Wednesday, September 29, 2010

General Duties and Special Duties of the four orders of men

From The Mahabharata,
Santi Parva, section LX
Translated by Sri Kisari Mohan Ganguli
Unabridged

Vaisampayana said: After this, Yudhishthira, saluted his grandsire, viz., the son of Ganga, and with joined hands and concentrated attention, once more asked him, saying:
What are the general duties of the four orders of men, and what the special duties of each order?
[Note: The four orders of men are Brahmana, Kshatriya, Vaisya and Sudra. See Page ‘Caste System’]
What mode of life should be adopted by which order? What duties are especially called the duties of kings? By what means does a kingdom grow, and what are those means by which the king himself grows? How also, o bull of Bharata’s race, do the citizens and the servants of the king grow? What sorts of treasuries, punishments, forts, allies, counsellors, priests, and preceptors, should a king avoid?
[Note: The difference between a Ritwija and a Purohita is that the former priest is engaged on special occasions, while the services of the latter are permanent and constant.]
Whom should the king trust in what kinds of distress and danger? From what evils should the king guard himself firmly? Tell me all this, O grandsire!
Bhishma said: I bow down to Dharma who is great, and to Krishna who is Brahman (the Supreme Reality). Having bowed down also unto the Brahmanas (assembled here), I shall discourse on duties that are eternal.
Nine duties that are eternal
The suppression of wrath, truthfulness of speech, justice, forgiveness, begetting children upon one’s wedded wives, purity of conduct, avoidance of quarrel, simplicity, and maintenance of dependants, these nine duties belong to all the four orders (equally)
.Duties that belong exclusively to Brahmanas
Those duties, however, which belong exclusively to Brahmanas, I shall now tell thee. Self-restraint, O king, has been declared to be the first duty of Brahmanas. Study of the Vedas, and patience in undergoing austerities (are also their other duties). By practising these two, all their acts are accomplished.
If while engaged in the observance of his own duties, without doing any improper act, wealth comes to a peaceful Brahmana possessed of knowledge, he should then marry and seek to beget children and should also practise charity and perform sacrifices. It has been declared by the wise that wealth thus obtained should be enjoyed by distributing it (among deserving persons and relatives). By his study of the Vedas all the pious acts (laid down for the Brahmana) are accomplished. Whether he does or does not achieve anything else, if he devotes himself to the study of the Vedas, he becomes by that known as a Brahmana or the friend of all creatures.
Duties of Kshatriyas
I shall also tell thee, O Bharata, what the duties are of a Kshatriya. A Kshatriya, O king, should give but not beg, should himself perform sacrifices but not officiate as a priest in the sacrifices of others. He should never teach (the Vedas) but study (them with a Brahmana preceptor). He should protect the people. Always exerting himself for the destruction of robbers and wicked people, he should put forth his prowess in battle. Those among Kshatriya rulers who perform great sacrifices, who are possessed of a knowledge of the Vedas, and who gain victories in battle, become foremost of those that acquire many blessed regions hereafter by their merit. Persons conversant with the old scriptures do not applaud that Kshatriya who returns unwounded from battle.
This has been declared to be the conduct of a wretched Kshatriya (viz., returning unwounded from battle).There is no higher duty for him (Kshatriya) than the suppression of robbers. Gifts, study, and sacrifices, bring prosperity to kings. Therefore, a king who desires to acquire religious merit should engage in battle.
[Note: For without battle, he cannot extend his kingdom and acquire wealth to give away and meet the expenses of sacrifices.]
Establishing all his subjects in the observance of their respective duties, a king should cause all of them to do everything according to the dictates of righteousness. Whether he does or does not do any other act, if only he protects his subjects, he is regarded to accomplish all religious acts and is called a Kshatriya and the foremost of men
.Duties of Vaisyas
