Wednesday, March 11, 2015

KRISHNA YAJURVEDA

'Ved Vaani : 

================ from Krishna Yajur Veda ================

(Explanation by Jagadguru Sri Bharati Tirtha Mahaswami Ji, Peethadhipati, Dakshin Aamnaya)

Teaching from the Yajurveda :

From the Yajur Veda, we get multifarious teachings.The Yajurveda contains a number of arthavādās (portions which are not to be taken literally, which are in the form of stories, for the purpose of highlighting a certain value, practice, or certain knowledge). From such arthavādās, we however get several important teachings. 

In the 3rd khāṇḍa, 1st praśna of Taittiriya Samhita, we have the mantra :

प्रजापतिर्कामयत प्रजासृजेयेति स सर्पानसृजत | 

........ Taittiriya Samhita 3.1.1

Brahmāji had the desire to create human beings, for that he did tapas. However, when he did tapas for progeny, he did not get what he desired, but only snakes appeared.

Therefore he did tapas again.

स तपो तप्यत | वयाग्स्यसृजत | 

........ Taittiriya Samhita 3.1.1

The second time he did tapas, birds appeared. Brahmāji was not satisfied once more, so he did tapas again. Then finally human beings appeared. Now, this is an arthavāda, a story portion in the Yajur Veda. But we learn something from this. The teaching here is that if we start any activity for śreyas , any good activity, we should not leave it until it is completed and its result is obtained. This teaching appears in other śāstrās literally -

विघ्नैः पुनः पुनरपि प्रतिहन्यमानाः | 
प्राराब्धं उत्तमगुणाः न परित्याजयन्ति ||

Amongst the human beings, there are three types. There are some who start some Dharmic activity, they undertake that saṁkalpa , that commitment. In between the performance of that activity, some obstruction or problem arises. Once that comes, these people stop continuing that Dharmic activity because they do not have the interest in facing the problem and overcoming it. This is one category of people, a mediocre category.

A worse category are those who don't even start such Dharmic activities because they feel that there is no point in doing it as anyway obstacles are going to come and they cannot be bothered to handle them.

प्राराभ्येते न खलु विघ्नभयेन नीचैः |

Thus, the worse category of people do not even start any good activity fearing obstacles, while the mediocre category of people start the activity but leave it in between. However, the best category, the uttamās, overcome all obstacles and problems and complete the activity which they have undertaken. Thus, the story of Brahmāji reveals this teaching to us, for just like these uttamās, Brahmāji also undertook a Dharmic enterprise and persevered through several obstacles to overcome them and finally achieve his goal.This is one teaching we gain from the Yajur Veda .

Amongst the many other teachings in the Yajur Veda , there is also another very important one.The Yajur Veda gives us another arthavāda, a story portion, to teach us that if there is a satsanga happening somewhere, then we have to take the initiative ourselves to go there and become a part of it. We should not wait for anyone's invitation to go there. The arthavāda in the Yajur Veda tells us about the palāśa tree did this.

देवा वै ब्रह्मन्नवदन्त | तत्पर्ण उपाश्रुणोत् | 

........ Taittiriya Samhita 3.5.7

It seems the Devas were doing Brahma-vichāra, discussing the highest knowledge that is the knowledge of Brahman. That time, this palāśa tree went there and was listening to this.

The Veda says that because the palāśa tree went there and was listening to this divine discussion, it has got lot of glory and greatness. Therefore, one should use the palāśa tree and its constituents to prepare a certain material called juhū which is used in the yajnās.The palāśa tree got this glory because it went by itself to participate in the satsanga.The point here is not to question how the palāśa tree can walk, how it can go and listen to something, etc. This is an arthavāda, a story portion. However, the grand teaching we obtain here is that wherever a satsanga is happening, we have to go there and participate in it by ourselves without waiting for any special invitation from someone.The reason is that by going to the satsanga we can get to know several good Dharmic ideals.

Thus, in this manner, we get several teachings from the arthavādās present in the Yajur Veda. Apart from this we get many direct teachings also. 

