On Vedas

by

VK Saluja

Every person believes in some religion and has got a holy book. Christians have Bible, Muslims Kuran, Sikhs guru grath sahib . Most of these holy books contain some form of “dos” and “Don’ts”. In the Hindu religion these are called “dharma” and “adharma”.

Ask any Hindu about their holy books and they will reply differently. Some may say Geeta, others some may say Ramayana, some may say various other books but only a few will say VEDAS.

Knowledge of Vedas is called Vedanta.

The sources of Bible, Holy Koran, Granth Saheb, Geeta, Ramayana etc. are known and even the period when these were written can be defined. But, no one can tell the precise period when Vedas were written. As a matter of fact Vedas are experiences and teachings of various yogis and are in real terms ancient .

The Vedas are basically Sruti-sthe roots of tree of Self- Knowledge or of “THAT.”

Main branches of Vedas are:

Smiriti-s (e.g. Bhagwad Geeta)

Purana-s (Bhagwatam)

Itihas-s (Ramayan, Mahabharat )

Other various compositions and works of saint and sagas are its secondary branches.

Vedas as you are aware as book are FOUR in numbers

1. Righ
2. Yajur
3. Sama
4. Atharva

Each Veda is divided in FOUR parts:(a) mantra (b) brahamana (c) arnayaka (d) upnishad

Mantra portion contains prayers in praise of the beauty, bounty and powers of nature;

Brahamna-s describe various rites and rituals.

Aranayaka portion contains various forms of worship / meditation

Upnishads profound the Supreme Truth and its attainment by knowing THAT (SELF KNOWELDGE) leading to liberation –moksha

The veda-s are also categorized into three sections:

Karam Kanda (mantra and brahmana)

Upasana Kanda (aranyaka)

Gyan kaanda.

Karam Kanda involves the performance of our duties and dedicating them to a noble altar, free of ego and ego centric desires. In the performance of Karam Kanda (we may call it karma yoga also) the mind is freed from likes, dislikes, anger and greed. The upasana (meditation and worship) make the mind subtle and single pointed. The gyan kanda is Self-knowledge and removes our ignorance of our TRUE nature.