Vedas (वेदाः)

The Vedas (Samskrit: वेद véda, "knowledge") are a large body of sacred ancient texts which have originated in भारतवर्ष || Bharatavarsha or the Indian subcontinent. Composed in Vedic samskrit, these texts constitute the oldest layer of samskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of the world. The great Vedic commentator, of the thirteenth century, Sayana has given a definition of the Veda-

इष्टप्राप्ति - अनिष्टपरिहर्योर - अलौकिकम् - उपयम् यो ग्रन्थो वेदयति स वेदः ||

ishtaprapti-anishtapariharyor-alaukikam-upayam yo grantho vedayati  sa vedah ||

Meaning : The  scripture,  which  describes  the  divine  method  for obtaining what is desirable and for giving up what is undesirable, is called Veda. This definition presents the purpose of the Veda. According to another definition, as per the sage अपस्तम्ब || Apastamba 

मन्त्र - ब्रह्मन्योर् - वेदनामधेयम् ||

mantra-brahmanyor-vedanamadheyam ||

Meaning : 'The Veda is the name given to the Mantras and the Brahmanas’.This definition describes the form of the 'Veda' because it could be divided mainly into these two great divisions--the Mantras and the Brahmanas. Accordingly, मन्त्र || Mantra part is the main part of the Veda and whatever is not Mantra is ब्राह्मण || Brahmana. Here it is interesting to know that many  ancient  definitions  of  Veda,  showing  its  significance,  form  or contents are given in ancient Indian texts. Generally speaking the word वेद || Veda signifies highest, sacred, eternal  and  divine  knowledge  as  well  as  the  texts embodying  that knowledge.

परिचय || Introduction

सनातन धर्म || Sanatana Dharma, the lifestyle of Hindu people living in the Indian subcontinent, advocates that the Vedas are अपौरुषेय ॥ apauruṣeya ("not of a man" and "impersonal, authorless"). However, classical samskrit works which are different from the Vedic texts such as the महाकाव्य || mahakavyas and गद्य काव्य || gadya kavyas by different poets are available in great volumes. These texts are essentially different from the Vedas where the usage of Samskrit language is also different from the Vedic period. Vedic Samskrit is more ancient than classical Samskrit. Long before Panini systematized classical Samskrit grammar, निरुक्तम् || Niruktam was used to interpret Vedic Samskrit words.

Vedas are also called श्रुति || Shrutis ("what is heard") distinguishing them from other religious texts, which are called स्मृति || Smṛti (what is remembered). The Vedas are revelations of ancient sages after intense meditation, passed on to thousands of future generations by शब्द ॥ shabd (sound) or transmitted verbally, thus carefully preserved since ancient times. Texts have been written and preserved in later ages.

In the Mahabharata, the creation of Vedas is credited to Brahma. The Vedic hymns themselves assert that they were skillfully created by ऋषि || Rishis (sages), after inspired creativity, just as a carpenter builds a chariot. The Vedas (sruti) are different from other Vedic era texts such as श्रौत सूत्र || Shrauta Sutras and ग्र्यह सूत्र || Gryha Sutras, which are smriti texts.

Vedic samskrit language being ancient is difficult to understand without the knowledge of Vedangas, especially निरुक्तम् || Nirukta of Maharshi Yaska and the grammar of Panini and Patanjali. Maharshi Yaska's Nirukta is special in that it is not only a dictionary of Vedic words but also an explanatory text for different Vedic terms.

With the availability of modern technological advancements, vast data on various topics is created, in different parts of the world, dispersed all over the globe. Thus, people generated a large number of genuine as well as falsely interpreted data about the Vedas of Bharatavarsha.

Ownership of the Vedas

The ownership of our knowledge systems are mainly in the hands of foreigners (through Indology) or Indians trained by Westerners who write our इतिहास || Itihasa (history) from the colonial standpoint, which is to maintain Western hegemony in academia and promote “Western Universalism”. This strategy of conquest has been in operation since the Edinburgh enlightenment (1750, as cited by Dharampal 2000) which compelled the East India Company to change its barbaric methodologies of conquest used in Europe, the Africas & Americas (Todorov 1974) to a more subtle & devious method to conquer India. The result was a complete infiltration of western false interpretation of Vedas in our knowledge networks through gross error.

