WHAT IS VEDA?
Indian tradition, however, has held the Vedas all along in
the highest reverence, it has invested them with the authority of a revealed
scripture, Books of Wisdom. Notwithstanding all the centuries-old efforts at
such debunking, the Vedas stand firm as a rock towering like the snow-capped
peaks of Kailas overtopping and overlooking the vast panoramic expanse below,
drawing its nourishment every moment from the ceaseless streams that flow from
above-the huge and hoary expanse of Indian life and culture. What is the secret
that has enabled the Vedas to hold the pre-eminent position they have occupied
from the beginnings of time in this country? Is there anything in them
which is valuable for man as to exact respect and reverence to the extent they
have done? And if the Vedas are really so valuable and so sacred, why is it
that they have become the targets of so much criticism? Why is it that the
Vedas are today so much enveloped in misunderstanding and condemnation that
they are in danger of being completely lost to sight?
The Vedās are the only extant records of the lives and expressions of our forefathers of an age upon the time-limits of which scholars and historians have been unable to agree with any degree of finality. Indian scholars like Tilak and Europeans like Jacobi are inclined to date the period from Four to Six millenniums before the Christian era while other Western scholars have a strong tendency to advance the date to as near the Christian era as possible. Be that as it may, it is the songs and chants of these fathers of the race—purve pitarah—, it is their hymns that form the starting point and the kernel for the vast literature that has flowed from and developed round them and goes by the name VEDA. At some period of their history, very likely at the close of the epoch during which the hymns were first sung and celebrated, it was found necessary to collect and compile all the available hymns current at that time. The necessity for the compilation may have arisen in order to prevent their loss inevitable with the passage of time and also to preserve them in the form in which they were chanted. Tradition has it that they were compiled under the direction of that Master compiler of the Great Age—Vyasa. Certainly what have been compiled do not exhaust all the hymns that must have been current; the compilations represent the remnants that had survived the ravages of time and were still extant at the time of the compilation. These hymnal texts had been handed down from mouth to mouth and it was inevitable that they must have suffered diminution in quantity with each generation.
RISHIS - THE COMPILERS OF VEDAS
The hymns were collected and arranged in four different
compilations, Samhitās, each collection being governed by different
considerations about the nature of the hymns, the purpose for which they were
compiled, etc. Thus hymns which were largely in the nature of prayers and
dedications to Gods were collected—says the tradition—by Paila under the
guidance of Vyasa, and went to form the Rik mantra Samhita. Hymns which were
particularly chanted during religious and social functions of the community
were compiled by Vaishampayana under the title Yajus mantra Samhita. Jaimini is
said to have collected hymns that were set to music and melody—Saman. There is
also the fourth collection of hymns and chants ascribed to Sumantu, known as
Atharva Samhita. We need not dwell upon the subject of the Atharva mantra
Samhita and the controversy around it but recognize the Vedic tradition as has
come down to us which includes all the four
Each of these Samhitās was followed gradually by
explanations and dissertations in prose and in verse for elucidating the
meanings, allusions, legends, etc. of the hymns and their application. These
portions are known as Brāhmaņās. The concluding portions of these or the
portions attached to them are discussions and speculations of a philosophical
and spiritual import based certainly on the ideas and texts found in the Hymns.
They are called the Āraņyakās and Upanishads. Each Veda thus comprises the
Mantra Samhita, the Brāhmaņās, the Āraņyakās and the Upanishads. Every mantra
of the four Vedās numbering twenty thousand or more was revealed to a human
being called as a rişhi or rişhika when he/she was in a
superconscient state.
In the Rigveda, Sāmaveda and Atharvaveda, the names of
the rişhis or rişhikās associated with the mantrās in
the sūkta or hymn are listed in the heading along with the names of
the metres associated with the mantrās and also the names of the associated
cosmic powers, God (devi) or Goddess (devī).
It is not correct to state that rişhis composed
the mantra. RV (1.164.39) declares that “the riks abide in the immutable
supreme ether (parame vyoman) where are seated all the Gods (deva)”. The rişhi or rişhikā received
the revelation of wisdom from this plane and transcribed it into verses or
mantrās with appropriate words and metres. The process of transformation of the
revelation into the verse is mentioned in many mantrās of Rig Veda. “They
chanted the mantrās carved out of the heart RV (1.67.2)”; “O seers, the
hymn-composer (mantra kŗtam ŗşhe) Kashyapa manifested (udvardhayan) the
revelation (giraĥ) into the lauds (stomaiĥ), RV (9.114.2)”. See also the
section on mantra for more details.
We may recall that Rig Veda Samhita has ten mandalās. Of
them, the mantrās of six mandalās are associated with six great rişhis and
their disciples: Mandala 2 with seer Ghŗtsamada, mandala 3 with the seer
Vishvāmitra, mandala 4 with the seer Vāmadeva, mandala 5 with the seer Atri,
mandala 6 with the seer Bhāradvāja and mandala 7 with the seer Vasişhţha. Garga
Bhāradvāja is a seer of sixth mandala whose daughter is the famous Gārgi.
