"vEdhAdhyAya" -- The Sacred Duty of the Brahmin

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Dear members,

 

On this auspicious day of “panguni utthiram”, it was a

blessing for me to come across a brief but excellent

article in Tamil on the subject of “vEdAdhyAyana”

written by Sri U.Ve.Melpakkam Narasimhacharya Swamy

who served as Professor of Vyakarana Studies at the

Ahobila Muttam Sanskrit College, Madurantakam.

 

I have tried to translate it to the best of my ability

and am happy to present it below for the benefit of

all interested members but especially for the

edification of my dear fellow “vedhAdhyAyin-s” in

Kuwait with all twenty of whom I really enjoyed

learning, for 4 happy years, a little bit of Vedic

chanting under the patient tutelage of my good friend

and well-wisher, Sri IVK Chary.

 

I hope I have been successful in doing justice to

MelpAkkam Swami’s original and that you will all find

my effort useful.

 

Thank you and regards,

 

dAsan,

Sudharshan

 

*******************

 

INVOCATION

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

“Lakshmi-nrsimha charaNambuja-moolasEva

hEvAkimAnasa samAsrita hamsarAjah: I

nityam girA samupadarshita-sathpaThO mae

sri ranga-kArija-gurur-hrudayE chakAshthu “ II

 

**********

 

A human being easily secures prowess, fame and

well-being in life not only in this world but in the

after-world too simply through faithful performance of

the prescribed ‘dharma’ (i.e. the various codes of

right conduct) enshrined in the Vedic scriptures known

as ‘sruti’ and ‘smriti’. The truth of this fact has

been vouched for by none other than Manu in a single

revealing ‘shlOka’:

 

"sruti-smrutyuditam dharmanu-thisTan hi mAnavah: I iha

keertimavApnOti prEtya chAnuttamam sukham II

 

Common experience tells us that which is born into

this world must one day certainly die. However, it is

a fundamental tenet of the Vedic faith that death is

merely a corporeal event, not a spiritual phenomenon.

Although the body, the “sthoola sarira”, ages and

eventually passes away from this world, the indwelling

spirit that enlivened the body all through its earthly

sojourn – that ever-present entity called Atma,

however, never knows Death. It lives eternally.

 

*******

 

As long as a man lives in this world it is his lot and

wont to constantly seek and draw support and

sustenance from a variety of things or beings around

him, such as parents, kith, kin, wealth etc. Once the

time arrives, however, for him to shed the mortal body

– the ‘sthoola sarira’-- the same parents, kith, kin

or wealth which once were his constant companions and

mainstay no longer serve him in any useful way. Once

he is ready to shed the mortal coil, these

support-systems too are ready to forsake him. None of

them ever accompany him in the onward journey of the

Atma.

 

Though none of his long-standing earthly companions

ever accompany a man into the other world, there is

however one intangible or ethereal thing, that is his

very own, which continues to doggedly travel with him

wherever he goes in the great cosmic journey of the

spirit. The ethereal thing that serves as Man’s

faithful travel- companion in the other world, the

great empire called “para-lOka”, is said to be the

“dharma” he performed while he lived in this world.

This truth has been attested amply and clearly by all

Vedic ‘sAstrA’. (Students of Shakespeare too will not

fail to recollect here those famous lines: “The good

that men do lives after them; the evil is interred

with their bones”. My note).

 

************

 

It is never easy for a man of this world to continue

abiding by the dictates of ‘dharma’. Time,

circumstance and the innumerable vagaries of life will

all constantly conspire to divert him from the chosen

path and lead him astray. The will to stay the

straight and narrow course of “dharma”, the will to

remain steadfast in one’s conviction in the face of

any vicissitude, is never easy to exercise in life. It

is a constant struggle indeed for man to carry out his

ordained dharma but it is a struggle he must engage

in, whether he likes it or not, for human destiny

itself lies in this great struggle.

 

Although the dharmic struggle of man is long and

arduous, there is however always plenty of help,

encouragement and inspiration at hand in the form of

Vedic ‘sruti’, ‘smriti’ and ‘dharma-sAstra’. These

Vedic scriptures collectively form a formidable but

handy and exhaustive source of strength and guidance

for the man who has resolved to realize his dharmic

destiny. Which is why we say before a man can proceed

to live in accordance with ‘dharma’ it becomes

immediate necessity for him to first learn about it

through a study of the Vedas. It is out of such

necessity indeed that there arises the sacred duty of

“vEdhAdhyAyana” – the pursuit of Vedic study enjoined

upon every man who is born into the faith.

