A Dialogue on Hinduism - Chapter 1 of 13 -- Post
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• April 19, 1996
Post 2 of 14
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Chapter 1 of 13 of "A Dialogue on Hinduism,"
By Sri. V.N. GOPALA DESIKAN,
Published by Sri Visishtadvaita Research Centre, C/O Sri
Ahobila Mutt, 66, Dr. Rangachari Road, Madras 600 018, 1990
If you find this series informative please make a donation
of $25 to Sri Ahobila Mutt. These donations are fully
deductible for the US income tax purpose. Please make
your check out to Sri Ahobila Mutt and send mail it to Sri
Ahobila Mutt, C/O Mr. Jagannath Bharadwaj , 5539
Columbia Pike #808, Arlington, VA 22204
The posts in this series are likely to be long.
Therefore, please print these posts and read them
at your leisure.
Typos, if any, are more than likely mine. Please
let me know if you find any.
-- P. Dileepan
====Start of Chapter 1 of 13 from Sri Gopala Desikan's book=======
Chapter 1
Vedas and Sastras
Q. Daddy, you have been saying that we, of the
younger generation, should. learn the greatness and
glory of our ancient religion and philosophy. Now
that I am having my summer holidays with lots of
free time, why don't you tell me about our
philosophy in a simple way, which I can
understand?
A. I am glad that you are showing interest in our
system of philosophy and our religion.
You start asking questions and I shall answer. I
think this will make it more interesting.
Q. What is the basic authority (pramana) for Hindu
religion and philosophy?
A. The Vedas are the basic, fundamental authority.
Q. What is the meaning of the word Veda?
A. Veda, in Sanskrit, means that which gives
knowledge.
Q. Is there any other name for Veda?
A. Veda is also called Sruti.
Q. What is the meaning of the word Sruti?
A. Sruti means that which is heard (through your
ears). The Vedas were originally taught by Lord
Narayana to Brahma orally. From thereon the
Vedas came down from the Guru to the students
orally only. The Guru teaches the Vedas to the
students. Thus the student hears the Veda from the
teacher.
Q. Are Vedas known by any other names, apart from
Sruti?
A. They are also called Nigama and Amnaya.
Q. What is the meaning of these words?
A. Nigama means a settled text or work, which is
handed down from the Guru to the student from
time immemorial.
Amnaya means what is learnt by the student, by
frequent repetition of the text; and also by
frequently thinking over the same.
Q. Who composed the Vedas?
A. The Vedas have not been composed by anybody,
not even by God Himself The Veda, are eternally
existent. Even God did not create or make the
Vedas. Narayana has only taught the Vedas to
Brahma and then down the line. Hence Vedas are
called Apaurusheya not authored or made by
anyone, including God.
Q. How do you explain that the Vedas have not been
authored by anybody; including God?
A They are actually the breath of God. That is, after
each deluge (pralaya), when the world is created,
God Narayana remembers the Vedas and teaches
them to Brahma and then it comes down the line.
That is why, we say they are not made by anybody
including God, but are self existent.
Q. How many Vedas are there?
A. There are four Vedas. They are called: Rig Veda,
Yajur Veda, Sama Veda and Atharva Veda.
Q. Who divided the Vedas into four, as stated above?
A. Vyasa edited the Vedas and divided them?
Q. On what basis did Vyasa divide the Vedas into
these four?
A. The Vedas were divided into four, to suit the Vedic
rituals or karmas. There are four persons (Ritviks)
who are prominent in the performance of rituals.
Q. What are the names of these four persons
(Ritviks)? How are they connected with the four
Vedas?
A.
1. The person, whose function is to recite praises of
God and prayers to Him, sitting in one place, is
called Hota.
The Hota's function and Mantras are given in Rig
Veda.
2. The person, who is engaged in the actual
performance of the ritual, from the beginning to
the end, is called Adhvaryu.
The necessary mantras and the functions of the
Adhvaryu are given in Yajur Veda.
3. The person who sings Samans (musical notes),
sitting in another place, is called Udgata.
The Udgata's functions and the Sama Ganas are
given in Sama Veda.
4. The general supervisor of the rituals is called
Brahma.
The Brahma's functions and the Mantras are given
in Atharva Veda.
The Vedas are also broadly divided as Mantras.
and Brahmanas.
Q. What do the Mantras talk about?
A. The Mantras are in three forms, as Rik, Yajus and
Sama.
The Rik mantras are in praise of God and prayers
to God.
The Yajur Mantras give detailed formulas for the
rituals.
The Sama Mantras are only Rik Mantras, set to
music.
Q. Are these Mantras in prose form or poetry form?
A. The Rik Mantras are in poetry form. Yajur
Mantras are in prose form. Sama Mantras are
Riks, set to musical tones.,
The Atharva Veda contains both verses (poetry)
and prose.
