Upanishads (Philosophical Aspects Which Are to Be Taught by Acharyas to Their Trusted Students)
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Component-I (A) – Personal details: Prof. P. Bhaskar Reddy Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati. Prof. V. Venkata Ramana Reddy Director, O.R.I., S. V.University, Tirupati. Prof. V. Venkata Ramana Reddy Director, O.R.I., S. V.University, Tirupati. Prof. V. Kannan University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad. Component-I (B) – Description of module: Subject Name Indian Culture Paper Name Vedic, Epic and Puranic culture of India Module Name/Title Origin and Development of Vedas Module Id IC / VEPC / 01 Pre requisites Vedic Culture of India Objectives To know about Vedas, origin, four Vedas its allied literature and their significance Keywords Veda / Rigveda / Shruti E-text (Quadrant-I): 1. Introduction to Vedas World’s oldest literature are the Veda, a collection of religious and philosophical poems and hymns composed over several generations beginning as early as 3000 BC. The Veda was composed in Sanskrit, the intellectual language of both ancient and classical Indian civilizations. Veda is a vast body of knowledge originated many many years back. Veda is the name for a mass of divine knowledge. Veda means knowledge of Wisdom in Sanskrit; the root word is ‘Vid’. Hindu religion based on the faith ‘Sanatana Dharma’ . It means ‘Eternal Religion’ it is also called ‘Vedic Religion’. It is the supreme authority i.e. ‘Pramaana’. The Veda ensures welfare and happiness for the three worlds , It confers peace and security on human society. Vedas are also called as Nigama, Shruti and Amnaya. Veda teaches the Truth that cannot be revised or reversed by the passage of time According to Bhishmacharya of Mahabharata “The secret meaning of Veda is Truth“. Vedas are the oldest books of the mankind. Vedas are divine revelations perceived by ancient sages, after a long penance. Vedas form the fountain source of all later literature. Vedas are nothing but GOD in the form of sound. In Bhagavadgita Lord Krishna says “Let the scriptures be your authority in determining what ought to be done and what ought not to be done” 16:24 2. Origin of Vedas Vedas are originated from the Supreme Brahman through Brahma the first born of God, one of the Trimurties. First ‘OM’ the eternal word emerged. This was beginning of Veda and very beginning of universe. Various Purans state that the Vedas have originated from Omkar. The Shiva Puran (7.6.27) says that the Rugveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda and Atharvaveda have originated from the letters a (अ), u (उ), m (म) and subtle sound respectively. The Bhagavadgita (7.8) says that entire literature itself has originated from Omkara. According to the Mahabharata initially there was only one Veda in the form of Om. Thus began the Veda, vast collection of knowledge in God’s own words. Many manifestations one by one, came forth, in the form of ‘letters’ and ‘Sounds’. These letters received by Brahma became the seed of the knowledge and thought. Vedas are anadi means it has existed at all times. Vedas were imparted to the creator before the creation of the Universe. Vedas are constantly recited by Brahma The Word of Veda is the very Breath of God, the Supreme Person. The unique importance of the Veda rests on this fact. Vedas are ‘Apourusheya’. Our rishis are called ‘Mantra Drashtas’ rather than ‘Mantra Kartas’. Vedas are records of the Rishis’s direct personal experiences or their super conscious perceptions during their deep meditations which they performed for long years. It can be explained in analogy to modern scientists Newton, Einstein who discovered the respective laws. Gravitational force was there even before Newton was born but he was given credit of discovery to mark his realization Like wise Rishis recognized the mantras that already existed and made it available for every one. The traditional view is that even the order of the letters in the Vedas (varna krama) is not man-made. How can we recognize the author of the Vedas? Before reciting every veda mantra, it is customary to mention three things. the name of the rishi or sage concerned. It is also customary to give the lineage of particular rishi to avoid confusion because there are more rishis with the same name. e.g. ‘Agastya-Maitra- Varuni’ it means Agastya son of Mitra-Varuna. Meter (Chandas) in which it should be recited. Devatha the presiding deity of that mantra. There are around 300 Rishis including 32 Vedinis (Women Rishis) who directly or indirectly revealed the mantras from the Supreme Being. 