Re: Veda and Comprehension
Namaste,
I certainly appreciate all the thoughtful insights (and quotations, too, hehe) posted by the members here. While some may post their comments more forcefully than others, it is the friction sometimes which brings comprehension to my unschooled mind which needs to be knocked upside the head at times.
That said, courtesy and grace of form (in writing) is something I appreciate as well. Demeaning comments, IMO, serve no purpose save to serve ego, which seems a bit ironic on a forum of this type!
Until today, I had no context for many of the apparently seminal debates regarding interpretation of Hindu Scriptures; I am grateful to all the posters for casting light and shadow where before no definition could be seen.
ZN
PS Welcome back to so many "regulars" who have returned over the past couple few months!
Re: Veda and Comprehension
Hari Om
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Znanna
Namaste,
I certainly appreciate all the thoughtful insights (and quotations, too, hehe) posted by the members here. While some may post their comments more forcefully than others, it is the friction sometimes which brings comprehension to my unschooled mind which needs to be knocked upside the head at times.
That said, courtesy and grace of form (in writing) is something I appreciate as well. Demeaning comments, IMO, serve no purpose save to serve ego, which seems a bit ironic on a forum of this type!
Until today, I had no context for many of the apparently seminal debates regarding interpretation of Hindu Scriptures; I am grateful to all the posters for casting light and shadow where before no definition could be seen.
Namaste,
Very well said and a balanced view...
There is good (sattva) in all things, especially in knowledge. For some, there are two sticks of knowledge and rubbing them vigorously brings the spark, then comes fire and insight.
For others, some choose not to rub the sticks, but to use them as clubs.
Sticks and rubbing bring fire and light which benefits the users and the viewers.
Clubs bring black-&-blue marks and often people do not return to the scene of the crime.
pranams,
Re: Veda and Comprehension
hariḥ om̐
~~~~~~
I offered (some time ago) the following found in post 1 above.
from the veda-s
It is from the ṛg (rig) veda 1.164.39 :
ṛco akṣare paramevyoman yasmin devā adhi viśve niṣeduḥ |
yastan na veda kiṃ ṛcā kariṣyati ya it tad vidusta ime samāsate || 1.164.39
the veda or ṛ́c'-s1, reside in the transcendental field or akshara, of the highest (parame) etheral Being (vyoman) in which reside all the adhi vishve deva's (or impulses of creative intelligence, the laws of nature), responsible for the whole manifest universe. He whose awareness is not open (na veda) to this field, what can the verses accomplish for him?
Those who know this level of reality are established in evenness (samasate or rest contented) , in That ( tat or bhuma, fullness-wholeness of life)
from the upaniṣad-s
We find notion again in the śvetāśvataropaniṣat (śvetāśvatara upaniṣad), chapter 4.8 . It says, of what use are the veda-s for him who does not know that indestructible, highest Being in whom all the devata and veda-s reside?
from the tantra-s
We find this one more time in a totally different school, within the kulacūḍāmaṇi2 tantra, first chapter 24th and 25th verses. It says,
If you know me O' omniscient One, what is the point of scriptures and of sacrifice (sādhana is included in sacrifice and considered tapas)? If you do not know me O' omniscient One of what use are scriptures and sacrifice ?
Why mention these 3? This total string is on comprehending our āgama-s and śastra-s. It suggests comprehension is predicated on one expanding their own comprehension apparatus ( one's consciousness ); Knowledge intake must be complemented by the ability to comprehend; both work in concert.
To know, to really know means to be anchored in one's own Self ( my teacher called the home of all knowledge).
This is the crux of the message that is given here. Limited knowledge of this and that ( size, shape, form, sciences, etc) are all well and good; Yet what is missing? The wholeness of this knowledge that brings it all together. This is the fullness of one's own Being. Know Being (Self) and you know the connection to every-thing that lies within it. Nothing is outside of it.
श्रीशिवार्पणमस्तु
śrī śivarpaṇastu
1. ṛ́c = the collection of the ṛc verses;to praise
2.kulacūḍāmaṇi is one of the tantra’s of the kula school. This tantra is considered one of the orginals i.e. pure revelation.
It is the conversation of śaktī and bhairava (śivaḥ). We can look at the tantra’s name as kula + cūḍāmaṇi. This for me says
the jewel ( some say crest jewel) of totality (kula). Much more can be said on this at a later time i.e. where does the
kulacūḍāmaṇi tantra fit in within the 92 tantra-s recognized, all coming from the mouth of śivaḥ as He appeared as svacchandanātha
in the satyuga age.