Vedic philosophy
--- Bhupendra Kumar Dave
Philosophy is a subject of ‘delight’ particularly when mind tries to find ‘truth and only truth’ and the glorious path it follows to lead the man out of the quagmire of lust ago of power and wealth. Philosophy is the art of wooing wisdom.
We regularly encourage and consistently cultivate our mind and it is our mind that determines our character formation and ultimately our destiny. What actually is the mind? It is a point where the rays of intelligence and knowledge acquired by the brain converge to meet the rays of wisdom, borne out of experience and radiating from the heart i.e. Antahkaran. The brain as well as the heart both function as the sense-organs all through our life and they together shape our thoughts. Hence the mind becomes the source of our thoughts --- where worldly and spiritual values that we have been cultivating merge into one.
An intelligent man tries to eradicate false values and wrong tendencies of thought pattern. To have a healthy mind within, one has to cultivate inspiring thoughts such as purity, love, devotion, faith and compassion, confidence in oneself, quietness within, serenity of mind and a ready willingness to adopt self-less activities. The uplifting, inspiring thoughts that we entertain, richly accumulate our mental wealth and intellectual treasure of purity, serenity, love, cheerfulness and aspirations for the nobler gains.
Man has been striving with chaos from the very beginning i.e. from the time when he got ‘life’ as ‘a gift from nowhere’ --- without any struggle. It was a magical gift because with this man also gained ‘a freedom to live’ with almost an empty mind because philosophy was yet to sprout in his fertile mind. Hence the life remained meaningless ---- self-cancelling vacillation and futility. The cave life offered only dark shelters and dense dark forests to roam at the mercy of light that nature provided without and thus man also remained ignorant of the light within.
But before it was too late (about five thousand years back), we heard that meaningful echo of thought that made man to think and enter the glorious field of ‘truth’.
“O Lord, thou lead us
From untruth unto truth
From darkness unto light
From death unto immortality.”
असता मा सद्गमय
तमसो मा ज्योर्तिगमय
मृत्योर्मामृतं गमय।
हे प्रभो! हमें असत् से सत की ओर अंधकार से प्रकाश की ओर एवं मृत्यु से अमरत्व की ओर ले चलो। --- Brhadaranyaka Upnishad 1.3.38
These were not merely words of philosophy signifying the sprouting of small and tender sapling of philosophical thought, but were the sweet fruits resulting from the blossoming flowers of Vedic thoughts. There was, of course, the need to know ‘thyself’. What is man and what can he become? The clear thinking and exact analysis led us to two distinct words ‘आत्मा व परमात्मा’ Atma and Parmatma and these words led the mind to deep meditational stage.
The art of meditation helped to search the unfathomable secrets of life and death --- the concept of light and darkness in terms of truth and untruth, virtues and vices and all the other dualities that exist in the world.
Atma and parmatma are not just abstract words. These words provide answer to all the questions that Socrates later on put before his companions. ‘to ti what is it? What do you mean by yourself? What is the meaning of virtues? Such innumerable questions have come in the minds of thinking man. Vedas went deep into the realm of thoughts and unearthed answers --- answers that quench the thirst of philosophers and lead them on to search deeper knowledge. Vedas have also tried to segregate evil thoughts from the good and serene and evolved the concept of morality. Morality was not to be used as a weapon to pull down the strength of the strong. In Gita we notice that morality intends to provide strength to the strong.
In Vedas we also come across the divine words
‘वसुधैव कुटुम्कम्’।
The earth is one family.
In family there exists freedom of thought, expression and belief. Everyone’s thoughts haves some extra-ordinary approach to life. Knowledge has its special seat in all human brain and knowledge is piloted by the soul. All men have this power and quality and they have mind rich and strong enough to turn human life into the temple of feeling and courage ---- a delightful theatre of meditation and understanding --- a shrine of truth and wisdom. Every human mind has more light than fire. Yet so many pious minds stand aside unused by the world and many more are even put behind bars to face execution.
Remember that they are brave and wise men who have subdued the internal enemies and all those enemies who are engulfed by the wide spread evils of hatred, avarice, malice etc. To attain freedom from this fraudulence Atharva Veda says:
Gather your strength,
O human soul!
