Vivekananda on the Vedas (Part 41)

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Dear Friends,

We are fortunate to have Sister Gayatriprana with us in London at the end of March. We have arranged a meeting to welcome her on 31st March. If any list member wishes to attend the meeting please email us - we will give you the details. We are also very fortunate to have Swami Gautamanandaji of the Chennai Centre in London. He is due to give a talk at the Vedanta Centre on 1st of April.

Vivekananda Centre London.

Parts 1 to 40 were posted earlier. This is part 41. 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 41

PART I, SECTION 3: THE HISTORICAL ROOTS OF THE VEDANTA

 

Chapter 9: The Sources of Authority in Vedanta

a) The Three Prasthanas in the Study of the Hindu of Vedic Religion

My mind can best grasp the religions of the world, ancient or modern, dead or living, through this fourfold division:

1. Symbology - the employment of various external aids to preserve and develop the religious faculty of man.

2. History - the philosophy of each religion as illustrated in the lives of divine or human teachers acknowledged by each religion. This includes mythology, for what is mythology to one race or period is, or was, history to other races or periods. Even in cases of human teachers, much of their history is taken as mythology by successive generations.

3. Philosophy - the rationale, or the scope of each religion.

4. Mysticism - the assertion of something superior to sense-knowledge and reason which particular persons, or all persons under certain circumstances, possess; runs through the other divisions also.

All the religions of the world, past or present, embrace one or more of these principles, the highly developed ones having all four. Of these highly developed religions, again, some had no sacred book or books, and they have disappeared; but those which were based on sacred books are living to the present day. As such, all the great religions of the world today are founded on sacred books.

The Vedic religions [misnamed the Hindu or Brahminic] is founded on the Vedas. (1)

In modern India the three Prasthanas are considered equally important in the study of all systems of [the Hindu or Vedic] religion. First of all there are the revelations - the Shrutis - by which I mean the Upanishads. Secondly, among our philosophies, the Sutras of Vyasa have the greatest prominence on account of their being the consummation of all the preceding systems of philosophy. These systems are not contradictory to one another, but one is based on another; and there is a gradual unfolding of the theme which culminates in the Sutras of Vyasa. Then, between the Upanishads and the Sutras, which are the systematizing of the marvelous truths of the Vedanta, comes in the Gita, the divine commentary on the Vedanta.

The Upanishads, the Vyasa-Sutras, and the Gita, therefore, have to be taken up by every sect in India that wants to claim authority for orthodoxy, whether dualist, or vishishtadvaitists, or advaitist; the authorities of each of these are the three Prasthanas. We find that a Shankaracharya, or a Ramanuja, or a Madhvacarya, or a Vallabhacarya, or a Chaitanya - anyone who wanted to propound a new sect - had to take up these three systems and write… a new commentary on them. (2)

The three Prasthanas, then, in the different explanations of Dvaita, Vishishtadvaita, or Advaita, with a few minor recensions, form the "authorities" of the Hindu religion. (3)

 

b) The Upanishads

1. The Jnana Kanda or Upanishads Contain the Noblest Truths Ever Preached to Humanity

All the books known by the name of Vedanta were not entirely written after the ritualistic portion of the Vedas. For instance, one of them - the Isha Upanishad - forms the fortieth chapter of the Yajur-Veda, that being one of the oldest parts of the Vedas. There are other Upanishads which form portions of the Brahmanas or ritualistic writings, and the rest of the Upanishads are independent, not comprised in any of the Brahmanas or other parts of the Vedas; but there is no reason to suppose that they were entirely independent of other parts for, as we well know, many of these have been lost entirely and many of the Brahmanas have become extinct. So it is quite possible that the independent Upanishads belong to some Brahmanas, which in course of time fell into disuse while the Upanishads remained. These Upanishads are also called Forest Books or Aranyakas. (4)

The Indian mind got all that could be had from the external world, but it did not feel satisfied with that; it wanted to search further, to dive into its own soul, and the final answer came.

