LIGHT OF VEDAS

LIGHT OF VEDAS



In general Vedic religion today refers to a bewildering variety of religious spectrum:
· the historical Vedic religion (practices dating to the Vedic period)
· Shrauta, surviving conservative traditions within Hinduism
· Vedanta (Upanishadic)
· Hinduism with worship of any god
· Any religion except those of semitic origin
Vedic Religion as Proto-Indo-Iranian religion
“Hittite is the oldest recorded Indo-European language, but it had remained completely unknown during the period in which Indo-European linguistics developed because its records are on clay tablets that were excavated only at the end of the 19th century. Even then, it was not identified as Indo-European until 1915, when Bedrich Hrozný made the discovery through his reading of tablets that had been brought to Vienna from the Istanbul Museum.” http://www.utexas.edu/cola/centers/lrc/eieol/hitol-0-R.html Hittite On Line, Series Introduction, Winfred P Lehman and Jonathan Slocum.

Vedic Religion or Vedism is the religion of the ancient Indo-European-speaking peoples who entered India about 1500 BC from the region of present-day Iran; it takes its name from the collections of sacred texts known as the Vedas. Vedism is the oldest stratum of religious activity in India
Encyclopedia Britannica


Vedic civilization
Vedic civilization is the earliest civilization in Indian history of which we have written records that we understand. It is named after the Vedas, the early literature of the Hindu people. The Vedic Civilization flourished along the river Saraswati, in a region that now consists of the modern Indian states of Haryana and Punjab. The Vedic texts have astronomical dates, that some have claimed, go back to the 5th millennium BC. The use of Vedic Sanskrit continued up to the 6th century BC. Vedic is synonymous with Aryans and Hinduism, which is another name for religious and spiritual thought that has evolved from the Vedas.

The early Aryans: Unfortunately, the origin of the Saraswati Valley civilization (Vedic culture) and its relation to the Indus Valley civilization remain hazy. The timeline of Vedic civilization is 4500 BC-1800 BC while that of Indus valley civilization is 3300 BC-1800 BC. The texts describe a geography that some believe to be north India. The greatest river of the Rig-Veda was Saraswati, now dry and identified with Ghaggar, a seasonal river. It is believed that this river ceased to reach the Arabian Sea by about 1900 BC. Now, a dry river bed, that seems to fit the description of the Saraswati River, has been detected by satellite imagery. It begins in the modern Indian state of Uttaranchal and passing through Haryana, Punjab, and Rajasthan, reaches the Arabian Sea in Gujarat. Our knowledge of the early Aryans comes from the Rig-Veda, the earliest of the Vedas.
http://www.haryana-online.com/History/vedic_culture.htm

In fact Rig Veda mentions several, which is seen in the figure apart from Saraswati river. These are:
Sindhu /Susoma (Indus), Vitasta (Jhelum), Asikni (Chenab), Parusni (Airavati, Ravi), Shatadru (Sutlej),Vipas/Arjikiya (Beas).

Sindhu is said to flow united with Tristama and then with Susartu, Rasa, and Sveti, later uniting with Krumu, Gomati, Kubha (Kabul) and Mahatru.
Ganga and Yamuna are mentioned as the eastern boundaries of the Aryan settlement.
“The religion of the Indo-European-speaking peoples who entered India c. 1500 BCE from the region of present-day Iran, it was a polytheistic system in which Indra was the highest-ranked god. It involved the worship of numerous male divinities connected with the sky and natural phenomena. Ceremonies centered on ritual sacrifice of animals and on the use of soma to achieve trancelike states. These ceremonies, simple in the beginning, grew to be so complex that only trained Brahmans could carry them out correctly.”

Merriam Webster Encyclopedia of World Religions
“Over time a body of dependent and scholastic material grew up around the poems, known loosely as 'the Veda'. Perhaps around 1000 BC (all dating in prehistoric India is only approximate), editors gathered the ancient poems together and arranged them, together with some more modern material, into ten books according to rules that were largely artificial (see section 4 below). They gave the collection the name by which it continues to be known, 'Rig-veda', or 'praise-knowledge'. Other collections came into being, based on this sacred material, and they were given parallel names. The editors of the 'Sāma-veda' arranged the poems differently, for the purpose of chanting, and introduced numerous alternative readings to the text. The sacrificial formulae used by the priests during their recitations, together with descriptions of their ritual practices, were incorporated into collections to which the general name 'Yajur-veda' was given. Later still, a body of popular spells was combined with passages from the Rigveda, again with variant readings, and was given the name 'Atharva-veda'. A continuously-growing mass of prose commentary, called the Brāhmaas, also came into being, devoted to the attempt to explain the meaning of the ancient poems. To the later Brāhmaas belongs the profusion of texts known as the Upanishads, which are of particular interest to Indologists, as Sanskrit scholars today often describe themselves, because of their important role in the development of early Indian religious thought.”
http://www.utexas.edu/cola/centers/lrc/eieol/vedol-0-X.html, Ancient Sanskrit Online, Series Introduction, Karen Thomson and Jonathan Slocum

The Chathur (Four) Vedas

Rig Veda
Rig Veda is a collection of 1028 Vedic Sanskrit hymns dedicated to Rigvedic deities. However the Mandalas I and X were written in Sanskrit and were written down after the second century with later modifications through the centuries. The main deity was Indra. To give an idea of what it is, a part of the Rig Veda is given below.

Surya, with NavagrahasFrom Tribenighat, Panauti, Nepal, 14th C AD http://kaladarshan.arts.ohio-state.edu/loststolen/Nepal/surya/N24133m.html
Rig-Veda has 1017 hymns called SUKTAS and 10500 verses in 10 mandalas chapters.

MANDALA
COMPOSED BY
1
191 hymns composed by different poets belonging to different families
2
Gritasmada and his family (descendents)
3
Vishvamitra and his family
4
Vamadeva and his family
5
Atri and his family
6
Bharadwaja and his family
7
Vasista alone
8
Kanva and his family (descendents)
9
Hymns addressed to Soma Pavamana; composed by different poets belonging to different families
10
191 hymns composed by different poets belonging to different families


All the 10 mandalas were compiled by KRISHNA DVAIPAYANA VYASA who was hence called VEDA VYASA.

Evidently Mandalas I and X are of later origins and might have been collected by the editor Veda Vyasa well into the Christian Era.
· The Rig-Veda mentions several tribes and groups of people: Dasyus, who are identified with the Dravidians who are believed to be the descendents of the Indus Vallley Civilization which existed long before the Aryan Arrivals. They had matriarchal system as opposed to the Aryan patriarchal system.
· Rakshasas who originally denoted strong and powerful men (Max Muller). Later the term Rakshasas was used to denote short, dark thick lipped, fierce in appearance, curly haired people who were hostile to the Aryans. Unlike the civilized Dravidians, the Rakshasas engaged in guerilla warfare, attacking the Aryans at night and carrying away their cattle. The Rakshasas were called anagnitras i.e. non-worshippers of fire.
· Pishachas who were ruddy in appearance and uttered fearful yells. The fact that the Paishachi literature masterpiece, which was later translated into Sanskrit, namely the Brihat katha was written by them proves that they too were civilized people.