A stream of eternal life flows on a stony bed;
leave behind the traits of malignant forces and move forward with firm steps, and cross over to the realm of eternal glory.
---- Atharva Veda 12.2.26.7
Every thought that the fertile mind breeds has in it a piece of poetry that personifies and dramatises nature and fills it with the fragrance of the creator. These thoughts therefore need to be analised, before they are discarded.
The history of philosophy reveals that there was no need to a decree and force Socrates to drink hemlock. There was no need to bring indictment against Aristotle, ‘Forcing him to leave the city. He would not have said that he would give Athens a chance to sin a second time against philosophy.
In India, philosophical thoughts have been honoured and Vedas for the first time in the history of mankind reveal that man has ‘a thinking soul’ where thoughts have a definite meaning and have the force strong enough to make man ‘a representative of God’ and establish a culture of reasoning, amalgamated wisely with truth. The Vedas represent a crucible where thoughts though appearing imaginary in the initial stage are treated with reasoning till they attain purification.
Words particularly in sacred scripts lead the people to action. Good words produce good deeds but those who do not heed and remain ignorant of these good words may tend to perform evil deeds. The Mahabharata says, ‘What would scriptures do for one that has not sense of his own? A mirror is useless to one who has no perspective.’
In Vedas we find that every word has an expression. In old days it was a practice to recite them so that no day passes without having carried out at least one good deed. The words of wisdom even conquer an evil heart and force men to do wise things. Rig Veda reveals:
Great streams of divine
words flow out
From the minds of sages
With the speed of a gale
Like rapids rushing down a slope,
Surging with the high
waves of wisdom.
They beat through all obstacles
As does a courageous war-horse.
------ Rig Veda 4.58.7
On wealth of wisdom a hymn in Rig Veda prays:
Let us be granted that
knowledge
which cannot be robbed
by dacoits;
Let the wise be given wealth;
Let there be light for
the wise.
Vedic philosophy consists of an amalgam of laws of nature and laws of Supreme power so as to constitute the laws of human life for its blissful existence. Vedas have to a very great extent have succeeded to fathom the great sea of the values of life and nature where we are merely a transient wave --- wave strong enough to shape the time. Vedas have been the rising sun --- a fresh morning in the life of Indians. They represent the Hindu philosophy and its fragrance has remained undoubted and unadulterated since then.
In every word of Vedas wee feel at once the lure of beauty, the call of truth establishing the calmest reasoning with utmost perfection. Satyam Shivam Suderam all amalgamated into one. While introducing the wonderful realm of Indian philosophy to human mind, they also lead us to reason out the facts of existence, where a flawless soul residing in human body leads us to merge with the wholeness of parmatma. We breathe more easily and contently as we grasp the contents of the Vedas for they illuminate our path of reasoning imparting us all the trustworthy knowledge of divinity.
Study of these Vedic thoughts indicates that we know the world only through our ideas --- and ideas may turn out to be not casual but ideal. A thinking mind that shapes our ideas can move ahead in search of truth and since truth is unfathomable, this journey becomes like going on for search of infinity. Rig Veda therefore suggests that it is necessary to expand our thinking range and prays:
आ नो भद्राः ऋतवो यंतु विष्वतः ।
Let noble thoughts come to us from all directions.
----Rig Veda, I-89-I
Noble thoughts are widely spread in the world. Hence to turn a deaf ear to others thoughts and to discard them is indicative of narrow mentality. This prayer also makes us aware of the fact that light coming from any source whatsoever has the power to remove darkness. Light does not get polluted for it is energy that makes us know the existence of all-prevailing God --- in every nook and corner of the universe. To avail the advantage of this light, it only needs creating a free space in our mind to experience enlightenment. A hyme in Atharva Veda says:
Open yourself, create
free space;
release the bound one
From his bonds!
Like a newborn child, freed
from the womb,
be free to move on every path!
----Atharve Veda 6.121.4
The Supreme power has given abundance of freedom of thought, expression, faith and belief to express ourself. Hindu philosophy has enjoyed this freedom to the fullest extent. Every thought has to be a lamp --- a light to illuminate our path and every step we take should lead us on to an illuminated pious path where the light of Atman is always there to drive out our darkness. This light shines forth like a sun in its splendour revealing Brahman.