I shall now tell thee, O Yudhishthira, what the eternal duties of the Vaisyas are. A Vaisya should make gifts, study the Vedas, perform sacrifices, and acquire wealth by fair means. With proper attention he should also protect and rear all (domestic) animals as a sire protecting his sons. Anything else that he will do will be regarded as improper for him. By protecting the (domestic) animals, he would obtain great happiness. The Creator, having created the (domestic) animals, bestowed their care upon the Vaisya. Upon the Brahmana and the Kshatriya, he conferred (the care of) all creatures.
I shall tell thee what the Vaisya’s profession is and how he is to earn the means of his sustenance. If he keeps (for others) six kine (cows), he may take the milk of one cow as his remuneration; and if he keeps (for others) a hundred kine, he may take a single pair as such fee. If he trades with other’s wealth, he may take a seventh part of the profits (as his share). A seventh also is his share in the profits arising from the trade in horns, but he should take a sixteenth if the trade were in hoofs. If he engages in cultivation with seeds supplied by others, he may take a seventh part of the yield. This should be his annual remuneration. A Vaisya should never desire that he should not tend cattle. If a Vaisya desires to tend cattle, no one else should be employed in that task
Duties of Sudras
I shall tell thee, O Bharata, what the duties of a Sudra are. The Creator intended the Sudra to become the servant of the other three orders. For this, the service of the three other classes is the duty of Sudra. By such service of the other three, a Sudra may obtain great happiness. He should wait upon the three other classes according to their order of seniority. A Sudra should never amass wealth, lest, by his wealth, he makes the members of the three superior classes obedient to him. By this he would incur sin. With the king’s permission, however, a Sudra, for performing religious acts, may earn wealth.
I shall now tell thee the profession he (Sudra) should follow and the means by which he may earn his livelihood. It is said that Sudras should certainly be maintained by the (three) other orders. Worn-out umbrellas, turbans, beds and seats, shoes and fans, should be given to the Sudra servants
.[Note: A Beshtana is literally a cloth tied round (the head); hence, a turban or Pagree. The word Ousira is applied to both beds and seats. The Hindu Upanaha had wooden soles.]
Torn clothes that are no longer fit for wear, should be given away by the regenerate classes unto the Sudra. These are the latter’s lawful acquisitions.Men conversant with morality say that if the Sudra approaches any one belonging to the three regenerate orders from desire of doing menial service, the latter should assign him proper work. Unto the sonless Sudra his master should offer the funeral cake. The weak and the old amongst them should be maintained. The Sudra should never abandon his master, whatever the nature or degree of the distress into which the latter may fall. If the master loses his wealth, he should with excessive zeal be supported by the Sudra servant. A Sudra cannot have any wealth that is his own. Whatever he possesses belongs lawfully to his master.
Sacrifice as a Duty
Sacrifice has been laid down as a duty of the three other orders (Brahmana, Kshatriya and Vaisya). A Sudra, however, is not competent to utter Swaha and Swadha or any other Vedic Mantras. For this reason, the Sudra, without observing the vows laid down in the Vedas, should worship the gods in minor sacrifices called Paka-Yajnas. The gift called Purna-Patra is declared to be the Dakshina (gift) of such sacrifices.
[Note: A Paka-Yajna is a minor sacrifice, such as the propitiation of a planet foreboding evil, or worship offered to the inferior deities called Viswadevas. A Purnapatra is literally a large dish or basket full of rice. It should consist of 256 handfuls. Beyond a Purnapatra, the Sudra should not give any other Dakshina in any sacrifice of his.]
It has been heard by us that in days of old a Sudra of the name of Paijavana gave a Dakshina (in one of his sacrifices) consisting of a hundred thousand Purnapatras, according to the ordinance called Aindragni.
[Note: This ordinance lays down that the Dakshina should be a hundred thousand animals such as cows or horses. In the case of this particular Sudra, that ordinance (without its Mantras) was followed, and a hundred thousand Purnapatras were substituted for cows or horses of that number.]
Sacrifice (as has been already said), is as much laid down for the Sudras as for the three other classes. Of all sacrifices, devotion has been laid down to be the foremost.
