Ajit: Namaskar Yogacharya ji aur Charansparsh, in Bhagwat Geeta, chapter 3 verse 10,11,12, here the word demigods is used. May I know the exact meaning of this word here, since veda says about only one god.
Swami Ram Swarup: My blessings to you.
Yes, Vedas say that there is only One Formless God Who creates, nurses and destroys the universe.
Bhagwad Geeta shloa 3/10 does not tell about any demi God. In shloka 3/11, the meaning of Devann i.e., Dev is learned acharya who knows Vedas.
In shloka 3/12, the learned acharya is called Dev and mother, father, atithi(learned guest) and acharya are also called alive Devs and we’ve to serve them. Fifth Dev is called Almighty God. I would advise you to read my book Shrimad Bhagwad Geeta- Ek vedic Rahasya Part I worth Rs. 400/- excluding postal charges. The book can be sent to you on receipt of your postal address, if you desire.
Ashok: Srimanji namastay. Please tell me meaning of the word Vasu and sandhi vichchhed of durga.
Swami Ram Swarup: Namasteji.
In this regard, I paste my article:-
I translate here the Bhagwad Geeta shlok 7/19 in this reference to question please.
Bahunaam Janmanamante Gyanvanmaam Prapadyate.
Vasudevah Sarvamiti Sa Mahatma Sudurlabhah.
Meaning— Shri Krishna Maharaj says that “while doing Vedic worship in number of births, that person who realizes/experiences at the end of his present birth that Vasudev is everything i.e., God is present in each and every matter of universe, he only realizes God but such great personality is rarely seen in the universe.”
IDEA—- it is very essential to understand the meaning of the word, “Vasudev” in context of Vedas. “Vaasuhu” and “Vasuhu” words originate from the root word ‘Vas’. The words “Vaasuhu” and “Vasuhu” imply He who resides in all and in whom every matter of the universe resides/dwells i.e., He who harbours the entire universe within Himself and entire universe resides within Him (this unchangeable law is mentioned in Yajurveda mantra 40/6). So the above shloka of Geeta also relates to the said Ved mantra.
Shri Krishna Maharaj has always preached from Vedas. Hence, the word “Vasudev” means the God who gives us food, water, human body and everything to survive. He creates the universe and holds all the matters and gives shelter to all.
In Rig-veda mantra 10/122/1, “Vasu” word has been mentioned. In the said Rig-veda mantra, the meaning of the said word ‘Vasu’ is the God who gives shelter to all within His knowledge and wisdom of light i.e., the eternal unchangeable, unlimited knowledge and power of God creates the universe and the same knowledge and power nurses and destroys the universe.
In Rig-Veda mantra 1/9/9, “Vasupatim” word has been stated. Vasupatim= Vasu+ patim. Here ‘Pati” means ‘Lord’ and ‘Vasu’ means the “creator of fire, earth, air, space etc., i.e., all matters of universe. So ‘Vasupatim’ means the ‘Lord of all the matters of the universe” like fire, earth, sun, moon, air, space etc., etc.
The same idea has also been mentioned in 40/6 that the learned person who after studying Vedas and doing hard practice of ashtang yoga has realized God and sees that all the non-alive matters of the universe reside/remain in God and in every article he sees omnipresent God, such person becomes free of sorrows, sadness and misunderstanding on any matter of the world (worldly or spiritual). Shri Krishna Maharaj has used the divine, eternal word “Vasudev” in the above shlok in respect of Almighty God. So, here the Vasudev word has not been used either for Shri Krishna or for his respectable father.
Sandhi vichchhed of durga is Dur+Gum= Durg and its meaning is difficult object etc., which cannot be crossed. From Durg, the word durga is made. Dur+ga= Durga.
Dr. Kapadia: Charn vandan. Simply unbelievable that a saint like will care 2 answer. This proves God’s existence and how determined he is to help those who wants to know him. GurujiI confess I have not read Vedas. Yes I have gone though many upanishads, sutras, but my max attention is towards BHAGWAT, as Vyasji himself has mentioned that after compiling and writing all Vedas, upanishads, puran, Mahabharat, he was not delighted when Naradji asked him to glorify the Krishnaleela.I want to make few humble submissions, which requires some rectification. FIRSTLY REG VEDAS–Guruji I have not read to that depth, just had an overlook, and few translation works. What I could made is, and I have two interpretations, (1) Vedas were dictated by almighty to bramhaji, and only demi gods are mentioned to gain material fruits, which was the need of the hour as lord bramha when created human beings they were all satvit munis and tapasvis, hence the leela which almighty wants to enjoy was not materializing, so lord asked bramhaji to created creatures who may not be able to unveil *trigunmai maya*. To propogate that all types of gods were described along with Yagnik prescription to attain material gains, This is my first interpretation (2) Slokas in vedas have concealed facts, and only blessed individuals like you can decode them. I may not get time in my life time to even read vedas, but I HAVE VERY IRRITATING QUERY—CAN FEW WORDS WHICH ARE FREQUENTLY USED IN VEDAS BE REPLACE BY SOME OTHER WORDS TO DECODE THE DIVINE LEELA. For example —‘ROSE is in cupboard. Take out the ROSE carefully. Dont wet the ROSE.Keep the ROSE covered.Hand over the ROSE to me in my office. I require the ROSE urgently because I have promised a aperson that i will be handin the ROSE today—–NOW REPLACE THE WORD ROSE WITH ‘ BUNDLE OF RUPEE WORTH TEN THOUSAND’ Is there something of this sort in vedas or is it something else which i fear i wont be able to decode in this life time. Still no regrets as i am contented with BHAGWAT MAHA PURAN, GEETA, SUBODHINI AND SERVIN LORD KRISHNA AT HOME.I know this is tooo long but I am dying to have the answer. Pranam
Swami Ram Swarup: My blessings to you for a long, happy life.
