Arya Samaj

Shishya

Vedic Philosophy
by
Vidya Sagar Garg

Introduction

Vedic Philosophy provides answers to all our most important questions, i.e why there is pain and pleasure, rich and poor, healthy and sick; God - His qualities, nature and works; Soul – its nature and qualities, souls of humans and animals; Reincarnation – how it happens, why one is born as he or she is. What is the purpose of life? What ought we do?

If you are a thinker, are curious or confused about the universe as a whole, if you have a strong desire to have your questions answered, then you must continue reading this philosophy. It will open your eyes enabling you to differentiate true from untrue, right from wrong, just from unjust, and you will be able to put together the puzzle of the whole universe.

In the 19th century, a great saint, seer, philosopher, vedic commentator, thinker, master mind imbued with an impressive personality, an ancient ascetic and yogi appeared on the scene, known to the world as Swami Dayanand Saraswati (right). To expel the darkness of ignorance and spread true knowledge for the benefit of humanity at large, Swami Dayanand Saraswati established the Arya Samaj. The following vedic teachings are based on Swami Dayanand Saraswati's writings and instructions...(continues)

Shishya · Posted: Tue May 30, 2006 2:33 pm Post subject:

God – Nature, Qualities and Works

There is one and only one God. Different people call Him with different names. The real name of God is ॐ, Om (Aum).

God is omnipresent. He is present at all places. He is present inside our body and outside of our body. He is present inside all living and non-living things and outside of them. He is present in the smallest thing as well as in the biggest thing. He is present in the mind and in the soul. He is present in the whole universe.

God is never born. He never dies. He has no beginning and no end. He is always living. He is free from aging process. He is fearless. He is flawless. He is free from happiness and misery. He is pure. He is kind. He is unique. There is no one like Him nor equal to Him. There is no one greater or bigger than Him. He is the greatest of all. He is the biggest of all. God creates, supports and runs the universe.

God is formless. He is always without a body. Therefore, there is no picture or statue of God. He cannot be sensed with 5 sense-organs (eyes, ears, nose, tongue or skin). God can not be even sensed with the help of a microscope.

However, there are occasions when we realize God’s existence and His actions. Occasions when, in utter disappointment, help arrives or an idea flashes into the mind and the situation begins to improve. Also, thought of doing bad deeds brings feelings of fear, suspicion and shame; and thought of doing good deeds brings feelings of happiness, encouragement, excitement and fearlessness. All these feeling come from God.

God’s existence is also realized from His works. What a wonderful, intelligent, beautiful creation is the universe! The regular, logical and mathematical motions of the planets; meaningful and rightful functioning of the universe; the beautiful creation and growth of the plants and the living beings – all these works prove existence of some super, intelligent, living power – God.

God is omniscient. He knows the thoughts in the minds of all.

God is the source of all knowledge. In the beginning of the universe, God gives knowledge to the human beings. God appeals directly in to the minds, he does not need hands to write or a mouth to speak.

God is omnipotent. He is all powerful; He performs his works by himself. He does not need anybody’s assistance to run the universe. He manages all His affairs by himself. He is always just and never does injustice. He always follows His just code.

God is equally accessible to all. He is the father and the mother of all living beings. No agent or broker is needed to approach Him. No body can be a God’s agent. God does not favor any one, nor He disfavors any one.

God is always in a state of ecstasy (bliss). Getting close to Him gives comfort, just like a fire gives comfort to those who are cold.

God has his own field of activity, just as humans have their own fields of activity.

Shishya · Posted: Tue May 30, 2006 2:39 pm Post subject:

Worshipping God

All the kinds of worshipping we do is not for God. It does not benefit God in any way. No action of ours has any effect on God.

God feeds all. Everything is in God, and God is in everything. Therefore, 'feeding' God does not make any sense.