[Note: Hence the Sudra, by devotion to the members of the three other classes, may earn the merit of sacrifices though he is not competent to utter Mantras.]
Devotion is a high deity. It cleanses all sacrificers. Then again Brahmanas are the foremost of gods unto their respective Sudra attendants. They worship the gods in sacrifices, for obtaining the fruition of various wishes. The members of the three other classes have all sprung from the Brahmanas.
[Note: For this reason the Sudra earns the merit of the sacrifices performed by their Brahmana masters and progenitors].The Brahmanas are the gods of the very gods. Whatever they would say would be for thy great good. Therefore, all kinds of sacrifices naturally appertain to all the four orders. The obligation is not one whose discharge is optional. The Brahmana, who is conversant with Richs, Yajuses, and Samans, should always be worshipped as a god. The Sudra who is without Riks and Yajuses and Samans, has Prajapati for his god.
Mental sacrifices are laid down for all the orders
Mental sacrifices, O sire, are laid down for all the orders, O Bharata! It is not true that the gods and other (superior) persons do not manifest a desire to share the offerings in such sacrifices of even the Sudra
.[Note: Sacrifices are performed by the body, by words, and by the mind. The Brahmana can perform sacrifices by all the three. The Kshatriya and the Vaisya cannot perform sacrifices by means of their bodies. They must employ Brahmanas in their sacrifices. These two orders, however, can utter Mantras and perform mental sacrifices. The Sudra alone cannot employ his body or utter Mantras in sacrifices. The holy sacrifice in his case is the mental sacrifice. A mental sacrifice is a resolve to give away in honour of the gods or unto the gods without the aid of the Vedic ritual. The resolve must be followed by actual gifts.]
For this reason, the sacrifice that consists in devotion is laid down for all the classes (i.e., for the Sudras also). The Brahmana is the foremost of gods. It is not true that they that belong to that order, do not perform the sacrifices of the other orders. The fire called Vitana, though procured from Vaisyas and inspired with Mantras, is still inferior
.[Note: All sacrificial fires, as a rule, are procured from the houses of Vaisyas. The sacrificial fire of the Sudra is called Vitana.]
The Brahmana is the performer of the sacrifices of the three other orders. For this reason all the four orders are holy. All the orders bear towards one another to relation of consanguinity, through the intermediate classes. They have all sprung from Brahmanas. In ascertaining (the priority or subsequence of men in respect of their creation) it will appear that amongst all the orders the Brahmana was created first. Originally Saman was one; Yajus was one, and Rich was one.
[Note: Though originally one, the Vedas have become diverse. Similarly, from the Brahmana, who was created first, all the rest have sprung.]
In this connection, persons conversant with ancient histories cite a verse, O king, sung in praise of sacrifice by the Vaikhanas Munis on the occasion of performing a sacrifice of theirs. Before or after sunrise a person of subdued senses, with heart filed with devotion, pours libations on the sacrificial fire according to the ordinance. Devotion is a mighty agent. With regard to Homas (sacred fire ceremonies) again, that variety which is called Skanna is the initial one, while that which is called Askanna is the last (but foremost in point of merit). Sacrifices are multifarious. Their rites and fruits again are multifarious. The Brahmana possessed of devotion who, endued with scriptural learning, who is acquainted with them all, is competent to perform sacrifices. That person who desires to perform a sacrifice is regarded as righteous even if he happens to be a thief, a sinner, or the worst of sinners. The Rishis applaud such a man. Without doubt they are right. This then is the conclusion that all the orders should always and by every means in their power perform sacrifices. There is nothing in the three worlds equal to sacrifice. Therefore, it has been said that every one, with heart free from malice, should perform sacrifices, aided by devotion which is sacred, to the best of his power and according as he pleases.
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Mahabharata,
Santi Parva, Section CLXV
Translated by Sri Kisari Mohan Ganguli
Abridged

