I would like to get knowledge of the Vedas...

[The Editor]

I would like to get knowledge of the Vedas. There are multiple scripts and upanishads, so I would like to know in what order I can study them . Please through some light on this. Thank You.

Namaskara. Thank you for writing.

In general the best place to start is with the Bhagavad Gita. Sri Shankaracharya has described Bhagavad Gita as follows in his Gita Mahatmya:

sarvopanishado gavo
dogdha gopala-nandanah
partho vatsah su-dhir bhokta
dugdham gitamritam mahat

"All the Upanishads are like a cow, and the milker of the cow is Lord Shri Krishna, the son of Nanda. Arjuna is the calf, the beautiful nectar of the Gita is the milk, and the fortunate devotees of fine theistic intellect are the drinkers and enjoyers of that milk."

The Bhagavad Gita contains the essence of all Upanishads and all Vedic knowledge. In the Gita Lord Krishna states:

vedaish ca sarvair aham eva vedyo
vedanta-krid veda-vid eva caham

"By all the Vedas, I am to be known. Indeed, I am the compiler of Vedanta, and I am the knower of the Vedas."

The purpose of the Vedic knowlege is to know Bhagavan, the supreme source of all existence, creation, maintenance and dissolution. The Bhagavad Gita provides this knowledge in an essential form, making it easy for people in modern times to understand. That was the very reason Lord Krishna spoke Bhagavad Gita just prior to the beginning of Kali Yuga. Knowing that humanity will find it difficult to understand the Vedic knowledge due to various problems of the age, He presented the essence in a simple and concise manner known as Bhagavad Gita, or Gitopanishad.

If you have already completed study of Bhagavad Gita, then you can continue through various Upanishads, and it will make the further study simple and clear.

I am not sure which city you live in, but our ashram is conducting weekly Bhagavad Gita classes in Chennai every Saturday at 7pm. The address is Panchamukha Anjaneyar Temple, 28 Yerikarai Street, Tharamani, Chennai (just off Tharamani-Velachery 100 foot road).

Yours in service,

Jahnava Nitai Das
Bhaktivedanta Ashram
http://www.bvashram.org