The five main Aryan tribes mentioned in the Rig-Veda are:
· Yadu,
· Turvasu,
· Anu,
· Druhyu,
· Puru

All the following three Vedas are written in Sanskrit and is dated well after the second century A.D. There is no doubt they are projections from the Rig Veda codifying other local arts and occultism.

The Yajur-Veda

The Yajur-Veda ("Veda of sacrificial formulas") consists of archaic prose mantras and also in part of verses borrowed from the Rig-Veda. Its purpose was practical, in that each mantra must accompany an action in sacrifice but, unlike the Sama-Veda, it was compiled to apply to all sacrificial rites, not merely the Soma offering. There are two major recensions of this Veda known as the "Black" and "White" Yajur-Veda. The origin and meaning of these designations are not clear. The White Yajur-Veda contains only the verses and sayings necessary for the sacrifice, while explanations exist in a separate Brahmana work. It differs widely from the Black Yajurveda, which incorporates such explanations in the work itself, often immediately following the verses. Of the Black Yajurveda four major recensions survive, all showing by and large the same arrangement, but differing in many other respects, notably in the individual discussion of the rituals but also in matters of phonology and accent.

Yajurveda consists of Yajus. (chants) for the entire sacrificial ceremony. The Yajurveda gave importance to the sacrifice itself. These were developed, as the rituals and Sacrifices became the center of the Vedic Religion, and proper form and ritual purity were emphasized. After all without that Sacrificer can do the sacrifice and that even without a Brahmana Priest. It was emphasized that a slight error in the performance would bring in wrath of gods instead of blessings. This Samhita is divided into two parts:
· the Shukla Yajurveda (or the Vajasaneyi samhita), which consists only of mantras
· Krishna Yajurveda which has sacrificial rites, their discussions and mantras.
By the time of Yajurveda, the Rig Vedic gods like Indra and Varuna lost their importance. And other new gods took greater prominence. Hence we can be sure that these were developed much later in time. The new gods of prominence were: Vishnu, Rudra, and Prajapati.

The Sama-Veda
The Sama-Veda (Sanskrit sāmaveda ) is the "Veda of chants" or "Knowledge of melodies". The name of this Veda is from the Sanskrit word sāman which means a metrical hymn or song of praise It consists of 1549 stanzas, taken entirely (except 78) from the Rig-Veda. Some of the Rig-Veda verses are repeated more than once. Including repetitions, there are a total of 1875 verses numbered in the Sama-Veda recension published by Griffith. Two major recensions remain today, the Kauthuma/Ranayaniya and the Jaiminiya. Its purpose was practical, to serve as a songbook for the "singer" priests who took part in the liturgy. A priest who sings hymns from the Sama-Veda during a ritual is called an udgātṛ, a word derived from the Sanskrit root ud-gai ("to sing" or "to chant"). A similar word in English might be "cantor". The styles of chanting are important to the liturgical use of the verses. The hymns were to be sung according to certain fixed melodies; hence the name of the collection. There is no clue to the date of the compilation of the Samaveda Hymns, nor has the compiler's name been handed down to us.

Most of the verses (except 75) are from the Rig-Veda. These verses are chanted at the ceremonies of the Soma sacrifice. The Sama Veda has two parts- the Archika (single stanza) and the Uttarchika (Three stanzas). The Sama Veda was meant to teach the Udgatri (priest) the method to sing the Saman melodies appropriate to the rituals being performed.
http://www.musicalnirvana.com/introduction/origin.html

Sama Veda

Though, Vedas are considered the source of Indian Music, it should not be assumed that classical music in its present form was fully developed by then. In fact, concept of Raga, Tala, Shruti or even Nava Rasas come only later.
All except Sama Veda were sung using only three notes, Anudaatta (low), Udaatta(middle) and Svarita(high). As used today the Anudaatta, Udaatta and Svarita svaras of Rig-Veda, can be equated with Ni, Sa, and Ri of the North Indian Kafi scale (Kharaharapriya of the Carnatic). In early manuscripts of Rig-Veda, the text was written along with accent notes. Anudaatta is marked with an underline and Svarita is marked with a small vertical line above the syllable. Udaatta is left unmarked.

Sama Veda consists of about 1900 verses, called samans. Ninety-five percent of the verses of Sama Veda Samhita are in Rig Veda Samhita. One can see from the text of the Sama Veda mantra that the chanting notation in it is much more elaborate than that in the corresponding Rig Veda mantra. SamaVeda was chanted using all seven notes (prathama, dvitheeya, tritheeya, chathurtha, panchama, shashta and sapthama), in descending order, of the Vaidika scale (or of sama gana) which have been equated to (Ma,Ga,Ri,Sa,Dha,Ni,Pa) of the Laukika or Gandhara scale in later classical sanskrit texts like NaradiyaShiksha.

Rig Vedic hymns are directed at Gods, to be chanted during sacrifices to please them. It is possible Gods were thought to be fond of music and that it would be easier to please them if the hymns were sung rather than just chanted. Thus, many of the Rig Vedic hymns were set to music and sung and were known as samans, rather than just hymns (Rik). The chanted Sama-Veda hymns or Samans were believed to possess the supernatural qualities capable of petitioning and even supporting the deities that controlled the forces of the universe. Since Rig Vedic hymns are just metered they could not be sung using all the seven notes. Thus started a tradition of insertion of a number of seemingly `meaningless' words or syllables (stobha) for musical and lyrical effect, such as o, hau, hoyi, va, etc.

It was these stobha syllables which were extended vocally with long duration on various notes of the Sama-Veda scale by the priests who had the special function of summoning the gods to the celebration through the use of droning (monotone) on a number of these tones, believing them to hold magical properties. The wife of the chief sacrificer (i.e. chief priest, brahmana) would play the Vina, during sacrifices.
Precise methods of singing the Samans were established and preserved in three different schools, the Kauthumas, Ranayaniyas, and the Jaiminiyas, the oldest. Each has maintained a distinct style with regard to vowel prolongation, interpolation and repetition of stobha, meter, phonetics, and the number of notes in scales. Accordingly, there has been a fervent regard for maintaining continuity in Sama-Veda singing to avoid misuse or modification over many years. Since written texts were not in use, in fact prohibited, the priests memorized the chants with the aid of accents and melodies, and passed this tradition down orally from one generation to the next for over three thousand years ( Hinduism and Music).

