– Maharishi Sri Aurobindo, The Complete Works of Sri Aurobindo, Vol. 14, p. 524
There is much debate about when the Vedas were written, even though there is unanimous agreement that they are the oldest extant literature composed on Earth. The extinct river Saraswati was described on many occasions in the Vedas, including 133 times in the earliest text, the Rig Veda. With the rediscovery of Saraswati, specifically its paleo channel, it can now be definitively asserted that the Vedas are much, much older than claimed by the now thoroughly debunked Aryan Invasion Theory. (Please stay tuned for discussions on this topic.)
My psychologically-bent thinking as a psychiatrist tells me that there may be another way to look at both the antiquity and the complexity of the culture responsible for formulating Vedic literature - two seemingly contradictory attributes per conventional thought.
In my view, there are three facets that signify a lot about any culture: language, literature, and the overarching philosophy of life. Let us examine these elements of Vedic-era culture.
The language of the Vedic era was Sanskrit. Sanskrit is a combination of two words: Sam expanding to Samyak, which means “entirely,” and Krit, which means “perfected.” Thus, Sanskrit literally translates into “entirely perfected!”
The question is: Why would any culture describe its language in such a way?
I believe the overwhelming majority of languages, if not all, are named after either the people who speak them or the geographical regions where they are spoken.
Do you know of any other etymologies in the naming of languages?
Something to ponder! Most philologists agree on both the antiquity and complexity of the Sanskrit language.
The breadth and the depth of Vedic literature is unmatched to date, despite the fact that a large part of this literature is still not fully explored or understood. There is an increasing awareness and acceptance among the global scientific community that Vedic constructs are instrumental in reconciling the most fundamental and profound scientific dilemmas encountered by humans, which arise out of quantum weirdness (more to come on this topic in future blogs). Similarly, the science behind concepts like Maya and the oneness of cosmic consciousness are just now on the edge of comprehension, as scientists grapple with the dilemmas posed by findings of quantum physics experiments, most notably the double-slit experiment.
It is my prediction that as science progresses further, hitherto denigrated Vedic constructs such as palmistry, astrology, and tantric practices will be proven to be extremely advanced scientific concepts. (I will have a lot to say about these topics as this blog develops.)
I marvel that the above-mentioned concepts and practices are often labeled as “weird,” just as the wave-particle duality of matter has been described as weird (the aforementioned quantum weirdness) by the most celebrated scientists of our era. It follows that labeling a thing or event as “weird” simply means that we cannot explain it; it certainly does not deny the existence of the thing or event, or preclude the absence of an adequate explanation for it that is yet to be discovered or rediscovered.
In light of all this, the literal meaning of the word Veda, “he/she knows” or “knowledge,” sheds a new light - pun intended - on the mindset of the sages who composed the Vedas. It is clear to me that they knew what they were composing. Once again, the antiquity of the Vedas has been universally accepted. Now, however, the modern scientific community, most notably within quantum physics, is increasingly acknowledging that many Vedic concepts and constructs may be rooted in advanced but not yet known scientific principles that could be keys to understanding the fundamental basis of our Cosmos.
Now, the overarching philosophy of life for the Vedic culture was the Sanatan Dharm (as discussed in my inaugural blog), otherwise known as Hinduism. Santan Dharm literally means “Eternal Righteousness” or “the Natural and Eternal Way to Live.” It begs the question: How did a supposedly underdeveloped, ancient culture devise the concepts of eternity and eternality, and call its way of life eternal?
I believe that the architects of the Vedic culture had a very secular worldview, devoid of any edicts or dogmas. Notably, there is no word in Sanskrit that precisely corresponds to the word religion. In my opinion, principles of Sanatan Dharm are based on cosmic laws - described in great detail in the Vedas but not very well understood and accepted by the greater part of humanity, - and as such are eternal.
So, let us examine this Timeless Triad of Sanskrit, the Vedas (Vedic literature), and the Sanatan Dharm: from the “entirely perfect” language, to “the knowledge,” to “the eternal righteousness” or “natural and eternal way to live!” If this confluence of language, literature, and living principles is not of cosmic proportions, nothing ever has been or will be!
It is evident that the theme of a cosmic connection or resonance permeates through every aspect of Vedic culture. Recent findings and observations in the realm of quantum physics and mechanics do, somewhat counter-intuitively, bolster this connection. I hope I have made it clear that the consciousness of the architects of the Vedic culture was in complete harmony with the laws of our cosmos.
Shall we say, the writing has been on the wall!! Or, the Manuals of the Cosmos™ have been hidden in our plain sight!!
But wait!!! Our current civilization is supposed to be the most advanced in human history! Wouldn’t hanging our hats on ancient Vedic literature and wisdom be regressive?
Well!
The answer to this question will be explored in future blogs… stay tuned!
I will, however, end with a quote from Carl Sagan that may clue us in to a possible answer. Once again, please note that while he uses the term “Hindu religion,” a phrase coined by the Persians, we realize that he is referring to Sanatan Dharm - which, I opine, is not a religion at all in the most conventional sense of the term.
And that’s all folks...
At least for now…
Until next time…
"The Hindu religion is the only one of the world's great faiths dedicated to the idea that the Cosmos itself undergoes an immense, indeed an infinite, number of deaths and rebirths. It is the only religion in which the time scales correspond, to those of modern scientific cosmology. Its cycles run from our ordinary day and night to a day and night of Brahma, 8.64 billion years long. Longer than the age of the Earth or the Sun and about half the time since the Big Bang. And there are much longer time scales still."
— Carl Sagan (1934-1996), famous American cosmologist, astrophysicist, astrobiologist, and philosopher. Cosmos, The Edge of Forever, Chapter 10, 1980
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