The scriptures of the Hindus, the Vedas, four in number, are the highest truths revealed to the seers.
The refrain of the Vedas is self-realization.
The core of the Vedas do not advocate Idol worship but a Higher Reality, Brahman , whose attributes are Being, Consciousness and Bliss-Sat, Chit and Ananda.
However idol worship is allowed to concentrate the mind.
The Four Vedas are.
Rig Veda- consisting of Hymns.
Yajur Veda, dealing with duties.
Sama Veda, essentially the Rig Veda set to Tones.
Atharva Veda, dealing with practical life, including Black Magic.
Please read my posts on the Vedas and god with and without form.
I have searched the images of the Vedas personified.
I could not find them.
I found them in Subrahmanya Samajam, Nallakunta, Hyderabad, where I had been to attend a function.
Here they are.
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The Yajur Veda Personified.
Hindu scripture Sama veda personified.Hindu scripture Atharva veda personified.
To what extent our History can be hidden, is amazing.
Sirr-i-Akbar by Dara, Introduction PersianTranslation by Chand Tara.
Though it is a fact that Islamic rulers of India raped women, killed people, destroyed Temples and forcibly converted Hindus to Islam, it is shocking to know that they could execute their own siblings for translating The Vedas directly from Sanskrit into Persian.
It is not about the common fanatic I am speaking about.
It is about Shah Jehan’s son Muhammad Dara Shikoh, who was also a great Sufi.
He went to the extent of saying that Islam had its roots in Hinduism, more specifically in The Vedas and the Upanishads, and they were revealed to the Rishis by God much before the advent of Prophet Muhammad.
( I am stating facts as I see them; I am not trying to legitimize Islam as many try.
I just point out the similarities between Hinduism and Islam.
That 786 is OM, Mecan is Shiva Temple,Ancestors of Arabians c0uld have been Tamils, Prophet Muhammad’s Uncle wrote a Hymn, Stuthi On Lord Shiva)
”
Prince Muhammad Dara Shikoh (1627-1658 AD) the favorite Sufi son of Moghul emperor, Shah Jehan. Known the world over for his unorthodox and liberal views. He was a mystic and a free thinker.
Dara Shikoh, wrote in his Persian translation of the Upanishads.
“After gradual research; I have come to the conclusion that long before all heavenly books, God had revealed to the Hindus, through the Rishis of yore, of whom Brahma was the Chief, His four books of knowledge, the Rig Veda, the Yajur Veda, the Sama Veda and the Atharva Veda.”
He had learned Sanskrit and studied the Hindu scriptures in the original.
He translated the Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita and Yoga-Vasishta into Persian directly from Sanskrit and called it Sirr-e-Akbar (The Great Mystery). Titled “The Upanishads: God’s Most Perfect Revelation” and then into Latin by Anquetil Duperron (1801 and 1802) under the title Oupnekhat, contained about fifty. The Quran itself, he said, made veiled references to the Upanishads as the “first heavenly book and the fountainhead of the ocean of monotheism.”
In his Majma-al-Bahrain, he sought to reconcile the Sufi theory with the Vedanta.
He was able to affirm that Sufism and Advaita Vedantism (Hinduism) are essentially the same, with a surface difference of terminology.
And in introduction to this work he says that one finds in Upanishads the concept of tawhid (the doctrine of Unity of God, the most fundamental doctrine of Islam) after the Qur’an and perhaps the Qur’an refers to Upanishad when it refers to Kitab al-Maknun (The Hidden Book). His work Majma-al-Bahrain (Mingling of the Two Oceans i.e. Hinduism and Islam) is very seminal work in the history of composite culture of India.
Two years after the completion of the Sirr-i-Akbar, Dara was executed on the orders of his brother.
“Dara subsequently developed a friendship with the seventh Sikh Guru, Guru Har Rai. Dara devoted much effort towards finding a common mystical language between Islam and Hinduism. Towards this goal he completed the translation of 50 Upanishads from its original Sanskrit intoPersian in 1657 so it could be read by Muslim scholars. His translation is often called Sirr-e-Akbar (The Greatest Mystery), where he states boldly, in the Introduction, his speculative hypothesis that the work referred to in the Qur’an as the “Kitab al-maknun” or the hidden book, is none other than the Upanishads.[
They have been transmitted orally since 5000 years.
Composers Of Rig Veda.
The Vedas were intutively grasped in the for of Sounds by the Seers,Rishis.
They can not be really called composers, they have complied what they have intutively learnt.