The sūktās in the remaining four mandalās are
composed by several rişhis or rişhikās. The 191 sūktās of
first mandala are composed by rişhis or rişhikās numbering
roughly a hundred.
The first ten suktās are associated with the name of rişhi Madhuchhandas, disciple of the great seer Vishvāmitra. The eleventh sūkta is associated with Jeta, a disciple.
The entire Shukla Yajurveda was revealed to the seer Yājňavalkya.
Recall that the famous Vyāsa divided the single collection
of mantrās into four Samhitās. The persons who carried out the compilation are
Paila (Rigveda), Vaishampāyana (Yajurveda), Jaimini (Sāmaveda) and Sumantu
(Atharvaveda). Note that Vyāsa and these other four persons did not have revelations
of mantra. They are all compilers. Hence they are kāndarşhis.
Note that the Krişhņa Yajurveda has both rik mantrās and
yajur mantrās. Every rik mantra has a metre, whereas the yajus is a
rhythmic prose passage not bound by a metre. Krişhņa Yajurveda has about 700
mantrās from Rig Veda Samhita and their names are well known. The seers of the
other mantrās from Krişhņa Yajurveda are not known with any degree of finality.
Conjectures are there. The sages mentioned with Krişhņa Yajurveda are Vaishampāyana,
Tittiri, Ātreya, Yāska etc., are all kāndarşhis.
The name of a rişhi indicates a psychological
quality. Gotama means ‘most radiant’, Gavisthira means ‘steadfast in the
light’. Bharadvāja means ‘those who are full of plenitude (vāja)’. Atri means
‘traveler or a destroyer of foes’, Vasişhţha is ‘one who is most oplent’,
Vishvāmitra is ‘one who is friend of all etc.
WOMAN
RV is the only scripture among those of all religions in
which the Divine Truths are revealed to women sages also and some of these
hymns describing the revelation find a prominent place in the Rig Veda Samhitā
like the hymn (10.125) (tenth mandala, 125 sūkta or hymn)
attributed to the woman sage Vāk Ambriņi.
There are more than thirty women sages in RV with specific
hymns associated with them. In all the Semitic religions like Christianity,
Islam etc., there is no mention of any revelation to women and no woman is
listed among the prominent disciples of the founders or prophets of those
religions.
There are numerous hymns in the Rig Veda indicating the high
status accorded to women in the vedic society. RV (10.27.12)
explicitly states that the practice of a lady choosing her own husband was in
vogue. The hymn (10.85), the marriage hymn, explicitly states that the
daughter-in-law should be treated as a queen, sāmrajni, by all the family
members especially the mother-in-law, husband, father-in-law. See the box below
where the bride was exhorted to address the assembly;
10.85.26: . . . . Become the house-hold’s mistress; Ruler of
the home, you will address the religious assembly.
To be asked to address the assembly was regarded as an
honour by most of the sages. Thus the statement that, “women were oppressed in
Hindu society even from the vedic times”, made orally and in popular
writings by some moderns is nothing but patent falsehood. Some of the
quotations given by these critics are from the period of the sūtra books
which are dated more than two thousand years later than the Rig Veda. Naturally
these critics suppress quotations which speak of the high status of women in
the society of Rig Vedic period and the period of Upanishads.
Even today, some orthodox persons deny the right of chanting
the Veda to women. However, they cannot cite any authoritative scripture to
support their views. Any book in Sanskrit cannot be accepted as a scripture or
divine revelation. When the famous poet, Sanskrit scholar and spiritual savant,
Vāsishta Gaņapati Muni, the foremost disciple of Sri Ramaņa Maharshi,
challenged these orthodox persons to provide evidence to support their claims,
no evidence was forth coming.
Epithets
It is noteworthy that in the Vedic literature although a
woman’s prime role is portrayed as a wife only, yet several other aspects of
feminine form are also suggested by various names and epithets used to denote a
woman. It is quite interesting to derive the exact meaning of these words
because it may help in giving a better idea of different roles of woman in home
and in society. For instance, a woman as wife is denoted by three words; jāyā,
jani and patni. Of these, jāyā is the woman who gives birth to one’s progeny,
jani is the mother of children and patnī is the co-partner in the religious
duties.
Similarly woman is designated as:
Aditi, because she is not dependent (Nirukta, 4/22)
Aghnyā, for she is not to be hurt (Y.V. 8/43)
Bŗhatī, for she is large hearted (Y.V. 11/64)
Chandrā, because she is happy (Y.V. 8/43)
Devakāmā, since she is pious. (A.V. 14/1/47)
Devī, since she is divine (A.V. 14/1/45, Y.V. 4/23)
Dhruvā, for she is firm (Y.V. 11/64)
Havyā, because she is worthy of invocation (Y.V. 8/43)
Idā, for she is worshippable (Y.V. 8/43)
Jyotā, because she is illuminating, bright (Y.V. 8/43)
Kāmyā, because she is lovable (Y.V. 8/43)
Kshamā, for she is tolerant/indulgent /patient (A.V.
