My Introduction to The Vedas (By Prof.G.Venkataraman)

[Guest guest]

Tamil Nadu, and is on the route from Madurai to Rameswaram on the South East

coast of India, from where legend has it, that Rama launched His invasion of

Lanka. Rameshwaram is thus a popular pilgrim centre. The State of

Tamil Nadu in India Madurai & Rameshwaram in Tamil Nadu The British laid a

rail track from Madras to Dhanushkodi just beyond Rameshwaram. Everyday, a train

named the Boat Mail would go from Madras to Dhanushkodi and also back from

Dhanushodki to Madras. This train would pass through Manamadurai, and the

passage of the Boat Mail used to the big event there every day. The train would

cross the River Vaigai across a bridge and lots of people would gather on the

river sands just to catch a glimpse of the train as it went by. I have done it

too. By the way, this train was called Boat Mail because it would carry mail

from England meant for Madras (now Chennai) that came via Colombo. In those

days, the big ships from England would sail direct to Colombo instead of to

Madras. The mail would be unloaded there and sent by train to a place in

Northern Ceylon, as Sri Lanka used to be called in those days. From there a

small boat would carry the mail to Dhanuskodi where the mail would be

transferred to the Boat Mail bound for

Madras. Mail from Madras to England would follow the reverse route. Vedic

School Now why am I mentioning all this in a talk that is supposed to be on the

Vedas? Just to say something about Manamadurai, and a Vedic school there. This

school was two doors away from the ancestral home of my father’s family, and in

this house stayed two of my father’s elder brothers. I have gone there a few

times, and invariably, I used to be fascinated by the non-stop chants coming

from two doors away. This Vedic school or Veda Paatasala as it is technically

known was apparently in existence for many, many decades, having been founded

by a

wealthy Chettiar family. For the record, I should mention that the Chettiars

belong to the trading community, and in those days, trade and commerce took

them to Burma, Malaya, Singapore and even places like Laos and Cambodia. The

Chettiars were generally prosperous, and, in keeping with the traditions of

those times, spent a good part of their wealth in charitable activities. For

example, many of them endowed a lot of money for temples. Others built

choultries or rest houses for pilgrims visiting holy shrines, like Rameswaram,

or Tirupathi or Benares. Yet others established Veda Paatasalas like the one I

mentioned a short while ago. The Veda Paatasala was essentially

a Vedic school, which, Brahmin boys, often from somewhat poor families, entered

when they were very young, around five to seven years of age, after going

through the Upanayanam ceremony. Many of you might have seen the mass

Upanayanam ceremony performed by Swami from time to time. Upanayanam Ceremony

Well, what exactly is this ceremony and what is its significance? I shall make

a few remarks on this here and maybe come back to this theme later for an

in-depth exploration. To understand what this ceremony is all about, we must go

back to the Vedic age, which means a few thousand years back in time. In those

times, a boy born in a Brahmin family was allowed to roam

around like a child without any restrictions till the age of five. On reaching

that age, there was a change of gear, and the Upanayanam ceremony signalled

this gear change. The ceremony was essentially an initiation into a disciplined

life with strong emphasis on sense and Mind control and focus on God. One might

wonder why all this? Was it not a severe infliction on a five-year old? Well,

that is the way we would think, based on today’s environment. Five thousand and

odd years ago, life was different and Brahmins had the duty of sustaining and

spreading Spiritual Knowledge. In practical terms, it was the Brahmins who

advised one and all, including kings, on matters relating to Dharma, and the

observance of various rituals prescribed in the scriptures. The responsibility

assigned to Brahmins was onerous, and the training for the job had to begin

early. By the way, in later talks, I shall have much to say about many of

these rituals and the Vedic Mantras chanted on those occasions. Let me get back

to the Upanayanam. The high point of the ceremony is what is called the

Brahmopadesam, and it consists in the father whispering the sacred Gayathri

Mantra into the ear of the young boy. I am sure you all know about the Gayathri

Mantra, especially since Swami has spoken about it so many times. I shall come

back to it later. I am mentioning the Gayathri Mantra just by way of saying

that once the boy hears it, he is supposed to be born again, spiritually this

time. Childhood period is over, and as a result of this spiritual birth, his

life now takes a different turn. I might in passing mention that the Jews have

an initiation ceremony called Bar Mitzvah and the Parsi community too has an

initiation ceremony. The details and even the objectives of these initiation

ceremonies might not quite be the same as the

Upanayanam ceremony but we might keep in mind the fact that many ancient

societies did have a ceremony to mark the transition from childhood to boyhood.

