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VEDIC DHARM
(Introduction to the Vedas)
The Four
Vedas
Vedas:
Knowledge for Humanity
How did God reveal the Vedic knowledge? Ideology of Vedic
Teachings Religion of Humanity
Difference:
Humans and Animals
Importance of Religion Science and Religion
Vedas: Revealed Knowledge
Vedas are not only the most
valued, genuine and sacred books of the Hindus but are also the first and
foremost books of world literature. They are the storehouse of knowledge. The
Hindus regard them as the books of divine knowledge as well as the root of Vedic
Sanatan religion. The word “Sanatan” means ‘right from the
beginning.’ They are the source of all succeeding Vedic literature. Manu says
“Vedo akhilo dharm mulam” i.e. Ved is the main root of all knowledge relating to
righteousness.
Many mantras (verses) of the
Vedas themselves describe Vedic mantras as having been revealed by God and as
such not created by any human being. They sing the dignity and glory of the
Vedas.
God has bestowed humans with
knowledge for their progress and well-being. It is therefore natural to accept
that this knowledge must have been given to humans at the time of creation so
that they may follow the path of righteousness.
It is the unanimous view of
all the sages and seers of India that the Vedas were revealed at the beginning
of human creation.
As far as the subject matter
of the Vedas are concerned, Indian scholars maintain that the Vedas teach in
short or in detail a wide range of knowledge. This includes knowledge on:
Ø
Action and devotion.
Ø
Yog (union with God by means of
thought and meditation).
Ø
Righteousness.
Ø
Wealth.
Ø
Desires and salvation.
Ø
Parigrah (what to accumulate) and
tyag (what to give up).
Ø
Preya (actions which are appealing
to follow but are cause of suffering in the end).
Ø
Shreye (path of righteousness which
is difficult to follow but leads to eternal happiness).
Ø
Bhautik, daivik and adhyatmik
(material, relating to nature and spiritual respectively).
Ø
Human life and means of its
progress and development etc.
There is nothing related to
human life, material or spiritual, which has not been referred to in the Vedas.
Vedic Dharm is the way of
life based on the four Vedas.
Discussing the subject
matter of the Vedas, Swami Dayanand Saraswati has stated that Vedas deal with
four classes of subjects namely:-
v
Jyan (knowledge in general).
v
Karm (action in general).
v
Upasana (communion with God).
v
Vijyan (philosophy or metaphysics).
Jyan
(knowledge) is the first subject of the Vedas. The Vedas are the store-house of
knowledge of two kinds namely, material and spiritual. The origin of Astronomy,
Mathematics, Medical Science (Ayurveda), Physics, Botany, Zoology and other
subjects, is found in the Vedas.
Karm
means all types of actions (activities) physical or mental, with or without a
desire for any reward. The Vedas teach all these and explain in short or in
detail all aspects and needs of human conduct which may be helpful in making the
human life cultured and uplifting. Celibacy, education, relation between the
teacher and the student, married life, social order, politics, administration
and discipline, governance, charity, goodwill and co-operation, all have been
explained in the Vedas. Besides, emphasis has been laid on unity between
physical and mental actions as well as knowledge and action. The Vedas instruct
humans to attain all the four objects of life viz., righteousness (dharm),
wealth (arth), fulfillment of desires (kaam) and salvation (moksh).
Upasana
means meditation and communion with the Almighty God. The Vedas have laid
emphasis on the worship of God.
Vijyan
or metaphysics means realisation or acquiring correct knowledge of all things
ranging from the Almighty God to the ordinary blade of grass and tiny insects.
Vedic philosophy deals with the nature of existence, truth and knowledge.
The Vedas contain all the
knowledge for righteous living. The knowledge is given in the form of formulas.
The Rishis developed their knowledge on the basis of these formulas. Similarly,
various weapons, transmissions and other technical things have been developed on
the basis of these formulas. There are a few formulas working in the universe.
They are called RITAM i.e. formulas which remain constant, such as sunrise,
sunset, day and night and so on. All these formulas are contained in the Vedas.
It depends upon man as to how much he develops them.
The Vedas are written in
Sanskrit which was the first language of mankind. But later as groups of people
moved all over the world and lost the links, they could not maintain one form of
the language and eventually many incorrect words came into existence which
constituted a number of languages different from one another. We have examples
of such variance even, today. The English language, which is spoken differently
in England, India and USA is the best example to explain the theory.
Vedas: Knowledge for
Humanity
The Vedas are divine
knowledge, given by God for the benefit of all souls. This knowledge has been in
existence since the beginning of the human creation. The Vedas are not meant for
any particular religion, sect or faith. Their teachings are universal and are
for all mankind. Vedic mantras, therefore, should not be interpreted as having
their relation with any particular sect or faith. In fact these books contain
morals, principles and teachings for the welfare of the entire humanity.
