ANCIENT WISDOM

    Ancient Wisdom refers to the knowledge culled out of the scriptures known as ‘Shruti’ and ‘Smruti’ – what has been heard as anahata dhvani (from divine intuition) and memorized, respectively, that has been handed down to us since times immemorial. It is our ancient spiritual heritage. It gives us an insight into the cultural tradition of the Vedic people. The power of the mantra they chanted, the effect of the tapas, the strength and vigor of the Doctrines that sustained itself all through the ages and what all they learnt and taught are relevant even to this day. In fact, our very survival depends on this sanatana dharma. However, today people, due to their ignorance, have lost interest in these great teachings. The teachings of the scriptures include the Veda, the Upanishads, the Brahma Sutra, the Puranas numbering eighteen, and the Bhagavad-Gita; together these are known as the ‘Ancient Scriptures’ in popular parlance in India. The Vedic verses are a rich and resourceful site for our knowledge about creation.

    The Upanishads, the Bhagavad-Gita and the Brahma Sutras, together are called ‘Prasthana-trayi’. It is the trinity of the sacred scriptures that reveal the secret of the Brahma. In the first place the Upanishads, culled out of the Veda emphatically assert that Brahman is the efficient and the material cause of creation. It upholds the doctrines enshrined in the Veda. Next, the Bhagavad-Gita reveals the secret of Brahman and Shree Krishna says that none so far has realized the fact that the supreme Lord only exists and nothing exists here. What all exists here is the shadow of the omniscient, omnipotent and the omnipresent supreme Lord. It is the pure Consciousness that pervades the universe. Lord Shree Krishna stands as Indra, the Lord of the luminous Mind in Kurukshetra, the battlefield- the Mind, where ‘to do or not to do’- the duality persists; here He stands as supreme Consciousness (Mahat- Prajnya) whereas Arjuna stands as the confused Mind (manobhranta), full of attachment (moha).

    The Bhagavad-Gita is by far the highest of the scriptures that reveal Jnya; it is the Yogopanishad revealing the secret of creation. Since these words (Gitopadesha) of the Lord are first revealed to the Sun, Vivaswan, the First Manu, Svayambhu Manu.  Hence, it is older than the Veda and the Upanishads. What all are stated in the Gita are also found in the Veda and the Upanishads. The Gita is also ‘apourusheya’ and it is as old as the Universe. It is dated not less than 5.6 Billion Years! It is older than the Earth and the Moon. Now the third, Brahma Sutras complete this summary reiterating the facts of the Veda, the Upanishads, and the Bhagavad-Gita. Hence all Knowledge is one, the Veda, ‘vid’ meaning ‘Knowledge’.  It is higher Knowledge, the knowledge of the Self, unlike the material science that is the lower knowledge. Whoever knows this is called the Vedavidu, knower of the Brahm.

    Thus, the prasthana-thrayee constitute the basis of Sanatana Dharma. These three are the essential scriptures that one should know, keeping in mind the ultimate goal of mankind- liberation or salvation. Dharma, artha, kama, and moksha are the four constituents of goal of life, ‘purushartha’ and every Hindu tries to achieve these in his lifetime; however, the last one is so eluding that it is not within the reach of us, the mortals. Dharma or Righteousness is selfless action in the interest of common good. Artha is the material progress, and kama is the ‘desire’ that is never fulfilled in one or two lives. Much of our life is wasted in fulfilling the basic needs of life. The two major aspects- artha and kama (desire) ie, material pursuits and sensuous life make us slave of our senses; we tend to forget dharma, the very essential basis of life, the foundation of our existence. This is not clearly understood with the result there is so much of misery everywhere.

   These ancient scriptures are put in the mouth of the enlightened sage-seers, rather, the breath of the Famous Sage Veda Vyasa and supposed to be written by none other than the Lord of the Knowledge, Vighneshwara. These are mysteries and age-less scriptures and nobody knows how these have come down to us. That apart, we are only interested only in their contents. The central theme of all these Shrutis and Smrutis is deliverance, liberation of the embodied soul. These are the eternal sciences (jnyan-vijnyan) and a spiritual guide for us.