Mahī, since she is great (Y.V. 8/43)
Menā, because she deserves respect (Nirukta 3/21/2)
Nārī, for she is not inimical to anyone (A.V. 14/1/59)
Purandhih, for she is munificent, liberal (Y.V. 22/22)
Rantā, because she is lovely (Y.V. 8/43)
ŗtāvarī, ŗtachit, for she is the preserver / forester
of truth
Sanjayā, since she is victorious (R.V. 10/159/3)
Sarasvatī, since she is scholarly (Y.V. 20/84)
Simhī, since she is courageous (Y.V. 5/12)
Shivā, for she is benevolent (A.V. 14/1/64)
Shivatamā, since she is the noblest (R.V. 10/85/37)
Strī, since she is modest (R.V. 8/33/9, Nirukta 3/21/2)
Subhagā, because she is fortunate (Y.V. 8/43)
Subhdhā, for she is knowledgeable (A.V. 14/2.75)
Sumangalī, since she is auspicious (A.V. 14/2/26)
Sushevā, for she is pleasant (A.V. 14/2/26)
Suvarchā, since she is splendid (A.V. 14/4/47)
Suyamā, since she is self – disciplined. (A.V. 14/2/18)
Syonā, for she is noble (A.V. 14/2/27)
Vīriņī, since she is mother of brave sons (R.V.
10/86/9, 10)
Vishrutā, since she is learned (Y.V. 8/43)
Yashasvatī, for she is glorious (R.V. 1.79.1)
Yoşhā, because she is intermingled with man, she is not
Women ŗşhis (ŗşhikā) in the Rig Veda Samhitā
(one or more mantra was revealed to each ŗşhikā)
|
aditi
|
4.18
|
|
aditirdākshāyaņi
|
10.72
|
|
apālā ātreyī
|
8.91
|
|
indrāņī
|
10.86
|
|
ūrvashī
|
10.85
|
|
godhā
|
10.134
|
|
goshā kākshīvatī
|
10.39, 10.40
|
|
juhūrbramhajāyā
|
10.109
|
|
tvaşhţa garbhakartā
|
10.184
|
|
dakshiņā prājāpatyā
|
10.107
|
|
yamī
|
10.154
|
|
yamī vaivasvatī
|
10.10
|
|
rātrīrbhāradvājī
|
10.127
|
|
lopāmudrā
|
1.171
|
|
vasukrapatnī
|
10.28
|
|
vagāmbhŗņī
|
10.125
|
|
vishvavārā ātreyi
|
5.28
|
|
sashvatyāņgīrasī
|
8.1
|
|
shradhdā kāmāyāni
|
10.151
|
|
shachī paulomi
|
10.159
|
|
sarparājnī
|
10.189
|
|
sikatā nivāvari
|
9.86
|
|
sūrya savitrī
|
10.85
|
|
romashā
|
1.126
|
|
saramā devashunī
|
10.108
|
|
Shikhandinyava psarasau kāshyapan
|
9.104
|
|
jaritā sharņgah
|
10.142
|
|
sudītīrangirasah
|
8.71
|
|
indra mataro
|
10.153
|
(The list is not exhaustive)
WHY STUDY VEDA?
“I believe that Veda to be the foundation of the Sanātana
Dharma; I believe it to be the concealed divinity within Hinduism – but a veil
has to be drawn aside, a curtain has to be lifted. I believe it to be knowable
and discoverable. The Vedās and Upanishads are not only the sufficient fountain
of the Indian Philosophy and religion, but of all Indian art, poetry and
literature.”
“Since our earlier ages the Veda has been the bedrock of all
our creeds, ….Our Darshana, Tantra and Puraņa,
our Shaivism, Shaktism and Vaishņavism, our orthodoxy,
“If Indians hardly understand the Vedās at all, the
Europeans have systematised a radical misunderstanding. Their materialist
interpretations, now dominant in cultivated minds, translated into modern
tongues, taught in our universities . . .has been more fatal to Vedic Truth
than our reverential ignorance…”
-Sri Aurobindo
“By the Vedās, the Hindus mean the accumulated treasury of
spiritual laws discovered by different persons in different times… The
discoverers of these laws are called ŗşis, and we honor them as
perfected beings…and some of the very greatest of them were women.”
-Swami Vivekananda
The collection of books, Vedas, Vedāh, is the holiest for
the Hindus. They are in vedic Sanskrit. They were preserved orally for a long
time before they were committed to writing about two thousand years ago or
earlier.
The core of all these books are the hymns or sūktās. In
the beginning it was a single collection. It was later divided into four
collections or samhitās.