The Upanishads, or the Vedanta, or the Aranyakas, or Rahasya is the name of this portion of the Vedas…

Here we at once find that religion has got rid of all external formalities. Here we find at once that spiritual things are told, not in the language of matter, but in the language of the Spirit; the superfine in the language of the superfine. No more is any grossness attached to it, no more is there any compromise with things of worldly concern. Bold, brave beyond the conception of the present day, stand the giant minds of the sages of the Upanishads, declaring the noblest truths that have ever been preached to humanity, without any compromise, without any fear. This... I want to lay before you. Even the Jnana Kanda of the Vedas is a vast ocean; many lives are necessary to understand even a little of it. Truly has it been said of the Upanishads by Ramanuja that they form the head, the shoulders, the crest of the Vedas, and surely enough the Upanishads have become the Bible of modern India. The Hindus have great respect for the Karma Kanda of the Vedas; but, for all practical purposes, we know that for ages by Shruti has been meant the Upanishads, and the Upanishads alone. (5)

In the Upanishads there are certain passages which are called great words, which are always quoted and referred to. (6)

 

2. Only the Upanishads Have Always Ruled India

At all times in all countries the Karma Kanda, comprising the social customs and observances, changes form. Only the Jnana Kanda endures. Even in the Vedic age you find that the rituals gradually changed in form. But the philosophic portion of the Upanishads has remained unchanged up till now - only there have been many interpreters, that is all. (7) The Jnana Kanda, as embodying the spiritual teachings of the Vedas known as the Upanishads and the Vedanta, has always been cited as the highest authority by all our teachers, philosophers and writers, whether dualist, qualified monist, or monist. (8)

However great may be the merits of the Samhita and Brahmana portions of the Vedas to the ethnologists or the philologists, however desirable may be the results that the [mantras], agnim ile or isetvorjetva or sanno devirabhisthaye in conjunction with which the different altars and sacrifices and libations produce - it was all in the way of enjoyment, and no one ever contended that it could produce Moksha [liberation]. As such, the Jnana Kanda, the Aranyakas, the Shrutis par excellence, which teach the way to spirituality - the moksha marga - have always ruled and will always rule India. (9)

It is the Jnana Kanda of Vedanta only that has for all time commanded recognition for leading men across maya and bestowing salvation on them through the practice of yoga, bhakti, jnana, or selfless work; and, as its validity and authority remain unaffected by any limitations of time, place, or persons, it is the only exponent of the universal and eternal religion for all humankind. (10)

 

 

 

3. The Authority of the Upanishads Is Based on Verification by Seeing Truth Directly, Which Anyone May Do

In matters of religious duty the Vedas are the only capable authority... The authority of the Vedas extends to all ages, climes and persons. (11)

The Veda is our only authority and everyone has the right to it. (12)

The Upanishads teach us all there is of religion. (13)

The Upanishads treat alone of [attaining life and becoming immortal]. The path of the Upanishads is a very pure path. Many manners, customs, and local allusions cannot be understood today. Through the Upanishads, however, truth becomes clear. (14)

One has to believe in the Vedas. The Vedas contain the truths experienced by the sages and seers of old who went beyond the range of duality and perceived unity. Depending on mere reasoning, we cannot pass any judgment as to whether the waking state or the dream state is the true one. How can we know which of the two is true so long as we cannot take our stand on something beyond both of them, from where we can look at them objectively? All that we can say now is that two different states are experienced. When you are experiencing one the other seems to be false. You might have been marketing in Calcutta in your dream, but you wake up to find yourself lying in your bed. When the knowledge of unity will dawn, you will see but One and nothing else; you will then understand that the earlier dualistic knowledge was false. But all that is a long way off. It won't do to aspire to read the Ramayana and the Mahabharata before one has hardly begun to learn the alphabet. Religion is a matter of experience, and not of intellectual understanding. One must practice it in order to understand it. Such a position is corroborated by the sciences of chemistry, physics, geology, etc. It won't do to put together one bottle of oxygen and two of hydrogen and then cry, "Where is the water?" They have to be placed in a closed container and an electric current passed through them so they can combine into water. Then only you can see water, and you can understand that water is produced from a combination of hydrogen and oxygen. If you wish to have the unitive experience, you must have that kind of faith in religion, that kind of eagerness, diligence, and patience; and then only you will succeed. (15)

Disciple: I am living now by believing in something, but I have the Shastras for my authority. I do not accept any faith opposed to the Shastras.

