DIVINE INFORMATION PART 79 Respected friends,
While goingthrough one of my external memory device, I came across some good information stored from websites. I thought ofsharing interesting ones from them as a series. In part 79, I amstarting with 290th item in this posting. Kindly note the series is a compilation. Sincerely, Gopala Krishnan 13-08-21 290 Rigveda Ananthaa Vai Vedaah Thevoluminous vedas were edited into four parts by the intellectual colossusMaharshi Veda Vyaasa.The European scholars due to their lack of proper understanding of Aarshavidya,have attempted to bind the timeless in time The presentlimited form of the vedas that are available are merely the observations ofgreat seers that they experienced in their samaadhi.(Concentration) Any attemptto lend a chronological order to this eternal source of knowledge. Can only betermed as quite audacious. Yet all the scholars unanimously agree that theRgveda is the oldest available literature. 291 Rigveda Murthy Thestructure/form of Rigveda: The Rigveda is hymn-oriented. The Rgveda mantras arecalled Rcha because they are hymns, praising various devaas. Thegroup/collection of such Rchaas is known as a sukta. Therefore, Rigveda is essentially the suktascompiled together. 292 Branches of Rigveda: The variousmantras such as the Rchas in the form of the Rigveda etc are for the Ritwiks’use to perform different sacrificial activities. The compilation of the rchasin the Rigvedic form is for the facility of Hotr (Hota), the supreme among theRtwicks. The composition of Rchas neither took place at a single period of timeor place. We must, however, always remember that by the word ‘composition’ itis meant the flashes of realisation achieved by the Rshis during theirsamaadhi. Thus, thecomposition or the compilation of the Rchas was achieved by various mastersteaching their pupil and the Hotas performing sacrifices hailing from differentfamilies and races. The resultwas that different editions of rchas evolved commonly called the Rgveda eitherindependently or collectively. Thus, there were various branches of Rgveda based on its study,teaching and use in the sacrifices. Ekavimshathi bahufruchyam. AccordingMahabhashya, the commentary on Maharshi Paanini’s Ashtaadyaayi, by BhagawanPatanjali, therewere TWENTY ONE branches of Rgveda. The numberof branches varies as stated by other texts. The Charanavyuha mentionsShaakalaa, Vaashklaa Aashvatayanee, Shaankhaayanee and Maandukaayanee as themost prominent branches of Rgveda. Each branch had its own samhitaa section andtherefore it can be safely declared that there were as many samhitas as thebranches. Unfortunately, only one branch of Rgvedais available today. Following the ancient tradition itis also known by it name as Shaakalaasamitaa. Whatever information perceptionand understanding we have Rgveda is based solely on this branch. A collectionof rchas is knowns as a sukta. There are 1028 suktaas in Rgveda. If thesmallest sukta contains one rcha then the largest contains 58 rchas. In allthere are about 10,600 rchas in all the suktas. The Rgveda is classified in two ways. The wholeRgveda is divided into 8 parts known as Ashtakaani. Each ashtakam is furtherdivided into eight parts known as adhyaaya. There are an indeterminate numberof vargas in these adhyaayas that are a collection of about five or six rchas. Thus, there are eight ashtakasand 64 adhyaayas in Rgveda. This classificationdid not gain much following as it was hypothetical. Second one is a more authentic and naturalclassification. A sukta is the most genuine andsmallest unit of Rgveda that conveys its own individual point. The 1028 suktasare divided into 10 mandalas. This classification is also historical in nature20 divided that each mandala of six of the ten is attributed to either one ofrshis hailing from the same gotra (Mandalas 2-7). The rshis ofthese mandalas in order are Grtsamada, Vishwamitra, Vaamadeva, Atri,Bharadwaaja and Vasishta along with their descendents. The fact that thesemandalas are ascribed only to one family each and their sequentialclassification confirm them to be the oldest. The ninth mandala is also knownas Pavamaanamandala. Singing theglory and worship of various deities is the fundamental subject matter ofRgveda. This veda is a vast collection of hymnin praise of the deities. Thechief deities eulogised in this veda are Agni, Indra, Varuna, Vishnu, Savitaa,Marut, Mitra, etc. The hymns in praise of individual deva isknown as suktas. The description of different factors related to the devaasalso throws sufficient light on the social, historical, political andgeographical conditions of those times. There are suktas devoted to other independent subjectsother than the deities. Some describe a conversation, some preach ethicsthrough the description of a game of dice. Othersdiscuss social life and get others enumerate philosophical thoughts. Rgveda isthe oldest available literature of the mankind. The ancient most picture of theAryan of Hindu race in its completeness is provided here. All aspects of Vediccivilisation and culture are available in this. There is vivid description ofthe religious, political, cultural, literacy, social and scientific thought ofthe Hindu race and their development in Rgveda. 