WHAT ARE THE VEDAS? Part 2: The Purpose of the Vedic Literature
spirituality·@upendranath·
0.000 HBDWHAT ARE THE VEDAS? Part 2: The Purpose of the Vedic Literature
<html> <p></p> <p>As its main purpose, the Vedic literature imparts knowledge of self-realization and, therefore, liberation (moksa) from suffering. Generally, scholars agree that the goal of Vedic thought is to attain the truth, the recognition of which leads to freedom. Every Vedic system seeks truth, not as academic, knowledge for its own sake, but to learn the truth which shall make all men free. Indeed, Vedic thought strives not for information but for transformation. Bhagavad-gita describes knowledge as accepting the importance of self-realization, and philosophical search for the Absolute Truth. Yet if people think they are progressing on the path of material happiness, they will not seek to transform themselves. Hence, another important realization; <em><strong>"perception of the evil of birth, death, old age, and disease" </strong></em>(Bhagavad-gita 13.9). Uncompromisingly, the Vedic literature asserts that despite its apparent joys, material life means suffering. Vedic knowledge purports to free the sincere inquirer from that suffering. According to Bhagavad-gita (Bg. 8.16), <em><strong>"From the highest planet in the material world down to the lowest, all are places of misery wherein repeated birth and death take place." </strong></em> Apart from the repeated miseries of birth, old age, disease, and death, the Vedic writings describe another threefold set of miseries: miseries arising from the body itself, miseries inflicted by other living entities, and miseries arising from natural disturbances (such as severe cold, heat, flood, earthquake, or drought). Vedic teachers argue that even if these latter miseries were absent, no one could find happiness in the material world-the forces of time and death force everyone to leave his position. Indeed, the Sanskrit description of the earth is Mrtyuloka, place of death. It is also duhkhalayam (a place of miseries) and asasvatam (temporary) (Bg. 8.15). On hearing this sweeping analysis of life in the material world, Albert Schweitzer termed the Vedic philosophy "world- and life-negation." Others have stated that the Vedas teach pessimism and fatalistic resignation. But when we view the Vedas closely, we can discern that they teach quite the opposite; they propose that the purpose of human life is not to resign oneself to a temporary and miserable world, but to strive for permanent happiness. For people who follow the Vedic formula, life means an opportunity to attain victory over death. In the Vedic conception, a person negates life precisely when he identifies the illusory body with the self and considers the temporary world to be all-in-all. Such a person misses the opportunity afforded a human being-the opportunity to inquire about the Supreme. The first verse of the Vedanta-sutra is both a declaration and an invitation to everyone: <em><strong>"Now, therefore, let us inquire into the Absolute Truth."</strong></em> The Vedas urge that people take to the path of liberation. In one Bengali devotional song we find, <em><strong>"Lord Gauranga is calling, 'Wake up, sleeping souls! How long will you sleep on the lap of the witch called Maya [material illusion]?' " </strong></em> The Vedas describe liberation as a special prerogative granted to human beings and not to the lower species. For this reason the human body is compared to a boat by which one can cross the ocean of transmigration. A good Vedic instructor who has learned the Vedas is like a competent captain, and the Vedic hymns are like favorable breezes. If a person doesn't cross the ocean and attain eternal liberation, he is considered unintelligent, for Vedic philosophy denies the importance of any knowledge that does not lead to the cessation of suffering. The Garga Upanisad advises, <em><strong>"He is a miserly man who does not solve the problems of life as a human and who quits the world like a cat or a dog, not understanding the science of self-realization."</strong></em> </p> <p>Continued in Part 3 The Origin of the Vedas .</p> </html>