Vivekananda on the Vedas (part 46)

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Parts 1 to 45 were posted earlier. This is part 46. 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 46

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)