Swami Vivekananda: What do you mean by the Shastras? If the Upanishads are the authority, why not the Bible or the Zendavesta equally so?

Disciple: Granted these scriptures are also good authority, they are not, however, as old as the Vedas. And nowhere, moreover, is the theory of the Atman better established than in the Vedas.

Swami Vivekananda: Supposing I admit that contention of yours, what right have you to maintain that truth can be found nowhere except the Vedas?

Disciple: Yes, truth may also exist in scriptures other than the Vedas, and I don't say anything to the contrary. But as for me, I choose to abide by the teachings of the Upanishads, for I have very great faith in them.

Swami Vivekananda: Quite welcome to that, but if somebody else has "very great faith" in any set of doctrines, surely you should allow him to abide by that. You will discover that, in the long run, both he and yourself will arrive at the same goal. (16)

Obey the scriptures until you are strong enough to do without them; then go beyond them. Books are not an end-all. Verification is the only proof of religious truth. Each must verify for him- or herself; and no teacher who says, "I have seen, but you cannot", is to be trusted - only that one who says, "You can see, too." All scriptures, all truths are Vedas in all times, in all countries, because these truths are to be seen, and anyone may discover them. (17)

 

4. All Schools of Hindu Thought Must Be Established on the Authority of the Genuine Upanishads

You must remember that what the Bible is to the Christians, what the Koran is to the Muslims, what the Tripitaka is to the Buddhist, what the Zend Avesta is to the Parsees, the Upanishads are to us [Vedantins]. (18)

The Upanishads are the Bible of India. They occupy the same place as does the New Testament. There are [more than] a hundred books comprising the Upanishads, some very small and some big, each a separate treatise. (19)

The Upanishads became the Bible of India. It was a vast literature, these Upanishads, and all the schools holding different opinions in India came to be established on the foundation of the Upanishads. (20)

It is better for us [Hindus] to remember that in the Upanishads is the primary authority; even the Grihya and Shrauta sutras [dharma-shastras] are subordinate to the authority of the Vedas. They are the words of the rishis, our forefathers, and you have to believe them if you want to become a Hindu. You may even believe the most peculiar ideas about the Godhead, but if you deny the authority of the Vedas, you are nastika (unorthodox). (21)

The essence of the knowledge of the Vedas was called by the name of Vedanta, which comprises the Upanishads; and all sects of India - dualists, qualified monists, monists, or the Shaivites, Vaishnavites, Shaktas, Sauras, Ganapatyas, each one that dares to come within the fold of Hinduism, must acknowledge the Upanishads of the Vedas. They can have their own interpretations and can interpret them in their own way, but they must obey the authority... That is why we want to use the word Vedantist instead of Hindu. All the philosophers of India who are orthodox have to acknowledge the authority of the Vedanta; and all our present-day religions, however crude some of them may appear to be, however inexplicable some of their purposes may seem, one who understands them and studies them can trace them back to the ideas of the Upanishads. So deeply have these Upanishads sunk into our race that those of you who are studying the symbology of the crudest religions of the Hindus will be astonished to find sometimes figurative expressions of the Upanishads - the Upanishads become symbolized after a time into figures, and so forth. Great spiritual and philosophical ideas in the Upanishads are with us today, converted into household worship in the form of symbols. Thus the various symbols used by us all come from the Vedanta, because in the Vedanta they are used as figures, and these ideas spread among the nation and permeated it throughout until they became part of everyday life as symbols. (22)

The Jnana Kanda of the Vedas comprises the Upanishads and is known by the name of Vedanta, the pinnacle of the Shrutis, as it is called…. The Vedanta is now the religion of the Hindus. If any sect in India wants to have its ideas established with a firm hold on the people it must base them on the authority of the Vedanta. They all have to do it, whether they are Dvaitists or Advaitists. Even the Vaishnavas have to go to the Gopalatapini Upanishad to prove the truth of their own theories. If a new sect does not find anything in the Shrutis in confirmation of its ideas, it will even go to the length of h a new Upanishad and making it pass current as one of the old original productions. There have been many such in the past. (23)