Whatever has been written or provided in a shape of a book is not considered true by the learned of Vedas if the same do not tally with Vedas. In this connection, I paste my article below:-
VEDAS ARE SELF PROOF AND THE BOOKS OF RISHIS ARE ALSO THE PROOF, AFTER VEDAS.
Therefore we must accept the above eternal facts to determine the truth. It means at present also, any view or any statement in the present book are considered true if it tallies with Vedas and the books written by Rishis, otherwise not this eternal tradition was adopted in the ancient times. As a result, the public mostly remained away from illusion.
In Yajurveda mantra 31/7, it is clearly mentioned that the Vedvani emanates direct from God. Yagvalkya Rishi in his Smriti tells his wife Matryi that in the beginning of every creation this formless Vani emanates from formless Almighty God in the heart of four gentlemen selected by God from the previous creation in which they were topmost in Tapsya and good conduct etc. That is why automatically they are called Rishis with their names – Agni, Vaayu, Aditya and Angira. As the breath comes out from man similarly Ved mantras emanate from God. As outer breath is inhaled in the body so the Vedas are inhaled in God at the time of final destruction. {Please remember God is formless and has no mouth etc. This is an example and comparison only to enable us to understand the origination of eternal knowledge of Vedas otherwise neither it is exhaled nor inhaled from God.}
Further, in the heart of each of the four Rishis mentioned above, one Veda is originated without writing and without preaches. How? God is formless and Almighty, i.e., has all powers and does not require any assistance, i.e., God does not require any assistance from any Yamraj, any Yamdoot to get the soul out from any person, He does not require any assistance from any Indra, to shower water in the shape of rain, does not require any priest or preacher or Guru etc., to preach the religion to anybody because He is Almighty, He is always independent and His powers alone create and do all deeds etc., automatically.
First of all we must know that Vedas have never been written by any Rishi-muni, man or woman or saint etc. The knowledge of Vedas is also Formless like God because the same emanates direct from God in the beginning of every creation and is equally applicable for all human beings to adopt. Therefore Vedas are not a sect. In this connection, I paste my article below;-
Vedas’ Philosophy
God has made universe and blessed us with human body to do pious deeds to attain salvation 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 mantras 10/135/1,2 refer)
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, 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 does not have 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 recreates. Atharvaveda mantra 4/1/1 also says that God gives the knowledge of Vedas at the beginning of the earth to four Rishis of non-sexual 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 even if he becomes young or old. So we have to think about the origin of the knowledge prevalent in the world today. In this connection the Vedas themselves say that God gives this knowledge to four Rishis. As said by Rishi Patanjali in Yoga shastra sutra 1/26, God is the 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 orally. At that time there was no pen, pencil, paper, etc. This process of studying Vedas orally remained till Mahabharata time. Muni Vyas too remembered Vedas traditionally by heart. Then Muni Vyas for the 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 those which are preached by mouth by an Acharya/yogi and the printed Vedas are called Sanhita.
Now if somebody worships a statue etc., then it is their own creation please but Vedas deny. According to Vedas the best worship of the God is Yajyen 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, Yajurveda 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 53,111 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 write 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 Valmiki Ramayana, six shastras, Mahabharat (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.
Secondly Bhagwad Purann has not been written by Vyas Muni. It was written by some Bop Dev during the time of King Bhoj. Thirdly we must know that Vyas Muni was a philosopher of Vedas and Ashtang Yoga Philosophy. He attained salvation so he was satisfied with himself. He only wrote Mahabharata epic and Vedanta shastra. There was no any discussion took place between Vyas Muni and Narad to write Bhagwat. So, no question of delightment arises.
Your first interpretation collected by you from a book is not true being against the Vedas especially against Rigved 10/129. I paste my article below:-
CREATION
The creation is eternal and automatic. There is no date of creation of the following:
(A) Almighty God who is alive, immortal, formless, creates, nurses and destroys the universe. He never indulges in any maya, mahamaya, illusion and deeds (good or bad. Yajurveda Mantra 40/8 and Yog shastra Sutra 1/26 also refer)
(B) Soul: Soul is alive, the purest, away from sins etc. but illusion covers the soul due to which soul forgets his original form and hence remains in sorrows, problems etc.