Philosophical thoughts provide nourishment to our thinking mind and help us to think reasonably, particularly when this thought distillation is perfect and pure. Chandogya Upnishad says:
When food is pure,
Mind too is pure and bright;
Thence memory clear and
Sure, of cause-effect;
Thence solving of all knots
And complexes;
Thence freedom from all
Misery of soul,
And crossing from dark to
realm of light.
---- Chandogya Upanishad
It is the mind that provides meaning to life. We shape our life with the help of our mind. This can cause degradation if it is fed with thoughts that lack purity. The mind is friend of conditioned soul and his enemy as well. Those who have conquered the mind, the mind becomes the best friend to them --- an established Guru or even an incarnation of God to ward off evil thoughts, but for one who has failed to conquer the mind, his mind proves to be his greatest enemy.
Why do we need purity of thoughts and action? Vedas go right into the roots of thinking mind and fide that:
Life is a perennial search for truth.
The restless swan --- the human
soul --- is on the journey
infinite to find truth.
For thousands of years he is
flying with his wings out-
stretched and the will to
reach the unscaled heights of
heaven, higher and
ever higher;
the restless swan is on the
Journey infinite.
He has all the blessings of the
mighty God, his piercing eyes
perceive all the universe
below, yet he knows no rest,
no peace and keeps flying
higher and ever higher.
The restless swan is on the
journey infinite.
----Rig Veda 10.8.18
The unscaled heights that man wants to reach is the stage of surrendering as has been clarified in the following lines of Katha Upnishad:
The wise man should surrender his words to his mind
And this he should surrender to the knowing self
And the knowing self he should surrender to the Great self
And that he should surrender to the Peaceful self.
Svetasvatara Upanishad declares that:
He is the one God, hidden
in all beings, all-pervading,
the self within all beings,
watching over all works,
dwelling in all beings, the
witness, the perceiver, the
only one, free from qualities.
---- Svetasvatara Upanishad 6.11
Brahman shines forth,
vast, self-luminous, inconceivable,
subtle than the subtle.
He is far beyond what is far,
yet here near at hand.
He is seen here, dwelling in
the cave of the hearts of
conscious beings.
…. Mundaka Upanishad 3.1.7
The spiritual literature of India that we are at present discussing is the vision of the seers, sages and thinkers of ancient India. They require close study because the words come out from the depth of truth.
The Vedic hymns speak of the universal law of unreal and real --- the very premise of duality and non-duality --- the very concept of substance and non-substance going right up to the basic particle that is neither real nor unreal, devoid of space and time and is neither substance nor non-substance. The Vedas go up to the philosophy of nonduel reality of all that is and the unification of field theory. They go up to the level of Brahman --- a point beyond and which everything is explicable. Vedas are therefore known as beyond time.
When the words transcend into these scriptures, life and language alike become sacred. Vedic knowledge is enshrined in संहिता (which has only Vedic mantras) and ब्राह्मण and आरण्यका (since they were created in jangles) where they collectively become Vedas. This helped the sages and seers to create Upanishads which collectively formed Vedanta. In Vedanta we find the study of the Supreme Being (परमात्मा,ब्रह्म), the self (आत्मा ) and the universe (ब्रम्हांड़) .Here we come across सत् चित आनंद which is the indication of Brahman and this needs deep meditation to understand. Taittiriya Upanishad clarifies that Brahman can be understood only by its impact on human soul --- the joy of Brahman.
He who knows the joy of Brahman, which words cannot express
and the mind cannot reach,
is free from fear.
He is not distressed by the thought
.Why did I not do what is right?
Why did I do what is wrong?
He who knows the joy of Brahman,
knowing both good and evil
transcends them both.
ब्राह्मण आरण्यका ….. Taittiriya Upanishad 2.7-9
In the realm of Brahman there are no boundaries --- it is totally free area --- it is space that is boundless and free. He is beyond time and space. He is eternally free and his freedom is limitless with cause, effect and causation all in one. He is perfect and perfecter. For Him is truth is ultimate nature, infinite bless and consciousness. He is real --- an essence of truth, consciousness and beauty. On Him Atharva Veda says:-
The creator is perfect,
He possesses perfect power.