The major families that composed these hymns are the Bharadvajas, Visvamitras, Vasisthas, Vamadevas, Grtsamadas and Atris. Each of these is attributed a Mandala (or Book) in the Rig Veda. These Mandalas are thus referred to as the Kula Mandalas (Family Books).
”
The AnukramaNIs or Indices of the Rigveda provide us with the most basic information about each of the 1028 hymns of the Rigveda:
a. The RSi ( Rishi: ऋषि ) or composer of each hymn or verse.
b. The DevatA ( देवता ) or deity of each hymn or verse.
c. The Chhanda ( छंद ) or metre of each hymn or verse.
For the purpose of our historical analysis of the Rigveda, we will be concerned only with the index which deals with the most undeniably historical aspect of the Rigveda: the index of RSis which provides us with details about the living and breathing historical personalities who composed the hymns.
The Rigveda consists of 10 MaNDala ( मंडल ) or Books, which contain 1028 sUktas ( सूक्त ) or hymns, consisting of 10552 mantras ( मंत्र ) or verses as follows:
There are some fictitious composers ,especially in Mandala X.
However, in the first eight MaNDala, except in the case of one single hymn (VIII.47), it is very easy to identify the actual composer (by which we mean the RSi who actually composed the hymn, or his eponymous ancestor to whose name the hymn is to be credited as per the system followed in the particular MaNDala) of a hymn ascribed to a fictitious composer.
Hymn
Fictitious Composers
Actual Composer
I.100
AmbarISa, Sahadeva, BhayamAna, SurAdhas
RjrASva
I.105
Trita Aptya
Kutsa
I.126
BhAvayavya, RomaSA
KakSIvAn
III.23
DevaSravas, DevavAta
ViSvAmitra
IV.42
Trasadasyu Paurukutsa
VAmadeva
V.27
Trasadasyu, TryaruNa, ASvamedha
Atri
VI.15
VItahavya
BharadvAja
VIII.1
AsaNga, SaSvatI
MedhAtithi
VIII.34
Vasurocis
NIpAtithi
(2) Dialogue hymns, in some of which verses are ascribed to Gods and even rivers:
Hymn
Fictitious Composers
Actual Composer
I.165
Indra, Maruts, (epon.) Agastya
Agastya
I.170
Indra, (epon.) Agastya
Agastya
I.179
(epon.) Agastya, LopAmudrA, a pupil
Agastya
III.33
(epon.) ViSvAmitra, Rivers
ViSvAmitra
IV.18
(epon.) VAmadeva, Indra, Aditi
ViSvAmitra
(3) Hymns which are ascribed alternatively to the actual composers and to their remote ancestors:
he female Vedic writers credited with composing hymns are noted below:
(1) Vak Devi: she was the daughter of Rishi Ambhrina. She is credited with composing the eight riks of 125 Sukta, Book X and Rig Veda. These riks are known as Devi-Sukta. In the ancient Vedic times it was a custom to read the Devi-Sukta on special occasions. In modern times instead of the Devi Sukta, the Chandi (recounting of the deeds of Durga) is read. In the eight hymns Vak Devi has conveyed her ideas of monotheism and chastity.
(2) Biswavara: She belonged to the Atri clan. She was the composer of six hymns. These hymns illustrate the gentle ideas, beauty and loving affections of the female.
(3) Aditi: She was the spouse of the great sage Kasyapa. Her father was King Daksha and she was the mother of twelve Aditya brothers of the deva-Aryans. Aditi is credited with composing five hymns of R. V.X, 153 Sukta. She has also composed the fifth, sixth and the seventh hymns of R. V., IV and 18 Sukta.
(4) Apala: She belonged to the Atri clan. She has also composed many beautiful hymns like Biswavara, the eight hymns of R.V. VIII and 91 Sukta.
(5) Yami: She has written the first, third, fifth, seventh, and eleventh hymns of R.V, 10 Sukta and even the five hymns of 154th Sukta.
(6) Urvashi: She has described her love marriage with Pururava, a lunar king, in seven hymns of the 95th Sukta, Book X and Rig Veda.
(7) Lopamudra: She was the Princess of Vidarbha and wife of the great sage Agastya. She has composed the first two hymns of the 179th Sukta of Book I of the Rig Veda.
(8) Romasa: she was the Queen of Bhava-Yavya and the mother of King Svanaya. She has composed the seventh hymn of 126th Sukta, Book I, and Rig Veda.
References.
