Vedas and Veda Angas

To start with let me begin with the following, kindly try to understand this and figure it out.

#
sqlplus –s /NOLOG < /tmp cleanup_dina.log 2>&1
connect / as sysdba
set head off
…….
select q’#execute dbms_sqltune.drop_sql_profile(‘#’ || name || q’#’)
…..
from user advisor tasks
where CREATED > SYSDATE – (1/24);
….
spool off
@/tmp/drop_dyn.sql

The above is a extract from Oracle programming which seems to look like English but still could not able to figure it out what exactly it says. For a lay man it is nonsense with alphabets and numbers but it is actually a part of a program that really makes wonders. The problem of understanding or just rubbing it as nonsense will be because of the following three reasons

1. Lack of fundamental knowledge of Oracle

2. To work with oracle it is always preferred to have the knowledge of SQL Quires as a most important and basic requirement. Again for an non IT guy who lacks knowledge of programming or DB the question comes what is SQL and DB? So one should have fundamental knowledge before learning higher subjects.

3. Finally in the above sequence of programming instead of giving the program fully I picked few lines and skipped few lines in between and also written the program without any description regarding what it actually does.

In the same way we can find a lot of people who are trying to interpret the Vedas without knowing the basic requirements to understand the Vedas and picking it out of context and with bad English translations made by the Non-Hindus who are mostly Europeans who involve in translating the Hindu scriptures in a most possible bad light so that they can establish Christianity in India.

To understand Vedas in the right way we emphasis on Chaturdasha-Vidya , the 14 disciplines which consist of

The Basic Scriptures - The 4 Vedas

The Supplementary Scriptures - The 6 Veda Angas

The Complementary Scriptures - The 4 Upangas

The Six Veda Angas are as follows

Shiksha - Phonetics

Vyakarana - Grammar

Chandas - Prosody

Nirukta - Etymology

Jyotisha - Astronomy & Astrology

Kalpa - Rules for rituals

Only then one can understand the real meanings of Vedic verses or he will be catching down some thing which the Vedas never meant actually. This is the reason the Hindus never prefer to translate Vedas in other languages. It is in Sanskrit and to understand it one should learn Sanskrit.

Let us discuss why so much stress on Phonetic, Grammar, Etymology, Astronomy etc? When scriptures of other religions do not insist on this why only with Vedas? The answer is simple, as the Vedas descended from God and it speaks of literally every thing from a smallest things to the vast universe are very much complex and complicated naturally these documents are highly classified in nature.

For example from the root word “Jru” or “Jaru” derived the Sanskrit word Jara which actually meant Affection. In due course of time people started using this word Affection to mean illicit love. But there is a verse in the Vedas in praise of Agni Deva which runs as follows.

||Jaraha kaneenaam patir janeenaam||

As per the translation of an European scholar “The illicit lover of younger sister happens to be the husband of the mother”. But as per the Nirukta (Etymology) the word Kanee means the smallest or the lowest so the younger brother or sister is called Kanistaha or Kanishtaa. Like wise as per the Nirukta the meaning of the word Janee means production so a mother who is also a producer of children is called Jananee. The word Pati is understood as husband in normal life but it also means owner as in Rashtrapati etc.

Now let us look into the actual meaning of the verse. “He is kind towards the lowest people; and he is the owner of the entire production”

Saindavam means salt in Sanskrit. It also means horse. So if one says that there should be saindavam in food it means that there should be salt in food but not the horse in the food.

If we take another example “Prajapati created Nisha and he loved that daughter and both gave birth to a son”. It looks awkward but here we should understand that this verse does not talk about any persons in particular.

As per Nirukta Prajapati means Sun and Nisha means dusk. So the meaning will be Sun created dusk and loved her and gave birth to dawn.

Like wise it is equally important to have basic knowledge of other Veda Angas like Shiksha, Chandas, Jyothisham, Vyakaranam etc., before giving a comment on the Vedic scripture.

The Following verse from Yajur Veda, Taittiriya samhita, Kandah 3, Prapatakah 4, Anuvakah 10, Mantra 34.

||Mitro daadhara prutivimutadhayam| mitraha krushteehi||

“The sun holds the earth and all other celestial planets in the region. The sun is the attracting power”

Imaging how a person will understand the same verse with out any good knowledge about Astronomy, but as our science ascertains this as the gravitational force of the sun which sustains our earth and other planets from flaying away from our solar family we can understand the concept now clearly.

Similarly while chanting the verse we have to join the first two words Mitro & daadhara and chant it as Mitrodaadhara with the help of Nirukta and Vyakarana. Chandas makes it clear where to raise or lower the voice while chanting the Vedic Mantras.

If we observe carefully we can find it out that all of sudden a lot of westerns that too Christian Missionaries started translating Hindu scriptures only after the First War of Independence in 1857 with a intention of making English educated Hindus feel bad of their own religion and nation.

THE ROOT OF DHARMA

Pramaana is that which establishes the truth or rightness of a thing (or belief). We have fourteen basic sastras (Science) that pertain to dharma, that is canonical texts that deal with what has come to be known as Hinduism and what has been handed down to us from the time of the primordial Vedas. These treatises tell us about the doctrines and practices of dharma.

The Vedas -- Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda and Atharvanaveda -- are the first four of the pramaanas (authoritative texts) of our religion which is directly originated from Iswara (God).Of the remaining ten, six are Angas of the Vedas and four are Upangas which are all man made.

Man possesses a number of angas or limbs. In the same way the Vedas personified -- the Vedapurusa -- has six limbs.The four Upangas, though not integral to the Vedas, are supporting limbs of the Vedapurusa. The Angas, as already stated, are six in number -- Siksa, Vyakarana, Chandas, Nirukta, Jyotisa and Kalpa. The four Upangas are Mimamsa, Nyaya, Purana and Dharmasastra.