The True Brahmachari A boy who has undergone the Upanayanam ceremony is called

Brahmachari. There is a mistaken notion that a Brahmachari means a bachelor. At

the practical level, a Brahmachari is unmarried no doubt but, as Swami has

pointed out, the word Brahmachari means much more and has nothing really to do

with marital status. According to Swami, a true Brahmachari is one whose Mind

is totally focussed on Brahman or God. This brings me back to the Veda

Paatasala. In ancient

times, the Brahmachari went to a Guru and spent many years in residence in his

Ashram learning the Vedas and leading a disciplined life as enjoined in the

scriptures. After completing the studies, which took many years, the

Brahmachari would take respectful leave of the Guru and enter life. He would

then get married, and serve society in every way possible, especially by

guiding people of various communities who were not versed in the scriptures, on

their duties in life. I have already made a brief reference to this a short

while ago. Life changed with the passage of time, and by the nineteenth

century, most Brahmins were engaged in tasks other than the propagation of

scriptural knowledge. Many became prosperous landlords, wholly preoccupied in

supervising agricultural activities on their farms. And when Western style

schools and colleges were established by the British, many Brahmins happily

embraced Western education,

especially as it gave them an opportunity to enter professional life as an

administrator in the Government, as a lawyer, as a teacher, as a doctor and so

on. As a result of all such sociological forces, it became increasingly

necessary to establish Vedic schools where priests could be trained. Please do

not think that Vedic schools came into existence only because of the

developments I have just mentioned. They existed even earlier, mainly to give

Brahmin boys a serious exposure to the Vedas. But sociological changes made it

more imperative than ever to have schools that would train people to become

priests. Swami Establishes a Vedic School in the 1950’s To get back to

Manamadurai and the Veda Paatasala there, I did not pay much attention to it;

but its presence did register somewhere in my memory, and it was only years

later that I appreciated the role this and other such Paatasalas played. For

the record I must also mention that sometime in the fifties, Swami established

a Veda Paatasala here in Prasanthinilayam. It was managed by late Sri

Kamavadhani, a Vedic scholar par excellence. He lived to the ripe old age of

one hundred, and I have heard Swami speak many times, most affectionately of

Kamavadhanigaru. I have also had the privilege of seeing him a few times in his

later years. Swami established the Veda Paatasala not for training priests, but

to expose Swami’s students to the importance of the Vedas and understanding the

need to preserve them. Incidentally, there were no restrictions, and anyone who

had a serious interest in

the Vedas and a keenness to learn it was admitted to Swami’s Veda Paatasala. To

put it differently, it was not a case of Brahmins only. It is thanks to the

pioneering effort of late Kamavadhani, that we see so many students

effortlessly chanting various portions of the Vedas almost every day during

Darshan, both in the morning and in the evening. The Effect of the Upanayanam

Ceremony Let me now cut to the year 1947. That was when, on the insistence of

my grandmother, my father performed the Upanayanam ceremony for me. It was a

four-day affair, celebrated in the best of traditions, in a small village in

South India very much given to tradition. There were many things associated

with the ceremony that I positively

detested but then I had no choice; I just had to obey. Many restrictions were

placed on me that made me very angry at that time, but there was precious

little I could do except to comply. One thing I realised then was that having

undergone the Upanayanam ceremony, I was now required to perform a ritual

called Sandhyavandham three times a day, once in the morning, once in the

afternoon and once more in the evening. Among other things, as a part of this

ritual I had to chant the Gayathri 32 times. My mother was very strict and

would not give me food unless I had completed Sandhyavandanam. This would drive

me mad but I had no choice. Strangely, I did not think of cheating. I don’t know

why; I suppose it was all Divine Grace. Though with great reluctance, I somehow

pushed myself everyday to chant all the Mantras, which I had sort of got by

heart. I mention all this for a

variety of reasons. The first is that I did not know then that the Mantras I was

reluctantly chanting were all from the Vedas. Secondly, no one took the trouble

to explain to me what these Mantras were all about. Perhaps if I had understood

the inner significance, I might have accepted it all in a better spirit. I shall

come back to the Sandhyavandanam later, but right now let me just quote one

sentence from that ritual. This sentence is: Aakashath paththam thoyam,Yadaa

gachhathi sagaram, Sarva Deva namaskaaraha, Kesavam pradhigachhathi. And

roughly it means: ‘Just as all the water that comes down from the sky

eventually finds its way to the ocean, all the prayers that I now offer to the

various deities would eventually be received by Kesava, the Supreme Lord.’

