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Shruti

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Revealed Scripture

As when a fire is lit with damp fuel, different clouds of smoke come forth, in the same way from this great Being are breathed forth the Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama Veda, Atharva Veda.

Shukla Yajur Veda, Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 2.4.10. VE, 691

 
 

What Are Hindu Revealed Scriptures?

SLOKA 126

The Vedas and Agamas, revealed by God, are Hinduism's sovereign scriptures, called shruti, "that which is heard." Their timeless truths are expressed in the most extraordinarily profound mystical poetry known to man. Aum.

A rishi, his knotted hair high on his head, scribes verses on a palm leaf. Sitting before a Sivalinga, he listens intently to the divine voice within, writing down all he hears. The source is none other than Lord Siva, whose hand and noose are barely visible.

BHASHYA

Veda, from vid, "to know," means "supreme wisdom or science." Similarly, Agama, which names the sacred sectarian revelations, means "descent of knowledge." The Vedas and Agamas are eternal truths transmitted by God through great clairaudient and clairvoyant rishis. They are Hinduism's primary and most authoritative scriptures, expounding life's sacredness and man's purpose on the planet. These psalms of wisdom were disclosed over many centuries, memorized and orally conveyed from generation to generation within priestly families, then finally written down in Sanskrit in the last few millennia. The subtly symbolic language of shruti, the cherished word of God, is lyrical and lofty. In imparting religious practice, rules and doctrine, the Vedas are general and the Agamas specific. The Vedas extol and invoke a multiplicity of Gods through elaborate fire rituals called yajna. The Agamas center around a single Deity and His worship with water, flowers and lights in sanctified temples and shrines. The Tirumantiram lauds, "Two are the scriptures that Lord Siva revealed--the primal Vedas and the perfect Agamas." Aum Namah Sivaya.

 

What Is the Nature of the Veda Texts?

SLOKA 127

The holy Vedas, man's oldest scripture, dating back 6,000 to 8,000 years, are a collection of four books: the Rig, Sama, Yajur and Atharva. Each has four sections: hymns, rites, interpretation and philosophical instruction. Aum.

Using the traditional elutani tool, a pandita scribes memorized Vedic verses. His work is illumined by an oil lamp and relieved by tea and sweets his wife has left at his side. For centuries the Vedas were passed on orally, then finally transcribed.

BHASHYA

The oldest and core portions of the Vedas are the four Samhitas, "hymn collections." They consist of invocations to the One Divine and the Divinities of nature, such as the Sun, the Rain, the Wind, the Fire and the Dawn--as well as prayers for matrimony, progeny, prosperity, concord, domestic rites, formulas for magic, and more. They are composed in beautiful metrical verses, generally of three or four lines. The heart of the entire Veda is the 10,552-verse Rig Samhita. The Sama and Yajur Samhitas, each with about 2,000 verses, are mainly liturgical selections from the Rig; whereas most of the Atharva Samhita's nearly 6,000 verses of prayers, charms and rites are unique. The Sama is arranged for melodious chanting, the Yajur for cadenced intonation. Besides its Samhita, each Veda includes one or two Brahmanas, ceremonial handbooks, and Aranyakas, ritual interpretations, plus many inestimable Upanishads, metaphysical dialogs. In all there are over 100,000 Vedic verses, and some prose, in dozens of texts. The Tirumantiram confirms, "There is no dharma other than what the Vedas say. Dharma's central core the Vedas proclaim." Aum Namah Sivaya.

 

How Are the Vedas Significant Today?

SLOKA 128

The Vedas, the ultimate scriptural authority, permeate Hinduism's thought, ritual and meditation. They open a rare window into ancient Bharata society, proclaiming life's sacredness and the way to oneness with God. Aum.

A father and his sons chant Vedic mantras together outside their adobe dwelling. The boys struggle earnestly to master the Sanskrit verses, as father patiently repeats them again and again in daily practice sessions. Lord Siva listens from the Sivaloka.