The Upanishads are many, and said to be one hundred and eight; but some declare them to be still larger in number. Some of them are evidently of much later date, as for instance, the Allopanisad in which Allah is praised and Muhammad is called the Rajasulla. I have been told that this was written during the reign of King Akbar to bring the Hindus and Muslims together, and sometimes they got hold of some word such as Allah, or Illa in the Samhita, and made an Upanishad on it. So in this Allopanisad, Muhammad is the Rajasulla, whatever that may mean. There are other sectarian Upanishads of the same species, which you find to be entirely modern; and it has been easy to write them, seeing that this language of the Samhita portion of the Vedas is so archaic, there is no grammar to it.... Given that, how easy it is to write any number of Upanishads, enough to make words look like old, archaic words, and you have no fear of grammar. Then you bring in Rajasulla or any other "sulla" you like. In that way, many Upanishads have been manufactured, and I am told it is being done even now. In some parts of India, I am perfectly certain, they are trying to manufacture such Upanishads among the different sects. But among the Upanishads are those which, on the face of them, bear the evidence of genuineness; and these have been taken up by the great commentators and commented upon, especially by Shankara, followed by Ramanuja and all the rest. (24)

c) The Vyasa Sutras: The Philosophy of the Vyasa Sutras Is Par Excellence That of the Upanishads

All schools of philosophy in India, although they claim to have been based on the Vedas, took different names for their systems. The last one, the system of Vyasa, took its stand upon the doctrines of the Vedas more than did the previous systems and made an attempt to harmonize the preceding philosophies, such as the Sankhya and the Nyaya, with the doctrines of the Vedanta. So it is especially called the Vedanta philosophy; and the Sutras or aphorisms of Vyasa are, in modern India, the basis of the Vedanta philosophy. (25)

Vyasa' s philosophy is par excellence that of the Upanishads. (26)

Following the Upanishads there come other philosophies of India, but every one of them failed to get that hold on India which the philosophy of Vyasa has got, although the philosophy of Vyasa is a development out of an older one, the Sankhya; and every philosophy and every system in India - I mean, throughout the world - owes much to Kapila [the founder of Sankhya], perhaps the greatest name in the history of India in psychological and philosophical lines.... The philosophy of Vyasa, the Vyasa Sutras, is firm-seated and has attained the permanence of that which it intended to present to humanity, the Brahman of the Vedantic side of philosophy. Reason was entirely subordinated to the Shrutis; and, as Shankara declares, Vyasa did not care to reason at all. His idea in writing the Sutras was just to bring together, and with one thread to make a garland of the flowers of Vedantic texts. His Sutras are admitted so far as they are subordinate to the authority of the Upanishads, and no further.

And, as I have said, all the sects of India now hold these Vyasa Sutras to be the great authority, and every new sect in India starts with a fresh commentary on the Vyasa Sutras according to its light.... The Vyasa Sutras have got the place of authority, and no one can expect to found a sect in India until he or she can write a fresh commentary on them. (27)

If one be asked to point out the system of thought towards which as a center all the ancient and modern Indian thought have converged, if one wants to see the real backbone of Hinduism in all its various manifestations, the Sutras of Vyasa will unquestionably be pointed out as constituting all that.

