The Vedas are the eternal source of knowledge from which all the other Hindu Scriptures originated. When we say eternal books of knowledge, it carries a sense of oneness with the Supreme Lord. Scriptures are the holy books of a religion that are pious and revered. All the religions in the world have one scripture eachwhereas Hinduism has many Scriptures. Hindu scriptures are divided into Shruti and Smriti. The Shruti is the primary authority and the Smriti is the secondary. The Shruti literally means what is heard. The great rishis of yore heard the eternal truth which was later compiled by the great rishi Veda Vyasa in the four Vedas – Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda and Atharva Veda.
Smritis on the other hand include Itihasas or epics, Puranas or chronicles, Agamas or the manuals of worship and Darshanas or the schools of philosophy. All these are the supreme books of human knowledge and form the foundation of Hindu religion.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Prof. Shrikant Prasoon is a reader, teacher, thinker, writer, poet and above all, a humanist. The more he reads and thinks, the more he writes on varied topics but with one aim —‘to show man the need of Nature and natural life.’ He believes that all religions are integral and inseparable, living and developing parts of one basic Religion called Humanism; and all the systems are an outcome of the greatest celestial system, which is devised and regulated by the Unseen and Unknown Creator.
A retired Professor of English, he writes in Hindi with equal ease. His recent books Knowing Guru Nanak and Knowing Buddha have been widely acclaimed.
CONTENTS:
1. Hinduism — The Eternal Religion
2. Introduction to Scriptures
3. Vedas and Shrutis — Books of Knowledge
4. Vedas and Smritis — Hindu Scriptures
5. Smriti-Granthas
6. Nitishăstras
7. Grantha-Trai — The Quintessence of Hindu Scriptures
8. Hindus and Scriptures
9. Purification and Bliss by Scriptures
AN EXCERPT FROM THE BOOK
Hindus and ScripturesMangalam bhagwăn Vishnu mangalam garuradhwaja
Mangalam pundarikăksham mangalăya tanohari
Hindus are differentEverything religious, from written tradition to oral expression, is scripture. Everything written or said in Sanskrit is scripture. Everything associated with gods, demi-gods, sages, saints, munis, ăchrăryas and pandits is scripture. For them, Vedas are there in the words of the Brahman. So, the Vedas, Shrutis, Smritis, Purănas, Upanishads, Kabir Vani, Sant Vani, wise sayings are all scriptures. It makes no difference whether they are in Păli, Upbhransh, Awadhi, Maithili, Bengali or in any other local dialect. Hanumăn Chălisa, Shiva Chălisa, Ganesh Stuti or Shiva Mahimna Strota are as great as Durgăsaptshati or Vishnu Sahastranăm. They hardly care whether they know all the one thousand names of Lord Vishnu or not but it is enough for them that he has so many names. In that way, the name hardly matters. It is the depth of their personal dedication that is important. If it gives wisdom and peace and promises release from the endless cycle of birth and death, then it is a scripture. For them, he is an ignorant person who cannot recite Hanumăn Chălisa or the ărati of the Eternal Mother.
The Hindus are different because it is very difficult to say what is important for them and what is not. For some Hindus, one festival holds a great value and for the rest, some other festival might be more insignificant. One will opt for Onam, the other for Pongal, one for Lakshmi Puja, and yet another for Ganesh Puja and so on. It can happen even among the members of a single family or one religion. Because of this apparent difference, most of the people feel that the Hindus are a divided lot. It is never so. In the matter of religion, devotion and dedication, they are all one. The rishis are behind such oneness. Hindus believe that they are the direct descendents of rishis. The rishis are the original forefathers. The rishis provide the all-important Gotra of Hindus. The Hindus know their Gotra by the name of the rishi whose offspring they are. They have carried over that name for millenniums from time immemorial and are ready to carry it over to the eternity. They cannot do away with their Gotra. Gotra is not needed daily but usually at the time of marriage it gains importance. The Gotra is asked for matchmaking. Now the crux of the matter is that the people of same Gotra, whether Shudra or Vaishya or Kshatriya or Brahmin, are brothers, for they are the sons of the same rishi. This Gotra has a lot to do with DNA. Even from modern scientific viewpoint, the faith and adherence to this custom seems quite authentic.
The Hindus are different because they have a positive outlook and assertive nature. They seldom deny. On the contrary, they accept all. They hardly feel any practical difference or problem in Saguna and Nirguna. Both are the same for them. Both are their Almighty God. All known incarnations are gods for them. All are gods; from the Trinity to Aum to Swastik, from Ganesh to Nărad to Nandi, from Garuda to Hanumăn, all are gods to them. They have a god of their personal liking, a family god, a village deity, a separate god for each puja or yajna, a separate god for each day, each month, year, decade, plantation, harvest, birth, life, success, failure, death. On a rough estimate, they have 33,000 gods, goddesses, and deities. And the wonder is that they are not polytheists!
The Hindus are different as they believe in One God without denying others. During their puja they follow a wonderful philosophy. Pandit Hazari Prasad Dwivedi was the first to draw our attention towards this philosophy.