BHASHYA

Like the Taoist Tao te Ching, the Buddhist Dhammapada, the Sikh Adi Granth, the Jewish Torah, the Christian Bible and the Muslim Koran--the Veda is the Hindu holy book. For untold centuries unto today, it has remained the sustaining force and authoritative doctrine, guiding followers in ways of worship, duty and enlightenment--upasana, dharma and jnana. The Vedas are the meditative and philosophical focus for millions of monks and a billion seekers. Their stanzas are chanted from memory by priests and laymen daily as liturgy in temple worship and domestic ritual. All Hindus wholeheartedly accept the Vedas, yet each draws selectively, interprets freely and amplifies abundantly. Over time, this tolerant allegiance has woven the varied tapestry of Bharata Dharma. Today the Vedas are published in Sanskrit, English, French, German and other languages. But it is the metaphysical and popular Upanishads which have been most amply and ably translated. The Vedas say, "Just as the spokes are affixed to the hub of a wheel, so are all things established in life, the Rig and Yajur and Sama Veda, sacrifice, the nobility and also the priesthood." Aum Namah Sivaya.

 

What Is the Nature of the Holy Agamas?

SLOKA 129

The Agamas, Sanatana Dharma's second authority, are revelations on sacred living, worship, yoga and philosophy. Saivism, Saktism and Vaishnavism each exalts its own array of Agamas, many over 2,000 years old. Aum.

As two sentinels stand guard, a king in his throne room listens as a pandita reads from the Agamas, Hinduism's primary source of authentic spiritual guidance in matters of worship, yoga, festivals, community life, housing and temple building.

BHASHYA

In the vast Agamic literature, tradition counts 92 main Saiva Agamas--10 Siva, 18 Rudra and 64 Bhairava--77 Sakta Agamas and 108 Vaishnava Pancharatra Agamas. Most Agamas are of four parts, called padas, and possess thousands of metered Sanskrit verses, usually of two lines. The charya pada details daily religious observance, right conduct, the guru-shishya relationship, community life, house design and town planning. The kriya pada, commonly the longest, extols worship and temples in meticulous detail--from site selection, architectural design and iconography, to rules for priests and the intricacies of daily puja, annual festivals and home-shrine devotionals. The yoga pada discloses the interior way of meditation, of raja yoga, mantra and tantra which stimulates the awakening of the slumbering serpent, kundalini. The jnana pada narrates the nature of God, soul and world, and the means for liberation. The Tirumantiram declares, "Veda and Agama are Iraivan's scriptures. Both are truth: one is general, the other specific. While some say these words of God reach two different conclusions, the wise see no difference." Aum Namah Sivaya.

 

How Are the Agamas Significant Today?

SLOKA 130

While the Vedas, with myriad Deities, bind all Hindus together, the Agamas, with a single supreme God, unify each sect in a oneness of thought, instilling in adherents the joyful arts of divine adoration. Aum Namah Sivaya.

Holding a Sivalinga, Basavanna, a prime minister and Vira Saiva reformer, offers flowers for puja. The Agamas expound on worship, astrology, cosmology and more. Behind, a man chases a serpent and a woman asks a beggar to return after her puja.

BHASHYA

God is love, and to love God is the pure path prescribed in the Agamas. Veritably, these texts are God's own voice admonishing the samsari, reincarnation's wanderer, to give up love of the transient and adore instead the Immortal. How to love the Divine, when and where, with what mantras and visualizations and at what auspicious times, all this is preserved in the Agamas. The specific doctrines and practices of day-to-day Hinduism are nowhere more fully expounded than in these revelation hymns, delineating everything from daily work routines to astrology and cosmology. So overwhelming is Agamic influence in the lives of most Hindus, particularly in temple liturgy and culture, that it is impossible to ponder modern Sanatana Dharma without these discourses. While many Agamas have been published, most remain inaccessible, protected by families and guilds who are stewards of an intimate hereditary knowledge. The Tirumantiram says, "Nine are the Agamas of yore, in time expanded into twenty-eight, they then took divisions three, into one truth of Vedanta-Siddhanta to accord. That is Suddha Saiva, rare and precious." Aum Namah Sivaya.