The Atharva-Veda

The Atarvaveda was originally called the Athrvaangirasa. Atharva and Angiras were fire priests. Apte defines an atharvan as a priest who worshipped fire and Soma The etymology of Atharvan is unclear, but according to Mayrhofer related to Avesta athravan (āθrauuan) and denies any connection with fire priests. In all cultures Priests were also medicine men. Sicknesses and problems were assoicated with evil spirits. In India this part is played by the Atharvans. The Atharvan Veda is essentially magic spells. about one-sixth of the hymns are in common with the Rig-Veda. It has over 700 hymns divided into 20 chapters. Since this Veda consists of ways to appease demons, curse enemies (abhichakarani) etc, it was not recognized as a Veda for a long time . The different contents of Atharvaveda are
· Bhaishajyani: which are songs and spells for healing of diseases. Since this part has the various symptoms of diseases, it is important for the study of history of medicine.
· Ayushyani: these are hymns and prayers to achieve long life. These are used at the main ceremonies (samskaras) prescribed for any individual.
· Paustikani: there are benedictions to be used by common men like farmer and merchant to succeed in their work.
· Prayaschittani: ceremonies of expiation. Prayaschitta or expiation for any wrong deed done, knowingly or unknowingly is a characteristic feature of the Indian psychology and the Atharvaveda contains hymns and ceremonies for the same.
· Strikarmani: are rites for women and are two types. The peaceful ones which refer to marriage and begetting children and the exorcisms and curses to make other men/women barren and cause harm.
· Rajakarmani: are rites pertinent to a king
· Philosophical hymns: are of metaphysical nature.

The Atharvana-Veda is preserved in two recensions, the Paippalāda and Śaunaka. According to Apte it has nine schools (shakhas). The Paippalada version is longer than the Saunaka one; it is only partially printed and remains untranslated.

The second part of the text contains speculative and philosophical hymns. R. C. Zaehner notes that:
"The latest of the four Vedas, the Atharva-Veda, is, as we have seen, largely composed of magical texts and charms, but here and there we find cosmological hymns which anticipate the Upanishads, -- hymns to Skambha, the 'Support', who is seen as the first principle which is both the material and efficient cause of the universe, to Prāna, the 'Breath of Life', to Vāc, the 'Word', and so on.

In its third section, the Atharvaveda contains Mantras used in marriage and death rituals, as well as those for kingship, female rivals and the Vratya (in Brahmana style prose) .”
Gavin Flood discusses the relatively late acceptance of the Atharva-Veda as follows:
"There were originally only three priests associated with the first three Saṃhitās, for the Brahman as overseer of the rites does not appear in the Ṛg Veda and is only incorporated later, thereby showing the acceptance of the Atharva Veda, which had been somewhat distinct from the other Saṃhitās and identified with the lower social strata, as being of equal standing with the other texts."


Sacrifices in Vedas

The mode of Vedic worship was essentially sacrifices and chanting of hymns. Prayers were essentially for material gains, wealth, health and progeny.
Specific rituals and sacrifices of the Vedic religion include:
· The Soma cult described in the Rigveda, descended from a common Indo-Iranian practice.
· Fire rituals, also a common Indo-Iranian practice, cf. Zoroastrianism:
· The Agnihotra or oblation to Agni
· The Agnicayana, the sophisticated ritual of piling the fire altar.
· The Agnistoma or fire sacrifice
· The Ashvamedha or horse sacrifice
· The Purushamedha, or sacrifice of the cosmic Purusha, cf. Purusha Sukta
· The rituals described in the Atharvaveda concerned with demonology and magic.

The Ashvamedha (horse sacrifice), in India continued until the 4th century AD. Like all cattle breeding tribes in the world, killing cows for food was seldom done except as a sacrifice. Sacrifice was but a regular practice.”

Ancient Sanskrit Online http://www.utexas.edu/cola/centers/lrc/eieol/vedol-0-X.html
Karen Thomson and Jonathan Slocum

“… ….The circumstances of the original composition of these poems remain unknown. Believed to be of divine origin, this large body of material, in an archaic and unfamiliar language, was handed down orally, from generation to generation, by priests in ancient India. The highly metrical form of the poems, together with their incomprehensibility, made them ideally suited to ritual recitation by a religious elite. Faithfully preserved through the centuries as a sacred mystery, the text has come down to us in a state of considerable accuracy.


2. 'The Veda'.

Over time a body of dependent and scholastic material grew up around the poems, known loosely as 'the Veda'. Perhaps around 1000 BC (all dating in prehistoric India is only approximate), editors gathered the ancient poems together and arranged them, together with some more modern material, into ten books according to rules that were largely artificial (see section 4 below). They gave the collection the name by which it continues to be known, 'Rig-veda', or 'praise-knowledge'. Other collections came into being, based on this sacred material, and they were given parallel names. The editors of the 'Sāma-veda' arranged the poems differently, for the purpose of chanting, and introduced numerous alternative readings to the text. The sacrificial formulae used by the priests during their recitations, together with descriptions of their ritual practices, were incorporated into collections to which the general name 'Yajur-veda' was given. Later still, a body of popular spells was combined with passages from the Rigveda, again with variant readings, and was given the name 'Atharva-veda'. A continuously-growing mass of prose commentary, called the Brahmanas, also came into being, devoted to the attempt to explain the meaning of the ancient poems. To the later Brahmanas belongs the profusion of texts known as the Upanishads, ….
2.1. The continuing influence of 'the Veda'
….. With major pieces of the jigsaw firmly in the wrong place, the rest, inevitably, refuses to fit, and the comparison of passages in the attempt to establish word meanings appears to be a fruitless exercise. Indology has concluded that the Rigveda is not only uninteresting, "describing fussy and technical ritual procedures"

Stephanie Jamison On translating the Rig Veda: Three Questions, 1999, p. 3), but that it is also intentionally indecipherable. "One feels that the hymns themselves are mischievous translations into a 'foreign' language" (Wendy O'Flaherty The Rig Veda. An Anthology, Penguin, 1981, p. 16).

DS OF VEDIC RELIGION

A study of the Rig Veda will reveal the nature of the gods of the Vedic Religion which we now undertake:

Vedic Pantheon

The Vedic pantheon, similar to its Greek or Germanic counterparts, comprises clans of anthropomorphic deities as well as deified natural phenomena, and like the Germanic Vanir and Aesir it knows two classes of gods, Devas and Asuras. The Brihadaranyak Upanishad says that there are mainly thirty-three gods which are classified into three groups:
Thus, there are eight Vasus, twelve Âdityas, eleven Rudras, and two Ashvins. Indra and Prajâpati . There are also the Maruts.These gods belong to the three regions of the earth (prithvi), the heavens (Dyaus) and the intermediate space (Antariksha).
The eight Vasus are: agni (god of fire), prithivi (goddess of the earth), vayu (god of the wind), antarikch (god of the space), aditya (sun god), dyo (god of the luminous sky), chandrama (moon god) and nakchatra (god of the nakchatras, asterism. Nakchatras are 27, called Magha, Rohini etc.)

The following is a list of Deities by prominence as they appear in Rig Veda:

(List of Rigvedic deities by number of dedicated hymns, after Griffith. Some dedications are to twin-deities, such as Indra-Agni, Mitra-Varuna, Soma-Rudra, here counted doubly.)
· Indra 289 is the chief deity of the Rigveda, and the god of weather and war, and Lord of Svargaloka (Heaven) .He rides a white elephant called Airavata and wields the dazzling weapon of lightening called Vajrayudh. Prone to drinking soma, loses control over himself, prone to anger, mighty and sensuous, and always concerned about his survival and status as the leader.