Special protection of Brahmanas
Bhishma said: For enabling such pious and impoverished Brahmanas as have been robbed of their wealth (by robbers and thieves), as are engaged in the performance of sacrifices, as are well conversant with all the Vedas, and as are desirous of acquiring the merit of righteousness, to discharge their obligations to preceptors and the Pitris, and pass their days in reciting and studying the scriptures, wealth and knowledge, O Bharata, should be given.
[Note: In India, from the remotest times, preceptors are excluded from charging their pupils any fees for the instructions they give. No doubt, a final fee, called Gurudakshina, is demandable, but that is demandable after the pupil has completed his studies. To sell knowledge for money is a great sin. To this day in all the indigenous schools of the country, instruction is imparted free of all charges. In addition to this, the pupils are fed by their preceptors. The latter, in their turn, are supported by the charity of the whole country.]
Unto those Brahmanas that are not poor, only the Dakshina (gift or present made in sacrifice), O best of the Bharatas, should be given. As regards those that have fallen away (in consequence of their sinful deeds) from the status of Brahmana, uncooked food should be given to them outside the limits of the sacrificial altar.
The Brahmanas are the Vedas themselves and all the Sacrifices with large presents. Desirous of excelling one another, they always perform sacrifices, impelled by their virtuous inclinations. The king should, therefore, make presents of diverse kinds of valuable wealth unto them. That Brahmana who hath the sufficiency of stores for feeding his family for three or more years, deserves to drink the Soma (i.e., such a person may perform a grand sacrifice in which Soma is offered to the gods and drunk by the sacrificer and the priests). If notwithstanding the presence of a virtuous king on the throne, the sacrifice begun by anybody, especially by a Brahmana, cannot be completed for want of only a fourth part of the estimated expenses, then the king should, for the completion of that sacrifice, take away from his kinsmen the wealth of a Vaisya that is possessed of a large flock of cattle but that is averse from sacrifices and abstains from quaffing Soma.
The Sudra has no competence for performing a sacrifice. The king should, therefore, take away (wealth for such purpose i.e., performing a sacrifice) from a Sudra house of ours.
That Brahmana who has been forced by want to go without six meals (i.e. who has fasted for three whole days), may take away without permission, according to the rule of a person that cares for today without any thought of the morrow, only what is necessary for a single meal, from the husking tub or the field or the garden or any other place of even a man of low pursuits. He should however, whether asked or unasked, inform the king of his act.
[Note: ‘Asvastanavidhana’ is the rule of providing only for today without thinking of the morrow]
If the king be conversant with duty he should not inflict any punishment upon such a Brahmana. He should remember that a Brahmana becomes afflicted with hunger only through the fault of the Kshatriya.
[Note: The sense, of course, is that if a Brahmana starves, that is due to the king having neglected his duty of providing for him.]
Having ascertained a Brahmana’s learning and behaviour, the king should make a provision for him, and protect him as a father protects the son of his own loins.
On the expiry of each year one should perform the Vaisvanara sacrifice (if he is unable to perform any animal or Soma sacrifice). They who are conversant with religion say that the practice of an act laid down in the alternative, is not destructive of virtue. The Viswedevas, the Sadhyas, the Brahmanas, and great Rishis, fearing death in seasons of distress, do not scruple to have recourse to such provisions in the scriptures as have been laid down in the alternative. That man. However, who while able to live according to the primary provision, betakes himself to the alternative, comes to be regarded as a wicked person and never succeeds in winning any felicity in heaven. A Brahmana conversant with the Vedas should never speak of his energy and knowledge to the king. (It is the duty of the king to ascertain it himself). Comparing again the energy of a Brahmana with that of the king, the former will always be found to be superior to the latter. For this reason the energy of the Brahmanas can scarcely be borne or resisted by a king.
The Brahmana is said to be creator, ruler, ordainer, and god. No word of abuse, no dry speeches, should be addressed to a Brahmana. The Kshatriya should cross all his difficulties by the aid of the might of his arms. The Vaisya and the Sudra should conquer their difficulties by wealth; the Brahmana should do so by Mantra and Homa (sacred fire ceremony).
None of these is competent to pour
libations on the sacrificial fire

