Saturday 21 September 2019

Difference between Vedas and Puranas


Purana is an umbrella term that houses ancient literature of the Vedic tradition. Each Purana glorifies a particular principle or form as supreme - which creates  contradiction.

Vaishnavite : 

Look, In Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Narayana is said to be supreme.This is scriptural evidence! Open your eyes! Bow to Him!

Shaakta : 

No joker, look at Markandeya Purana. Shakti is supreme. Bow to Her!

Vaishnavite : 

How ignorant.That Markandeya Purana is not authentic! Bow to  Narayana you Mayavadi! 

Shaivite 

Low-lifes,look at Linga Purana. Shiva is ultimate! Bow to Him and commit to the Panchakshari.

Vaishnavite : 

That's not sattvika Purana you Aghori Skull eating ***! Wake Up

And the argument goes on. Such scenarios are very common. Fools forget their sadhana and path and consider poking their nose into the sampradaya of others as prime importance.

Understanding Puranas



Puranas fall under the category of Smriti. They were written and passed on. The Vedas are Shruti. They were envisioned as sound-form ( mantras ) and passed on. Smritis are time-bound while Shrutis are eternal.



How do they differ?

Let me give an example :

Vedas    :

 1 + 1 = 2

Puranas :

Ravi has an apple.Ahmad gives him an orange. Ravi now has two fruits.

In short, Vedas present crude knowledge. They are multi-dimensional and can be perceived in many ways.

Puranas present the essence of the Vedas in a simpler way. It is like watching Interstellar to get a glimpse of the theory of relativity and the 5th dimension.

Puranas are meant to contradict one another because truth can be presented in many ways. Look at the example above. If we change Ravi to Bob or apple to jackfruit, the significance of the message implied is unaffected.

*This does not mean that the Puranas are symbolic ! The Puranas are factual - events which have / will occur*

Most argument between devotees today is about how Ravi is realer than Ahmad and vice-versa.

Picking up a desired verse to claim supremacy of their path is simply foolish.Our culture is so unique that it paves path to all types of individuals.

According to their nature and karma, they pick a particular path and traverse in that 

We ensured a lineage or sangha where like-minded people join hands to reach the goal.

Because in the end, only experience matters.Enlightenment matters. Scriptures can serve as a guide - they can change the way you believe, disbelieve, get inspired, etc. You cannot simply commit a verse to memory and claim to be enlightened.

This is why sadhana ( a particular spiritual practice ) is given utmost importance in all schools. It can be a form of Japa, meditation or yogic practice. Sadhana drives you towards the goal.

Unfortunately, Hindus are slowly abrahaminsing Sanatana Dharma.

It is all about :

' Believe in Him/Her as supreme or get stuck in Maya'

a parallel to 

' Believe in Christ alone or burn in hell '

The Vedas about Supremacy

The Vedas present truth rather than belief. For example, the term Vishnu in Vedas refers to 'all-pervasiveness' rather than a personality.

It can be seen in Durga Suktam of Mahanarayana Upanishad where Mother Durga is said to be all-pervasive ( vishnoranusancarema



Indra is found elaborately in the Rig Veda. Indra is actually a symbol of mastery over the senses.

Shiva is found in Vedas commonly to denote auspiciousness.

We even have Rig Veda's Naasadiiya Suktam which talks about a supreme force without denoting any name to it.

It would be foolish to compress every deity your limited logic and build a hierarchy on them.

Vedas are extremely vast. They condense to Upanishads which then condenses to Vedanta.

Vedas --> Upanishads --> Vedanta

Vedanta stresses on Advaita (non-duality) Everything is consciousness. Even you. You too are God in amnesia.Realizing and experiencing yourself as divine is enlightenment.

In some Upanishads, you may find specific deities being glorified as ultimate. More importantly, they often stress about how these deities are verily absolute consciousness.


In Narayana Upanishad,the verse sa vishnureva bhavati is stressed twice - which means,one becomes Vishnu by realising the Upanishad.It simply denotes God realisation

Even more important,they stress on how we should merge and realise our nature as absolute consciousness.


This is the ultimate truth.You are God.No,not the YOU you identify with your mind.The inner you.The atmic you.That is God.



Fortunately,Veda Vyasa,the compiler of the Vedas gave a gist of each Veda.He gave the essence of Each Veda in one sentence - and they all represent the same truth.




Rig Veda 

Pragyaanam Brahma ( Consciousness is Brahman - God )

Yajur Veda   
      
Aham brahmaa asmi  ( I am Brahman )

Saama Veda   
   
Tat tvam asi  ( That thou art )

Atharva Veda
     
Ayam aatmaa brahmaa ( This self is Brahman ) 

Vedas also declare - brahmavid brahmaiva bhavati - Knowing Brahman ( God ) ,one becomes Brahman.

No logic or thought can comprehend the supreme.So drop all nonsense and just focus on your individual sadhana and realise.

Until you get enlightened,stop poking your nose into the belief of others.

In conclusion,focus on your sadhana and sampradaya alone.Don't deepthroat others with your ego - not good for health.

Is it not egoistic to proclaim myself as God ?

You are egoistic if you do not do so.You claim God to be all-pervasive.Yet,you say you are devoid of it.What makes you feel so special that you are different than God ?

In advaita,you do not only claim yourself as God.You understand your true self as God,as God as everyone else.Everyone is God.So are you.That is the understanding.

Only I am God = Ego

I am God,just as how everyone is = humility of highest order because in this understanding, you are as God as a worm and a saint.Its complete equanimity.

There is no hierarchy here.


  • Nevertheless,Hinduism does recognise both advaita ( non-duality ) and dvaita ( duality ).Shaivism generally ferries in Advaita while Vaishnavism - in Dvaita.Ultimately both reach the same destination.


As said earlier,different sampradayas have their own way.Pick the one you feel belonging and stop peeping into the belief of others unless it goes against dharma.


Also Read :

(1) The Mahaavaakyas of Vedas

(2) Benefits of  reciting Narayana Upanishad

(3) Origin of Vedas

(4) Big Bang theory explained in Rig Veda

1 comment:

  1. Wow, its rare to see someone this knowledgeable , thanks for sharing bro

    ReplyDelete