Vedic scholarship in India, in the true sense of the term, appears to have ceased with the great work of Maharishi Yaska, albeit with a few exceptions like Swami Dayanand, Shri Aurobindo and Shri Tulsi Ram. Swami Dayananda asserts that the commentaries of modern writers like Sayana, Skanda, Vejikaa, Mahidhara and Western Indologists are gross misinterpretations. Many great Indian scholars endeavor to bring back the great Vedic tradition by translations conducted with Bharatiya perspective. Many drawbacks can be pointed out as to the lack of visibility of Indian Scholars well versed in Vedas.

1. Many vedic scholars are aged seniors who chose to live in distant remote areas, silently practicing their knowledge. Unable to imbibe different modern ways of life their existence has become obscure.
2. Mental and physical connect with the modern systems is lacking owing to simple lifestyle and lack of funds to these scholars.
3. Indian Urban society discusses or views the modern so called "Indology", with the western indoctrination, refusing to accept the fundamental theories of the Vedic scholars.
4. English language given it's present day glory and spread, is grossly insufficient to explain the numerous nuances of the divine language samskrit.
5. Extensiveness of the Vedas and sufficiency of a lifetime to study and interpret them in modern sense requires expertise in both the subject and language which is difficult to achieve in a life time.
6. Invasion of Bharatavarsha by various foreigners have brought about adjustments and alterations in the धार्मिक || dharmic lifestyle as survival tactics against the foreign rulers, which brought about a loss of the fundamental principles advocated by the scriptures.
7. Modernization or replacement of ancient tools of work with modern instrumentation has led to loss of knowledge of such ancient systems which promote dharmic lifestyle inconveniencing the scholars and forcing many of them to adapt to such new lifestyles.
8. Present day adaptation of western ways of life has replaced the ancient lifestyle leading to a cultural loss of vedic rituals and traditions, whereby the younger generations are unwilling to study or practice the older traditions. This led to formation of only a few scholars in the later generations.

Vedic Learning Methodology

The Vedas followed the traditional oral tradition until Vyasadeva’s great contribution of putting it into a written format do so. The titles for scholars who mastered the Vedas were:

1. द्विवेदी || Dwivedi: two Vedas
2. त्रिवेदी || Trivedi: three Vedas
3. चतुर्वेदी || Chaturvedi: four Vedas.

These remain now as surnames of people in India. पण्डित || Pandits (priests) or laypeople who perform pujas or rituals either in the temple, home or workplace offer mantras, called मन्त्र पुष्प || mantra pushpa (a collection of all the four Vedas).This clearly reveals that the four Vedas co-existed and not as the diabolical Indologist claimed, one after the other. The very fact that same mantras are available in different vedas in different formats indicate the oneness of all vedas.

A question may be, "all the मन्त्र || mantras, सूक्त || suktas, and अनुवाक || anuvakas that are being recited now did they exist then"? To answer the non-believer and non-discerning the example of the पुरुष सूक्त || Purusha suktas and other works can be used which makes it clear that the yagna related suktas were not in the same form as presently available but were available in another form. Also the fact that a यज्ञ || Yagna would not take place unless there was one Rik, one Yajasva and one Sama. The Rik must have expanded over time just as trees give us more flowers and fruits time goes yet belong to same species. Similarly, for posterity, the later Rishis invoked the new suktas or mantras based upon their particular इष्ट देव || Ishta Deva which then became a part of ऋक || Rik, यजस्व || Yajasva and साम || Sama Vedas. As they came more into usage they were integrated with the existing Suktas, so the foundational meaning remains as in the Vedas. Over different time periods the देव || Devas nor the क्रिया || kriyas (rituals) did not change their integral meaning. This is the nature of the the सम्प्रदाय || Sampradaya style of गुरु शिष्य || Guru sishya learning (disciplined succession).

