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Dear members,

On this auspicious day of ?panguni utthiram?, it was a
blessing for me to come across a brief but excellent
article in Tamil on the subject of ?vEdAdhyAyana?
written by Sri U.Ve.Melpakkam Narasimhacharya Swamy
who served as Professor of Vyakarana Studies at the
Ahobila Muttam Sanskrit College, Madurantakam. 

I have tried to translate it to the best of my ability
and am happy to present it below for the benefit of
all interested members but especially for the
edification of my dear fellow ?vedhAdhyAyin-s? in
Kuwait with all twenty of whom I really enjoyed
learning, for 4 happy years, a little bit of Vedic
chanting under the patient tutelage of my good friend
and well-wisher, Sri IVK Chary.

I hope I have been successful in doing justice to
MelpAkkam Swami?s original and that you will all find
my effort useful.

Thank you and regards,

dAsan,
Sudharshan

                *******************

                   INVOCATION
               -----------------
     ?Lakshmi-nrsimha charaNambuja-moolasEva
   hEvAkimAnasa samAsrita hamsarAjah:          I
     nityam girA samupadarshita-sathpaThO mae
   sri ranga-kArija-gurur-hrudayE chakAshthu ?   II

                    **********

A human being easily secures prowess, fame and
well-being in life not only in this world but in the
after-world too simply through faithful performance of
the prescribed ?dharma? (i.e. the various codes of
right conduct) enshrined in the Vedic scriptures known
as ?sruti? and ?smriti?. The truth of this fact has
been vouched for by none other than Manu in a single
revealing ?shlOka?: 

"sruti-smrutyuditam dharmanu-thisTan hi mAnavah: I iha
keertimavApnOti prEtya chAnuttamam sukham  II

Common experience tells us that which is born into
this world must one day certainly die. However, it is
a fundamental tenet of the Vedic faith that death is
merely a corporeal event, not a spiritual phenomenon.
Although the body, the ?sthoola sarira?, ages and
eventually passes away from this world, the indwelling
spirit that enlivened the body all through its earthly
sojourn ? that ever-present entity called Atma,
however, never knows Death. It lives eternally.
                                                      
                  *******

As long as a man lives in this world it is his lot and
wont to constantly seek and draw support and
sustenance from a variety of things or beings around
him, such as parents, kith, kin, wealth etc. Once the
time arrives, however, for him to shed the mortal body
? the ?sthoola sarira?--  the same parents, kith, kin
or wealth which once were his constant companions and
mainstay no longer serve him in any useful way. Once
he is ready to shed the mortal coil, these
support-systems too are ready to forsake him. None of
them ever accompany him in the onward journey of the
Atma.

Though none of his long-standing earthly companions
ever accompany a man into the other world, there is
however one intangible or ethereal thing, that is his
very own, which continues to doggedly travel with him
wherever he goes in the great cosmic journey of the
spirit. The ethereal thing that serves as Man?s
faithful travel- companion in the other world, the
great empire called ?para-lOka?, is said to be the
?dharma? he performed while he lived in this world.
This truth has been attested amply and clearly by all
Vedic ?sAstrA?. (Students of Shakespeare too will not
fail to recollect here those famous lines: ?The good
that men do lives after them; the evil is interred
with their bones?. My note).

                ************

It is never easy for a man of this world to continue
abiding by the dictates of ?dharma?. Time,
circumstance and the innumerable vagaries of life will
all constantly conspire to divert him from the chosen
path and lead him astray. The will to stay the
straight and narrow course of ?dharma?, the will to
remain steadfast in one?s conviction in the face of
any vicissitude, is never easy to exercise in life. It
is a constant struggle indeed for man to carry out his
ordained dharma but it is a struggle he must engage
in, whether he likes it or not, for human destiny
itself lies in this great struggle. 

Although the dharmic struggle of man is long and
arduous, there is however always plenty of help,
encouragement and inspiration at hand in the form of
Vedic ?sruti?, ?smriti? and ?dharma-sAstra?. These
Vedic scriptures collectively form a formidable but
handy and exhaustive source of strength and guidance
for the man who has resolved to realize his dharmic
destiny. Which is why we say before a man can proceed
to live in accordance with ?dharma? it becomes
immediate necessity for him to first learn about it
through a study of the Vedas. It is out of such
necessity indeed that there arises the sacred duty of
?vEdhAdhyAyana? ? the pursuit of Vedic study enjoined
upon every man who is born into the faith.