None of these, viz., a maiden, a youthful woman, a person unacquainted with Mantras, an ignorant guy, or one that is impure, is competent to pour libations on the sacrificial fire. If any of these do so, he or she is sure to fall into hell, with him for whom they act. For this reason, none but a Brahmana conversant with the Vedas and skilled in all sacrifices should become the pourer of sacrificial libations. They who are conversant with the scriptures say that the man who, having kindled the sacrificial fire, does not give away the dedicated food as Dakshina (gift of food, money, clothes etc.) is not the kindler of a sacrificial fire. A person should, with his senses under control, and with proper devotion, do all the acts of merit (indicated in the scriptures). One should never worship the deities in sacrifices in which no Dakshina is given. A sacrifice not complete with Dakshina (instead of producing merit) brings about the destruction of one’s children, animals, and heaven. Such a sacrifice destroys also the senses, the fame, the achievements and the very span of life that one has.
Those Brahmanas that lie with women in their season, or who never perform sacrifices, or whose families have no members conversant with the Vedas, are regarded as Sudras in act. That Brahmana who, having married a Sudra girl, resides for twelve continuous years in a village that has only a well for its water supply, becomes a Sudra in act. That Brahmana who summons to his bed an unmarried maiden, or suffers a Sudra, thinking him worthy of respect, to sit upon the same carpet with him, should sit on a bed of dry grass behind some Kshatriya or Vaisya and give him respect in that fashion. (It may also mean: ‘regarding himself to be a fallen Brahmana, for the time being'). It is in this manner that he can be cleansed.
Listen, O king, to my words on this subject. The sin that a Brahmana commits in a single night by respectfully serving a member of a lower order or by sporting with him in the same spot or on the same bed, is cleansed by observing the practice of sitting behind a Kshatriya or a Vaisya on a bed of dry grass for three continuous years.
These five kinds of falsehood in speech are not sinful.
A falsehood spoken in jest is not sinful; nor one that is spoken to a woman. O king, nor one that is spoken on an occasion of marriage; nor one spoken for benefiting one’s preceptor; nor one spoken for saving one’s own life. These five kinds of falsehood in speech, it has been said, are not sinful.
One may acquire useful knowledge from even a person of low pursuits, with devotion and reverence. One may take up gold, without any scruple, from even an unclean place. A woman that is the ornament of her sex may be taken (for wife) from even a vile race. Amrita (drink that confers immortality), if extracted from poison, may be quaffed; women, jewels and other valuables, and water, can never, according to the scriptures, be impure or unclean.
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Expiation of sins
Eternal injunctions laid down for the expiation of sin
The five grave sins
For the benefit of Brahmanas and kine (Cows), and on occasions of transfusion of castes, even a Vaisya may take up weapons for his own safety. Drinking alcoholic liquors, killing a Brahmana, and the violation of the preceptor’s bed, are sins that, if committed consciously, have no expiation. The only expiation laid down for them is death. The same may be said of stealing gold and the theft of a Brahmana’s property. By drinking alcoholic liquors, by having congress with one with whom congress is prohibited, by mingling with a fallen person, and (a person of any of the other three orders) by having congress with a Brahmani (Brahmana woman), one becomes inevitably fallen. By mixing with a fallen person for one whole year in such matters as officiation in sacrifices and teaching sexual congress, one becomes fallen. One, however, does not become so by mixing with a fallen person in such matters as riding on the same vehicle, sitting on the same seat, and eating in the same line.
Excluding the five grave sins that have been mentioned above, all other sins have expiations provided for them. Expiating those sins according to the ordinances laid down for them, one should not again indulge in them. In the case of those who have been guilty of the first three of these five sins, (viz., drinking alcoholic liquors, killing a Brahmana, and violation of the preceptor'’ bed), there is no restriction for their (surviving) kinsmen about taking food and wearing ornaments, even if their funeral rites remain unperformed when they die. The surviving kinsmen should make no scruple about such things on such occasions. A virtuous man should, in the observance of his duties, discard his very friends and reverend seniors. In fact, until they perform expiation, they that are virtuous should not even talk with those sinners. A man that has acted sinfully destroys his sin by acting virtuously afterwards and by penances.
By calling a thief a thief, one incurs the sin of theft. By calling a person a thief who, however, is not a thief, one incurs a sin just double the sin of theft. The maiden who suffers her virginity to be deflowered incurs three-fourths of the sin of Brahmanicide (killing of Brahmana), while the man that deflowers her incurs a sin equal to a fourth part of that of Brahmanicide. By slandering Brahmanas or by striking them, one sinks in infamy for a hundred years. By killing a Brahmana one sinks into hell for a thousand years. No one, therefore, should speak ill of a Brahmana or slay him. If a person strikes a Brahmana with a weapon, he will have to live in hell for as many years as the grains of dust that are soaked by the blood flowing from the wounded. One guilty of foeticide (abortion) becomes cleansed if he dies of wounds received in battle fought for the sake of kine (cows) and Brahmanas. He may also be cleansed by casting his person on a blazing fire.
[Note: It should be noted that the word ‘foeticide’ used in such texts frequently means all sins that are regarded as equivalent to foeticide. Hence, killing a Brahmana is foeticide, etc.).
