Light and Love
Swami
teaches...(17 December 2004)
Vedas,
Upanishads, Sutras, Sastras - Eternal Light of
Wisdom
The Vedas are
A-pourusheya: they have no identifiable human
authors. They have emerged from God Himself and they
are 'heard' by sages attuned to the Voice of the
Divine. They communicated the Word to their pupils
and they in turn taught them to their disciples.
This process of imparting the Vedas and the Wisdom
enshrined in them has continued through generation
after generation of gurus and disciples up to our
own times.
The Upanishads are the very
core of the Vedas, the very essence of their
teachings.
Sutra (aphorism)
enshrines, in a few words, vast expanses of
meaning, vast depths of fundamental
significance. The Brahma Sutras build up the
science of Vedanta. They gather multicoloured
flowers from all the Upanishads and string them
together to form an enchanting garland.
The Brahma Sutra is
also known as Saareeraka Sastra and Vedanta
Darsana. Sareera means the Body. Saareeraka
means all the components of the Embodied - Atma:
Ego (Jivi), Senses etc. Sastra implies
"examining the nature of all these to the
greatest possible degree". That is to say, the
Sastra establishes that the Brahman (the Cosmic
Self) is the basis on which all else is imposed,
that one's Reality is Ananda itself.
About the name
Vedanta Darsana: Darsana means 'sight'.
Darsana promotes the sight or experience of
the Truth.
All the Sastras
derive their value and validity from their
source - the Vedas. They lay down modes and
norms in consonance with the principles and
purposes defined in the Vedas.
Acquisition of the Higher
knowledge alone can fulfil the main purpose of human
life. Such knowledge makes one aware that he is not
the inert non-sentient body, etc., but that he is
Consciousness itself manifesting as the embodiment
of Sath-Chith-Ananda, Existence - Awareness - Bliss.
When this Truth dawns and is experienced, man is
liberated; he is freed from the fog of ignorance,
Ajana, even while life endures till its term ends.
He becomes a Jeevan-Muktha.
The Jagath (the objective
world) is unreal, non-existent; the misunderstanding
that it is real has to be renounced. The
understanding that the idea of jagath is a
superimposition by our mind on the Reality is the
Jnana. Though the jagath appears real, one must be
aware that it is deluding us so. And as a result,
one has to give up the yearning for deriving
pleasure from the objects that appear and attract,
both here and hereafter. The Ajnana or false
knowledge can be destroyed only when one knows the
Atma Principle. When the false knowledge disappears,
the sorrow produced by one's involvement in the ups
and downs of Samsara or the World of Change, also
gets destroyed.
Ajnana and Duhkha (sorrow)
cannot be destroyed by rituals and rites (Karma) -
this is the lesson the Upanishads teach us. In fact,
what is happening now is Man has forgotten his real
nature. He believes that he is the body, the senses
etc. He deludes himself that he can secure Ananda
by catering to the body and the senses.
The awareness of Brahmam
cannot be won by the accumulation of wealth or even
by the giving away of riches. Nor can it be achieved
by reading texts, or rising to power, or acquisition
of degrees and diplomas or by the performance of
scriptural sacrifices and rituals.
So, man needs to be
directed towards the right means to attain Ananda.
Wherefrom can one gain Ananda? It does not inhere in
external objects.
The body is an ant-hill
which has inside the cavity, the mind. And the mind
has hidden in it the serpent named Ajnana
(Nescience). It is not possible to kill the serpent
by resorting to satisfaction-orientated works
(Kaamya Karma). Jnana is the only weapon that can
kill it.
"Sraddhaavaan labhathe
jnaanam". That person alone who has sraddha can
secure jnana. And Sraddha means steady faith in the
statements laid down in scriptual texts (Sastras).
The Brahma Sutra, the
Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita - the Three Source
Texts - clarify the Truth that you are the very
embodiment of Ananda. These three sources stand on
one to help man attain the highest wisdom. (A
tiny compilation and extracts from: Sathya Sai Baba.
"Sutra Vahini," pp. 1 - 5).
Namaste - Reet