This phenomenal system helped disseminate and retain knowledge widely without much difficulty. In the Rikvedic time all were not Rishis. Notably, Vedas were not common knowledge. If we understand the connection of pure lineage or गोत्र || Gotras, the strict disciplinary life in गुरुकुल || Gurukula, the austerity of the Rishis’ lifestyle, the process of protecting secret meanings of Vedas and process of right way of reciting the mantras - it helps us understand that it was possible to protect one integral voice of Vedas. Therefore while many Veda suktas disappeared, it is important to note that they were replaced by new suktas with the same meaning and function. All Acharyas accept that studying the Vedas is mandatory for understanding the integral meaning of Vedas. If every one had accepted every Upanishad has different import, every आचार्य || acharya has different conclusions and according to diversity of teacher there are different understanding of Vedas then there would have been no clash among different schools hence this shows that every one believes that there is only one essential understanding.

The Dharmic (Indian) Worldview

A clash between the ideologies of modernity and the philosophy of civilization of cultures could have dangerous repercussions and this has been a frequently recurring thought in contemporary discourse. To understand the implications of these notions it becomes essential to emphasize that religion and dharma are not synonymous and hence cannot be talked of in the same breath.

Dharma is regarded as the greatest and most valuable contribution to humanity by Bharatavarsha. Dharma is a samskrit expression of the widest import. There is no corresponding word for Dharma in any other language in this world as it is a unique and ancient concept promulgated by rushis since times immemorial. It would be futile to attempt to give any definition of the word. It can only be explained and has a wide variety of meanings. For instance, the word "Dharma" is used to mean न्याय || Nyaya (Justice), what is right in a given circumstance, moral values of life, pious obligations of individuals, righteous conduct in every sphere of activity, being helpful to the the needy, giving charity to individuals in need or for a public cause, natural qualities or properties of characteristics of a living being or things, duty and law as also constitutional law. Mahabharata which is acclaimed as the मानव कर्तव्य शास्त्र || Manava kartavya sastra, has a discussion of this topic in the form of conversation between Yudhistira and Bhishma thus,

तादृशोऽयमनुप्रश्नो यत्र धर्मः सुदुर्लभः ।

दुष्करः प्रतिसंख्यातुं तत्केनात्र व्यवस्यति ॥

प्रभावार्थाय भूतानां धर्मप्रवचनं कृतम् ।

यः स्यात्प्रभवसंयुक्तः स धर्म इति निश्चयः ॥ (Maha. Shanti. 109-9-11)

tādṛśo'yamanupraśno yatra dharmaḥ sudurlabhaḥ |

duṣkaraḥ pratisaṃkhyātuṃ tatkenātra vyavasyati ||

prabhāvārthāya bhūtānāṃ dharmapravacanaṃ kṛtam |

yaḥ syātprabhavasaṃyuktaḥ sa dharma iti niścayaḥ || (Maha. Shanti. 109-9-11)

Meaning : It is most difficult to define Dharma. Dharma has been explained to be that which helps the upliftment of living beings. Therefore, that which helps ensures the welfare of living beings is surely Dharma. The learned rishis have declared that which sustains is Dharma.

धारणाद् धर्म इत्याहुर्धर्मो धारयते प्रजाः |

यत् स्याद् धारणसंयुक्तं स धर्म इति निश्चयः || (Maha. Karna. 69-58)

dhāraṇād dharma ityāhurdharmo dhārayate prajāḥ |

yat syād dhāraṇasaṃyuktaṃ sa dharma iti niścayaḥ || (Maha. Karna. 69-58)

Meaning : The above verse eulogizes Dharma as follows " Dharma sustains the society, Dharma maintains the social order, Dharma ensures the well being and progress of humanity, Dharma is surely that which fulfills these objectives" Therefore, Dharma embraces every type of righteous conduct covering every aspect of life essential for the sustenance and welfare of the individual and society and includes those rules which guide and enable those who believe in God and heaven to attain मोक्ष || moksha (eternal bliss). The necessity of scrupulous practice of Dharma is forcefully expressed in Manusmriti thus:

धर्म एव हतो हन्ति धर्मो रक्षति रक्षितः |

तस्माध्दर्मो न हन्तव्यो मा नो धर्मो हतोऽवधीत्  || (Manu 6-11-15)

dharma eva hato hanti dharmo rakṣati rakṣitaḥ |

tasmādhdarmo na hantavyo mā no dharmo hato'vadhīt || (Manu 6-11-15)

Meaning : Dharma protects those who protect it. Those who destroy Dharma get destroyed. Therefore, Dharma should not be destroyed so that we may not be destroyed as a consequence thereof.