Either one hears the Advaita keshari (lion of Vedanta) roaring in peals of thunder - the asti, bhati, priya (It exists, shines, and is beloved) - amid the heart-stopping solemnities of the Himalayan forests, mixing with the solemn cadence of the river of heaven; or listens to the cooing of the piya, pitam in the beautiful bowers of the grove of Vrinda; whether one mingles with the sedate meditations of the monasteries of Varanasi or the ecstatic dances of the followers of the Prophet of Nadia (Sri Chaitanya); whether one sits at the feet of the teacher of the Vishishtadvaita system with its Vadakale, Tenkale (two divisions of the Ramanuja sect) and all the other subdivisions; or listens with reverence to the acharyas of the Madhva school; whether one hears the martial Wa guruki fateh of the secular Sikhs or the sermons on the Grantha Sahib of the Udasis and Nirmalas; whether he salutes the sannyasin disciples of Kabir with Sat sahib and listens with joy to the sakhis (bhajans); whether he pores upon the wonderful lore of that reformer of Rajputana, Dadu, or the works of his royal disciple, Sundaradasa, down to the great Nischaladasa, the celebrated author of the Vichara Sagara, which book has more influence on India than any that has been written in any language within the last three centuries; if one even asks the Bhangi Mehtar of Northern India to sit down and give an account of the teachings of his Lalguru - one will find that all these various teachers and schools have as their basis that system whose authority is the Shruti, the Gita its divine commentary, the Shariraka [Vyasa] Sutras its organized system, and all the different sects in India, from the Paramahamsa Parivrajakacharyas to the poor despised Mehtar disciples of Lalguru are different manifestations. (28)

 

 

 

 

d) The Bhagavadgita: The Gita Is the Gist of the Upanishads, Harmonizing Their Many Contradictory Parts

Next in authority is the celebrated Gita. The great glory of Shankaracharya was his preaching of the Gita. It is one of the greatest works that this great man did among the many noble works of his noble life - the preaching of the Gita and writing the most beautiful commentary upon it. And he has been followed by all the founders of the orthodox sects in India, each of whom has written a commentary on the Gita. (29)

The Gita is the gist of the Vedas. It is not our Bible, the Upanishads are our Bible. It is the gist of the Upanishads and harmonizes the many contradictory parts of the Upanishads. (30)

The Gita is a commentary on the Upanishads.... It takes the ideas of the Upanishads and, in some cases, the very words. They are strung together with the idea of bringing out in a compact, condensed and systematic form the whole subject the Upanishads deal with. (31)

If we study the Upanishads we notice, in wandering through the mazes of many irrelevant subjects, the sudden introduction of the discussion of a great truth, just as in the midst of a huge wilderness a traveler unexpectedly comes across here and there an exquisitely beautiful rose, with its leaves, thorn, roots, all entangled. Compared with that, the Gita is like these truths beautifully arranged together in their proper places - like a fine garland or a bouquet of the choicest flowers.... The reconciliation of the different paths of dharma and work without desire or attachment - these are the two special characteristics of the Gita. (32)

The great poem, the Gita, is held to be the crown jewel of all Indian literature. It is a kind of commentary on the Vedas. It shows us that our battle for spirituality must be fought out in this life; so we must not flee from it, but rather compel it to give us all that it holds. (33)

 

e) The Smritis, or Secondary Scriptures

1. The Vedas Delineate the Eternal Relations of Man, the Smritis Work Out the Details

There are two sorts of truth we find in our Shastras: one that is based upon the eternal nature of man - the one that deals with the eternal relation of God, soul, and nature; the other, with local circumstances, environments of the time, social institutions of the period, and so forth. The first class of truths is chiefly embodied in our Vedas, our scriptures, the second in the Smritis, the Puranas, etc. (34)

Two ideals of truth are in our scriptures: the one is what we call the eternal, and the other is not so authoritative, yet binding under particular circumstances, times, and places. The eternal relations which deal with the nature of the soul, and of God, and the relations between souls and God are embodied in what we call the Shrutis, the Vedas. The next set of truths is what we call the Smritis, as embodied in the words of Manu, Yajnavalkya, and other writers; and also in the Puranas, down to the Tantras. The second class of books and teachings is subordinate to the Shrutis - the Shrutis must prevail. This is the law. The idea is that the framework of the destiny of man has all been delineated in the Vedas and the details have been left to be worked out in the Smritis and Puranas. As for general direction, the Shrutis are enough; for spiritual life, nothing more can be said, nothing more can be known. All that is necessary has been known, all the advice that is necessary to lead the soul to perfection has been completed in the Shrutis; the details alone were left out, and these the Smritis have supplied from time to time. (35)

The Puranas and other religious scriptures are all denoted by the word Smritis. Their authority goes so far as they follow the Vedas and do not contradict them. (36)

