Deivathin Kural # 44 of (Vol 2) of 08 Nov 2007.

Om Namah Sivaya.
Deivathin Kural # 44 of (Vol 2) of 08 Nov 2007.
(Continued from DK # 43 of 05 Nov 2007. We are to remind the readers that herein, 'he' as a word stands for 'she' as well. Words in Sanskrit script not being available, the transliteration spellings and thereby the pronounciation, especially of names may be at variance from what it should be!)
What is the Main Message of the Vedas?
266. Vedas talk about many subjects. Upanishads too cover many areas of knowledge. So to say that, Upanishads ie., Vedantam is mainly concerned about 'Atma Satchatkaram' and to claim that to be the main message of Vedas, is not easily acceptable. Agni Hotram, Soma Yagas, Satra Yagas, many Yagas called Ishtis, many procedures, ceremonies and functions with elaborate Rules and Regulations; are all to be found in Vedas. How to decide as to what is the central message? What is to be done in a marriage; what is the drill when a baby is born; how to do the namakaranam or aksharabyasam; how to conduct the obsequies when someone dies; daily pooja and rituals in a house-hold; how to manage the government at the state and national level; how to behave in a scholarly gathering; how does the student behave towards the Guru; how should the Guru deal with the Sishyas; how to treat vadam, kapham and piththam; the measurements of the sanctum sanctorum in a temple; what should be the type of stone selected for making a statue; and so on and so on, are all covered by the Vedas! How to decide as to what is the central message?
267. Other than Yagas and Yagnas, many devotionary paths are mentioned in the Vedas. Different procedures for meditation are described. How does the Atma enter the physical body and how finally the body disintegrates and how the Atma reassumes another form, are all elaborated and dwellt upon. Many procedures and treatments are covered by Ayur Veda. There are procedures described as to how to offset the henious influence of transitory planets as well as human opponents! What is their main message? Why did Veda come into being? Katopanishad says that, 'all the Vedas together are talking about one thing only. That is the Onkara Pranava, the meaning, source and material of all existance! Question still arises that, the Vedas talk about so many deities, power-beings, materials, concepts and principles; "Is there a Central Message at all?"
268. There was one Judge Sadasiva Iyer, whose brother was a member of Mysore Maharaja's Ashthana, by the name, Paramasiva Iyer. This Paramasiva Iyer used to assert, "Vedas are physical sciences. It talks about Goelogy and Geography, Astronomy and Medicine!". Many more say many more things! "Sun and Moon and the Stars were and always are thought provoking. So are many events of Nature. Those who had imagination and poetical expression, would say something, about such things. What ever was said, came to be collected and repeated with additions and subtractions. That is how Vedas came into being." This is the bland view of some Westerners. When you look at all this, the statement of the Upanishad, that all Vedas are talking about only one thing seems to be, far from the truth! There is a slokam about Ramayanam:- "veda vedye pare pumsi jate dasaratatmaje I Veda: prachedasaadaaseet saatchaat ramayanaatmanaa II" 'Vedavedye'- -that someone, to be known by the Vedas. Who is He? 'pare pumsi'--the Parama Purusha, took Avatara as Sri Rama! So Vedas said, 'Once that man to be known by us Himself has taken Avatara, let us come down on earth as the child of Valmiki as the Kavya of Ramayana', is the message of this sloka. Here also the Param Porul, Parama Purusha, The Thing to be known; the Matter; the purpose; the Lakshya; the Aim; the Destination; The Thing to be understood, known, achieved, obtained, got, attained; 'That-You' is 'tat-tvam' is 'tatvam'. As Katopanishad says, "...sarve veda:..", in Baghawat Gita too, Sri Krishna says, "Vedeischa sarvai: aham eva Vedya:"-- "In all Vedas, I am the one to be known!".