       The Ancient Wisdom consists of the Vedic and Upanishad Doctrines that reveal the secrets of the origin, sustenance, and dissolution of the Universe. These are the sources of secrets of life on earth and nature of our existence; they are a clue to the future of mankind. We have experienced life in many ways and often get perplexed at the mysterious ways of turn of events. We are eager to know all about these mysteries and there is no body to tell us about these. We take recourse to hear-say, the heard and the un-heard, the cock and bull stories, and get disgusted. As long as we, as one population sailing in the Ship of this Planet Earth, there is nobody who can save us from the calamities that loom large; only somebody from some other planet or somebody who created this earth only should help us. Till then, we struggle hard, fight a losing battle and die only to return again here in some form or the other to continue the unending journey.

      Some of the most important abstract aspects of spiritual nature that are essential for our understanding of the mysteries of the Universe and the ways of God are explained here.  For instance, The Vedas, numbering four (after the Great sage Veda Vyasa separated one magnum opus of “Supreme Knowledge” into four divisions- the Rk Veda, the Yajur Veda, the Sama Veda and the Atharva Veda, that contain everything about the creation of the universe, evolution of life, and involution of consciousness, sustenance and dissolution of living beings, the goal of life, etc. Together, all the Vedic verses are about 20 000. The Rk Veda contains 10,552 Verses or aphorisms. These Rks (Rucha or Mantra) are the self-emanating udgitha; they are an exclamation in adoration of the revealed knowledge and Prayer Mantras. When properly contemplated upon, these appear to have a sort of hidden ‘secret’ in every letter, word, and the Mantra, ie, Rucha (Rk). There is an order and rhythm, ‘a refer-back system of sounds in dynamic silence (GAPs) alternately’, Mandala aspect in it; and, no one knows the nature of its origin or since when these are in existence! Every letter, every word, and every Rucha is so mysterious that it is very difficult to understand it. It is so esoteric and mystic and potential that even today its secrecy is well maintained and imparted only to a few trusted initiated ones by the enlightened sage-seers.

  The esoteric and mystic nature of the Rks lies in the creative energy, force and power inherent in the sound of the letters. In fact, the letters of the alphabets have emanated from the breath of the Creator Brahma through his Creative energy or Shakti called Saraswati. Each letter is the mother (Matrikaa) of the next letter and the subsequent letter that goes to make a word/ ‘pada’ and the sentence ‘Vaak’ (ya). The Vakya is the sentence that makes complete sense, but it is shrouded with secrecy here. The secrecy lies in its power of creation, power of transformation, and the power of dissolution, and that explains everything in a coded language. So far, the Veda has not been successfully decoded!* It may be seen in the sacred book of the Hindus, the Bhagavad-Gita, Lord Shree Krishna warns Arjuna “not to be carried away by the attractive superficial meaning of the Rks of the Veda”. Since these are of qualitative nature and drags into the the abyss of the ocean of Sansar offering name, fame, wealth and such other treasures of the objective world, it is sure to drown you in the  whirlpool. One has to transcend the qualitative expressions of the Rks and reach the state of attribute-less (nirguna) Brahman, the highest Truth, through contemplation. The secrets of the Veda cannot be ever understood by ordinary methods of study. Contemplation, dharana and dhyana yoga (Raja Yoga) or Transcendental Meditation will greatly help in this regard.

    Since the Veda remained a secret only a few initiated fortunate ones had access to it; the common people had no access to it till now. However, a few intelligent scholars have now got access to these scriptures and are trying to analyze them. They have taken to Yoga and other spiritual practices in order to contemplate on the Brahman and realize the Truth by themselves. This has helped them to decode the Vedic hymns to some extent. However, it is still beyond the common man to comprehend it. The language of the Veda is too complicated and at times seems incoherent, ambiguous and simply meaningless. The meaning and purport of the Vedic terms are not easy to understand.

