VEDAS.
By Chandrasekharendra Saraswati (known as Kanchi Periaval to devotees.) - (Notes prepared in July 2001)
This book is a collection of his regular talks where in he is said to have propounded his basic ideas of Hinduism i.e. Vedas,Vedangas, Upanishnads and Upangas (may be called Darsanas), Dharma Sastras and Puranas etc. This is not a written treatise but collection of talks in Tamil subsequently translated into English. The thoughts and ideas reflected in these lecture series fully and completely follow an orthodox pattern, without any sense of proportion and or credibility. One may accept it on faith or leaved it out. There is no critical approach but implicit faith. Whether the Acharya wanted such implicit faith from his readers is a little problematic. However, it is clear from his tenor of the expositions that the audience he is addressing is not general Hindu community but a limited group in it. Without being explicit the Acharya addresses to the practicing and devoted Brahmins only, say people like my own elder brother a credulous lot. They would like to be assured that what they are practicing and doing in life in the name
of Brahmana vrithi, have sanction and sanctity rather than any rational and or practical necessity. Their doubts have to be smothered rather than answered. In this; this book succeeds to a great extend.
The Acharya starts with Vedas being just the sounds of breathings of the Paramatma or Eswara as he alternatively calls it. He almost deprecates the meanings of Vedic texts and at a certain point asserts that the Vedas have no meanings at all. A little later he said that the Vedas to be chanted knowing its meaning.
He has no explanation as to how and why our Rishis perceived the sounds of breathing only in one language and not in any other world languages. Still he implies an answer however unconvincing it is. He says that at time of creation (including Vedas) the language was Sanskrit only. He also gives a convoluted argument about similar to or approximating to Sanskrit in European languages. He simply did not think that his arguments could be turned to mean opposite. But this argument does not answer as to why no other community of people other than just Hindu Brahmin kept them in memory and no one else in Bharat Varsha.
The Acharya almost claimed that all the Vedas up to Upanishads came out of Brahma’s mouth and revealed to the rishis simultaneously and at one go without any gaps in between Suktams (Hymns) and texts. He not only deprecated but opposed the attempt by scholars to periodise the Vedic texts thru internal evidences like use of language etc.
The Acharya says that some of the researchers in Vedas, though impartial could not tolerate the excellence of our sacred texts (P 16). He wanted all to accept that the Vedas are truth in themselves, (what this signifies is not clarified) But if taken at the context of this collection, the word Veda for the Acharya everything from Rig Veda to Puranas. Even his ardent followers may not agree with this description (as Anadi, Ananta, Apourusheya etc.etc.)
Vedas according to Acharya are supposed to have emanated from the mouth of Brahma when he awakened after his night lasting a Kalpa i.e. a night of 4,320 million years. His day equals to the same number of years. According to legends the world if not the universe was created at the dawn of Brahma’s day. (So, Brahma needed a period of rest just like we mortals!!) His day ends with the Pralaya i.e drowning of the world in waters. The Acharya did not say the name of the present Kalpa and number of Kalpas past. From the Maha Sankalpa it could be made “Adya Brahmana: Dvitiya Parardhe Sweta Varaha Kalpe.” So the present Brahma has already completed half his time and today it is the second half. 360 Brahma days make an year to him. He remains for such 100 years.
Taking just the present Kalpa it is the 7th Manvantara i.e. of Vaivaswata in which 27 chaturyugas past and we are in the 28th Kaliyuga. It means that as of present 2001 CE. Brahma completed 1,960 million 853 thousand 101 years of his day. Before that it was Pralaya.
According to present day knowledge imparted by science the earth itself is more than 4,600 million years old. How can this to be reconciled with the creation of the world at the dawn of Brahma’s day only 1,960,853,101 years back? The Acharya’s argument on the age of Vedas and all other things also does not stand scrutiny at all. Humans happened to appear on earth not earlier than 200,000 years. The Indian sub-continent evolved sometime 150 million years ago.