              *************

That ?vEdhAdhyAyana? is one of the cardinal duties of
Man is affirmed by the ageless ?sruthi? itself as
follows:

      ?brAhmaNEna nishkAraNO dharmah:  
       shadangO'vEdhO?dhyEyO gnEyascha?

i.e. the Brahmin dedicates himself to sincere and
relentless study of the Vedas, together with its 6
great branches known as ?sIksha?, ?vyAkaraNa?,
?cchandas?, ?niruktam?, ?jyOtisham? and ?kalpam?, and
to the realization of its meaning and true purpose. 

The message of the ?sruti? above is reiterated by Manu
too in his famous ?smriti? wherein he describes the
true Brahmin to be one who has realized the Vedas and
Upanishads through life-long effort and discipline ?
i.e. through the ?tapa?, ?vrata? etc. that are
integral to ?vEdhAdhyAya?:

  ?tapOvishEshaih: vividhaih: vrataischa
vidhi-chOdhitaih:  I
 vEdhah: krutsrO?dhigantavyah: sarahasyO dvijanmanA II

The Brahmin who follows the above path of
?vEdhAdhyAya?, deep Vedic study, easily secures
knowledge of all ?dharma? and through such knowledge
obtains abiding happiness and fulfillment (?shrEyas?).
Manu issues, on the other hand, a dire warning to the
Brahmin who fails in the duty of ?vEdhAdhyAya?. He
predicts such a Brahmin would soon be overcome by the
fear of Death:

  ?anabhyAsEna vEdAnAm aachArasya cha varjanAth I
 aalasyAth annadOshAccha mrutyuh: viprAn jighAmsati II

To enable a young Brahmin to easily take to
?vEdhAdhyaya?, it is very often emphasized that there
should never be even a day's delay in performing
?upanayanam? and getting the youth initiated as early
as possible into Vedic study under the tutelage of a
qualified ?ÁchArya?: 

 ?garbhAshtamE?bdE kurveetha brAhmaNasyO?panayanam?

The importance of early initiation into
?vEdhAdhyAyana?, preferably well before the age of
sixteen, is underscored elsewhere too in the Gautama
Samhita:

   ?aashOdashaath brAhmanasyApathithA sAvitree?

To further underscore the importance of early
initiation into ?vEdhAdhyayana? (enabled by early
performance of ?upanayana?) Manu severely warns
Brahmins against associating themselves, through
contracts of marriage or otherwise, with those who,
calling themselves Brahmins, yet remain without
undergoing ?upanayana? and without performing
?vEdhAdhyAya?. 

"atha Urdhvam trayOpyEthE yathA-kAlam-samskrutAhA:    
  sAvitree patithA vrAtyA bhavanthyArya vigarhitAh: I
 nai-thair-rapU-thair-vidhivadApadhyapi hi karhichith
brAhmAn yownAmscha sambhandhAn aacharEth brAhmaNah:
saha II

              **************
                 
Before a young Brahmin boy is initiated into
?vEdhAdhyAya? and other Vedic curricula, his ?AchArya?
usually spares no effort in first inculcating in him
the daily discipline of bodily and spiritual hygiene
known as ?shoucha-achAra?. This regimen of
?shouchAchAra? primarily includes the rite of
?sandhyAvandanam? and a few other ablutionary rites,
which though being minor in nature and format, are yet
 essential pre-conditions for all other Vedic ?karma?
or duties. Without regular performance of these
?shouchAchArA-s?, and especially the ?gayatri
sandhyA?, a Brahmin simply cannot proceed to undertake
any other Vedic initiative. Even if he does, the
resultant effort simply bears no fruit:

?sandhyAheenO?shucchir nitya manarhah: sarvakarmasu? 

It is for this reason that a true Vedic ?AchArya?
always ensures that his wards first and foremost, and
above everything else, learn to perform the ?sandhyA?
rites in the proper manner, giving due and scrupulous
importance to the ?svara varna? of the ritual ?mantra?
i.e. taking care to ensure correct pronunciation and
intonation. It is the correct articulation of Vedic
mantra that ensures its efficacy and results in
auspicious effects. Improper articulation, on the
other hand, can quiet easily result in adverse and
unwanted consequences.

