veda part two

SYNOPSIS OF FOUR VEDAS

(Copy right protected by Dr. G.S. Tripathy)

1. In a state of static equilibrium, Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas constitute the prakriti which is nothing but the matter. Primordial matter is unanimate. It is set in motion by the absolute Godhead and then creation begins.

2. A soul iS conscious or an individual being. He is subjected to the fruit of his action as he performs action. His capabilities are limited. The primary qualities of an individual soul are pleasure, pain, desire, aversion, comprehension and effort. In the cycles of birth and death he is enmeshed.

3. That which is never born and has never had an inception is called Anadi.

That which never perishes or never comes to an end is called Ananta

4. Absolute god-head is HE whose attributes, actions and qualities constitute the intrinsic truth, who is omnipotent, formless, omniscient without a beginning, He is endless, deathless, eternal, indestructible, embodiment of bliss, and sees into the heart of every particle of creation. He who is purest, just merciful and never born- He, who creates, sustains and finally dissolves the creation and who dispenses to all beings the fruits of their actions.

5. The individual soul, the absolute god head and the primordial matter (Prakriti) can be called Anadi and Ananta. These three are never born nor do they ever perish. They have existed, they are existing, and they will continue to exist for ever. They are eternal.

6. All the attributes of the Brahma would have appeared in the individual soul as well. Brahma is immutable. Omniscient, Omnipotent and embodiment of bliss where as the individual being has limited knowledge and fragmented vision. He suffers from grief and sorrow and driven by aberrations.

According to some when ignorance or Avidya envelopes the Brahma, the latter degenerates in to an individual being. This is also not true since subjection to illution and ignorance is contrary to his intrinsic nature.

7. The universe is not an illusion but it is changeable. It has his own existence. For example steam & ice are two different forms of water. Here water does not become non-existent.

8. The Supreme Being is existent, blissful and conscious. Individual soul is existent and conscious. Cosmic nature is existent and it is devoid of consciousness.

Individual soul has limited cognition. Absolute Being is omniscient, cosmic nature is the material cause of the creation. Individual soul is the common cause. Absolute being is the efficient or absolute cause.

The Supreme Being is only one while the individual beings are numerous. Vedic verse (RVI.164.2) propounds the aforesaid concept.

9. Just as seeming is the natural function of the eyes, creation preservation and destruction of the universe are the natural and spontaneous functions of the Supreme Being. Through the act of creation the qualities like mercy, justice etc. of the supreme being are manifested.

During the later creation, the good or evil deeds performed by the individuals in the past creations lead to their fruits only.

10. God has created the universe for the well being of all creatures and has used cosmic nature as the material cause.

11. God is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient and therefore he exists everywhere. He is all powerful and He sees everything.

12. The Divine Lord being the subtlest entity can dwell everywhere. In a gross body a subtle body can inhabit. The air can contain space. Also the fire can contain the qualities of space.

13. The Vedas have described the Absolute Being and never born and formless. One who is born is bound to perish one day. As god is omnipresent the question of His appearance or location here or else where does not arise.

14. God is formless. He would not be omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent if he had a form.

Both in cognitive knowledge and in the power of act a form is limited where as the cognition and action of the supreme Lord know no limits.

15. God is all powerful. Without the need of any help or assistance the omnipotence of god means that He performs the act of creation, preservation, and dissolution. The fruits of their action have been meted but to the human beings by Him.

Omnipotence does not mean that he can destroy Himself or can commit a sin. Violation of the canons is not a sign of might but of weakness.

These acts go against His intrinsic disposition, inherent quality and attribute.

16. For idol worship there is no sanction by Vedas. In this connection (AV.XX.93.2) (YV.40.8) (YV.XXXII.3) may be referred to.

17. By looking at an image or idol one cannot visualize the Divine. As god is formless and pervasive, hence it is impossible to visualize His image.

By looking at the earth, the sun, the Moon, the stars, the mountains, the oceans, the living beings, the vegetation etc if one cannot think of Him then it will not be possible to remember Him by staring at his supposed likeness imagined by men out of Supreme Being.

The whole universe is a temple and god is present everywhere.

18. The Vedas do not mention of idols or likeness of almighty. By worshipping inert material objects, the sensitivity of man gets eroded. The Jains and Buddhists started idol worship for Tirthankar and Buddha respectively. Gradually others imitated the practice.

19. Vedas which are regarded as Divine words never refer to idol worship. Idol worship has not found mention even in works by Rishis such as Brahmana Darshana and upanishada etc.

20. The supreme soul is addressed in various names in the vedic Texts. By many names, the wise men call the eternal Being.

- As the embodiment of all opulence, He is INDRA.

- Being gracious and friendly to all. He is MITRA.

- Being adorable by all and destroyer of all grief. He is VARUNA.

- As one who illuminates and guides He is AGNI.

- Being full of luster He is Divya and dispenser of all laws. He is YAMA.

21. God never grieves. So there is no question of it His being pleased. He has given freedom of action to all beings. Good or bad – He metes out the fruit of all actions. This is His normal function and He is passionless.

He is just and without any prejudice. He has no need nor does look anything. Hence He is neither satisfied nor dis-satisfied.

22. God does not condone sins. He mets out to the living beings the consequences of their actions.

23. God is merciful. He is just and kind. Administering justice restores kindness.

24. For their own crimes, thieves and robbers do not punish themselves. By the laws of god appropriate punishment is imposed on them. While awarding to the living beings the consequences of their own deeds, God acts like the judge.