293 Rgvaidic Dharma: Aryans orHindus consider the Veda as the root source of their Dharma. Today Hindu Dharma has undergone tremendouschange. Some worship the almighty as one with attributes and some without anyform. Some believe in many Gods and someonly in one. Variousschools of philosophy like Advaita, Vishistaadvaita, Dwaita and Traita, whereall owe their roots to the vedas. The basic Dharma of Rgveda is theworship of deities. This worship could be in the form of propitiating manydeities or one single supreme consciousness. a) The Worship of Many deities: On the surface,worship of many deities does seem to be the fundamental Dharma of Rgveda. 33 deities figure prominently inRgveda. On beingworshipped these Devas or gods bestow on man with various powers and wealth. MaharshiYaska classified these Devas into three categories. Prithvi sthaaneeya, Antariksha sthaaneeyaand Dyusthaaneeya ie., terrestial, those belonging to space and those belongingto heaven. b) Single God theory: The hidden meaning ofVaidic mantras indicate toward onesingle Omnipotent, Omniscient and Omnipresent Lord. The vaidic sages worshippedone single supreme consciousness. This supreme consciousness is Paramaatman, Eeshwara, Purusha orBhrahman. The variousdeities are merely the expression of hisvarious powers and characteristics. There are many mantras that support thisfact. Indrammitram Varunamagniraahuryo divyassuparno garutmaan Ekam sadVipraa bahudhaa vadantyagnim yamam maatraarishwaanamaahuhu (Rgveda -1.644.6) Though one,the supreme consciousness is called by many names suchas - Indra, Mitra,Varuna, Agni, Divya, Suparna, Garutmaan, Agni, Yama and Maataarishwa by thewise. Yaskacharyatoo echoes the same theory.Mahaabhaagyad devataaya Eka Eva aatmaa bahudhaa stuy The soul ofall the Devas is one. It is glorifiedin many ways. Rishi Dayananda through irrefutable arguments has proved thesame. c) Sacrifice: The vaidic dharma is known as the Dharma ofsacrifies. But the exact meaning of theword Yagna is not clear. Many sages have defined Yagna as acts of selfless service. No matter what the meaning be, Rgvedaendorses it. 294 Philosophical thought evolution in Rgveda. Thephilosophical thought evolution of the Hindus has its seeds in Rgveda. Atman - Paramaatman, creation - genesis,death, rebirth and salvation etc have been deeply and exhaustively discussed inRgveda. a) Eswara, Jeeva - Prakriti : The Hindus accept threefactors responsible for the creation and administration of the universe. Theyare Eeshwara, Jeeva and Prakriti. Creation comes into being with the union of Jeeva and Prakriti. Eeshwara is the regulator andadministrator of creation. The Jeeva isbound and is caught in vicious circle of birth and death by Prakriti i.e.,nature. He attains freedom from thisbondage having realised from true self and achieves absolute emancipation and becomes ever blissful. Many mantras in Rgveda endorse this three-factor point. b) Creation: There about 6 to 7 suktaas in Rgveda regardingthe genesis of this Universe. TheNaasadiya, Hiranyagarbha and Purusha suktaas are the most famous. Naasadiya sukta (10.129) describesthe condition before the creation, and evolution of the Universe. In the beginning there was nothing. There wereneither worlds nor sky, neither momentum nor pace, neither birth nor death norimmortality, neither day nor night. Only the Omnipotent, supreme consciousness,existed in dormant form. Desire wasborn in His heart and the seed of creation was born, where from He Himself wasborn or his creation, whether the devas were born before the creation or after? Who has ever understood? The supreme consciousness, the supreme Lord isthe only Lord of this creation and he alone should known and understood. The Hiranyagarbha sukta too describes the process of creation. In thebeginning the Hirayagarbha Parmaatman alone existed. He was the sole lord of all createdbeing. He bears on his person the earthand celestial worlds. I will continue in next posting -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to thatha_patty+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. 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