Vedas - Sound and Creation - Part 2

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Sound and Creation - Part 2

 

 

"Some people are at a loss to understand why the sound of the Vedas is

given so much importance. How does sound originate or how is it

caused? Where there is vibration, where there is movement or motion,

there is sound. This is strictly according to rational science. Speech

is constituted of vibrations of many kinds. We hear sounds with our

ears. But these are sounds that are converted into electric waves and

these we cannot hear. We know this from the working of the radio and

the telephone. All that we hear or perceive others are indeed electric

waves. Science has come to the point of recognizing all to be electric

waves- the man who sees and listens, his brains, all are electric

waves.

 

There are countless numbers of inert objects in the world- land masses

and mountains, rivers and oceans, and so on. Also there are sentient

creatures of many kinds. All of them must have been created out of

something. During creation this something must have vibrated in many

different ways and given rise to all that we see today. If all

movements are sound, there must have existed numerous different kinds

of sound before creation. In this creation one is sustained by another.

In the process of mutual sustenance, different movements and sounds

must be produced. It is not necessary that vibrations should form a

part only of gross activities. Science has discovered that even our

thinking process is a kind of electric current or energy. Each thought

process is a form of electric current or energy and it must produce a

vibration and a sound. This kind of sound being very subtle we do not

hear it with our ears. Just as there are bacteria which we do not see

with our naked eye, there are many sound that our ears do not pick up.

According to science any physical or mental movement must produce a

sound.

 

The idea that each movement produces its own sound may be put

differently thus: to create a particular sound a particular movement

must be produced. Take the case of vidvan ( musician) singing. If you

want to sing like him or create birguas like him, you will have to

produce the same vibrations that he creates in his throat.

 

Sound and vibration(or motion) go together. The vibrations produce

either a gross object or a mental state. We come to the conclusion that

creation is a product of sound. This ancient concept is substantiated

by science itself.

 

Creation, the many things connected with it, thoughts and movements and

the sound associated with them fill space. What happens to the sound

produced by the clapping of our hands? It remains in space. Good as

well as bad action produce their own sounds as well as movements

associated with them. Conversely, the creation of these types of

movements will result in good as well as evil. To produce good thoughts

in people, good movements must be created: the sounds corresponding to

them must be produced. If we can generate such sounds for the good of

mankind than such good thoughts? The mantras of the Vedas are sounds

that have the power to inspire good thoughts in people.

 

One more thing. We need food for our sustenance. And to grow food there

must be rain. The formation of clouds and their precipitation are

dependent on certain vibrations. Rainfall depends on the production of

particular sounds which, in turn, create particular vibrations. The

same applies to all our needs in life. It is true that unnecessary and

evil objects are also produced by sound. But the one and only goal of

the sound of the Vedas is the creation of well-being throughout the

world.

 

But are sound and vibrations spontaneously produced? If vibrations

arise on their own they will be erratic and confusing and not related

to one another. But what do we see in the cosmos? There is a certain

orderliness about it and one thing in it, is linked to another. What do

we infer form this? That a Great Intelligence has formulated this

scheme that we see, that it has created it from its own vibrations.

 

The Vedas are sounds emanating from the vibrations of this Great

Intelligence, the Great Gnosis. That is why we believe that the mantras

of the Vedas originate from the Paramatman himself. We must take

special care of such sounds to ensure the good of the world. Yes, the

Vedic mantras are sequences of sounds that are meant for the good of

the world.

 

Doubts are expressed on this point. People argue: "We hear the mantras

of the Vedic distinctly. But we do not hear the sounds in space, the

sounds of creation. How can the two be the same? "

 

What exists in the cosmos is present in the individual being. The

belief that the "microcosm" inherits the "macrocosm" is not in keeping

with our commonsense view of things. But all people, including

atheists, will agree that there are "instruments" in our body in the

form of the senses that we can grasp what exists in the macrocosm. The

sun in the macrocosm is felt by our body as heat. We perceive the

flower in our garden through its scent. We savour the sweet taste of

sugarcane with our tongue. With our eyes we learn that one object is

red, that another it yellow.

 

Unless the macrocosm and microcosm are constituted of the same

substance, the one will not be able to be aware of the other. Indeed

the very conduct of life will not be possible otherwise. If we go one

step further, the truth will dawn on us that it is not merely that the

macrocosm and the microcosm are constituted of the same substance but

that it is the same substance that becomes the macrocosm and the

microcosm. The yogins know this truth directly from their experience.

 

Whatever is present in space is also present in the individual being.

These elements exist in the human body in a form that is accessible to

the senses. The sounds a person makes in his throat have their source

in space in a form not audible to us. The radio transforms electrical

waves into sound waves. If a man can grasp the sounds in space and make

them audible, he will be able to create with them what is needed for

the good of the world. Yoga is the science that accomplishes such a

task. Through yogic practice (perfection) one can become aware of what

is in the macrocosm and draw it into the microcosm. I shall not be able

to give you proof of this in a form acceptable to human reason. Yoga

transcends our limited reason and understanding. The purpose of the

Vedas is to speak about matters that are beyond the comprehension of

the human mind.

 

If the cosmos of sound (sabda-prapanca) enfolds all creation and what

is beyond it, it must naturally be immensely vast. However voluminous

the Vedas are, one might wonder whether it would be right to claim that

they embrace all activities of the universe. "Anantah vai Vedah", the

Vedas themselves proclaim so (the Vedas are endless). We cannot claim

that all the Vedas have been revealed to the seers. Only about a

thousand sakhas or recensions belonging to the four Vedas have been

revealed to them.

