Conclusion
It is time to wind up this year-long thread. It has had 8000 readers for nearly 80 posts, that is 100 views per post, though this number did not reflect in feedbacks. I thank all the readers for their patient reading of whatever I have babbled. My special thanks are due to Sri Moorthy and Smt. Renuka, but for whose encouraging posts, I would have stopped it long ago.
In the introduction, I had raised certain points which motivated me into reading the RV. Did I find answers for queries?
Yes. The study is not complete. It will take another twenty years of study to have some decent knowledge of RV. But, for the present, I feel I have found out the soul of RV, which is delineated hereunder.
There is a super-power which rules over the universe. It is mentioned as ‘sat’. In its static form it is the satyam (eternal). In its active form it is called rtam. Rtam is also called Dharma, Svadha and Vrata. While rtam is a principle, the practice- part of it is called yajna. The worships done to various gods go only to the ‘sat’. Any method of worship is ok. The only thing is to be aware that there is a super-power above you. Devotion to that is the only way to get rid of our sufferings.
The world is an embodiment of rtam. Everything in the universe has its own rtam. The door has its rtam, the sun has its, the bird has its own.
It is incumbent upon men to act according to his rtam. Man’s rtam is dependence. He has to depend upon others. The corollary is, he has to protect his dependants. Each man is a dependant in certain aspects and depended in others.
The worship of superiors and protecting the lowly is the yajna. Yajna and hardwork in the cause of others reward men with ‘light’. The light is the ultimate goal of man.
Now, let us take up the questions that baffled me at the beginning.
Does god have a form?
God is just ‘sat’, It simply exists. It has no attributes- no form, no gender, no desires, no motives and so on. The manner of worship is your choice. You can meditate on the formless attribute-less ‘sat’ or you can invoke it in an object for worship.
What is mukti?
Mukti, as we understand it today is not mentioned in RV. The RV rishis never thought beyond the life of this world. Only in the 10[SUP]th[/SUP] mandala, which is obviously a later day interpolation, we see traces of worrying about what after death. This cannot be taken as the central idea of RV as it is not supported by other mandalas, where the rishis seem to enjoy the life in this world with all its pleasures and pains. That life is a burden and one should escape from it is a concept which was the starting point of Buddhist and Jain religions. This has its roots in Yajur Veda. In Rudram, we find Rudra described as a weapon to destroy birth. (भवस्य हेतिः) Nowhere in RV we find any reference to escaping from the world or becoming one with god or reaching the lotus feet of god. No svarga, no hell, no rebirth, no karma, no renunciation. Of course the vedic rishis had their share of suffering. Deprivation, disease, enmity, being cheated, being robbed, being unable to get married, premature deaths and so son. They accepted all these and prayed to gods for redress. They did not think of any one-time solution like mukti.
Man’s ultimate aim is to attain the light स्वः। Going to the svah is svarga स्वर्ग. Svarga is an action, a happening, a movement and not a place. It is called immortality or the state of devas.
The best way to attain real immortality is by hard work to help others as done by rbhus.
Which god is acceptable to veda?
Call it by any name, it is the ‘sat’ that is the supreme power. ‘Sat’ is not its name. It has no name at all. ‘Sat’ means, that which exists. The vedic rishis called it by such names as Indra, Agni, Varuna and so on. Our ancestors of later period found new names for it such as Siva, Visnu etc. Bharathi found that kaadan, maadan, katteri, kali, saththan, allah, yehovah are all the names of the same ‘sat’.
What happens after death?
Nothing is said in RV about life after death. They simply did not worry about it. They enjoyed the present life and were happy with it with all its pleasures and pains. Of course, the tenth mandala mentions that the dead people go to the land of Yama. But this is a later day interpolation. Other parts of RV do not have any verses to substantiate this. Nowhere in RV there is any mention of rebirth.
What is the best method of worship?
Bhajan, Archana, Abhishekam, temple worship or home worship or something you devise on your own, everything is good. Even if you do not worship, it is also good. Be aware that there is a super-power. That is enough.
What about animal sacrifice?
RV speaks of animal sacrifice. They had no hesitation in eating meat. However, the milch-cow is called aghnya (not to be killed). When the number of bulls and horses declined the popular thinking was against animal slaughter. Indications of this trend are also found in RV. This is all about economy. No question of religion.
Is the vedantic concept of aham brahmasmi found in RV?
The verses of RV are found to have been composed in various mental states. Sometimes, the rishis are like ordinary poets indulging in poetical embellishments. Sometimes they are in a trance. This trance state can be divided into three levels.
In the first level, they see everything as god- the river, the horse, the cloud etc.
In the second level, they consider that thing as the supreme god capable of creating the universe and bestowing the best of favours on them.
In the third level, they identify themselves with everything around them. They say, “I am agni, I am the havis, I am Varuna, I made the rivers flow and so on.”
This last level was developed in the upanisads as the concept of advaita/ visistadvaita/ dvaita etc.
One cannot reach the last level without going through the earlier ones.
