SeekTruth: Dear Swami ji, I have few questions and doubts about Vedas and following Vedic philosophy…
• No surety of understanding of Vedas as per Rishis who got it? I mean how do we be assure that Current Vedas are the original scriptures which is not corrupted / words are not added / substracted? Also how do we be sure that the interpretation is correct because I see different scholars giving different interpretation and I believe God’s message should not contradict with itself.
• Knowledge of Vedas was and is not known to common majority and those who were in-charge of it can corrupt if for self benefits. It puts a genuine doubt of Vedas remaining in authentic and correct form.
• Lots of riddles and symbolic interpretation leading to drastic difference between the scholars of same Vedas. How do we explain that?
Also if you can explain me about Law of Karma, Origin of mankind, accountability of deeds and your views about Islam as a religion while it links and asks to worship about One God alone, consider entire mankind as brethren, commands to do good things and abstain from bad things and ALSO gives surety of preservation of scripture and understanding in recorded history.
Please don’t take me wrong, I am just trying to search the truth…It will be better if you can guide me. SeekTruth
Swami Ram Swarup: In this regard, I paste one of my answers-
Could Vedas too have been corrupted by wrong insertions?
Actually Manusmriti, Ramayana, Geeta and Bhagwadgeeta etc, were not condemned by the arrogant they tried to add false shlokas to change the real meaning only. Whereas directly or indirectly, the arrogant tried to spread a fear regarding Vedas that Vedas are difficult/hard and must not be studied. So they did not touch the Vedas.
Secondly, when the propaganda was being made against the Vedas, many learned of Vedas were alive and could oppose but the learned were not much interested to study other holy books except Vedas, as Vedas are complete knowledge.
Thirdly, the language of the Vedas was typical for them being divine Sanskrit language and not man-made. So less than a complete Yogi is not able to make any change in Vedic eternal mantras because first mantras will have to be learnt for which Sanskrit knowledge was to be gained which was a typical job for arrogant. You see, even at present no false prophet or arrogant has tried to change the idea of Ved mantras, yet they are creating fear that Vedas are not needed to be studied. However, Maxmuller and other persons still tried to change the real meaning of Ved mantras but those people did not dare to add any Ved mantra etc.
You will see that at one place, a truth is seen in the above Manusmriti shlokas etc., and thereafter the false shlokas added therein, contradict the truth but as far as Vedas are concerned, still the truth begins right from the beginning till end. There is no contradiction. So no false mantras are added in eternal knowledge of Vedas which emanates direct from God. In India, there are so many learned Brahmins who have the knowledge of all Ved mantras by heart and any change if made, which is even impossible, being divine Sanskrit language, they will come forward against it.
Vedas, are still originated in the heart of a Yogi as I have already stated giving the proof of Kapil muni’s Sankhya sutras 5/48 to 51 and Atharvaveda mantra 4/30/3 wherein it is clearly stated that the mantras are now also originated in the heart of a Ashtang yogi but on the contrary, Manusmriti or any other granth written by Rishi is never originated in the heart of a yogi or anybody else. So in the said holy granths comparison of false or true shlokas is mostly not possible.
As you know, at the time of final destruction of universe, all the granths including the true granths will be no more and the printed copies of the Vedas will also be destroyed. But as per the rules of the God vide Yajurveda 31/7 and Shwetashvaropnishad 6/8 eternal knowledge of the Vedas will automatically be originated in the heart of four rishis.
Vedas are eternal knowledge which emanate direct from God and originate in the heart of four rishis. The knowledge of four Vedas was traditionally memorized by heart and this process right from Satyug is still in vogue. Before 5,300 years Vyas muni also heard the Vedas from his Acharya and memorized them. He then for the first time decided to write Vedas on Bhojpatra. Vedas are in divine Sanskrit which is easy to understand under the guidance of Acharya. Those who say that Vedas language is hard and difficult to understand, if Vedas are uttered with wrong pronunciation, it shall be harmful, all these statements are false. You know, on one hand, such gurus tell that Bhakti can be done by an ignorant and sinner also then why can’t the Vedas be listened by all public (men or women) from learned acharya? Actually Vedas themselves tell that everyone is entitled to listen and get the knowledge of Vedas for a long, happy life. Mostly such gurus cram up
number of Sanskrit shlokas etc., and orate before innocent public just to impress them or to show themselves off that they (so called gurus) are learned of Vedas etc., and surprisingly they utter at the same moment that Vedas are difficult. They say: do not do Yajyen otherwise you will be sinful etc. If people can listen to their Sanskrit shlokas without knowing the meaning thereof then why cannot people listen to Vedas and do Yajyen under guidance of learned Acharya? Listening is not difficult. To study Vedas can sometimes be considered difficult but listening of Vedas from an Acharya cannot be stated to be difficult. An Acharya will explain the Ved mantras in simple Hindi or English. So how can Vedas’ be told to be difficult? Public must be alert and listen to Vedas. Otherwise so called gurus will be telling them the wrong meaning of Ved mantras, etc.
