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Teachings of the Vedas (Part 3 of 3)
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To: alt-hindu@cis.ohio-state.edu
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Subject: Teachings of the Vedas (Part 3 of 3)
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From: susarla@rice.edu (H. Krishna Susarla)
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Date: 20 Jan 1995 23:04:19 GMT
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From news@larry.rice.edu Fri Jan 20 17: 51:49 1995
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Newsgroups: alt.hindu
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Organization: Rice University, Houston, Texas
Teachings of the Vedas (Part 3 of 3)
>From the book "Sri Isopanisad"
By His Divine Grace A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
(c) The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International
Used with permission
(Delivered as a lecture by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
Prabhupada on October 6, 1969, at Conway Hall, London, England.)
Originally there was only one Veda, and there was no necessity of reading
it. People were so intelligent and had such sharp memories that by once
hearing from the lips of the spiritual master they would understand. They
would immediately grasp the whole purport. But five thousand years ago
Vyasadeva put the Vedas in writing for the people in this age, Kali yuga. He
knew that eventually the people would be short-lived, their memories
would be very poor, and their intelligence would not be very sharp.
"Therefore, let me teach this Vedic knowledge in writing." He divided the
Vedas into four: Rg, Sama, Atharva and Yajur. Then he gave the charge of
these Vedas to his different disciples. He then thought of the less
intelligent class of men-stri, sudra and dvija-bandhu. He considered the
woman class and sudra class (worker class) and dvija-bandhu.
Dvija-bandhu refers to those who are born in a high family but who are
not properly qualified. A man who is born in the family of a brahmana but
is not qualified as a brahmana is called dvija-bandhu. For these persons
he compiled the Mahabharata, called the history of India, and the eighteen
Puranas. These are all part of the Vedic literature: the Puranas, the
Mahabharata, the four Vedas and the Upanisads. The Upanisads are part of
the Vedas. Then Vyasadeva summarized all Vedic knowledge for scholars
and philosophers in what is called the Vedanta-sutra. This is the last word
of the Vedas.
Vyasadeva personally wrote the Vedanta-sutra under the instructions of
Narada, his Guru Maharaja (spiritual master), but still he was not satisfied.
That is a long story, described in Srimad Bhagavatam. Vedavyasa was not
very satisfied even after compiling many Puranas and Upanisads, and even
after writing the Vedanta-sutra. Then his spiritual master, Narada,
instructed him, "You explain the Vedanta sutra." Vedanta means "ultimate
knowledge," and the ultimate knowledge is Krsna. Krsna says that
throughout all the Vedas one has to understand Him: vedanta-krd
veda-vid eva caham. Krsna says, "I am the compiler of the Vedanta-sutra,
and I am the knower of the Vedas." Therefore the ultimate objective is
Krsna. That is explained in all the Vaisnava commentaries on Vedanta
philosophy. We Gaudiya Vaisnavas have our commentary on Vedanta
philosophy, called Govindabhasya, by Baladeva Vidyabhusana. similarly,
Ramanujacarya has a commentary, and Madhvacarya has one. The version
of Sankaracarya is not the only commentary. There are many Vedanta
commentaries, but because the Vaisnavas did not present the first
Vedanta commentary, people are under the wrong impression that
Sankaracarya's is the only Vedanta commentary. Be sides that, Vyasadeva
himself wrote the perfect Vedanta commentary, Srimad Bhagavatam.
Srimad Bhagavatam begins with the first words of the Vedanta-sutra:
janmady asya yatah.. And that janmady asya yatah is fully explained in
Srimad Bhagavatam. The Vedanta-sutra simply hints at what is Brahman,
the Absolute Truth: "The Absolute Truth is that from whom everything
emanates." This is a summary, but it is explained in detail in Srimad
Bhagavatam. If everything is emanating from the Absolute Truth, then
what is the nature of the Absolute Truth? That is explained in
Srimad-Bhagavatam. The Absolute Truth must be consciousness. He is
self-effulgent (sva-rat). We develop our consciousness and knowledge by
receiving knowledge from others, but for Him it is said that He is
self-effulgent. The whole summary of Vedic knowledge is the
Vedanta-sutra, and the Vedanta-sutra is explained by the writer himself
in Srimad-Bhagavatam. We finally request those who are actually after
Vedic knowledge to try to understand the explanation of all Vedic
knowledge from Srimad-Bhagavatam and the Bhagavad-gita.
