WHAT ARE THE VEDAS? Part 3: The Origin of the Vedas
spirituality·@upendranath·
0.000 HBDWHAT ARE THE VEDAS? Part 3: The Origin of the Vedas
<html> <p> The Vedas shine light on Sri Krishna.</p> <p>The Brhad-aranyaka Upanisad (2.4.10) informs us, </p> <p><em><strong>"The Rg Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama Veda, Atharva Veda, and Itihasas [histories like the Mahabharata and Puranas] are all breathed out by the Absolute Truth. </strong></em> <em><strong>Just as one's breath comes easily, these arise from the Supreme Brahman without any effort on His part." </strong></em> </p> <p>According to the Vedic tradition, the Vedas are absolute and self-authoritative. They depend on nothing but themselves for explanation. This very principle comes from the mouth of Sri Krishna in Bhagavad-gita (3.15):</p> <p> <em><strong>"The Vedas are directly manifested from the infallible Supreme Personality of Godhead." </strong></em> </p> <p>The commentator Sridhara Swami (Bhavarthadipika 6.1.40) points out that the Vedas are supremely authoritative because they arise from Lord Krishna Himself. Jiva Gosvami notes that the Vedic scripture Madhyandina-sruti attributes all the Vedas (Sama, Atharva, Rg and Yajur), as well as the Puranas and Itihasas, to the breathing of the Supreme Being. Finally, the Atharva Veda states that Krishna, who in the beginning instructed Brahma, disseminated Vedic knowledge in the past. Thus, as we have seen, the Vedic scriptures delineate their own origin. The scriptures describe themselves as apauruseya, meaning that they do not come from any materially conditioned person but from the Supreme (a source transcendental to mundane duality). Vedic knowledge was imparted to Brahma at the dawn of creation. Brahma then instructed Narada, whose realizations appear throughout Vedic literature. Vedic knowledge is considered eternal, but because the material cosmos is constantly in flux, Vedic teachings constantly need reassertion. Although the material cosmos is also considered eternal, it goes through stages of creation, maintenance, and annihilation. Formerly the Vedas came down by word of mouth, but later the sage Vyasadeva compiled all the Vedic sastras in written form around 5,000 years ago. In a separate part we shall examine Srila Vyasadeva's role and the history of the compilation of the Vedas. We shall also consider how scholars try to understand the origins and history of the Vedic literature through the empiric method. </p> <p><strong>Continued in Part 4. The Vedic Process of Learning </strong></p> <p><br></p> </html>