Vivekananda on the Vedas (part 45)

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SWAMI VIVEKANANDA ON THE VEDAS AND UPANISHADS

By Sister Gayatriprana

part 45

d) The Bhagavadgita: The Gita Is the Gist of the Upanishads, Harmonizing Their

Many Contradictory Parts

 

Next in authority is the celebrated Gita. The great glory of Shankaracharya was

his preaching of the Gita. It is one of the greatest works that this great man

did among the many noble works of his noble life - the preaching of the Gita and

writing the most beautiful commentary upon it. And he has been followed by all

the founders of the orthodox sects in India, each of whom has written a

commentary on the Gita. (29)

 

The Gita is the gist of the Vedas. It is not our Bible, the Upanishads are our

Bible. It is the gist of the Upanishads and harmonizes the many contradictory

parts of the Upanishads. (30)

 

The Gita is a commentary on the Upanishads.... It takes the ideas of the

Upanishads and, in some cases, the very words. They are strung together with the

idea of bringing out in a compact, condensed and systematic form the whole

subject the Upanishads deal with. (31)

 

If we study the Upanishads we notice, in wandering through the mazes of many

irrelevant subjects, the sudden introduction of the discussion of a great truth,

just as in the midst of a huge wilderness a traveler unexpectedly comes across

here and there an exquisitely beautiful rose, with its leaves, thorn, roots, all

entangled. Compared with that, the Gita is like these truths beautifully

arranged together in their proper places - like a fine garland or a bouquet of

the choicest flowers.... The reconciliation of the different paths of dharma and

work without desire or attachment - these are the two special characteristics of

the Gita. (32)

 

The great poem, the Gita, is held to be the crown jewel of all Indian

literature. It is a kind of commentary on the Vedas. It shows us that our battle

for spirituality must be fought out in this life; so we must not flee from it,

but rather compel it to give us all that it holds. (33)

 

 

e) The Smritis, or Secondary Scriptures

 

1. The Vedas Delineate the Eternal Relations of Man, the Smritis Work Out the

Details

 

There are two sorts of truth we find in our Shastras: one that is based upon the

eternal nature of man - the one that deals with the eternal relation of God,

soul, and nature; the other, with local circumstances, environments of the time,

social institutions of the period, and so forth. The first class of truths is

chiefly embodied in our Vedas, our scriptures, the second in the Smritis, the

Puranas, etc. (34)

 

Two ideals of truth are in our scriptures: the one is what we call the eternal,

and the other is not so authoritative, yet binding under particular

circumstances, times, and places. The eternal relations which deal with the

nature of the soul, and of God, and the relations between souls and God are

embodied in what we call the Shrutis, the Vedas. The next set of truths is what

we call the Smritis, as embodied in the words of Manu, Yajnavalkya, and other

writers; and also in the Puranas, down to the Tantras. The second class of books

and teachings is subordinate to the Shrutis - the Shrutis must prevail. This is

the law. The idea is that the framework of the destiny of man has all been

delineated in the Vedas and the details have been left to be worked out in the

Smritis and Puranas. As for general direction, the Shrutis are enough; for

spiritual life, nothing more can be said, nothing more can be known. All that is

necessary has been known, all the advice that is necessary to lead the soul to

perfection has been completed in the Shrutis; the details alone were left out,

and these the Smritis have supplied from time to time. (35)

 

The Puranas and other religious scriptures are all denoted by the word Smritis.

Their authority goes so far as they follow the Vedas and do not contradict them.

(36)

 

Next to the Vedanta come the Smritis. These also are books written by sages, but

the authority of the Smritis is subordinate to that the of the Vedanta because

they stand in the same relation with us as the scriptures of other religions

with regard to them. We admit that the Smritis have been written by particular

sages; in that sense, they are the same as the scriptures of other religions,

but these Smritis are not final authority. If there is anything in a Smriti

which contradicts the Vedanta, the Smriti is to be rejected - its authority is

gone. (37)

 

The Vedas, i.e. only those portions of them which agree with reason, are to be

accepted as authority. Other Shastras, such as the Puranas, etc., are only to be

accepted so far as they do not go against the Vedas. (38)

 

We must remember that for all periods the Vedas are the final goal and

authority; and if the Puranas differ in any respect from the Vedas, that part of

the Puranas is to be rejected without mercy. (39)

 

The Upanishads and nothing but the Upanishads are our scriptures. The Puranas,

the Tantras, and all the other books - even the Vyasa Sutras - are of secondary,

tertiary authority, but the primary are the Vedas. Manu and the Puranas, and all

the other books are to be taken so far as they agree with the authority of the

Upanishads; and when they disagree, they are to be rejected without mercy. (40)

 

The Smritis, Puranas, Tantras - all these are acceptable only so far as they

agree with the Vedas, and wherever they are contradictory, they are to be

rejected as unreliable. (41)