We have a question from Tejas
Why weren’t the Vedas written down and properly documented by Indian sages? If the sages were intelligent enough to obtain all the knowledge, they should have documented it somewhere in written form, so that the world can continue to benefit from that knowledge. What is the reason that the sages choose not to write it down?
The simplest reason is – avoiding manipulation.
When you write something down, anyone can obtain that knowledge by reading it. Then they will go and start manipulating it, to achieve their personal objectives and ambitions. This is human nature and this is how things are manipulated, destroyed, tweaked and turned.
Indian sages were aware of this fact and they decided not to write it down. If you write it down, the disciples will not rehearse and learn it – they will refer to that manuscript and will replicate their own versions of it in time.
The vedas that you read today is a manipulated form of the original work, the real “veda sutra” is in the form of Shruti and Smriti. There is a reason why it was not documented – to preserve the originality and retain the knowledge with very few people and disciples who deserve to own the knowledge. It was believed that anyone who has the complete knowledge of all four vedas can destroy this world – the sages were very careful in not teaching all the knowledge to each and every disciple.
Think of it as “coveted information”. Not everyone deserves the right to learn the Vedas. I once asked a guruji if he can deliver the knowledge to me to which he had said
Your heart is still not pure my boy. You are still greedy, lustful and trapped in “moh”. You need to win these weaknesses first. I cannot teach you these things since you are not prepared for it. If you want to prepare to learn, you must first adhere to Brahmacharya, be a disciplined student for 3 years, overcome your mental weaknesses. Only then come to me.
So here is the thing. Not everyone deserves to know that holy knowledge. You can go to Harvard university and ask the professor to let you in and he will say the same thing as my Guruji said – You are not prepared to enter this gate, my son. Go prepare yourself first, prove your merit and we’ll let you in when you deserve to be here.
Power cannot and should not be distributed to just about anybody
Knowledge is power. And power should not be distributed to just about anybody, then people will start misusing it. The concept of atomic bombs, particle wave theory, Quantum physics are mentioned in Vedic hymns, if everybody gets access to this information, there will be mass destruction. People will invent weapons and attack each other for monetary and business objectives and the world will be ruined.
The Rishis were an elevated soul and no Rishi had complete knowledge of the entier veda. This is because his teacher did not know the entire thing himself. However, the Rishi’s knew which other Rishi’s have knowledge of the sections that they don’t know. There were branches of “Rishi’s” who specialized in each discipline and no Rishi would share all his knowledge and secrets with each and every disciple.
Take the example of Dronacharya. He was a Rishi and decided to teach only Arjuna the secret of Chakravyuha. This is because only Arjuna has the merit to protect that knowledge and do justice towards it. Other warriors cannot protect that knowledge and will eventually use it against Dharma.
Parashurama was another sage. He did not teach everything to Bheesma, his best student. Neither did he teach everything to Karna, another student. He cursed Karna that he shall forget the knowledge he has received when he will be needing it the most.
Why did Parashurama curse Karna? It’s because Karna had broken few norms and shown mortal weaknesses. This is not worthy of a warrior who lies to his Guru and hence Parashurama cursed Karna, to protect the misuse of the knowledge that was passed.
The vedas that you read today is a manipulated version. It is not the original one, since the original one has never been documented. This doesn’t mean that the original one does not exist. It does. There are sages who still know and have retained that knowledge, you will have to “seek” that Guru (mentor). This will come after years of “Tapasya” and search.
The original knowledge of Vedas which has been passed as Shruti and Smriti can never be lost from Human race, since the knowledge has been passed verbally through generations and generations and will be passed verbally through generations and generations going forward.
The fact that we do not have access to these key “Rishis” does not mean that the knowledge has been forever lost. That knowledge is still there, but the access to that knowledge is not for everybody. People like you and me who are trapped in material world are not fit for receiving that knowledge, since we will ultimately want to use that knowledge(power) to achieve material objectives. Rishi’s were aware of this behaviour. Hence the purposeful subjugation of that knowledge – to prevent us from destroying it and the world.
If you really want to be an eligible student of the Vedas, you will need to go through a major renunciation process and seek the company of a “Rishi” who has access to some of that information and will decide to pass that information to you. That “Rishi” will come to you on its own, you don’t have to hunt him down.
When the student is ready, the master shall appear (at least that’s what is written in Bhagvad gita regarding seeking a mentor).