This much idea is enough for the present regarding
Mantras.
Q. Please explain the other part, namely Brahmanas.
A. The Brahmanas are in prose form. Their main aim
is to prescribe the rituals in detail and also praise
the glory of the Devas.
Q. How are the Brahmanas divided?
A. Brahmanas are again divided into two parts: Vidhi
and Arthavada.
Q. What do these talk about?
A. Vidhi portions give command to do a thing, to
perform rituals. Arthavada generally praises the
rituals, the glory of Devas and also points out their
weaknesses. They also contain stories to illustrate
the points.
Q. What is the relative importance of these different
portions?
A. Portions connected with rituals are called
Karmakanda. Generally, they teach how rituals
like various yagas are to be done. They are also
called Purvakanda.
Portions dealing with philosophy and knowledge
of Brahman are called Jnanakanda or Brahma
kanda.
So, Mantras and Brahmanas come under
Karmakanda. Upanishads are called Jnanakanda.
But, knowledge of Brahman and Philosophy are
also discussed in Mantras and Brahmanas.
Q. What is the meaning of the word Sastra?
A. Sastra in Sanskrit means that which gives teaching,
instruction or command.
Q. What are the Sastras?
A. The Vedas are the most important sastras. There is
no sastra higher than the Veda. Then we have
Sruti, Itihasa, Purana and Agama, about which we
will discuss later.
Q. I have also heard of Samhita and Aranyaka. What
are these?
A. Modern thinkers divide Vedas into four portions,
as follows:
Samhita
Brahmana
Aranyaka, and
Upanishads.
Samhita denotes collection of Mantras.
Brahmanas have already been described earlier.
Aranyakas are texts, which were recited in
hermitages in forests.
Upanishads contain philosophical thoughts, in the
form of discussions and explanations.
Q. Why are Upanishads called Jnana Kanda or
Brahma Kanda?
A. They talk about realisation of God, how to attain
salvation. Since they speak about realising
Brahman or the ultimate reality the Upanishads are
called Brahma Kanda. Since they give us
knowledge about attaining salvation, they are also
called Jnana Kanda.
The Upanishads are also called Veda Siras, i.e., the
head of the Veda. When we say the head, we
mean the most important part of the Veda.
Q. What is the difference between Brahma and
Brahman? Are both the same?
A. No. Brahma is the fourfaced one, who came from
the lotus, out of the navel of Lord Narayana.
Brahman means one who is great and hence
denotes the Supreme Being or the Ultimate
Reality.
Q. Talking about Upanishads, how many Upanishads
are there?
A. People say that there are more than a hundred
Upanishads, but only some of the Upanishads are
accepted authoritatively by all sections of the
Hindus. The important ones are called
Dasopanishad, i.e, the ten Upanishads. These ten
Upanishads are accepted as authority and quoted
by ancient philosophers like Sankara, Ramanuja
and Madhva.
Q. What are the ten Upanishads?
A The ten Upanishads are:
Isavasya Upanishad, Kena Upanishad, Kata
Upanishad, Prasna Upanishad, Mundaka
Upanishad, Mandukya Upanishad, Taittiriya
Upanishad, Aitareya Upanishad, Chandogya
Upanishad, Brihadaranyaka Upanishad.
Q. Are there any other important and accepted
Upanishads?
A. We have Svetasvatara Upanishad, Kaushitaki
Upanishad, Subala Upanishad and Maha Narayana
Upanishad. Actually, Maha Narayana Upanishad
forms part of Taittiriya Upanishad. But some
scholars refer to it as a separate Upanishad by the
name Maha Narayana Upanishad.
Q. From which of the Vedas do these Upanishads
come?
A. Aitareya Upanishad is in Rig Veda. Isavasya
Upanishad, Kata Upanishad, Taittiriya Upanishad
and Brihadaranyaka Upanishad are in Yajur Veda.
Kena Upanishad and Chandogya Upanishad are
from Sama Veda.
Prasna Upanishad, Mundaka Upanishad and
Mandukya Upanishad are all in Atharva Veda.
Q. I have heard of Vedangas. What are the Angas or
subsidiaries of the Vedas?
A. There are six such Angas (parts or limbs) of
Vedas. These are 1) Sikaha, 2) Vyakarana, 3)
Chandas, 4) Jyotisha, 5) Nirukta, and 6) Kalpa.
Q. Can you tell me what the six Veda Angas talk
about?
A. I shall relate them to you briefly.
1) Siksha explains the proper pronunciations of
the Vedas.
2) Vyakarana explains the grammar of the
Vedic words.
3) Chandas explains the metres of the various
Riks.
4) Jyotisha helps in deciding the proper time
for the performance of the various rituals.