The four Veda Samhitās contain more than twenty thousand
mantrās or verses. It is moreover exquisite poetry. There is no real poetry
without extensive symbolism and Rigveda is no exception. However the moderns
completely ignore the symbolism and write all sorts of essays on it portraying
it as silly and devoid of wisdom. They often quote a mistranslation of a small
number of verses to support their dubious contentions.
The questions raised by its critics can be broadly divided
into two categories:
(i) Some of the short comings of the modern Hindu Society
can be supposedly traced to the Rig Veda since it is its earliest
scripture. Hence how can it be relevant now?
(ii) Easily understandable Hindu scriptures like Srimad
Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads are praised by all. Why bother
to read Rig Veda at all and try to understand its symbolism?
The question in (i) is based on a false premise. Some of the
untoward aspects in modern Hindu Society persist because of ignoring the high
ideals mentioned in the Rigveda, its earliest book. The society pictured in Rig
Veda had high regard for women including their right for choosing their mates,
high regard for the concepts of freedom and equality, respect for sceptics and
unbelievers, respect for knowledge coming from all quarters etc. All these
ideals are very much relevant and necessary today. In no other religious text
do we find mention of such high ideals. Moreover in all religions, there is a
wide gap between precept and practice.
The question in (ii) is handled in detail in the section on
Upanishads, and that on psychology. It is worthwhile to note that the three
yogas of Bhagavad Gitanamely yoga of knowledge, yoga of works and yoga of
devotion and surrender, personal relation to the deities can be traced to Rig
Veda directly. The specific yogic methods developed in the Vedās are
unique and highly effective.
MESSAGE
Message of the Rig Veda: The aim of both the Rishi-s and the
deva-s or Gods is to systematically lead every human being to higher and higher
levels of perfection. This journey never stops till it culminates in all round
perfection of every person, not only at an individual level but also at the
level of interaction between human beings and at the level of society. Even to
imagine such a condition of all round perfection is hard. To illustrate, many
of us have familiarity with several professions say cooking, computer software,
animal handling, health and healing, several physical sciences, electronic
gadgets for audio and video etc. The experts in each field can suggest various
changes for improvement. We can envision integrating all these changes. This is
only a step towards perfection. There are many more steps which cannot be
envisioned. The
Every time a human being does a task with some consciousness,
he can see or feel the collaboration of the Divine Powers. The human journey
towards perfection is compared to climbing a mountain from peak to peak (RV
1.10.2) or to a journey in the uncharted waters of the ocean in a boat. After a
certain stage, the human being feels that all the work is being done by the
Gods themselves.
There are also adverse cosmic powers in nature which pose
obstacles in the path of the human seeker after perfection. These are the
forces of darkness and falsehood called as Dasyu, Vrtra, Ahi, Vala etc. The
Veda has numerous references to the symbolic battles between the Forces of
Light headed by Indra and Agni and the forces of darkness. The victory of the
Gods is celebrated by the Rishi-s with hymns to the deities.
Finally Rig Veda has several references to the realization
of the Supreme One which encompasses everything in the universe. Upanishads
describe some sadhana-s or vidya-s using mantra-s which are also in the Rig
Veda Samhita . Even though most Indologists and Indian Philosophers writing in
English declare that, “Upanishads are expressions of revolt against the
ritualism of the Vedas’, no such statements are found in the major Upanishads.
On the contrary, ancient Upanishads like Chandogya quote Rig Vedic mantra-s to
support their intuitions .
FOUR DOCTRINES
This is the first, the central teaching: the central aim is
the seeking after the attainment of the Truth, Immortality and Light. There is
a Truth higher and deeper than the truth of the outer existence, there is a
Light greater and higher than the Light of human understanding which comes by
extraordinary and transhuman sight, hearing. There is an Immortality towards
which the human soul has to rise. We have to find our way to that and get into
touch with that Truth and Immortality. We have to be newborn into the truth, to
grow in it, to ascend in spirit into the World of Truth and live in it. Such a
realization alone is to pass from mortality to Immortality, to unite with the
supreme Godhead.
Here is the second doctrine of the Mystics: There is an
inferior truth of this world because it is mixed with much falsehood. There is
another higher truth, the Home of Truth, The Truth, the Right, the Vast as
taught in the mantrās. True knowledge there is termed ŗta-chit, Truth-Consciousness.
And there are other worlds, but the highest is the World of Truth and Light.
This is the World celebrated as the svar, the Great Heaven.
And this is the substance of the third Doctrine: In the
world-journey our life is a battlefield of the devās and asurās; the
Gods dev are the powers of Truth, Light and Immortality and the asurās, the
powers of the opposing Darkness. These are Vŗtra, Vala, the Paņis, the Dasyus
and their kings. We have to call in the aid of the Gods devāh to
destroy these powers of Darkness who cover the Light. We have to invoke the
Gods devāh in the inner sacrifice by the voice potent with the
power of the mantra. To them offering of whatever is ours is made;
receiving all that is given by them in return, we shall be enabled and
competent to ascend the path towards of the goal of all round perfection and
bliss.
