With no extra clutter and no extra reading, this introductory guide to the Vedas—the oldest books known to mankind—distills the information down to an easily digestible format. It explores spiritual concepts such as karma, dharma, and meditation, and shows how to develop control over your mind and body and begin living a more fulfilling, awakened, and enjoyable life.
With no extra clutter and no extra reading, this introductory guide to the Vedas—the oldest books known to mankind—distills the information down to an easily digestible format. It explores spiritual concepts such as karma, dharma, and meditation, and shows how to develop control over your mind and body and begin living a more fulfilling, awakened, and enjoyable life.
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Overview
With no extra clutter and no extra reading, this introductory guide to the Vedas—the oldest books known to mankind—distills the information down to an easily digestible format. It explores spiritual concepts such as karma, dharma, and meditation, and shows how to develop control over your mind and body and begin living a more fulfilling, awakened, and enjoyable life.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781941311837 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Luminis Books, Inc. |
| Publication date: | 07/15/2015 |
| Series: | Simple Guides Series |
| Pages: | 150 |
| Product dimensions: | 5.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.70(d) |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
Simple Guide to the Vedas
The World's First Books
By Vidya Sagar Garg
Luminis Books
Copyright © 2015 Luminis BooksAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-941311-85-1
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION TO THE VEDAS
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Tsmaadyjyatsrvehuth richah samani jjyire,
Chhndaan si jjyire tsmaady justsmaadjaayt. YV 31.7
Meaning: God, the adorable One, created the Rig Veda, Sam Veda, Athara Veda and Yajur Veda.
Not many people are aware of the Vedas, and those who are aware of them are often mistaken that they are religious books similar to the Bible or Koran. On the contrary; the Vedas are books of knowledge. They are not religiously affiliated nor do they belong to a particular race or country. They are universally applicable to all human beings. Physically, the Vedas consist of four ancient books that contain spiritual, material, and societal knowledge. The knowledge within these books, however, was revealed when humankind first began life on earth, and was passed down verbally generation after generation. Indians have protected the Vedas from the beginning. It is well known fact that Indian civilization was well advanced when Europeans were in the Stone Age and lived in caves by hunting. That was due to the Indians' having access to the knowledge of the Vedas.
VEDAS ARE FOUR:
[TABLE OMITTED]
The name of each book in the Vedas is as follows: Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Sam Veda and Atharv Veda. The Veda name, number of mantras, seer that the Veda was revealed to and the subject matter of each Veda is depicted in the table above. While there are four separate Vedas, the knowledge within them is not separate. All four books have information that is linked to each other covering topics from God and Souls to material sciences and human responsibility. The format of the Vedas is poetical, and the stanzas are called mantras. Only the verses in the actual Vedas are called mantras, because they are called shruti, which means heard, as they were at first passed down verbally from one generation to the next. All hymns from other Sanskrit literature are called shalokas,sutras, etc., not mantas. After being passed down phonically from the beginning of time, the Vedas were eventually written down, first on palm leaves then on paper. The system of memorizing the Vedas is so perfect that not even a single syllable can be altered.
The Vedas are the oldest books found in the human library. It would be unjust of the Creator of the Universe to create this wonderful creation and not to provide the road map for the human journey on this earth. Thus, God being just, He gave the knowledge of the Vedas for mankind. Knowledge of the Vedas is beyond time and place, it was true in the beginning and it is true now.
Mons Leon Delbos says: "There is no monument of Greece or Rome more precious than the Rig Veda."
Professor Max Muller says: "In the history of the world, the Vedas fill a gap which no literary work in any other language could fill."
When the Yajur Veda was presented to Voltaire, he expressed his belief that "the Veda was the most precious gift for which the West had ever been indebted to the East."
In the words of Yajur Veda, this truth must be propagated to all:
"Yathemam vacham kalyanim avadani janebhyah": YV 26.2
Meaning: In the same way that I reveal this auspicious holy Word of the Veda for all people, so should you too communicate it to all people of the world, whoever, whatever, wherever they may be.
The language of the Vedas is Vedic Sanskrit, which is different than regular Sanskrit. Vedas Sanskrit and language is divine, therefore perfect and sacred; other Sanskrit works are human creations.
THREE ETERNAL ENTITIES
There are three eternal entities in the Vedas — God, Soul and Matter.