What a profound thought! That is the beauty

of the Vedas. Superficially they might be all about rituals, some of which

might, in this day and age, appear not only irrelevant but also objectionable.

But when one goes deeper, it is an entirely different matter. One cannot then

but admire those ancients for the profundity of their wisdom. All this I shall

discuss in detail later. By the way, I think it is appropriate to mention that

Swami often quotes the last part of the Mantra I just referred to. Swami says,

Sarva jeeva namaskaaram, Kesavam Pradhigatchathi. Sarva Jeeva tiraskaaram,

Kesavam pradhigatchathi. The meaning is: all the salutations we offer to fellow

humans ultimately reach the Lord. If instead of salutations we hurl abuse, they

also eventually reach only the Lord. So, says Swami, we had better be careful

about abusing others. We may think we are abusing so and so, but in reality it

is God who is being abused. We wouldn’t want to do that, would we? (Sharing

With Sai Love) Ram.ChuganiRam ChuganiKobe, Japanrgcjp

Relax. Mail virus scanning helps detect nasty viruses!

[Guest guest]

sai ram ramchand...thanks so much for all your mail! I enjoy them a

lot.

 

God bless

Unnikrishnan

Australia

 

, Ramchand Chugani <rgcjp

wrote:

>

>

>

>

> MUSINGS FROM PRASHANTHI NILAYAM

> CONCERNING THE VEDAS – 01

> MY INTRODUCTION TO THE VEDAS

> By Prof. G. Venkataraman

>

>

> This is the text of "Musings From Prashanthi Nilayam" aired on

Radio Sai a few days ago.

> Loving Sai Ram and greetings from Prashanti Nilayam.

> In this and some of the talks that would follow in subsequent

weeks, I intend to say something about the Vedas. On the face of it,

this is an atrocious proposition, considering that I cannot chant

even a few hymns from the Vedas. Yet, despite this ignorance, the

Vedas hold such a fascination for me that I cannot restrain myself

from speaking about them. You might ask, "How can you talk about the

Vedas when you know so little?" Good question but my reply is that

though I know little about the technical aspects, I have been

privileged to have a ringside view of some aspects, and it is on

that I am largely going to base these talks.

> My earliest recollection of something to do with the Vedas goes

back to about 1940 or so; maybe even a couple of years earlier. At

that time, I occasionally paid a visit to Manamadurai, a small town

about 40 km to the south east of the famous temple city of Madurai.

Manamadurai is in Ramnad District of Tamil Nadu, and is on the route

from Madurai to Rameswaram on the South East coast of India, from

where legend has it, that Rama launched His invasion of Lanka.

Rameshwaram is thus a popular pilgrim centre.

>

>

> The State of Tamil Nadu in India

> Madurai & Rameshwaram in Tamil Nadu

> The British laid a rail track from Madras to Dhanushkodi just

beyond Rameshwaram. Everyday, a train named the Boat Mail would go

from Madras to Dhanushkodi and also back from Dhanushodki to Madras.

This train would pass through Manamadurai, and the passage of the

Boat Mail used to the big event there every day. The train would

cross the River Vaigai across a bridge and lots of people would

gather on the river sands just to catch a glimpse of the train as it

went by. I have done it too.

> By the way, this train was called Boat Mail because it would

carry mail from England meant for Madras (now Chennai) that came via

Colombo. In those days, the big ships from England would sail direct

to Colombo instead of to Madras. The mail would be unloaded there

and sent by train to a place in Northern Ceylon, as Sri Lanka used

to be called in those days. From there a small boat would carry the

mail to Dhanuskodi where the mail would be transferred to the Boat

Mail bound for Madras. Mail from Madras to England would follow the

reverse route.

> Vedic School

> Now why am I mentioning all this in a talk that is supposed to

be on the Vedas? Just to say something about Manamadurai, and a

Vedic school there. This school was two doors away from the

ancestral home of my father's family, and in this house stayed two

of my father's elder brothers.

