Monday, 17 June 2019

Why is there a contradiction in Vedic literature and many Puranic literature?

The answer to the question will be somewhat complex in nature and as far as I understood, any answer would be mere conjecture, as the time periods of Rig Veda to brAhmanAs to Puranas are not known for sure and literature related to that period is either scanty or NIL.

1) Everything started with Rig Veda.

Rig Veda, containing deep SPIRITUAL ideas, is the source in Sanatana Dharma aka Hinduism for

  • other 3 Vedas
  • all subsequent philosophical theories, viz, dvaita, advaita, etc, that can be found in brAhmanAs/upanishads, and
  • elaborate iconographic ideas, rituals that can be found in Atharva Veda/Puranas
  • Ramayana and Mahabharata are not taken into consideration, as they are considered as IthihasAs

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2) As mentioned above, Rig Veda contains deep SPIRITUAL ideas, given to all Human Beings by the Sages like Vasistha, Visvamitra, vAmadeva, atri, bharadwaja, etc, in their state of DIVINE ecstasy.

The DIVINE ecstasy can be understood, if one reads the narrations of ecstasy experienced by Shri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Shri Sarada Devi, Shri Anandamayi Ma, Shri Ramana Maharshi, etc., available in their Biographies made available by their respective disciples.

As the DIVINE ecstasy is an ABSTRACT thing, those narrations on ecstasy will be somewhat cryptic or un-understandable even to the people with high intelligence, as those can only be EXPERIENCED but cannot be explained in words.

The all pervading ENERGY or GOD was eulogised with different epithets like AGNI, INDRA, VISHNU, VARUNA, etc.

Rig Veda 1.164.46

indram mitraṃ varuṇam agnim āhur atho divyaḥ sa suparṇo garutmān |

ekaṃ sad viprā bahudhā vadanty agniṃ yamam mātariśvānam āhuḥ ||

English translation:

“They have styled (him, the Sun), Indra, Mitra, Varuṇa, Agni, and he is the celestial, well-winged Garutmat, for learned priests call one by many names as they speak of Agni, Yama, Mātariśvan.”

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3) With the passage of time, the inner meanings of those ABSTRACT SPIRITUAL ideas of the seers of Rig Veda could not understood by the people in subsequent generations, though the outer meanings of the words used in Rig Veda are known to them. In still subsequent periods, even the outer meanings of some of the words were lost, as they no longer used.

For example, Shri Aurobindo gave a different perspective to the word ॠत्विजम् in this first mantra of Rig Veda.

Agnimīḷe purohitam yajṇ̃asya devamṛtvijam, hotāram ratnadhātamam.

ॠत्विजम् (ṛtvijam)

This word is taken in the ceremonial interpretation of the Veda in the later sense of Ritwik, a sacrificial priest, and it is explained by separating as ऋतु+ इज् (ṛtu+ ij), one who sacrifices seasonably.

In reality, ॠत्विज् (ṛtvij) is a very old word compounded in ancient Sanskrit before the creation of the modern rules of Sandhi, and is composed of ऋत् (ṛt), truth, and विज् (vij), ecstasy or ecstatic. It means one who has the ecstasy of the truth or सत्यम् (satyam).

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4) With the limited understanding the original ideas of Rig Veda, the learned People belonging to the time period 1500 BCE composed brAhmanAs, viz., Aitareya Brahmana, Shatapatha Brahmana, etc, with a view to record their understanding, for the benefit of subsequent generations.

The central idea of brAhmanAs is the formless entity called brAhman, which is the source of everything in the world.

Similar attempt was made while composing Bṛhaddevatā, Nirukta, to record the meanings of the words used in Rig Veda. However, as the understanding calibre of the composers of the meanings of the words used in Rig Veda is limited to intellectual level only, but not to the level of SPIRITUAL.

Hence, they recorded whatever meanings they were aware of at that point of time.

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5) Around this time, Gautama, the Buddha took birth, and attained the SPIRITUAL state that ancient rishis of Rig Veda reached. He shook the Brahmins of the then society with his ideas of SPIRITUALITY. Actually, those ideas are not different from that of those available in the Rig Veda, but were not known to the Brahmins of the then society.

So they misunderstood Gautama, the Buddha. The general perception of Gautama, the Buddha is that he was an ATHEIST and against the Veda.

However, a reading of SUTTAs compiled by his disciples, especially Tevijja Sutta: The Threefold Knowledge, gives a different perception. In fact, Buddha praises the earliest Sages, who composed the mantras of the Rig Veda and their detachment.