Chaturyuga Yea = 4,320,000
71 chaturyugas (Manvantara) = 306,720,000
14 Manvantaras (Kalpa) = 4,294,080,000
Brahma’s Day/Night
100 chaturyugas = 4,320,000,000
Brahma’s Day/Night
(The difference between Kalpa calculation as 14 Manvantaras and that of 100 chaturyugas are 25,920,000 = 6 chaturyugas.)
CURRENT ERA: VAIVASVATA THE 7TH MANU.
Time past 6 Manvantaras = 306,720,000 x 6
= 1,840,320,000
plus
27 chaturyugas 4,320,000 x 27 = 116,640,000
plus
3 yugas past = 3,888,000
plus
Kali as on 2001 = 5,102
Swetavaraha Kalpa past = 1,960,853,102
Balance in Kalpa = 2,333,226,898
Total = 4,294,080,000
Years past Manvantara = 120,533,102
Balance = 186,186,898
Total = 306,720,000
Years past in current chaturyuga = 3,893,102
Balance = 426,898
Total = 4,320,000
Past present Kali = 5,102
Balance = 426,898
Total = 432,000
At one place the Acharya mentions the years of Manvantara and claims that the Sastric calculations approximate the time as homosapians appeared on earth (P 166) The so claimed Sastric calculations show that some 1,960 million 853 thousand and 102 years past from the first Manu Swayambhuva but no homosapiens at that time at all. Humans came between 200 and 150 thousand years back. Either the Acharya misunderstood or misleads his followers. They may not look into those scientific sources to ascertain the truth of the Acharya’s sayings. They are expected to believe only. The Acharya is firm that the duration of this world is Brahma’s life time which is 8,640 million years x 365 x 100 =
3,153,600 million x 100 = ,315,360,000,000,000 years = 315 trillion 360 billion years.
The legend is that at the end of a Kalpa i.e. Brahma’s day the world or is it the universe will get enveloped with Pralaya i.e. drowned in water. During Brahma’s night of the same length i.e. the number of years equivalent to a Kalpa 8,640 million years. Since the present is that of Sveta Varaha there must be other Kalpas earlier. Pralaya might have occurred as many times as the number of Kalpas past. The Acharya did not mention even such possibilities in his discussions but makes out that at the end of Brahma’s life time this universe will disappear in Maha Pralaya for a similar period and thereafter a new Brahma will appear and start creation again, a wheel going round and round. There is no clarity about what happens or happened when chaturyugas repeated 28 times during the present Vaivaswata Manu and earlier 6 Manus i.e. 6 x 71 = 426 chaturyuga cycles in the current Sveta Varaha Kalpa.
When the Acharya explains the Vedas as the sound of breathing of the Eswara or Paramatma did he assume that the Eswara or Paramatma has to be breathing to keep himself alive just like any other living being? At the same time he simply ignored that by ascribing breathing to his Eswara he accepts a separate and independent existence to air as a second to Eswara. Again attribute of sound also should have a separate existence. So Eswara or Paramatma could not be advaita but one of the three.
At one point Acharya says that Vyasa classified Vedas into four books some 5000 years back. i.e. 3000 BCE. He also ascribes the authorship of Mahabharata and Puranas to Vyasa, (P 111 & P 232) meaning that the later are 5000 years old. If that is true the Adi Sankara the original claimed guru of Kanchi Seer should have knowledge of the 18 Puranas and 18 Upa Puranas as well. On his own the Acharya said that Sankara cited from Vishnu Purana. According to a compilation by V.Panoli’s treatise on Adi sankara , the sage did not quote from any other Purana than Vishnu Purana in his Prastana Traya writings. If other Puranas were available in his time the sage would have quoted from them also since they are from the mouth of Brahma. Thus there can be two conclusions namely, that no Purana other than Vishnu Puranna was in circulation and known at the time when Sankara wrote those commentaries or that there is nothing worth quoting from them and hence Sankara did not quote from any other. In both ways the Puranas were insignificant by themselves.
