Spiritual;Heritage of India

    What is the upadhi, support of this univre? On whom are firmly founded earth and sky and the air in between; so too, the fire, moon, sun, and wind- each one knowing his own place? Tell me of that Support (upadhi)-who may he be? In whose one limb all the Gods- three and thirty in number, are Affixed. Tell me of that Support--who may he be?  [Atharva Veda X, 7, 13].

     There are a number of unanswered questions and modern science is still groping in darkness. Despite much advancement in scientific studies, there is much to be learnt in the field of waves and vibrations, light, magnetism, gravity, thoughts, ideas, emotions, will-power, dreams, and such other forces.Material science cannot answer the questions pertaining to the spiritual aspects that govern the creation, sustenance, and dissolution of the universe. Nobody can ever explain where the manas and chitta (mind and mentation process), prana (life-force), and prajnya (consciousness), come from.It is also difficult to know how desires arise and how they operate. The consciousness pervades the universe and encomapass all movable and immovable materials. It is impossible to explain how a single sperm of thr millions ejaculated, when it enters an egg-cell, manifests itself! Whether it is a huge shark, a monkey, an elephant or a human the process of life formation is similar. Also, it is strange how the structural aspects such as the anatomy and physiology of the living beings like the quadrupeds or bipeds, or the humans are designed to such perfection that a jiva can live and function meticulously for decades after decades! Unlike the modern scientists who search for the answer in the sub-atomic particles, the yogins turn to transcendental meditative state and contemplate on specific problems and seek answers. These visionaries perceive the truth and reveal what they have envisioned in simple vowels and consonants, sacred words called mantra or formula. This is the ancient visdom, the spiritual heritage of India.

This has been handed down to us since times immemorial. It is imbibed in our culture. 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 Upa.,s, 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 ‘Prasthanatrayi’. It is the trinity of the sacred scriptures that reveal the secret of the Brahma. In the first place the Upa.,s, culled out of the Veda emphatically assert that Brahmn is the efficient and the material cause of creation. It upholds the doctrines enshrined in the Veda. Next, the Bahagavad-Gita reveals the secret of Brahmn 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 one of the scriptures held in highest esteem and it reveals Jnyana; 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 Upa.,s. What all are stated in the Gita are also found in the Veda and the Upa.,s. The Gita is also ‘apourusheya’, not spoken by any ordinary human, rather, visualized by great sages in their transcendental meditative modes, and it is as old as the Universe. It is dates back to the brain-child or mantrasya putrah or the angirasas, dated back to unknown times! In a sense it deals with the birth of the Stars and times older than the Earth and the Moon. Now, the third one, Brahma Sutras complete this summary reiterating the facts of the Veda, the Upa.,s, and the Bhagavad-Gita. Hence, all Knowledge is one, the Veda, ‘vid’ meaning ‘Knowledge’. In fact, it was one only in the beginning known as ‘the Ekaana’, the Veda taught by Lord Sri Hari Narayana to Lord Sankarshana. It concerns with the para vidya, higher Knowledge, the knowledge of brahmn, the Self, unlike the material science that is a lower knowledge (apara vidya). Whoever knows this is called the Vedavidu, knower of the Brahm.

 Thus, the prasthana-thrayee constitutes 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 kamana 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 kamana (desire) ie, material pursuits and sensuous life, make us slave of our senses and body comforts; 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 Sri Krishna dvaipayana, who later came to be known as the Sage Veda Vyasa; the most intriguing part of the story is that sage Veda Vyasa dictated this to none other than Lord Ganapati, the Lord of the Knowledge. These scriptures are mysterious age-less ones and nobody knows how these have come down to us. The practice during the earlier times was to learn the Veda by-heart and spell with phonetic perfection without writing down the scripture. That apart, there are many coded words and secret messages in the mantra.

   The central theme of all the Shrutis and Smrutis is deliverance, liberation (mukti, moksha) of the embodied soul. These are the eternal sciences (jnyan-vijnyan) and a spiritual guide for us.

    The Veda and Upa., Doctrines reveal the secrets of the origin, sustenance, and dissolution of the Universe. These are the primary sources of secrets- of life on earth, development and transformation and the true nature of our existence. They hold a clue to the future of mankind. The humans have experienced life in many ways and often get perplexed at the mysterious ways of turn of events. Almost all are eager to know everything about these mysteries, but there is no body to tell anything for sure about these. Thus, many take recourse to hear-say, the heard and the un-heard, the cock and bull stories, fiction and mythologic stories and finally get disgusted. As long as one is sailing in the Ship of this Planet Earth, there is none else who can save from the calamities that loom large and only someone, a superior power from some other planet, or someone who created this earth, only should help the poor creatures here. Till then, one has to struggle hard, fight a losing battle, and die, only to return again here in some form or the other to continue the unending journey. This is the sad predicament of the jivas on this earth, called the mrutyu loka.

    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, devi devatas, and great rishis or learned sages are explained here. For instance, the Vedic Gods and the rituals are not actually what the text reads, but contain any number of symbols, signs and images, coded words and syllables (full of meaning!). Horse is not an animal but a symbolic expression of speed and the cow stands for Light here!

   The Veda, that was initially just one magnum opus of “Supreme Knowledge”, credited to  different sages, having almost a lakh verses, was later separated into four divisions- the Rk Veda, the Yajurveda, the Samaveda, and the Atharva Veda. These verses called Rks of the Rk Veda contain everything about the creation of the universe, evolution of Consciousness, involution of consciousness, sustenance and dissolution of living beings, the goal of life, etc.

    Moreover, it is open to any number of interpretations!The Samans of the Samaveda are for singing the greatness of the Vedic Gods, praising them for favours, too. The Yajurveda contains elaborate rituals for yajnya and yagas. The Atharva Veda is full of details about socio-economic aspects of society and guidance for a happy and successful living. Nowhere do we find such scriptures and many foreign schoalrs like Max Mueller, Monier Williams, Fawley Dawson and Deussen are all praise for these.

    At present, the available Vedic verses number 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!