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| Vedas. |
Sanatan Dharma (Hinduism) is one of
the oldest religions on this planet which is largely confined within the south-eastern
region of Asia. Due to the labyrinthine nature of the Hindu scriptures, people
find it difficult to understand this theology completely hereby resulting in
increased cases of religious conversions in India. Few of the missionaries are
converting ignorant Hindus on the basis of distorted tales from Puranas. It’s appalling that most of the Hindus in the current society didn’t
acknowledge Vedas as the ultimate religious book of Hindus (Dharma Grantha)
because all the answers regarding Hinduism lie in the Vedas.
But the problem didn’t stop here the
translations of these ancient scriptures were also misinterpreted to an extent
that the entire meaning of a Shloka gets altered. This message is for all the
Hindus, who feel suspicious towards their own religion just because someone said
something absurd related to Hindu deity, and in turn, you feel ashamed for being
a Hindu shows the lack of knowledge towards your own religion. The garbled Puranas
had successfully instilled suspicious behaviour within the youths of India due
to which most of them turn into an atheist or get converted. This portrays the
negligence of Hindu parents who never recommended their kids to understand their
roots. As they grew up they heard absurd Puranic tales framed up the Marxist people
or the religious groups for the purpose of spreading their ‘ANTI-HINDU’
propaganda.
Remember, Vedas are the ultimate
source of knowledge and universal truths. Don’t fall for these magical tales
from Puranas. If you ever get confused try to find answers from a person who deems
to be an expert in Vedas
But what are Vedas and Puranas?
Let’s start from scratch.
The primitive Hindu text has been
divided into Shrutis and Smritis.
1)
The Vedas fall in the category of
Shrutis which means that a record of universal truths that was preached by the
supreme divinity to the Rishis. Due to this reason, Vedas are considered as the
words of God.
2)
The Puranas(ancient history) is the
collection of scriptures that include stories composed for the purpose of
simplifying the principles of Vedas which will make it easier to understand.
This doesn’t mean that
Puranas and Itihasa (Ramayan and Mahabharat) are full of lies and allegories.
Instead, Puranas are partially accurate just because of its different
interpolations surrounding the same God due to which it is doubtful to believe
in its originality.
VEDAS:
Vedas are the
vibrations (sound) of the cosmos that was heard by the Rishis or Sages during
the ancient period. These vibrations revealed the universal truths for mankind.
A lot of Rishis compiled these sets of “Principles” by God in the form of Vedas
and it was eventually divided into four volumes
A)
Rigveda
B)
Yajurveda
C)
Atharvaveda
D)
Samveda
Vedas are called “Apourushya” which
means that it is not echoed by any human thoughts. In accordance with the Vedas, God is called Para
Brahman or Para Atman which is formless and divine but this doesn’t mean that
Brahman (God) can’t take any forms. All the modern Gods in the Hindu tradition
are the manifestations of Brahman. The gods we worship nowadays are the divine the personification of “Para-Brahman”.
The Vedas were followed by
Upanishads. I will discuss Upanishads in another article.
PURANAS:
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| Puranas |
But the authenticity of the Puranas
can’t be trusted for two basic reasons:
1)
The most vulnerable quality of
Puranas is the unrealistic additions and references of mysticisms, magic, and
impossible deeds. Due to this reason the sceptic society loves to object to the authenticity of the events mentioned in Puranas.
2)
Multiple stories revolving around the
same deity has nourished the suspicion towards the genuineness of the tales.
Due to this reason the current rational society is reprimanding the originality
of these scriptures.
If we think about both the texts we
can say that the Vedas are completed by the Puranas because there are many
people in our country who will not be able to understand the complex statements
mentioned in our Vedas. If Vedas are the ‘law Books’ then Puranas are the ‘case
studies’.
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| Indrani at Shaivism temple. |
At the end of the day, we humans have
to understand the superiority of universal truth, rather than inter-religious
strife. It’s us who can distinguish between the good and the bad but before
that, we have to have a clear concept of principles that will guide us to the right
path. For that, we Hindus have to go through Vedas (for basic knowledge of
idealism) and the Puranas (for clarifying our doubts).
Remember Sanatan Dharma is all about
spirituality and openness to society. Try to explore the depth of it and
you will get the answers.
Jai Shree Ram.
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