Sri Sathya Sai Speaks

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.

This is why the ancients taught the Vedangas and other related texts even before the pupils learned the Vedas.

This was a must in the hermitage schools of the past. In those days, the Indians (Bharathiyas) studied the Fourteen Spiritual Subjects (Vidyas). The Vedas were learned by rote. The master of the Vedas who had learned the Vedas in this manner was called inert (jada)! But the word did not convey the meaning that he had not known anything. It only meant that he had nothing more to learn and was therefore “inactive” and “content”. Through the study of the Vedas, he had become master of all knowledge. In order to make this human career worthwhile, the study of the Vedas was considered very essential. The stream of Indian culture always emphasized the Vedas as the supreme authority for deciding the values of human living.

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 researchers 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.

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.

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.

The Rigveda Aryans lived on the banks of the Sindhu river, while the Yajur-veda came to their awareness when they were on the banks of the Ganga. The Sama-veda songs are also visualizations of the same era, but the people seem to have occupied even the middle region of India.

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 some one 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 authorless, it is worthy of acceptance. No one can afford to neglect or deny its value.

Whatever may be the diversities in contents, commentators agree that the essential teaching of all four Vedas is the same. The sections dealing with rites, modes of worship, and conclusions of inquiry help to achieve the four goals of life: dharma, wealth (artha), desire (kama), and liberation (moksha). Since it is very hard to master the Vedas, we have developed a vast literature on traditional laws (smrithi) to expound these texts that were “heard” and passed down orally (sruthi texts) - the epics and historical legends (puranas and ithihasas). Farsighted seers composed these out of historical and legendary incidents and events.

Activity (karma) and spiritual wisdom (jnana) are related as cause and effect, so the sections of the texts and laws that emphasized activity led to the discovery of new facets of truth and rendered the ideas of a transcendent God clearer and nearer. So too, the discovery of clearer concepts of God through spiritual inquiry along the path of wisdom fed “activity” with better meaning and higher purpose. The benefit of activity was proportionate to the faith, and the faith in activity was proportionate to the awareness of God won through wisdom. For involving oneself in good activities, spiritual wisdom is an essential prerequisite. That wisdom has ultimately to be derived from the Vedas; it is based on the teachings of the Vedas.

Activity (karma) is, really speaking, the practice of dharma. The Upanishads give us guidance on what has to be done and what has to be avoided on the spiritual journey. They direct us to revere the mother as God, revere the father as God, revere the preceptor as God, and revere the guest as God. They also warn us that truth and dharma should not be neglected. So, there are both positive and negative instructions - follow these counsels, not others. Whatever conduces to your progress in goodness, accept; avoid other counsels. Thus do the Upanishads instruct.

In these centuries, the King himself studied in hermitages at the feet of Upanishadic sages and helped others to study by granting economic aid profusely to the centres of learning that shone as repositories of Vedic lore. As the king, so the subjects. Fostering the Vedas meant fostering the Vedic scholars and practitioners. At the present time, encouragement is afforded and scholarship is honoured in other branches of learning. Vedic scholars are not given similar encouragement and emoluments. This important aspect has to be attended to.

Dharma protects those who protect it (Dharmo rakshati rakshitah), says the scripture. If people come forward to foster the sources of dharma, that good act, by itself, will help foster those who do it.

The study of the Vedas has become today the task of the economically weak. People have reconciled themselves to this situation. They associate the study with such a sad and pitiable picture. Vedic studies have come down to this deplorable pass. The very pundits who have attained scholarship in the Vedas are using it as a commercial item that can be sold. They do not demonstrate the value of Vedic study in the peace and harmony of their lives and thus win reverence for the Vedas by personal example. The Vedas are being misused by them for earning a pittance, rather than for liberation and peace. This is why dharma is receiving a setback and anxiety and fear are spreading among people. The world can win back peace and harmony only when such people are persuaded to practise the ideals laid down in the Vedas and thereby serve as beacon-lights to guide mankind aright. Otherwise, downfall is inevitable.

The Indian (Bharathiya) spiritual stream has, until the present times, fertilized Vedic learning and practice.

Its message has always been, “Journey forward along the Vedic path.” One may dilate on Vedanta and Vedas, but unless one holds forth the value of these ideals on the basis of one’s own experience and practice, it is a waste.

This truth has been forgotten by these people. Let them awake in time and save the traditions and values of the ageless Vedic culture.