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12. ‘But, Vāseṭṭha, is there then a single one of these Brahmins learned in the Three Vedas who has seen Brahmā face to face?’

‘No, Reverend Gotama.’

‘Then has the teacher’s teacher of any one of them seen Brahmā face to face?’

‘No, Reverend Gotama.’

‘Then has the ancestor seven generations back of the teacher of one of them seen Brahmā face to face?’

‘No, Reverend Gotama.’

13. ‘Well then, Vaseṭṭha, what about the early sages of those Brahmins learned in the Three Vedas, the makers of the mantras, the expounders of the mantras, whose ancient verses are chanted, pronounced and collected by the Brahmins of today, and sung and spoken about — such as Atthaka, Vāmaka, Vāmadeva, Vessāmitta, Yamataggi, Angirasa, Bhāradvāja, Vāsettha, Kassapa, Bhagu - did they ever say: “We know and see when, how and where Brahmā appears”?’

‘No, Reverend Gotama.’

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Buddha reiterates the importance of following a Ariyan (Aryan) disciplined life - getting rid of five strands of sense-desire are called bonds and fetters , for detachment. He denounced the wrong way of living of the then Brahmins.

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26. ‘Vasettha, it is just as if this River Aciravati were brimful of water so that a crow could drink out of it, and a man should come wishing to cross over,... but he was bound and pinioned on this side by a strong chain, with his hands behind his back. What do you think, Vasettha? Would that man be able to get to the other side?’

‘No, Reverend Gotama.’

27. ‘In just the same way, Vasettha, in the Ariyan discipline these five strands of sense-desire are called bonds and fetters. Which five? Forms seen by the eye which are agreeable, loved, charming, attractive, pleasurable, arousing desire; sounds heard by the ear... ; smells smelt by the nose ... ; tastes savoured by the tongue...; contacts felt by the body which are agreeable,... arousing desire. These five in the Ariyan discipline are called bonds and fetters. And, Vasettha, those Brahmins learned in the Three Vedas are enslaved, infatuated by these five strands of sense-desire, which they enjoy guiltily, unaware of danger, knowing no way out.

28. ‘But that such Brahmins learned in the Three Vedas, who persistently neglect what a Brahmin should do,... who are enslaved by these five strands of sense-desire, ... knowing no way out, should attain after death, at the breaking-up of the body, to union with Brahmā — that is just not possible.

6) After the death of Gautama, the Buddha, it appears no other disciple of Gautama’s calibre lead the followers of Buddhism in a proper way. Hence, slowly many practices, rituals, iconographic ideas, etc, which were not available in original Gautama’s preachings, crept into Buddhism.

It is also possible that many practices, rituals, iconographic ideas, etc, had been exchanged between the then followers of Buddhism and Hinduism. Hence, each cult developed their own rituals, practices, idols, temples for worshipping.

7) After observing the degradation in the society, Shri Adi Shankara was forced to held arguments at length with various scholars of his time for bringing back many of them in to the fold of SANAATANA DHARMA and purging of Buddhism from India.

However, due to his shorter life span, he could not rejuvenate the Rig vedic concepts to original place. Perhaps, due to this vaccum created by his departure, the 6 methods of worship, writing of Puranas, etc, were taken place.

8) As the common man of any cult was not aware of higher SPIRITUAL ideas, they simply followed whatever rituals, texts, etc , prescribed by the then heads of religious institutions.

9) With the little understanding of the original ideas of Rig Veda, wherein the all pervading ENERGY or GOD was eulogised with different epithets like AGNI, INDRA, VISHNU, VARUNA, etc., the brAhmins of the then society created new deities from out of the various epithets, viz., INDRA, VISHNU, RUDRA, VARUNA, AGNI, SARASWATI, etc, of the same DIVINITY/GOD.

And, the brAhmins of the then society of different DIETIES, viz., RUDRA/SHIVA, VISHNU, DEVI/SHAKTI, etc,  their own customs, composed their own prayers, own Puranas, elevating the status of developedtheir own deity, ie., RUDRA/SHIVA or VISHNU or DEVI/SHAKTI as the SUPREME GOD HEAD of the Universe, and demeaning/degrading the status of other dieties, viz., Indra, BRAHMA, VARUNA, AGNI, etc, by attributing various vices to those deities, which stories were not found in RIG VEDA.

10) The composition of the various Puranas was attributed to the Sage Vyasa, only to get authentication of their works. Thus, various Puranas were composed by the learned brahmins of that generation.

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