An appeal
Vedas are said to be the basis of Hinduism and Brahmins their protectors. Everyone accords very high regard for them, but, what do the Vedas say, very few know. Everybody has his/her own interpretation of the scriptures.
Formerly people were saying that Sati was a custom sanctioned by the Vedas. But Raja Ram Mohan Roy pooh-poohed them. Then, untouchability was prescribed in the Vedas, they said. Gandhiji proved them wrong. What exactly do Vedas say?
Again there is the problem of defining which books are Vedas. The Vaidikas consider all parts of Vedas, Samhita, Brahmanam, Aranyakam and Upanishad as integral and born of the God at the same time. But historians say that Samhitas were the first and others followed later in the order given above. While Vivekananda laid great stress on the Gnana Kanda or Upanishads, our Acharyas say that the Karma Kanda, (consisting of the first three) is more valuable. They include the smritis and the grihya sutras also as part of the Vedas. Ramanuja held the Puranas also equally holy.
Aurobindo and following him, Bharathi say that Samhitas were the only inspired verses and they are the true Vedas. (Bharathi derides the பொய்மை வேதங்கள் and wants us to bring out the glory of the true Vedas.) Whenever there is disagreement between the various books, the Vedas are regarded as the supreme authority. Within the Vedic literature the Samhitas are said to be the most authoritative.
While the Upanishads are relatively easy to understand, the Samhitas which are the original and inspired verses are covered by a thick veil of symbolism. English translations available in the internet are enigmatic. For example see the translation of Rig 10th Mandala 190th Sookta by Griffith, quoted in my yesterday’s posting. The translations of Dayananda Saraswathi of Arya Samaj and Aurobindo are not objective, I feel.
As far as I know there is only one Tamil translation of the Samhitas, by Sri M.R.Jambunathan written in the early 20th century. Alaigal Veliyeettagam of Chennai has republished it in recent years along with the English version by Griffith/Keith. The way they have edited makes one feel that their intention is to denigrate Hinduism, though it was not the intention of the authors. The Tamil version is equally enigmatic.
Are the Samhitas nothing but babble? If so, they could not have survived so long. There are people who swear that the vibration caused by reciting the Vedas is the only important thing and the meaning should not be gone into. But our Mahaswami does not prevent us from knowing the meaning, He says that the Vedas have meaning is an additional glory for them, like a golden flower having fragrance. First learn the text by heart and then go for the meaning.
Those who study the Vedas are content with the recitation of the text only and only very few go into the meaning and still fewer would explain them to the public.
In my young days I had no opportunity to do ‘adhyayanam’. Now I am old and can not memorize anything. I want to know the meaning of the original inspired verses and make it known to all through a book or a forum like this one, in simple language. But I can not find a book, a teacher or a place where I can get it easily. So I decided to do it myself, like Ekalavya. The postings in this thread are the result of my own findings.
I do not claim that my interpretation is the only possible one.
If a group of people study it together they could get different ideas and after discussion the best one can be selected. So I want young companions (ladies and non-brahmins included) with interest in the Vedas, attitude for hard research work, knowledge of Sanskrit, Tamil, English (at least any two of them) to study the existing translations of the Vedas, find the hidden meaning and publish it in English and Tamil for the benefit of all. Seniors are also welcome. Sri Saidevo has shown us a great treasure and it can be exploited.
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