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By
P. Govindarajan (Yatindradasa)
http://www.hinduweb.org/home/dharma_and_philosophy/vvh/vvhstl.html
1) INDISPENSABILITY OF RELIGION
Man, as a spiritual being cannot lead his life in peace and happiness without the support
of religion. He instinctively clutches hold of the hands of a superior power in times of
stress and distress when he knows that the situation he faces is hopeless and totally
beyond his control. Religion is the very foundation on which the SANATANA DHARMA
or the eternal way of life is based. In fact, religion has been the guiding spirit of Vedic
religion and culture. Belief in God is the very core of the spiritual way of life. Mahatma
Gandhi succinctly gives expression to this truth with the words `` Remove God from my
life and I am dead.``
2) SATYASYA SATYAM – THE ULTIMATE IN TRUTH
The eternal and the ephemeral exist in the world side by side and the Vedic seers were the
first to find out the eternal truths in regard to the singleness of Godhead, the immortality
of the soul, the unity of all existence and the divinity of man. Their quest for truth began
outwards with the external world, turned inwards towards the mind and moved upwards
to know the Satyasya Satyam or the ultimate in truth and reality. They pondered over the
fundamental problems of human life and discovered that at the substratum of all
existence and realities, there is one Primeval Being and all the realities of the physical
universe are only His manifestations. Both Srutis (Vedas) and the Smritis (Itihasas or
epics, Puranas or ancient historical accounts, Dharma-shastras or Code of Ethics and the
Agamas or manual of worship proclaim this Satyasya Satyam or the ultimate truth. of
spiritual unity behind the physical diversity. In the various Vedic passages, the self same
single truth with the words PURUSHA EVADAGUM SARVAM i.e.Purusha is all this,
ISAVASYAM IDAGUM SARVAM, i.e., "all this is pervaded by the Lord", SARVAM
KHALVIDAM BRAHMA, "Brahman (The Creator) is all this", VASUDEVA SARVAM, "all
this is Vasudeva", SARVAM VISHNUMAYAM JAGAT, "that the entire universe is
Supreme Lord Vishnu is widely proclaimed".
What the contemporary world badly needs today is the spiritual wisdom or Satyasya
Satyam of Vedanta so essential to transform the human outlook from bestiality to divinity.
This spiritual message can only help to replace selfishness, greed, hatred, envy, and
violence by love, compassion, justice, equity, truth, peace, happiness and freedom. Man
cannot live in peace either with himself or with the world without understanding the
purpose of human life and the meaning of the inevitable death. There are only two ways
of finding out the basic truths of life in the mundane world. One way is to find it out for
oneself through the very difficult and never ending path of trial and error and the other is
to rely on the verbal testimony of the trustworthy and reliable seers who have left behind
for the benefit of posterity the highest in human and divine wisdom. As it will be
humanly impossible for any one to find the Satyasya Satyam or the ultimate in truth
within one life time through self-efforts, it will be safe and wise to rely wholly on the
Vedas, which as a solicitous mother, provide the clearest and best account of the ultimate
truth and reality.
3) ETERNAL MESSAGE OF VEDANTA
Vedanta is the culmination of the Vedas being their end portion containing a summary of
the final conclusions of the Vedas. The end portion of the Vedas contains the Upanishads
or the esoteric teachings. The essence of the Vedas is contained in the Upanishads, which
are the most closely guarded secrets revealed only to the deserving. The sublime truths
contained in the Upanishads are the very summit of the Vedic philosophical knowledge
and spiritual wisdom. The Upanishads are, therefore, considered supremely important as
the truths revealed by them are believed to be the most authoritative, eternal, infallible
and universally valid. The word UPANISHAD means esoteric teachings, which are
hidden or concealed in the various passages and so not readily apparent. These truths are,
therefore, imparted by a competent teacher only to the deserving disciples who can
comprehend them.
Fearing that the esoteric teachings contained in the Srutis (Vedas revealed or heard)
which have come down through the ages in Karna Parampara, or oral transmission, over
hundreds of generations should not be lost to posterity, there have been supplementary
texts called Smritis (i.e. what is remembered) to preserve the highest truths contained in
the Vedas. The two Itihasas or epics (i.e. truths as they are ) namely Ramayana and
Mahabharata and the Sattvika (wise) Puranas or ancient historical accounts have
attempted to communicate the highest truths of the Vedas in simple story form for the
benefit of lay people. The most salutary principle to be strictly adhered to in the
acceptance of the truths remembered or recapitulated in the Smritis or the supplementary
texts is that they should be fully in accord with the Srutis or the divine revelations
contained in the Vedas. The epic Mahabharatha contains the world renowned Srimad
Bhagavad Gita, or the Song Celestial, which is considered as the very essence of the
Upanishads. In fact, the Gita is included as one of the three authoritative scriptural texts
of Vedanta. The philosophy of the Upanishads has been encoded in terse aphoristic form
in another supplementary text called the Brahma Sutras, or the Vedanta Sutras, authored
by a sage named Badarayana. The Brahma Sutras are also called Uttara Mimamsa or
Sariraka Mimamsa.
The philosophical system of Vedanta is based on three scriptural texts collectively called
the Prasthana Traya or scriptural trinity comprising the Upanishads, Srimad Bhagavad
Gita and the Vedanta Sutras. All the schools of Vedanta philosophy, which came in the
medieval age, are based on the scriptural trinity only.