There is no place where God does not exist. He sees and hears all. He also knows all our thoughts. Therefore, there is no need of loud voices, bells or loud speakers, etc. God is beyond the sense of smell. Therefore, God has no use of incense. God has no shape or body. There is, therefore, no sense in clothing or decorating Him.

Everything we do is for ourselves. God gives us the good or bad fruit based upon our own deeds. Some deeds get fruit immediately, others get fruit at different times, when and where deserved. This reception of the fruit at the deserving time is called luck or destiny (karma).

Worshipping God means thinking of the qualities of God and making those qualities part of your life. God is just. He always does justice without any favoritism. He does not accept any bribe. He is never unjust. God is always right. He is never wrong. God knows all. God has all true knowledge. He is never ignorant. God is holy and does not have any weaknesses. God is kind, and out of kindness he has given thousands of things for our use. We, too, ought to be just, righteous, knowledgeable, holy, kind etc. This is the meaning of true Worship of God.

Shishya · Posted: Tue May 30, 2006 2:44 pm Post subject:

Meditation

With meditation, the soul becomes so powerful, that it is not afraid of even the biggest hardship, and it will be able to tolerate it easily.

How To Meditate:

Find a clean and quiet place; sit down in a good posture and close your eyes.

First stop the senses from wondering then start the Pranayama.

Point and hold the mind on the heart, navel or throat (at one of these places); get lost in God by thinking of soul and God.

By doing this repeatedly, soul and the conscious are purified, and the person becomes interested only in truthfulness.

Shishya · Posted: Tue May 30, 2006 2:52 pm Post subject:

Three Eternal Entities

God, souls and matter: These always exist. They have no beginning and no end.

God – (see above)

Souls – There are numerous souls, but fixed in number. The total count of souls does not change ever. Each living being has an individual soul. In God’s kingdom, one is identified by the soul, not by the body. This is because the soul keeps changing bodies one after another. The same soul may become an ant, an elephant, a man, a woman, a lion, etc.

The soul, when in a human body, is more or less free to do actions. This is not the case when in a body of an animal: animals act on natural instinct. Therefore, in God’s system of justice, humans face the consequences of their actions. As a result, one suffers or enjoys in his present life, and also may be born as human, animal, bird or insect after death. When the soul and the body join together, it is called birth. Their separation is called death. (for more, see below)

Matter – Matter is never destroyed. All we see, smell, taste, touch or hear is matter. The human body and other living beings are made of matter.

Matter changes shape. By burning wood, it changes into carbon, moisture and gases. It has simply changed it's shape. When vegetables grow from seed, they are basically changing shape with the help of the soil, water, sun and air. After eaten and digested, they change their shape yet again.

Shishya · Posted: Tue May 30, 2006 3:18 pm Post subject:

Soul

Every living being – human, animal, bird or insect - has a soul. Presence of the soul in a body keeps one alive. Departure of the soul causes death. Therefore, bodies of people and animals are pure as long as the soul is present, they are impure after the soul leaves.

The soul stays at one location in the body, but it affects the whole body, just like a lit candle, set at one place, brightens the whole room.

The soul’s location is near the heart in the body.

The soul is so minute in size that it cannot be seen with the naked eye or with the help of a microscope.

The soul enters the body with food, drinks, air or through the pores of the skin. First, it gets into the male, and at the time of mating, it goes into the female.

The soul is not capable of doing anything without a body. It performs actions only with the help of a body.

Knowledge, effort, desire, resentfulness, happiness and sadness are the qualities of a soul. A dead body is without a soul, and therefore lacks these qualities.

A body changes, because of the presence of a soul. Right from the moment of conception, growth begins because of the presence of the soul. There is no growth without a soul.

The soul is never born. It never dies. It always exists.

Weapon can not cut a soul, fire cannot burn it, water cannot spoil it, and air cannot dry it.

The soul, by itself, is neither male nor female. It's sex depends upon the body it gets. The same soul may move from male to female bodies or vice versa, but only after the death of the present one.

