Young Aditya Balachander in Texas asks Gurudeva why our Hindu scriptures are so difficult to understand. Gurudeva says that he had asked the very same question many years ago and set about a lifetime of correcting the matter through his three great books--Dancing, Merging and Living with Siva. Gurudeva adds that we should still be grateful that our scriptures exist at all, considering the challenges Hinduism has faced.

Unedited Transcript:

We have a wonderful question from Aditya in Texas, who sent this question on e-mail. "Why are our Scriptures so difficult to understand?"

Well Aditya when I was your age, 12 years old, I wondered the same thing. Why are our Scriptures so difficult to understand and sent upon a lifetime of correcting the matter through Dancing with Siva, Living with Siva and Merging with Siva, our three great books. In Dancing with Siva, Hinduism's Contemporary Catechism, you have all that you need to know about the Vedas. We have put it into very clear Western English. We've translated the Tirukural into Western English and now it is extremely clear and easy to understand.

But Aditya we have to realize that we're very fortunate that our Scriptures exist at all in any form because of Islamic and Christian aggressions over the hundreds of years. They still exist and not all apply to life as it is today. We have to take from our Scriptures what applies to us, gives us a good life.