For example, in the Taittirīya upaniṣad, we come across the teachings -

वेदमनुचचार्योऽन्तेवासिनमनुशास्ति | सत्यं वद | धर्मं चर | स्वाध्यायान्मा प्रमदः | 

...... Taittiriya Upanishad, Shikshavalli, Anuvaka 11

(One has to speak the truth always. One has to follow Dharma always. One has to respect and honor one's parents. One has to revere one's ācārya very much. One has to serve one's guests well. If one gets any confusion regarding what is Dharma, one has to approach the great Dharmic heros, perform the actions as done by them, and go in the same path as they have.)

In this manner we obtain several teachings from the Yajur Veda.

Teaching from the Sāma Veda :

Similarly if we take the Sāma Veda , the teachings we obtain from it is no less. Just because it is set in a musical fashion, that doesn't mean that there are no teachings for us in the Sāma Veda . 

To illustrate this, we can take up the Setu Sāma. In the Setu Sāma, we have a very essential upadeśa given to us. The Setu Sāma says that for a human being to attain śreyas , complete fulfillment and security, there are four obstacles. If the four obstacles are removed, then one gets śreyas. The four obstacles are krodha (anger), lobha (greed), asatya (lack of truth), and aśraddhā (lack of śraddhā ). These four are obstacles in the path to śreyas and they should be removed.

Krodha (anger) should be removed by the practice of akrodha, which is nothing but kṣamā or patience. By the practice of patience, krodha should be removed. Lobha (greed) should be removed by the practice of dāna (giving). 

The Veda says, 

" एषा गतिः एतदमृतं स्वर्गछ ज्योतिर्गछ "

If you remove these four inner enemies, then you can enjoy not only the temporal happiness available in svarga but also the highest happiness which is union with the Lord. Having told this, the śruti , the Sāma Veda addresses us, " he catura " (हे चतुर), " O intelligent one, understand this teaching and implement it in your life. This is a teaching available to us from the Sāma Veda.

