Vedic Religion

[Jaldhar H. Vyas]

On Tue, 10 Aug 1999, Ashish Chandra wrote:

> I also read in one of the posts in this thread that the Rishis were just
> ordinary people (or animals) who just "somehow" saw the Mantras.

Or they may have been extraordinary people, that still isn't relevant to
how or why they saw the mantras.

>  I hope this
> is not saying that there was no scientific process of experimentation and
> deduction employed by the Rishis.

This is precisely what is being said.  The Mimamsakas as was mentioned
earlier wanted to make absolutely sure the words and message of the Vedas
were not tampered with even by people with the best of intentions.  Now in
ancient times the cutting edge of scientific theory was the universe is
made out of five elements, earth, air, water, fire, and akasha.  Would you
accept such a theory based on what you know today?  I don't think anyone
reading this would.  If the authority of the Vedas depended on something
as ephemeral as the prevailing scientific theory, (A good scientist must
be prepare to drop even long-held notions at the drop of a hat) the Vedas
would have been dismissed as irrelevant or severely tmpered with long ago.
So they argued that the authority of the Vedas is on two subjects, Dharma,
and Moksha only.  If I say Rakshabandhan is on the 26th, how can it be
scientifically proved or disproved that I'm right or wrong?

If we look at the history of the West, there has been much conflict
between Science and Religion but Indian history has been free of that.
That's because we respect the role of each in its respective sphere but
don't try and scramble the two together.

> From whatever I have read so far, the
> Rishis have always been considered the greatest as they were those who "saw"
> the Mantras.

Exactly.  Not for any other character trait they may have had.

> How they saw it is a mystery to us and should not be a topic of
> speculation. Acharyas only explained thoroughly what was contained in the
> Mantras and other Rishis' teachings.
>

Yes.  And the various arguments between different Acharyas is not just
scholastic quibbling but an attempt to explain these teaches as faithfully
as possible.

--
Jaldhar H. Vyas <jaldhar at braincells.com>