HINDUTVAM SERIES 20

SCRIPTURES
 
Q.    What is the main scripture of the Hindus?
A.    Vedas.
 
Q.    Is it an ordinary book?
A.    No, it is a revealed scripture.
 
Q.    To whom was it revealed?
A.    To devas named - Agni, Aditya, Vayu, Angiras.
 
Q.    What is the meaning of Veda?
A.    The word Veda means knowledge, and literally it is a book of wisdom.
 
Q.    How many Vedas are there?
A.    There are four Vedas, viz., Rig, Saam, Yajur and Atharva.
 
Q.    In what language the Vedas were written?
A.    Sanskrit.
 
Q.    What do the different Vedas contain?
A.     All. the four Vedas contain high philosophical and divine knowledge; still Rig Veda is mainly for Hymns, Yajur Veda is for sacrificial formulas, Saam Veda is for sacrificial songs and Atharva Veda is for scientific formulas.
 
Q.    What is the age of Vedas?
A.     The position of the Vedas is quite different from that of other revealed scriptures. Saayanaachaarya, the great commentator of the Vedas, says, "Yo Vedebhyah akhilam jagat nirmaame", that is, God created this world with the wisdom and knowledge of the Vedas. That is to say that the knowledge found in the Vedas is eternal. Yet, in the beginning of each cycle of creation the knowledge of the Vedas is revealed. In this cycle the Vedas were first revealed to the Devas - Agni, Aditya, Vayu and Angiras. After that the knowledge was revealed to the Rishis, who are called 'Mantra-drastaa', like Vishwaamitra, Vaibaswata Muni, Vashishtha, Baama Deva (all revealation did not take place at the same moment) in the beginning of man's creation, that is during the Vaibaswata Manvantar, age of which is 120,533,030 years. This implies that 120,533,030 years is the age of the literary form or present word-form of the Vedas, though in knowledge-form it was revealed in the beginning of 'Aadi sristi' (1,972,940,030 years ago) to the deities - Agni, Aditya, Vaayu and Angiras. Of course, this is the orthodox view of Arya Samaj, Swami Vivekananda and ourselves; while the view of other Indian scholars vary from two lacs of years to ten thousands years. But, western scholars whose attempts have always been to bring down the age of Indian civilisation say that the age of the Vedas cannot be older than 1500 B.C.


Courtesy: Hindutvam Vol. 1. Published by: Fiji Sevashram Sangha, Suva, Fiji