" Om Shanti Shanti Shanti "'===== from Krishna Yajur Veda ========
(Explanation by Jagadguru Sri Bharati Tirtha Mahaswami Ji, Peethadhipati, Dakshin Aamnaya)
Teaching from the Yajurveda :
From the Yajur Veda, we get multifarious teachings.The Yajurveda contains a number of arthavādās (portions which are not to be taken literally, which are in the form of stories, for the purpose of highlighting a certain value, practice, or certain knowledge). From such arthavādās, we however get several important teachings.
In the 3rd khāṇḍa, 1st praśna of Taittiriya Samhita, we have the mantra :
प्रजापतिर्कामयत प्रजासृजेयेति स सर्पानसृजत |
........ Taittiriya Samhita 3.1.1
Brahmāji had the desire to create human beings, for that he did tapas. However, when he did tapas for progeny, he did not get what he desired, but only snakes appeared.
Therefore he did tapas again.
स तपो तप्यत | वयाग्स्यसृजत |
........ Taittiriya Samhita 3.1.1
The second time he did tapas, birds appeared. Brahmāji was not satisfied once more, so he did tapas again. Then finally human beings appeared. Now, this is an arthavāda, a story portion in the Yajur Veda. But we learn something from this. The teaching here is that if we start any activity for śreyas , any good activity, we should not leave it until it is completed and its result is obtained. This teaching appears in other śāstrās literally -
विघ्नैः पुनः पुनरपि प्रतिहन्यमानाः |
प्राराब्धं उत्तमगुणाः न परित्याजयन्ति ||
Amongst the human beings, there are three types. There are some who start some Dharmic activity, they undertake that saṁkalpa , that commitment. In between the performance of that activity, some obstruction or problem arises. Once that comes, these people stop continuing that Dharmic activity because they do not have the interest in facing the problem and overcoming it. This is one category of people, a mediocre category.
A worse category are those who don't even start such Dharmic activities because they feel that there is no point in doing it as anyway obstacles are going to come and they cannot be bothered to handle them.
प्राराभ्येते न खलु विघ्नभयेन नीचैः |
Thus, the worse category of people do not even start any good activity fearing obstacles, while the mediocre category of people start the activity but leave it in between. However, the best category, the uttamās, overcome all obstacles and problems and complete the activity which they have undertaken. Thus, the story of Brahmāji reveals this teaching to us, for just like these uttamās, Brahmāji also undertook a Dharmic enterprise and persevered through several obstacles to overcome them and finally achieve his goal.This is one teaching we gain from the Yajur Veda .
Amongst the many other teachings in the Yajur Veda , there is also another very important one.The Yajur Veda gives us another arthavāda, a story portion, to teach us that if there is a satsanga happening somewhere, then we have to take the initiative ourselves to go there and become a part of it. We should not wait for anyone's invitation to go there. The arthavāda in the Yajur Veda tells us about the palāśa tree did this.
देवा वै ब्रह्मन्नवदन्त | तत्पर्ण उपाश्रुणोत् |
........ Taittiriya Samhita 3.5.7
It seems the Devas were doing Brahma-vichāra, discussing the highest knowledge that is the knowledge of Brahman. That time, this palāśa tree went there and was listening to this.
The Veda says that because the palāśa tree went there and was listening to this divine discussion, it has got lot of glory and greatness. Therefore, one should use the palāśa tree and its constituents to prepare a certain material called juhū which is used in the yajnās.The palāśa tree got this glory because it went by itself to participate in the satsanga.The point here is not to question how the palāśa tree can walk, how it can go and listen to something, etc. This is an arthavāda, a story portion. However, the grand teaching we obtain here is that wherever a satsanga is happening, we have to go there and participate in it by ourselves without waiting for any special invitation from someone.The reason is that by going to the satsanga we can get to know several good Dharmic ideals.
Thus, in this manner, we get several teachings from the arthavādās present in the Yajur Veda. Apart from this we get many direct teachings also.
For example, in the Taittirīya upaniṣad, we come across the teachings -
वेदमनुचचार्योऽन्तेवासिनमनुशास्ति | सत्यं वद | धर्मं चर | स्वाध्यायान्मा प्रमदः |
...... Taittiriya Upanishad, Shikshavalli, Anuvaka 11
(One has to speak the truth always. One has to follow Dharma always. One has to respect and honor one's parents. One has to revere one's ācārya very much. One has to serve one's guests well. If one gets any confusion regarding what is Dharma, one has to approach the great Dharmic heros, perform the actions as done by them, and go in the same path as they have.)
In this manner we obtain several teachings from the Yajur Veda.
Teaching from the Sāma Veda :
Similarly if we take the Sāma Veda , the teachings we obtain from it is no less. Just because it is set in a musical fashion, that doesn't mean that there are no teachings for us in the Sāma Veda .
To illustrate this, we can take up the Setu Sāma. In the Setu Sāma, we have a very essential upadeśa given to us. The Setu Sāma says that for a human being to attain śreyas , complete fulfillment and security, there are four obstacles. If the four obstacles are removed, then one gets śreyas. The four obstacles are krodha (anger), lobha (greed), asatya (lack of truth), and aśraddhā (lack of śraddhā ). These four are obstacles in the path to śreyas and they should be removed.
Krodha (anger) should be removed by the practice of akrodha, which is nothing but kṣamā or patience. By the practice of patience, krodha should be removed. Lobha (greed) should be removed by the practice of dāna (giving).
The Veda says,
" एषा गतिः एतदमृतं स्वर्गछ ज्योतिर्गछ "
If you remove these four inner enemies, then you can enjoy not only the temporal happiness available in svarga but also the highest happiness which is union with the Lord. Having told this, the śruti , the Sāma Veda addresses us, " he catura " (हे चतुर), " O intelligent one, understand this teaching and implement it in your life. This is a teaching available to us from the Sāma Veda.

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