Dev S: Pranam Swami ji I want to know more about Vedas, purans, Upanishads etc and want to live life according to rules written on them. So kindly suggest me where & how can I get more knowledge of them? Do you give deeksha of these if yes how can I contact you & reach you to become your student if you give so?
Swami Ram Swarup: My blessings to you. Your question is deep and answer cannot be given in short. So, please you are advised either to contact a learned acharya of Vedas and yoga philosophy locally, or you may come here, for detailed guidance.
VSVS: Thank you so much swamiji for giving answer….
Swami Ram Swarup: You are welcome, please.
Ashwin: Swamiji, my pranams to you.
Q1. What makes the Vedas(Samhitas) so supreme and isn’t there deep concepts in Brahmanas, Upanishads etc. Can you mention some of the unique things that is not found in these other literatures but are found in Vedas excluding the fact that Vedas contain no history, they are from God etc?
Q2. I read the articles on Veda shakas on your website. You know that there are many recension that are followed in different parts of our country. For example, Shukla Yajurveda is followed mostly in northern parts of India and also in that in some areas, Madhyandini style is used and in some areas, Kanva style is used. Amongst the recension (for any Veda), one must be the original and the others must be the branch and the others must be shakhas. How to determine which is original and which is a shakha? What are the parameters to declare that?
Q3. We know that there are only some 21 shakhas of Vedas existing out of total 1127 shakhas. Are there any text in Vedic literature or any commentaries which exclusively states that this recension is original? I am asking this question because there are only few differences between the existing shakhas which I heard from a website.
Q4.Swami Dayanand Saraswati states in Satyarth Prakash that RV starts with ‘Agni’, YV starts with ‘ISHE’, Sv starts with ‘Agni’ and AV starts with ‘YE TRISHAPTA’. What is the basis of his saying so?Are there any texts in Vedic literature which exclusively states like this in order to identify the original?
Thank you.
Swami Ram Swarup: My blessings to you.
1.) In this connection, I paste my article as under-
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.
After studying article, you can put your query again, if any.
2.) Vedas are eternal knowledge, which emanate directly from Almighty, formless God in the beginning of every creation. First, creation is non-sexual and at that time there was no learned guru, acharya etc., to give knowledge to non-sexual creation. I mean to say, at that time, all were ignorant. Now, it is a fundamental law that knowledge can only be gained when knowledge is given by someone. As per Yajurveda chapter 31, Rigveda 10/181/1, 2 and other Vedas also give proof that knowledge of Vedas emanates from God and is originated in the heart of four Rishis of non-sexual creation.
The four Rishis deliver it to Brahma and uptil now traditionally it is being received. I mean to say that Rishis who attain the Vedic knowledge they become learned and based on the Vedic knowledge they wrote shastras, Upnishads etc. Without gaining Vedic knowledge they could not write shastras, upnishad etc., being ignorant.
So, naturally the upnishads, shukla Yajurveda etc., are written by Rishis but difference lies in Sanskrit language. Because Rishis used their own Sanskrit language and Vedas are in Divine Sanskrit language but still idea of upnishad would always tally with Vedas.
3) It is a fundamental law that if views of any writer tally with Vedas, those views are true otherwise untrue. In this connection, Yog Shastra Sutra 1/7 refers.
4) starting of all four Vedas shows that we must worship God Who is Almighty and provides us with all goods to survive including ill free peaceful life. Idea of the mantras are as follows:-
a) Rigveda:- Oh! God, I worship you. You protect us by giving Vedic knowledge and all other amenities like food, gold, silver etc.
b) Yajurveda :- Oh! God, You are Almighty. May you keep us involved in pious deeds etc.
c) Samveda:- Oh! God, May we attain you by meditation to shower knowledge upon us.
d) Atharvaveda:- Oh! God under the kind advise of learned acharya ,we know you get knowledge of twenty-one universal matters and from that knowledge , we take care of our health.
So, in all four Vedas the beginning of mantras compels us to know about Almighty God without whom we cannot get peace and pleasure. Kindly tally their views with my articles which you’ve read already.