Vedas dictate Parmatma/God according to its true self, i.e. Blissful, Formless, Unborn, Omnipresent, Omniscient, Omnipotent, Just, Kind, Sustainer, Nurturer, Holy, Infinite, Flawless, Eternal and the Creator of the Universe.
Soul is never born and never dies. It is known from the body it gets. It stays in the cycle of birth and death between human and non-human based on its deeds done in human life. Human life's main purpose is to get liberation from this cycle of birth and death. The liberation is called Moksha. In Moksha, soul is blissful and enjoys the company of Omnipotent God.
Matter keeps on changing its shape, though it does not change in quantity. Wood, on burning, changes into carbon, moisture and gases. Vegetation grows from seeds with the help of earth, water, sun and air. Again, it changes its shape when eaten and digested.
THE PURPOSE OF CREATION:
The purpose of creation is to provide the opportunity for souls to enjoy and elevate themselves to Moksha/liberation. Take for example a wooden table. There is a maker of the table, wood was used to make it and somebody will use it. So the maker is 1) efficient cause, 2) matter (wood) is material cause, and 3) user (person) is first cause. Similarly for creation 1) God, the all-knowing, all-pervading entity is the efficient cause, 2) the matter in its most primordial form is the material cause, 3) the tiny individual conscious souls who are infinite in number are the first cause(s).
VEDAS ARE MOTHER
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Stuta maya varadaa vedamaataa pra chodayantaam Paavamaanee dvijaanaam, Ayuh praanam prajaam pashum keertim dravinam brahmavarchasam, Mahyam dattvaa vrajata brahmalokam. AV 19.71.1
Meaning: I honor, celebrate and worship Mother Knowledge, Veda, purifier, sanctifier and inspirer of the inspired and inspiring Dvijas, enlightened men of culture, education and piety, the Mother who, having given me good health, full age, prana, progeny, wealth, honor and fame, substantial power and stability, and the light and luster of Divinity, retires to Brahmaloka, the Eternal Mind of Brahma.
HARMONY WITH SCIENCE
Vedas are in complete harmony with science, i.e., they dictate the chronological order of creation. First lands were formed, then the vegetation grew; then insects, birds, four-legged animals and finally humans were created. Vedas have no mention that humans came from monkeys. In the chapter, "Science in Vedas," we discuss one example of the scientific knowledge found in the Vedas: That the earth is round and it circles around the sun.
LOGICAL AND RATIONAL APPROACH
The Vedas condemn superstitions, idol worship, worshiping individuals, tombs, trees, stones etc. The fact is, nothing can go against natural law. Upasna (worship) is due only to the Creator of the Universe, who is All-pervading, Just, All-knowing, Eternal and Formless. His real name is Om [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII].
GURUDOM
Vedas do not prescribe to the present form of gurudom. While a sincere guru (teacher) is a must to teach and learn, there are many so-called gurus, who pretend to be the middlemen between their disciples and God; have their disciples worship and shower them with wealth. These gurus are frauds. No human can be an agent of God. God is our Father, and is accessible to all.
SEEK TRUTH
Vedas emphatically dictate to seek truth, through reading, listening, analyzing, and examining. There is no room for blind faith in the Vedas. All individuals are responsible for the decisions they make, consequences are not only limited to this life, but also the lives thereafter. Therefore, critical, rational and scientific thinking and decision-making is the key for real success.
In the Vedas there are no unfounded statements of going to heaven or hell for believing or not believing in something. Rather, there is appeal for unity and working hand in hand for the good of all living beings.
NEED FOR THE VEDAS
Nothing can sprout without a root. The Vedas are the foundation of knowledge. Without knowledge, ignorance prevails. As a result, there would be no civilization, no knowledge of right or wrong, and no advancement.
The most important Vedic knowledge for mankind is the knowledge of God and the soul. This knowledge is millions of times better than any other material knowledge, because only with true spiritual knowledge can one make one's journey more favorable and without it, one is bound to be doomed forever. The irony is, not much emphasis is given in the day-to-day world on gaining this knowledge.
The bottom line is nobody learns anything without being taught. There is a French film titled The Wild Child. The film opens with the statement: "This story is authentic, it opens in 1798 in a French forest." The story is about an 11-12-year-old child who was found in a forest. He was just like an animal until they brought him to civilization and started teaching him human skills such as speaking, bathing, and clothing himself.
