Vedas 5000 years ago

Originally there was only one Veda, and there was no necessity of reading it. People were so intelligent and had such sharp memories that by once hearing from the lips of the spiritual master they would understand. They would immediately grasp the whole purport. But 5,000 years ago Vyasadeva put the Vedas in writing for the people in this age, Kali-yuga. He knew that eventually the people would be short-lived, their memories would be very poor and their intelligence would not be very sharp. "Therefore, let me teach this Vedic knowledge in writing." He divided the Vedas into four: Rk, Sama, Atharva, and Yajus. Then he gave the charge of these Vedas to his different disciples. He then thought of the less intelligent class of men, stri, sūdra and dvija-bandhu. He considered the woman class and sūdra class (worker class) and dvija-bandhu. Dvija-bandhu refers to those who are born in a high family but who are not properly qualified. A man born in the family of a brahmana, who is not qualified as a brahmana, is called dvija-bandhu. For these persons, he compiled Mahabharata, called the history of India, and the eighteen Puranas. These are all Vedic literatures: the Puranas, the Mahabharata, the four Vedas, and the Upanisads. The Upanisads are part of the Vedas. Then Vyasadeva summarized all Vedic knowledge for scholars and philosophers in what is called the Vedanta-sūtra. This is the last word of the Vedas. Vyasadeva personally wrote Vedanta-sūtra under the instructions of Narada, his Guru Maharaj, spiritual master, but still he was not satisfied. That is a long story, described in the Srimad-Bhagavatam. Vedavyasa was not very satisfied even after compiling many Puranas, Upanisads, and even after Vedanta-sūtra. Then his spiritual master, Narada, instructed him, "You explain Vedanta." Vedanta means Ultimate Knowledge, and the Ultimate Knowledge is Krsna. Krsna says that throughout all the Vedas one has to understand Krsna. Vedanta-krd veda-vid eva caham. Krsna says, "I am the Compiler of Vedanta, and I am the Knower of the Vedas." Therefore the Ultimate Objective is Krsna. That is explained in all the Vaisnava commentaries on Vedanta philosophy. We Gauḍiya Vaisnavas have our commentary on Vedanta philosophy, called Govinda-bhasya by Baladeva Vidyabhūsana. Similarly, Ramanujacarya has a commentary and Madhvacarya has one. The version of Sahkaracarya is not the only commentary. There are many Vedanta commentaries, but because the Vaisnavas did not present the first Vedanta commentary, people are under the wrong impression that Sahkaracarya's is the only Vedanta commentary. Besides that, Vyasadeva himself wrote the perfect Vedanta commentary, Srimad-Bhagavatam. Srimad-Bhagavatam also begins with the first words of the Vedanta-sūtra: janmadyasya yataḥ. And that janmadyasya yataḥ is fully explained in the Srimad-Bhagavatam. The Vedanta-sūtra simply hints at what is Brahman, the Absolute Truth: "The Absolute Truth is that from Whom everything emanates." This is a summary, but it is explained in detail in Srimad-Bhagavatam. If everything is emanating from the Absolute Truth, then what is the nature of the Absolute Truth? That is explained in Srimad-Bhagavatam. The Absolute Truth must be conscious. Svarat. He is Self-effulgent. We develop our consciousness and knowledge by receiving knowledge from others, but for Him it is said that He is Self-effulgent. The whole summary of Vedic knowledge is the Vedanta-sūtra, and the Vedanta-sūtra is explained by the writer himself in the Srimad-Bhagavatam. We finally request those who are actually after Vedic knowledge to try to understand the explanation of all Vedic knowledge from the Srimad-Bhagavatam and the Bhagavad-gita.    (More...)