Part-1
The Vedic Culture and Vedas are complete in themselves but Hinduism which is non-Vedic belief system with all its ritual and conduct oriented practices has been contributed largely by the priests to suit their convenience!
The Vedic Culture and Vedas are complete in themselves but Hinduism which is non-Vedic belief system with all its ritual and conduct oriented practices has been contributed largely by the priests to suit their convenience!
Vedas are in Vedic language which was a high class language. Rig Veda (excluding chapters II and X) were written before the Christian Era in Vedic language. Vedic language is not Sanskrit. It is the same language in which the Zoroastrian Scripture Zend Avesta is written – a form of Persian language. All the other scriptures of India are written in Sanskrit. These include Rig Veda Chapter II and X and the Upanishads, Brahmanas, Puranas and the Vedantas. These were written during the Christian Era after the Thomas ministry. As the use of this language diminished, it became a tough language for the commoners. The priests, who were supposed to be expert of this language, translated it into Sanskrit language and manipulated the meanings in time and gradually, all the practices changed.
The DaVita, Vedanta borrows concept from Abrahamic religions, such as Eternal Damanation [of certain souls destined to hell forever] which goes against the belief of most Vedanta schools, which sate that soul attain liberation.
It looks like the creator creation theory is also borrowed from Abrahamic religion and on the base new belief system has been introduced giving it Vedic outlook and propagated all non-Vedic rituals and worships by someone in the past.
St. Thomas is said to have come to India to spread Christianity in the first century AD. It first spread among the people of the Malabar coast and in areas near present-day Madras.
There is a total discontinuity in the concept of God before and after the entry of St, Thomas. As we goes in deeper in to annals of religious history then we become aware of the fact that, the Vedic gods were personifications of Nature and their worship essentially sacrifices to these Natural Forces to appease them. All of a sudden by first century, we encounter Vedantas. Vedanta literally means “End of the Vedas,” though it is today interpreted as "the essence of Vedas."
Vedantas, which appeared as theological discourses, presents a supreme Godhead, “Para Brahman’. Such an idea was not even remotely conceivable in the Vedic context.
New Gods like Maheshwara and Vishnu appeared. The concept of Maheshwara. Vishnu means Sky or Heavens. Vishnu simply means God of the Heavenlies or one who pervades everything. Then we have the concept of incarnation – God taking flesh in human form to save humanity. All these suddenly appeared after the entry of St, Thomas.
This was also the time when most of the Vedic gods passed into oblivion. Their place was taken by the trinity of gods, with Brahma as the creator, Vishnu the preserver and Shiva the destroyer. It is believed that when evil is rampant, various incarnations of Vishnu enter the world of men to save them. Krishna is one such 'avatar'.
There are many contradictions, Brahma Vishnu and Maheshwar are the three main GODs but they are one. Brahma is the creator of this universe (Generator), Vishnu is responsible for the smooth conduct of the same (sustainer), & Maheshwar is Destroyer! But if you go and read Vishnu Purana, he is characterized as the supreme power.
Further, due to many caste and sub-caste prevailing in the society, some more rules and principles were added for the benefit of these priests. Can you imagine how would you get rid of the sin you committed by killing a cat? You will have to make a golden cat weighing equal to the dead cat and hand over this golden cat to the priest chanting for the purification of individual soul! Hinduism is different from Vedic religion.
Vedic religion was modified and reintroduced with new add-ons by Sri, Sankara a great Advith Master to uplift the Vedic culture and Santana Dharma [Hinduism], which were in ruins in the clutches of Buddhism. 18 puranas are introduced in the name of Veda Vyasa.
As one goes deeper in the annals of the history, it indicates the fact that somewhere someone has added the puranas in the name of Veda Vyasa the grand master of Vedas. It is impossible to accept and believe that Veda Vyasa authored and introduced puranas which has all conceptual gods because:-
In Vedas the God has been described as:-
Sakshi (Witness)
Chetan (conscious)
Nirguna (Without form and properties).
Nitya (eternal)
Shuddha (pure)
Buddha (omniscient)
Mukta (unattached).
It indicates clearly all the gods with form and attributes are mere imagination based on the false self. The ideas of conceptual gods are reality on the base of false self within the false experience. Thus all the belief systems are based on the false self. Thus their idea of god is mere belief based on their religious doctrine. In Adavita lord means Ataman and Ataman means Brahman.
If people who indulge god or guru glorification are not Advitins because they have accepted belief of god as true god and they forget the true god is Atman their true identity, which exists without the body and the experience of the world.
If God exists, as he does for religionists and yogis, and exists separately from them, then there is duality, which always implies contradiction. On ultimate point of view God is an mere belief or an idea, a thought, an object, therefore the self or witness, contradict God.
