Rajha Rao, [23.11.16 19:03]
[Forwarded from Rama Chandra]
The Heart of the Rigveda
By
M R Gopalacharya
(7)
When God and religion are thrown overboard or revered only nominally, man sinks in sin and is lost to shame. Both teachers and the taught, rulers and the ruled, would follow pollution’s path without qualms of conscience. That is why, in this Godless age, even our proudest achievements can be triggered off to precipitate the total extinction of human race and animal life. In very truth, true religion, sincerely and meaningfully followed by people of sterling worth, is the bulwark and prosperity. History proves that whenever genuine religion reaches its zenith, human happiness also reaches its meridian; whenever that is sham, showy and shabby, it reaches its nadir.
Empires have mouldered from the face of the earth. Several tongues have rotted away beyond recognition. Many works of great art are consigned to the limbo of forgotten things. But the Vedas and Sanskrit language have remained much the same through millenniums. There must be some great undying merit in them which does not allow them to die. It is high time that we allowed our brains to browse on them. Let us not break our heads and rack our brains for worthless odds and ends of life. Life is not to trudge our weary way to frustration and disappointment.
The Vedas contain visions of thousand things. As we study them we are simply enraptured. As a matter of fact, there is no turgidity or timidity about the style. The language, in general, is as simple as it can be. Vedic study will not dull our mind and clog the wings of our fancy as some people aver. On the contrary, it redeems us from all physical diseases and mental maladies. It helps us to get out of the vortex of vice, tempest of vexing troubles and fictitious flames of false anxiety. Aglow with universal love as the hearts of Vedic seers are, they kindle the same in our hearts too. No sooner the Vedic Muse waves her wooing waves over our ears than we forget all our sorrows and privations. We are swept away by the easy rhymes’ harmonious flow. Vedas inspire great virtues in us which arm us against all insults and steel us against all fear. Never do they allow any man to plunge into dissipation or distress.
In fine, let us worship at the altar of the Vedas. Let us not be lured away from these luscious lyrical outpourings into noisy nonsense put into florid language. Let us not prostitute the Vedic Muse, or discredit it without reasonable grounds. Let us never, never bid adieu to Her who is the mighty mother of all cultures and the first font of all philosophies.
In this Vedic chrestomathy, I have drawn Mantras on all theMandalas. Any lover of learning who works his way carefully through the pages of this book can get a clear idea of Vedic philosophy in all its beauty, gravity and solemnity. This selection is calculated to be a brief epitome of the Rigveda, the earliest, nonetheless the most important, monument of human beings.
I would be the last person to claim any originality for myself or for my work. I am quite aware that I have been a notorious borrower from my very birth. I have received infinitely more than I have been able to return. I owe the form and substance of this work to a host of great writers, Indologists, philosophers and saints to whom I cannot severally express my gratitude. I can once for all clinch the issue by disowning any credit or merit, should it be there, which heightens its beauty, worth and usefulness; I herewith return it to all from whom I have borrowedsciemment and sans le savoir, knowingly or unknowingly.
No man would be more painfully aware than myself of some serious drawbacks from which this book suffers. It was my duty first and foremost to add explanatory notes for amplifying the imports of the suktas and to justify my interpretations on the ground of relevant references, internal and external. But this I could not do lest the volume increase enormously beyond the small compass of this book. I deem, however, my labours more than rewarded if this work reorients a fresh interest among lovers of Rigveda in its close
Rajha Rao, [28.12.16 21:16]
[ Photo ]
[Forwarded from Rama Chandra]
The Heart of the Rigveda
By
M R Gopalacharya
(7)
When God and religion are thrown overboard or revered only nominally, man sinks in sin and is lost to shame. Both teachers and the taught, rulers and the ruled, would follow pollution’s path without qualms of conscience. That is why, in this Godless age, even our proudest achievements can be triggered off to precipitate the total extinction of human race and animal life. In very truth, true religion, sincerely and meaningfully followed by people of sterling worth, is the bulwark and prosperity. History proves that whenever genuine religion reaches its zenith, human happiness also reaches its meridian; whenever that is sham, showy and shabby, it reaches its nadir.
Empires have mouldered from the face of the earth. Several tongues have rotted away beyond recognition. Many works of great art are consigned to the limbo of forgotten things. But the Vedas and Sanskrit language have remained much the same through millenniums. There must be some great undying merit in them which does not allow them to die. It is high time that we allowed our brains to browse on them. Let us not break our heads and rack our brains for worthless odds and ends of life. Life is not to trudge our weary way to frustration and disappointment.
The Vedas contain visions of thousand things. As we study them we are simply enraptured. As a matter of fact, there is no turgidity or timidity about the style. The language, in general, is as simple as it can be. Vedic study will not dull our mind and clog the wings of our fancy as some people aver. On the contrary, it redeems us from all physical diseases and mental maladies. It helps us to get out of the vortex of vice, tempest of vexing troubles and fictitious flames of false anxiety. Aglow with universal love as the hearts of Vedic seers are, they kindle the same in our hearts too. No sooner the Vedic Muse waves her wooing waves over our ears than we forget all our sorrows and privations. We are swept away by the easy rhymes’ harmonious flow. Vedas inspire great virtues in us which arm us against all insults and steel us against all fear. Never do they allow any man to plunge into dissipation or distress.
In fine, let us worship at the altar of the Vedas. Let us not be lured away from these luscious lyrical outpourings into noisy nonsense put into florid language. Let us not prostitute the Vedic Muse, or discredit it without reasonable grounds. Let us never, never bid adieu to Her who is the mighty mother of all cultures and the first font of all philosophies.
In this Vedic chrestomathy, I have drawn Mantras on all theMandalas. Any lover of learning who works his way carefully through the pages of this book can get a clear idea of Vedic philosophy in all its beauty, gravity and solemnity. This selection is calculated to be a brief epitome of the Rigveda, the earliest, nonetheless the most important, monument of human beings.
I would be the last person to claim any originality for myself or for my work. I am quite aware that I have been a notorious borrower from my very birth. I have received infinitely more than I have been able to return. I owe the form and substance of this work to a host of great writers, Indologists, philosophers and saints to whom I cannot severally express my gratitude. I can once for all clinch the issue by disowning any credit or merit, should it be there, which heightens its beauty, worth and usefulness; I herewith return it to all from whom I have borrowedsciemment and sans le savoir, knowingly or unknowingly.
No man would be more painfully aware than myself of some serious drawbacks from which this book suffers. It was my duty first and foremost to add explanatory notes for amplifying the imports of the suktas and to justify my interpretations on the ground of relevant references, internal and external. But this I could not do lest the volume increase enormously beyond the small compass of this book. I deem, however, my labours more than rewarded if this work reorients a fresh interest among lovers of Rigveda in its close
Rajha Rao, [28.12.16 21:16]
[ Photo ]
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