How did God reveal the Vedic knowledge?
The Atharvaved says, “Who is
that Great Being who revealed the Rigved, the Yajurved, the Samved and
Atharvaved? He is the Supreme Spirit Who created the universe and sustains it.”
Again, says the Yajurved “The Great Ruler of the Universe, Who is Self-
existent, All-pervading, Holy, Eternal and Formless, has been eternally
instructing His subjects
-
the immortal souls-in all kinds of
knowledge for their good through the Vedas.”
One might ask, being
formless how could God reveal the knowledge (Ved) without the use of the organs
of speech, as in the pronunciation of words the use of such organs as the palate
and of a certain amount of effort with the tongue are very important?
God being Omnipresent and
Omnipotent does not need the organs of speech in order to reveal the Vedas to
the human souls. This is so because the organs of speech, such as the mouth, the
tongue and other organs are needed in pronouncing words, only when you want to
speak to another person and not when you are speaking to yourself. It is our
daily experience that various kinds of mental processes and the formation of
words are continually going on in our minds without the use of the organs of
speech. Even on shutting your ears with the fingers, you can notice that many
different varieties of sound are capable of being heard that are not produced by
the use of the organs of speech. In the same way, God instructed human souls and
revealed the knowledge by virtue of His Omniscience and Omnipresence, without
the use of the organs of speech. After the formless God has revealed the perfect
knowledge of the Vedas in the soul of a human being by virtue of His presence
within it, human being then teaches it to others through speech.
Thus in the beginning, God
revealed the four Vedas to four Rishis (seers). He revealed Rigved to
Agni Rishi, Yajurved to Vayu Rishi, Samved to Aditya Rishi and Atharvaved to
Angira Rishi while they were in deep meditation. Among all Rishis these
four were the purest, therefore God revealed the true knowledge to them only.
Then these Rishis passed on this knowledge to others through speech.
Ideology of Vedic
Teachings
Vedic Dharm teaches human
beings never to hate a person just because the person has a different line of
thought. The followers of Vedic Dharm are very tolerant. They see one and same
God existing in every person. They feel the very soul they have, in each
creature, even in animals and insects. They give importance to the soul and not
to the physical things like sex and colour. They believe that human beings can
be united only on spiritual level. They want the peace which prevailed in the
Vedic period, when there was only one religion
-
the Religion of Humanity and all lived in harmony assisting each other
in good and bad times.
A Vedic Dharm follower
prefers spiritual progress to the material one in all his/her actions. He/she
knows that it is the soul which is more important in the world and not the body,
because the body is destroyed after death and the immortal soul enters a new
body in the next birth, according to its deeds. He/she also knows that it is
wrong to think that there is no other birth or that the soul is also destroyed
with the body.
A Vedic Dharm follower fears
committing sins because he/she knows that once the sin is committed he/she has
to suffer the consequences either in this life or next births. He/she uses
his/her body, family, society and the world as the means for spiritual
upliftment. He/she knows that God has created this world for the elevation of
his/her soul and not for enjoyment alone. For a Vedic Dharm follower, “freedom
from bondage of life and death” is the main objective of life and he/she tries
to attain purity and perfection in the present birth which would bring him/her
that freedom and salvation. He/she knows that it is foolish to seek pleasure in
the worldly things like drugs, drinks or sex because pleasures are just
temporary and nothing but temptations. They all result in various diseases and
miseries. Therefore, a Vedic Dharm follower prefers spiritual bliss to these
momentary pleasures which, in fact are obsessions, and tries to avoid them as
much as possible. He/she knows that these obsessions look very attractive but
they lead us to disaster. He/she knows that God has given him/her intellect to
use his/her discretion in the right way. He/she knows that the right thing is
that which brings him/her spiritual progress and eternal bliss and the one which
tempts him/her towards physical pleasures is wrong.
Religion of Humanity
According to Vedic
philosophy there is only one religion
- the
Religion of Humanity. This religion was given by God to human beings, after the
world was created. The Religion of Humanity has been explained in the Vedas
which were revealed by God.
A true religion is one which
applies to all men and women without any discrimination. For example, ‘do not
steal’ is one of the principles of religion. This saying applies to everyone in
the world. The teachings of a religion are there to make all human beings
righteous people. There is only one religion and that is the Religion of
Humanity. All the people should follow this religion if they want happiness and
peace.
Religion of Humanity
comprises of a number of qualities and characters which a person must possess to
be righteous. The main ones according to Manusmriti are as follows:
1.
DHRITI
- patience, firmness and
stability.
2.
KSHAMA
- tolerance and
forgiveness.
3.
DAM
- self-control and
contentment.
4.
ASTEY
- not to steal or
conceal, unselfishness.
5.
SHAUCH
- cleanliness, purity and
honesty.
6.
INDRIYA NIGRAH
- control of senses,
control of desires, celibacy.