The History and Culture of the Indian People
2. The Culture and Civilization of Ancient India in Historical Outline by D.D. Kosambi, Vikas Publishing House Pvt. Ltd, Delhi-Bombay-Bangalore-Kanpur, 1975 (first printed 1970).
3. Rgveda Repetitions Vol.2 by Maurice Bloomfield, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachussetts, 1916. p. 634
4. The Rise of the Greek Epic by Gilbert Murray
Courtesy: – Rigveda: A historical Analysis by Shrikant G. Talageri
The Mantrika Upanishad appears in the Atharva Veda.
Full of symbolism ans an integrated approach to all the Three Vedas ,a clear exposition of Advaita and Maya can be found in this Upanishad.
I shall be posting an article explaining the concept.
Lord Subrahmanya.
Translation.
Om ! That (Brahman) is infinite, and this (universe) is infinite.
The infinite proceeds from the infinite.
(Then) taking the infinitude of the infinite (universe),
It remains as the infinite (Brahman) alone.
Om ! Let there be Peace in me !
Let there be Peace in my environment !
Let there be Peace in the forces that act on me !
1. The eight-footed immaculate Swan, bound with three cords, subtle and imperishable, to whom three ways lead, I see not though I see it everywhere.
2. At the time all living beings are confounded (in the darkness of nescience) when (however) the pileless darkness is shattered (by the sun of saving knowledge). The sages established in Sattva behold the Absolute beyond Gunaa (right) in the sphere of gunas.
3 (a). Contemplated by sages like Kumara, etc.; the Absolute is not otherwise capable of being perceived (at all).
3(b)-4. The agent of superimposition the Unborn (Maya), the nescient eight-fold inveterate mother of modifications; thus it is extended and again prodded. The world under such power and guidance gives rise to the values of man.
5. The Lord’s mighty Maya, having both a beginning and end, the creatrix, brings beings into existence; white, black and red (She) fulfils all desires.
6. (The ignorant) experiences this non-objective Maya (whose real nature is) unknown (even) to sages like Kumara. The Lord alone freely following (Her) enjoys Maya (as Her Lord and Companion).
7. He enjoys (Her) through both contemplation and action. He, the omnipresent one, sustains (Her) who is common to one and all, the yielder (of desired objects) and is enjoyed by the sacrificers.
8. The magnanimous (sages) behold in (the sphere of) Maya the bird eating the fruits (of Karmas). The priests who have completed their Vedic training have declared the Other to be detached.
9. The masters of the Rig-Veda, well-versed in the Shastras repeat what the Yajur-Vedins have declared. The adepts in Sama-Veda singing Brhatsama and Rathantara also (reaffirm this truth).
10. (Vedic) sages like Bhrigu and the Bhargavas – these followers of the Atharva-Veda, practising the Veda, the mantras and the secret doctrines, in the sequence on Words, (all set forth the same doctrine).
11-13. The faithful co-disciple, firm and accomplished, the red Bull, the sacrificial Remainder – as all these, in regard to Its immensity; and as Time, Life, the divine wrath, the Destroyer, the great Lord, the Becoming, Rudra, the Protector of Jivas, the Rewarder of the virtuous, the Lord of living beings, the Virat, the sustainer and the Waters (of life), is the all-Pervader lauded by beings magnified in the mantras and well-known to the Atharva-Veda.
14. Some aver Him (the great Lord) as the twenty sixth (Principle); others as the twenty seventh; the masters of the Atharva-Veda and the Atharva Upanishads know the Spirits beyond qualities, as set forth in the Sankhya.
15. The manifest and the unmanifest have been counted (together) as twenty four. (Some) declare Him non-dual; as dual; as three-fold; and similarly as five-fold.
16. Those who see with the eye of wisdom, the twice-born, perceive Him as comprising everything from Brahma to sticks, as one only, pure through and through, all pervading.
17. That in which this might manifold, moving and unmoving, is woven – in that very thing it also merges as the rivers do in the sea.
18. In That in which the objects are dissolved, and, having been dissolved, become unmanifest, once more they attain manifestation; they are again born like bubbles.
19. They come into being by virtue of causes supervised by individual selves that know ‘the field’. Such is the blessed Lord, so others repeatedly, declare.
20. Those Brahmanas who (just) know Brahman – here only they are dissolved; and being dissolved they exist in the Avyakta. Having been dissolved they exist in the Avyakta – this is the secret doctrine.
Om ! That (Brahman) is infinite, and this (universe) is infinite.
The infinite proceeds from the infinite.