At the time of the rites, rituals, worship, they take one main god and the others are accepted to be subordinate to that Almighty. At another place or time, the sequence can change. In this way, each god can be worshipped after any other. It is Henotheism. It is neither Monotheism nor Polytheism.
The Hindus are different for each one is a theist as well as an atheist. Each Hindu worships the Brahman without qualities of an incarnation. He feels no complexities and has no dilemma. His dilemma is illusion, the Măyă, and he tries hard to get rid of her.
The Hindus are different. They may not be able to read but they will present scriptures as sacred offerings to those who can read, mostly to pandits and declare such offerings as the best. For them, it is as good as reading and knowing them.
The Hindus are different as they can worship on any day, at any place, any time and any God and claim that if there is purity at heart then nothing else has any value (man changă toh kathauti mein Ganga). On the other hand, they may consult a pandit, get a date, time, place, god fixed and claim that there cannot be purity without hawan. They are all open-minded. They look at life in a wider perspective. They can easily live in the cosmic self. They are both the anu (atom) and brahmănd (Cosmos) and claim Aham Brahmăsmi.
The Hindus are different for they believe that their Shăstras are their pandit, pothi and patras. What is written in the patra is the Absolute Truth. One word printed in the patra is a very small letter ‘kumbha’ or ‘ardhakumbha’. Millions of people throng at Prayăg for ritual bath during the Kumbha Mela. Hinduism is wonderful and the Hindus are simply amazing. They may indulge in hot debates with the pandits but they will still obey and follow them. The excerpts from the Purănas and Smritis are the most important scriptures for them, yet all their rituals are performed on the basis of those pothis. They are like booklets, but they are the most revered scriptures. They are hundreds in number. A few of them are:
1. Sri Satyanărăyanvratkathă
2. Durgasaptshati
3. Saraswatipujapaddhati
4. Lakshmipujanvidhi
5. Lakhraopujanpaddhati
6. Vivăhpaddhati
7. Janmsanskărpaddhati
8. Sri Ganeshpujanvidhi
9. Karmabipăksamhita
10. Shrăddhapaddhati
11. Dainik Ăchărvidhi
12. Nityakarmapaddhati
13. Kuberpujan
14. Shăligrămpujan
15. Haritălikăvrat Kathă
16. Navagrahpujan
17. Părthivapujan
18. Pitritarpanvidhi
All these books are in Sanskrit. They form the base of every religious ritual. People do not understand it but they know that all the sacred mantras must be recited in Sanskrit, and that is all. In this way, Sanskrit is very much alive and active in every Hindu home and temple. People may claim it to be a dead language but it is not. It may not be able to give job in public or private sector but it can keep millions engaged on its own. There is no other language in the world which gives wisdom to so many persons all on its own. We can live without Hindi or English but we cannot live without Sanskrit because of these numerous scriptures.
The Hindus are different for they are the incarnations of faith, hope, devotion, tolerance, contentment, and everything positive and human. Just by oral tradition, they know the scriptures and have grasped them so well that they will place irrefutable logic based on them or the epics or the sayings of the saints. They will resign to fate and keep on working steadily and incessantly without expecting anything.
Jăhi bidhi răkhe Răm, tăhi vidhi rahiye
(Live as the God wishes, or secretly directs you to live).
They may not have even seen the Gită but they know the Gită and follow it, truly and honestly. They honestly believe in the proverb “Man proposes, God disposes.” They have no complaint. They have a common belief ‘It was written in fate’ or ‘It was not in fate’. It is total dependence on God and the scriptures. And, yet they continue to work. The farmers lose their crops but they keep on working in the fields, ploughing and sowing seeds, for they know that the land must be cultivated. They achieve a great balance in ‘action and fate’, based on the hope given by their religion.
The Hindus are different as they believe to have all the gods, goddesses, planets, constellations, zodiac in their palm. So, they believe in deeds. To keep themselves active, every morning they look at their palms and claim:
Karăgre basati Laxmi karmadhye Saraswati
Karmoole sthito Brahma prătah kar darshnam
(The Goddess of wealth resides at the tip of the fingers and the Goddess of learning in the middle of the palm and the Creator at the beginning of the palm, so one should look at the palm every morning.)
Hindus are really great. They are the descendents of great rishis who practised and taught their coming generations to salute the mother earth every morning before putting the feet on it:
Samudrabasanedevi! Parvatstanmandale
Vishnupatni! Namastubhyam pădsparsam chhamaswa me
They invite the gods at the start of a ritual and request them to return back to their respective abodes at the end of it. They pray for the purification of the outer self and the inner being: băhyăbhyantar shuchih. Their greatness lies in the fact that they have numerous ways of salutation (pranăyăm vidhi). We cannot discuss everything here but it is essential to draw the attention towards the most refined elements in the Hindu scriptures. It is the attitude and the intention that matters.
The Hindus are different because they believe that if and when they save the religion, only then the religion will save them: Dharmo rakshati rakshitah.
So, all of them are religious at heart, even the stout atheists, the followers of Chărwăk and the nihilists. And all the Hindus are humanists first as the rishis and devatas did not tell them to be Hindus, they advised them to ‘be human’ (manurbhawo).
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