Weyup: Who wrote the holy book of Aryans, the Rigveda?
Swami Ram Swarup: Rigveda is not only concerned with Aryan, if we deal with Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Parsis, Jains etc., at present first of all, Rigveda is not a book therefore it has never been written by anyone. It is knowledge which emanates direct from God at the beginning of every creation and the knowledge thus is originated in the heart of four rishis. So, it was universally applicable to all human beings and so is applicable at present and shall remain applicable universally to all. In this connection I paste one of my articles.
Vedas’ Philosophy
God has made universe and blessed us human body to do pious deeds only. He has not made any heaven or hell. All have to face the result of their deeds, good or bad here only, even by taking rebirth. (Rigveda mantra 10/135/1,2)
God has not only made universe but has also given knowledge of four Vedas where answers to your and everyone’s questions have been given. There are four Vedas:
1. Rig Veda – gives knowledge of science, matter of the universe like sun, moon, air body etc., etc.
2. Yajurveda – gives knowledge of all the deeds and duties to be performed by men or women, students, leaders, king, agriculturist etc., etc., etc.
3 Samveda – gives knowledge how to worship God who gives peace and long happy life etc. In this way, details of Yoga philosophy, qualities, supreme deeds and nature of the God are also given.
4 Atharvaveda – gives details of God, medical science and details of medicine etc.
Actually in four Vedas there is unlimited knowledge. Yajurveda mantra 40/8 says that God is everywhere, is Almighty, formless, devoid of nervous system, purest, away from sins and away to face any result of any karmas (deeds), knows every soul, knows what is in everyone’s mind, no body has made God, but God creates universe, has given the eternal knowledge of four Vedas and always gives the said knowledge at the beginning of every universe to know the science and deeds to all concern. Similarly four Vedas say about God that God is an omnipresent, omniscient, formless, beyond imagination and beyond calculation. Actually God has unlimited qualities. There is only one God who creates, nurses, destroys the universe and again creates. Atharvaveda mantra 4/1/1 also says that God gives the knowledge of Vedas at the beginning of the earth to four Rishis of unsexual creation. And thereafter only public listens Vedas through Rishis Munis as yet and become learned. Rig-Veda gives knowledge of Almighty, Yajurveda gives knowledge of karmas (deeds), Samveda tells about worship-Yoga philosophy and Atharvaveda about medicines and God. Actually all Vedas commonly says about God also, so this is about Vedas in short. But the knowledge of Vedas is endless.
It is a fundamental law that knowledge is always given by somebody otherwise knowledge can’t be gained at any cost. If a new born baby is nursed well in a dense jungle and is not educated then he will not be able to gain any knowledge. So we have to think about the origin of the knowledge prevalent in the world today. In this connection all Vedas themselves say that God gives this knowledge to four Rishis. As has also been said by Rishi Patanjali in yoga shastra sutra 1/26, God is first Guru of the four Rishis. Yajurveda mantra 31/7 also refers. This is all in short about Vedas.
The Vedas are not a book, rather it is a knowledge originated in the heart of Rishis. At the time of beginning of the earth those Rishis preached Vedas by mouth and all others remembered the same by mouth at that time there was no pen, pencil, paper, etc. This process of studying Vedas by mouth remained till Mahabharata time. Muni Vyas too remembered Vedas traditionally by mouth. Then Muni Vyas first time wrote the Vedas on Bhoj patra about 5300 years ago. In 16th century when printing press came into existence then the Vedas were printed. Still Vedas are not those which have been printed but Vedas are those which are preached by mouth by an Acharya/yogi and the printed Vedas are called Sanhita.
Now if somebody worships a statue etc., i.e., its their own creation please but Vedas deny. According to Vedas the best worship of the God is Yajyen (Yajna) for which all Vedas are self-proof. Yajurveda mantra 31/16 says that the learned persons worship God by Yajyen.
So many people have asked me that most of the scholars/preachers of different religion state that their religion incorporates all matters of the world including science. What about Vedas? I wrote so many Ved Mantras describing science matters therein. For example, Yajurvaveda Mantra 3/6 states “Ayam Gauhu Swaha Pitram Puraha Prayan Mataram Prishnihi Aakrameet Asadat”.
Meaning= This earth revolves around the Sun in the space and it also rotates on its own axis. Vedas are eternal like God because Vedas emanate from God. Now, according to Vedas, this present creation is about 1 Arab, 96 crores, 8 lakh and about 53,000 years old. So are the Vedas but as said in Rigveda Mantra 10/191/3 the present creation is same as was the previous one and this process of creation is eternal. So are the Vedas which emanate from eternal God. This all concludes that Vedas are the oldest in this creation also and no other book of science, maths or pertaining to spiritualism is written before Vedas.