Shishya · Posted: Tue May 30, 2006 3:26 pm Post subject:

Mind

The soul’s actions are done through the mind. The soul connects with the mind, the mind connects with body and the body connects with the outer world - which causes knowledge and action.

If the mind is not with the body, no action takes place. If the mind is not with the eyes, we don’t see. If the mind is not with the ears, we don’t hear.

A dead body does not feel pain or pleasure, because of the absence of the mind and the soul. The mind leaves the body along with the soul. The mind stays along with the soul in the body near the heart.

The mind itself is not a living thing. Therefore, it cannot do anything by itself.

The mind is made of matter. Food is made of matter as well. The kind of food one eats, has a significant effect on one’s mind.

The mind is a storage container of all impressions. All effects of one’s actions, all the knowledge one has acquired, all the experiences one has gained - in this life and in previous lives - stay in the mind. So, it contains everything one has ever experienced. The stronger impressions appear on the surface, the weaker stay buried deep down. With effort, the buried impressions can be brought up to the surface.

Three States of Mind:

Absence of cruelty, absence of greed, staying balanced in pleasure and pain, cleanliness, practicing truth, being just, being peaceful, acquiring knowledge, having patience, etc.
Wandering in nature, impatience, being arrogant, etc.
Laziness, lack of desire to work, desiring to sleep more and more, lack of desire to learn, using brain in a wrong direction, etc.

Out of all these, the second is better than the third and the first is the best of all.

Finally, to get rid of a bad habit or action, condemn the bad habit or action in your mind, again and again. The more this is condemned, the further away one goes from the vice.

Shishya · Posted: Tue May 30, 2006 3:33 pm Post subject:

Reincarnation - Rebirth

Reincarnation simply means rebirth. The soul keeps changing the body one after another. It gets a body based on its deeds done in human life.

The soul, when in a body other than the human – e.g. in an animal, a bird or an insect - does not act independently. It acts either under the direction of a human being or by natural instinct alone. It does not and cannot think. All its actions are controlled by others or by natural instinct. Because of that, its actions are neither rewarded nor punished.

When leaving the human body, if the good deeds equal bad deeds, one is born as an ordinary human being in the next life. If good deeds exceed bad deeds then one is born as an intellectual human being. If bad deeds exceed good deeds, one is born as an animal, a bird or insect etc. based on the severity of the bad deeds.

Basically, deeds - good or bad - are done through:

thought,
word and
action

One reaps the fruit - good or bad - by receiving or paying for the deeds done with similar organs. E.g. a harsh talker, liar, back-stabber, etc. gets a life of an animal or of a mute human being.

The soul adjusts in the body it gets, whether it is a human, an animal, a bird or an insect. The soul is like water without a color. Color makes the water colored. In the same way, the soul is known by the body it is in.

The soul continues to move from one body to another. It starts with one body at the time of conception and departs from it at the time of death. The same soul can be a man, a woman, an elephant, an ant or any other living being, and back and forth as well.

As humans discard worn out clothes and wear new ones, similarly the soul discards the useless old body and starts with a new body for each life.

Shishya · Posted: Tue May 30, 2006 3:47 pm Post subject:

Human Body Compared To A Horse Cart

The 5 sense-organs (jñanandriyas, i.e. eyes, ears, nose, tongue and flesh) are the means of learning by seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting and touching. 5 other parts of body (karmandriyas, i.e. hands, feet, mouth, sexual and waste organs) perform deeds. All these 10 parts of the body are the 10 horses of the human cart. The brain is the set of reigns, the mind is the driver and the soul is the passenger.

The only way the passenger will get to its destination is if the driver follows the instructions of the passenger and has control over the horses. In a situation where the driver is sleeping or intoxicated, there will not be any control over the horses, they will go anywhere they wish to go, and the passenger will never reach to its destination.

So the mind has to be very clear and strong to control the brain and the body in order to achieve the soul’s goal. Thus, the mind is the most important part of human life.