A drinker of alcoholic liquors becomes cleansed by drinking hot alcohol. His body being burnt with that hot drink, he is cleansed through death in the other world. A Brahmana stained by such a sin obtains regions of felicity by such a course and not by any other. For violating the bed of a preceptor, the wicked-souled and sinful wretch becomes cleansed by the death that results from embracing a heated female figure of iron. Or, cutting off his organ and testicles and bearing them in his hands, he should go on in a straight course towards the southwest and then cast off his life. Or, by meeting with death for the sake of benefiting a Brahmana, he may wash off his sin. Or, after performing a horse-sacrifice or a cow-sacrifice or an Agnishtoma, he may regain esteem both here and hereafter. The slayer of a Brahmana should practice the vow of Brahmacharya (celibacy) for twelve years and devoting himself to penances, wander, holding in his hands the skull of the slain all the time and proclaiming his sin unto all. He should even adopt such a course, devoted to penances and leading the life of an ascetic.
Even such is the expiation provided for one who slays a woman quick with child, knowing her condition. The man who knowingly slays such a woman incurs double the sin that follows from Brahmanicide. A drinker of alcoholic liquor should live on frugal fare, practising Brahmacharya (celibacy) vows, and sleep on the bare ground, and perform, for more than three years the sacrifice next to the Agnishtoma. He should then make a present of a thousand kine (cows) with one bull (unto a good Brahmana). Doing all this, he should regain his purity. Having slain a Vaisya one should perform such a sacrifice for two years and make a present of a hundred kine with one bull. Having slain a Sudra, one should perform such a sacrifice for one year and make a present of a hundred kine with one bull. Having slain a dog or bear or camel, one should perform the same penance that is laid down for the slaughter of a Sudra. For slaying a cat, a chasa, a frog, a crow, a reptile, or a rat, it has been said, one incurs the sin of animal slaughter, O king!
Minor sins
I shall now tell thee of other kinds of expiations in their order. For all minor sins one should repent or practise some vow for one year. For congress with the wife of a Brahmana conversant with the Vedas, one should for three years practise the vow of Brahmacharya (celibacy), taking a little food at the fourth part of the day. For congress with any other woman (who is not one’s wife), one should practise similar penance for two years. For taking delight in a woman’s company by sitting with her on the same spot or on the same seat, one should live only on water for three days. By doing this he may cleanse himself of his sin. The same is laid down for one who befouls a blazing fire (by throwing impure things on it).
Adultery
He who without adequate cause, casts off his sire or mother or preceptor, surely becomes fallen, O thou of Kuru’s race, as the conclusion is of the scriptures. Only food and clothes should be given, as the injunction is, unto a wife guilty of adultery or one confined in a prison. Indeed, the vows that are laid down for a male person guilty of adultery should be caused to be observed by also a woman who is guilty of the same. That woman who abandoning a husband of a superior caste, has congress with a vile person (of a lower order), should be caused by the king to be devoured by dogs in a public place in the midst of a large concourse of spectators. A wise king should cause the male person committing adultery under such circumstances to be placed upon a heated bed of iron and then, placing faggots underneath, burn the sinner thereon. The same punishment, O king, is provided for the woman that is guilty of adultery.
The wicked sinner who does not perform expiation within a year of the commission of the sin incurs demerit that is double of what attaches to the original sin. One who associates with such a person for two years must wander over the earth, devoting himself to penances and living upon eleemosynary charity. One associated with a sinner for four years should adopt such a mode of life for five years.
If a younger brother weds before his elder brother, then the younger brother, the elder brother and the woman that is married, all three, in consequence of such wedding, become fallen. All of them should observe the vows prescribed for a person who has neglected his sacrificial fire, or practise the vow of Chandrayana for a month, or some other painful vow, for cleansing themselves of their sin. The younger brother, wedding, should give his wife unto his unmarried elder brother. Afterwards, having obtained the permission of the elder brother, the younger brother may take back his wife. By such means may all three be cleansed of their sin.
By slaying animals save a cow, the slayer is not stained. The learned know that man has dominion over all the lower animals. A sinner, holding in hand a yak-tail and an earthen pot, should go about, proclaiming his sin. He should every day beg of only seven families, and live upon what may be thus obtained. By doing this for twelve days he may be cleansed of his sin. He who becomes unable to bear in his hand the yak-tail while practising this vow, should observe the vow of mendicancy (as stated above) for one whole year. Amongst men such expiation is the best. For those that are able to practise charity, the practise of charity has been laid down in all such cases. Those who have faith and virtue may cleanse themselves by giving away only one cow.
One who eats or drinks the flesh, ordure, or urine, of a dog, a boar, a man, a cock, or a camel must have his investiture of the sacred thread re-performed. If a Soma-drinking Brahmana inhales the scent of alcohol from the mouth of one that has drunk it, he should drink warm water for three days, or warm milk for the same period. Or, drinking warm water for three days he should live for that period upon air alone. These are the eternal injunctions laid down for the expiation of sin, especially for a Brahmana who has committed these sins through ignorance and want of judgment.
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Sunday, September 19, 2010