25. While punishing the wrong doer as it is His duty to do so, the judge does not regret. The Supreme Lord is the law maker. He dispenses justice and He is the embodiment of truth. He is the consciousness and bliss. He is neither happy nor unhappy as He is all bliss and devoid of passion.

26. The name of God can be defined in many ways. The word-OM- composed of three letters “A”, “U”, “M” is the best appellation of God.

‘OM’ is an interpretation which has no gender. The supreme soul denoted by ‘OM’ is eternal and impassive.

“A” stands for “VIRAT” (Illuminator of the multiform universe Agni)

“U” stands for HIRANYA GARBHA “Vayu” – “M” stands for ISVARA” – “ADITYA” (immortal).

27. That an individual soul has six distinguishing characteristics which have been propounded by NYAYA philosophy as follows.

Pleasure, pain, desire, aversion,cognition and effort.

28. The souls in human & animal bodies are same. But they are pure or impure according to that they are virtuous or sinful.

29. With Divine powers, Devata is an entity. One who enriches others, and bestows is resplendent himself is a Devata.

The parents, teachers and all virtuous enlightened persons in the society are living Devatas while fire, air, sun, moon etc are quiescent Devate.

30. For the man, the joyful existence is heaven for him. There is no geographical, location for that. Man achieves godliness leading a charitable and virtuous life.

Therefore to say that Devatas dwell in heaven actually connotes that charitable and moral men only lead happy lives.

31. “ASU” means life – “ASU” means strength. One who has got more strength is called a “Asur”. Even by harming others, one who wants to save himself is an Asur. Normally he does not discharge his social obligations.

32. By virtue of his own deeds, Man turns into a Devata or Asur. Appearance has nothing to do with conduct. In mythology absurd descriptions of Asuras are there. These are entirely fictions.

33. Rebirth is there as per Hindu sastras.

Man has a limited mind. Hence he cannot recollect or remember. It is a blessing also for him that he is not able to recollect the events of his previous life.

34. Most certainly one enjoys the fruits of his deeds during his life time.

This has been accepted by Vedas. The cooked food comes back to the cook.

35. There are three types of karmas.

That which is being done now is called kriyamana. As Sanchita, the consequences of kriyamana are stored. The consequences which have started receiving are “PRARABDHA”. The Sanchita and Prarabdha both relate to the past.

36. There are three states of the body. When the sense organs the mind and the vital powers are responsive and alert, then it is known as the state of wakefulness. When the senses are inert but mind and vital powers awake, it is the state of dream. The state of slumber is when only the vital powers are awake, but not the other two. The soul gets the privilege to come in the presence of the supreme soul but is not conscious of his presence due to ignorance in this state.

37. There are five koshes or shells in the gross physical body of a human being.

The first one is “Annamaya kosha”. This annamaya kosha grows due to intake of food. The gross physical body consisting of blood, flesh, bone, marrow, fat and semen is called Annamaya Kosha.

The kosha or shell consisting of five channels of the life breath which are – Pran, Apan, Samana, Vyana and Udana is called Pranamaya Kosha.

Then there is Manomaya kosha which consists of the activities of the mind.

The still inner shell is Vijnana maya kosa which comprises the domain of intellect and consciousness. Finally there is Anandamaya kosha which is the subtlest one. Due to this kosha man achieves joy, happiness and self-realization. Through intake of food, Annamaya kosha grows. It consists of blood, flesh, bone, morrow, tat and semen.

By these five koshas, a man’s behavior is always guided.

Each succeeding shell is subtler than the preceding one.

38. There are five different life-breaths in a human being. They are Pran, Apan, Vyana, Samana and Udana.

The air that goes in through the nose acts differently passing through different areas of the body and takes different names.

- When knowing from the nose up to the heart, the breath is called PRAN.

- When operates from the heart up to the naval it is called Apan.

- Between the throat and the cereboral area, similarly it is known as Udana

- And it is Vyana which maintains over all control of the body.

- It is samana which maintains the process of digestion.

39. The external organs of the body are heads, ears, eyes, feet etc. mind, memory intellect and the sense ‘I’ are the internal organs of the body. These four constitute ‘Antah Karana’.

40. The functions of the four “Antah karamas” are as follows:-

Mind thinks – Intellect takes decisions Memory retains knowledge of the past events. As a soverign existence, Ego prompts a man to think of himself.

41. The mind and the vital breath are physical but they are not gross objects like hands or feet. After the soul enters into the foetus, these are subtle objects developed gradually. Along with the mind intellect etc, the vital air starts its movement.

In the physical body soul is the only spiritual substance.

42. We have people, all around us, where some are happy and some are unhappy. Some are pious and some are wicked. Looking a happy man, to feel happiness, and to be compassionate towards the distressed – to be glad to see the virtuous and to shun the wicked doer – these only bring happiness to the mind.

43. Libration is nothing but toget out of the complete bondange of sorrow and miseries.

Liberation is attained through “Purushartha” The bodiless soul moving about with the feeling of blissful freedom after death is the state of liberation.

In its natural form of purity, soul remains here

44. The ability and efforts of the individual soul are limited. Hence it cannot attain the endless bliss. The cycle of birth & death is always there is the soul traverses again.

45. To meet the earthly parents, the God lets us taste the bliss of liberation and then sends us to this mundane world.

Rigveda (1.24.2)

46. The said period of liberation has been described by Mundakopanishad as “PARANTA KALA” which equals to several cycles of creation.