Veadas the Root of All .

January 30, 2006

(Written by : Paramacharya Sri Chandrasekharendra Sarasvati Swamy)

Our religion consists of different divisions such as

Vaisnavism, Saivism, etc. The doubt arises as to whether we are

speaking here of different faiths or of a single one. Christianity

too has two major divisions but people belonging to both conduct

worship in the name of the same God. In Buddhism we have the Hinayana

and Mahayana streams but they do not make two separate faiths since

both are based on the teachings of the same founder, the Buddha.

Do Vaisnavas and Saivas worship the same God? No. However it be with

ordinary Vaisnavas, their Acaryas or teachers never go anywhere near

a Siva temple. Their God is Visnu, never Siva. In the opinion of the

worshippers of Visnu, Siva is also one of his (Visnu's) devotees.

There are extremists among Saivas also who worship only Siva . How

then can such groups be said to belong to the same religion?

Are they to be regarded as belonging to the same faith by virtue of

their having a common scripture? The divisions [sects] of

Christianity have one common scripture, the Bible; so too is the

Qur'an the common holy book for all divisions of Islam. Is such the

case with Hindus?

Though divided into different sects , we have been saved by the fact

that the white man brought us together under a common name, " Hindu " .

But for this, what would have been our fate? In village after

village, we would have been fragmented into separate religious groups-

Vaisnavas, Saivas, Saktas, etc. Further, in these places followers

of religions like Christianity and Islam would have predominated. Now

two regions of our subcontinent have become Pakistan . Had we not

been brought together with the label of Hindu, the entire

subcontinent would have become Pakistan. The very same men who

created Pakistan through their evil design and sowed the seeds of

differences among us with their theory of two races- Aryans and

Dravidians- unwittingly did us a good turn by calling us Hindu,

thereby bringing into being a country called " India. "

So are we one religion or are we divided into different faiths? The

belief that Hindus have separate Deities and religious works does

not represent the truth. Though the present outlook of the various

Hindu sects suggests that they represent different faiths, the truth

will be revealed if we examine the prime scriptures of each sect.

The original scriptures of all sects are constituted by the Vedas.

The great Saint-poets who composed those hymns sing the glories of

the Vedas throughout. Whenever they describe a temple, they go into

raptures, saying, " Here the air is filled with the sound of the Vedas

and pervaded with the smoke of the sacrificial fire. Here the six

Angas of the Vedas flourish. " In the songs of these hymnodists

veneration of the Vedas finds as much place as devotion to the Lord.

The Vedas reveal the One Truth to us in different forms. Thus we find

that there is but one scripture as the source common to the different

sects and schools of thought in the Hindu religion. This source

includes the Upanisads.

It emerges that for all the divisions in our religion there is but

one scripture Vedas- a scripture common to all- and one Godhead which

is known by many names.

The Vedas that constitute the scripture common to all and which

reveal the Godhead also teach us how to lead our life, and- this is

important- they do us the ultimate good by showing us in the end the

way to attain that very Godhead . They are our refuge both here and

the hereafter and are the source and root of all our different

traditions, all our systems of thought. All sects, all schools of our

religion, have their origin in them. The root is one but the branches

are many.

The Vedas are the source not only of various divisions of Hinduism,

all the religions of the world may be traced back to them. It is our

bounden duty to preserve them for all time to come with their glory

undiminished.

January 31, 2006

And Lord Krishna is the root of the Vedas. Sri krishna says in chapter 15, sloka 15 :

"Sarvasya chaham Hridi sannivishto, matah smritir gyanam apohanam cha, Vedas cha sarvaira ahameva vedyo, vedanta krit veda vid eva chaham"

This is traslated as : I am seated in everyone's heart, and from Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness. By all the Vedas I am to be known; indeed I am the compiler of Vedanta, and I am the knower of the Vedas.

Thus Lord Krishna clearly states His position here as the root of all the vedas.

Sanjeev Kumar Punj

punjsanjeev

Paramacharya To: Subject: Veadas the Root of All .Mon, 30 Jan 2006 07:19:53 -0000(Written by : Paramacharya Sri Chandrasekharendra Sarasvati Swamy)Our religion consists of different divisions such as Vaisnavism, Saivism, etc. The doubt arises as to whether we are speaking here of different faiths or of a single one. Christianity too has two major divisions but people belonging to both conduct worship in the name of the same God. In Buddhism we have the Hinayana and Mahayana streams but they do not make two separate faiths since both are based on the teachings of the same founder, the Buddha. Do Vaisnavas and Saivas worship the same God? No. However it be with ordinary Vaisnavas, their Acaryas or teachers never go anywhere near a Siva temple. Their God is Visnu, never Siva. In the opinion of the worshippers of Visnu, Siva is also one of his (Visnu's) devotees. There are extremists among Saivas also who worship only Siva . How then can such groups be said to belong to the same religion? Are they to be regarded as belonging to the same faith by virtue of their having a common scripture? The divisions [sects] of Christianity have one common scripture, the Bible; so too is the Qur'an the common holy book for all divisions of Islam. Is such the case with Hindus? Though divided into different sects , we have been saved by the fact that the white man brought us together under a common name, "Hindu". But for this, what would have been our fate? In village after village, we would have been fragmented into separate religious groups-Vaisnavas, Saivas, Saktas, etc. Further, in these places followers of religions like Christianity and Islam would have predominated. Now two regions of our subcontinent have become Pakistan . Had we not been brought together with the label of Hindu, the entire subcontinent would have become Pakistan. The very same men who created Pakistan through their evil design and sowed the seeds of differences among us with their theory of two races- Aryans and Dravidians- unwittingly did us a good turn by calling us Hindu, thereby bringing into being a country called "India. "So are we one religion or are we divided into different faiths? The belief that Hindus have separate Deities and religious works does not represent the truth. Though the present outlook of the various Hindu sects suggests that they represent different faiths, the truth will be revealed if we examine the prime scriptures of each sect. The original scriptures of all sects are constituted by the Vedas. The great Saint-poets who composed those hymns sing the glories of the Vedas throughout. Whenever they describe a temple, they go into raptures, saying, "Here the air is filled with the sound of the Vedas and pervaded with the smoke of the sacrificial fire. Here the six Angas of the Vedas flourish. " In the songs of these hymnodists veneration of the Vedas finds as much place as devotion to the Lord. The Vedas reveal the One Truth to us in different forms. Thus we find that there is but one scripture as the source common to the different sects and schools of thought in the Hindu religion. This source includes the Upanisads. It emerges that for all the divisions in our religion there is but one scripture Vedas- a scripture common to all- and one Godhead which is known by many names. The Vedas that constitute the scripture common to all and which reveal the Godhead also teach us how to lead our life, and- this is important- they do us the ultimate good by showing us in the end the way to attain that very Godhead . They are our refuge both here and the hereafter and are the source and root of all our different traditions, all our systems of thought. All sects, all schools of our religion, have their origin in them. The root is one but the branches are many. The Vedas are the source not only of various divisions of Hinduism, all the religions of the world may be traced back to them. It is our bounden duty to preserve them for all time to come with their glory undiminished.