भाजपा, हिंदुत्वा, आगामी चुनाव और अतीत की गलतियाँ

2014 के आम चुनाव के लिए भाजपा की तैयारी दिखने लगी है. पार्टी अध्यक्ष श्री नितिन गडकरी जी ने 2009 में मिले मत से 10 प्रतिशत अधिक मत प्राप्त करने का लक्ष्य निर्धारण किया है.
ऐसे में मैं भी सांस्कृतिक राष्ट्रवाद को समर्पित कार्यकर्ता के रूप में भाजपा कि संभावनाओं और कमियों  पर एक नजर डालना चाहता हूँ.
पाठकों से अनुरोध है कि वे इसे मेरे धृष्टता न समझें.

क्यों बने आक्रांता बाबर का मकबरा?

बाबर कोई मसीहा नहीं अत्याचारी, अनाचारी, आक्रमणकारी और इस देश के निवासियों का हत्यारा है...

सितम्बर में अयोध्या (अयुध्या, जहां कभी युद्ध न हो) के विवादित परिसर (श्रीराम जन्मभूमि )

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Love Jehad pamphlet


Love Jehad is the new version of terrorism being planned across entire India since last few years. The situation has reached alarming proportions in many parts of the countries. As per some sources, for the coming Durga Puja itself, around 4500 Jehadis have been trained for Bengal itself. The goal of Love Jehadis is very clear now: lure non-Muslim women by hook or crook and make them pregnant. Once pregnant, a variety of tactics can be deployed:
a. The girl can be converted to breed Jehadis of future
b. Her family can be forced to convert to Islam to save from ignominy
c. The girl can be relocated to Middle East and other militant Islamic countries and she can serve as a sex-slave
d. In worst case, she can be tortured or killed if she protests.
In each of the cases, Jehadis and their Ulemas sanction them full blessings of Allah and an assurance to Paradise of 72 virgins for these acts, as per their interpretations of the new Quran.
Agniveer team has been a prime witness to several cases of Love Jehad and has worked to save several of our sisters. However individual efforts stand nowhere compared to billions of terrorist dollars being poured to promote Love Jehad. And in a shamelessly ‘sickular’ country where homosexual rapists and killing-machines like Babur are adored, there is little to expect from government and the legal machinery.
An anonymous person has created a marvelous brochure on Love Jehad based on Agniveer articles and has send us the copy of the same. We sincerely request you to review the same and do the following, if indeed you want to do something for nation and our sisters:
a. Review and Edit the document as per local requirements. (Both final and editable versions are included)
b. Translate it into local languages
c. Take print-outs in thousands and distribute among all schools, colleges, universities in your area and every girl in age 15-30 that you know.
d. Arrange with newspaper vendors and have these print-outs included with morning newspapers.
e. Email and mass-circulate the brochure through both online and offline channels.
d. Enlarge and have posters developed and pasted on walls around schools and colleges.
e. Arrange groups to manage and ensure that every girl in India has read the pamphlet once.
f. In any festival or gathering, ensure that thousands of these brochures are circulated.
The pamphlet is single-sheeted A4 that can be folded into a brochure. Both color and black & white prints would work fine for distribution.
Each contribution of yours in this regard would serve to counter the greatest threat facing our nation today.
You can view and download the pamphlet from:
a. http://www.scribd.com/combatjehad
PDF Version: http://www.scribd.com/doc/36553282/Love-Jehad
Editable Doc Version: http://www.scribd.com/doc/36553345/Love-Jehad-Doc
b. Agniveer Site
PDF Version: http://agniveer.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/love-jehad1.pdf
A preview is embedded below. However the image may not be clear on all browsers. Kindly download from links above and view on PDF Viewer like Adobe Reader to see it clearly.
This pamphlet is a humble offering of Agniveer to all its sisters on occasion of Raksha Bandhan. We urge you all to join hands and fulfill your duty towards sisters, motherland and humanity.
Vande Mataram!

source:---http://agniveer.com/1830/love-jehad-pamphlet/

Why did God create us?