When there are two, one thought contradicts another for one thought comes at one moment, and the other at another moment, both moments contradict; one cannot say they are identical. He cannot find non-contradiction in this universe.
One the ultimate point of view the individualized God does not exist, because his existence implies that one is different from Him. Any kind of difference means contradiction. Nothing whatsoever other than the consciousness exists thus for non-dualists the consciousness itself is ultimate truth and ultimate truth is god. Non-duality means the negation of all thought.
Truth is not only that which is beyond contradiction, but also that in which is no possibility of contradiction. Such a state can only be realized as non-duality, where there is no second thing other than consciousness. The illustration for that is deep sleep but sleep is not the ultimate reality. It is merely an analogy.
Brihad Upanishad declares:-, "if you think there is another entity whether man or God there is no truth." This is the teaching since time immemorial of those who have inquired into truth.
Consciousness alone which is permanent and eternal, unchanging in the changing world is reality. People hear of Brahman or ultimate truth. People can only imagine it. One requires words only to distinguish between is there and not there, but he can’t posit either of Reality, because his saying so is only an idea, not reality. Ultimate truth is beyond words. Words are of use, however, as a thorn to pull out the thorn of other words that hinder knowledge.
Intellectually knowing the truth is only an imagination, whereas realizing the truth is knowing it as such.
Thus orthodoxy which misleads the seekers of truth, therefore seeker of truth has to verify the truth on his own by reason based on the consciousness as self then only accept the un-contradictable truth.
And also in Yajurved says:
Translation 1.
They enter darkness, those who worship natural things (for example air, water, sun, moon, animals, fire, stone, etc).
They sink deeper in darkness those who worship sambhuti. (Sambhuti means created things, for example table, chair, idol etc.)
[Yajurved 40:9]
Translation 2.
"Deep into shade of blinding gloom fall asambhuti's worshippers. They sink to darkness deeper yet who on sambhuti are intent."
[Yajurveda Samhita by Ralph T. H. Giffith pg 538]
Translation 3.
"They are enveloped in darkness, in other words, are steeped in ignorance and sunk in the greatest depths of misery who worship the uncreated, eternal prakrti -- the material cause of the world -- in place of the All-pervading God, But those who worship visible things born of the prakrti, such as the earth, trees, bodies (human and the like) in place of God are enveloped in still greater darkness, in other words, they are extremely foolish, fall into an awful hell of pain and sorrow, and suffer terribly for a long time."
[Yajur Veda 40:9.]
So, Yajur Veda indicates that:-
They sink deeper in darkness those who worship sambhuti. (Sambhuti means created things, for example table, chair, idol etc [Yajurved 40:9]
Those who worship visible things born of the prakrti, such as the earth, trees, bodies (human and the like) in place of God are enveloped in still greater darkness, in other words, they are extremely foolish, fall into an awful hell of pain and sorrow, and suffer terribly for a long time."[Yajur Veda 40:9.]
When Yajur Veda declares that they are extremely foolish, fall into an awful hell of pain and sorrow, and suffer terribly for a long time."
When the religion of the Veda knows no idols then why so many gods and goddesses with different form and name are being propagated as Vedic gods. Why these conceptual gods are introduced when Vedic concept of god is free from form and attributes.
Who introduced concept of god with attributes and attributeless gods, when Yajur Veda says: - those who worship visible things, born of the prakrti, such as the earth, trees, bodies (human and the like), in place of God are enveloped in still greater darkness. Therefore, all these add-ons proves that the form and attribute based concepts are introduced by some sages of the past with new belief system and code of conducts in the name of Vedas.
Sruti is made the final or exclusive authority in apara Vidya and that for supporting the tenet of the CAUSAL relation or creatorship of Brahman, Nirguna Brahman = the "Absolute beyond qualities," which can be defined only in a negative way. For the Shankarian school = the Ultimate Reality, higher than the Lord. i.e. of Saguna or apara Brahman ... The support of Scriptural Revelation is, therefore, absolutely necessary for this hypothesis of cosmology, this Saguna or apara (= inferior) Brahman, but not for the absolute truth of Nirguna Brahman.
The Sruti itself says: "This Atma is NOT to be attained by a study of the Vedas. [Katha Upanishad I, 2, 23.]
Therefore, all the non- Vedic add-ons and attribute based knowledge, which are inferior, have to be bifurcated and excluded to know the ultimate truth. The seeker of truth has to drop all the inferior knowledge based on the attributes and go beyond Vedas to understand assimilate and realize the ultimate truth or Brahman.
continued - part -2
continued - part -2
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