[Advaita-l] Anantaa vai vedaah

[Shrinivas Gadkari]

Namaste Shri Vidyasankar,

I would like to suggest that we take statements like "when brahma 
vidyA is known, everything else is known", on face value - to 
encompass all knowledge including all vyavahArika sciences and arts. 

Though I myself am only an entry level student of brahma vidyA, I 
still feel quite certain that above statement is not at all an 
exaggeration. (It is just a matter of time spanning several 
lifetimes :-) that one will get to verify the correctness of this 
statement via direct personal experience.)

Here is a high level summary of how this works - I am also quite 
sure that you must be more than familiar with this theory.
- Whatever is in macrocosm is also in the microcosm.
- Sometimes it is easier to deal with microcosm, at other times 
  vice versa.
- Understanding this interrelationship and harnessing it is at the 
  heart of every vidyA.
- One of the best tools in this context is dhAraNA-dhyAna-samAdhi 
  described by maharSi pAtanjali.
- Chapter 13 of gItA calls the microcosm kSetra. One would expect 
  macrocosm would be called kSetra - this might be a subtle hint in 
  gitA on equivalence of microcosm and macrocosm.
- Chapter 13 of gItA then on to state that the whatever RSi-s could 
  understand (via yoga or any other sAdhanA) of the components of 
  this kSetra they have encapsulated in the veda mantras (chanda-s).
- Since there is no end to components of kSetra and their interactions, 
  there cannot be any end to veda mantras. Now, can we say that every 
  statement about components of kSetra and their interactions is a 
  veda mantra? Probably not. Though, through sAdhana, it may be 
  possible to refine every such statement until it attains the status 
  of a veda mantra. Not everyone is capable of this feat - those who 
  are, are known as mantra draSTA-s.
  (This should also shed some light on veda-s being ananta.)
  
hari om.

Regards,
Shrinivas




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In a general sense, the word veda, as a noun form related to the verb vid - "to know"
- can be seen as encapsulating every single element of human knowledge. In a different
day and age, perhaps this attitude would be unexceptionable. However, making assertions
about the unfolding of any and every kind of human knowledge from veda mantras, and
that too at a vyAvahArika level is fraught with problems, especially in contemporary times.
It should be seen as nothing more than arthavAda - stuti of knowledge in general. Given
the weakness of social and ideological support for the transmission tradition today,
combined with the motivation from multiple quarters to generate new texts aspiring to
be called veda, I would urge a huge note of caution about pressing this point. 
 
Regards,
Vidyasankar