Like the above example of rotation and revolution of earth, the significance of whole present science is mentioned in Vedas. We can see that whatever is happening in the universe, is all according to the Vedas. For example, occurance of six seasons, actions of Sun, moon, process of death, birth, worship, yoga philosophy, atomic energy, agriculture, animal husbandry, knowledge of politics, administration, architecture, solar energy, knowledge of home appliances like mixer, grinder, business rules, about men, women, children, marriage, Brahamcharya, education, clothes etc., etc., i.e., knowledge right from a straw to Brahma is all in Vedas. God is Almighty and has unlimited powers. So through His power He is able to originate the knowledge of Vedas in the heart of four Rishis without pencil, paper, help of mouth or any other worldly assistance.
We, i.e., the whole world depends on Almighty God but God is forever independent. That is why, He is God. We are the souls who reside in human bodies. We need assistance of senses, perceptions, mind and body to do deeds but not God.
Nowadays, so many saints are writing books. What is the background to right their books? Background is clear that they have first studied or listened the preach from their Gurus, keeping aside the matter of truth or falsehood. And after studying or listening the same, they became able to write the books. So this is also fundamental law, based on which, the ancient Rishis first listened Vedas and when they became learned then only they wrote the Vedic books like Valmikee Ramayana, six shastras, Mahabharata (Bhagwad Geeta), Upanishads, etc., etc. So, first the knowledge of Vedas is initiated in the universe and afterwards other books come into existence.
Somebody may say that human beings have knowledge by their nature to create anything like books etc., but we see that the newly born baby who is nursed in a jungle, in the absence of knowledge of a learned person, he becomes incapable to do anything. Thus, he can’t be M.A, M.Sc, doctor etc. So there are two types of the words and meanings. First, eternal which are from Almighty God and second, natural made by human beings. Eternal word meanings are always from Vedas i.e., from God. After listening/studying Vedas, human-beings become learned and then too based on their own natural knowledge, they make their own words and meanings, literature etc. But it is very much clear that in the absence of knowledge of Vedas, no one can become learned. Nowadays, also people live in dense jungle and do not lead a civilized life because they are not learned as cited above. Vedas are not sects because they emanate direct from God and God is one for all
human beings. God creates sun, moon, air, water, food etc., which are meant for the best use of all human-beings for their long, happy life. So are the Vedas.
So all human beings must accept Vedas as an eternal knowledge from God, for the benefit of whole creation.
Bipin Badheka: Pranam, Swamiji. Charan Sparsh. If someone has done sin/mistake and realizes it and repents it not to do it again in future by taking pratigya (firm decision) then whether God will forgive him? What is the result in such a case as per Vedas? Please guide. Pranam.
Swami Ram Swarup: My blessings to you. If someone has done sin/mistake, realises it and repents it not to do it again in future by taking firm decision than the aspirant will be considered a real devotee. In this case, though the God will not forgive him for his previous sins but God has made a path of performing Yajyen, name jaap and practice of ashtang yoga philosophy under guidance of a learned acharya. It is called a real worship of God and its regular practice will burn all the previous as well as present life’s sins.
Siddhart: Pranam guru ji, in an interview some on said that herbivorous animals have flat teeth, carnivorus animals have sharp teeth and humans have both type of teeth so humans are allowed to eat plants as well as flesh. If it is wrong then why humans have sharp pointed teeth if GOD himself didn’t want us to eat non-veg?
Swami Ram Swarup: My blessings to you. No, please human beings are not allowed to take flesh, in four Vedas. In this connection, I paste my article below.
Vegetarians
Vegetarians and non-vegetarians are two categories. Accordingly the construction of body i.e., teeth, small intestine and large intestine, and digestive system has been made by God.
Human beings come in vegetarian category. Our teeth and digestive system always differ from cat, dog, lion etc. Some animals like cow, buffalo, goat, elephant etc., also come in Vegetarian category. We take water by sipping but the animals who are non-vegetarian i.e., meat eater they do not sip but lick. Whatever we eat, that food develops our mind and body and creates natural behaviour. For example if we take a cub who is newly born and nurse him by giving milk and thereafter vegetarian food only and on the other hand to another cub we provide him meat, then when they will be younger their habit will differ. The cub taking vegetarian food will be as violent as the cub who took meat.
Now medical science also says that the energy in vegetarian food is more than that in non-vegetarian food. Vegetarian food gives long and ill free life. Vegetarian elephant is stronger than non-vegetarian lion.
Nobody can take meat until one gives violence to animals or birds etc., which is a sin. Our stomach becomes a graveyard where we gather meat by eating. As regards life in vegetarians it does not harm to them while plucking from plants etc. because every vegetarian plant has short life and is meant to give food to the human life. But to us meat is not entitled. Science has recently told that non-vegetarians are more susceptible to cancer disease and teeth degeneration as compared to vegetarians.
Non-vegetarian food is prohibited as per Vedas, shastras, Upnishads and all the ancient holy books. In vegetarian food an ocean of calories and vitamins is available by the mercy of God. Please check from a dietician about the same. Because it is lengthy one and I cannot explain here. For example dal, is full of proteins, soyabean has more protein than any non-vegetarian food, which has ability to inhibit cancer also where as non-vegetarian does not. Green vegetables like palak, methi, etc., are the richest source of iron and vitamin A. So is the case of milk, curd, rice, fruit, etc., -etc.