Sri Sadhguro Pahimam Parama Dayalu Rakshamam

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Dear Members

" Hindu Dharma " is a book published by Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan which contains

English translation of two volumes of the Tamil Book " Deivatthin Kural " ; which

is a collection of invaluable and engrossing speeches of Sri Sri Sri

Chandrasekharendra Saraswathi MahaSwamiji.

 

http://kamakoti.org/hindudharma/part5/chap3.htm

 

The Fourteen Abodes of Knowledge

 

 

The fourteen " abodes " of knowledge are: the four vedas; the six Angas or limbs

of the Vedas; Mimamsa, Nyaya, the Puranas and Dharmasastra. You must have seen

at least references to the Vedas and the six Angas. The Tamil work Tevaram

says: " Vedamodarangamayinanai " . According to this devotional work Isvara is the

form of the four Vedas and the six Angas.

The fourteen dharma-pramanas (authorities of dharma) are called

" caturdasa-vidya " . The well-known poetic work 'Naisadham' mentions that Nala

was conversant with these fourteen branches of learning. The poet (Sriharsa )

plays on the word " caturdasa " : he says that " Nala accorded caturdasa to the

caturdas-vidya " , meaning he gave the fourteen branches of learning four dasas:

reading, understanding what is read, living according to the teachings

contained in what is read, and making others also live in accordance with them.

Caturdasatvam Krtavan kutah svayam

Na vedmi vidyasu caturdasasvapi

--Naisadham, 1. 4

All religious knowledge is encompassed by these fourteen branches of learning.

There are yet four more vidyas. If you add to the fourteen already mentioned,

you will have eighteen vidyas - astadasa-vidya which are all-inclusive. Of

them, the fourteen already mentioned are directly concerned with dharma. The

remaining four - Ayurveda, Arthasastra, Dhanurveda and Gandharvaveda - do not

directly deal with dharma. They are not dharmasthanas (abodes of dharma) but

they qualify to be vidyasthanas(abodes of knowledge). The first fourteen, as

already mentioned, are both dharmasthanas and vidyasthanas (abodes of dharma as

well as abodes of knowledge).

The dharmasthanas and vidyasthanas are together commonly known as the sastras.

The word " sastra " means an order or commandment. We speak of a royal " sasana " ,

meaning a royal " edict " . There is a chapter in the Mahabaharaaata in which

Bhisma expounds the ordinances of dharma to Yudhisthira and it is called

" Anusasana-parva " . Aiyanar is called " Sasta " because he keeps the hosts of Siva

under his control (through his orders ). Works on sastras incorporate the

ordinances that are calculated to keep us disciplined and ensure that we tread

the right path.

While all the fourteen sastras are basic and authoritative texts, the Vedas

are their crown. Just as Buddhism, Zoroastrianism (Zarathustrianism),

Christianity and Islam have the Tripitaka, the Zend-Avesta, the Bible and the

Qur'an respectively as their scriptures, we have the Vedas as our prime

scripture.

Of the fourteen branches of learning the first four (the four Vedas) form the

basis for the subsequent ten. Together they constitute the complete corpus of

sastras on which our religion is founded.

JAYA JAYA SANKARA HARA HARA SANKARA

 

Thwameva Maathaa Cha Pithaa Thwameva

Thwameva Bhandhuscha Sakhaa Thwameva

 

Thwameva Vidhyaa Dhravinam Thwameva

Thwameva Sarvam Mama Dheva Dheva.