Brahma, the Creator, alone knows the Vedas in their entirety. Before

the present Brahma there was a great deluge and, preceding it, there

was another Brahma. And, similarly, before him too there must have been

another Brahma. But through all these vast vistas of time, through

successive deluges, the vibrations caused by the Paramatman's breath

have existed in space, the vibrations that urged the first Brahma to do

the work of creation. These vibrations are indestructible. The Brahma

who appears after each great deluge performs his function of creation

with them.

 

The sounds we produce are never destroyed. I remember reading that what

Jesus Christ spoke 2, 000 years ago could still be recaptured in his

own voice and that efforts are being made for the same. I don't know

how far these efforts have succeeded. But I do know that there does

exist such a possibility (of receiving a voice or sound from the past).

We know that a sound, once it is produced, remains in space without

ever being destroyed.

 

Brahma created this world with the sound of the Vedas and this sound is

not destroyed even during a great deluge. We build a village or town

with stone, earth, timber, iron, etc. All these materials are derived

from the will of the Paramatman, from his thought, from the vibrations

that are his will or thought. Brahma saw the sounds corresponding to

these vibrations as the Vedas and the chanted them and brought all the

world into existence.

 

We often see reports in the newspapers of trees flowering or fruiting

in abundance in response to the vibrations of certain sounds. Some

vibrations have also the effect of stunting the growth of plants. Here

is proof of the fact that sound can create, sustain and destroy.

 

Brahma could create the universe with the sound of the Vedas because of

his power of concentration. A siddha can cure a sick man if he intones

the Pancaksara mantra - the mantra that we mutter every day - and

applies holy ashes to the patient's body. He is able to do it because

he has greater power of concentration than we have. If the mantra is to

be efficacious it has to be chanted without any tonal error whatsoever.

Only then will it bring the desired result. Brahma had the power of

concentration to the full since he came into being as an "instrument"

for creation.

 

Much could be accomplished from the void of space through electricity.

>From the spiritual reality called the Nirguna Brahman (the

unconditioned Brahman without attributes) emanates everything. During

the deluge, this spiritual reality goes to sleep. Take the case of a

sandow. When he is asleep his strength is not evident. But when we see

him wrestling with an opponent we realise how strong he is. Similarly,

during the time of creation, the spiritual reality is revealed to

perform manifold functions. From the Nirguna Brahman comes a flow of

energy to perform such functions. Brahma came into being as a part of

this flow. Since he was all tapas, all concentration, he could grasp

all the Vedas with his extraordinary power. He created the world with

their sound. The Vedas are infinite and so too creation takes forms

that are countless.

 

The great sage Bharadvaja kept chanting the Vedas over three lifetimes.

Paramesvra appeared before him and said to him: "I will grant you a

fourth life. What will you do during it? " The sage replied: "I will

keep chanting the Vedas again. " It is not possible to learn the Vedas

in the entirety even over many, many lifetimes. Paramesvra took pity on

Bharadvaja for all his efforts to accomplish a task that was impossible

to accomplish. Wanting to change his mind, Paramesvara caused three

great mountains to appear, took a handful of earth and said to the

sage: "The Vedas you have learned all these years are like this handful

of earth. What you have yet to learn is vast, like these mountains. "

It is believed that Vedagiri or Tirukazhukundram is the place where

the Vedas appeared in the form of these mountains. When I was

circumambulating the hill there, people accompanying me intoned

instead, "Veda, Veda, Mahaveda".

 

The story of Bharadvaja occurs in the Kathaka of the Vedas. We learn

from it that the Vedas are so infinite. The classification into the

four Vedas and the one thousand or so recensions was a later

development. Brahma came into being, his heart was filled with all

Vedic sound. The Vedas showed him the way to perform his function of

creation. he recognized that the sound of the Vedas pervaded

everywhere. To him occur all Vedas. Only some mantras have revealed

themselves to the sages and these constitute the Vedas that are our

heritage.

 

At the time of chanting a mantra we usually mention the rsi associated

with it, its chandas or metre and the name of the deity invoked. In the

Telegu country they mention the three for all mantras. The sages

learned the mantras with the power of concentration acquired through

austerities. They were bestowed with celestial ears, so they could hear

the mantras in space. It is said in the science of yoga that if our

heart-space becomes one with the transcendent outward space we will be

able to listen to the sounds in it. Only those who have attained the

state of undifferentiated oneness of all can perceive them. It is in

this way that the seers became aware of the mantras and made them known

to the world. It must be remembered that they did not create them. They

brought us immeasurable blessings by making the mantras known too us.

If someone offers us water form the Ganga(Ganga-tirtha, Gangajal) we

receive it, prostrating ourselves before him. The man did not of course

create the Ganga, but all the same reverence him in recognition of the

fact that he must have travelled a thousand miles to bring us the few

drops of the holy water. We cannot adore the seers sufficiently for

their having made us the gift of the mantras which are beyond the grasp

of our ears. That is why before canting a mantra we hold the sacred

feet of the rsi concerned with our head. "

 

Continued ..........Vedas - a Mantra Yoga

 

The above is an extract from the speeches of His Holiness the

Kanchi Paramachaarya as given in the books "Dheivathin Kural" in

Tamil ( copyright : Vanathi Pathippagam, Chennai) and in the "Hindu

Dharma" in English (copyright : Bharathiya Vidya Bhavan, Mumbai) .

 

For reading the entire treatise on Vedas and its fourteen angaas, (

running to more than 1000 printed pages) , please refer

to the online "Hindu Dharma" book at the following web sites

www.kamakoti.org or www.vrnt.org (Veda Rakshana Nidhi Trust).

 

 

 

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