 

Verses from Scripture on Revealed Scripture

The efforts of man are stated to be of two kinds, those that transcend scriptures and those that are according to scriptures. Those that transcend scriptures tend to harm, while those that are according to scriptures tend to Reality.

Shukla Yajur Veda, Mukti Upanishad 2. UPA, 7

There, where there is no darkness, nor night, nor day, nor being, nor nonbeing, there is the Auspicious One, alone, absolute and eternal. There is the glorious splendor of that Light from whom in the beginning sprang ancient wisdom.

Krishna Yajur Veda, Shvetashvatara Upanishad 4.18. VE, 83-84

Taking as a bow the great weapon of the Upanishad, one should put upon it an arrow sharpened by meditation. Stretching it with a thought directed to the essence of That, penetrate that Imperishable as the mark, my friend.

Atharva Veda, Mundaka Upanishad 2.2.3. UPH, 372

By the power of inner harmony and by the grace of God, Shvetashvatara had the vision of Brahman. He then spoke to his nearest hermit-students about the supreme purification, about Brahman, whom the seers adore.

Krishna Yajur Veda, Shvetashvatara Upanishad 6.21. UPM, 97

Aum. One should meditate on this syllable as the Udgitha chant, for every chant starts with Aum. Of this the explanation is as follows. The essence of all beings is earth; the essence of earth is water; the essence of water is plants; the essence of plants is man; the essence of man is speech; the essence of speech is the Rig Veda; the essence of the Rig Veda is the Sama Veda, and the essence of the Sama Veda is the Udgitha chant.

Sama Veda, Chhandogya Upanishad 1.1.1-2. VE, 772

The Saivism of Siddhanta is the Saivism of the Agamas, the first of which is the Kamika.

Karana Agama 65. SA, 158

Riches from obloquy free, the spreading sky and Earth, the directions all, and the godly hosts who there hold sway, all flourish in victory's wake when brahmins true, with Vedas commencing, pursue the sacrificial way.

Tirumantiram 214. TM

In the beauteous Veda, aptly named the Rig, as the moving mood behind He stood. In the trembling chant of the Vedic priests He stood, Himself the eye of vision central.

Tirumantiram 53. TM

By the grace of the Lord I came to realize the inner meaning of the Agamas, which are on par with the Vedas, the greatest of the scriptures that thrill the heart. All the world may well attain the bliss I have -- who hold firmly to the heavenly secret the books impart, who chant the hymns that thrill the flesh and swell the heart. Strive, always strive, then it will come.

Tirumantiram 84-85. TM

Behold the father of the elephant-faced Ganapati who dons the konrai garland and has matted locks, the author of the ageless Vedas, the Auspicious One. He is ours by virtue of spiritual efforts (tapas). He abides in the hallowed temple of Ramesvaram.

Tirumurai

A thousand scriptures speak of His attributes and signs, His shrines, His paths, His greatness -- O, witless people, that your hearts have not been won!

Tirumurai 5.204.6. PS, 95

As heaven resounded with Hara's name, with the chants of the Veda and Agama, and the hymns of the learned brahmins, the Highest God in Notittanmalai showed me the path, the Lord who gives all blessings gave me a splendid elephant to ride.

Tirumurai 7.100.8. PS, 322

May the sun and moon be my protection! May all beings everywhere be my protection! May mantras and tantras be my protection! May the four Vedas, the Saiva Agamas and the whole world be my protection!

Natchintanai, "My Protection." NT, 239

The body is a temple, the controlled mind the acolyte. Love is the puja. Know that! Through this device you'll find that naught is lacking. That is what the Vedas declare. The Lord, who not a whit is separated from you, those of impure mind can never see. The mind is a temple; the soul is its lamp. Meditate, meditate! Then Truth will dawn for you.

Natchintanai, "The Body Is a Temple." NT, 98