 

*************

 

That “vEdhAdhyAyana” is one of the cardinal duties of

Man is affirmed by the ageless ‘sruthi’ itself as

follows:

 

“brAhmaNEna nishkAraNO dharmah:

shadangO'vEdhO’dhyEyO gnEyascha”

 

i.e. the Brahmin dedicates himself to sincere and

relentless study of the Vedas, together with its 6

great branches known as ‘sIksha’, “vyAkaraNa’,

“cchandas”, “niruktam”, “jyOtisham” and “kalpam”, and

to the realization of its meaning and true purpose.

 

The message of the “sruti” above is reiterated by Manu

too in his famous “smriti” wherein he describes the

true Brahmin to be one who has realized the Vedas and

Upanishads through life-long effort and discipline –

i.e. through the “tapa”, “vrata” etc. that are

integral to “vEdhAdhyAya”:

 

“tapOvishEshaih: vividhaih: vrataischa

vidhi-chOdhitaih: I

vEdhah: krutsrO’dhigantavyah: sarahasyO dvijanmanA II

 

The Brahmin who follows the above path of

“vEdhAdhyAya”, deep Vedic study, easily secures

knowledge of all “dharma” and through such knowledge

obtains abiding happiness and fulfillment (“shrEyas”).

Manu issues, on the other hand, a dire warning to the

Brahmin who fails in the duty of “vEdhAdhyAya”. He

predicts such a Brahmin would soon be overcome by the

fear of Death:

 

“anabhyAsEna vEdAnAm aachArasya cha varjanAth I

aalasyAth annadOshAccha mrutyuh: viprAn jighAmsati II

 

To enable a young Brahmin to easily take to

“vEdhAdhyaya”, it is very often emphasized that there

should never be even a day's delay in performing

“upanayanam” and getting the youth initiated as early

as possible into Vedic study under the tutelage of a

qualified “ÁchArya’:

 

“garbhAshtamE’bdE kurveetha brAhmaNasyO’panayanam”

 

The importance of early initiation into

“vEdhAdhyAyana”, preferably well before the age of

sixteen, is underscored elsewhere too in the Gautama

Samhita:

 

“aashOdashaath brAhmanasyApathithA sAvitree”

 

To further underscore the importance of early

initiation into “vEdhAdhyayana” (enabled by early

performance of “upanayana”) Manu severely warns

Brahmins against associating themselves, through

contracts of marriage or otherwise, with those who,

calling themselves Brahmins, yet remain without

undergoing “upanayana” and without performing

“vEdhAdhyAya”.

 

"atha Urdhvam trayOpyEthE yathA-kAlam-samskrutAhA:

sAvitree patithA vrAtyA bhavanthyArya vigarhitAh: I

nai-thair-rapU-thair-vidhivadApadhyapi hi karhichith

brAhmAn yownAmscha sambhandhAn aacharEth brAhmaNah:

saha II

 

**************

 

Before a young Brahmin boy is initiated into

“vEdhAdhyAya” and other Vedic curricula, his “AchArya”

usually spares no effort in first inculcating in him

the daily discipline of bodily and spiritual hygiene

known as “shoucha-achAra”. This regimen of

“shouchAchAra” primarily includes the rite of

“sandhyAvandanam” and a few other ablutionary rites,

which though being minor in nature and format, are yet

essential pre-conditions for all other Vedic “karma”

or duties. Without regular performance of these

“shouchAchArA-s”, and especially the “gayatri

sandhyA”, a Brahmin simply cannot proceed to undertake

any other Vedic initiative. Even if he does, the

resultant effort simply bears no fruit:

 

“sandhyAheenO’shucchir nitya manarhah: sarvakarmasu”

 

It is for this reason that a true Vedic “AchArya”

always ensures that his wards first and foremost, and

above everything else, learn to perform the “sandhyA”

rites in the proper manner, giving due and scrupulous

importance to the “svara varna” of the ritual ‘mantra’

i.e. taking care to ensure correct pronunciation and

intonation. It is the correct articulation of Vedic

mantra that ensures its efficacy and results in

auspicious effects. Improper articulation, on the

other hand, can quiet easily result in adverse and

unwanted consequences.