Finally, this is the supreme secret of the vedic rişhis: At
the summit of all the mystic teaching is ‘The One Reality’, ‘That One’ which
later became the central goal of the rişhis of the Upanishads, taught
with explanation in detail.
OPINION
Max Muller records an interesting incident. Freidrich Rosen
was a noted German scholar, one of the pioneers of western students who turned
to Vedic studies in the early years of the last century. It appears one day
when he was busy in the British Museum copying out the hymns of the Rig Veda,
Raja Rammohan Roy—the leading light of the Indian Renaissance—came in and was
surprised, disagreeably, at the work Rosen was engaged in. He admonished the
scholar not to waste any time on the Vedas and advised him to take to the
Upanishads instead. We do not know if Rosen swallowed the advice at all
obviously not. For he was still engaged in the Veda at the time of his death
and his edition of the First Book of the Rig Veda with Latin translation did
appear later. The incident is noteworthy for the light it sheds on the mental
attitude of the cultured and educated Indians of the time towards the Veda. The
outlook of the educated section of our countrymen as regards the Vedic hymns
has undergone little change even after more than a century today. And this is
no wonder. For they have but dutifully followed all along in the footsteps of
the European professors who have, as a class, studied and regarded the Vedas,
more as specimens of antiquarian and philological interest than as records of
any sustaining value. To them the Vedas are study-worthy not for anything
intrinsically significant but for the side-lights they throw on the social and
other conditions of their times. By themselves the Vedic hymns are ‘singularly
deficient in simplicity, natural pathos or sublimity’, they have ‘no sublime
poetry as in Isaiah or Job or the Psalms of David’. They are primitive chants
where ‘cows and bullocks are praised in most extravagant expressions’ as among
the ‘Dinkas and Kaffirs in Africa whose present form of economics must be
fairly in agreement with that of the Vedic Aryan’. Even such a famous scholar
as Oldenburg must needs note that here is ‘the grossly flattering garrulousness
of an imagination which loves the bright and the garish’, while Winterneitz
records, with approval evidently, that Leopold Von Schroder finds similarity
between some of these hymnal chants and ‘notes written down by insane persons
which have been preserved by psychiatrists’.
Not all from the West, however, have reacted in the manner
noted above. Some have brought to bear a more sympathetic and closer
understanding on their studies of the Veda and have confessed to a remarkable
widening of the vistas of their higher mental horizons after their study of
these Books. There is Brunnhofer, for instance, who is constrained to exclaim:
‘The Veda is like the lark’s morning trill of humanity awakening to the
consciousness of its greatness.’
DATES
Before we discuss the probable range of dates for the
Rigveda based on the massive multi disciplinary evidence collected in the last
twenty years, we will give the dates given in text books of Indian history
authored by Indians and others.
Max Muller assigned the period 1500 BCE to 500 BCE for
Rigveda Samhita. One of the reasons given is that beginnings of human kind
cannot be earlier to 4000 B.C.E. Since the evidence was flimsy, he recanted his
earlier assignment near the end of his life. However, many Indian historians
still believe in this assignment. According to these persons, all the Veda
Samhitās were not composed in India. They were composed by members of tribes,
the so called Aryans, who invaded India from the Northwest, destroyed the old
civilisation in the Indus Valley, supposedly Dravidian, and drove out these
original inhabitants to the south of India and other parts. The ruins of this
early Indus Valley civilisation dated 3000 BCE are at Harappa and Mohenjadaro
which are dated 3000 BCE or earlier. This Aryan invasion theory was proposed by
the British archaeologist Wheeler around the early part of the twentieth
century.
It is said that the battles between Indra and Dasyus in
the Rigveda are really the battles between the Aryans and the native Dravidians
of the Indus Valley. Rigveda has no mention of the word dravida. It has a
word anaāsa noseless referring to the demons or dasyus. Some
scholars identify these dasyu with the Dravidians since Dravidians
supposedly do not have prominent noses!
The motivation for the British administrators in India to
include the invasion theory in history books should be clear. Indians who
descended from the Aryans should not complain against the British rule since
they themselves are immigrants and hence they have no more Right than the
British to rule India.
This theory has several major drawbacks. First of all ārya in
the Veda means a noble person, not the name of a tribe. RV (9.63.5) states,
“make all of us in the universe ārya, noble”. As observed earlier, the
battles in the Rigveda do not occur on earth, but in the atmosphere or the
subtle planes; they are battles of the devās, the powers of Light versus
the demons, the Dasyus, the powers of ignorance. To regard these battles
as between two different human tribes, we have to eliminate ninety percent of
the Rigveda which contains detailed description of the devās as
supraphysical forces
Finally all the modern archaeologists like Shaffer declare
that there is no archaeological evidence for such an invasion; the invasion is
a myth propagated by historians. Thus the suggested date 1500 BCE-500 BCE has
no support at all.
Now we will discuss the date of Rigveda from all the
available multidisciplinary evidence, some of which were collected in the last
decade, some others known earlier.
