॥ ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय ॥
Srimad Bhagavatam - Skandha XII.06 Part B, Wednesday, 16 August 2023 - Omkara and Vedas.
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The second half of Chapter 6 deals with the all-important aspect of Omkara or Pranava, how Lord Brahma created the Vedas, how Veda Vyasa structured the Vedas, and how his disciplic succession has consolidated the Vedic mantras over time.
Bhakti
परं पदं वैष्णवमामनन्ति तद् यन्नेति नेतीत्यतदुत्सिसृक्षव: ।
विसृज्य दौरात्म्यमनन्यसौहृदा हृदोपगुह्यावसितं समाहितै: ॥
त एतदधिगच्छन्ति विष्णोर्यत् परमं पदम् । अहं ममेति दौर्जन्यं न येषां देहगेहजम् ॥
अतिवादांस्तितिक्षेत नावमन्येत कञ्चन । न चेमं देहमाश्रित्य वैरं कुर्वीत केनचित् ॥
नमो भगवते तस्मै कृष्णायाकुण्ठमेधसे । यत्पादाम्बुरुहध्यानात् संहितामध्यगामिमाम् ॥
The steady path to Bhagavan Vishnu
Is to eschew step by step the unreal.
Neti, Neti – give up the petty matters of this life
Find and love the Supreme within your heart,
Immerse yourself in that infinite, eternal Atma.
Such devotees find the ultimate abode of Bhagavan Vishnu
As give up the pretty “I, mine, my home” delusions.
Slight, insult hurt not such a one,
In turn he never slights anyone.
He harbours no malice toward any, for he is not identified with his body!
Hail Bhagavan Sri Krishna! The unfettered enlightened one!
Just by worshipping his lotus feet, I have been able to study this great Srimad Bhagavatam!
Omkara
श्रीशौनक उवाच
पैलादिभिर्व्यासशिष्यैर्वेदाचार्यैर्महात्मभि: । वेदाश्च कथिता व्यस्ता एतत् सौम्याभिधेहि न: ॥
T: Sage Shaunaka, a descendant of Sage Bhrigu and pursuing the highest rigours of meditation in the forest with other rishis, now asked the Suta to narrate how Paila and other disciciples of Sage Veda Vyasa came to edit and organise the holy books of Sanatana Dharma called the Vedas.
सूत उवाच
समाहितात्मनो ब्रह्मन् ब्रह्मण: परमेष्ठिन: । हृद्याकाशादभून्नादो वृत्तिरोधाद् विभाव्यते ॥
यदुपासनया ब्रह्मन् योगिनो मलमात्मन: । द्रव्यक्रियाकारकाख्यं धूत्वा यान्त्यपुनर्भवम् ॥
ततोऽभूत्त्रिवृदोंकारो योऽव्यक्तप्रभव: स्वराट् । यत्तल्लिङ्गं भगवतो ब्रह्मण: परमात्मन: ॥
शृणोति य इमं स्फोटं सुप्तश्रोत्रे च शून्यदृक् । येन वाग् व्यज्यते यस्य व्यक्तिराकाश आत्मन: ॥
स्वधाम्नो ब्राह्मण: साक्षाद् वाचक: परमात्मन: । स सर्वमन्त्रोपनिषद्वेदबीजं सनातनम् ॥
तस्य ह्यासंस्त्रयो वर्णा अकाराद्या भृगूद्वह । धार्यन्ते यैस्त्रयो भावा गुणनामार्थवृत्तय: ॥
ततोऽक्षरसमाम्नायमसृजद् भगवानज: । अन्तस्थोष्मस्वरस्पर्शह्रस्वदीर्घादिलक्षणम् ॥
तेनासौ चतुरो वेदांश्चतुर्भिर्वदनैर्विभु: । सव्याहृतिकान् सोंकारांश्चातुर्होत्रविवक्षया ॥
पुत्रानध्यापयत्तांस्तु ब्रह्मर्षीन् ब्रह्मकोविदान् । ते तु धर्मोपदेष्टार: स्वपुत्रेभ्य: समादिशन् ॥
ते परम्परया प्राप्तास्तत्तच्छिष्यैर्धृतव्रतै: । चतुर्युगेष्वथ व्यस्ता द्वापरादौ महर्षिभि: ॥
क्षीणायुष: क्षीणसत्त्वान् दुर्मेधान् वीक्ष्य कालत: । वेदान्ब्रह्मर्षयो व्यस्यन् हृदिस्थाच्युतचोदिता: ॥
T: The Suta was happy to throw light on this.