7.
DHEE
- experience gained from
the actions based on true knowledge.
8.
VIDYA
- knowledge (material and
spiritual).
9.
SATYAM
- truth.
10.
AKRODH
- not to get angry,
avoiding tension.
Righteous person is one who
follows the above qualities in thoughts, words and actions.
Difference between Humans
and Animals
The Vedic philosophy states
that it is only the practise of righteousness that differentiates humans from
animals. The shlok “Ahar nidra bhay maithunam cha samanyam etad pashubhih
naranam. Dharmo hi tesham adhiko vishesho dharm hina pashubhih samana” says
that instincts of eating, sleeping, being fearful and reproducing are same in
both humans and animals. Those who follow the path of righteousness are regarded
as humans and those who do not are regarded as animals.
In other words humans eat,
so do animals, humans sleep so do animals, humans are fearful of certain things
so are animals and humans reproduce and so do animals. These instincts and
actions are same in humans and animals. If our instincts and actions are limited
as to those of animals then we cannot be classified as humans. Animals cannot
differentiate right from wrong. They function by God given natural instincts.
They cannot develop their natural instincts like humans. A human being tries to
learn a variety of true knowledge and skills and puts them to right use so that
he/she can attain happiness, peace and finally salvation. God has provided human
beings with all the necessary things to uplift their physical, mental,
intellectual and spiritual life. Animals cannot rise above their natural
instincts.
Importance of Religion
The purpose of following the
path of religion is to attain salvation. The road to emancipation goes through
this world only. The Gita says that a person “who could not learn how to free
himself from vices in this very world can never attain salvation.” Salvation
means freedom from bondage which means freedom from the cycle of life and death
for a long period of time. How can a person, who could not free himself/ herself
from very petty things of the world like passions, unnecessary desires, bad
habits, worries, tensions and sufferings, think of breaking the strong invisible
chains of bondage? It means that we must, first of all, relieve ourselves from
these worldly vices which so easily overpower us in our day-to-day life. This
can be done only when we put the religious principles into our daily practice,
because it will then refine our brain and mind and consequently our conduct and
behaviour. This will as a result free us from worldly miseries.
Nobody can expect to get out
of this worldly trap without taking the help of religion. The elements of
religion like speaking the truth, practising non-violence, doing away with bad
habits, behaving with affection and love are all meant to be practised daily and
at all times. Then only can we have spiritual refinement. Thus there is no doubt
that religion is not a thing of fashion or show; it is a part and parcel of our
daily lives.
Science and Religion
The concepts of Vedic
religion are very scientific. Vedic religion is based not only on faith, but on
reason too. It explains the fundamental laws of the universe which are nothing
but science. This religion, just like science, follows the procedure of
observation, analysis and conclusion. All the Rishis followed these three
scientific steps to finalize the religious principles.
These Rishis like
scientists, saw the Eternal Law in the universe, which is called Truth and
preached it to the human-beings. The Vedic religion says, “if you want to
realise God, follow His Eternal Law which is explored by the scientists and
explained by the Rishis on the basis of the information given by God in
the Vedas”. God created this world, which runs according to the Eternal Law made
by Him. He Himself explained these laws in His revelation
-
the Vedas - which the Rishis
realised and explained in simple terms for the benefit of the common person. The
scientists explored these very principles through their wisdom, which were
ca1led scientific principles. Therefore, the Vedas and the Vedic religion is
nothing but science.
However, some people
preached things on their own. They did not know the Vedas; nor were they
scientists. Hence, their preaching went against science and the Eternal Law.
They are based on ignorance and blind faith. The Vedic religion, which is called
Vedic
Dharm, comprises .of two kinds of
teachings
-
one meant for material progress
(abhyuday) and another for spiritual progress (nishreyas,). We may
say that religion is made up of two sciences
-
spiritual science and material science.
Both are necessary for human beings.
Material science affects
communion with the matter and the Eternal Law which is maintaining the universal
system while spiritual science makes a person mentally, intellectually and
spiritually progressive and affects communion with God. The aim of material
science is to acquire knowledge of the universe and its law and its application
in the material world, while the aim of the spiritual science is to acquire
realisation of the spiritual world running according to that very Eternal Law
and application of these laws in life. As a result a person never deviates from
the divine path.
It is shocking that material
science today has moved away from its real objective. This may be so because it
has discarded the spiritual science. In other words, it has isolated itself from
religion. It must be borne in mind that material science without religion is
fatal for mankind. Similarly, the spiritual science based on blind faith only,
leads a person to the path of destruction. This kind of faith never leads a
person towards God.
Adapted from ‘Dharmic
Shiksha (Vedic Religious Knowledge) – Form Six & Seven’, Arya Pratinidhi Sabha
of Fiji, 2005.
Copyright: Arya
Pratinidhi Sabha of Fiji
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