5) Nirukta gives the meanings of difficult
words in the Vedas.
6) Kalpa describes the proper method of
performing the various rituals mentioned in
the Vedas.
These six angas of the Vedas help in a proper
understanding of the Vedas. They also help in the
performance of the various rituals or the yagas
(yagnas), prescribed by the Vedas.
Q. How are these six Vedangas divided?
A. They can be divided into two groups:
1) Those which are connected with the text of
the Vedas Siksha, Vyakarana, Chandas.
2) Those which are connected with the
meaning of Vedas Jyotisha, Nirukta, Kalpa.
Q. After the Vedas 'and Vedangas, what are the
important texts or authorities for us?
A. Next comes Smriti. Smriti helps us in
understanding the various injunctions and truths
propounded in the Vedas.
Q. How many Smritis are there?
A. The Smritis are many in number and even an exact
definition of Smriti is perhaps not available. Many
of the Smritis are also not available now and are
lost to humanity.
The more important Smritis are: Manu Smriti.
Parasara Smriti, Yagnavalkya Smriti, Harita Smriti
and Sandilya Smriti. Some say there are 20
Smritis and some others say that there are 57
Smritis. Anyhow, what I have mentioned above
are the more important ones.
Q. What do these Smritis talk about?
A. The Smritis describe the codes of conduct for
mankind in day to day life; how they should
conduct themselves; and for any wrong doings,
what are the punishments or atonements
(prayaschitta) to be undergone. The Smritis can be
considered as elaborating or explaining the Karma
Kanda of the Vedas.
Q. What are Itihasas?
A. Ramayana and Mahabharata are called Itihasas.
Q. Are they considered very sacred?
A. They are considered as sacred as the Vedas
themselves. The Mahabharata is called the Fifth
Veda.
Q. How many Puranas are there?
A. There are 18 Puranas.
These are sub-divided into three a sets or groups.
The first set of six Puranas are authoritative,
sacred. These are called Sattvika Puranas.
The second set of six Purana are of medium
quality, i.e. the whole thing cannot be accepted as
true. These are called Rajasa Puranas.
The third set of six Puranas cannot be taken as
perfectly valid. Only some portions of them,
which are not opposed to Vedas, can be taken as
authoritative. These are called Tamasa Puranas.
Q. Please tell me the Puranas that fall in these three
groups.
A.
1. The first set of six Puranas which are most sacred
(Sattvika Puranas) are as follows:
Vishnu Purana
Bhagavatam
Narada Purana
Padma Purana
Varaha Purana
Garuda Purana
2. The second set of six Puranas, which are not
wholly authoritative, (Rajasa Puranas) are:
Vamana Purana
Brahma Purana
Markandeya Purana
Bhavishya Purana
Brahmanda Purana
Brahma Vaivarta Purana
3. The last set of six Puranas, which are not very
authoritative (Tamasa Puranas) are:
Matsya Purana
Kurma Purana
Agni Purana
Linga Purana
Siva Purana
Skanda Purana.
Q. How do you accept these as authorities or
Pramana?
A. The basic rule is that the Vedas are the ultimate
authority or Pramana. So, in the Puranas,
whichever does not conflict or contradict the Veda,
can be taken as authority.
Q. What are Agamas?
A. The Agamas accept the authority of Vedas. The
Agamas prescribe idol worship in the place of
rituals like Yagas, mentioned in the Vedas. They
prescribe the methods of idol worship.
Q. How are the Agamas divided?
A. The Agamas are predominantly divided into Saiva,
Sakta and Vaishnava Agamas. Agamas mainly
talk about construction of temples; the rules for
installation and consecration of the deities in the
temples; and the methods of performing pujas in
the temples.
The Vaishnava Agamas identify Brahman as
Vasudeva. We will discuss this further later.
Q. What are the Vaishnava Agamas?
A. The Vaishnava Agamas are: Pancharatra Agama
and Vaikhanasa Agama
Q. Which Agama do our Vaishnavite temples follow?
A. Some temples follow Pancharatra Agama and
some temples follow Vaikhanasa Agama. This is
only by tradition and custom.
Q. Why is Vaikanasa Agama so called?
A. It is so called, because it was first taught by
Vikhanas rishi to a group of disciples. Sage
Vikhanasa is stated to have been created by Lord
Narayana Himself. It is also stated that he was
created by Brahma.
Q. Why is Pancharatra Agama so called?
A. Lord Narayana taught this Agama for five nights to
five rishis. Hence, it is called Pancharatra Agama
(Pancharatra means five nights)
Q. How are these Pancharatra Agamas divided?
A. These are divided into Samhitas.
Q. What are these Samhitas?
A. There are more than 100 Samhitas. I will give you
the more important ones. Sattvata Samhita,
Paushkara Samhita, Jayakhya Samhita. These
three are considered more important and are called
three gems (Ratna traya).