 

The unintended consequences one reaps as a result of

inappropriate or inadvertent articulation of Vedic

mantra are well described in a famous passage

(“vachana”) from the Vedic branch of study called

“sIkshA”. It is the story of TvashtA, the man who

sought revenge against the King of gods, Devendra

(also known as Indra):

 

mantrO’heenah: svarathO varNathO vA mithyApra-yukthO

na tamartha-mAha I

sa vAgvajrO yajamAnam hinasthi yathEndra-shathruhu:

svarathO’parAdhAth II

 

Indra had killed Tvashta’s son and so the bereaved

father resolved to perform a Vedic fire-sacrifice by

which he hoped to beget another son who would grow up

to battle Devendra and kill him. In the course of the

fire-sacrifice Tvashta was to invoke the proper mantra

for the purpose called “indra shathruhu vardhasva”. It

involved articulation of the expression,

 

“shAthayateethi shatruhu, indrasya shathruhu

indrashathruhu”

 

Instead, through sheer negligence or inadvertence, the

words came out as

 

“indrah shatruhu shAthayitA yasya saha”

 

The mantra now assumed a totally unintended and

unfortunate twist in meaning. A son was indeed born to

Tvashta in good time. He grew up to challenge Indra to

a fight to the finish. Indra slaughtered this son of

Tvashta too without much ado and the heart-broken

father was bereaved once again. When the cause of the

matter was investigated, it was found Tvashta had

committed a grave lapse in the articulation of the

mantra which instead of meaning “Grant me the birth of

a son who will grow up to kill Indra” unfortunately

had come out as “Grant me the birth of a son who will

grow up to be slain by Indra”.

 

In chanting Vedic mantra, in the sacred discipline of

“vEdhAdhyAyana”, a mere slip of the tongue or a single

false note of the voice is indeed enough indeed enough

to cause disastrous effects.

 

************

 

Another of Manu’s great pronouncements on “vEdhAdhyA”

is found in the following shlOka :

 

“na hAyanaih: na palithaih: na vitthEna na

bandhubhih:I

rshayascha-krIrE dharmam yO’nuchAnah: sa nO mahAn II

 

Answering the question “What makes a Brahmin worthy?”,

Manu says in the shlOka above that it is neither age

nor wealth, nor is it family lineage that bestows

honour and nobility upon a Brahmin. It is

“vEdhAdhyaya” alone that bestows distinction and worth

upon a Brahmin in his lifetime.

 

“yO vai yUvA’pyadheeyAnah: tam dEvAh: sthaviram viduh:

 

Manu even goes to the extent of saying that a Brahmin

youth, so long as he is engaged in “vEdhAdhyAya”, is

fit to be venerated by even those who are his elders

or superiors in other secular respects. (This is the

reason why even today in India, even older men and

women will not hesitate to prostrate at the feet of

young Brahmin “brahmacharis” who are engaged in

“vEdhAdhyAyanam”. My note).

 

************

 

It is interesting how Manu severely castigates a

Brahmin who fails to follow the dictates of his dharma

and does not perform “adhyAyana”:

 

yathA kAshtamayO hasthee yathA charmamayO mrugah:

yascha viprO’nadheeyAna-srayasthE nAmadhArakAh: II

 

“Just as you cannot expect a toy-elephant to

accomplish the workload of a real elephant, and just

as you can never substitute the beauty of a toy-deer

with that of a real one, so can you never hope to

realize the goals and high ideals of the Vedas with

the help of Brahmins who are Brahmins in mere name

only and are far from well-versed in “vEdhAdhyAya”.

 

**************

 

One of the cardinal duties enjoined upon a true

Brahmin is the daily regimen called “brahma-yagnya”.

This involves “vEda japa” or “sruti japa” -- the daily

chanting at home of various Vedic passages and hymns.

It is a life-long duty he must carry out without fail

if he must be faithful to his dharma. This duty has

been cast upon him by a number of injunctions as seen

in the “sAstras”.

 

“yascha sruti-japah: prOkthah: brahma-yagnyah: sa

ucchyatE”

 

Sage KatyAyana revealed that a Brahmin who is engaged

regularly in “vEdhAdhyAya” is indeed faithfully

carrying out his duty of “brahma-yagnya”.

 

Another sage of yore, a ‘rshi’ named Pydeenasi said:

 

“sva-shAkhAdhya-yanam yatthath brahma-yagnyam

prachakshathE I

brahmayagnya-parO viprO brahmalOkE maheeyathE II

 

i.e. Brahmins who faithfully perform “brahma-yagnya”,

chanting the passages from the respective Vedic

“shAkAs” to which they may belong, soon attain the

celestial realms of “brahmalOka” and enjoy celebrated

status there”.