2.1. Vedic Literature Vedas are enormous, "Anantha vai Vedah." The Vedas are infinite. In Vedic literature both there are eighteen Vidya-sthanas (subjects of study). They are divided into four categories: The Vedic literature consists of 'Shruti' (revealed) literature and 'Smriti' (memorized) literature. Shruti literature consist of Vedas: Rig Veda (Collection of prayers), Yajur Veda (Sacrificial manual), Krishna branch Sukla branch Sama Veda (Mostly Rig Vedic hymns in musical form), Atharva Veda (Magical charms). Each Veda has four parts: Mantra Samhita (essential part of a Veda containing hymns), Brahmanas (prose commentaries on Vedas with detailed observations on prayers and ceremonies), Aranyakas (texts to be read by Risrvis in forests as they deal with mystic meanings of Samhita texts) and Upanishads (philosophical aspects which are to be taught by Acharyas to their trusted students). Smriti literature consists of Vedangas, Upavedas, etc. which form supplementary sections of Vedic literature. Vedaangas: Shiksha = Phonetics, Vyakarana = Grammar, Chandas = Prosody, Nirukta = Etymology, Kalpa = Study of Rituals, Jyotishya = Astronomy Upa Vedas (supplementary Vedas) are largely secular in nature. Gandharva Veda = music, Shilpa Veda = sculpture, Ayur Veda = medicine, Dhanur Veda = archery or art of war Sutras (that guide people in various fields). Grihya Sutras deal with domestic rituals Shrauta Sutras deal with public rituals Sulha Sutras deal with science of altars Dharma Sutras deal with customary law and practices. 3. The Vedic Age of Early India Carrying with them a religious culture known today as Vedic,. This period in the development of Hinduism is referred to as the Vedic Period. During this period, the Vedas, the oldest scriptures of Hinduism, came into being. These Vedas were orally passed down from generation to generation within the Vedic period. 3.1. Time of Vedic Age and Evolution of Vedic Period The world of Vedic India is known largely through its religious texts; the Vedas, which gave the period its name. The Vedas recorded not only the religion of the Vedic people, but also details of their lives that give us a look at their culture and world view. Written down by the people between 1500 and 800 BCE these texts, composed and transmitted orally from as early as 6000 BCE, consist of hymns, spells, myths and rituals. 3.2. Time of Vedic age prediction by Planetary Placements Sky views in Rigveda There are 53 references in Rigveda as prayers offered to Aswinis at dawn. The description clearly points to the observation of the pair of stars in the Aries constellation (referred to as Aashvin or Asvini) just before sunrise as a ritual to mark the year beginning. Using Planetarium software, we find that the Winter Solstice occurred on 19 December, 7000 BC at 0735 hrs as shown in Figure 1. This is the earliest reference to Vedic calendar with year beginning at Winter Solstice, found in Rigveda (5-77-1/2; 1-46- 14; 7-69-3/2). Heliacal rising of Ashwini Nakshatra (Aries) can be seen to occur on 5th January, 7000 BC, marking the year beginning (Fig. 1) A thousand years later, Winter Solstice no longer occurred near Aries (Asvini) due to precession. As a result, Ashwinis were no longer rising heliacally as before. They were still below the horizon at sunrise around Winter Solstice time. The Winter Solstice had moved to Revati by 6000 BC. Thus the precession of Equinoxes and Solistices was being observed by Rigvedic Scholars. The Sky of 19th December, 6000 BC at sunrise on the Winter Solstice day shows that Ashvini gave way to bright star Chitra (α Vir) on opposite side (Western horizon). A full Moon in Chitra Nakshatra provided a new time marker in the sky and heralded the lunar month naming system-Chaitra, Vaisakha etc. (Rigveda: 5-74-1,2 and Tait Samh. 7-4-8). See Fig. 2 – 3.3. Antiquity of Vedas : Various scholars has different opinion about the time of Vedic period. Most of the western scholars believed that vedic age is around 5000-3000 years old. But some oriental researchers given as old as lakhs of years. Given below is the various views of scholars about the antiquity of Vedas and times lines given by them. Prof. Keith, Professor of Sanskrit, University of Edinburgh, Author of “A History of Sanskrit Literature” and several other books writes “The determination of the age of Samhitas will mostly remain a mere guesswork”. He also translated the following three books into English: The Aitareya Aranyaka (1909), The Veda of the Black Yajur School (Taittiriya Samhita), Rigveda Brahmanas: the Aitareya and Kausitaki Brahmanas of the Rigveda (1920) Prof. MacDonnell writes - “The date of composition of Suktas is only a conjecture” Arthur Antony MacDonnell (1854-1930)- MacDonnell edited various Sanskrit texts, wrote a grammar, compiled a dictionary, and published a Vedic grammar, a Vedic Reader, and a work on Vedic mythology He was a Borden Professor of Sanskrit. Kajki writes -“It is not possible to determine accurately the age of Rigveda, by linguistic or literary means”. Next we list various views of researchers on the age of Vedas, to see how varied they are. Maxmuller -Vedic age is between 1200 BC and 1500 BC Keith and MacDonnell - Vedic age is between 1200 BC and 2000 BC Whitney and others - Vedic age is before 2000BC Winternitz - Vedic age is between 2000 BC and 2500 BC Jacobi - Vedic age is between 3000 BC and 4000 BC Satyavrata Samashrami - Kasakritsna lived before 5000 years Balagangadhar Tilak - between 6000 BC and 10000 BC Sampoornananda - between 18000 BC and 30000 BC Pt.Krishna sastri Godbol - Vedic age is before 18000BC.