Let us first consider the satellite photography studies of
the Indus Valley.
THE SARASVATI DESCRIBED IN RIGVEDA
The knowledge of mathematics in Rigveda and related texts is
another important evidence. Rigveda not only mentions the decimal number system
for integers but also the infinity. It mentions in detail the spoked wheel with
arbitrary number of spokes (1.164.13,14,48). Clearly such verses would imply
that these authors knew the associated mathematical properties of circle and
square. The algorithm for circling the square needed for making the spoked
wheel is given in the Baudhāyana Shulba Sūtra which is the oldest of
the Shulba Sūtrās, ancient mathematical texts dealing with the methods for
the construction of altars needed in Vedic rituals and other related
mathematical topics. These books are later than the Rigveda Samhita. Even
though Dutta made a detailed study of these books around 1930 and showed that
the theorem attributed to Pythogoras is contained in these books in a
more general form, the western indologists like Keith (or Whitney earlier) did
not pay much attention since they were convinced, without any proof, that all
the sciences in ancient India – mathematics, astronomy etc., were borrowed from
Greeks or Egyptians. It was in 1962 that the American mathematician Seidenberg
showed that, “the elements of ancient geometry found in Egypt and Babylonia
stem from a ritual system of the kind found in Shulba Sūtrās.” The Shulba
Sūtrāscontain the algorithm for building the pyramid shaped funeral altar (smashāņa
chit). Recall that the Egyptian pyramids are used as tombs for the dead. There
is no ancient Egyptian literature for the detailed construction of these
pyramids. Hence it is more than likely that their source is the Shulba
Sūtrās. This piece of evidence fixes the date for the Baudhāyana Shulba
Sūtra which gives a lower bound date for Rigveda.
Next let us consider the astronomical evidence. Rigveda and
all other ancient books contain several statements of astronomical significance
like the position of Sun in the Zodiac on the two equinoxes, vernal or spring
equinox and autumn equinox. Indian Astronomy is based on sidereal Zodiac. The
Zodiac is divided into 27 roughly equal segments, all are measuring 130 20′
of arc. The seventh mandala of the Rigveda records the vernal equinox in
Mrigashira Constellation pointing to a date around 4000 BCE – a fact noted by
Jacobi and Tilak. Again several Shulba Sūtrās declare that a pole
star is visible. Since a visible pole star occurs only at certain epochs, such
a citation gives a normal range of dates for that event. There is much more
information beyond the scope of this paper.
Next we consider the Harappa culture. Findings tested with
calibrated C-14 methods show that, “the Harappa culture should be dated to the
period 2700-2000 BCE with a terminal date not lower than 1900 BCE, a date
suggestively close to the drying up of Sarasvati”. It was a fashion for the historians
to declare that the Harappa Culture had no connection with the culture of
the Vedic era. Now things are beginning to change. In one of the
seals of the Harappa period, there is a picture of a bull with one horn. It was
called as a unicorn. But the Sanskrit epithet, eka shŗngaĥ, one with a
single horn, is a common epithet for Lord Shiva in the Veda Samhitās [RV
7.19.1] and the bull is always associated with Shiva. There is a seal of a
meditating person in a sitting lotus pose in the Harappa seals. On the Harappan
seals, there are inscriptions in a script which was not deciphered for a long
time. Recently N.K. Jha has suggested a deciphering approach which is very
promising. The language is syllabic like all Indian languages, the script seems
to be close to old Brahmi. The researcher Jha has identified the inscriptions
on several seals, which appear to be words from the lexicon of Vedās, nighantu published
by Yaska, the first commentator on Rigveda and a lexicographer.
Again Rigveda does not mention either silver or cotton.
Since the date of cotton is well established, again we get a lower bound on the
Rig Vedic date.
Now the evidence can be summed up and some range of dates
can be given. Rigveda repeatedly refers to ancient sages and modern sages as in
(1.1.2). The age associated with these ancient sages can be called as the
high Rig Vedicperiod which is declared to be 3100 BCE or early.
This period 3700-3800 BCE is the closing of the Rig Vedic
age, especially the Mandalas seven and third associated with the sages Vasişhţa and Vishvāmitra.
The Shulba
Sūtrā texts of Baudhāyana, Ashvalāyana etc., can be dated
3100-2000 BCE; 1900 BCE is the drying up of Sarasvati and the end of Vedic age.
The Vedic civilisation ended, as indicated by the Harappa ruins, due to
ecological causes, droughts and desertification. There was no invasion.
ESSENCE OF VEDIC TEACHING
Creation: Essence of Vedic and Tantrik Teachings
Those of us who have some exposure to the scriptures like
Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita have trouble with some statements in them such as the
indifference of God to the created world in general, the relevance or otherwise
of Devotion, the idea that creation took place because of the unfulfilled
desire of Brahman, etc. What exactly are the views of SA on creation? Are
Brahman and Supreme Person different? If so how and why?