 

Another passage in the Vishnu Smriti prescribes the

order in which “brahma-yagnya” must be performed:

 

“Omkaaram vyAhrutee-tisrO gaayatreem cha

taditya-rccham I

manasaithaan anusmrutya vEdhAdeen samupakramEth II

 

i.e. One must daily chant the prefatory mantras of

“vyAhrutee” and “gAyatree” and then proceed to recite

other “veda prashna” or Vedic passages.

 

>From all the above mentioned injunctions of “sAstra”

it becomes exceedingly clear to us that “vEdhAdhyAya”

and “brahma-yagnya” are mandatory daily tasks – they

are “nitya karma” for any man who calls himself a

Brahmin.

 

“brahmayagnya-viheenascha brahmhA keerti-thO buddhaih:

 

Practice is said to lead to Perfection, and hence

constant “vEdhAdhyAyanam” automatically leads to

excellence in the execution of the sacred duty of

“brahma-yagnya”. A Brahmin who excels in Vedic

chanting easily achieves spiritual exaltation and

enlightenment.

 

***************

 

In the scripture called “Vishnu-dharmOttara”, it is

said that even if a Brahmin is unable to attain

perfection in the disciplines of the full range of

“vEdhAdhyAya” or is otherwise incapacitated in the

performance of the daily duty of “brahma-yagnya”, at

least he should strive to attain perfection in the

chanting of the foremost Vedic passage or “prashna” of

the Vedas known as “purusha-sooktam”.

 

“brahma-yagnyE japann sUktam powrusham chintayan harim

sa sarvAn japathE vEdhAn sAngOpAngAn vidhAnathah: II

 

**************

 

(Many of the “prashna-s” or passages in the various

“shAkA-s” or branches of the 4 Vedas are replete with

potent mantras invoked and uttered usually only on the

occasion of conducting specific “yagnya-s” or ritual

fire-sacrifices. Many of such Vedic “yagnya-s” are

elaborate and formidable affairs and it is usually

beyond the capacity or ordinary men to undertake such

ceremonies).

 

Merely by engaging in “vEdhAdhyAya”, with utter faith

and humility, and persevering in the daily routine of

chanting Vedic “prashna-s” related to such “yagnya-s”,

a Brahmin is said to easily attain the very same

fruits as would otherwise be yielded by such

“yagnya-s”. The Sage Yagnyavalkya attested to this

when he said that a Brahmin who faithfully performs

the duty of “brahma-yagnya” attains well-being through

abundant wealth, “land, and cattle” in this world and

beyond…

 

“yam yam kratumadheeyEtha tasya tasyApnyUyAth phalam I

trirvittha-pUrNa-prutthuvee-dAnasya phalamasruthE II

 

*****************

 

The greatest disservice a Brahmin can ever do to

himself as well as to the community is to abandon

“vEdhyAdhyAyanam” altogether after having learnt it

well for some period of time:

 

“adheethamapi yO vEdham vimuncchati yadA narah: I

brUNahaa sat tu vignyEyaha: viyOnimadhi-gacchathi II

 

The “sAstrA” above says that such a Brahmin who is

derelict in the duty of “brahma-yagnya”, and

eventually forgets the Vedic passages learnt earlier

out of sheer neglect, is to be regarded as a heinous

sinner. He is said to be a moral delinquent of the

worst order. There is no pardon anywhere for such

sinners.

 

**************

 

“vEdamEva japEnityam yathA-kAla-mathan-drithah: I

nahyasyaahuh: param dharmam upadharmO’nya ucchyathE II

 

Manu’s ringing and final affirmation above is that for

a true Brahmin there is no dharma in life that is

higher than or superior to the dharma of “vEda japa”.

 

Hence, all Brahmins should be encouraged and enjoined

to engage wholeheartedly in the chanting and study of

Vedas. Even in the modern times, when Brahmins have to

perforce engage in other secular pursuits in life, it

is their bounden duty to attempt learning at least

some parts of the Vedas --- such as the various

“sooktam-s”, the “purusha-sooktam”, for example, and

the many beautiful Upanishad “prashna-s” that are

found in the Vedas. In so far as one’s station and

conditions of living permit it, a Brahmin must make a

sincere effort to take up at least minimal efforts at

“vEdhAdhyAya”. It is the only way he can fulfill his

dhArmic destiny and realize the true purpose of his

existence.

**********

 

(CONCLUDED with grateful acknowledgments to

U.Ve.Sri Melpakkam Narasimhachary)

 

Regards,

 

dAsan,

Sudharshan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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