Contemporary knowledge and academia is not able to help us ascertain the right direction in life,. To understand Bharatiyata as experienced by our ancient Rishis and lead a Dharmic life requires revisiting our civilisational heritage through the wisdom bank of the Vedas. Compiling relevant literature that is timely, supportive and relevant to the original वेदविद्या || VedaVidya may be seen as regressive by self-styled modernists and liberals, but this should not deter us as it is an indication of the power of the annihilating forces. Predictions of the future being bleak and bringing destruction are made regularly, yet the same destructive systems are seen as wisdom? Notably, "If the future is seen as destructive, how come revisiting time-tested successful systems is seen as unproductive?"

The compilation of our Dharmic texts also becomes essential as the self-appointed ‘knowledge leaders’ will need some definitive yardstick to judge both the progressive and the destructive. Without such a yardstick, knowledge creation remains the outcome of a whimsical mind, or propaganda for political/territorial gains or media-generated fodder for control of the world’s resources by a few rich corporations, leading to eventual destruction.

The euphoria over the digital revolution and the perceived increase in ‘knowledge' is a chimera, as the increase in information has also seen a parallel decline in knowledge-gathering. Consequently, opinions and beliefs not backed by evidence from primary sources is seen as intellectual rigor. In this alarming situation, it becomes necessary to reclaim our values based on the eternal culture of sanatana dharma that stands as a guidepost for the people of Bharat. At the same time, this endeavor helps support the movement for reclaiming our position of विश्वगुरु || Vishwaguru that guides the world towards renewal and progress.

Translation of Vedas

Translation in the ancient अर्ष || Arsha tradition as done by authentic Vedic scholars is factual and done without prejudice and with no extraneous motive or for an academic agenda. Vedam is verily the भागवत वाणी || Bhagavat Vaani (Words of Brahma) revealed in scientific Vedic samskrit free from local color and historical acts, therefore Vedic language is to be interpreted and understood according to its own laws and structure, and the only key available for such interpretation is the निरुक्तम् || Nirukta of Maharshi Yaska and the grammar of Panini & Patanjali.

A literal translation of the Vedas creates confusions and contradictions as the English language is insufficient to express the deep inner meaning embedded in Vedas. A good commentator, should be adept in languages, carefully choose words, and explain with derivatives to analyse the hidden nuances of meaning within their context but not always can it be understood by the reader.

For example, the literal meaning of the verse,

सुमित्रिय न आप ओषधयः सन्तु || (Yaju. Veda. 36.23)

sumitriya na aapa oshadhayah santu || (Yaju. Veda. 36.23)

Meaning : May the waters, vital forces of life, and herbs be friendly to us and may they be enemies to those who hate us and whom we hate.

The literal meaning is incomprehensible and meaningless. The contextual meaning of this mantra is:

"May waters, tonics, pranic energies and medicinal herbs be good friends of our health system and immunity and let the same waters, tonics, pranic energies herbal medicines act against those ailments, diseases and negativities which injure us, which we hate to suffer and which we love to destroy, moreover let them have no side effects because side effects too help the negativities and injure us".

It becomes a powerful prayer for the well-being of an advanced society, and very logically the next Mantra expounds a prayer for a full hundred years and more of life and health.

तच्चक्षुर्देवहितम् पुरुस्तत् || (Yaju. Veda. 36.24)

tacchakshurdevahitam purastat || (Yaju. Veda. 36.24)

Swami Dayananda wrote in the post-colonized context after independence whereupon he called upon his countrymen "to go back to the Vedas" for eradication of social evils as he opined that the cause of degradation and slavery of Indian nation was the ignorance of true Vedic teaching on which our culture was based and also thrived. It is true that we became independent in 1947, but then we got freedom and not independence. We continue to function as an Anglo-Saxon cultural satellite mainly as a market for its ideology through the English language and a nursery to train a new generation of sepoys and Coolies.