The perfect universe derives life
from the perfect Creator.
Let us comprehend
this perfect power
that bestows life on all beings.
…..Atharva Veda
Prasna Upanishad says:-
He knowing all, becomes all.
But amongst us who says that he knows Brahman, knows only a fraction of it, yet he known that which is worth knowing. Knowing only a fraction is knowing all that is knowledgeable.
Atharva Veda tells a very valuable thing:-
Who knowth Him, knowth himself and is not afraid to die.
‘To know oneself is the gist of Hindu philosophy. Man has to live his own life in the midst of all that is happening in the world. He is tutored by his own mind] but mind takes pride in wandering away from the self ---- the Atman, and very soon forgets the existence of Atma. The mind tempts us to see and enjoy the glamorous world and we in the process forget our self. Not knowing our self is an absolute ignorance.
But our ego treats this ignorance as an offshoot of knowledge. Such deceit of ignorance misguides our life and we ultimately reach a point where we feel exhausted. Our own ego crumbles down and life becomes an empty void. Mundakopanishad says:-
Existing in the midst of ignorance,
thinking themselves wise
with a surfeit of worldly
knowledge, deluded beings wander
about suffering again and again,
like the blind led by the blind.
Preoccupied with the manifold
deceits of ignorance,
such people believe
they have achieved the goal of life.
They are, however,
subject to emotional attachments and
therefore never find the Truth
but are cast down in dejection
when the rewards
for any good actions are exhausted.
---- Mundakopanishad
As oil in sesame seed,
as butter in cream,
as water in hidden springs,
as fire in fire sticks,
so is the atman grasped in
one’s own self
when one searches for him
in truth and with fervour.
The atman pervades all’
like butter in milk]
He is the source of
self knowledge and
ascetic fervour.
This is the Brahman ---
teaching, the highest goal.
…. Mundakopanishad 11.2.5-8
The realisation as stated in scriptures is not to behold with ordinary eyes, but with the eyes of wisdom. Real vision is that where there is no such thing as the seen and the seer. In fact no vision can grasp Him but His grasp is over all visions. Mundaka Upanishad says that He is seen by contemplation.
Eye cannot see him,
nor words reveal him;
by the senses, austerity
or works he is not known.
When the mind is cleansed
by the grace of wisdom,
he is seen by contemplation
--- the one without parts.
…..Mundaka Upanishad 3.1.8
Realisation is also as a state of reaching consciousness when one comes to a point of expanded love and inner vision and there suddenly undergoes a lightening change that removes the ignorance which has been obsessing the self. It is to be remembered that for this transformation there exists no intermediary stage. The only stage involved is of self purification which helps to break the barrier between the self and Brahman and grants us the knowledge that we are one with Him.
This process is explained in Chandogya Upanishad in the following way:-
From the dark I go to the varicoloured
I go to the dark.
Shaking off evil, as a horse his hairs;
shaking off the body,
as the moon releases itself
from the mouth of Rahu;
I, a perfected soul (krtatman)
pass into the uncreated Brahma world
--- into it pass!
… Chandogya Upanishad
The mind set round with intelligence gets free from the intoxication of sensuality, from the intoxication of becoming, from the intoxication of delusion, from the intoxication of ignorance. Here ‘self’ has the entire role to play for attaining realisation, as is said in Chandogya Upanishad:-
Memory is from the self;
Understanding from self;
Meditation from the self;
Thought from the self;
Conception from the self;
Mind from the self;
Speech from the self;
Name from the self;
Sacred formulae --- mantra from the self;
Sacred works from the self;
Indeed this whole world from the self.
… Chandogya Upanishad
The crave to have realisation of Brahman, which is termed as ‘spirituality’ is due to ‘the self’ and ‘the super-sense-organ the mind’ orbiting around the self like electrons moving around the nucleus in the atom. When the light of truth engulfs the mind with its several rays, the mind awakes. The awakened mind thinks and acts in tune with ‘the self’ and the body. The ‘self’ is Atma, as defined by Hindu Philosophers, unites with the mind and the body. This unification of the body, the mind and the Atma (soul) means having a close relationship where mind and body with their mutual love and respect, devote themselves to the soul. They --- the mind and the body having full control over themselves, follow the commands of the soul. It means that the mind and the body attain alertness when they fuse with the soul and become one.