CHAPTER 2AGE OF THE VEDAS
The Vedas were revealed to four Rishis, one Veda to each Rishi (seer), at the beginning of human creation. These Rishis were the purest among the thousands of people in the beginning. The Vedas were revealed from the beginning so that no human being would be deprived of their knowledge. The Rishis passed down the Vedas to other wise men, and the cycle continued. The first life on earth was non-parental; after that parental birth started.
CREATION SIMILAR TO WHAT HAS BEEN DONE BEFORE
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Suryachandrmasau dhaataa yathaapurvmakalpayata, Divam ch preethiviam chaantarikshamatho svah. RV 10.190.3
Meaning: The supreme master creator and controller planned the sun and moon, heaven and earth, the middle regions and the regions of bliss as they are now and ever have been since eternity.
TOTAL DARKNESS BEFORE THE CREATION
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Tama aaseettmasaa guulahamagre praketam salilam sarvmaa idama, tuchchhayenaabhvapihitam yadaaseettpasastanmahinaajaayataikama. RV 10.129.3
Meaning: There is only dark, darker and deeper than darkness itself before the world of existence comes to into being.
HOW OLD ARE THE VEDAS?
The Vedas were revealed at the beginning of the human race – 1,960,853,115 years ago (as of March 2015 AD).
HOW DID WE COME UP WITH THIS NUMBER?
Indians have been keeping track of time from the beginning of time. They have literature called Surya Sidhant and Panchang to track time and the movements of stars and planets. They keep adding and subtracting one day every day to the creation time. This keeps track of how many years have passed and how many years remain in God's day.
Before performing any auspicious ceremony, a Vedic/Hindu priest undertakes sankalpa, which is a declaration of the function being held, to ourselves and to God within us. The Vedic calendar is lunar and is called Vikram Samvat. Normally, the new year falls in April, called Ugaadi. Ugaadi is a new year for the Vikram Samvat calendar as well as the Creation year (srishti calendar).
SANKALPA
Vedic Pundit/Priest recites the following human years (sankalpa) at every special occasion:
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]
Meaning: It is almost noon of God's day [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] which is Vevsvat Manvantar. The years remaining in Vevsvat manvantar are the same number of years from God's noon. This is the first part of the 28th Kalyug of Vevsvat Manvantar. Kalyug's 5116th (from March 2015) year is currently running as today's year, month, day, and time. This function is being held in Bharat-khand, Aryavrata desha (the country of the United States of America).
This is explained in detail through the following table:
DIVISION OF TIME
Day
Month
Year
Yuga
Manvantra
DAY, MONTH, YEAR – do not need explaining.
YUGA
Time has been divided into four parts, which are called yugas. Each Yuga has a life span depicted in the chart below.
Division by Yugas is basically a time tracker. It does not make one Yuga better or worse than the other.
MANVANTRA
Further, the time has been divided into 14 parts called Manvantras as depicted in the table on the following page. Each Manvanvtra contains 71 foursome Yugas (chaturyugi). 14 Manvantras is the total life of God's day. [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] After God's day, God's night [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] starts and the cycle of God's day and night continues.
CURRENT MANVANTRA AND YUGA
Currently, we are in the 7th Manvantra called Vaivsvata Manvantra depicted in the table above. Out of 71 foursome Yugas of Vaivsvata Manvantra, 27 foursome Yugas have been completed and we are currently in the 28th foursome Yuga. Of the 28th foursome Yuga; Sat Yuga, Treta Yuga and Dwapar Yuga have been completed. We are now in Kal Yuga. Completed Kal Yuga years are 5115 (in March 2015 AD).