(Then) taking the infinitude of the infinite (universe),
It remains as the infinite (Brahman) alone.
Om ! Let there be Peace in me !
Let there be Peace in my environment !
Let there be Peace in the forces that act on me !
Om Shanti ! Shanti ! Shanti !
Here ends the Mantrika Upanishad, as contained in the Shukla Paksha Yajur-Veda.
Translated by A.G.Krishna Warrier, Published by The Theosophical Society of India.
Of the Four Vedas, the Scriptures of the Hindus,the Ataharva Veda is less known as compared to Rig,Yajur and Sama Vedas.
It is not Athavana Veda as most people pronounce it.
Atharveda is not as large as the Rug Veda.
There are 10552 verses in Rig Veda and around 5987 verses (varies slightly based on recessions) in Atharva Veda.
Thus Atharva Veda is a little more than half the size of Rig Veda.
It is three times bigger than Yajur Veda or Sama Veda.
From the preliminary analysis of the text, it is revealed that Atharva Veda was centered around the northern Sarasvati region and later became the text of the shamans in the Kuru kingdom which got established to the east of Sarasvati (in Haryana).
Practitioners of Atharva Veda are now limited and they are found mostly in Maharashtra and Kerala, Gujarat.
As compared to the other three Vedas, the Atharva Veda speaks more of Daily problems and solutions, like diseases,black magic.
The name Atharva Veda is a compound of Atharva, the Rishi who compiled it and Veda, meaning Knowledge.
The Atharvaveda was mainly composed by two groups of rishis known as the Atharvanas and the Angirasa.
Hence its oldest name is Ātharvāṅgirasa. In the Late Vedic Gopatha Brahmana, it is attributed to the Bhrigu and Angirasa.
Additionally, tradition ascribes parts to other rishis, such as Kauśika, Vasiṣṭha and Kaśyapa.
There are two surviving recensions (śākhās), known as Śaunakīya (AVS) and Paippalāda (AVP)
The Schools,Shakas.
paippalāda, regions south of the Narmada River
stauda
mauda
śaunakīya, regions north of the Narmada River
jājala
jalada
kuntap
brahmavada
devadarśa
cāraṇavaidyā
Disease and Medicines in Atharva Veda.
Atharva Veda is the first Indic text dealing with medicine.
It identifies the causes of disease as living causative agents such as the yatudhāna, the kimīdin, the krimi or kṛmi and the durṇāma.
The Atharvans seek to kill them with a variety of incantations or plant-based drugs in order to counter the disease .
This approach to disease is quite different compared to the trihumoral theory of Ayurveda.
Atharva Veda suggests germs as a cause for leprosy and also talks about Anti-Biotics.
Atharva Veda also talks about Warfare.
A variety of devices, such as an arrow with a duct for poison (apāskambha) and castor bean poison, poisoned net and hook traps, use of disease-spreading insects and smoke screen.
Abhicarika Prayoga, Deployment of Black Magic.
The major rituals covered by the Atharva Veda are marriage in kāṃḍa – XIV and the funeral in kāṃḍa – XVIII.
There are also hymns that are specific to rituals of the bhṛgu-aṅgirasas, vrātyas and kṣatriyas.
One peculiar rite is the Viṣāsahi Vrata, performed with the mantras of the XVII kāṃḍa in a spell against female rivals.
Atharva Veda contains mantras for white magic (defensive magic) as well as black magic (offensive magic).
It deals with rivalries between women in relationship with the same man, rivalries between two men, attracting /seducing a man by a woman or a woman by a man and suggests incantations that can be used in such situations.
Atharva Veda Black magic and Western Black magic.
Many of the hymns in Atharva Veda containing invocations to cure diseases or to ward of diseases and magical incantations to defend against evils done by enemies or to proactively attack evil-doers indicates a religion and philosophy which has its parallels in the Shamanic traditions in the whole world.
Since Atharva Veda is the oldest text describing these practices and since it is still preserved without much modification, it is possible that Shamanic traditions worldwide have their origins in the Atharva Vedic religion.
This could mean that the Shamaic traditions in Europe such as those in Ireland, Belgium etc could have its origins in the Atharva Vedic-homeland in Saraswati-Ganga basins.
Similar traditions are also found in the southern India and in various pockets of central and eastern India.
This situation however can also be explained without a migration scenario.
It is possible that the Shamanic traditions well-preserved in Atharva Veda was one important part of the global Shamanic traditions that had already spread throughout Asia, Africa and Europe during the early days of awakening of the human civilization.
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