Next to the Vedanta come the Smritis. These also are books written by sages, but the authority of the Smritis is subordinate to that the of the Vedanta because they stand in the same relation with us as the scriptures of other religions with regard to them. We admit that the Smritis have been written by particular sages; in that sense, they are the same as the scriptures of other religions, but these Smritis are not final authority. If there is anything in a Smriti which contradicts the Vedanta, the Smriti is to be rejected - its authority is gone. (37)

The Vedas, i.e. only those portions of them which agree with reason, are to be accepted as authority. Other Shastras, such as the Puranas, etc., are only to be accepted so far as they do not go against the Vedas. (38)

We must remember that for all periods the Vedas are the final goal and authority; and if the Puranas differ in any respect from the Vedas, that part of the Puranas is to be rejected without mercy. (39)

The Upanishads and nothing but the Upanishads are our scriptures. The Puranas, the Tantras, and all the other books - even the Vyasa Sutras - are of secondary, tertiary authority, but the primary are the Vedas. Manu and the Puranas, and all the other books are to be taken so far as they agree with the authority of the Upanishads; and when they disagree, they are to be rejected without mercy. (40)

The Smritis, Puranas, Tantras - all these are acceptable only so far as they agree with the Vedas, and wherever they are contradictory, they are to be rejected as unreliable. (41)

 

2. The Smritis, Speaking of Local Circumstances and Varying from Time to Time, Will Have an End

The Puranas, the modern representations of the ancient narasamsi (anecdote portions of the Vedas), supply the mythology [of the Hindu religion]; and the Tantras, the modern representation of the Brahmanas (the ritual and explanatory portion of the Vedas), supply the ritual. Thus the three Prasthanas, as authorities, are common to all the sects; but, as to the Puranas and Tantras, each sect has its own. (42)

These Smritis, we see again, have varied from time to time. We read that such and such a Smriti should have authority in the Satya Yuga, and such in the Treta Yuga, some in the Dvapara Yuga, and some in the Kali Yuga, and so on. As essential conditions changed, as various circumstances came to have their influence on the race, manners and customs had to be changed; and these Smritis, as mainly regulating the manners and customs of the nations, had also to be changed from time to time. This is a point I ask you specially to remember. The principles that agree in the Vedanta are unchangeable. Why? Because they are all built upon the eternal principles that are in humanity and nature; they can never change. Ideas about the soul, going to heaven, and so on can never change; they were the same thousands of years ago, they are the same today, they will be the same millions of years hence. But those religious practices which are based entirely upon our social position and correlations must change with the changes of society. Such an order, therefore, would be good and true at a certain period and not at another. We find, accordingly, that a certain food is allowed at one time, and not at another, because the food was suitable for that time; but climate and other things changed, various other circumstances required to be met, so the Smriti changed the food and other things. Thus it naturally follows that, if in modern times our society requires changes to be made, they must be met and sages will come and show us the way to meet them; but not one jot of the principles of our religion will be changed; they will remain intact. (43)

We find, then, that in all these Smritis the teachings are different. One Smriti says this is the custom and this should be the practice of this age. Another one says that this is the practice of this age, and so forth. This is the achara which should be the custom of the Satya Yuga and this is the achara which should be the custom of the Kali Yuga, and so forth. Now this is one of the most glorious doctrines that you have - that eternal truths, being based on the nature of humanity, will never change so long as humanity lives. They are for all times, omnipresent, universal virtues. But the Smritis speak generally of local circumstances, of duties arising from different environments, and they change in the course of time. This you have always to remember: that because a little social custom is going to be changed, you are not going to lose your religion, not at all. Remember these customs have already been changed. There was a time in this very India when, without eating beef, no brahmin could remain a brahmin; you read in the Vedas how, when a sannyasin, a king, or a great man came into a house, the best bullock was killed; how in time it was found that, as we are an agricultural race, killing the best bulls meant annihilation of the race. Therefore the practice was stopped, and a voice was raised against the killing of cows. Sometimes we find existing then what we now consider the most horrible customs. In course of time other laws had to be made. These in turn will have to go, and other Smritis will come. This is one fact we have to learn: that the Vedas being eternal, will be one and the same throughout all ages, but the Smritis will have an end. As time rolls on, more and more of the Smritis will go, sages will come and they will change and direct society into better channels, into duties and into paths which accord with the necessity of the age and without which it is impossible that society can live. (44)