If you would study the six shastras, upnishads, valmiki ramayan, Mahabharat’s original script containing only 10,000 original shlokas and other ancient holy books like Shatpath Brahmin Granth , all written by ancient Rishis, then you would realise that their comments are same regarding Vedas and Almighty God because they did hard practice of Ashtang Yoga Philosophy, used to perform daily hawan, yajyen and do name jaap of God. They realized God within heart. So, their statement always remains true. In Shatpath Brahmin Granth, Yagvalkya muni states that Rishis always speak truth but man tells lie. So, the statements which do not tally/ which contradict each other, cannot be of Rishis.
Nowadays, a critical situation has arisen that either saints will not gather on one stage or will sit with differences in mind. They try to prove their path as the best but in ancient times, every Rishis used to respect others because they had just one path of Vedas to follow and adopt its preach in life. Whereas, nowadays, mostly several saints do not study Vedas fully but take cut piece of ved mantras to prove some parts concerning their path. Whereas Vedas do not accept their wrong statements and wrong interpretations of Vedas. Yes, you are right. knowledge of Vedas is not known to public and even knowledge of Vedas as per Vedas and Rishis is also not known to false saints but they enforce wrong meanings of Ved mantras to public and public being innocent accept their false views and hence the problem.
All Vedas, like Yajurveda mantra 40/13 and Atharvaveda mantra 7/2/1 state that Vedas should only be listened from a Rishi/Muni who had practised Ashtang Yoga philosophy, has full control over his senses, perceptions and mind and is full philosopher of Vedas otherwise, do not listen Vedas from any other person. As regards Karma, I paste my article please-
Three types of Deeds
There are three types of deeds (karmas) – sanchit, prarabhadh and kriyamann. Suppose one soul has to take birth (body). It means he has to face total number of deeds of his all previous lives and these deeds are called sanchit karmas but sanchit deeds are huge/unlimited and cannot be faced in one life. So the karmas which can be faced in one life are called prarabhadh (luck-destiny). So God has not made our luck at His own but Almighty God has taken the deeds which we have already done.
Yajurveda mantra 7/48 clarifies that human being is free to do any deed good or bad but God only awards the result. Now the balance deeds from sanchit deeds will be counted in the next life. Now the deeds which we do in our day today present life are called kriyamann.
If we do pious deeds according to Vedas, shastras and holy books and based on pious preaches of Rishi, Muni/learned saints then our all sanchit deeds are burnt and we can get salvation. Human beings are free in the matter of doing deeds good or bad. But result will be awarded by God. So we must worship and do pious deeds under guidance of a learned Guru. One should go always ahead for hard working, pious deeds, worship to make future bright himself. One should always work hard towards a right path.
Worship does not mean that we are free to discharge only our family duties, education, etc., but rather it is a sin. We have to get progress in both way at a time i.e., spiritualism and worldly progress i.e., science, education, duties towards family etc. God creates the universe according to His eternal law framed in Vedas which are always unchangeable and unchallengeable. So we have to follow the law of God always to get long happy life.
As regards origin, I paste my article-
Non-Sexual creation means when a child does not take birth from mother and father. Why? Because after final destruction of universe, the universe is destroyed. This is mentioned in every ved like Rigveda Mandal 10 sukta 129. You see, after final destruction, sun, moon, stars, bodies of living beings, mountains, rivers, seas, food grains etc., all are destroyed. Therefore neither death nor birth takes place. After expiry of the time of final destruction, power of god acts in non-alive prakriti and the process of creation starts. There remains only alive, Almighty God, who does not need any matter like air, water, food etc., to survive. You see when man or woman were not there in the beginning of creation, then by the power of Almighty God only non-alive statues of all living beings are made. Then, by the power of Almighty God, in those statues, breathing system is provided, souls according to their deeds enter in respective statues like man-woman,
animals, birds, insects etc., and still statues do not work. Then, Almighty God enters the universe and entire functioning begins. The creation does not take birth from mother and father, that is why it is called non-sexual creation. As per Atharvaveda mantra 7/2/1, the non-sexual creation is brought into existence in young age. If the creation had begun with children then nobody could nurse them. And if it had old people only then pregnancy was not possible. In this connection my article on creation is also pasted.
CREATION
The creation is eternal and automatic. There is no date of creation of the following:
(A) Almighty God who is alive, immortal, formless, creates, nurses and destroys the universe. He never indulges in any maya, mahamaya, illusion and deeds (good or bad. Yajurveda Mantra 40/8 and Yog shastra Sutra 1/26 also refer)
(B) Soul: Soul is alive, the purest, away from sins etc. but illusion covers the soul due to which soul forgets his original form and hence remains in sorrows, problems etc.