We have also Ahirbudhnya Samhita, Padma
Samhita, Parameswara Samhita and Lakshmi
tantra.
Q. What is Mimamsa?
A. The Mimamsa consists of two parts. The first part
is called Purva Mimamsa or Karma Mimamsa.
The second part is called Uttara Mimamsa or
Brahma Mimamsa.
Q. What is Karma Mimamsa?
A. Karma Mimamsa is dealt with by Jaimini in 16
chapters or Adhyayas. They contain short
statements or aphorisms. They clarify doubts
regarding rituals mentioned in the Vedas and also
clarify doubts about the general conduct. They
interpret the Vedic texts in Karma Kanda.
Q. What is Brahma Mimamsa?
A. Brahma Mimamsa is dealt with in Brahma Sutras.
This is propounded by Sage Badarayana or Vyasa.
This contains short statements or aphorisms,
clarifying doubts in the Vedic text. Brahma
Mimamsa interprets the Vedic text of Jnana Kanda
or Brahma Kanda.
Q. What is the importance of Brahma Sutra?
A. Brahma Sutra is considered very sacred and
important. It helps in clarifying and explaining
.difficult passages in the Upanishads.
Q. Who have written commentaries on Brahma Sutra?
A. This being one of the most important texts, many
philosophers have written detailed commentaries.
We have the commentaries by Sankara, Ramanuja,
Madhva, besides many others like Nimbarka and
Vallabha.
Q. How many chapters are there in the Brahma Sutra?
A. We have four chapters or Adhyayas in the Brahma
Sutra. Each of the four chapters consists of four
parts or padas. There are 545 Sutras or aphorisms.
Q. Please tell me, broadly, the contents of the four
chapters of the Brahma sutra.
A. The first chapter shows that Brahman is the sole
cause of 1) creation of this world, 2) sustenance of
this world, and also 3) destruction of this world.
The second chapter discusses some of the
objections in this regard put forth by other schools
and proves that Brahman is both the material cause
and the instrumental cause for this world. (We will
discuss this in detail later).
The third chapter describes the means or methods
of attaining Brahman, i.e. salvation.
The fourth chapter talks of salvation: what is
meant by salvation and the glory of salvation.
Q. What are the most important texts or books which
explain the Vedanta philosophy?
A. There are three texts or books which explain the
Vedanta philosophy and so they are called
Prasthana Traya. They are:
1. Upanishads
2. Brahma Sutra
3. Bhagavad Gita
These are the most sacred texts. All philosophers
have written commentaries on these, trying to
prove that these three books support their theory.
Q. Which is the most important portion in the Vedas?
A. The Purusha Sukta is the most important.
Q. Which is the most important Smriti?
A. Manu Smriti is considered the most important.
Q. What about the Puranas? Which is considered the
most important?
A. The Vishnu Purana is considered most sacred and
important of the Puranas. It is called Puranaratna.
Q. Which is the most important portion in the
Mahabharata?
A. Bhagavad Gita is the most important,
Q. What are the various systems of philosophy?
A. The systems of philosophy in India can be broadly
divided into Nastika schools and Astika schools.
Q. What is the Nastika school?
A. The Nastika school does not accept the authority of
Vedas. They only adopt logic and reasoning.
Q. What is the Astika School?
A. The Astika school accepts the authority of Vedas
primarily and also uses reasoning and logic.
Q. What are the various systems of philosophy,
coming under the Nastika school?
A. These are Charvaka system, Buddhism and
Jainism.
Q. What are the systems coming under Astika
School?
A. We have Sankhya, Yoga, Nyaya, Vaiseshika,
Mimamsa, besides the Vedanta system.
Q. What is the Vedantic system of philosophy?
A. There is no specific single system of philosophy
called the Vedantic system. Advaita,
Visishtadvaita and Dvaita are the most well known
of the Vedantic systems.
Q. What are the other systems of philosophy?
A. These are:
1. Charvaka system
2. Jainism
3. Buddhism
4. Sankhya system
5. Yoga system
6. Nyaya system
7. Vaiseshika system
8. Mimamsa system
Q. Who propounded these systems of philosophy?
A. Buddhism was propounded by Gautama Buddha
and Jainism by Mahavir Jain. The Vaiseshika
system was propounded by Kanada and the Yoga
system by Brahma. However, modern belief is that
the Yoga system was founded by Patanjali. The
Sankhya system was propounded by Kapila, the
Nyaya system by Gautama or Akshapada. The
Mimamsa system was advocated by Jaimini.
Q. What are the important principles of these systems
of philosophy?
A. We will discuss this at a later stage.
======End of Chapter 1 of 13 from Sri Gopala Desikan's book=======
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