“Their principal divinity was INDRA, the god of war and thunder, whose power was capable of destroying the walls of cities, of burning them down in order to conquer and pillage them… For a long time the behavior of the gods would reflect that of wicked men with the mentality of Aryan conquerors, materialistic and pitiless!” http://members.tripod.com/historel/orient/10inde.htm

Agni is the demi-god ruling fire, riding on a Ram. Latin ignis (the root of English ignite). The sacrifices made to Agni go to the deities because Agni is a messenger from and to the other gods. He is ever-young, because the fire is re-lit every day; but also he is immortal. Agni is represented as red and two-faced (sometimes covered with butter), suggesting both his destructive and beneficent qualities, and with black eyes and hair, three legs and seven arms. He rides a ram, or a chariot pulled by goats or, more rarely, parrots. Seven rays of light emanate from his body. One of his names is "Sapta jihva", 'seven tongues'. He is worshipped under a threefold form: fire on earth and lightning and the sun.

· Soma 123 (most of them in the Soma Mandala) Haoma (in Avestan), from Proto-Indo-Iranian *sauma-, was a ritual drink of importance among the early Indo-Iranians, and the later Vedic and greater Persian cultures. . In the Avesta, Haoma has an entire Yasht dedicated to it.


It is described as prepared by pressing juice from the stalks of a certain mountain plant, which has been variously hypothesized to be a psychedelic mushroom, cannabis, peganum harmala, or ephedra. In both Vedic and Zoroastrian tradition, the drink is identified with the plant, and also personified as a divinity, the three forming a religious or mythological unity. Soma represents the god of the Moon. He rides through the sky in a chariot drawn by white horses. Soma was also the name of the elixir of immortality that only the gods can drink.

The Moon was thought to be the storehouse of the elixir.

· Vishvadevas 70 are the various Vedic gods taken together as a whole.
· the Asvins 56 are divine twin horsemen in the Rigveda, sons of Saranya, a goddess of the dawn and wife of either Surya or Vivasvat. They are Vedic gods symbolising the shining of sunrise and sunset, appearing in the sky before the dawn in a golden chariot, bringing treasures to men and averting misfortune and sickness. They can be compared with the Dioscuri (the twins Castor and Pollux) of Greco-Roman mythology. The Twins or Twains who are the equivalent of the Geminis, the Dioskouris.

They are the doctors of gods and are devas of Ayurvedic medicine. They are called Nasatya (dual nāsatyau "kind, helpful" in the Rigveda; later, Nasatya is the name of one twin, while the other is called Dasra. By popular etymology, the name nāsatya was analysed as na+asatya "not untrue"="true".

· Varuna 46 is a god of the sky, of rain and of the celestial ocean, as well as a god of law and of the underworld. He is the most prominent Asura in the Rigveda, and chief of the Adityas law.


· the Maruts 38 storm deities and sons of Rudra and Diti and attendants of Indra. The number of Maruts varies from two to sixty (three times sixty in RV 8.96.8. They are very violent and aggressive, described as armed with golden weapons i.e. lightnings and thunderbolts, as having iron teeth and roaring like lions, as residing in the north, as riding in golden chariots drawn by ruddy horses.

· Mitra 28 :Mitra, Mithra, Mithras
Mitra is a Vedic god who stood for the sun, and was, with his brother Varuna, the guardian of the cosmic order. He was the god of friendships and contracts,. He was an important divinity of Indic culture, descended, together with the Zoroastrian yazata Mithra, from a common Proto-Indo-Iranian deity *Mitra, a god of . guardian of oaths and agreements. Mithra may also have been worshipped by the Mani. Some branches of Manichaeism identified Mithra as the ruler of the second or third emanation (an occultist would say "ray," "aeon," or "sepheroth").
· Ushas 21 "dawn", is a Vedic deity. She is the chief goddess (sometimes imagined as several goddesses, Dawns) exalted in the Rig Veda. She is portrayed as a beautifully adorned, sexually attractive young woman riding in a chariot.

· Vayu (Wind) 12 he is the Vedic god entrusted with the rejuvenation of nature.
· Savitar 11 is a solar deity (see Deva) and one of the Adityas. His name is in Vedic Sanskrit meanings "impeller, rouser, vivifier". Savitr is described in the Vedas as having golden arms, hands, hair, etc. He is sometimes identified with, and at other times distinguished from, the chief Sun deity Surya. A number of beautiful Vedic hymns are invoked in his praise. He is the god of the Sun at Sunrise and Sunset, and was most often invoked in the latter role in Vedic hymns.
· Rbhus 11 meaning "clever, skilful", cognate to Latin labor, said of Indra, Agni and the Adityas in the Rigveda) are three semi-divine beings of the Rigveda and the Atharvaveda, Rbhu, Vaja and Vibhvan, called collectively by the name of their leader.
· Pushan 10 God of meeting. Puchan was responsible for marriages, journeys, roads, and the feeding of cattle .
· Apris 9 means "conciliation, propitiation" and refers to special invocations spoken previous to the offering of oblations.
· Brhaspati 8 (also known as Brahmanaspati) is the guru of the Devas and of the Danavas
· Surya (Sun) 8 is the chief solar deity.. His chariot is pulled by seven horses, which represent the seven chakras.
· Dyaus and Prithivi (Heaven and Earth) 6, plus 5.84 dedicated to Earth alone Dyaus Pita is the Sky Father, husband of Prithvi and father of Agni and Indra (RV 4.17.4).
His origins can be traced to the Proto-Indo-European sky god *Dyeus, who is also reflected as Greek Zeus(accusative Día, genitive Díos; theos pater), Jupiter (from Latin Iovius pater, "father-god"; deus pater) in Roman mythology, Div in Slavic mythology and Tyr in Norse mythology in Albanian (Zoti).
· Apas (Waters) 6 Ap (áp-) is the Vedic Sanskrit term for "water",
· Adityas 6 'Ādityas' are a group of solar deities, sons of Aditi and Kashyapa. They are emblems of the sun for each month of the year, and are themselves called suns.
· Vishnu 6 Viṣṇu involves the root viś, meaning "to settle, to enter", or also (in the Rigveda) "to pervade", and a suffix nu, translating to approximately "the All-Pervading One".
· Brahmanaspati 6 Brahmanaspati is the lord of prayer, the father of all sacred prayers, lord of the Satya Mantra, the god of the Word who obliterates enemies of the gods with words of magic. He helped create the universe through his chanting words.
· Rudra 5("Howler") is a Rigvedic god of the storm, the hunt, death, Nature and the Wind. Later identified sometimes with Siva.
· Dadhikras 4
· the Sarasvati River / Sarasvati 3
· Yama is a Lokapāla and an Aditya. Yama, "Lord of Death" and "King of the Law of decay" Yaama means evening. He is depicted with green or red skin, red clothes, and riding a water buffalo. He holds a loop of rope in his left hand with which he pulls the soul from the corpse. He is the son of Surya (Sun) and twin brother of Yami, or Yamuna, traditionally the first human pair in the Vedas
· Parjanya (Rain) 3 is the Vedic Sanskrit for "rain" or "raincloud".
· Vac (Speech) 2 (mentioned 130 times, deified e.g. in 10.125)
· Vastospati 2
· Vishvakarman 2 is the presiding deity of all craftsmen and architects
· Manyu 2 Manyu is also known as mainyu in the Zorastrian religion. In ancient Persian mythology, Spenta Mainyu ("holy spirit") is the god of life and the personification of the good and the light. He is the twin brother of Angra Mainyu (Ahriman), the god of darkness, with whom he fights an eternal battle.
· Kapinjal a (the Heathcock, a form of Indra) 2
Minor deities (one single or no dedicated hymn)
· Manas (Thought), prominent concept, deified in 10.58
· Dakshina (Reward), prominent concept, deified in 10.107
· Jnanam (Knowledge), prominent concept, deified in 10.71
· Purusha ("Cosmic Man" of the Purusha sukta 10.90)
· Aditi
· Bhaga
· Vasukra
· Atri
· Apam Napat
· Ksetrapati
· Ghrta
· Nirrti
· Asamati
· Urvasi
· Pururavas
· Vena
· Aranyani
· Mayabheda
· Tarksya
· Tvastar
· Saranyu

