HinduDharma: The Vedas

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" Hindu Dharma " is a book which contains English

translation of certain invaluable and engrossing

speeches of Sri Sri Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswathi

MahaSwamiji (at various times during the years 1884 to

1994).

The following is a chapter pertaining to VEDAS.

 

The Vedas: The Root of our Religion

 

The Vedas -- Rgveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda and

Atharvanaveda -- are the first four of the pramanas

(authoritative texts) of our religion and also the

most important. Of the remaining ten, six are Angas of

the Vedas and four are Upangas.

 

Man possesses a number of angas or limbs. In the same

way the Vedas personified -- the Vedapurusa -- has six

limbs. ( It must be noted that the Vedas are also

spoken of as Vedamatha, Mother Veda. ) The four

Upangas, though not integral to the Vedas, are

supporting limbs of the Vedapurusa. The Angas, as

already stated, are six in number -- Siksa, Vyakarana,

Chandas, Nirukta, Jyotisa and Kalpa. The four Upangas

are Mimamsa, Nyaya, Purana and Dharmasastra.

 

The Vedas are fundamental importance; the Angas and

Upangas derive their importance from them. Ayurveda,

Dhanurveda, Arthasasthra and Gandharvaveda are called

Upavedas, subsidiary Vedas. Their connection with the

prime scripture is thus obvious.

 

The Vedas must be learned along with the Angas and

Upangas. Such a thourough study of the scripture is

called " Sa-Anga-Upanga-adhyayana " (study of the Vedas

with the Angas and Upangas). The term " sangopanga " ,

which has come into popular usage, is derived from

this. If a speaker deals with a subject thoroughly,

whether it be politics or something else, we use the

word " sangopanga " in describing his performance. The

term refers to the ancient caturdasa-vidya (the six

Angas plus the four upangas). We have totally

forgotten the old system of education but our culture

is so steeped in it that we still use the term

(sangopanga) to refer to any full scale treatment or

exposition of a subject. The inference is clear. That

for centuries the Vedas, together with their Angas and

Upangas formed such an intimate part of life in Tamil

land that a term associated with this tradition,

" sangopanga " , is still used by the common people

there. But the irony of it is that today we do not

know even the names of these old sastras.

 

The Vedas form the core of our religion and are the

direct authority for our dharma and for all our

religious practices. They are our Bible, our Qur' " an,

our Granth sahib. But, of course, the Vedas are far

far older than these scriptures of other faiths. All

of them originate from truths found in the Vedas. The

very word " Veda " connotes what is authoritative. There

is a practice of reffering to the Bible, the Quran and

other scriptures as the " Christian Veda " , " Mohammedan

Veda " , " Parsi Veda " , " Sikh Veda " and so on. Christians

in India refer to the Bible as " Satya-Veda " .

 

It is rather difficult to speak about the Vedas as a

topic. One does not know where to begin and how to

conclude. It is a bewildering task. The magnitude of

our scripture is such -- and such is its glory.

 

" Pramanam Vedasca " , says the Apastamba Dharmasutra.

The Vedas are indeed the sources of all dharmas as

well as the authority on which they are founded. A

book that has been cherished by the great men of th

Tamil country from the earliest times is

Manu-dharma-nul (Manusmriti). Throughout India, Manu's

dharmasastra is held in the highest esteem. In Tamil

Nadu there was a king who earned the name of

" Manu-niti-kanda-Cola " for the exemplary manner in

which he administered justice. Once a calf got crushed

under the wheel of the chariot ridden by his son. The

king was so fair and strict that, when the aggrieved

cow, the mother of the calf, sought justice, he

ordered his son to be crished to death under the wheel

of the same chariot. For us

" Manu-niti-sastra " (Manusmriti) is the authority on

dharma. But does it claim that it is the authority for

all dharma? No. " Vedo'khilo dharmamulam " , says Manu,

i. e. the Vedas constitute the root of all dharma.

They prescribe the dharma for all time, he says.

 

We must obey the dictates of the Vedas. When we are

asked to accept a statement without questioning it, it

is customary to remark; " Is that the word of the

Vedas? " This confirms the fact that the common people

believe that the word of the Vedas, or their

injunction, must be obeyed without being questioned.

The " Vedavak " (the word or pronouncement of the Vedas)

has been our inviolable law for thousands of years.