WhyyoushouldreadtheVedas,and whythereligiouswillneverunderstand them

by neo
ThemostintriguingthingabouttheVedasistheirrelativeunpopularityamongthereligiousGoogleoffers threetimesasmanysearchresultsforwhyyoushouldreadtheGitaasitdoesforwhyyoushouldread the Vedas. And if you ask the religious (approach as gingerly as a cat approaching a flock of birds) for adviceonreadingtheVedas,theywillbasicallytellyouwhyyoushouldntreadtheVedas. Thereligiouswilltellyouthatyouneedtobespirituallyadvancedbeforeyoucanlearnanythingfromthe Vedas. They will tell you that even if you spent a lifetime learning Sanskrit, you wouldnt know it well enough to understand the Vedas, and most English translations of the Vedas have a sinister political agenda.Besides,theysay,therealwisdomoftheVedasishidden(ironicforatextthatissupposedtobe revealedwisdom)withoutarealguruyoucantpossiblycrackthecode.Andyouneedtobespiritually advancedbeforeyoucanhopetorecognizearealguru.(Criticizethereligiousallyouwant,buttheyhad perfectedcircularreasoninglongbeforescienceinventedthewheel.) ThereligiousarentkeenonyoureadingtheVedasbecausetheyknoworatleastthefewamongthem whoveactuallyreadtheVedasknowthatyoureprobablynotgoingtofindanynewwisdomorconceptin the Vedas a thousand philosophers have already integrated most of the key Vedic ideas into modern philosophy. The religious would rather you not read the Vedas and think they contain earthshattering revelationsthantohaveyoureadthem,bedisappointedandwriteanemperorhasnoclothes!poston yourungodlyblog. Thetruthis,theVedasdontmeettheneedsofthereligiousaswellasother,laterHindutextsdo.The religiouswanttwothingsfromanyholybook:prescriptionsforlife(theydonthavetobemoral,corrector evenlogicaltheyjustneedtobeprescriptions),andajustificationforthemtoinventnewprescriptionsfor otherpeopletofollow.TheKoranofferscleardirectivesforthereligious(e.g.clearEarthofanyonewho isirreligiousand/orannoying)theGitaoutlinesfourplausiblesoundingpathstoenlightenment(Bhakti

YogaiscurrentlytrendingintheIndianTwittercommunity)theBiblegivesyoulotsofwaystojudgewhat otherpeopledointheirbedroomsbuttheRigvedawell,the RigvedaofferslotsofoblationstoAgni

and Indra (both apparently took an extended sabbatical from Hinduism after their awardwinning performancesintheRigveda). (Andthe Samaveda is basically a remix of the Rigveda, the Yajurveda is a soporific encyclopedia of rituals,andthe Atharvaveda nospoilershere,butitsnothardtoguesswhichgenderisfavoredby theAtharvavedaschooseyourbabyssexmantra(PusavanaSaskra))