Sri T.V. Kapali Sastry recognised the problem and offered a
solution in the form of a poem in Sanskrit called as Tatvaprabha. In its 70
verses, it gives the essentials of the thought of Sri Aurobindo on Creation and
allied essential topics. Sri Aurobindo read the book and approved it for
publication as an appendix to the book of translation in Sanskrit “The Mother’,
an important book of SA, meant for the sadhaks or aspirants.Here I will give an
abridged form of the book by TVK.
1. The Topic of Creation
The Lord (Ishvara) presiding over the Supreme Shakti
manifests himself. That Shakti is the consciousness of the Lord; this world is
the product of consciousness.
The First Cause or supreme essence or meaning is
Para-Brahman; the Word is said to be his Shakti. The Truth of both is the One
indivisible, Eternal. [‘meaning’ is same as ‘artha‘. The word and its
meaning, shabda and artha are the same truth.]
The Supreme One, the Lord of the vibrant Word, being
powerful, incubates, increases and releases these worlds, inseparable from
himself. Thus many worlds are born. Thus the Manifold birth subsists in the
One. The relation between the One unborn and the many worlds born of him is
real and incessantly operative, even though the worlds have imperfection.
Because of this relation, the manifested worlds have Intelligence
(consciousness) for their guide and are not led by the blind. The universal
movement has meaning.
There is a Will in the Godhead using the creative principle;
this Will carries with it Intelligence; therefore there is no question of
indifference on the part of God. [The Godhead is said to be indifferent (samatva)
in some books. This is denied here.]
It is incorrect to say that creation comes out of the
unfulfilled desire of God. God, the Full, has no desires. This creation can be
conceived as the outflow of the Delight of Existence, ¡nanda which is Full. In
Sanskrit ¡nanda indicates rich and fullness, samriddhi and
all-embracing joy. [In some books, Creation is said to occur because of
unfulfilled desire. This is denied here.]
By dint of tapas (self-contained conscious force)
a part is taken out from the Full which assumes the shape of the world. The
Supreme Lord is Full and takes delight in the creation along with the eternal
power, nitya shakti.
[The consciousness as Force (chit-shakti ) works out
the world-existence as mentioned earlier in 1. The same Force is called as
Tapas. Tapas is not penance or austerity.]
[Usually any creative activity is described as having two
causes, the material cause and the efficient cause. The standard example is the
making of a clay-pot. Here the clay is the material cause. The human potter is
the efficient cause. These two causes are clarified for the activity of the
creation of the world in the next few verses.]
The One-alone known as Sat-Chit-Ananda is the Lord of
world-creation; He is both the material and efficient cause. The material cause
is called Prakriti, same as the Body of Brahman, also known as Akasha or Aditi.
The efficient cause of creation is the consciousness-force, indicated by tapas.
The Supreme One sustains the creation by these two.
[The One atman is triple in its aspects namely sat-chit-ananda.
He exists (sat), is conscious and powerful (chit) and full of bliss (ananda).
Or it may be put in terms of the Impersonal It, that whatever is exists, sat; consciousness
exists; delight exists.]
Aditi, Prakriti, Tapas, Maya refer to the same thing. Maya
is so called because she measures the immeasurable. She is called Aditi since
she is indivisible. Prakriti is the substance of what exists. [Note that Maya
is regarded as illusion in some schools of Vedanta.]
The transcendent and Supreme One sustains the creation by
both prakriti, the substance and chit-shakti, that which
dynamises the substance.
Maya is called by some as the power by which the Supreme person
measures out himself, the immeasurable. For us, Maya is the Force of Tapas.
The Supreme lord manifests the Sole Self as many selves.
Where are they manifested? He does so in his own portions that were previously
released and thrown as seeds in the creative movement that has produced the
world-system.
2. The Seven planes and worlds
The consciousness of the Supreme Lord shines as planes, each
plane having a type or grade of consciousness. Corresponding to each plane,
there may be one or more worlds or structures involving the particular grade of
consciousness.
[This series of planes starts from the supreme and are
framed like a ladder in ordered steps. At the bottom is the plane of matter.
This ladder can be ascended by human aspirants starting from the plane of
matter which is at the bottom.]
The seven planes (bhumika) (beginning from top) are:
Plane of Existence : sat
Plane of Consciousness : chit
Plane of Delight : ananda
Plane of Super Mind : vijnana
Plane of Pure Mind : mana
Plane of Pure Life : prana
Plane of Pure Matter : anna
Corresponding to each plane, there is a world or structure
known as loka.Corresponding to the three planes sat-chit-ananda there
are the three worlds Jana, Tapas and Satya. These worlds
are eternal since they are part of the Lord. This is mentioned in Vishnu Purana
(2.7.19-20).
[The Mahanarayana Upanishad does mention the three, Jana,
Tapas and Satya, as a part of the extended Gayatri mantra. However
Vishnu Purana explicitly mentions that the upper three are eternal, whereas the
lower four are created (krtaka).]