Only documents written in Vedic language predates the second century AD mark. This include only the Rig Veda except mandalas I and X. It is in the Mandala X we have the latest additions in the deities as given in the Vedic Pantheon list. These are:
· Manas (Thought), prominent concept, deified in 10.58
· Dakshina (Reward), prominent concept, deified in 10.107
· Jnanam (Knowledge), prominent concept, deified in 10.71
· Purusha ("Cosmic Man" of the Purusha sukta 10.90)
These are therefore not really Vedic gods.

Sri Aurobindo Akroyd Ghosh (1872- 1950)

“There can be no doubt that in the beginning there was a worship of the Powers of the physical world, the Sun, Moon, Heaven and Earth, Wind, Rain and Storm etc., the Sacred Rivers and a number of Gods who presided over the workings of Nature. That was the general aspect of the ancient worship in Greece, Rome, India and among other ancient peoples.
But in all these countries these gods began to assume a higher, a psychological function; Pallas Athene who may have been originally a Dawn-Goddess springing in flames from the head of Zeus, the Sky-God, Dyaus of the Veda, has in classical Greece a higher function and was identified by the Romans with their Minerva, the Goddess of learning and wisdom; similarly, Saraswati, a River Goddess, becomes in India the goddess of wisdom, learning and the arts and crafts: all the Greek deities have undergone a change in this direction -- Apollo, the Sun-God, has become a god of poetry and prophecy, Hephaestus the Fire-God a divine smith, god of labor.
In India the process was arrested half-way, and the Vedic Gods developed their psychological functions but retained more fixedly their external character and for higher purposes gave place to a new pantheon. They had to give precedence to Puranic deities who developed out of the early company but assumed larger cosmic functions, Vishnu, Rudra, Brahma, -- developing from the Vedic Brihaspati, or Brahmanaspati, -- Shiva, Lakshmi, Durga.”Hymns to the Mystic Fire – Sri Aurobindo


HIS HOLINESS SRI SWAMI KRISHNANANDA SARASWATI MAHARAJ


A Short History of Religious and Philosophic Thought in India , Swami Krishnananda,The Divine Life Society , Sivananda Ashram, Rishikesh, India

“It is true that the main gods of the Vedas are Indra, Varuna, Agni, Surya (Aditya or Savitr), Soma, Yama, Vayu, Asvins, Brihaspati and Brahmanaspati; and a correct chanting of the Mantras, summoning the power of the divinities could produce supernatural results, and eventhe actual materialisation of them here.

In the Purusha Sukta or the hymn of the Cosmic Person, we have the most magnificent description of the spiritual unity of the cosmos. Here is given, perhaps, the earliest complete presentation of the nature of Reality as both immanent and transcendent. [Purusha suktha occur in RV X written after the common era.]

“The hymn has the power to protect (trayate) the one who contemplates (mananat) on it, and hence the name mantra. The mantras of the Vedas are intended to invoke the deities to whom they are addressed, and to summon the power of the deities for executing an ideal. They are the means of connection with the denizens of the celestial world and the divinities that immanently guard and perform different functions in the various planes of existence.”

The Theology of Vedism is summarised in the Imperial Gazetteer of India, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1908-1931 v. 1, p. 406 as follows:

“Theology, as we find it in the Veda, begins with the worship of the things of heaven, and ends with the worship of things of earth. We have, first, the worship of the sky gods; then of those that rule the atmosphere; lastly, of those that rule on earth. Under the first class comes the worship of the sun in various forms, as Surya, 'the glowing one'; Savitar, 'the enlightener'; Bhaga, 'the giver of blessings'; and Vishnu, who, except in the kindliness of his nature, has little in common with his later form as one of the Hindu triad.
In another form as Pishan, god of agriculture, roads, and cattle, who is also known as Kapardin, 'he of the braided hair,' he forms a link between the Vedic gods and Siva. Dyaus, the shining sky, the Zeus of the Greeks, receives less special worship than might have been expected. In Varuna as the sky god a higher plane is reached. He sits enthroned in the vault of heaven; the sun and stars are the eyes with which he sees all that passes on earth. He, more than any of his brother gods, realizes the conception of personal holiness as an ideal for mankind.
Among the mid-air gods, Indra gained his ascendancy on Indian soil, where the increasing dependence of an agricultural people on the periodical rains popularized his worship. As a war god he fought in heaven against the demon that dispersed the rain clouds, and was thus adopted by the Kshattriyas to lead them on earth in their campaigns against the aborigines.
Great as are these gods of sky and air, greater still are the earth-born gods: Agni, the fire god, as manifested in the sacrifice, and Soma, the moon-plant (Sarcostemma viminale, or Asclepias acida of botanists), the worship of which is based on its intoxicating qualities. The latter came to be identified with the moon, a theory still farther developed in the post- Vedic mythology.
With Yama we reach a stage of distinct anthropomorphism. He might have lived for ever, but he chose to die, and was the first to point out to his descendants the way to the other world. To his heaven, guarded by two monstrous dogs, the souls of the departed are conveyed, and are adored on earth as the Pitri, or sainted dead. To retain their place in the abodes of the blessed, the souls need constantly to be refreshed by the pious food offerings of their descendants. Hence arose the Sraddha, or periodical feast of the dead, which has had far reaching effects in the development of the theory of sacrifice”

The general study will indicate no deep theology in the Vedas unless it is imposed from outside. Thus:
“Generally speaking, the Indian perception of the Rig-Veda has moved away from the original tribalistic, ritualistic content to a more symbolic or mystical interpretation. For example, instances of animal sacrifice are not seen as literal slaughtering but as transcendental processes. The Rig Vedic view is seen to consider the universe to be infinite in size, dividing knowledge into two categories: lower (related to objects, beset with paradoxes) and higher (related to the perceiving subject, free of paradoxes).Swami Dayanand, who started the Arya Samaj and Sri Aurobindo have emphasized a spiritual (adhyatimic) interpretation of the book. Subhash Kak has claimed that there is an astronomical code in the organization of the hymns. Bal Gangadhar Tilak, based on alleged astronomical alignments in the Rig-Veda, even went as far as to claim that the Aryans originated on the North Pole.”
http://www.haryana-online.com/History/rig_veda.htm

“The idea of sacrifice, of a kind of bargain with the deities, was the characteristic idea of the early Vedic cults. "Man needs things which the god possesses, such as rain, light, warmth, and health, while the god is hungry and seeks offerings from man : There is giving and receiving on both sides in the later Vedic Period, the doctrine “Barth "The Religions of India," (London, 1882) p. 36.
The Development Of Hinduism by MM Ninen

SANKARA

SANKARA

Introduction
Chaos pervaded all through India in the matter of religion and philosophy. Sect after sect, such as Charvakas, Lokayathikas, Kapalikas, Shaktas, Sankhyas, Buddhas and Madhyamikas sprang up. There was fight amongst sects. There was no peace anywhere. The once glorious land of the Aryans was in a miserable state. Such was the state of the country at the time which just preceded the Avatara (incarnation) of Sankaracharya.