Many works have been compiled lately as an attempt to reconnect our Vedic heritage to our people from which we have been disconnected since the 800-year foreign domination (first by the Arabs and then by the Anglo-Saxons) of our land. As many acharyas say unless our people give up the Asuric principles of Western economists and return to the Vedic path, no progress is possible in social, political, economic and spritual spheres.

We need to revitalize our civilization like the call of Swami Dayananda post-independence to counter the Indologist’s narrative of Caste system, idolatry, untouchability, all types of superstitions and slaughtering of animals in the sacrifices, and even the नर-मेध || Nara-medha (human sacrifices), results of wrong Vedic interpretations, many such things that Hindus had to pay heavily for since the last 300 years.

The central importance of the new-age Vedic translations is that it presents the Vedas from its primary sources, especially in a context where knowledge systems are directed by propaganda from Internet sources and social media and not evidence-based facts.

सम्वाद || Discussion

Western Indology

The study of samskrit in the West began in the 17th century. In the early 19th century, Arthur Schopenhauer drew attention to Vedic texts, specifically the Upanishads. The importance of Vedic samskrit for Indo-European studies was also recognized in the early 19th century. English translations of the Samhitas were published in the later 19th century, in the Sacred Books of the East series edited by Müller between 1879 and 1910. Ralph T. H. Griffith also presented English translations of the four Samhitas, published 1889 to 1899.

Voltaire regarded Vedas to be exceptional, he remarked that:

"The Veda was the most precious gift for which the West had ever been indebted to the East."

Rigveda manuscripts were selected for inscription in UNESCO's Memory of the World Register in 2007.

Indologists Hegemony

The true Dharmic point of view that made us the richest civilization not only economically but culturally has remained unknown, a fact that can be attributed to the Indologist hegemony over global discourse. Until now the Vedas were read and understood in India and the West as interpreted by Sayana and his ‘collective authorship’ or Occidental linguists and missionaries of the East India Company (EIC). Notably, these great scholars' work was used not to defile the Indian narrative but through translations, create their knowledge systems (as in grammar, education systems, science, technology).

Interestingly, Sayana’s and others' commentary of the Vedas and not of ancient authentic vedic scholars like Maharishi Yaska or the more recent Swami Dayananda Saraswati, Sri Aurobindo or Shri Tulsi Ram’s works are used as primary sources by the Indologist or their trained or sponsored Indian scholars. Their work has been commented upon by Shri Aurobindo (page 3, the Secret of the Veda, 1998), thus

“Indian scholar Sayana and we have in our own day the interpretation constructed after an immense labour of comparison and conjecture by modern European scholarship. Both of them present one characteristic in common, the extraordinary incoherence and poverty of sense which their results stamp upon the ancient hymns. When we come to read the hymns as a whole we seem to be in the presence of men who, unlike the early writers of other races, were incapable of coherent and natural expression or of connected thought. ”

The EIC through Indology, a medium used to serve the colonial agenda, translated our works not only to digest our knowledge systems but to create a narrative that show the colonized as ‘uncivilized’ and the white man’s on a mission to save the ‘pagan’. For example, Sayana was deemed a scholar and his works are very popular and freely available on the Internet. Significantly his commentary on the Rigveda was edited by Max Mueller, though under his name is done by ‘collective authorship’ , by Sayana, his brother, students and Max Mueller himself. Max Mueller, the self-styled Indologist, an employee of the colonial East India Company who bore the expenses for published the first volume (1849).

References

1. Narayanacharya, K. S. (2011). Veda Sanskritiya Parichaya. Hubli:​Sahitya Prakashana​.
2. Pandit Ramnarayandatt Shastri. (1955). Mahabharata. Gorakhpur:Gita Press.
3. Kumar, S. (1996). The Vishuddha Manusmriti. Delhi:Arsh Sahitya Prachar Trust.