The goal of the soul is to achieve long lasting happiness. To achieve happiness, one has to:

obtain right knowledge,
perform good deeds, and
meditate

There is a process and training of oneself to achieve this goal.

On the other hand, bad deeds (e.g. untruthfulness, injustice), commited knowingly or unknowingly, lead to miseries.

The human body is considered to be a rented one. It continuously requires rent in the form of air, water and food.

It is said that the human body is great, yet the brain is greater, the mind is much greater and the soul is the greatest.

Shishya · Posted: Tue May 30, 2006 3:55 pm Post subject:

Humanity

Humanity is considering others' pleasure and pain, profit and loss as your own. Humanity is not being afraid of an unjust person, no matter how powerful he is, and being afraid of a just person no matter how powerless he may seem. Humanity is working with all one's energy for the protection and promotion of a just person, even if one has to suffer heavy losses, even if one loses one's life during the pursuit.

All the living beings other than humans have a common characteristic, i.e. to be afraid of the strong and to frighten the weak. They even kill others for their selfish motives. Humans with similar characteristics are to be considered non-human beings. Being kind and helpful to the weak is a fundamental human characteristic.

Shishya · Posted: Tue May 30, 2006 4:49 pm Post subject:

Definition Of Non-Violence

Never to have enmity of any kind, towards any living being - human, animal, bird or insect - is defined as non-violence.

Hurting, punishing or killing a living being does not by itself make the action violent. It is the cause behind it that matters.

Killing an animal which kills people or destroys crops is not an act of violence. Killing an animal or a bird for food or fun is a violent action.

To punish a person for a crime committed is not violence. Rather, not to punish a criminal is a violence. Because if the criminal is not punished, he would harm many more innocent people, thereby creating much more violence.

The purpose of punishment is to deter the criminal from committing the crime again and to alert the others not to engage in such an act. Only harsh punishment can reduce crime and save many people from the miseries of the crimes.

If someone attacks you and you respond with force, it is not violence. Anyone trying to harm the society or the nation should be dealt with firmly and with force. That will save millions from sufferings. Therefore that is non-violence.

Shishya · Posted: Tue May 30, 2006 4:57 pm Post subject:

Meat - Not A Human Food

Meat is not a human food. No flesh of any animal, bird, fish or egg etc. is human food.

Meat is not only unhealthy for the body, it also poisons the mind, the intellect and the soul. Eating meat is strictly forbidden in the Vedic scriptures.

Rishi Manu in Manusmiriti says:

"He who does not restrain, kill or hurt the living beings, is pro-life and gets lots of happiness."
"You cannot get meat without killing, and killing does not give happiness. Therefore one should not eat meat."
"Because of the way the meat is produced, the killing and torturing the animals; one ought to stay away from eating all kinds of meat."
"Any body, who kills innocent creatures in order to get happiness; he living and even after death does not get happiness."
"He, who orders to kill animals; he who cuts the flesh; he who kills the animals; seller and buyer of animals for killing; he who cooks meat; he who serves meat and he who eats meat: these are all killers and sinners."

The Vedas speak of caring for and protecting animals.

Yajur Veda: "Oh Humans! You do not kill sheep, cow, horse etc."
Yajur Veda: "O God! Protect my people and animals."
Atharva Veda: "Oh cruel man! If you kill our animals like cows, horses, etc. or humans; then we will put you to death so that you will not be able kill them anymore."
Mahabharta: "He who wants to live, how he can kill others? Humans should wish for others what they wish for themselves."
Rig Veda: "Do not kill our cows and horses."
Atharva Veda: "He, who eats raw meat, he who eats human flesh and he who eats eggs: they all ought to be destroyed altogether."

In regards to eating, the Vedas talk about grains like wheat, oats, rice, fruits and vegetables, milk, butter, etc. Meat eating is not allowed at all.

The same God is the father of all living beings – animals, birds, insects and human beings.