The Vedas must be learned only along with the Angas and Upangas. Such a thourough study of the scripture is called "Sa-Anga-Upanga-adhyayana" (study of the Vedas with the Angas and Upangas). The term "sangopanga", which has come into popular usage, is derived from this. If a speaker deals with a subject thoroughly, whether it be politics or something else, we use the word "sangopanga" in describing his performance. The term refers to the ancient caturdasa-vidya (the six Angas plus the four upangas). This six Veda Angans forms the basic qualification to get educated about the Vedas. Only then one can grasp the true and indepth meanings of Vedas, without which it is like trying to do Doctorate in Mathematics without even knowing what is addition, subtraction, division or multiplication.

The Vedas form the core of our religion and are the direct authority for our dharma and for all our religious practices. "Pramanam Vedasca- Vedas are the Pramana”, says the Apastamba Dharmasutra. The Vedas are indeed the sources of all dharmas as well as the authority on which they are founded. Throughout India, Manu's Dharmasastra is held in the highest esteem. But does it claim that it is the authority for all dharma? No. "Vedo'khilo dharmamulam", says Manu, i. e. the Vedas constitute the root of all dharma. They prescribe the dharma for all time, he says. All other scriptures of Hinduism including Ayurveda, Dhanurveda, Arthasasthra and Gandharvaveda are called Upavedas, subsidiary Vedas. Their connection with the prime scripture is thus obvious.

"Vid" means "to know". From it is derived "vidya" which means a work that imparts knowledge, that sheds light on the truths of religion. That there are fourteen treatises on vidya is mentioned in the below two stanzas: "vidya hyetascaturdasa" and "vidyanam dharmasya ca caturdasa". The fourteen are not only sastras that impart knowledge but also treatises on normal principles. That is why they are called "vidyasthanas" and "dharmasthanas". Though "vid" means to know, the word does not connote every type of knowledge. The "vid" in "vidya" means knowledge of truth. The English words "wit" and "wisdom" are derived from this root. And it is from the same root that we have "Veda", which term may be said to mean literally the "Book of Knowledge". As sources of knowledge the fourteen sastras are called "vidyasthanas", that is they are "abodes of knowledge or learning". The dharmasthanas ("abodes of dharma") are also the abodes of vidya.

DHARMA

The word Dharma is derived from the Sanskrit root Dhara which means the base or sustaining factor. From this root derived the words Dharani or Dharati and Vasundra which denotes the earth. Dharma should not be confused with duty or responsibilities for which the Sanskrit word is Kartavyam or not even with religion for which the Sanskrit word is Mata which means concept or opinion which is normally used as Mata Bedha for difference of opinion and Mata Dhaana for Voting (as we are supposed to vote for some ideology or concept like, capitalism, socialism, communism, nationalism etc.,)

Dharma is classified into the two levels, first the Saamaanya Dharma and the second the Vishesha Dharma or Swadharma. While Saamaanya Dharma is common to all like worshiping God, serving the nature and the society, giving the offerings to the ancestors etc., the Swadharma will differ to individuals, groups in accordance with the context of time, place and nature.

A Sanyaasi (a monk) has to takes the pledge "Abhayam Sarva Bhoodeybhyha" (Let i cause no fear for any life) but a warrior has to pledge to fight to save and defend his nation. When Arjuna refused to fight, Krishna insisted him that being a Kshatriya he has to follow his Swadharma and fight for the sake of dharma.

We believe that everthing is the manifestation of Ishvara, in that case Dharma is also His manifestation, not a mandate. This is the Vedic view of Dharma. That is the reason why end does not justify the means. For the sake of Ishvara you cannot do anything aganist Dharma, which is not separate from Isvara.

Dharma is within every one which is meant to control one's actions. If there is nothing to control a person and one is totally ignorant of what is right and wrong, then the creation is defective. It is some thing like a car coming into the market without a break system. We had no sermons from a mountain top. We do not require a son of God, a messiah or a Prophet to come and tell us universal values, the dharma.

God embedded the dharma within every human being, we Hindus strongly emphasis that God had created the car with a good break system which is our conscious, in a given situation what is proper and needs to be done is Dharma, Which is not separate from Ishvara.

What we don't like if others do to us is what we should not do to others. Imagine how a thief will get worried when his stolen property goes stolen by another thief, he cries as if his hard earned property went stolen. If i don't like others to stab me, let me not stab others.

There is a law governing the behavior of everything in this universe. All must submit to it for the world function properly. Otherwise things will go awry and end up in chaos. It is the will of the Lord that all his creation, all his creatures, should live in happiness. That is why he has manifested into dharma, a law, for each one of them. It is compliance with this dharma that ensures all-round harmony.

The name Hindu was given to us by foreigners as they identified every one across river Sindu as Sindus or Hindus or Indians (from the term Indus for Sindu). However it be Hinduism was not the name of our way of life in the distant past. Our basic texts do not refer our way of life by any name for the dharma.

The reason is very simple. When some one comes to our doorstep and asks " Ramu is there?" at once we will ask absent-mindedly "which Ramu?" . There will be many people in our place bearing the name Ramu. So to tell them appart we will call them as the Dark Ramu, the Tall Ramu, Dr. Ramu etc., When there is only one Ramu then there is no need to give him a distinguishing label.

When there are number of religions they have to be identified by different names. But when there is only one, where is the problem of identifying it? All religions barring our own were established by single individuals. Buddhism means the religion found by Gautama Buddha, Jainism by Mahaveera etc. Needless to say about western religions like Christianity and Islam which came into existence only in very recent times when compared with the original Dharma or even with the later Dhaarmic religions of the East.