269. When we look at all this, it is clear that, though the Vedas do talk of many things, put together, the purpose is to draw our attention to one main issue or Lakshyam. Then the question can still remain, as to why should the Vedas go about it in such an indirect way? That one subject matter can only be known or understood or even comprehended, only by use of many methods. Yoga, Dhyana, Tapas, Yagnas and Velvi, Daily prayers and Nitya Karma Anushatanas, Conduct of Marriages, Running of Government, Social life. Carpentary, Tactics and Strategy, Poetry and Architecture, Sculpture and Music, all of them finally lead you on to that one essential truth; which is the purpose of the Vedas to draw our attention to. That one ultimate, call it what you want; is the one and only real thing. Everything else is all changing into something else; disappearing, vanishing, disintegrating into nothingness; without a trace of their having been; with no evidence or foot-prints even. The trouble is that, all the other transitory, ephemeral, temporary, short-lived, fleeting, impermanent, momentary things are the only ones that come within our purview or perspective! Through all that, the Vedas has to guide us to the one and only Everlasting Permanent Truth! (Once again, there are as many paths as there are people in this world. Your path may not be suitable to your own kith and kin! So, Vedas keep all the avenues of access open for the sake of all and sundry!)
270. If we have to get to know that Truth, being pointed out by the Vedas, our minds should be trained to come back to that one idea repeatedly, For this, we have to have some disciplinary practices, to bring the mind and body under a semblance of control. To do Yaaga; to give alms to the poor and needy; do Tapasya; help in building temples; do social service; and so on, are all methods of cleaning up one's own mind only. "chitta vruddhi nirodha:", is to block the mind from its habitual oscillations. All the methods are directed at enabling us to turn towards the right direction, so as to move closer to the understanding of that One Truth.
'Veda', means to 'know'. By understanding that, which would be tantamount to understanding everything to be known, is the Atma. As the 'foot-print' indicates the fact that a man has been there, all the things of this world are His foot-prints, says the Upanishad, Brihadaranyaka.(I.4.7.) To announce about that Atma is the purpose of all the Vedas. Whether it is the whole lot of Karma-actions of the start of the Vedas; or the actionless-Gnana of the Veda-Anta; the start of the start and the end of the end is all about Easwara / Paramatma. While offering a flower to the statue of a God or welcoming a Mahatma amongst our midst, we chant a Mantra, "...yo vedadou swaraproktho vedante cha prathishtita: ..", meaning, '...the one who is mentioned as Easwara in the beginning of the Vedas, and established in the End of Vedas(Vedanta) also...'. The Karma of the early portion of the Vedas and the Gnana of the end portion of the Vedanta, are not at cross purposes. Thousands of varied Karma and the One Gnana; are different only in terms of mehtods and means to achieve the one and only Mission! It can also be compared with, so many paths and trails up the mountain and the one pinnacle of eminence!
271. All the actions recommended by the Vedas for practice by the aspiring Saadhaks, is to enable him to realize his own self, the Subject. There is no other Object of the Vedas. But, the greatest trouble is that, the Saadhak's own five senses, are directed towards everything of the world other than his self! That part, he takes for granted as the Body, Mind, Intellect complex. Katopanishad talks about it.(IV.1.) When we are not listening to the lecture and paying attention elsewhere, we are said to be 'distracted' . For that, the word used in Tamil is, "...paraak paarkiraan.. ." and the Sanskrit word for that is, 'paraang mukha:'. So, if you simply say, 'don't look elsewhere, pay attention!', no one is going to listen. Make him or her do many things, which are individually, personally ennobling and elevating; and socially, collectively useful and beneficial; slowly but surely, the person is trained to look inwardly! Integration is taught after the student has learnt about differentiation. That knowledge on knowing which everything else becomes known, can only be known after the due process of 'knowing, analysing and evaluating', has been learnt! Short of it, you may pick up a piece of Gold or Diamond; and throw it off as dirt!
