Vedas – The Great Unifying Guide

First, understanding our philosophy doesn't start with God...It starts with us. But before we get into deeper points about the philosophy, let's at the outset try and understand a little about Vedas and Vedanta - what they are and are not and some myth busters about them.

Most of the today’s generation criticizes the Vedas and the Vedanta without getting some basic understanding about them. Most of what they say is based on hearsay and half-baked articles by people who don't understand the broader picture. It is like flipping through the pages of a book you haven't read fully and commenting on it with certainty - you don't read one page in the middle of a book and conclude something about the book.

Few common accusations on the Vedas are that they are "backward" in nature; they are "out-of-tune" with science and modernity; promote "casteism" and "un-touchability" which "divides" people and is "irrelevant" now.

Nothing can be farther from truth. To understand this, we need to understand the territory Vedas try to address to understand their timeless appeal. Vedas consists of two broad divisions:

1. The "poorva bhaagam" or the "Karma kaandam"

2. The "Uthara bhaagam" or the "Vedanta" or the "Brahma Kaandam"

The "poorva bhaagam" deals with karmas or to put it in a different way, process and procedures for life - What a person can do, should not be doing and why - for a good life here and anywhere. Like the Quality Management System of any company, this part deals with standards, guidelines, process and procedures for different segments/sections of people.

The "uthara bhaagam" is the more important of the two - this is the one that goes beyond karmas and tells us about the meanings behind the various karmas, about us, about the brahmam, our ultimate purpose in life and the various paths to reach our goal. You can think of this somewhat like the various career paths a company offers, with some differences. This is the part that contains the various "upanishads".

Now, let's deal with the common accusations and why they are not true. Let's first take the one about "casteism", "untouchability" and "divisive". If we try and understand the true message of Vedas, this accusation is almost laughable.

Vedas proclaim one thing emphatically - that we all are souls and not these mere mortal, ever changing and destroyed bodies. And in many places, they say clearly that we need to identify ourselves as souls and not our bodies. And also that all souls are one and the same in their nature - there is only difference in bodies. And the ultimate goal of all these souls or jeevaathmas is the same. All are entitled to achieve that goal and have various ways to achieve it. You can see that this is the ultimate unifier of a concept possible. But the same Vedas do talk about the four varnas and that is where the problem is for people.

If all souls are same, then why have four varnas? We need to understand one thing clearly - it was not the intention of Vedas to "divide" and make one set of people greater than the other. The souls are not categorized - it's us inside the mortal bodies that come under one of these four varnas. Why? It is a societal organization structure. That’s it - nothing more, nothing less.

Think about it; in any society, there are always four categories of people - the rulers - those who govern and defend the nation; the teachers/thinkers - those who are learned and guide the society as to what is right and wrong; the businessmen/entrepreneurs/professionals - those who do business, provide services and help in the economic prosperity of the society; the workers - without whom the society doesn't exist. Even today, these four categories of people exist in our society - by whatever name you call them.

While Vedas talk of four varnas, there is no talk of the 4000 or 5000 castes that we have today. There is only talk of people belonging to various professions as part these varnas. But essentially there are only four varnas. All this and the associated abhorrent discriminatory problems and practices are due to ignorance and degeneration that set in due to vagaries of time.

Are these varnas hereditary? From my humble understanding of what elders say, “yes” and “no”. Yes, because a son or daughter of a person of one varna is born as a person of that varna until he drifts to another varna. No because, just that you are born in a varna does not mean that whatever you do, you are a person of that varna. A born brahmin who is greedy, lies and cheats others is not a brahmin. He was just born as a brahmin, but didn't stay as such with his "guna" (qualities) and "karma" (activities).

But why not just say that anyone can be of any varna by their own choice? Though it has happened in some cases – Sage Vishwamithra being an example - it generally is not sanctioned explicitly. One reason could be that it could lead to chaos and dis-organization. Also primarily because, no person of one varna is really "inferior" or "superior" as a person at all. So, there is no reason to really think that "Oh, I need to belong to that varna". Any person of any varna or for that matter any living thing, can reach the ultimate goal of a jeevathma. They just need to keep doing duties prescribed for them while surrendering to the lord - there is no distinction at all. We’ll see more on this last point later.