The constantly moving thoughts and action thus derive energy from the consciousness, which is called ‘Prana’ --- the vehicle of Paramatma --- the primal energy. The human body thus resembles the entire universe where we are the projected form of God --- the Brahman --- the consciousness, lead our life.
We have the following description of human life in Kathopanishad:-
Know that the soul is the lord of the Chariot,
the body is the chariot,
the intellect is the charioteer,
the mind is the reins.
The senses, they say, are the horses
and the material objects
are the fields of pastures?
The wise men say that the soul,
joined with the mind and senses,
enjoys the material objects.
… Kathopanishad
I would like to add to this beautiful poetry of Kathopanishad that the Vedic hymns, establishing the Hindu philosophy is the call which prompts the horses (our senses) to rush towards the goal with all delight. This call our mind, on hearing the sound-energy enshrined in our thoughts shapes our pious thoughts that are the result of the study of our scriptures.
Hindu philosophy is the affirmation of the universal immanence of divinity or spark of the divine reality in all. The spiritual oneness becomes the unique aspect of the Vedas when it declares that
‘सर्ववंतरा ये पश्यंति सा पश्यंति’।
He, who sees the truth everywhere, sees the reality.
जो सत्य को सर्वत्र देखता है, वह ब्रह्म की अंन्तर्वर्ती अवस्था को सर्वप्राणियों में उसकी चिन्गारी देखता है।
He who sees the truth everywhere sees the spark of divine immanence in all the beings.
We have he famous lines from Brihadarnyak Upanishad:-
----(Brihadaranyak Upanishad, 5.1.1)
पूर्णमद पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात् पूर्णमुदच्यते।
पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते ।।
That is full; this is full. From fullness, fullness comes out. Taking fullness from fullness, what remains is fullness.
वह पूर्ण है, यह पूर्ण है। पूर्ण में से पूर्ण प्राप्त होता है। पूर्णता में से पूर्णता निकाल देने पर भी पूर्ण शेष रहता है।
A small fraction taken out of such a ‘fullness’ is also filled with fullness to the brime, and therefore it is said:-
पूर्णात् पूर्णमुदचति, पूर्णं पूर्णेत सिच्यते।
------ (Atarva Veda 10.8.29)
Full rises from full, full is also irrigated by full.
पूर्ण से पूर्ण उदित होता है, पूर्ण से पूर्ण ही सिंचित होता है।
Therefore we are part of that absolute fullness which remains full even when fullness is taken out of its fullness. All particles containing this absolute fullness are identical. Therefore in this world we having that fullness are identical. So we should not think as if we are different from others. We are neither superior to others nor inferior to others.
Know that if some other is unhappy, you are also unhappy and if some other is evil, you are also evil. Hence there is no reason for us to envy and hate others and wear malice and anger for others. Know that if they are happy, you will be happy. If others are pious, you will also become pious. Let not the soul get buried under the dust of ego, the moss of lust, the hidden rust of the body and the thorny bushes of thoughts germinating in the mind. Let the soul shine free from all this. The inner soul knows that the happiness of one soul does not mean the unhappiness of another. Therefore, in order to glorify the self you have to adore others, so that the place where you are, you feel as if you are in heaven. Your inner self is fit and desirous of such an atmosphere.
Make yourself and your life transparent enough so that the radiations emanating from your inner self emerge out to illuminate your outer beauty. This light is celestial and this itself is your energy. Thus you shall attain Brahman’s status and shall be full with rigors of pure consciousness. Remember that every person including you has a great divine self within him ___ an absolute perfect, shining and sublime being of light.
Let consciousness be alive. Remember that when you are thinking, you are talking to your soul. Let the mind put questions and let ‘the self’ Atman analyse the questions and answer them.
Let the sciptures guide and help us.
As the twinkling stars beautify the sky
As the rays of sun sparkle the life on earth
As the wind spreads the fragrance of flowers
As a lamp imitating the sun removes darkness
Let this philosophy lead us
to an enlightened life.
--- Bhupendra Kumar Dave
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