Scriptures And Epics

Sanskrit Language

Aryasamaj believes that Sanskrit is the oldest language of the mankind. Four Vedas – Rigveda, Yajurveda, Saamveda and Atharvveda are written in the Sanskrit language. These are the oldest scriptures of the earth. Our belief is that the content of these Vedas is the complete knowledge imparted by Ishvar at the time of creating the shrishti. There are many more scriptures which are written in Sanskrit language. Sanskrit is the mother of all Indian languages. Aryasamaj not only believes that the Sanskrit should remain an important language in India, but also works to keep it live by maintaining Gurukulas which teach this language to its students.

Vedas

God has created the Shrishti , which is a continuous process; every shrishti starts , lives and gets destroyed and then restarts. The knowledge imparted by Ishvar is permanent, which is given to the living beings in the beginning of each shrishti. Shrishti gets destroyed but not the Knowledge.

Aryasamaj firmly believes that this knowledge was given to mankind by Ishvar through four Sages (Rishis) – Agni, Vayu, Aaditya and Angira in the form of four Vedas. The four Vedas are known as- Rigved, Yajurved, Saamved and Atarvaved .Vedas are supreme and absolute within itself.

Vedas cannot be proved on the basis of any other books or scriptures as nothing existed prior to Vedas. Vedas contain mantras in Sanskrit language.  Vedas are creation of God, just like his other numerous creations. The living beings are born with their basic intelligence which helps them in survival. No one has to teach a man to eat, sleep, breath, cry, stand, sit or walk; but beyond his natural inheritance he needs a source of knowledge. Vedas is that original source of knowledge for entire mankind which came as reference knowledge for mankind. God has been kind not only by providing us all kinds of grains, vegetables, fruits and other worldly things but also providing his sacred knowledge in the form of Vedas.

Vedas printed on paper is a creation of man but Vedas  in the form of words is the knowledge from Ishvar. Ved mantras are also called ‘Shrutis’ – which in Sanskrit means ‘hymns which are heard’. Had there been no knowledge in the beginning, men would have been living like animals- wordless and language less.

There are many scriptures which have been written on the basis of Vedas- however those scriptures are not Vedas and cannot be regarded as absolute.  Many people made Translations (Bhashyas) of Vedas, but many of them are full of errors due to incompetent understanding of Sanskrit language. Some of such translations are not only absolutely wrong but also absurd in their meanings- which definitely cannot be recognized as true vedic literature.  Swami Dayanand Sarswati spent his whole life in understanding Vedas and translating them with the intended and inherent meaning as well as spirit of Vedas. So strong was his belief about Vedas, that he spelled his third golden principle of Arya Samaj as this – ‘The Veda is the script of all true knowledge. It is the paramount duty of every Arya to learn and to teach the Veda (God’s knowledge), to hear it, read and recite it to others.’

It was the efforts of Swami Dayanand that he could establish that Vedas are not –

·         History or Geography related to mankind

·         Suggestive of any Idol Worshipping

·         Suggestive of animal slaughter (Bali) in the name of rituals

·         Man made books; they are God sent knowledge

Aryasmaj has designed all the Sanskars of human life – right from birth to death, based on the mantras of Vedas.

Bhagvadgeeta

This scripture is a part of the Epic Mahabharta. The conversation between Lord Krishna and Arjun gives great insight to us even in today’s times. Many scholars have written their interpretation of Bhagvadgeeta. Basically Bhagvadgeeta is substance of Upnishadas.

Aryasamaj too values Bhagvadgeeta but to the extent it does not contradict Vedas. Any interpretation which contradicts Vedas is not acceptable to Arya Samaj. Arya Samaj in its fourth Golden principle believes – ‘We shall ever be ready to embrace truth and to forsake untruth.’

Puranas

It is widely said that all 18 puranas are written by Maharshi Vyas. However it does not sound logical as Vyas was a great scholar of Vedas and other basic scriptures; hence he could not have written the puranas which are absolutely full of absurd stories, gossips and thoughts which defies all the theories of Shrishti Cycle. This seemed to be an organized move to replace the very base of hindutva- the Vedas. Not everything contained in Puranas is contradictory; hence Arya Samaj does not accept or reject Puranas in totality.

Ramayana & Mahabharta

These are historical epics of our country; unfortunately there has been huge amount of adulteration in these two very important books. However the major facts of the history is still protected in these. It has been unfortunate that there have been regular attempts to change the fact that these books were our history by describing them as Spiritual books. In the guise of spirituality Great Rama was addressed as Avtar (incarnation) of Vishnu. Similarly Yogiraj Krishna was described as another Avtar ; his relationship with Radha and Gopis was equated to relationship of Jeev(soul) and Prikriti(nature).

Aryasamaj believes that these epics in their original form have been our history only and nothing else. It is our misfortune that Vedas which are not history- are tried to be treated as history and Ramayana and Mahabharata which are only history as Spiritual Sources