Vivekananda on the Vedas (part 26)

December 22, 2000

Parts 1 to 25 were posted earlier. This is part 26. Your comments are welcome... Vivekananda Centre London

Earlier postings can be seen at http://www.vivekananda.btinternet.co.uk/veda.htm

SWAMI VIVEKANANDA ON THE VEDAS AND UPANISHADS

By Sister Gayatriprana

part 26

c) The Rishis Declared Spiritual Law with the Authority of Sympathy, Patience and Self-Sacrifice.

Rishis are discoverers of spiritual laws. (17)

The person in whom... supersensuous power is manifested is called a rishi, and the supersensuous truths he or she realizes by this power are called the Vedas. (18)

The injunction of the rishis [is] the word of divine authority, the revelation of God coming through the inspired rishi. (19)

All the great teachers of the world have declared that they came, not to destroy but to fulfill. [Matt.,5.17] Many times this has not been understood, and their forbearance has been thought to be an unworthy compromise with existing popular opinions. Even now you occasionally hear that these prophets and great teachers were rather cowardly and dared not say and do what they thought was right: but that was not so. Fanatics little understand the infinite power of love in the hearts of the great sages, who looked upon the inhabitants of the world as their children. They were the real fathers and mothers, the real gods, filled with infinite sympathy and patience for everyone; they were ready to bear and forbear. They know how human society should grow; and patiently, slowly, surely, went on applying their remedies, not by denouncing and frightening people, but by gently and kindly leading them upwards, step by step. Such were the writers of the Upanishads. (20)

We may call all that is weak in... the scriptures weak, because they were meant to be so by the ancient sages to help the weak, under the theory of arundhatidarshanam.* (21)

The Indian ideal [is] teaching through life and not through words, and that truth bears fruit only in those lives which have become ready to receive. Persons of that type are entirely averse to preaching what they know, for they are for ever convinced that it is internal discipline alone that leads to truth, and not words. Religion to them is no motive to social conduct, but an intense search after and realization of, truth in this life. They deny the greater potentiality of one moment over another; and, every moment in eternity being equal to every other, they insist on seeing the truths of religion face to face now and here, not waiting for death. (22)

Clinging on to little enjoyments and to desire the continuation of this state of things is utter selfishness. It arises, not from any desire for truth, its genesis is not in kindness for other beings, but in the utter selfishness of the human heart, in the idea, "I will have everything, and do not care for anyone else." This is as it appears to me. I would like to see more moral men in the world, like some of those grand old prophets and sages of ancient times who would have given up a hundred lives if they could by so doing benefit on little animal! Talk of morality and doing good to others! Silly talk of the present time! (23)

* When a bride is brought to the house of her husband for the first time he shows her a very tiny star called Arundhati. To do this he has to direct her gaze the right way, which he does by asking her to look at something near and something big in the direction of the star, e.g. a branch of a tree. Next he draws her attention to a Large, bright star observed beyond the branch and so on, till by several steps he succeeds in leading her eyes to the right thing. This method of leading to a subtle object through easy and gradual steps is called Arundhati Nyaya.

4. The Pride of the Hindus Lies in Their Glorious Rishis

The ideal man or woman of our ancestors was the brahmin. In all our books stands out prominently this ideal of the brahmin. In Europe there is my Lord the Cardinal, who is struggling hard and spending thousands of pounds to prove the nobility of his ancestors; and he will not be satisfied until he has traced his ancestry to some dreadful tyrant who lived on a hill and watched the people passing by and, whenever he had the opportunity, sprang out on them and robbed them. That was the business of these nobility-bestowing ancestors, and my Lord Cardinal is not satisfied until he has traced his ancestry to one of these. In India, on the other hand, the greatest princes seek to trace their descent to some ancient sage who dressed in a bit of loincloth, lived in a forest, eating roots and studying the Vedas. It is there that the Indian prince goes to trace his ancestry. You are of high caste when you can trace your ancestry to a rishi, and not otherwise. (24)

One thing we may note, that whereas you will find that good and great people of other countries take pride in tracing back their descent from some robber baron who lived in a mountain fortress and emerged from time to time to plunder the passing wayfarers, we Hindus, on the other hand, take pride in being the descendants of rishis and sages who lived on roots and fruits in mountain caves, meditating on the Supreme. (25)

Did you ever hear of a country where the greatest kings tried to trace their descent, not to kings, not to robber-barons living in old castles who plundered poor travelers, but to semi-naked sages who lived in the forest? India is the land. In other countries great priests try to trace their descent to some king; but here the greatest kings would trace their descent to some ancient priest. (26)

I am proud that I am a countryman of [indians]..., the descendants of the most glorious rishis the world ever saw. Therefore, Indians, have faith in yourselves, be proud of your ancestors, instead of being ashamed of them. (27)

e) Be You All Rishis

1. India's Future Will Be Glorious By Getting a Hold on Spirituality, Like the Rishis

In the remote past our country made gigantic advances in spiritual ideas. Let us, today, bring before our mind's eye that ancient history. But the one great danger in meditating over long-past greatness is that we cease to exert ourselves for new things and content ourselves with vegetating upon that bygone ancestral glory and priding ourselves upon it. We should guard against that. In ancient times there were, no doubt, many rishis and maharishis who came face to face with truth. But if this recalling of our ancient greatness is to be of real benefit, we too must become rishis like them. Ay, not only that, but it is my firm conviction that we shall be even greater rishis than any that our history presents to us. (28)

If there have been rishis and sages in the past, be sure that there will be many now. If there have been Vyasas and Shankaracharyas in ancient times, why may not each one of you become a Shankaracharya? (29)

[The truths of the Vedas] can be experienced only by seers of the supersensuous, and not by common men and women [like us].... That is why, in the Vedas, the term rishi means "the seer of the truths of the mantras", and not [just] any brahmin with the holy thread hanging down from his neck. The division of society into castes came later on. (30)

Whether you believe in spirituality or not, for the sake of Indian national life you have to get hold on spirituality and keep to it. Then stretch out the other hand and gain all you can from other races; but everything must be subordinated to that one ideal of life; and out of that a wonderful, glorious future India will come - I am sure it is coming - a greater India than ever was. Sages will spring up, greater than all the ancient sages; and your ancestors will not only be satisfied but, I am sure, they will be proud from their positions in other worlds to look down upon their descendants, so glorious and so great. (31)

Cross reference to:

Ka. Up., 1.3.14a

Cha. Up., 4.9.1