Do the animals and birds want to be killed? No, Not at all. Don't they feel helpless and miserable when they are being killed? Certainly, they do. Wouldn't they like to live their full lives as we people do? Definitely, they would.

Every living being has a specific purpose for its existence. The purpose, definitely, is other than being killed and eaten by others. Let each one of them be left alone to serve that purpose.

Shishya · Posted: Tue May 30, 2006 5:05 pm Post subject:

Five Causes Of Suffering

Yoga Philosophy talks about Five Causes of Sufferings:

Ignorance – Root cause of all the other four.
Arrogance
Attachment
Fear of Pain
Fear of Death

Ignorance: There are four types of ignorance:

Wrong beliefs, i.e. treating mortal as immortal, immortal as mortal; thinking and treating body and things as they will last for ever; treating and thinking soul, God and good qualities i.e. truth, justice, etc., as they are not ever lasting.
Believing pure which is impure and impure which is pure, i.e. not believing in speaking the truth, in being just, in helping others and in being courteous, but rather, in believing in useless things.
Believing the causes of unhappiness as causes of happiness, and causes of happiness as causes of unhappiness, i.e. trying to find happiness in lust, anger, greed, attachment, jealousy, fear of pain; and not finding happiness in the real means of happiness such as love, friendship, contentment, control of senses.
Treating living beings as non-living and non-living beings as living, i.e. believing in stone worship as God worship; also to exhibit no hesitation in hurting, humans or animals treating them as they are non living.

Arrogance: Considering oneself big and powerful. One attains godly qualities only by being modest.

Attachment: Desire of doing everything again which one previously enjoyed. When one understands that there is always a change in life then this problem goes away.

Jealousy: Getting angry by thinking about the painful experiences of the past.

Fear of Death: All living beings want to stay alive and do not want to die. This is because of previous life’s experiences. All humans, animals, birds, and insects fear death.

Shishya · Posted: Tue May 30, 2006 5:25 pm Post subject:

Ten Principles For Self And Social Uplift

Patience - Having patience during happiness or misery, gain or loss, admiration or insult.
Tolerance - Being tolerant of the harm done to you by someone who is stronger or weaker than you are.
Control of Mind – Keeping the mind away from bad thoughts and engaging it in good thoughts.
Refrain from Stealing – Earn money only by just means. No illegal or immoral means are to be used. No stealing or robbing nor accepting bribes.
Cleanliness – Keep inner cleanliness by shunning jealousies and grudges. Keep outer cleanliness by keeping air, water, food, body, clothes, places and paths clean. Outer cleanliness helps keeping the mind happy.
Proper use of Body – Engage body parts like hands, feet, mouth for a good cause.
Intelligence – Improve intelligence by eating right food, reading good books and keeping good company.
Knowledge – Acquire as much knowledge as possible. Learn qualities and uses of all the things around.
Truth – Accepting what you know, saying what you accept and doing what you say.
Avoid Anger – Too much anger should be avoided. Normal anger for a right cause may be justified.

Shishya · Posted: Tue May 30, 2006 5:32 pm Post subject:

Social Practices

Intoxication:

Use of all kinds of intoxicants – opium, wine, tobacco etc. - is prohibited by Vedic Dharma. These are harmful for the body and the mind. They make a criminal mind, thereby increasing crime.

Speculation:

All types of speculations are prohibited by Vedic Dharma.

Namaste:

Namaste is a Sanskrit word. It means "my regard for you" or "my love for you" or "my wishes for you", based on the situation.

All our scriptures use the word Namaste for greetings whenever two people meet.

Government:

Just like the husk is separated very carefully without breaking the kernal of grain, so, too, should the wicked and criminals should be separated and punished without hurting the innocent.

As a pregnant female protects the unborn even at the cost of her comfort, the government personnel should watch the public interest even at the cost of their own interests.

Purity:

Water purifies the external body, not mind and soul.

Mind is purified by being truthful in word, thought, and action.
Soul is purified by being righteous at all costs.
Intellect is purified by analyzing the Universe and the God.