 

3. The Puranas, Which Were Written to Popularize the Religion of the Vedas

Then there are the Puranas. Puranam panchalakshanam - which means the Puranas of five characteristics: that which treats of history, of cosmology, with various symbological illustrations of philosophical principles, and so forth. These were written to popularize the religion of the Vedas. The language in which the Vedas are written is very ancient; and even among scholars very few can trace the date of these books. The Puranas were written in the language of the people of that time, what we call modern Sanskrit. They were meant, not for scholars, but for the ordinary people; and ordinary people cannot understand philosophy. Such things were given to them in concrete form by means of the lives of saints and kings and great men and historical events that happened to the race, etc. The sages made use of these things to illustrate the eternal principles of religion. (45)

Herein lies the difference between the scriptures of the Christians and the Buddhists and ours: theirs are all Puranas, and not scriptures, because they describe the history of the deluge, and the history of kings and reigning families, and record the lives of great men, and so on. This is the work of the Puranas; and so far as they agree with the Vedas, they are good. So far as the Bible and the scriptures of other nations agree with the Vedas, they are perfectly good; and when they do not agree, they are no more to be accepted. So with the Koran. There are many moral teachings in these, and so far as they agree with the Vedas, they have the authority of the Puranas, but no more. (46)

Question: What does orthodoxy mean with the Hindus?

Swami Vivekananda: In modern times it simply means obeying certain caste laws as to eating, drinking, and marriage. After that, the Hindu can believe in any system he or she likes. There never was an organized church in India, so there never was a body of people to formulate doctrines of orthodoxy. In a general way, we say that those who believe in the Vedas are orthodox; but in reality we find that many of the dualistic sects believe more in the Puranas than in the Vedas alone. (47)

Belgaum, October, 1892: Someone said to Swami Vivekananda in the course of a discussion in English about spiritual life, "Talks on religious matters should not be carried on in a foreign language, since it is prohibited in such and such a Purana." Swami Vivekananda replied, "It is good to talk of religious things, no matter what the language is." In support of this he quoted from the Vedas and added, " A judgment passed by a higher court cannot be set at naught by a lower court." (48)

 

4. The Tantras, Which Direct the Worship of Modern India

There are still other books, the Tantras. These are very much like the Puranas in some respects, and in some there is an attempt to revive the old sacrificial ideas of the Karma Kanda. (49)

The Tantras... represent the Vedic rituals in a modified form; and before anyone jumps to the most absurd conclusions about them, I will advise him to read the Tantras in conjunction with the Brahmanas, especially the Adhvaryu portion. And most of the mantras used in the Tantras will be found to be taken verbatim from their Brahmanas. As to their influence, apart from the shrauta and smarta rituals, all the forms of the ritual in vogue from the Himalayas to the Comorin have been taken from the Tantras, and they direct the worship of the Shakta, the Shaiva or Vaishnava, and all the others alike.

Of course, I do not pretend that all the Hindus are thoroughly acquainted with these sources of their religion. Many, especially in lower Bengal, have not heard of the names of these sects and these great systems; but consciously or unconsciously, it is the plan laid down in the three Prasthanas that they are all working out. (50)

 

f) The Essence of All Our Sacred Books

I hope and wish... that you will reverently study the Upanishads, the Brahma Sutras, and the Bhagavadgita, which are known as the Prasthanatraya (the three supreme sources of truth), as also the Itihasas (epics), the Puranas, and the Agamas (Tantras). You will not find the like of all these anywhere else in the world. Human beings alone, of all living beings, have a hunger in their hearts to know the whence and whither, the whys and wherefores of things. There are four key words which you must remember, viz. abhaya (fearlessness), ahimsa (non-injury), asanga (non-attachment), and ananda (bliss). These words really sum up the essence of all our sacred books. Remember them. Their implication will become clear to you later on. (51)