VEDIC PHILOSOPHY.

I find that a number of us Hindus who go about our rituals do not really know anything much about our religion and philosophy.  I feel we should at least know the basic elements on which our religion is built. I am making a very brief write up on it below. The Vedas are pure nature worship in the Samhitas which later proceed deeper in thinking with the Upanishads.

A layman of philosophy considers the Vedas to be one but that is not the case. In fact each Veda consists of 4 parts.

They are:

1.       SAMHITA, 2. BRAHMANA, 3. ARANYAKA &, 4. UPANISHADS.

There are 4 Samhitas which you are well aware of and they are the

1.       RIK, 2. SAMA 3. YAJUR and 4. ATHARVA .

A Vedic sacrifice needs 4 priests:

1. HOTA- Who addresses hymns in praise of the gods to invoke their presence and participation in the sacrifice.

2. UDGATA- Who sings the hymns to entertain and please the gods.

3. ADHVARYU- Who performs the sacrifice according to the strict ritualistic code and gives the offerings to the gods.

4. BRAHMA- The general supervisor well versed in all the Vedas.

RIK is for the HOTA,

SAMA is for the UDGATA,

YAJUR is for the ADHVARYU and

ATHARVA is for the BRAHMA.  

The SAMHITA’s are in poetry and consist of hymns to various Gods.

The BRAHMANA’s  are written in prose. They are the elaboration of the complicated ritualism of the Vedas. They deal with the rules and regulations laid down for the performance of the rites and the sacrifices. There is little philosophy in the Brahmana’s and the Samhitas.

The appendages to the Brahmana’s are the ARANYAKA’s. They mark the transition from ritualistic to philosophic thought. There is a mystic interpretation of the Vedic sacrifices in them.  

The concluding portions of the Aranyakas are the UPANISHAD’s. These are intensely philosophical and spiritual.

There are said to be 108 Upanishads in all. However, most of them have repetition in thought and only 10 on which Sankaracharya has commented are taken as important. They are

1. ISHA,

2. KENA,

3. KATHA,

4. PRASHNA,

5. MUNDAKA,

6. MANDUKYA,

7. AITAREYA,

8. TAITTIRIYA,

9. CHANDOGYA,

10 BRIHADARANAYAKA.

 The Upanishads regard KARMA KANDA as secondary, being only a help to purify the mind by which one is made fit to receive the real teaching about Brahman. 

FUNDAMENTALS OF THE PHILOSOPHY IN THE VEDAS

ATMAN: The individual self is the nearest approach to the Absolute, and it is the highest thing we know. It is called the ultimate witness or SAKSHI and as such is one with the ABSOLUTE. All other things like mind, feeling, body etc. Are all products of AVIDYA. All these surround the individual self and constitute its individuality. The self is one with Brahman. The self is immortal, self-proved and self-luminous.

BRAHMAN: In the CHANDOGYA, it is described as TAJJALAN-as that from which the world arises, into which it returns and by which it is supported and lives. In the TAITTIRIYA, Brahman is defined as that from which all the beings are born, by which they live, and into which they are absorbed. All beings, all Gods, all Worlds, and all organs are contained in the Universal Self that is Brahman.

BRAHMAN & ATMAN: The same reality is called from the subjective side as ATMAN, and from the objective side as BRAHMAN. The ABSOLUTE of the Upanishads manifests itself as the subject as well as the object and transcends them both. The ABSOLUTE is Pure Existence, Pure Knowledge, and Pure Bliss all in one. It is called SATCHIDANANADA. 

Brahman is described in two ways in the Upanishads. It is called COSMIC BRAHMAN or SAPRAPANCHA which means all comprehensive, SAGUNA which means full of Good Qualities and SAVISESHA which means full of good attributes.

And it is also called ACOSMIC  BRAHMAN or NISPRAPANCHA which means not limited by space, NIRGUNA which means quality less,  NIRVISESHA  which means without any attributes, and ANIRVACHANIYA which means indescribable.

The former is called the lower Brahman (APARA BRAHMA) or ISHWARA, and the latter is called the higher Brahman (PARA BRAHMA) or the ABSOLUTE.   

Saprapancha, Savisesha, Saguna Brahman-------APARA BRAHMA or ISHWARA.

Nisprapancha, Nirvisesha, Nirguna Brahman---- PARA BRAHMA or the ABSOLUTE.

The COSMIC BRAHMAN or APARA BRAHMA is regarded as the cause of production, maintenance and destruction of the Universe. The ACSOMIC BRAHMAN or the PARA BRAHMA or the ABSOLUTE cannot be known and can only be described by saying he is not that, he is not that because the moment one brings Brahman into the intellect it becomes ISWARA and not the Absolute.

He who knows BRAHMAN becomes BRAHMAN. Only by knowing it one can cross the ocean of birth and death. There is no other way for liberation.