Sambodhi 2013 Vol 36

Author(s): Jitendra B Shah
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

Page 21

Significance of Geometry in the Rgveda
Parameswaran Murthiyedath
The ægveda was felt a complex document in spite of being large and in spite of containing many repetitions. One would have expected the complexities to fade away by virtue of the repetitions; but that was not to be. In spite of many repeated statements and usage of block ideas, the text eluded proper interpretation. Though several reasons could be cited for this state of affairs that existed for the past few millenniums, those reasons could be seen to have shifted and taken new positions all these while. On the other hand, it could be observed that several liberties were taken as to the contents of the Rgveda, by various distinguished scholars all through the same period. The Rgveda and in short the general public were often sympathetic to these interpretations, due to a total lack of alternatives. The formative style of the Language of 'Sanskrit of the Vedas” got transformed and constantly updated as time progressed, such that the original ideas became irredeemable. Besides, the fact that the ideas mooted by the Rgveda were more in line with modern physics than the poetic story telling of the later period, necessitated a set of scientific progress to take place that would be required to recognise the Vedic
principles. That was not to occur until the first half of the 20th century. By that "time, however, the Vedic scholarship declined to recognise the meanings of the
Rgveda as anything other than what Sāyana said a few centuries earlier. It was a matter of convenience for the people of India as well as the scholars of the rest of the world.
It is not meant here that the Rgveda dealt with scientific matters only and nothing else. There could be no doubt that Rgveda concerned itself with a set of universal principles of creation and existence, with an unavoidable divine nature well attached. A universal consciousness and a Supreme Divinity guided all, past and present. To know the nature of this Supreme Divinity is to know the creation of this very universe. Such descriptions were unable to avoid the detailed description of the physics of the universe and obviously the