June topic: The One Veda

[Guest guest]

Namaste all,

In one of my earlier posts I asked if anyone knew of

the authoritative source of the tradition that

originally there was but One Veda. I still have the

question open but would like to post the following

that appeared by 'chance' this morning. It is a

statement from one of the claimants to the seat of the

Shankaracharya at Jyotir Math, the late HH. Sri

Shantanand Saraswati.

'....Even in the East, people were getting weaker and

weaker. They were not able to resort to the same old

austere practices which the Rishis and Munis had done

before.........The Veda was originally one

word....'Om', pranava shabda. But later it was divided

into four sections...yajurveda, atharvaveda, rigveda

and samaveda. Later on even this was found to be too

difficult. Commentaries were written. Then it was

found that even commentaries were not understood.

Then it was further simplified till Vyasa came and he

wrote the substance of them in form of anecdotes and

stories, in history.'

This affirms an earlier point that the way initially

to understand the Rgveda is to hear these anecdotes

and histories. But if we could but hear the pranava

shabda......

 

Ken Knight

 

PS for those 'wrinklies' among us:

Does anybody remember a Moody Blues LP 'In Search of

the Lost Chord'? Whoever helped them write it really

understood:

This is the penultimate track:

The Word

..

'This garden universe vibrates complete,

Some may get a sound so sweet.

Vibrations, reach on up to become light,

And then through gamma, out of sight.

Between the eyes and ears there lie,

The sounds of color and the light of a sigh.

And to hear the Sun, what a thing to believe,

But it's all around if we could but perceive.

To know ultra-violet, infra-red, and x-rays,

Beauty to find in so may ways.

Two notes of the chord, that's our poor scope,

And to reach the chord is our life's hope.

And to name the chord is important to some,

So they give it a word, and the word is OM.'

 

 

 

 

=====

‘From this Supreme Self are all these, indeed, breathed forth.’

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

advaitin, ken knight <anirvacaniya> wrote:

> Namaste all,

> In one of my earlier posts I asked if anyone knew of

> the authoritative source of the tradition that

> originally there was but One Veda. I still have the

> question open but would like to post the following

> that appeared by 'chance' this morning.

 

Namaste Kenji,

 

The questions of 'one veda' and 'infinite vedas' may not be

easily reconciled. What is known is that Vyasa re-organized the vedic

mantras in the presently known structure.

 

For more on this, Kanchi Mahaswamigal had this to say :

 

http://www.kamakoti.org/hindudharma/part5/chap38.htm

 

 

Regards,

 

Sunder

[Guest guest]

advaitin, ken knight <anirvacaniya>

wrote:

> Namaste all,

> In one of my earlier posts I asked if anyone knew of

> the authoritative source of the tradition that

> originally there was but One Veda. I still have the

> question open

 

Namaste Ken-ji

 

The purana reference for this occurs in Srimad Bhagavatam Skanda 12,

Chapter 6, Shlokas 37 to 50. The following is the Prabhupada

translation of these shlokas:

 

37. Suta Gosvami said: O brahmana, first the subtle vibration of

transcendental sound appeared from the sky of the heart of the most

elevated Lord Brahma, whose mind was perfectly fixed in spiritual

realization. One can perceive this subtle vibration when one stops

all

external hearing.

 

38. By worship of this subtle form of the Vedas, O brahmana, mystic

sages cleanse their hearts of all contamination caused by impurity of

substance, activity and doer, and thus they attain freedom from

repeated

birth and death.

 

39. From that transcendental subtle vibration arose the omkara

composed

of three sounds. The omkara has unseen potencies and manifests

automatically within a purified heart. It is the representation of

the

Absolute Truth in all three of His phases-the Supreme Personality,

the

Supreme Soul and the supreme impersonal truth.

 

40-41. This omkara, ultimately nonmaterial and imperceptible, is

heard

by the Supersoul without His possessing material ears or any other

material senses. The entire expanse of Vedic sound is elaborated from

omkara, which appears from the soul, within the sky of the heart. It

is

the direct designation of the self-originating Absolute Truth, the

Supersoul, and is the secret essence and eternal seed of all Vedic

hymns.