272. For this purpose, all the Vidyas, Upasanas, Karmas, Arts and Crafts, Social Responsibilities and Duties; are all detailed in the Vedas and Upangaas! By doing work through the body, the wrong notion that we are only this body, will slowly dissolve. The more we give our minds to the various principles, siddhantas, concepts of the Vidyas and so on; more likely the intensity of our 'ahankara' will start melting. Contrary to this, when you do wrong things, pride will be re-inforced. By analysing, reading, and discussing other's bad behaviour, through fiction, cinema, TV Serials, News Papers, and gossipping about such things; you are letting the mind dwell in the very things that will make you reckless and shameless enough! Instead, if we give our minds to organising, conducting, doing and participating in such activities full of Mantra Uchcharan, Havan, Pooja and such; the Body-Mind-Intellect matrix starts loosing their negative pull and start tending and leaning towards, inwardness. There is a positive maturing, ripening and mellowing that evolves, naturally! Then you will experience that Moksham or Release, here and now, '...iha eva...". Once as the Upanishad says, we are free of the binding compulsions of the Body and Mind; are you not automatically fit for the title of, 'jeevan mukta', 'ihaiva'?
273. To get you that title of 'jeevan mukta', is the purpose of the Vedas. That is their greatness too. Instead of Promissary notes and I.O.Us, for a return on investment, which can never be assured or insured; you are being told to try and find out. Other religions promise you of 'Paralogam' after death. We can never know about it while here and those who have gone there will never come back to tell us about it either! So there can be genuine grounds for disbelief or there can be no grounds for belief! So bid good-bye to all your desires here and now and test for yourself, the truth of what Vedas say, through 'Atma Vichara'. All other religions are only like temporary pain killers. They are neither preventives nor capable of removing the cause of the disease! The permanent cure is only possible when you go back to the root of the cause of seperation from the real; for the unreal to be eliminated. That is why, Veda Madam is the only cure while everything else is only temporary alleviation.
274. Even what ever has been said in the Karma Kandam of the Vedas, is only temporary relief. The reason is that, for a person completely buffetted by peacelessness, in one go, you cannot vouchsafe total calmness and quietitude of 'Atma Gnana'. That is why, in the early stages, some of the alleviators are included, in the form of various actions to be taken. These will pave the way for permanent peace, while preparing the personality for it through, Yagnas, Fasts, Social Service, Meditation, Bajans, Keertans, interspersed with periods of Silence / Mounam! None of these are to be considered as an end in itself, (including reducing one's physical weight!). These are all methods of concentrating the mind in making it uni-directional. They are all meant to make the mind dirt free. So, whatever has been said in the Vedas, many of them at considerable length; are all meant for fetching us to the Gnana Vichara given in the Vedanta only.
275. In any essay or News paper article, what is the way they go about it? Say what you are going to say, say it, say what you have said. In this, the preamble and conclusion may be rather short. The central, 'say it' portion may be rather long! But the preamble and conclusion will contain the gist of what is being said. So, what is said in,
"veda adou"(Veda preamble/introducti on), and "vedante cha"(the conclusion of Vedas too), the one Subject that is covered, described, dwellt upon is Easwara Tatva of Paramatma and nothing else.
276. Governments enact many laws. Some times, some confusion arises about the very purpose of such enactment. Then the Government enacts another Law called the Law of Interpretation, to clarify the situation. So, for the Eternal Law of the Vedas, Meemamsai is the Law of Interpretation. It is one of the Fourteen Vidya Sthanas (or 14 centers of education), about which I will talk in detail later on. Now I am taking up one of the points about, Meemamsai. There are six methods described in Meemamsai, for deciding the correct meaning and interpretation of what is said in the Vedas. Actually these six can be applied to any paper, presentation, lecture or thesis on any subject. Those six methods are, "...upakrama- upasamharou abhyasa: apoorvathaa palam I arthavaada: upapaththee cha lingam taatparya nirnaye II
(What are these six methods of ascertaining the veracity of a presentation or paper? We will cover that in the next e-mail! To be continued.)
Sambhomahadeva.