> I have gone there a few times, and invariably, I used to be

fascinated by the non-stop chants coming from two doors away. This

Vedic school or Veda Paatasala as it is technically known was

apparently in existence for many, many decades, having been founded

by a wealthy Chettiar family.

>

> For the record, I should mention that the Chettiars belong to

the trading community, and in those days, trade and commerce took

them to Burma, Malaya, Singapore and even places like Laos and

Cambodia. The Chettiars were generally prosperous, and, in keeping

with the traditions of those times, spent a good part of their

wealth in charitable activities. For example, many of them endowed a

lot of money for temples. Others built choultries or rest houses for

pilgrims visiting holy shrines, like Rameswaram, or Tirupathi or

Benares. Yet others established Veda Paatasalas like the one I

mentioned a short while ago.

> The Veda Paatasala was essentially a Vedic school, which,

Brahmin boys, often from somewhat poor families, entered when they

were very young, around five to seven years of age, after going

through the Upanayanam ceremony. Many of you might have seen the

mass Upanayanam ceremony performed by Swami from time to time.

> Upanayanam Ceremony

> Well, what exactly is this ceremony and what is its

significance? I shall make a few remarks on this here and maybe come

back to this theme later for an in-depth exploration. To understand

what this ceremony is all about, we must go back to the Vedic age,

which means a few thousand years back in time. In those times, a boy

born in a Brahmin family was allowed to roam around like a child

without any restrictions till the age of five. On reaching that age,

there was a change of gear, and the Upanayanam ceremony signalled

this gear change. The ceremony was essentially an initiation into a

disciplined life with strong emphasis on sense and Mind control and

focus on God.

> One might wonder why all this? Was it not a severe infliction on

a five-year old? Well, that is the way we would think, based on

today's environment. Five thousand and odd years ago, life was

different and Brahmins had the duty of sustaining and spreading

Spiritual Knowledge. In practical terms, it was the Brahmins who

advised one and all, including kings, on matters relating to Dharma,

and the observance of various rituals prescribed in the scriptures.

The responsibility assigned to Brahmins was onerous, and the

training for the job had to begin early. By the way, in later talks,

I shall have much to say about many of these rituals and the Vedic

Mantras chanted on those occasions.

> Let me get back to the Upanayanam. The high point of the

ceremony is what is called the Brahmopadesam, and it consists in the

father whispering the sacred Gayathri Mantra into the ear of the

young boy. I am sure you all know about the Gayathri Mantra,

especially since Swami has spoken about it so many times. I shall

come back to it later.

> I am mentioning the Gayathri Mantra just by way of saying that

once the boy hears it, he is supposed to be born again, spiritually

this time. Childhood period is over, and as a result of this

spiritual birth, his life now takes a different turn. I might in

passing mention that the Jews have an initiation ceremony called Bar

Mitzvah and the Parsi community too has an initiation ceremony. The

details and even the objectives of these initiation ceremonies might

not quite be the same as the Upanayanam ceremony but we might keep

in mind the fact that many ancient societies did have a ceremony to

mark the transition from childhood to boyhood.

> The True Brahmachari

> A boy who has undergone the Upanayanam ceremony is called

Brahmachari. There is a mistaken notion that a Brahmachari means a

bachelor. At the practical level, a Brahmachari is unmarried no

doubt but, as Swami has pointed out, the word Brahmachari means much

more and has nothing really to do with marital status. According to

Swami, a true Brahmachari is one whose Mind is totally focussed on

Brahman or God.

> This brings me back to the Veda Paatasala. In ancient times,

the Brahmachari went to a Guru and spent many years in residence in

his Ashram learning the Vedas and leading a disciplined life as

enjoined in the scriptures. After completing the studies, which took

many years, the Brahmachari would take respectful leave of the Guru

and enter life. He would then get married, and serve society in

every way possible, especially by guiding people of various

communities who were not versed in the scriptures, on their duties

in life. I have already made a brief reference to this a short while

ago.

> Life changed with the passage of time, and by the nineteenth

century, most Brahmins were engaged in tasks other than the

propagation of scriptural knowledge. Many became prosperous

landlords, wholly preoccupied in supervising agricultural activities

on their farms. And when Western style schools and colleges were

established by the British, many Brahmins happily embraced Western

education, especially as it gave them an opportunity to enter

professional life as an administrator in the Government, as a

lawyer, as a teacher, as a doctor and so on. As a result of all such

sociological forces, it became increasingly necessary to establish

Vedic schools where priests could be trained. Please do not think

that Vedic schools came into existence only because of the

developments I have just mentioned. They existed even earlier,

mainly to give Brahmin boys a serious exposure to the Vedas. But

sociological changes made it more imperative than ever to have

schools that would train people to

> become priests.