The existence of Vedic Dharma in India today is due to Sankara. The forces opposed to Vedic religion were more numerous and powerful at the time of Sankara than they are today. Still, single-handed, within a very short time, Sankara overpowered them all and restored the Vedic Dharrna and Advaita Vedanta to its pristine purity in the land. The weapon he used was pure knowledge and spirituality. It was in order to forge this weapon and wield it with efficacy that Sankara took birth in the Brahmin Varna (caste) and entered the Sannyasa (renunciate) order early in life. The previous Avataras like Rama and Krishna took birth in the Kshatriya Varna (warrior caste), because in their days they had to wield military weapons in the restoration of Dharma.


Birth


Sankara was born in a very poor family in the year 788 A.D. in a village named Kaladi, six miles to the east of Alwaye, Kerala. Kaladi is a railway station, on the Kochi-Shoranur rail link. Sankara was a Nambudiri Brahmin. Rajasekhara, a Zamindar (a rich landlord), built a Siva temple in Kaladi and formed an Agrahara for Brahmins who were in the service of the temple. Vidyadhiraja was doing Puja (worship) in the temple. He had only a son named Sivaguru. Sivaguru studied the Shastras and married at the proper age. He had no child. He and his wife Aryamba prayed to Lord Siva to bless them with a son. A son was born to them in the Vasanta Ritu or the spring season at noon, in the auspicious Abhijit Muhurta and under the constellation Ardhra. This son was Sankara.


Sivaguru died when Sankara was seven years old. Sankara had none to look after his education. His mother was an extraordinary woman. She took special care to educate her son in all the Shastras. Sankara's Upanayana or thread ceremony was performed in his seventh year, after the death of his father. Sankara exhibited extraordinary intelligence in his boyhood. When he was only sixteen, he became a master of all the philosophies and theologies. He began to write commentaries on the Gita, the Upanishads and the Brahma Sutras when he was only sixteen years old.


Sankara's mother was consulting astrologers about horoscopes of suitable girls for her son's marriage. But Sankara had a firm resolve to renounce the world and become a Sannyasin. Sankara's mother was very much grieved that there would be no one to perform her funeral rites after her death. Sankara gave full assurance to his mother that he would always be ready to serve her at the death-bed and perform the usual funeral rites. Even then his mother was not satisfied.


One day, Sankara and his mother went to take bath in the river. Sankara plunged into the water and felt that a crocodile was dragging him by the foot. He shouted out to his mother at the top of his voice: "O dear mother! A crocodile is dragging me down. I am lost. Let me die peacefully as a Sannyasin. Let me have the satisfaction of dying as a Sannyasin. Give me your permission now. Let me take Apath-sannyasa”.

The mother immediately allowed him to take Sannyasa. Sankara took Apath-sannyasa (the adoption of Sannyasa when death is near) at once. The crocodile let him go unharmed. Sankara came out of the water as a nominal Sannyasin. He again repeated his promise to his mother. He left her under the care of his relatives and gave away his little property to them. He then proceeded to find out a Guru with a view to get himself formally initiated into the sacred order of Sannyasa.


In Search of a Guru


Sankara met Swami Govindapada Acharya in a hermitage in Badrikashram (Badrinath) in the Himalayas and he prostrated at the teacher's feet. Govinda asked Sankara who he was. Sankara replied: "O revered Guru! I am neither fire nor air nor earth nor water-none of these, but the Immortal Atma (Self) that is hidden in all names and forms". He also said in the end: "I am the son of Sivaguru, a Brahmin of Kerala. My father died in my childhood. I was brought up by my mother. I have studied the Vedas and the Shastras under a teacher. I took Apath-sannyasa when a crocodile caught my foot while I was taking bath in the river. Kindly initiate me formally into the holy order of Sannyasa".


Swami Govinda was very much pleased with the truthful narration given by Sankara. Having initiated him and invested him with the robe of a Sannyasin, Swami Govinda taught him the philosophy of Advaita which he himself had learnt from his Guru-Gaudapada Acharya. Sankara learnt all the philosophical tenets from his Guru Govindapada. Govinda asked Sankara to go to Kashi. Sankara proceeded to Kashi where he wrote all his famous commentaries on the Brahma Sutras, the Upanishads and the Gita and successfully met all the criticisms levelled against them. He then began to propagate his philosophy. Sankara had the greatest esteem for his Guru Govindapada and his Parama Guru or the teacher's teacher, Gaudapada.


Sankara's Digvijaya


Sankara's philosophical conquests are unique in the world. He had his triumphant tour all over India. He met the leaders of different schools of thought. He convinced them by arguments and established the supremacy and truth of the religion that he expounded in his commentaries. He went to all the celebrated seats of learning. He challenged the learned men to discussion, argued with them and converted them to his opinions and views. He defeated Bhatta Bhaskara and condemned his Bhashya (commentary) on the Vedanta Sutras. He then met Dandi and Mayura and taught them his philosophy. He then defeated in argument Harsha, author of Khandana Khanda Kadya, Abhinavagupta, Murari Misra, Udayanacharya, Dharmagupta, Kumarila and Prabhakara.


Sankara then proceeded to Mahishmati. Mandana Misra was the chief Pundit of the court of Mahishmati. Mandana was brought up in the Karma Mimamsa faith and so he had intense hatred for the Sannyasins. He was performing a Sraaddha ceremony when Sankara somehow dropped down there. Immediately Mandana Misra became very furious. An ugly conversation was started when the Brahmins, who were present there for dinner, interposed and pacified Mandana Misra. Then Sankara challenged Mandana to a religious controversy. Mandana agreed. Bharati who was the wife of Mandana Misra and who possessed scholarly erudition was appointed as the umpire. It was agreed beforehand that Sankara, if defeated, would become a householder and marry; and that Mandana, if defeated, would become a Sannyasin and receive the robe of a Sannyasin from the hands of his own wife. The controversy began in right earnest and continued for days without any interruption. Bharati did not sit and listen to their controversy. She threw two garlands, one each over the shoulders of each of the disputants, and said: "He whose garland begins to fade first should consider himself defeated". She left the place and began attending to her household duties. The controversy went on for seventeen days. The garland of Mandana Misra began to fade first. Mandana Misra accepted his defeat and offered to become a Sannyasin and follow Sankara.


Bharati was an Avatara of Sarasvati, the Goddess of Learning. Once the sage Durvasa chanted the Vedas before Brahma and his wife in a big assembly. Durvasa committed a small mistake. Sarasvati laughed at it. Durvasa became enraged and gave a curse that she would take birth in the world. Hence Sarasvati had to take birth as Bharati.


