Why Veda for the Masses? Swamiji's Message (VIDEO)

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Why Veda for the Masses?

Swamiji's Message (VIDEO)

Listen as Swamiji captures the purpose and significance of the Veda for the Masses project.

Transcript
“To conclude today’s meeting I can again say what I have already said, that is always please remember....

“...what you always are quoting, what Dr Aryaji explained, what I am always telling, I’m telling it in my own way, that is, Veda is apureyasaaya. Veda is impersonal. Because Veda is impersonal always remember that one man’s interpretation should not be taken as the ultimate, because if one man’s interpretation is taken as ultimate, it becomes personal. So by definition Veda is impersonal and Veda is literally knowledge. So knowledge is impersonal. Knowledge is impersonal, if it is knowledge. But if it is not knowledge, then it is personal. What is personal then? Experience is personal. But knowledge is impersonal and Veda is knowledge. So when we are studying Sri Aurobindo, when we are studying Maharishi Dayananda, when we are studying Sianacharya, when we are studying other Vedic scholars, other Vedic seers, we should always say, “This is how Sri Aurobindo has said or explained.” “This is how Swami Dayananda has said or explained.” “This is how Sianacharyaji has said or explained.” But we should not say, “This is the meaning.” That will reduce Veda to an art, not a science.

“The language that you are using also must be scientific because Veda is super-science. You understand? Veda is knowledge and knowledge is always two type. Knowledge has two aspect: one is knowledge of the material world, the other is the knowledge of the spiritual world. So every mantra of the word…of the Veda, must have two meaning minimum. One meaning must be pertaining to the material side of experiential life; the other meaning must be related to the awarenessional, that is the spiritual side of life’s purpose. The spiritual meaning is the meaning that explains the purpose of life on Earth, the purpose of this creation. And the material side is the experiential part. So any interpretation you are doing, even any translation you are doing, you must always see that, “Ok, I gave this material meaning, this gross meaning, and let me also find out the subtle spiritual meaning.” Because knowledge is material and spiritual.

“If it is only material knowledge, that is not Veda. And what is not Veda is not vidya. And what is not vidya is avidya. So that is avidya. But if it becomes vidya it must be Veda, and Veda consists of two, material as well as spiritual. If it is not having the material meaning, then it is not Veda; it is philosophy, it is darshana, it is just some speculation, some intellectual imagination. But Veda is not imagination. It is the reality. This seers those who have discovered the mantras they have not discovered it through their intellectual reasoning. They realized this. They experienced this. And they related this to the day-to-day requirement of life on Earth. Otherwise there was no need, why a seer will reveal. There is no need for me to reveal, to tell you my experience, if I don’t see a reason. I must see a reason, then only I will reveal you my experience.

“So the seers, why did they reveal the mantra? What they heard or what they saw. The reason is, the universal welfare, the yajna. That is why every mantra of Veda itself is a yajna. The act of revealing it, the act of bringing it down to earth consciousness is yajna. So when you are now doing this research work, do it in the spirit of yajna. Don’t do it simply in a scholastic way so that the man in the modern era will not find anything out of it.

“Like our professor Aryaji now explained that they have translated the word “pushpadanta” as flower tooth. The word Agni as fire god. This is to be always remembered. If you will translate my name Atmananda as delight of the soul, nobody will understand what we are talking. ‘There was a person, his name was delight of the soul.’ Who will understand, because people do not know what is delight, they do not know what is soul. All that they have understand is soul has no form, so it is formless. And delight is something which the person himself only experiences. So it will not make any sense. But this will make sense to someone who knows what is delight, what is soul.

“So now the present day world cannot know if we are not using the terminology of the present era. This is why I say scriptures should be reinterpreted in every era as per the spirit of time. If we are unable to do that, then we are not interpreting the scripture. Because scriptures are eternal. They are always living. If this scripture was having a meaning a millions years back, it must be also having a meaning now. And what is that meaning? That we have to find out. That you can do if you remember the basic framework of this research. What is the framework of this research. What is the purpose of this research.

“Veda is now lost to mankind. Because Veda is lost to mankind, that is why mankind is in misery. Because Veda literally means knowledge. So knowledge is lost. If knowledge is lost, what remains? Nothing. Knowledge is light, if light is gone and there is a…a danger, a snake suddenly comes, and light is gone, each one of us will try to run away, and each one of us will hit each other. Why? Because a danger has come and we all want to run away to save ourselves. So we are hitting each one. But that’s not our intention. Our intention was not to hit each one. Our intention was to save ourselves. So why we are hitting each one? Because there is no light and we want to save ourselves. That is what is now happening to mankind. There is no light. Light is extinguished. Light has gone out. We are all in the era of darkness. And when the whole human race is in darkness, there comes a compassionate human being, a knowledgeable human being who knows where is the switch. He puts on the switch: there is light everywhere. That is the work you all are going to do. That is the work.

“So whenever you are decoding the meaning of the mantras, please remember this, that you are not doing it because you are a scholar. You are doing it because mankind needs it. And mankind means what? Mankind mean…does not mean professors like a Dr. Mohanty or Dr. Aryaji. Mankind means a farmer in the field, a laborer in the factory, a shopkeeper by the roadside, a child in the school, an old man—that constitutes mankind.

“We are reviving the Veda for mankind means we must give it in such a format that every human being will find it is useful for him. That is called Veda for the Masses.”

Friday, June 10, 2011

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