The unintended consequences one reaps as a result of
inappropriate or inadvertent articulation of Vedic
mantra are well described in a famous passage
(?vachana?) from the Vedic branch of study called
?sIkshA?. It is the story of TvashtA, the man who
sought revenge against the King of gods, Devendra
(also known as Indra): 

mantrO?heenah: svarathO varNathO vA mithyApra-yukthO
na tamartha-mAha  I
sa vAgvajrO yajamAnam hinasthi yathEndra-shathruhu:
svarathO?parAdhAth  II

Indra had killed Tvashta?s son and so the bereaved
father resolved to perform a Vedic fire-sacrifice by
which he hoped to beget another son who would grow up
to battle Devendra and kill him. In the course of the
fire-sacrifice Tvashta was to invoke the proper mantra
for the purpose called ?indra shathruhu vardhasva?. It
involved articulation of the expression, 
                                     
?shAthayateethi shatruhu, indrasya shathruhu
indrashathruhu?

Instead, through sheer negligence or inadvertence, the
words came out as 

  ?indrah shatruhu shAthayitA yasya saha?

The mantra now assumed a totally unintended and
unfortunate twist in meaning. A son was indeed born to
Tvashta in good time. He grew up to challenge Indra to
a fight to the finish. Indra slaughtered this son of
Tvashta too without much ado and the heart-broken
father was bereaved once again. When the cause of the
matter was investigated, it was found Tvashta had
committed a grave lapse in the articulation of the
mantra which instead of meaning ?Grant me the birth of
a son who will grow up to kill Indra? unfortunately
had come out as ?Grant me the birth of a son who will
grow up to be slain by Indra?. 

In chanting Vedic mantra, in the sacred discipline of
?vEdhAdhyAyana?, a mere slip of the tongue or a single
false note of the voice is indeed enough indeed enough
to cause disastrous effects.   
                  
                 ************

Another of Manu?s great pronouncements on ?vEdhAdhyA?
is found in the following shlOka :

?na hAyanaih: na palithaih: na vitthEna na
bandhubhih:I
rshayascha-krIrE dharmam yO?nuchAnah: sa nO mahAn  II

Answering the question ?What makes a Brahmin worthy??,
Manu says in the shlOka above that it is neither age
nor wealth, nor is it family lineage that bestows
honour and nobility upon a Brahmin. It is
?vEdhAdhyaya? alone that bestows distinction and worth
upon a Brahmin in his lifetime. 

?yO vai yUvA?pyadheeyAnah: tam dEvAh: sthaviram viduh:

Manu even goes to the extent of saying that a Brahmin
youth, so long as he is engaged in ?vEdhAdhyAya?, is
fit to be venerated by even those who are his elders
or superiors in other secular respects. (This is the
reason why even today in India, even older men and
women will not hesitate to prostrate at the feet of
young Brahmin ?brahmacharis? who are engaged in
?vEdhAdhyAyanam?. My note).  

              ************

It is interesting how Manu severely castigates a
Brahmin who fails to follow the dictates of his dharma
and does not perform ?adhyAyana?:

yathA kAshtamayO hasthee yathA charmamayO mrugah:
yascha viprO?nadheeyAna-srayasthE nAmadhArakAh:   II

?Just as you cannot expect a toy-elephant to
accomplish the workload of a real elephant, and just
as you can never substitute the beauty of a toy-deer
with that of a real one, so can you never hope to
realize the goals and high ideals of the Vedas with
the help of Brahmins who are Brahmins in mere name
only and are far from well-versed in ?vEdhAdhyAya?.
                                                  
            **************

One of the cardinal duties enjoined upon a true
Brahmin is the daily regimen called ?brahma-yagnya?.
This involves ?vEda japa? or ?sruti japa? -- the daily
chanting at home of various Vedic passages and hymns.
It is a life-long duty he must carry out without fail
if he must be faithful to his dharma. This duty has
been cast upon him by a number of injunctions as seen
in the ?sAstras?.

?yascha sruti-japah: prOkthah: brahma-yagnyah: sa
ucchyatE?

Sage KatyAyana revealed that a Brahmin who is engaged
regularly in ?vEdhAdhyAya? is indeed faithfully
carrying out his duty of ?brahma-yagnya?.  

Another sage of yore, a ?rshi? named Pydeenasi said:

?sva-shAkhAdhya-yanam yatthath brahma-yagnyam
prachakshathE  I
brahmayagnya-parO viprO brahmalOkE maheeyathE   II

i.e.  Brahmins who faithfully perform ?brahma-yagnya?,
chanting the passages from the respective Vedic
?shAkAs? to which they may belong, soon attain the
celestial realms of ?brahmalOka? and enjoy celebrated
status there?.