ADDING IT ALL UP GIVES THE AGE OF VEDAS AND CREATION
* 1 Chaturyugi (foursome Yuga)= 4,320,000 years
* 6 Manvantras have passed = 4,320,000 x 71 x 6 = 1,840,320,000 years
* 7th Manvantra (27 chaturyugis completed) = 4,320,000 x 27 = 116,640,000 years
* 7th Manvantra's (28th chaturyugi's years passed = Sat Yug 1,728,000 + Treta Yug 1,296,000 + Dwapar Yug 864,000 + Kal Yug year passed 5115 = 3,893,115 years
* Add 6 Manvantras passed + 7th Manvantras 27 chaturyugis passed + 7th Manvantras 28th chaturyugis years passed = 1,960,853,115 Years
TOTAL YEARS IN GOD'S DAY (BRAHM DIN)
The total number of chaturyugis (foursome Yugas) in all 14 Manvantras are 71 X 14 = 994. This is the amount of time allotted for all living beings. The actual number of chaturyugis (foursome Yugas) in God's day is 1000. The rest of the 6 chaturyugis (foursome yugas) are taken up by the creation and annihilation of the universe. So God's day is made of foursome Yuga years 4,320,000 x 1000 = 4,320,000,000 years. After God's day, God's night (Brahm ratri) is of the same number of years. God's day after God's night the cycle continues. During God's night, there is no creation, only total darkness and souls are in deep sleep. Matter is in its finest form.
CHAPTER 3CONTENTS OF THE VEDAS
"God is the ultimate theme of the Vedas. All should follow the Vedic instructions and do their activities with the glorification of God, so that they may attain success and accomplishment in material and spiritual matters concerning this life and life after death, by doing good to others according to their ability." Maharishi Dayanand Sarsvati (1824 — 1883)
GOD SUSTAINS THE UNIVERSE
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Mahdyksham bhuvnsya mdhye tpsi kraantam salillysa prishthe, tasmin shrynte y u ke ch devaa vrikshsy skandhah pritiva shaakhah. AV 10.7.38
Meaning: God is the highest object of all adorations, who pervades the universe and possesses the utmost knowledge. He is the supporter of the universe, in the same way as the trunk of a tree upholds all its branches.
KNOWLEDGE
The Vedas contain spiritual wisdom and knowledge for practical life as well as heavenly matters — science, technology, medicine, health, society, family, economics, mathematics, finance, research, education and so on. The foremost of these is of God (Brahma-Vidya) and soul.
TWO KINDS OF KNOWLEDGE
Apara: Knowledge of all material things, from a blade of grass to rockets and their proper use.
The Vedas say use air, water, and fire to build aircraft, ships and other vehicles for land, space and water.
They say visit other lands by building rockets and spaceships. They contain the knowledge of movement of the stars, Sun, Moon, Earth and more.
Mathematics, technology, science etc. are all found in the Vedas
Para: Knowledge by which one knows Brahma (God) and self (Atma/soul), who are invisible, is called para.
The Vedas dictate that God is: Blissful, Formless, Unborn, Omnipresent, Omniscient, Omnipotent, Just, Kind, Sustainer, Nurturer, Holy, Infinite, flawless, Eternal and the Creator of the universe.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Simple Guide to the Vedas by Vidya Sagar Garg. Copyright © 2015 Luminis Books. Excerpted by permission of Luminis Books.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments 1
Introduction 2
Who This Book is For 3
Foreword 4
Section 1 Overview 9
Chapter 1 Introduction to the Vedas 10
Chapter 2 Age of the Vedas 18
Chapter 3 Contents of the Vedas 25
Section 2 God and Soul 29
Chapter 4 God of the Vedas 30
Chapter 5 Atma/Soul 42
Section 3 Righteous Living 49
Chapter 6 Actions, Deeds, and Karma 50
Chapter 7 Dharma - Righteousness 62
Chapter 8 Duty to Society 73
Chapter 9 Women in the Vedas 81
Section 4 Reincarnation and Liberation 89
Chapter 10 Moksha and Liberation 90
Chapter 11 Reincarnation - Rebirth 100
Section 5 Worship and Meditation 107
Chapter 12 Worship 108
Chapter 13 Yoga Meditation 125
Chapter 14 Vedas - The Word of God 146
Section 6 Science/Creation 157
Chapter 15 Science in the Vedas 158
Chapter 16 Creation of the Universe 168
Section 7 Guidance for Living 169
Chapter 17 Parenting and Teaching 170
Chapter 18 Facing Challenges in Life 195
Section 8 Closing Thoughts 209
Chapter 19 Additional Topics 210
Chapter 20 Vedic Scriptures 222
Chapter 21 Quotes from Vedas 227
Chapter 22 Maharishi Dayanand Sarsvati 235