> Swami Establishes a Vedic School in the 1950's

> To get back to Manamadurai and the Veda Paatasala there, I did

not pay much attention to it; but its presence did register

somewhere in my memory, and it was only years later that I

appreciated the role this and other such Paatasalas played. For the

record I must also mention that sometime in the fifties, Swami

established a Veda Paatasala here in Prasanthinilayam. It was

managed by late Sri Kamavadhani, a Vedic scholar par excellence. He

lived to the ripe old age of one hundred, and I have heard Swami

speak many times, most affectionately of Kamavadhanigaru. I have

also had the privilege of seeing him a few times in his later years.

> Swami established the Veda Paatasala not for training priests,

but to expose Swami's students to the importance of the Vedas and

understanding the need to preserve them. Incidentally, there were no

restrictions, and anyone who had a serious interest in the Vedas and

a keenness to learn it was admitted to Swami's Veda Paatasala. To

put it differently, it was not a case of Brahmins only. It is thanks

to the pioneering effort of late Kamavadhani, that we see so many

students effortlessly chanting various portions of the Vedas almost

every day during Darshan, both in the morning and in the evening.

> The Effect of the Upanayanam Ceremony

> Let me now cut to the year 1947. That was when, on the

insistence of my grandmother, my father performed the Upanayanam

ceremony for me. It was a four-day affair, celebrated in the best of

traditions, in a small village in South India very much given to

tradition. There were many things associated with the ceremony that

I positively detested but then I had no choice; I just had to obey.

Many restrictions were placed on me that made me very angry at that

time, but there was precious little I could do except to comply.

> One thing I realised then was that having undergone the

Upanayanam ceremony, I was now required to perform a ritual called

Sandhyavandham three times a day, once in the morning, once in the

afternoon and once more in the evening. Among other things, as a

part of this ritual I had to chant the Gayathri 32 times. My mother

was very strict and would not give me food unless I had completed

Sandhyavandanam. This would drive me mad but I had no choice.

Strangely, I did not think of cheating. I don't know why; I suppose

it was all Divine Grace. Though with great reluctance, I somehow

pushed myself everyday to chant all the Mantras, which I had sort of

got by heart.

> I mention all this for a variety of reasons. The first is that I

did not know then that the Mantras I was reluctantly chanting were

all from the Vedas. Secondly, no one took the trouble to explain to

me what these Mantras were all about. Perhaps if I had understood

the inner significance, I might have accepted it all in a better

spirit. I shall come back to the Sandhyavandanam later, but right

now let me just quote one sentence from that ritual. This sentence

is:

> Aakashath paththam thoyam,

> Yadaa gachhathi sagaram,

> Sarva Deva namaskaaraha,

> Kesavam pradhigachhathi.

> And roughly it means: `Just as all the water that comes down

from the sky eventually finds its way to the ocean, all the prayers

that I now offer to the various deities would eventually be received

by Kesava, the Supreme Lord.'

> What a profound thought! That is the beauty of the Vedas.

Superficially they might be all about rituals, some of which might,

in this day and age, appear not only irrelevant but also

objectionable. But when one goes deeper, it is an entirely different

matter. One cannot then but admire those ancients for the profundity

of their wisdom. All this I shall discuss in detail later.

> By the way, I think it is appropriate to mention that Swami

often quotes the last part of the Mantra I just referred to. Swami

says, Sarva jeeva namaskaaram, Kesavam Pradhigatchathi. Sarva Jeeva

tiraskaaram, Kesavam pradhigatchathi. The meaning is: all the

salutations we offer to fellow humans ultimately reach the Lord. If

instead of salutations we hurl abuse, they also eventually reach

only the Lord. So, says Swami, we had better be careful about

abusing others. We may think we are abusing so and so, but in

reality it is God who is being abused. We wouldn't want to do that,

would we?

>

>

> (Sharing With Sai Love) Ram.Chugani

>

>

> Ram Chugani

> Kobe, Japan

> rgcjp

>

>

> Relax. Mail virus scanning helps detect nasty viruses!

>