Bharati now interposed and said to Sankara: "I am the other half of Mandana. You have defeated only one half of Mandana. Let us have a controversy". Sankara objected to have controversy with a woman. Bharati quoted instances wherein there had been controversies with women. Sankara then agreed and this controversy also went on uninterruptedly for seventeen days. Bharati passed from one Shastra to another. At last she found out that she could not defeat Sankara. She decided to defeat him by means of the science of Kama Shastra.
Sankara asked Bharati to give him an interval of one month for his preparation to hold controversy with her in the science of Kama Shastra. She agreed. Sankara went to Kashi. He separated his astral body from his physical body by means of his Yogic powers and left his physical body in the hole of a big tree and asked his disciples to take care of that physical body. He then entered into the dead body of Raja Amaruka which was about to be cremated. The Raja rose up and all the people rejoiced at the astounding incident.


The ministers and queens soon found out that the revived Raja was a different person, with different qualities and thought. They realised that the soul of a great Mahatma had entered the body of their Raja. Therefore, messengers were sent out to search for a human body hidden somewhere in lonely forests and caves and to burn it when found. They thought that if they did so, the new Raja might remain with them for a long time.


Sankara was acquiring all the experience of love with his queens. Maya is very powerful. In the midst, of those queens, Sankara entirely forgot all about his promises to his disciples about his going back to them. The disciples began to search for him. They heard about the miraculous resurrection of Raja Amaruka. They immediately proceeded to the city and had an interview with the Raja. They sang a few philosophical songs which at once revived the memory of Sankara. The disciples immediately repaired to the place where the physical body of Sankara was kept hidden. By that time the messengers of the queen had found out the physical body and had just begun to set fire to it. The soul of Sankara just then entered his own body. Sankara prayed to Lord Hari to help him. There was a shower of rain immediately and that extinguished the flames.


Then Sankara returned to the residence of Mandana Misra. He resumed the old controversy and answered all the questions raised by Bharati satisfactorily. Mandana Misra gave all his property as a gift to Sri Sankara and Mandana was made to distribute it to the poor and the deserving. He then became a disciple of Sankara. Sankara initiated him into the holy order of Sannyasa and gave him the name of 'Sureswara Acharya'. Sureswara Acharya was the first Sannyasin who took charge of the Sringeri Mutt. Bharati also accompanied Sankara to Sringeri and there she is worshipped even today.


Sankara ascended the seat of omniscience after inviting Vedic scholars from all parts of India and answering their numerous questions. Sankara, by vanquishing all the religious opponents of his day-and they belonged to no less than seventy-two different schools-and establishing the superiority of the Vedic Dharma, had become the Jagadguru of all.
Sankara's success over the other religious sects was so complete that none of them have since been able to raise their head in the land. Most of them have disappeared altogether. After Sankara's time, although a few Acharyas have appeared, none of them have been able to vanquish those who differed from them as Sankara did and establish unquestioned supremacy.

Mother’s Funeral Rites

Sankara received news that his mother was seriously ailing. He left his disciples and proceeded to Kaladi alone. His mother was then bedridden. Sankara touched her feet in reverence. He praised Lord Hari. Hari’s messengers came. Sankara's mother gave up her physical body and went along with those messengers to the abode of Hari.


Sankara encountered serious difficulties in performing the funeral rites of his mother. Usually, Sannyasins do not perform any of the rites or ceremonies which are enjoined on the householders. The Nambudiri Brahmins were all against Sankara. Sankara's relatives also did not help him. They did not come forward to assist him even in carrying the dead body to the place of cremation and refused to give fire for igniting the funeral pyre. At last Sankara determined to perform the funeral rites all alone. As he could not carry the entire dead body, he cut it into pieces and removed the pieces one by one to the backyard of the house. He then made a pyre there of stems of plantain trees and set fire to it by his Yogic power. Sankara wanted to teach the Nambudiris a lesson. He then made the local chief issue an edict that a corner should be set apart in each Illam or house of the Nambudiri Brahmins to burn the dead of the family and that they should cut the dead body into parts and then burn the same. This practice continues even today amongst Nambudiri Brahmins.


Sankara then returned to Sringeri. From there he went out on a tour through the eastern coast with a large number of followers. He preached his Advaita philosphy wherever he went. He established the Govardhana Mutt at Puri. He went to Kancheepuram and attacked the Shaktas. He purified the temples. He won over to his side the rulers of the Chola and the Pandya kingdoms. He went to Ujjain and put down the atrocities of the Bhairavas who were shedding human blood. He then proceeded to Dwaraka and established a Mutt there. He then travelled along the course of the Ganges and held religious controversies with great personages.


Sankara's End


Sankara proceeded to Kamarup-the present Guwahati-in Assam and held a controversy with Abhinava Gupta, the Shakta commentator, and won victory over him. Abhinava felt his defeat very keenly. He made Sankara suffer from a severe form of piles through black magic. Padmapada removed the evil effects of the black magic. Sankara became quite alright. He went to the Himalayas, built a Mutt at Joshi and a temple at Badri. He then proceeded to Kedarnath higher up in the Himalayas. He became one with the Linga in 820 A.D. in his thirty-second year.


Sringeri Mutt


In the north-west of the State of Mysore, nestling in the beautiful foot-hills of the Western Ghats, surrounded by virgin forests, lies the village of Sringeri and here Sankara established his first Mutt. The river Tunga-a branch of the river Tungabhadra-runs through the valley closely touching the walls of the temple; and its pure and limpid waters are as famous for drinking purposes as the waters of the Ganges are for bath (Ganga Snanam, Tunga Panam). Sringeri is a place of great sanctity and its beauty has to be seen to be appreciated. The Mutt is 'still going strong' as the phrase goes. The homage paid to the Mutt by countless aspirants and devotees is as much due to the greatness of illustrious men like Vidyaranya who have been at its head ever since its foundation as to the renown of the founder himself.


It may not be out of place to mention here that it took thirty years for the well-known Sanskrit professor Max Muller to translate the commentary on the Rig Veda, written by Vidyaranya, also known as Sayana. The learned professor, in his preface, says that not a single day passed in the thirty years without his devoting at least ten minutes on the translation. There is also a little interesting incident that when the manuscript was found to be illegible in some places, he got an authorised transcription from the first original still preserved in the Sringeri Mutt, through the influence of the then Maharaja of Mysore.


The famous holy shrine of Sri Sarada is an equal source of attraction to the devotees. Many are the Mutts and monasteries in India where holy men or their successors sit, and where Hindus from all parts of India gather, but none so great or so famous as Sringeri, the original seat of Adi Sankaracharya. The Sringeri Peetha is one of the oldest monasteries of the world flourishing for over twelve centuries now. It is the first of the four seats of learning established by Sankaracharya, the other three being Puri, Dwaraka and Joshi Mutt, each one of them representing one of the four Vedas of the Hindus.