Another passage in the Vishnu Smriti prescribes the
order in which ?brahma-yagnya? must be performed: 

?Omkaaram vyAhrutee-tisrO gaayatreem cha
taditya-rccham  I
manasaithaan anusmrutya vEdhAdeen samupakramEth  II

i.e. One must daily chant the prefatory mantras of
?vyAhrutee? and ?gAyatree? and then proceed to recite
other ?veda prashna? or Vedic passages.

>From all the above mentioned injunctions of ?sAstra?
it becomes exceedingly clear to us that ?vEdhAdhyAya?
and ?brahma-yagnya? are mandatory daily tasks ? they
are ?nitya karma? for any man who calls himself a
Brahmin. 

?brahmayagnya-viheenascha brahmhA keerti-thO buddhaih:

Practice is said to lead to Perfection, and hence
constant ?vEdhAdhyAyanam? automatically leads to
excellence in the execution of the sacred duty of
?brahma-yagnya?. A Brahmin who excels in Vedic
chanting easily achieves spiritual exaltation and
enlightenment.

               ***************

In the scripture called ?Vishnu-dharmOttara?, it is
said that even if a Brahmin is unable to attain
perfection in the disciplines of the full range of
?vEdhAdhyAya? or is otherwise incapacitated in the
performance of the daily duty of ?brahma-yagnya?, at
least he should strive to attain perfection in the
chanting of the foremost Vedic passage or ?prashna? of
the Vedas known as ?purusha-sooktam?.

?brahma-yagnyE japann sUktam powrusham chintayan harim
sa sarvAn japathE vEdhAn sAngOpAngAn vidhAnathah:  II
                                  
                 **************

(Many of the ?prashna-s? or passages in the various
?shAkA-s? or branches of the 4 Vedas are replete with
potent mantras invoked and uttered usually only on the
occasion of conducting specific ?yagnya-s? or ritual
fire-sacrifices. Many of such Vedic ?yagnya-s? are
elaborate and formidable affairs and it is usually
beyond the capacity or ordinary men to undertake such
ceremonies). 

Merely by engaging in ?vEdhAdhyAya?, with utter faith
and humility, and persevering in the daily routine of
chanting Vedic ?prashna-s? related to such ?yagnya-s?,
a Brahmin is said to easily attain the very same
fruits as would otherwise be yielded by such
?yagnya-s?. The Sage Yagnyavalkya attested to this
when he said that a Brahmin who faithfully performs
the duty of ?brahma-yagnya? attains well-being through
abundant wealth, ?land, and cattle? in this world and
beyond? 

?yam yam kratumadheeyEtha tasya tasyApnyUyAth phalam I
trirvittha-pUrNa-prutthuvee-dAnasya phalamasruthE  II

                 *****************

The greatest disservice a Brahmin can ever do to
himself as well as to the community is to abandon
?vEdhyAdhyAyanam? altogether after having learnt it
well for some period of time:

?adheethamapi yO vEdham vimuncchati yadA narah:  I
brUNahaa sat tu vignyEyaha: viyOnimadhi-gacchathi  II

The ?sAstrA? above says that such a Brahmin who is
derelict in the duty of ?brahma-yagnya?, and
eventually forgets the Vedic passages learnt earlier
out of sheer neglect, is to be regarded as a heinous
sinner. He is said to be a moral delinquent of the
worst order. There is no pardon anywhere for such
sinners.

               ************** 

?vEdamEva japEnityam yathA-kAla-mathan-drithah:  I
nahyasyaahuh: param dharmam upadharmO?nya ucchyathE II

Manu?s ringing and final affirmation above is that for
a true Brahmin there is no dharma in life that is
higher than or superior to the dharma of ?vEda japa?. 

Hence, all Brahmins should be encouraged and enjoined
to engage wholeheartedly in the chanting and study of
Vedas. Even in the modern times, when Brahmins have to
perforce engage in other secular pursuits in life, it
is their bounden duty to attempt learning at least
some parts of the Vedas --- such as the various
?sooktam-s?, the ?purusha-sooktam?, for example, and
the many beautiful Upanishad ?prashna-s? that are
found in the Vedas. In so far as one?s station and
conditions of living permit it, a Brahmin must make a
sincere effort to take up at least minimal efforts at
?vEdhAdhyAya?. It is the only way he can fulfill his
dhArmic destiny and realize the true purpose of his
existence.  
                  **********
  
     (CONCLUDED with grateful acknowledgments to 
         U.Ve.Sri Melpakkam Narasimhachary)

Regards,

dAsan,
Sudharshan



 


 




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