C) Prakriti: Non-alive and has three qualities. i.e., Raj, tam, Satva. At a proper time, the power of God acts in prakriti and the universe is created. So the creation is eternal and automatic.
Raj, Tam and Satva are the three qualities of prakriti. When the said gunnas remain idle dormant i.e., do not work, then combination of these three gunnas (qualities) in dormant stage is called prakriti and this time is called “final destruction” of the universe. When an appropriate time comes, the creation is to be started again. Then the power of God works in the above three gunnas i.e., in the prakriti and immediately the creation starts. Rajo gunn is a sign of sensuousness etc., Tamo gunn signifies laziness and sato gunn signifies ego, pride. Our human body is also made of the said three gunnas.
Vedas tell that there are three eternal/immortal matters- first: Almighty God, second: souls, third: prakriti. Almighty God creates, nurses and destroys the universe and again creates it. The said process of creation is eternal/immortal/everlasting. Almighty God creates the universe from prakriti. When the raj, tam and satva gunnas of prakriti remain idle (dormant condition/inactive) then creation does not take place. At an appropriate time, a power of Almighty God acts in prakriti (i.e., in Raj, tam and satva gunnas). Immediately the process of creation starts and the first matter of prakriti is made which is called –Mahat i.e., mind; from Mahat- ahankar is made, from ahankar panch (5) tan matrayein, from panch (5) tanmatrayein, panch (5) mahabhoot are created. From panch mahabhoot, the entire matter of universe i.e., Sun, Moon air, water, our bodies, bodies of other living beings etc., are created. The whole creation is thus created from prakriti and
remains still (in active) like a statue. This creation is called non-sexual creation. In the said creation, the young human bodies are created which are neither old nor babies. Then by the power of God, in the said bodies, breathing system (prann vayu) starts operating. At last, God enters into the universe and immediately all the humans and other living beings become alive and start functioning. Similarly, the non-alive matters like Sun, moon, earth, air, water etc., start their respective functions.
Creation, Science, worldly matters etc., is not possible until the same is created by someone. Secondly, knowledge is attained when knowledge is imparted by someone.
Rigveda mantra 10/129/ 1-6 throw light about creation that at that time, there was nothing and no living beings did exist. So there was no learned acharya who could give the knowledge to the newly created living beings like parents who educate the children to make them able to speak language and to know about the matters like crow, animals, chapati, ghee, sun, moon i.e., all matters of the world. See, if a newly born baby is managed to live in dense jungle and nursed well but he is not given education about the worldly matters etc. i.e., mathematics, science, animals, sun, moon etc., then even at the young age of 20-25, 30 years, he will not be able to speak any language and when he will be brought out of the cave of dense jungle and will be asked about the sun, moon, animals, birds before him, then he will not be able to reply because he was not given the said knowledge.
When we see towards sun, moon, air, space, human body etc. It is clearly understood that the said creation has not been made by any human being but Almighty God, from whom the knowledge of four Vedas emanates. In Vedas, the knowledge right from straw to Brahma has been mentioned. So in the beginning of non-sexual earth, the Vedas originated in the heart of four rishis: Agni, Vaayu, Aditya and Angira, and from the rishis the knowledge of science, deeds and worship along with every matter is being given to the public by which the public became educated scientist and wrote books, etc.
In Vedas as well as in fourth chapter of Yog Shastras of Rishi Patanjali, it is mentioned that those who do not believe in God are provided more and more facilities by nature and such people get spoiled etc.
On the contrary those who worship God, they naturally try to kill their desires and accordingly under the law, nature, help them to follow the true path to realize the God.
It is also pertinent to mention here that in Vedas, there is no mention of avtarwad or any proper noun, please. Vedas do not even contain any story or past, present or future life of anyone. Vedas contain knowledge i.e., entire science, form of deeds/duties and worship of God. Actually Vedas give knowledge right from straw to Brahma (God) of entire universe.
Teachings of Islam religion and other religions as well are good if teachings are adopted in daily routine life. Teachings will have to be understood correctly and their meaning should not be present man-made. Otherwise, teachings will be of no use if we do not follow in daily routine life. Mere study of any religious book (but not adopting their teachings in real life) may make a person fundamentalist.
Shashikant Pandey: Swamiji pranaam, how could one person realise his/her aim of life according to almighty God?
Swami Ram Swarup: My blessings to you. According to Almighty God, a person can attain the motto of his/her life by following and adopting the preach of Vedas. Why? Because the knowledge of Vedas emanates direct from God in the beginning of creation. The God is purest that is why Samveda mantra 350 states that ved mantras are also the purest. Therefore, all Vedas state that we must worship the purest God with purest mantras. In the Vedas, there are three educations- knowledge (science etc), form of deeds (pious), worship (the eternal and everlasting true path of worship). We have to know all the said three educations to attain the motto of life. Yajurveda mantra 40/14 tells that while doing all the pious deed/moral duties and simultaneously while doing worship of God, we have to attain salvation which is the motto of life.
