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VEDIC ORIGINS AND PRINCIPLES
OF YOGA
Swami Poonyananda Giri
You have been listening to some very inspiring talks at this august occasion. It is in the tradition of vedic Sanatan Dharma that we do not speak from our own intellect, we just expose what the scriptures have said. The ancient sages have said a beautiful thing: Dharme vivad maanaanaam pramaanam param shruthi" meaning. "Whenever there is a debate on dharma, we should not depend on our own intellect, to give any clarification. We consider shruthi only as the final authority." Whatever be the caliber of a man, there is one shortcoming, he cannot be free from personal prejudices.
The Vedas and the Upanishads were not inspired or created by man and this is what is unique about them. The shruti itself says, Tasya nishwasitan vedah, which means, "The Vedas are this breath." The Vedas were there in the first kalpa after creation. Before creation the Almighty first of all exposed the Vedas through His breath. But although Ishwara, or God, is absolute, meaning that He is not controlled by any other agency, still there is the unique principle that God himself, abiding by the discipline of the Vedas, exposes the mantras.
Therefore, if the mantra reads, Agni midhe purohitam, in the previous kalpa, while exposing the mantra in the next kalpa, God cannot say, Vahni midhe purohitam, although Agni and Vahni conote the same thing, i.e. fire. The mantra cannot be uttered as, Vahni midhe purohitam. He has got to utter the mantra as it was in the previous kalpa, letter by letter, because God is not free in respect of the Vedas. If there is anything which disciplines even God, it is the divine Vedas.
The Vedas were..not created by God. You sit to recite the Gita, but that does not make you the author of the Gita. You can only be the chanter or reader of the Gita. Bhagawan Veda Vyasa was the author of the Gita. Similarly, in the beginning of creation, God exposed the vedic mantras through his breath.
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