Dr. Ravi Prakash Arya, PhD, is a renowned Vedic professor, researcher and author of dozens of books.  He has an inherent ability to relate Veda to everyday life.  Dr. Aryaji is the Global Director of the Vedic Research Institute.  He visited the Institute recently to meet with Swamiji and guide the new batch of fellowship scholars.  This is an excerpt from his introductory talk to the scholars:

The project taken here on Veda is unique.  No university or college is doing this type of study or teaching.  To work on Veda is not so easy.  Only the inspired divine souls can work over it.

Veda is the book of knowledge, and it has both jnana and vijnana.  Mere information is the jnana.  When that subject, that information is realized, it becomes vijnana.  Today we talk about science: we do some experiment in the laboratory and whatever is observed by the scientist is called as science.  But the vijnana of the Veda is beyond that.  There are so many things that cannot be observed, like the abstract things, but they can be realized.  This type of realization is available in the Vedas.  That is why only a person who has dedication and the spiritual power of realization can understand the real intended sense of the seers. 

In case of Vedas, every word is a definition in itself.  Every Vedic word has its etymological meaning.  Etymology means some word is formed in a certain type of background, whether it is cultural, philosophical, spiritual, scientific or social.  If we are able to know that background, then the real interpretation will take place.  Like today, with this development of science and technology, we generally say, “He went there by air,” or “He went there by sea.”  These types of sentences we speak.  Suppose due to some calamity or catastrophic reason this entire scientific development is gone.  After a hundred years, the future generations will come to study these sentences, “He went there by air, he went there by sea,” and they will generally laugh.  ‘How can a person go by air and sea?’  Going by airplane and ship is understandable, but going by air and sea? 

Without knowing the scientific background within which these phrases were formed, is difficult to understand.  Until and unless we know the background, we won’t be able to know the real meaning.  A similar thing is with Vedas and ancient Sanskrit literature.  The sentences are there but we are not aware of that ancient background within which those sentences were framed.  The etymology helps us reach that very background of the origin of the words.  Then we can begin to define or interpret the real intended sense of the seers.

Whatever apparent meaning is there in a word is not the real meaning.  If we don’t know the actual meaning of Agni, better to write “Agni” itself, instead of translating it as a fire.  No doubt that one of the conventional meanings of Agni is fire, but it has various meanings at various levels.  Even the Brahma himself, the God himself, is Agni.  The geothermal energy is also Agni; the energy in the cosmos is Agni; a person who is surcharged with knowledge is also Agni.  Teacher is also Agni.  Agni has many senses. 

Take the concept of yajna.  Yajnas are of various kinds.  The process of teaching and learning is called as Brahma yajna.  When we eat something, that is also a yajna—a biological yajna.  When the rays of the sun fall on the earth that is deva yajna; the entire creation takes place due to that yajna.  The authors of Brahmanas say, ‘etavati vai vedi yavati prithivi.’  That is, this whole earth acts as the fire altar and the fire is coming from the sun.  In that way yajna has a vast meaning and can be applied to many senses.

Similarly see the concepts of gomedha, ashwamedha, purushamedha, ajamedha.  These all have esoteric meanings.  Sometimes we take these meanings literally.  We think that sacrificing a goat is ajamedha, sacrificing a cow is gomedha, sacrificing a sheep is avimedha, or sacrificing a horse is ashwamedha.  Even human sacrifice was said to be prevalent during Vedic period, so that is known as purushamedha.  But these are not the meanings. 

The Brahmankara [author of Brahmana text] himself says that medha means the purification.  The process of purification is known as medha.  The rays of the sun are the purifying factor in the cosmos.  Similarly the water is purifier.  That is why the water is sprinkled whenever some ritual is done.  When we are talking about purushamedha, for instance, that is inculcating good sanskaras to the human being to make them more enlightened, more divine.  Similarly ashwa is the sun and when the sun purifies the entire atmosphere and this environment through its rays, that is known as ashwamedha. 

“Go” means this earth.  In Avesta, there is a word, gomeza, applied for agriculture.  In the beginning the Vedas say the people used to eat only the herbs, or aushadhis.  When the population increased and aushadhis became insufficient to cater to the needs of the human being, agriculture was started.  Doing agriculture or preparing earth for agriculture is a process that was known as gomedha.

Other meanings are also there.  Initiation into the various stages of consciousness are also associated with these medhas: gomedha is brahminaship (inculcation of professional traits of a visionary person); kshatriyaship (inculcation of professional traits of a warrior) is ashwamedha; vyasaship is ajamedha (inculcation of professional traits of marketing strategies); sudraship (inculcation of professional traits of producing something) is avimedha.

We must study and think about Vedas in these terms, because some allegorical or figurative meaning is always there.  We should not be satisfied with only the apparent meaning.  Apparent meaning is not the meaning of the Veda.  Some intended meaning will come forward.

Sometimes the biggest folly done in the course of Vedic interpretation is to translate even the proper names.  Once I was going through the Pancha tantra [a moral story book].  The story was related about a character named Pushpadanta.  The scholar had literally translated the character pushpadanta as flower tooth.  That way, the entire sense of the story was distorted.  There is a seer named, Matsya.  The scholar translated Matsya as “fish,” or the very meaning of matsya, and said “this mantra is the visualization of fishes.”  But how can the fish visualize the knowledge?  Matsya is the name of a seer; it cannot be translated as a ‘fish’ in its literal sense.

If you are not able to know the actual meaning of devata, let it remain like that, so that some other interpreter may interpret it.  The scholar can help give some literal translation, but when some hidden interpretation will come out, I think that can come from the persons like Swamiji, who have that depth of realization, who can realize the facts and the knowledge, because that is again a matter of sadhana.  Whatever has been realized by a mystic, that can be authenticated by a mystic himself.

If you want to follow, follow the right direction.  Better not to make a mess of the things.  If you are given something to do, we must do something good.