At first, the subtle vibration of transcendental sound appeared from the sky of the heart of the most elevated Lord Brahma during his deep meditation on the Supreme. One can perceive this subtle vibration when one stops all external hearing. (Note: This cosmic vibration is the root cause of all creation as per Sanatana Dharma and is now being accepted even in Quantum Physics as the Conscious Vibration.)
By worship of this vibration which is nothing but the subtle form of the Vedas, exalted Yogis and Rishis can cleanse themselves of contamination in terms of matter, material activity and a sense of doership (Ahankara). This is what confers on them liberation!
From that transcendental subtle vibration arose the Omkara, composed of three sounds. The Omkara holds unseen energies and manifests automatically within a purified heart. It is the representation of the Parabrahman in all three of his facets — Bhagavan, Ishwara and the formless Brahman!
This Omkara, ultimately nonmaterial and imperceptible, is heard by the Paramatma without the need for ears or other senses. The entire expanse of Vedic sound is elaborated from Omkara, which appears from the Atma, within the sky of the heart. It is the direct designation of the self-originating Brahman, the Paramatma, and is the secret essence and eternal seed of all Vedic hymns.
Omkara uunravelled itself as the three original sounds of the alphabet — A, U and M. These three sustain all the different threefold aspects of material existence
1. The Three Gunas – Sattva, Rajas, tamas
2. The three Vedas – Rik, Yajur, Sama.
3. The three worlds - Bhu, Bhuvar, Svar.
4. The three states – Waking, dreaming and deep sleep.
Brahma, having found Omkara, now developed the entire phonetic alphabet of vowels, consonants, semi-vowels, sibilants and others, with also long and short measures of intonation.
The all-powerful Brahma made use of this collection of sounds to produce from his four faces the four Vedas, which appeared together with the sacred Omkara and the seven Vyahriti invocations. His intention was to propagate the process of Vedic Yajnas according to the different functions performed by the practitioners of each of the four Vedas.
Brahma taught these Vedas to his sons, who were great sages, the original Brahmins and experts in the art of Vedic recitation. They, in turn took the role of Acharyas and imparted the Vedas to their own sons.
In this way, throughout the cycles of four Yugas, generation after generation of disciples — all firmly fixed in their spiritual disciplines — have received these Vedas by disciplic succession. At the end of each Dvapara Yuga, the Vedas are edited into separate divisions by eminent sages.
This was necessary as the sages observed that people in general were diminished in their life span, strength and intelligence by the influence of Time. So, the great sages took inspiration from Bhagavan sitting within their hearts and systematically divided the Vedas.
The Division of Vedas
अस्मिन्नप्यन्तरे ब्रह्मन् भगवान्लोकभावन: । ब्रह्मेशाद्यैर्लोकपालैर्याचितो धर्मगुप्तये ॥
पराशरात् सत्यवत्यामंशांशकलया विभु: । अवतीर्णो महाभाग वेदं चक्रे चतुर्विधम् ॥
In this epoch of of Vaivasvata Manu, the leaders of the universe, led by Lord Brahma and Lord Shiva, requested Bhagavan Maha Vishnu, the protector of all the worlds, to save Dharma. The compassionate Bhagavan incarnated as an Amsha (a small portion of his divinity), and appeared in the womb of Satyavati as the son of Parashara. In this form, named Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa, also called Veda Vyasa later, he divided the one composite Veda into four.
ऋगथर्वयजु:साम्नां राशीरुद्धृत्य वर्गश: । चतस्र: संहिताश्चक्रे मन्त्रैर्मणिगणा इव ॥
Sage Veda Vyasa separated the mantras of the Rik, Atharva, Yajur and Sama Vedas into four divisions, just as one sorts out a mixed collection of jewels into different coherent groups. Thus, he composed the four distinct Vedic sets of hymns called the four-fold Vedic literature.
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Now Suta lists all the great rishis who were vouchsafed, one after another, systematically, the four Vedas. He also lists their numerous disciples and how they took it forward over time. There is a very long list of names of Rishis here.
Paila and his disciples took forward the Rigveda. Many sages, notably Yajnavalkya, took forward the Yajurveda, and even discovered new Mantras by the grace of the Sun god. Jaimini was the leader who took forward Sama Veda with its very numerous hymns. Vaishampayana took forward the Atharva.
I am not listing all the Rishis’ names here. There is a beautiful prayer of several verses with which the gret Sage Yajnavalkya propitiated Surya, the Sun-god and received new, undiscovered Mantras.
Thus, the world’s greatest scriptures called the Vedas, the foundation of Sanatana Dharma, were passed down from Brahma through the greatest of Rishis, and we can study them and pursue the Sanatana Dharma even today in Bharat, despite attempts over centuries by all invaders to destroy our ancient culture, civilisation and spiritual aspiration.
Vande Mataram!
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