Sankara placed his four eminent disciples (Sureswara Acharya, Padmapada, Hastamalaka and Trotakacharya) in charge of the Sringeri Mutt, Jagannath Mutt, Dwaraka Mutt and Joshi Mutt respectively. The most famous Sannyasin in the succession of Gurus of the Sringeri Mutt was, of course, Vidyaranya, the great commentator on the Vedas and the father of the dynasty of Vijayanagar. He was the Dewan of Vijayanagaram. He became a Sannyasin about 1331 A.D. The eleven Sannyasins before Vidyaranya were Sankaracharya, Viswarupa, Nityabodhaghana, Jnanaghana, Jnanottama, Jnana Giri, Simha Girisvara, Isvara Tirtha, Narasimha Tirtha, Vidya Sankara Tirtha and Bharati Krishna Tirtha.


The historic and sacred pontifical throne of the Sringeri Mutt is known as Vyakhyana Simhasana or seat of learning. Tradition has it that this seat was given to the great Sankara by Sarasvati, the Goddess of Learning, in appreciation of the philosopher's vast scholarly erudition. Thirty-five Acharyas had sat on the pontifical throne before his present holiness in regular and uninterrupted succession.


Dasanami Sannyasins


Sankara organized ten definite orders of Sannyasins under the name 'Dasanamis' who add, at the end of their names, any one of the following ten suffixes: Sarasvati, Bharati, Puri (Sringeri Mutt); Tirtha, Asrama (Dwaraka Mutt); Giri, Parvata and Sagar (Joshi Mutt); Vana and Aranya (Govardhana Mutt).


The Paramahamsa represents the highest of these grades. It is possible to become a Paramahamsa by a long course of Vedantic study, meditation and Self- realisation. The Ativarnashramis are beyond caste and order of life. They dine with all classes of people. Sankara's Sannyasins are to be found all over India.


Some Anecdotes


Sankara was going along the street one day with his pupils to take bath in the Ganges when he met a Chandala who was also passing along the street with his dogs by his side. The disciples of Sankara shouted and asked the Chandala to clear off the road. The Chandala asked Sankara: "O, venerable Guru! You are a preacher of Advaita Vedanta and yet you make a great difference between man and man. How can this be consistent with your teaching of Advaitism? Is Advaita only a theory?". Sankara was very much struck by the intelligent query of the Chandala. He thought within himself, "Lord Siva has assumed this form just to teach me a lesson". He composed then and there five Slokas called the ‘Manisha Panchaka’. Every Sloka ends thus: “He who learnt to look on the phenomena in the light of Advaita is my true Guru, be he a Chandala or be he a Brahmin”.



In Kashi, a student was cramming the Sutras in Sanskrit grammar. He was repeating again and again "Dukrin karane, Dukrin karane....". Sankara heard it and was struck by the perseverance of the boy. He immediately sang a small poem, the famous Bhaja Govindam song, in order to teach the uselessness of such studies in the matter of the liberation of the soul. The meaning of the song is: "Worship Govinda, worship Govinda, worship Govinda, O fool! When you are about to die, the repetition of these Sanskrit Sutras will not save you".

Once some mischief-mongers offered meat and liquor to Sankara. Sankara touched those items with his right hand. The meat turned into apples and the liquor into milk.

A Kapalika came to Sankara and begged for his head as a gift. Sankara consented and asked the Kapalika to take his head when he was alone and absorbed in meditation. The Kapalika was just aiming with a big sword to sever the head of Sankara. Padmapada, the devoted disciple of Sankara came, caught hold of the arm of the Kapalika and killed him with his knife. Padmapada was a worshipper of Lord Narasimha. Lord Narasimha entered the body of Padmapada and killed the Kapalika.


Sankara's Philosophy


Sankara wrote Bhashyas or commentaries on the Brahma Sutras, the Upanishads and the Gita. The Bhashya on the Brahma Sutras is called Sareerik Bhasya. Sankara wrote commentaries on Sanat Sujatiya and Sahasranama Adhyaya. It is usually said, “For learning logic and metaphysics, go to Sankara's commentaries; for gaining practical knowledge, which unfolds and strengthens devotion, go to his works such as Viveka Chudamani, Atma Bodha, Aparoksha Anubhuti, Ananda Lahari, Atma-Anatma Viveka, Drik-Drishya Viveka and Upadesa Sahasri”. Sankara wrote innumerable original works in verses which are matchless in sweetness, melody and thought.


Sankara’s supreme Brahman is Nirguna (without the Gunas), Nirakara (formless), Nirvisesha (without attributes) and Akarta (non-agent). He is above all needs and desires. Sankara says, "This Atman is self-evident. This Atman or Self is not established by proofs of the existence of the Self. It is not possible to deny this Atman, for it is the very essence of he who denies it. The Atman is the basis of all kinds of knowledge. The Self is within, the Self is without, the Self is before and the Self is behind. The Self is on the right hand, the Self is on the left, the Self is above and the Self is below".


Satyam-Jnanam-Anantam-Anandam are not separate attributes. They form the very essence of Brahman. Brahman cannot be described, because description implies distinction. Brahman cannot be distinguished from any other than He.
The objective world-the world of names and forms-has no independent existence. The Atman alone has real existence. The world is only Vyavaharika or phenomenal.
Sankara was the exponent of the Kevala Advaita philosophy. His teachings can be summed up in the following words:
Brahma Satyam Jagat Mithya,Jeevo Brahmaiva Na Aparah
Brahman alone is real, this world is unreal; the Jiva is identical with Brahman.


Sankara preached Vivarta Vada. Just as the snake is superimposed on the rope, this world and this body are superimposed on Brahman or the Supreme Self. If you get a knowledge of the rope, the illusion of the snake will vanish. Even so, if you get a knowledge of Brahman, the illusion of the body and the world will vanish.


Sankara is the foremost among the master-minds and the giant souls which Mother India has produced. He was the expounder of the Advaita philosophy. Sankara was a giant metaphysician, a practical philosopher, an infallible logician, a dynamic personality and a stupendous moral and spiritual force. His grasping and elucidating powers knew no bounds. He was a fully developed Yogi, Jnani and Bhakta. He was a Karma Yogin of no mean order. He was a powerful magnet.
There is not one branch of knowledge which Sankara has left unexplored and which has not received the touch, polish and finish of his superhuman intellect. For Sankara and his works, we have a very high reverence. The loftiness, calmness and firmness of his mind, the impartiality with which he deals with various questions, his clearness of expression-all these make us revere the philosopher more and more. His teachings will continue to live as long as the sun shines.
Sankara's scholarly erudition and his masterly way of exposition of intricate philosophical problems have won the admiration of all the philosophical schools of the world at the present moment. Sankara was an intellectual genius, a profound philosopher, an able propagandist, a matchless preacher, a gifted poet and a great religious reformer. Perhaps, never in the history of any literature, a stupendous writer like him has been found. Even the Western scholars of the present day pay their homage and respects to him. Of all the ancient systems, that of Sankaracharya will be found to be the most congenial and the most easy of acceptance to the modern mind.

SOURCES:
SWAMI SIVANANDA'S "Lives of Saints".
The Advaita Philosophy of Sri Sankara from Swami Sivananda's book All About Hinduism.
Sankara Jayanti by Swami Chidananda
Sankara--The Genius by Swami Krishnananda