The Vedas are the original and eternal sacred knowledge. They were revealed by the Lord Himself in the beginning of Creation to Brahma, the first living being in the Universe, from within his heart. Brahma handed down the divine knowledge to his mental sons, the great sages. The sages taught the same knowledge to his disciples, and in this way the Vedas were transmitted without any change.
Since in ancient times people had very good memory and could memorize the whole Veda by heart, for a long time the sacred knowledge was not written down, but was transmitted by oral tradition. Ever since the onset of our present age, however, the human beings gradually degenerated in their memory, good character, longevity, and spiritual values. Therefore, for the benefit of the humanity at large, the great sage Vyasadeva wrote down the Vedas about 5000 years ago.
The very word “veda” means knowledge. There are no branches of knowledge, either mundane or transcendental, which do not belong to the original text of the Vedas. No one, therefore, can claim independent knowledge beyond the Vedas.
There are two types of Vedic literatures. The first describes how to properly manipulate the material energies so that we can get the best possible result in terms of material comforts and personal interaction. The second teaches us how to gain final liberation from all miseries which unavoidably accompany all material existence. Therefore the Vedas are compared to a manual by which the customer can understand how to use properly an item he has bought. In the same way, if we want to understand and use properly this material world, we need the guidance of its manual – the Vedas.
The source of the Vedas is God Himself. Therefore the Vedas are perfect and complete. They are free of the four defects of the ordinary persons, namely to make mistakes, to be in illusion, to cheat, and to have to rely on imperfect senses. Therefore the Vedas are called “apauruseya”, not made by a man.
The Vedas deal with three main topics:
- They describe the nature and the relationship between God, the living entity, and material nature.
- They explain what the ultimate goal of human life is.
- They give the method for attaining that goal.
According to the Vedas, God is the Supreme Person, the origin of all. The living entities and material nature are two of His energies. The material energy is inert and unconscious and the living entities are conscious and posses a free will.
The living entities are parts and parcels of God. They share with Him the same spiritual qualities but in a minute quantity, in a way similar to the drop of water from the ocean which has the same qualities as the ocean, but it immesarably much smaller in quantity.
The ultimate goal of life is to reawaken and develop the natural love for God which exists in the heart of all living beings. The method for attaining this goal is devotional service to God according to the injunctions of the Vedas and the example of the great saintly persons.