 

42. Omkara exhibited the three original sounds of the alphabet-A, U

and

M. These three, O most eminent descendant of Bhrgu, sustain all the

different threefold aspects of material existence, including the

three

modes of nature, the names of the Rg, Yajur and Sama Vedas, the goals

known as the Bhur, Bhuvar and Svar planetary systems, and the three

functional platforms called waking consciousness, sleep and deep

sleep.

 

43. From that omkara Lord Brahma created all the sounds of the

alphabet-the vowels, consonants, semivowels, sibilants and

others-distinguished by such features as long and short measure.

 

44. All-powerful Brahma made use of this collection of sounds to

produce

from his four faces the four Vedas, which appeared together with the

sacred omkara and the seven vyahrti invocations. His intention was to

propagate the process of Vedic sacrifice according to the different

functions performed by the priests of each of the four Vedas.

 

45. Brahma taught these Vedas to his sons, who were great sages among

the brahmanas and experts in the art of Vedic recitation. They in

turn

took the role of acaryas and imparted the Vedas to their own sons.

 

46. In this way, throughout the cycles of four ages, generation after

generation of disciples-all firmly fixed in their spiritual vows-have

received these Vedas by disciplic succession. At the end of each

Dvapara-yuga the Vedas are edited into separate divisions by eminent

sages.

 

47. Observing that people in general were diminished in their life

span,

strength and intelligence by the influence of time, great sages took

inspiration from the Personality of Godhead sitting within their

hearts

and systematically divided the Vedas.

 

48-49. O brahmana, in the present age of Vaivasvata Manu, the

leaders of

the universe, led by Brahma and Siva, requested the Supreme

Personality

of Godhead, the protector of all the worlds, to save the principles

of

religion. O most fortunate Saunaka, the almighty Lord, exhibiting a

divine spark of a portion of His plenary portion, then appeared in

the

womb of Satyavati as the son of Parasara. In this form, named Krsna

Dvaipayana Vyasa, he divided the one Veda into four.

 

50. Srila Vyasadeva separated the mantras of the Rg, Atharva, Yajur

and

Sama Vedas into four divisions, just as one sorts out a mixed

collection

of jewels into piles. Thus he composed four distinct Vedic

literatures.

-------------

One has to read the above carefully to note that the one omkara gave

rise to all veda mantras in the three forms of riks yajus and sama

but only for the purpose of kaliyuga they were divided by Vyasa into

four distinct vedic literatures.

 

Ken-ji, this is the only reference I know where it is said that

there was only one veda but they got divided into four at the

beginning of kaliyuga.

 

PraNAms to all students of Vedas

profvk

[Guest guest]

--- Sunder Hattangadi <sunderh wrote:

> Namaste Kenji,

>

> The questions of 'one veda' and 'infinite

> vedas' may not be

> easily reconciled. >

> For more on this, Kanchi Mahaswamigal had

> this to say :

>

> http://www.kamakoti.org/hindudharma/part5/chap38.htm

>

Namaste Sunderji,

 

Thank you for this link. I have the book here but had

missed this particular page.

Some people have said that I have gone 'deeply' into

this topic but I have barely touched the surface. To

use the tale in the second posting, I have not held

the smallest speck of dust from the three mountains

that ParameShvara produced for the sage BharadvAja.

Talks such as Chapter 38 indicate just how much there

is to be known in the context of one born into that

heritage.

I am grateful just to have a taste and I hope that

others will also be inspired to inquire into those

teachings that lie behind the Upanishads. A single

word, fully understood, will dissolve ignorance.

 

Many Thanks

 

ken Knight

 

=====

‘From this Supreme Self are all these, indeed, breathed forth.’

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Kenji wrote...

 

But if we could but hear the pranava shabda......

 

http://www.omshaantih.com/Photogallery/Feathers/Warbler/Pranava%20shabda.htm

 

Love,

Joyce

 

 

'From this Supreme Self are all these, indeed, breathed forth.'