Corresponding to the plane of Matter is the world of Matter
known as Bhuh. Corresponding to the Plane of Life is the world Life, known as
Bhuvah. Corresponding to the plane of Mind is the world of Mind known as svar. These
three worlds are said to be created or non-eternal. In between the upper three
worlds which are eternal and the lower three which are non-eternal is the world
Mahas.
For the eternal world Jana-loka (in the upper triple), the
soul principle is Delight. Hence it is called Jana (delight). The world with
the consciousness having the aspect of Force (consciousness-force, chit-shakti)
is called Tapas. Atman, the sat, existence is the world of Satya (truth).
Those who know the fundamental principles of the One know
the One to be Sat-Chit-Ananda. Those who know the position of the world-systems
know the One to be Jana, Tapas and Satya.
Between the upper triple and lower triple is the Link-world,
Mahas, also known as turiya, the fourth. It is manifested directly by
the One.
The lower triple world of ours is an effect of the Mahas.
The Mahas shines manifesting the Glory of the One and the Many. It is here that
the harmony of the One and the Many is established.
In the absence of the fourth world or link world, this lower
triple world known as aparardha would be absolutely cut off from the
Between the two halves, their shines the Supreme Person,
Purushottama, the Lord of the Mahas world. The wise call him as the supramental
person or Vijnanamaya Purusha.
[Note that this fourth world is also created. Purushottama
is different from the Supreme Brahman, known as Delight or as sat-chit-ananda.
The Lord of Mahas is Uttama Purusha, the Supreme Person who can be contacted by
human efforts such as aspiration, surrender etc. The Uttama Purusha is not
indifferent to the activities in the lower triple worlds. But the Supreme
Brahman, lord of sat-chit-ananda, is indeed directly separated from the lower
triple and thus He can be considered to be indifferent to the activities of the
world.]
The knowledge that pertains to the lower triple is called
the Pure Mind, manah, of the nature of svar. Prana, Life, is of the
nature of Bhuvar loka. Its nature is activity that pertains to the lower
half. Annamaya loka, the world of matter is of the nature of Bhu
loka. It is blind and inconscient, the downward limit of the descending
hierarchy of consciousness.
3. Supramental person
The creation of the lower triple worlds is due to the
Supramental person, the Lord of Mahas.[ Sri Aurobindo titles the chapter 14 of
LD as ‘ The supermind as the creator’. A verse of Vishnu Purana is the epitaph
here.]
24. Every Jiva here is a spark or Ray of the Supreme person
and under his final control. Similarly, the triple instruments of matter, life
and mind in a human being are under the control of the worlds of the Matter,
Life and Mind.
25. Of the one self (atman), many forms are manifested; each
one of these forms is called a jiva. The essential part of every
being is He on the fourth plane.
26. Under the supramental gaze of the Lord, beings that are
his forms are born.
27. The life-force of the embodied being is active from the
Bhuvarloka through the modifications on the body caused by desire for
enjoyment.
28. Mind in him is of the svar world; it is born of the
splendour of svar world. Here earthly man holds in himself
29. Similarly the
30. All living beings, jiva-s have their source in
the Lord of Mahas.
31. It
32. Just as the blossoming of Life from matter is seen in
trees, even so the blossoming of Mind in mankind is also clear.
33. Next will be the flowering of the Vijnana, the
supermind
34. When this is accomplished, the divinizing of man, his
attainment of all around perfection is also accomplished.
This is called as the New creation. It could be accomplished
by the Supreme Shakti even when man lives on Earth.
[The rishi-s of the Rig Veda had the experience of the Vijnana.However
they do not appear to have considered the possibility of bringing down this
power into the Earth, like the power of Mind. This insight is due to Sri
Aurobindo.]
[The 34 items here are extracted from the Sanskrit poem
“Tatvaprabha” in 70 verses authored by T. V. Kapali Sastry. The original work
was read and approved by Sri Aurobindo and published by Ashram in 1942. An
English translation of the work done by author along with an extensive
commentary on each verse was published in the journal “Advent”, in 1950, with
the title, “Light on the Fundamentals”. Now it is available as a separate book;
it is also in the volume 2 of his Collected Works. The author calls this work
as an extract from the teachings of Sri Aurobindo implying that he has used not
only “The Life Divine” but also the Secret of the Veda and others. TVK states
in p. 111 of the second volume that, “I had a system formed long ago in my mind
that could be based on the traditional wisdom of the ancient mystics from the
Rig Vedic times traversing the scriptures of an earlier age, followed by the
Upanishads and Agamas of the different sects and purana-s down to our own
times. The formation of such a system was felicitated by Sri Aurobindo’s
references to the vedic, vedantic and tantric teachings”. Thus the book was
published by Ashram as an appendix to the Sanskrit work, “Four Powers of the
Mother”, which is the Sanskrit rendering done by TVK, of the well-known work,
“The Mother” by Sri Aurobindo.]
