Why should we read Vedaas? What is the importance of correct pronunciation of mantras of Vedaas?
“If there is a God who has created heaven and earth, it will be unjust on His part if He deprived millions of souls born before Moses, of His divine knowledge.”
-A quote of Professor F. Max. Mueller
– Vedaas are the source of true knowledge. Knowledge of the purpose of our life, methodology to achieve the purpose, method in which this universe was created, purpose of such creation, principles governing the nature and its beings, our duties towards our family, society, nation and world are embedded in the Vedaas. Since, man’s capacity to know is limited, therefore, every work of man is bound to depict this attribute of soul. As such, only the words of God can be 100% reliable and true. But why should Vedaas be considered to be the words of God? Following points prove that the knowledge given by the Vedaas to have been manifested by God:
- Whatever has been mentioned in the Vedaas is not for any particular sect but for the whole mankind.
- All the words of the Vedaas perfectly tally with the nature of its creator, that is, God as is known through reason and logic.
- No change in the principles or systems mentioned in Vedaas, ever since their emergence.
- Trueness of the sayings of the Vedaas in all places and times.
For obtaining the answers to all the above mentioned questions, it is required that we becomes scholars of Vedaas, which are words of God.
– The language of Vedaas is different from Sanskrit. Vedaas are sometimes said to be in Sanskrit because of its nearness to Sanskrit. Sanskrit was the first language originating from the language of the Vedaas. No doubt, knowledge of Sanskrit is advantageous for knowing Vedaas but simply by knowing Sanskrit one cannot understand the meaning of the Vedaas. It is a pity that till now, except दयानन्द, Vedaas have been translated by scholars of the Sanskrit language. Now, the question arises as to how one, who does not have a good knowledge of this language, can rely on the teachings of Vedaas based on the translations of certain persons? How can one know which translation is good and which translation is bad? There is a fundamental method to favour a thing or a person from amongst a few. From two translations we will choose one, which is more positive. For example, if, there are more than one explanations of a word, we will favour the explanation, which sounds more positive to us. Then, we will not have the fear of our chosen explanation to be wrong because-
1 we know that our chosen explanation is positive.
2 we know that our chosen explanation is best out of the availability.
However, we must understand that there is no shortcut to understand the teachings of Vedaas through translations of others. Ultimately, we will have to understand the teachings of Vedaas by ourselves through the knowledge of the language of the Vedaas.
-There is a general question that why should we believe that Vedaas are the words of God when many sects claim that their books, only, refers to the words of God? We give below the reasons for believing that Vedaas and no other books are the words of God-
1 When we all believe that God created our bodies, then what is the hindrance in believing that God created knowledge also, for enabling the souls to utilize their bodies to their optimum level. This fact can be proved in another way also. We have learned from our elders, they learned from their elders, their elders learned from their elders. Going back this way, we are forced to accept that earliest man on the earth learned from God and God only because prior to the earliest man, there existed no other person on earth. This knowledge of God with the passage of time got developed in the form of books. ऋग्वेद, which is one of the Vedaas is accepted by many historians and European scholars to be the oldest book on Earth.
2 Knowledge of God needs to be given to mankind in the beginning of human life on Earth, otherwise, he can be said to have done injustice to those who took birth before showering of such knowledge. He bestowed His knowledge to mankind in the beginning of human life on Earth, that is, approximately 200 crore years before now. No book of any sect can fulfill this criterion.
3 When we purchase small goods like computer, mobile et cetera, we are given small booklets by the vendors which contain the instructions regarding proper use of those goods, then, why can we not accept the fact that God gave knowledge to mankind in the beginning of human life on Earth in the form of instructions for proper use of human bodies in different circumstances?
4 All the knowledge contained in Vedaas is for mankind as a whole and not for any particular sect. It, that is, knowledge contained in Vedaas is true in all times and places like a medicine of blood-pressure, which works in the same manner whether it is taken by a black person or a white person, whether it is taken by a patient living in America or by a patient living in Japan and whether is consumed today or tomorrow.
5 Every thing of the Vedaas is in accordance with the laws of nature like every thing which is born perishes; matter can neither be created nor be destroyed et cetera. In the similar way, there are spiritual laws also, which do not go against the natural laws controlling the nature around us. Every thing of the Vedas is in perfect harmony with the व्यवहार, that is, behavior or dealing of great souls.
6 Creation always depicts a true picture of creator. Likewise, every word of Vedaas is in perfect harmony with qualities, works and nature of its Creator, that is, God.
7 Vedaas contain all the knowledge of the subjects like physics, chemistry, mathematics et cetera needed by mankind for its use. Without having good knowledge of these subjects, man cannot think of leading a good worldly life. No other book of any sect has the knowledge of the subjects like physics, chemistry, mathematics et cetera.
Vedaas are the constitution of the world given by its creator. It possesses all the knowledge related with correct and optimal usage of all the things contained in this world. Ill usage of the things offered by this world draws penalties from God. As such, to save ourselves from such penalties, we need to know the constitution of God. If we fail to make correct uses of the things of this world, then, to save ourselves from the penalties, we cannot advocate that we did not have the knowledge of the constitution of world.
-Everything mentioned in Vedaas is scientifically true but every truth, mentioned in the vedaas has not been proved by science. For example, science proves a thing to be true at one time and later proves the same thing to be untrue. Unlike this, things mentioned in Vedaas remain true in all times and at the same time are completely scientific.
-It is inexplicable to tell the importance of knowing the right meaning of श्रुति (वेद-मन्त्र), understanding the same through heart and imbibing them in practical life. It is true that right pronunciation of the mantras is meaningful too, but by wholly concentrating on right pronunciation of the mantras leaving their meanings aside, we cannot obtain the meaningfulness of the knowledge contained in these mantras.