The Excellence of the Vedas

The Vedas, however, are outstanding. They contain information on everything from medicine and farming to a detailed explanation of time sequences on upper and lower planets, from techniques of yoga and meditation to household hints and recipes for tasty vegetarian dishes-from detailed explanations of governmental organization to masterful directions on constructing and decorating a temple or residential building. The verses in each of the hundreds of Vedic texts conform to strict rules of poetry and meter. The Vedas contain drama, history and complex philosophy, as well as simple lessons of etiquette. Military protocol, use of musical instruments, biographies of great saints and sages of the past-these are but a few of the subjects covered by the Vedas. By following Vedic directions, all the great spiritual leaders in the history of India have achieved perfection (Bg. 4.2). How, then, could we say that the Vedas, compiled by the incarnation Vyasadeva, are works of a mortal being? Scriptures are not products of the material world, where passion and ignorance predominate. No person under the influence of passion and ignorance could possibly produce an authentic scripture. For over 5,000 years the Vedic teachings have been studied and admired by the world's most profound scholars. No mundane writing can possibly approach the level of an authentic revealed scripture.

The original speaker of the Vedas is Narayana (Krsna), as stated in the Mahabharata (Santi-parva, Moksa-dharma, chapter 349, verse 68). Vyasadeva and those who follow in succession from him are the propagators of the Vedas. So the principal difference between the empiric researcher and the spiritual experimentalist is that the mundane researcher refuses to accept information coming from a realm beyond his sensual perception-despite constant reminders that his senses can fail him-whereas the spiritualist has adopted a submissive attitude. The spiritualist, therefore, by approaching the proper authority, can acquire knowledge that could not otherwise be obtained.