Incidentally, one might mention that a compilation titled “Words of Wisdom” published by Arabindo Ashram at Pondicheri; which is claimed to have been selected by the Maharshi himself in his Ashram publication has very few quotations from Rig Veda while a large number of them were from Bible, Greek sources, Upanishads, western thinkers, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa , Vivekananda etc.
There is the legend of Pralaya at the end of Kalpa. Thus during a Brahma’s life he will experience 36,500 days and that many nights of Pralaya also. At the end of his life a Maha Pralaya for a period equal to the life time of Brahma. The Acharya cleverly concealed all these legends and their significances from his discourses.
Without being explicit the Acharya asserts the Brahmanic arrogance that Brahmins are some superior beings entrusted by Eswara to preserve and protect the Eswara’s breathings i.e. the entire Vedic hymns, their chanting and rituals. The Acharya is in the verge of claiming that without Brahmin the Eswara himself has no existence. The superiority is proclaimed when the Acharya interprets Dharma as duty entrusted to each
The Acharya claims that the Brahmin being responsible to the clean and pure upkeep of world/universal order ordained in Vedas; he shall not engage in any other avocation than disciplined chanting of Vedic hymns and the correct performance of Vedic rituals.
The Acharya tried to make out that the word Bhoogol is Vedic and it meant that our rishis knew that the earth is round. (I did not come across the word Bhoogol in Rig Veda Samhita during my two readings.) In another place he uses Brahmanda to mean that the entire universe is shaped like an egg and this word exactly tallies with current scientific concept of the universe. (How cheap an argument?) We can surely say the science has given a final form to the shape our earth but then there is no final form or such final finding to the shape of universe. Even though the foremost Indian astronomers pronounced the earth to be round like a ball moving around the sun; (Aryabhata, Varahamihira, Bhaskara et.al.) Varahamihira himself downgraded the finding and gave importance to Nava Graha Jyotisham (astrology). This idea came back to us along with English education. Even today the devotees of Jyotisham are large even amongst those who should know better.
The Acharya and people like him have no explanation for the Indians forgetting and or concealing our scientific past; instead propagating religious rituals and superstitions. When scientific findings came back to us, we fail to accept then but prevaricate. The Acharya did not advocate any scientific approach to life in universe past and present but implicit belief from all. Such demand for implicit faith is not conducive to inquiry at all. The Acharya is saying that our ancient rishis have found the truth and there is no need for us or anyone else to review those findings today. This is the one most orthodox idea of Hinduism and this was this idea and attitude resulting from it that crippled the scientific thoughts and follow up practices in ancient
An example is the stunted nature of Ayurveda. The scientific nature of Ayurveda was not allowed to develop and attain a higher level. No experiments to find the actual ingredients of the medicinal plants and substances and also of the initial surgical concepts of Susruta were abandoned in the process.
At one point the Acharya wanted us to accept what the modern science conceives that everything ultimately found to be energy is the same that our i.e. Brahmin rishis found so far in the past and called it Eswara and Brahma. But the Acharya omitted to say the finding of Brahma did not bring any progress unlike modern science. Modern science found energy and used them in sun rays, ocean waves, in the wind, in water falls, rivers and fossil remains etc.
Reading Acharya’s discourse along with the Dr. Ambedkar’s “Riddles of Hinduism” is an experience. Dr. Ambedkar’s writings show how far removed the thoughts of orthodox Brahmins from not only from the current realities and also from all historical facts. The Acharya assumes that Brahmins and following the other Hindus and non-Hindus developed mental and intellectual faculties so as not to question his discourse on Hinduism. But Dr. Ambedkar questioned the why and where fore the real motives behind the Brahminic contentions from Vedas to Puranas. He did not give any answers to those questions or Riddles as he called them. It is for people like Acharya to answer and explain those Riddles in a rational and scientific manner. Dr. Ambedkar’s Riddles are simple common sense questions arising out of the Brahmin’s claim on Vedas and Puranas.
There are innumerable scholars of Brahmin origin who raised these same questions and tried to answer and explain them. However most of them were modest in their criticism of the tenets of Hinduism as still being expounded by the Acharya.
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