Since the roles and responsibilities of all these four sets of people are different, the rules and regulations for them also are tailored for that. There is no "un-touchability" in any of these. In west, it is a culture that you "respect other’s private space". If you stand so close to them, they feel that you are sort of, "violating their private space". Is this un-touchability? Besides Vedas don't even go that far - they only say that a person who is discharging a certain responsibility needs to follow the rules for proper discharge of that responsibility. It is just a procedural rule and doesn't lead to any "superiority" or "inferiority".

Where is divisiveness in all this? It is part of the age-old misunderstanding about Vedas. If this is divisive, then all commercial, political and other establishments of these days are divisive as well.

Let's now turn to the "out-of-tune with modern science" part. Science is an essential part of lives. Without that how would I be writing this piece in a PC? But we need to understand that science is not an "alternative" to sampradaya/philosophy/spirituality/religion. They are actually complementary in nature. Sometimes it does look like they are in conflict, but the idea is different and it's not actually a conflict.

Philosophy deals with life as a whole – life with all its goodness, complications and conflicts. Science deals with tools to make our physical life in this world better. Philosophy helps me be a better person, whereas science helps the person with tools that can make our physical life better. Philosophy talks to the “soul” and science primarily deals with our “body”.  Science helps us to physically understand the world we live in better. They are like two sides of a coin - they need each other, but they are not exactly opposed to each other.

Hence, it would be naive to think that "science" should dictate our lives and we don't need anything else. Science can deal with illness of the body. Science can help me maintain my physical health and ensure that I have all the comforts in the world, but cannot ensure that I am a nice person or a person who is an asset to the society. That Vedas can do - they embody timeless principles that don't change and help us lead a healthy life - healthy in body, mind and soul.

Science and Modernity can help me look great from the outside, which we require as well. But what is more important is inner beauty – that requires a philosophy of life.

Besides, science or modernity is an evolving phenomenon - It constantly keeps changing, whereas Vedas don't and can't. What was science 20 years back is not science now; it won't be the same in future also, since it deals with a territory that keeps changing and evolving - the physical world. The Vedas, whereas, deal with timeless principles of life that don't and can't change – like causing harm to someone will always be bad, it can’t change. So where does the "conflict" part come in? It mostly comes when we try to put science into religious philosophy and vice versa which is actually unnecessary.

For example, Vedas say emphatically that Onion and Garlic should be avoided. Reason – they encourage certain qualities in a person which are not desirable – like anger, being more emotional and other stuff. Now, many might spring up and ask is there any scientific evidence to prove that.

Again, one thing needs to be remembered. Science being something that keeps evolving, can’t and isn’t conclusive on many things in life. Generally, science cannot be conclusive on a point involving “effects” of something on internal stuff like attitude, mindset, qualities etc., It can at best be said that, they are not able to find any evidence for such a thing as of now. And few years later, some research might just come up and tell us that it indeed has that effect. This is not to disbelieve science – but just that it can’t be conclusive on a point linking physical tangible things with things intangible and internal to a person like his qualities or attitude. Our experience or our elders’ experience can teach us more in such a thing like this.

A simple rule of thumb – if it is something internal to a person and intangible, something that is linked to the soul’s well-being, then Vedas are the ultimate guide. Because the ultimate aim of Vedas’ is the well-being of the soul – and all that they mandate will be in that ultimate direction.

That is not to say the Vedas nudge us to neglect the body – they don’t. Since the soul and the body are bound together in this world, soul can’t do what it wants to do without a healthy body. Hence, a healthy body and mind are essential. But only a healthy soul is better placed to reap the true benefits of a healthy body and mind. Such a soul would be an asset to the society and the world at large.

Therefore, Vedas and their unifying, global appeal based on timeless principles are actually more relevant in today’s fast paced world. Today’s world has more conflicts, everyone is stressed out and money-plus-pleasure has come to dictate almost everything in the society. All right thinking individuals do see the perils of a societal life primarily based on money and pleasure – it’s unstable. Since money or pleasure by itself is unstable, the happiness or fulfillment that it brings is also unstable.

Let’s now delve into our great philosophy. One can then appreciate how relevant they are and how easy our lives become if we understand this properly.