with the Vedas is agreeable to people and what does not thus agree cannot agree with them. 

The Vedas were not spoken by humans or composed by men and women. They were heard and recorded by sages and transmitted by guru to pupil for generations by word of mouth. The guru recited, and the pupil listened and recited just as the guru did, with the same care and correctitude. Thus, the Vedas have been handed down for centuries. No one can determine the exact dates when the Vedas were first heard or recited. Therefore, they are taken as eternal (sanathana).

Vedas: the voice of God in eternity

 

At this point, we have to keep in mind another important truth. All other religions prevalent in the world hold as authoritative communications made to some holy persons by God Himself in His corporate Form, or through some superhuman personalities or embodiments of parts or portions of Divinity. Indians do not follow this line. They declare that the Vedas are based on no human authority; they do not depend on any person for their validity. They are emanations direct from God; they are primeval; they are their own authority and validity. They were not written down or composed, constructed, or put together.

The cosmos or creation is limitless, eternal, with no beginning or end. So too, the voice of God, namely the Vedas, have no limit; they are eternal; they have no beginning nor end. Vid, the root from which the word Veda is derived, means “to know”. When knowledge began, the Vedas manifested. Sages (rishis) visualized and announced them. They are the “see-ers of mantras”.

The Vedas have two major sections: the Karma-kanda and the Jnana-kanda. 

In the Karma-kanda, a number of different sacrifices are mentioned, in which oblations are offered in the sanctified fire. Most of them have been given up by Indians in recent times, since it has become difficult to perform them with the exactitude the Vedic rules prescribe. Some still continue in a very attenuated form. In the Karma-kanda, moral codes are insisted upon very much. The moral rules and restrictions regulating life and conduct refer to the student (brahmachari), house- holder (grihastha), recluse (vanaprastha), and monastic (sanyasa) stages. Also, the Karma-kanda declares what is right and wrong for people following various professions and occupying different statuses. These are being followed here and there, in some thin form, by people in India.

The Jnana-kanda is called the end of the Vedas (Vedanta), the goal, the finale. It is enshrined in the Upanishads. Adherents of the dualistic, qualified non-dualistic, and non-dualistic (dwaitha, visishta-adwaitha, and adwaitha) schools of philosophical thought, worshipers of Siva, Vishnu, Sakthi, Surya, and Ganapathi —all accept the supreme authority of the Vedas. They may interpret the Upanishads and other texts according to their own predilections and intellectual calibre, but no one dare question the authority of the Veda or Vedanta. So, it is possible to use the words Hindu, Indian (Bharathiya), and Vedanthin for the same person.

Currently, the various schools of philosophical thought may appear difficult to comprehend or as derived from unripe understanding. But when the matter is thought over in quiet, or the texts are studied in silence or investigated without prejudice, it will become clear that they have all relied on the points raised and the conclusions arrived at in the Upanishads. The Upanishads are being symbolized and worshiped in image form in temples and in private shrines, as a tribute to this universal appeal. They have entwined themselves, inseparably, in our lives.

“The Vedas are endless (Anantho vai Vedaah).” But they were reduced into four collations, and their essence was preserved in them. For promoting peace and prosperity in the world, the four were taught and propagated. They are the Rig-, Sama-, Yajur-, and Atharvana-Vedas. They uphold righteousness (dharma), proclaim the reality, and promote peace and harmony by developing among people the attitudes of worship, music, and adoration and also by cultivating skill in weaponry and war. They present the ideal before people and exhort them to follow it.

Whether the Indian is aware of it or not, invariably, every right act of the Indian will have some Vedic injunction or prohibition behind it as the regulator or the illuminator. From marriage rites to funeral rites and even rites for the propitiation of the ancestral spirits, the Vedas are the guides. A true Indian should never forget the Vedas or be ungrateful to them. The dualists, qualified monists, monists — all direct their lives according to lines laid down in the past by sages. But they do not now know the origin and the purpose of these guidelines. If only they did, the fruit would be much more plentiful and permanent."

Today's post, taken from SS Vahini, is self-explanatory and readers should be able to understand on reading the post sincerely.

 

Love.

 

Sathya Sai Vahini - Post 29

Essence of Jnana yoga, taken from SS Vahini and posted in an earlier post is taken up in this post.

 

Extract from Swami’s writing on the path of Jnana

 

•       “In the vast ocean of ISNESS, or truth (sath), all objects are but drops, in a jnana yogi’s view. 

•       Wisdom-yogis also yearn to merge in the centre, the core of reality, away from the tangle of apparent diversity. 

•       They exert themselves to become the Truth, not only to become aware of it. Of course, as soon as they are aware of it, they become it. 

•       They see and experience only one unbroken, unchallenged stream of bliss-consciousness. 

•       They realize that the power and energy that vitalize the tiniest of the tiny and the vastest of the vast is the same divine Principle. 

•       They see all elements — earth, fire, water, wind, and sky — as the divine itself and all beings — humanity, beast, bird, and worm — as emanations from God and therefore fully divine.

•       It is not enough if the intellect nods approval and is able to prove that Godhead is all. The belief must penetrate and prompt every moment of living and every act of the believer. 

•       Faith must enliven and enthuse every thought, word, and deed. The self must be soaked in the nectar of the spiritual wisdom.

•       The Vedas were not spoken by humans or composed by men and women. They were heard and recorded by sages and transmitted by guru to pupil for generations by word of mouth. 

•       The guru recited, and the pupil listened and recited just as the guru did, with the same care and correctitude. 

•       Vid, the root from which the word Veda is derived, means “to know”. When knowledge began, the Vedas manifested. Sages (rishis) visualized and announced them. They are the “seers of mantras”.

•       The Jnana-kanda is called the end of the Vedas (Vedanta), the goal, the finale. It is enshrined in the Upanishads.” 

 

Swami Sivananda writes on this path, thus:-

 

All-pervading ocean of Light I am OM OM OM

Infinity I am OM OM OM

All-pervading infinite Light I am OM OM OM

Vyapaka Paripoorna Jyotirmaya Brahman I am OM OM OM

Omnipotent I am OM OM OM

Omniscient I am OM OM OM

All Bliss I am OM OM OM

Satchidananda I am OM OM OM

All purity I am OM OM OM

All glory I am OM OM OM

All Upadhis (limiting adjuncts such as body, mind, etc.,) will be sublated. All Granthis (knots of heart, viz., Avidya, Kama and Karma – ignorance, desire, and action) will be cut asunder. 

The thin veil, Avarana, will be pierced. The Pancha Kosha Adhyasa (superimposition) will be removed. You will rest doubtless in Satchidananda state. You will get highest Knowledge, highest Bliss, highest Realization and highest end of life. ‘Brahma Vit Brahmaiva Bhavati’. You will become Suddha Satchidananda Vyapaka Paripoorna Brahman. Nasti Atra Samsayah’, there is no doubt of that.

There is no difficulty at all in Atma-Darshan, in Self-Realization. You can have this within the twinkling of an eye as Raja Janaka had, before you can squeeze a flower with fingers, within the time taken for a grain to fall when rolled over a pot. You must do earnest, constant and intense practice. You are bound to succeed in two or three years.

No flowery talk or verbosity can make a man Brahman. It is constant, intense, earnest Sadhana and Sadhana alone can give a man direct Aparoksha Brahmic realization (Svanubhava or Sakshatkara) wherein he sees Brahman just as he sees the solid white wall in front of him and feels Brahman, just as he feels the table behind him. Practice, practice, practice and become established in Brahman.”

 

Love.