Purity of different kinds of people:

The scholar is purified by having patience
The pervert is purified by giving donations
The wicked by repenting
The vedic scholar by practicing vedic philosophy

Sanskrit and Hindi Languages:

The Sanskrit language is written in Devanaagari alphabet – Sanskrit and Devanaagari are as old as the universe itself - about two billion years old. From the beginning of this universe until couple thousand years ago, there has been only one language – Sanskrit, and only one alphabet – Devanaagari, in the whole world.

Devanaagari is the only alphanet in the whole world, that has all the possible sounds. And all letters of the Devanaagari alphabet have natural sounds. All words in the Sanskrit language are read and spoken exactly as they are written. Thus, Devanaagari is the most scientific alphabet and Sanskrit is the most scientific language.

The Hindi language is also written in Devanaagari alphabet. And, most of the words used in Hindi are from the Sanskrit language.

The Dead is Cremated:

After a person dies, the body should be burnt and not buried. Burial spoils that piece of land and creates a foul smell. Burning a dead body with wood and with stuff that produces a good smell like butteroil (ghee) and saffron does not give off a foul smell.

If a dead body is thrown in the water, the animals of the water will eat the body, but the water will get polluted. If a dead body is thrown in the woods, the wild animals and birds will eat the body but the air will get polluted.

Last rites are performed on around 12th day after the death. After that there is no other ceremony is suggested.

Shishya · Posted: Tue May 30, 2006 5:42 pm Post subject:

Age Of The Universe

The total age of the Earth (past and future) is 4.32 billion years. This is called a Day of Brahma. After this period God converts all matter into paramanus. It remains in parmanu-form for the same length of time, i.e. 4.32 billion years. That is called a Night of Brahma. After one Night of Brahma, God again creates the universe. This cycle goes on forever.

In one Day of Brahma, there are 14 manvantras of human life. Each manvantra has 71 chaturyugis. There are four yugas in one chaturyugi.

Satyug has 1,728,000 Years
Tretayug has 1,296,000 Years
Dwaparyug has 864,000 Years
Kaliyug has 432,000 Years

Their sum – chaturyugi - has 4, 320,000 Years

Total Human life on earth, past and future
= 14*71* 4,320,000 Years
= 4,294,080,000 Years
This is equal to = 14*71 = 994 chaturyugis.

Total time of one Day of Brahma is said to be equal to one thousand chaturyugis. 994 chaturyugis is the total time of human life on Earth. Out of the remaining 6 chaturyugis, 3 chaturyugis time is spent in creating the universe and 3 chaturyugis time is spent in Converting the matter into parmanu-form.

Past age of human life on earth:

6 manvantras have passed. 27 chaturyugis of 7th manvantra have passed. Of the 28 manvantra, Satyug, Tretayug and Dwaparyug have passed. In February 2000, 5099 years of the Kaliyug have passed.

Thus, the total past age of human life one earth is calculated as:

Past 6 manvantras = 6*71*4,320,000 = 1,840,320,000 Years

Past 27 chaturyugis of 7th manvantra

= 27*4,320,000 = 116,640,000 Years

28th chaturyugi - Satyug = 1,728,000 Years

- Tretayug = 1,296,000 Years

- Dwaparyug = 864,000 Years

- Kaliyug = 5,099 Years

Total = 3,893,099 Years

Total of all past years of human life on earth.

= 1,960,853,099 Years

Total remaining years of human life on earth.

= 4,294,080,000 - 1,960,853,099 Years

= 2,333,226,901 Years

Shishya · Posted: Tue May 30, 2006 5:47 pm Post subject:

Creation of the Universe

All the matter was in the form of parmanu, the smallest particle. Omniscient God combined those parmanus and created the universe.

60 paramanus make one anu

2 anus make Air

6 anus make Fire

8 anus make Water

And 10 anus make Earth

God first made air, then fire, then water, then earth, then herbs, then grains, and then living beings. Men and women were the last to be created after all the animals, birds, insects, etc. were created.

