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Jahnava Nitai Das

The Vedas; and Acquiring Knowledge.

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A letter from Singapore:

 

My name is ..., and I am from Singapore. I am really inspired by your forum postings as you seem to know a lot of information about Vedic injunctions. I really admire your capacity in philosophical discussions. I would like to humbly inquire a few things:

 

1) What do you mean by the statement "...to consider the view of the purvapakshi..." in the discussion titled 'Did Rama Eat Meat'? How do acharyas come to their conclusions. Is it by divine insight or by studying other commentaries and then writing their version according to their realisation.

 

2) How authenthic are the Vedas and Upanshads today? I have heard that only a small part of these scriptures are left in the world, and that these few had been interpolated and changed by various people.

 

3) Where do you get so much information about Vedic knowledge? Do you read lots of books or are there websites where I can learn these things on the net?

 

Thank you so much for your time.

 

[This message has been edited by jndas (edited 07-25-2001).]

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Dear Sri ...,

 

Thank you very much for writing. I am happy you find our writing in the forums useful. There are a lot of distortions being propagated in the name of Hinduism, and I am trying as much as possible to clear up some of the very bad misconceptions being created.

 

1) What do you mean by the statement "...to consider the view of the purvapakshi..." in the discussion titled 'Did Rama Eat Meat'? How do acharyas come to their conclusions. Is it by divine insight or by studying other commentaries and then writing their version according to their realisation.

Acharyas always come to their conclusions through divine insight. Actually they do not "come to their conclusions", for a liberated soul knows everything knowable. They are known as sarva-jna, or omniscient, because the Lord empowers the liberated soul with complete knowledge. In presenting their commentaries on the Brahma-sutras, the acharyas write in a manner that will be understandable to non-liberated souls like us. Thus they present their conclusions after first raising the opponent's argument against their own conclusions. This is known as 'purvapaksha'. After presenting the opponents argument and the doubts that it naturally generates in ones mind, they then go on to defeat the improper conclusion and remove doubts by establishing the 'siddhanta', or perfect conclusion.

 

The purpose of this writing style is to remove the doubts of the conditioned souls who are trying to understand transcendental subject matters through logic and argument, as opposed to the direct experience of the liberated souls.

 

2) How authenthic are the Vedas and Upanshads today? I have heard that only a small part of these scriptures are left in the world, and that these few had been interpolated and changed by various people.

The majority of the Vedic texts (samhitas) are lost to us at present. Hardly 5% of them still exist in written form, of which much is filled with interpolation and other such distortions. With this in mind, the shastras themselves recommend one take shelter of the Srimad Bhagavatam in the age of Kali, for it has been given for the particular purpose of providing us light in this dark age. The Srimad Bhagavatam is the very form (rupa) of Bhagavan Sri Krishna. It is not just a book, but His own divine incarnation. It has arisen in this age of Kali just like the Sun, and wise men will receive light and knowledge from it in this age of darkness.

 

3) Where do you get so much information about Vedic knowledge? Do you read lots of books or are there websites where I can learn these things on the net?

The only way to develop proper spiritual knowledge is through sadhu-sanga and sadhu-seva (association with and service to spiritualists). Try to associate with saintly people and devotees as much as possible. Serve them humbly and listen to them submissively. This is the key to developing spiritual knowledge. When you engage in such a process of bhakti, the knowledge from the books that you study will blossom within your mind, and the true import of the scripture's intricate codes will be revealed to you by dint of your service and humility.

 

Yours in service,

 

Jahnava Nitai Das,

Bhaktivedanta Ashram

 

[This message has been edited by jndas (edited 08-29-2001).]

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