TO BE CRITICALLY ANALYSED
The word Veda means knowledge. The word Veda is related to the Sanskrit root vid, meaning “to know.” Thus, it encompasses the entire corpus of knowledge, both phenomenal and numinous. Knowledge is established through three primary epistemological premises—pratyakṣa (sense perception), anumāna (logical-mathematical inference), and śabda (reliable testimony). However, when a subject employs the inductive methodology to acquire knowledge, it is inhibited by four defects: limited senses, illusory perception, mistaken inference, and cheating propensity. As a result, inductive methodology cannot reliably establish any type of knowledge, let alone the ultimate conclusions on reality. (For instance, throughout history, men have died and continue to die, but we can never conclude that man is mortal through induction, because there may be an unidentified man or a future man who will never die.)
On the other hand, the Veda is apauruṣeya, meaning that it is not a composition of any agency—human, divine, or demonic. Indeed, it is co-eternal with God, His very cognitive and contemplative function. Therefore, the Veda is untouched by the four defects. The unauthored Veda, also known as śruti, remains in the mind of God, and at the beginning of material creation, He imparts this infallible knowledge to the seers or dṛṣṭa in the form of mantra, or sound vibrations, because they are qualified by their sinless character. The entire cosmos, along with the laws of nature, is designed according to this knowledge. Thereafter, the śruti (including both the exact sounds and their meanings) is received by the worthy disciples of the seers through the aural medium, and they, in turn, instruct the next generation of qualified disciples, and so on. Thus, the Veda has been preserved and transmitted through generations in its exact form.
The Veda holds a unique status among all sources of knowledge as it is the authoritative parameter for establishing the validity of any other source of knowledge, whether empirical, rational, or prophetic, because the Veda contains the perfect cognition and contemplative logic of God. Hence, even God respects its authority, and His statements (like those in the Bhagavad Gītā) conform to the Vedic conclusions. Only in special circumstances, when He desires to delude the demons, may He criticise the Veda. (For instance, Lord Buddha preached atheism to stop animal slaughter in the pretence of Vedic injunctions.)
Moreover, in the absence of Vedic authority, there would only remain contending and evolving schools of thought, each with its separate gods, prophets, theologians, and philosophers. As a result, it would be impossible to create a universal standard of morality, and society would gradually degenerate into moral relativism, in which each person abides by his own whims and societal consensus—although uncertain and unreliable—assumes the guise of authority.
Due to these unique properties, the Vedic injunctions must be accepted as self-evident or axiomatic standards of reality. However, one need not accept Vedic authority on blind faith. It is not a revelation to a single person or a group of persons at a particular point in history and at a particular geographical location. It is an eternal tradition of plurality, based not only on philosophical disputation but also on progressive levels of self-realisation. One can accept the Veda only if the stated results of its injunctions, according to the merit of place, time, and subject, are attained. Throughout Vedic history, there have been many instances of personalities who lived according to the Vedic standard and achieved proper results, including the most conclusive realisation of direct audience with God. Thus, the validity of the Veda is established.
Since the Veda is unauthored and self-evident, its authority does not depend on any other source of knowledge. Indeed, only the assertions issued by agencies recognised by the Veda can be accepted as authoritative. The recognised agencies are śāstra (scriptures: Veda, Pāñcarātra, Purāṇa, Rāmāyaṇa, and Mahābhārata), sādhu (statements of bona fide teachers affiliated to or honoured by any of the four traditions—Śrī, Brahmā, Rudra, and Kumāra), and guru (the bona fide spiritual master who initiates or instructs an individual subject). The mechanism of śāstra-sādhu-guru (together known as śabda-pramāṇa) is fine-tuned to resolve all contradictions inherent in the process of knowledge acquisition.
The Vedic authority is not limited to any geographical, temporal, or cultural coordinates; it is applicable in all circumstances. Therefore, it is improper to refer to the Veda as a Hindu or Indian scripture. In fact, societies paying allegiance to Vedic authority existed throughout the entire planet Earth about 5000 years ago (corroborated by Purāṇa, archaeology, and local traditions). Of course, misinterpretations (Nyāya, Vaiśeṣika, Sāṃkhya, Yoga, Mīmāṃsā, etc.) and deviations (Pāśupata, Śākta, Jaina, Lokāyata, sophism, paganism, animism, etc.) also prevailed in many places. The core of this knowledge-based civilisation remained within the territory bound by the Himalayas in the north and the ocean in the south. On February 18, 3102 BCE, the Earth entered a temporal phase known as Kali-yuga, in which quarrel and hypocrisy are the predominant qualities among human beings. Since then, the true import of the Veda has gradually faded from the collective memory of several societies, reducing them to uncivilised (anārya) status.