In the beginning, God created many men and women, all in their youth. No children or elderly people were created. The reproduction system started after that.

God created the human life in the place now known as Tibet. After some time, when the population grew, some people known as Aryas moved to the place now known as India. And the place was named as Aryavrat. Thus, Aryavrat is the original name of India. Later, people moved to other parts of the world from Tibet.

In February 2000, the number of years passed since God first created men and women on earth is 1,960,853,099. Aryas have been counting each day since the creation of human life on earth. They have been writing these dates in their calendars and astronomical records. Even now, while performing certain ceremonies like marriage, an Arya priest reads the date calculated since human life began on earth.

Men and women now are in the same form and shape as were created by God in the beginning. They did not descend from any other species.

Shishya · Posted: Tue May 30, 2006 5:53 pm Post subject:

Vedic Scriptures

All Vedic Ancient scriptures are in the Sanskrit language. Sanskrit is the first language of the Earth. Most of the languages of the world - including English - have been derived from Sanskrit. Hindi, English and other translations are available for most of the following scriptures:

Veda: The Vedas are the most important scripture. The meaning of the word veda is knowledge. The Vedas were revealed in 4 sections at the dawn of the creation to the 4 saints (Rishis):
- Rig Veda - Agni Rishi
- Yajur Veda - Vayu Rishi
- Sama Veda - Aditya Rishi
- Atharva Veda - Angira Rishi
Upanishads: The word Upanishad means "to sit near". In ancient days, devotees sat near the Rishis to listen to the discourses. Those discourses compiled into the books are called Upanishads. The Upanishads are many in number, but eleven are considered most important. They are Ish, Ken, Kath, Prashna, Mundak, Mandukya, Aitareya, Taitareya, Chhandogya, Brihdarnayak and Shvetashvetar.
Manusmiriti: The Manusmriti is famous among scriptures, and the author is Manu. Rules for religion, political and social conduct are contained in Manusmriti.
Ramayana: The Ramayan is the first great composition of Sanskrit literature written by Valmiki Muni. It portrays a picture of the society in the Vedic and Upanishadic ages. Religion’s principles of the Vedas and Upanishads were not just found in theory but practiced in real life.
Mahabharata: The Mahabharat is also a great epic written by Vyas Muni. The Mahabharat depicts how people resort to injustice and oppressive means because of their greed, pride, selfishness and hypocrisy. Alongside this picture, it shows how the virtuous have undergone troubles and sufferings in upholding the path of truth and justice.
Bhagavad Gita: The Gita is a part of the great epic, Mahabharat. Its significance is so great that it stands out as a scripture in itself. Commentaries on the Vedas, are found in the Upnishads; while the essence of the Upanishads is containied in the Gita. Arjun was standing confused to fight with his own relatives in the battlefield. It was on this occasion the Yogiraj Krishan imparted true knowledge to Arjun and enlightened him with his course of action.
Darshans: The word ‘Darshan’ means observation and a detailed examination. Darshans explain the relationship between God, Soul and Matter. Their teachings lead us to our goal of God-realization. These teachings have been discussed very deeply in the six Darshans. The six Darshans and their authors are:
- NAYA - Gautam Muni
- VAISHESHIKA - Kanad Muni
- SAMKHYA - Kapil Muni
- YOGA - Patanjali Minu
- MIMANSA - Jaimini Muni
- VEDANTA - Vyasa Muni
Satyarth Praksash (Light Of Truth):Satyarth Prakash has been written by Swami Dayanand. Just as other Scriptures have been prepared on the teachings expounded by the Vedas, Satyarth Prakash also contains explanations and clarifications of Vedic principles on all walks of life.
Rigved-adi-bhashya-bhumika (Introduction to Vedas): This is also written by Swami Dayanand. Various topics found in Vedas are discussed here. This book is full of knowledge and worth reading.