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Oppiliappan List Archive: Message 00225 Dec 2007

 
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srI:
SrI  upakAra  sangraham â?? 29
--- 
adikAram â?? 1
poorva upakAra paramparai
(The Foremost Series of Favours) 
---   
SECTION â?? 5 (2)
(27 Favours of the Lord leading to the means for
MOKSHAM)  
-----   

        SwAmi Desikan, while listing out the favours
conferred by the Lord on the jIvA, whom He made to
take a re-birth of sAtvika nature, mentions the second
favour He does. 

"(2) adiyilE vedangaLai pravarttippittatuvum;"

        The Lord manifested the VedA-s. When did He do it?
Not today or recently. But, "adiyilE" -- at the root
itself.  

After the praLaya, when the Lord started the creation,
the very first thing He did was to create Brahma, who
appeared on the Lord's navel lotus, was made
responsible for creating various types of lives.
Brahma, however, had no idea of how to go about.  To
help him, the Lord, SrIman nArAyaNa, brought about the
VedA-s to guide him, and the newly created jIvA-s.
VedA-s are actually sound waves, called shruti,
beginning with "pranavam" or "OnkAram". 

The VedA-a were countless and it was left to the Lord
Himself, to incarnate as Krishna DvaipAyana VyAsa, in
order to arrange them in an order, editing them into
four groups:- Rg, yajus, sAma and atharvaNa. He taught
them to His four disciple-sages:- 

Rg-vEdA to Paila; yajur-vEdA to VaishampAyana;
sAma-vEdA to Jaimini and the atharva-vEdA to Sumantu. 


The VedA-s were not composed by any one, not even by
the Lord, and that is why they are referred to as
a-paurusheya, not of human origin. They were directly
revealed by the Supreme Being, Brahman. 

VedA means knowledge - derived from the root 'vidh' -
'to know'. 
They are called shruti, i.e., 'heard', as they were
taught by the oral method -- mouth to mouth.  
They are anAdi -- without a beginning; or are of
unknown beginning. All the obligatory duties, at
birth, marriage, death etc., are performed according
to the Vedic ritual. 
        
This huge literature is classified as:- SamhitA or
collection of Mantra-s, BrAhmaNa, AraNyaka and the
Upanishad, the end of the VedA-s.  
        
SamhitA-s are part of the four Veda-s. Rg. Samhita was
the earliest. The sAma-VedA consists of stanzas taken
mostly from rg-VedA and were meant to be sung to
certain melodies or chants. The yajur-VedA deals with
various religious sacrifices. The Atharva-Veda
Samhita, also known as BrahmavEda since it is assigned
to brahmA-priest. It has some special features. Major
part is concerned with various sciences: Diseases and
their cure; rites for prolonging life; rites for
fulfilling one's desires; building construction; trade
and commerce; statecraft; penances and propitiatory
rites; and black magic..
        
The BrAhmaNa-s are composed in prose, and explain the
sacred significance of the different rituals. 
        
The AraNyaka-s are forest treatises, revealed to sages
when they retired to the forest. These mostly deal
with meditations based on symbolical interpretations
of the liturgical rites.
        
The Upanishad-s are philosophical treatises dealing
with the ultimate goals of life. 
        
Traditionally SamhitA is indicated by the word "VedA".

As the manifestation of the VedA-s had the purpose to
guide the people who were created by Brahma, SwAmi
Desikan gives them the second highest priority among
the favours conferred by the Lord. The VedA-s are just
like a bright lamp without which the mankind can not
proceed further in darkness of samsAra. 

(To continue)
dAsan
Anbil S.SrInivAsan
----- 














  


      
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