WhatthereligiousreallyloveabouttheVedas,whatsendsthemintoatantrictrance,ishowoldtheVedas are. The religious apparently believe that the older the Vedas, the easier their fight for religious supremacyThe Rigveda is ten thousand years old you say? Thats it I wont ridicule you guys any moresignmeupforHinduism!(CanIbeaBrahmin,please?) (Thoughtexperiment:Athousandyearsfromnow,theVedaswillbeathousandyearsolder.Willtheythen containanymorewisdomthantheydonow?) Yes,alloftheambivalencethereligiousfeelfortheVedasisjustifiedyouprobablyshouldntbereading theVedasasaholybook,asabookofanswers,orasabookofspirituality.Noyoushouldbereadingthe Vedasassomethingfarsimpleranddeeper:asliterature. __ ThemoststrikingfeatureoftheVedasisthattheVedasarenotthewordofgod*theVedasmostlyconsist ofhymnsaddressedtothegods.Thismightseemlikeamereliterarydetail,butitisrefreshingtoreada religiousbookwhere,forachange,mankindistheauthorandnotthetargetaudience. (* The religious believe the Vedas to be of divine origin, but the Vedas themselves are written in first person,i.e.I,theman,talkingtogod.TheRigvedastartswithIglorifyAgni,whichisnotexcitingbut hard to argue against. The Gita starts with Dritirashtra said , which is the sort of statement that provokesanOh,really?Youwereintheroom?reactioninthereader.Well,atleastitdidinNeo.) Equallystriking,theVedasofferveryfewcrassrewards(suchaseternalenlightenment)forbelievers,no punishments for straying from the path, no specific reasons why you should believe. The Vedas were probablythelasttimemankind,andcertainlyIndians,hadanhonestreligiousthought(ifyoucanimagine a time when honest religious thought was not an oxymoron). Most later Hindu books feel like those creepymetootweets,blogs,booksandlivesthatareinspiredbysomeoneelsesoriginality. Letthereligiousobsessabouttheprecisei.e.,Indianvs.EuropeanzipcodeoftheauthorsoftheVedas you should read the Vedas because they were written by a people who werent obsessed with zip codes.(TheVedicauthorsseemtobethekindofpeopleThomasFriedmanwouldlovetowriteabout.) LetthereligiousbeartheburdenofprovingtheVedasperfectletthemdefendtheterribleideasthatwere firstoutlinedintheVedas.YoushouldreadtheVedasbecausetheyshowus howwereachedourcurrent predicament, how we became a nation of religious people who lost all morality in a vulgar search for holinessyoushouldreadtheVedasbecausetheyaretheGangotriofIndiassocialproblems. Let the religious claim that every language on Earth (except Tamil, of course) is an ugly derivative of SanskrityoushouldreadtheVedasbecauseSanskritisabeautifullanguage. Letthereligioussearchforthehiddenmeaning(Theremustbe!Somethingmustbethere!)oftheVedas youshouldreadtheVedasfortheBrahmandicatmosphereitspoetrycreates,becausetheirauthorsfelt that same honest, unselfconscious wonderment at a universe as you do, because they had that same

visceralreactiontothesunandwaterandwindasyoudo,becausetheylovednaturethesamewayyoudo (excepttheyprobablyhadalotmorenaturetolovethanyou.) LetthereligiouschanttheVedasonautopilotyoushouldreadtheVedasbecausesomewhereinthemin a place that the tonedeaf religious can never reachis the reason we get goosebumps when we hear thekomalreforthefirsttimeduringanalaapofRagaAhirBhairav. YoushouldreadtheVedasbecausetheyaredeeplyreal,deeplyflawed,andbecausetheydescribethefirst and perhaps the most genuine of human epiphanies: that there might be no answers, only beautiful questions.

But,afterall,whoknows,andwhocansay Whenceitallcame,andhowcreationhappened? thegodsthemselvesarelaterthancreation, sowhoknowstrulywhenceithasarisen? Whenceallcreationhaditsorigin, he,whetherhefashioneditorwhetherhedidnot, he,whosurveysitallfromhighestheaven, heknowsormaybeevenhedoesnotknow. NsadyaSkta,129thsktaofthe10thmandala,Rigveda

__ P.S.:Foralltheanswers,youwillhavetoreadthesequelstotheVedas:theUpanishads,which,likemost sequels, ruin the mood by trying too hard to explain too much. Not surprisingly, the religious love the Upanishads. P.P.S.:Ifyoureevenmoderatelyreligious,youshouldreadtheVedasassoonaspossible,ideallybefore yougetmarriedifyouregoingtohaveareligiousawakening,yourebetteroffhavingitnowratherthan ten years and two kids into a marriage. The sages say that ascending into the metaphysical plane and escapingthecycleofbirthanddeathismucheasierwithoutyourwiferemindingyouhowmuchmorefun youwereincollege,howyouwouldhavegottenthatpromotionifonlyyouhadmarketedyourselfbetter, andhowshedalmostratheryouhadanaffair(no,donttryitshesjustbeingdramatic.)