   These doctrines of the Veda summed up in a few concise editions by learned sages are known as the “Upanishads”. Here the term upa-ni-sha means ‘sitting close’ in order to hear the mystic sound of Rks. There are almost Two hundred and fifty or more Upanishads and all are not authentic versions; only a Hundred and eight are well known. And, only ten are declared to be really the Upanishads of great value. These Upanishads revel the secrets of the Veda in many a different ways. These are explained in VEDANTA- Knowledge Supreme.* Besides the Veda and the Upanishads there are eighteen Puranas (epics) believed to be written by an eminent Sage Veda Vyasa. Nobody knows anything about this Great Sage believed to be incarnation of Vishnu. There are great epics like the Bhrahma Purana, Padma Purana, Vishnu Purana, the Shiva Purana, the epic magnum opus Mahabharata, Ramayana, Shreemad Bhagavata, etc. There are the Brahma Sutras that are supposed to be a guide to these difficult Scriptures. A separate Text of the Bhagavad-Gita has been created along with Shree Vishnu Sahasranama from the Mahabharata.

     These are the sources of our ‘sanatana dharma’; these shape the individual’s manovrutti if strictly adhered to the Ritam and Satyam and dharma. There are also the Narada Bhakti Sutra, the Manu Smruti, and the Patanjali Ashtaanga Yoga Sutra and Shandilya Yoga that help us to know the secrets of happy and successful life.

      Today, we have a large amount of scientific literature concerning all aspects of human life. The advent of technology has given access to secret knowledge of stars, Light and Life. Now we have advanced astrophysics, nuclear physics, quantum mechanics, biotechnology and genetic engineering in addition to study of waves and vibrations. However, one may take recourse to the Shrutis and Smrutis such as the Veda, the Upanishads, and other scriptures cited above. These spiritual materials are very useful for sadhana as svadhyaya literature and Meditation Guides. The techniques of Yoga lerant from an experienced teacher will greatly help us to attain to the goal of life.

  Some of the more important Vedic sayings and Upanishad Vakyas are explained here. These are the sum and substance of the Veda. Among the several important mahavakyas, the following are to be realized by the spiritual seeker. Even if one mahavakya is realized it delivers him from the eternal bondage and ensures the liberation of the embodied soul once and for all. Even a single letter like the sacred “Om” will do sometimes to get Enlightenment; such is the power and potency of the akshara, the letter of the alphabet, when it is charged with the ‘sat’. It is called Ekakshara Brahma.

 Pajnyanam Brahma |Ishavasyam idam sarvam | sarvam khaluvidam Brahma | are the three important vaakyas that clearly state that “The entire universe is pervaded by supreme Consiousness”; here the principle is: “Everything is Consciousness”, ie, shivam achutam sundaram, anantam, anandam”.

    This entire universe is pervaded by Consciousness; everything is Consciousness, Brahman [Aitareya Upanishad of the RkVeda].

Aham Brahmasmi | [Bruhadaranyaka Upanishad]

Tatvamasi | [Chchandogya Upanishad]

Ayam Atmaa Brahma | [Mandukya Upanishad]

Atmai eva vedagam sarvam | [Pursha Sukta, Mandala X, Rk Veda]

Sarvamkhalvidam Brahma | [Bruhadaranyaka Upnanishad II. 4. 6]

Asato ma sadamaya | tamaso jyotirgamaya | mrutyor ma amrutam gamaya|

                                                                               [Rk Veda-IX- 113- 7

Ishavsyamidam sarvam | [IV. 5. 11; VII.22.16, 98.6] Ishopanishad 1.1]

jAtavEdO yadIdam | [Rk Veda IV-5-11]  

Sarvabhutasthamaatmaanaam sarva bhutani caatmani |

Sampashyan brahma paramam yaati naanyena hetudha ||

Tryambakam yajamAhE suganMdhiM puShTivardhanam |

urvArukamivabaMdhanaanmRutyOrmukShiyamAmRutAt ||

                                                             [Rk Veda VII-59-12]                                                                      Whoever sees the self in all and all in his self’ knows Brahman. He attains to Brahman who finds no difference in names, forms and functions of creation.

  This is the fundamental principle. Once this principle is understood, the attitude of people changes from the present greedy selfish man always seeking profit and pleasure and turns to a selfless, loving human being and then from human to divine. The divinity inherent in man has to evolve and this is not possible without the aid of ancient scriptures. The present materialistic approach to life is dangerous to human existence since it brings mutual ill-will, distrust, strife and ultimately destruction and this is not the aim or goal of life. The goal of life is ‘Fulfilment’ and ‘Enlightenment’.