C) Prakriti: Non-alive and has three qualities. i.e., Raj, tam, Satva. At a proper time, the power of God acts in prakriti and the universe is created. So the creation is eternal and automatic.
Raj, Tam and Satva are the three qualities of prakriti. When the said gunnas remain idle dormant i.e., do not work, then combination of these three gunnas(qualities) in dormant stage is called prakriti and this time is called “final destruction” of the universe. When an appropriate time comes, the creation is to be started again. Then the power of God works in the above three gunnas i.e., in the prakriti and immediately the creation starts. Rajo gunn is a sign of sensuousness etc., Tamo gunn signifies laziness and sato gunn signifies ego, pride. Our human body is also made of the said three gunnas.
Vedas tell that there are three eternal/immortal matters- first: Almighty God, second: souls, third: prakriti. Almighty God creates, nurses and destroys the universe and again creates it. The said process of creation is eternal/immortal/everlasting. Almighty God creates the universe from prakriti. When the raj, tam and satva gunnas of prakriti remain idle (dormant condition/inactive) then creation does not take place. At an appropriate time, a power of Almighty God acts in prakriti (i.e., in Raj, tam and satva gunnas). Immediately the process of creation starts and the first matter of prakriti is made which is called –Mahat i.e., mind; from Mahat- ahankar is made, from ahankar panch (5) tan matrayein, from panch (5) tanmatrayein, panch (5) mahabhoot are created. From panch mahabhoot, the entire matter of universe i.e., Sun, Moon air, water , our bodies, bodies of other living beings etc., are created. The whole creation is thus created from prakriti and remains still (in active) like a statue. This creation is called non-sexual creation. In the said creation, the young human bodies are created which are neither old nor babies. Then by the power of God, in the said bodies, breathing system (prann vaayu) starts operating. At last, God enters into the universe and immediately all the humans and other living beings become alive and start functioning. Similarly, the non-alive matters like Sun, moon, earth, air, water etc., start their respective functions.
Creation, Science, worldly matters etc., is not possible until the same is created by someone. Secondly, knowledge is attained when knowledge is imparted by someone.
Rigveda mantra 10/129/ 1-6 throw light about creation that at that time, there was nothing and no living beings did exist. So there was no learned acharya who could give the knowledge to the newly created living beings like parents who educate the children to make them able to speak language and to know about the matters like crow, animals, chapati, ghee, sun, moon i.e., all matters of the world. See, if a newly born baby is managed to live in dense jungle and nursed well but he is not given education about the worldly matters etc. i.e., mathematics, science, animals, sun, moon etc., then even at the young age of 20-25, 30 years, he will not be able to speak any language and when he will be brought out of the cave of dense jungle and will be asked about the sun, moon, animals, birds before him, then he will not be able to reply because he was not given the said knowledge.
When we see towards sun, moon, air, space, human body etc. It is clearly understood that the said creation has not been made by any human being but Almighty God, from whom the knowledge of four Vedas emanates. In Vedas, the knowledge right from straw to Brahma has been mentioned. So in the beginning of non-sexual earth, the Vedas originated in the heart of four rishis: Agni, Vaayu, Aditya and Angira, and from the rishis the knowledge of science, deeds and worship along with every matter is being given to the public by which the public became educated scientist and wrote books, etc.
In Vedas as well as in fourth chapter of Yog Shastras of Rishi Patanjali, it is mentioned that those who do not believe in God are provided more and more facilities by nature and such people get spoiled etc.
On the contrary those who worship God, they naturally try to kill their desires and accordingly under the law, nature, help them to follow the true path to realize the God.
It is also pertinent to mention here that in Vedas, there is no mention of avtarwad or any proper noun, please. Vedas do not even contain any story or past, present or future life of anyone. Vedas contain knowledge i.e., entire science, form of deeds/duties and worship of God. Actually Vedas give knowledge right from straw to Brahma (God) of entire universe.
All four Vedas tell to worship a formless, Almighty, omnipresent, omniscient God who creates, nurses and destroys the universe. God was one, is one and shall ever remain one. He is unchangeable, unchallengeable and beyond description. He has unlimited qualities and thus unlimited names but is one. Because He is Almighty and needs no help of anyone to create, nurse and destroy the universe therefore no need to take avtar.
In Vedas mantras are there which inspires all human beings to listen Vedas to become learned. So, ved shoulder the responsibility to all to make contact with the learned acharya to listen Vedas to adopt its preaching. If a person fails to do the same then it is his own fault. So, we must try to listen Vedas immediately.
So, time should be made available for the same being our moral duty and entrusted by God.
Example of Rose cannot be quoted in the abstract of divine knowledge of ved Mantras. Actually, as I have told above one should make contact with learned acharya, thus he will himself be a learned to know and tell others, the secret of the mantras.