The first major split within the core of the Āryan civilisation occurred in the vicinity of the great river known as the Sindhu. A philosopher known as Zarathuṣtra (Zoroaster) rejected the conclusion of the Veda that God is the singular cause of material creation and preached the doctrine of two separate and antagonistic causes. He thus introduced a rival to God (later referred to as Satan within the Semitic tradition) and rejected His omnipotence. This doctrine became popular within the Persian Empire and assumed the status of state religion. The Persians (from Cyrus the Great to Nādir Shāh) invaded the Sindhu valley and beyond several times. They used to pronounce Sindhu as Hindu (because the Vedic sound s is pronounced as h in the Avestan language), which, in the course of time, became the name for the entire civilisation beyond the river. Later, when the Greeks (under Alexander the Great) overran Persia and intruded into the Sindhu/Hindu valley, they began to refer to the river as Indus (dropping the h), from which the name Indikā/India is derived. Hence, both the terms Hindu and Indian are based on limiting coordinates and are foreign to the Veda.
The Vedic civilisation weakened further when the priestly class forgot the conclusion of the Veda (Vedānta) and continued the indiscriminate slaughter of animals in sacrifices meant for the satisfaction of Viṣṇu (God). Then, out of compassion, Viṣṇu descended as Buddha, deluded the demons (in the guise of priests) by preaching atheism, and wreaked havoc on the infallible status of the Veda. The message of Buddha spread throughout the Asian continent (except perhaps the western reaches beyond Persia). Another threat to Vedānta philosophy emerged in the form of Ādi Śaṅkara, who twisted the meaning of Upaniṣadic statements to deny God’s personal qualities and His eternal dominion over all living entities. The demonic class of men became his followers all over the Indian subcontinent, and thus he tacitly re-established the Vedic religion (after a prolonged period of atheistic dominance).
The Vedic superstructure nearly crumbled under the sword of Islam, which defeated the weakening and unpatriotic ruling class and ruled for about eight hundred years. The so-called Hindus were persecuted, and their places of worship and pilgrimage were destroyed. In fact, the entire trace of the ancient civilisation was wiped out from the Sindhu Valley (now in Pakistan). However, the mechanism of śāstra-sādhu-guru was preserved by great teachers like Viṣṇusvāmī, Rāmānuja, Nimbārka, and Madhva, and the pure theistic message of the Veda was gradually propagated in different parts of the subcontinent. This devotional fervour induced the appearance of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who inaugurated the Saṅkīrtana Movement (the pristine form of Vedic religion recommended for the invincible Kali-yuga) for the deliverance of the entire planet Earth from the clutches of nescience.
Meanwhile, Europe had emerged from the Dark Ages (when knowledge was choked by the doctrines of the Church) and the Crusades (the inconclusive contest of arms between two great Semitic faiths, viz. Christianity and Islam). The project of colonial expansionism took European adventurers, traders, missionaries, and mercenaries to all continents, and the indigenous cultures—along with their traditional socio-religious structures and self-sufficient economies—succumbed to the European onslaught. Although the physical control over the planet was reluctantly ceded by the Europeans, they continue to control the global knowledge system—elitist culture, school curricula, universities, mass media, pseudo-religious institutions, and so forth—and people have been turned into consumers to pump profits for the corrupt business class. Therefore, there are so many resistant movements like jihādism, Maoism, local nationalist insurgencies, and civil society protests. However, such forms of material struggle have failed to resolve the real problems of our existence.
Until the late nineteenth century, the Saṅkīrtana Movement was limited within India, where it became obscured amidst the conglomeration of false doctrines—voidism, impersonalism, mysticism, ritualism, and casteism—and illicit practices such as tāntrika sex and gañjā smoking. Due to the efforts of three great teachers in the lineage of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, viz. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī, and Prabhupāda, the movement was purged of degrading elements, institutionalised, and transformed into a global phenomenon.
Published as “The Origin and Evolution of the Vedic System”, Dandavats, 3 February 2012: https://www.dandavats.com/?p=10260
