SS: Namasty Swamiji, thanks for giving knowledge about Patanjali Yog Darsan’s sutras. My mother is suffering from kidney stones but she does not want to get an operation.
Swami Ram Swarup: My blessings to you , my daughter.better if you try to study deep comments with sutras of Patanjal Yog Darshan written by me, if possible. The book is in Hindi, please. My dear daughter, Swati, in case of your mother, the surgery is necessary because doctors have advised for the same. Nowadays, such operations are not major and stones can be removed through leproscopy. Mostly the patients are discharged on same day. so, please prepare your mother mentally to get the surgery done. My blessings are with your mother and every thing will be OK. Otherwise a stone may damage kidney and may create lot of problems.
However, you may try Ayurvedic/homeopathy medicines, if they can do without operation.
In the meantime take 50 gms of jau and boil it in 1 ½ glasses of water. First let the water with jau boil to fullest, then reduce the flame and let it boil slowly. When water remains about one glass, then strain it through a boiled, thin cloth and after cooling , ask your mother to consume it in the morning , empty stomach. It will subside the pain and if the stones are small then some times the stones pass out with urine. But it is not sure.
Vidya: Pranam Babaji, I am studying Hinduism as One of my subjects and interested in knowing the teachings of Vedas. I am proud of my Indian Heritage. I am shocked that it is being taught here that Shivalinga is the obscene symbol of God Shiva and Ma shakti. How do I convince Them that it is the symbolof the Supreme Lord Himself? 2nd Q..Does our Veda speak of the caste system? Why do we have so many Gods? Who is Shakti? Please enrich me with your holy knowledge.
Swami Ram Swarup: This is a well known fact that such worship has not been mentioned in Vedas. Secondly, such part of body (i.e. separated from body) is not worshipable. Everybody says that Lord Shiva resides on mountain then question arises that why Ling remains on the field/ground? Praises are there due to advertisements in prayers etc., in Shiv Puran and other man-made books. Such books/stories attract the public. However, our Vedas, shastras, Valmiki Ramayan, Upnishads and other Sanskrit holy granths written by ancient Rishis are quite silent on the matter. Yes, I would like to state that if somebody has his own faith on Shivling worship, they may go ahead please.
ARE BRAHMA, VISHNU, MAHESH GODS?
Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh are not God. Vedas tell that there is only one formless God who never takes birth. He creates, nurses and destroys the universe. His power is enough to create and control the whole universe. He is Almighty i.e., He has all unlimited powers and therefore He does not need any assistance to create, nurse and destroy the universe by Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh. If God needs assistance then He will not be called Almighty. So God does not need any support but we all humans as well as all living beings need His support and blessings every time. However, in Vedas, there are innumerable names of Almighty God according to His divine qualities. So Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh etc., are also the names of the formless Almighty God. Brahma means the greatest. Vishnu means omnipresent and Mahesh means the greatest.
It is the personal matter of worship or not to worship. So atheists are also there. But it is very clear that God in Vedas as clarified that He Has blessed the human being with human body to worship and realise God. Nobody can attain happy life in the absence of worship of God. One more thing is clear from Vedas in which God states –Oh man/woman you live on the earth given by God and all comforts provided by the God. And if you do not remember/worship God then it is sin and punishment is awarded by the God.
Very few persons know that present science has also come out from Vedas, especially Rigveda. The knowledge of Vedas also emanates from God. So, it is clear that scientist also enjoy science which is given by God. God is not only the matter of blind faith. It is the matter of discussion with a learned acharya of Vedas and Yoga philosophy who from Vedas, shastras and Upnishads etc., and scientifically also prove the existence of God. For example- we see the creation and can think deeply that who has created it or is it a job of man/woman, scientist etc., then automatically after long discussion we would reach on the conclusion that men/women/scientist have not created the universe and then He who has created is called Almighty God.
In Vedas, no proper noun has been used. Secondly, Vedas tell that God is “Ajah Ek Paat” i.e., does not take birth and is away from death, He does not face the result of deeds, being away always from any binding of karmas (deeds). So, avtarvad is not in Vedas. God, being Almighty has all powers and needs no help to control the universe. His powers itself are enough.
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.
Caste System does not exist in Vedas. It is also man-made please. So many Gods are made due to illusion. Illusion is generated in absence of study of Vedas please.
I have already written about caste system (varn vyavastha). Yajurveda mantra 31/11 says that caste is based on present deeds (karmas) and not by birth. The sense of Mantra is that if a son of shudra studies Vedas, controls senses/organs and mind, does practice of Ashtang yoga, then he will be considered Brahmin and a Brahmin who has no such qualities he will be treated as shudra etc., etc. There is no caste system in Vedas based on birth and the other holy books like Manusmriti, six shastras, Upnishads, Valmiki Ramayana, Mahabharat (Bhagwad Geeta) etc., were written by ancient Rishis/Munis based on only the knowledge of Vedas, so no caste system exists therein based on birth.
In this connection Yajurveda mantra 31/11 also says that he who knows Vedas and God, he is Brahmin being most supreme in the world like a mouth in the body. So anyone (of any caste) can be a Brahmin by hard studies of Vedas, practising Ashtang yoga therein and thus realizing God. One who has physical power in his arms, he is Kashtriye-Rajput to protect the country. So anyone can be a Rajput, holding the said qualities. One who has powers in his thighs to travel and to do hard work to establish business, he is Vaishya (businessman). One who has not studied, based on his qualities that he could not gain the qualities of Brahmin, Kashtriye and Vaishya, he is shudra (may be of any caste).
There is a symbolic story in Mahabharat. That once Yudhistar saw that his brother Bhima was caught by a huge python. Yudhistar asked python that my brother is a great warrior having sufficient power that you could not catch him. So really you are not python, tell me, who you are. Python replied that he was a yaksha. O Yudishtar, if you would answer my question, then your brother would be released. Yaksha asked Yudhistar that if a son of Brahmin takes wine, meat, gambles and does bad deeds then whether he will be considered as Brahmin and when a shudra (lowest caste) reads Vedas, does practice of Ashtang yoga, controls his five senses, five organs and mind and does always pious deeds then whether the son of such shudra will remain shudra? Yudhistar replied that the Brahmin will be treated as shudra and shudra will be treated as Brahmin.
King Janak called all the emperors/anybody to break the bow to prove to be the best powerful emperor amongst all to marry his daughter Sita. So King Janak did not make any objection of caste system. So was the case of marriage of Draupadi where in the dress of a Brahmin Arjuna pierced the eye of the fish with arrow and Yudhistar married Draupadi. Draupadi was daughter of Khastriye, Rajput whereas in the dress, Yudhistar was Brahmin. So qualities are to be checked either of boy or girl.