Even a cursory glance at the extraordinary orderliness that we see in the world around is sufficient to prove existence of an entity who is the great planner. This Entity operates so perfectly that scientists have been able to derive mathematical equations that quantify His unchangeable laws.
This Entity would move two unconnected particles even light years apart in such exact fashion that the mathematical formulation of universal law of gravitation is never violated. Scientists know that two distant particles come close to each other as per the equation of Gravitation, but fail to explain what makes the two particles talk to each other and conspire together to move closer in a planned manner. Similarly there are several other laws on which this universe operates – mathematical formulations of  few of them have been deciphered by modern scientists but many other remain to be explored in such details.
Now different people call this Entity differently. Scientists call it “Laws of Universe”, Muslims call it Allah, Christians call it God and Vedas – the oldest texts – call it by Om or Ishwar among many other names. A myopic cynic may term this entire world complete purposeless and emanating only out of a random chance of events. (Its a different matter that the very fact that he arrived at this conclusion proves that he is seeking order and purpose out of this randomness). We shall not dwell into the loopholes of such far-fetched statements in this article.
In this article, we shall explore the most fundamental question that arises naturally in most of the non-myopics (agnostics + theists) after seeing this mind-boggling world, its beauty and its ironies – Why did God/Ishwar/ Allah create us?
Most religions try to answer this basic question. And most people who quit one religion and join another are actually seeking answer to this question.
PREMISE 1: HE CREATED US SO THAT WE COULD WORSHIP HIM
Many religious scholars claim that God created us so that we could worship Him. If that be so,
a. God becomes nothing more than a praise-loving dictator suffering from superiority-complex.
b. It proves that God is inconsistent. He changes His habits. That is why since beginninglessness God was all alone, but then He suddenly thought of creating us.
Let us say, He decided to create us at point T1 in time. Now since time has no beginning and God was always present, hence time T1 or any other time T2, T3 etc are equidistant from origin of time which is infinity away. So if He can change his mood at time T1, there is no reason why He cannot change His mood at other time-points like T2, T3 etc. Also, there is no guarantee that He did not create and destroy us or other species at other times BEFORE time T1 of this creation.
Now all religions that claim that Allah created us so that we could worship Him also believe that Allah is perfect. Now if Allah is perfect, it means that at ALL points in time, He is equally perfect and operates as per the SAME laws. Perfection implies that there can be NO single-point inconsistency in God’ habits.
THUS, if God/Allah/Ishwar created us at time T1, He HAS to keep creating us at other time periods also IF He is perfect. Now He cannot create us twice! So if He creates us, He has to also destroy us so as to create us again.
Now if he continues to create and destroy us, how can He ensure that we worship Him when we have been destroyed. This means that either mood of God fluctuates with time, OR, He has NOT created us for worship.
CONFUSION: WHY HE MAKES US SUFFER WHEN HE HIMSELF CREATED US.
This is a most perplexing question that no religious cult can satisfactorily answer. This is the genesis of atheism. Muslims believe that God has a book “Lohe Mahfooz” under his throne, in which all the future acts of all the species has been written in complete detail. But this defies the concept of free-will. If what I do is already written a-priori, why punish me for being a Kafir? Even the punishment is written already in Lohe Mahfooz!
Clergies answer this paradox smartly. For example, the neo-Prophet Zakir answers in following lines:
“ In a class there are all kinds of students. Some are brilliant and come first. Others fail. Now a smart teacher can predict who will get what rank. This does not mean that the teacher is forcing the students to perform in a particular manner. This only means that teacher is intelligent enough to know who will do what. And since Allah is most-intelligent, He knows everything that will happen in future.”
A very reasonable sounding answer. But only that it has a major flaw. The teacher can predict the performance of his students only because he has assessed the past and present performance of the students. But in case of God, it is He Himself who decides which student would be born intelligent and who shall be dumb!
So while Mohandas Gandhi was born on 2nd October 1869, Allah had already decided millions of years before his birth that this boy would remain a Hindu, but appease Muslims, and yet be called a Kafir deserving Hell by devout Muslims like Muhammad Ali. So right from his birth, Gandhi had no choice but to simply follow what was already written millions of years ago.
The teacher-student logic would hold ONLY IF the prediction regarding performance of the soul is made only after the soul has been created and developed to be mature enough to decide his course of action. So a Lohe Mahfooz that exists even before creation of souls only proves that Allah/God is unjust. Please refer the articles on Helpless Destiny in Islam and God must be Crazy.
PREMISE 2: HE CREATED US TO TEST US
This concept has already been debunked in God must be Crazy through several examples. Further, if He is testing us, He cannot have a Lohe Mahfooz or, in other words, cannot predict our future. If He already knows the future, there is no use of testing. And if He is doing both, He is acting only as a moody dictator fond of enacting dramas.
SO WHY DID HE CREATE US??? ULTIMATE CONFUSION

We have eliminated all implausible explanations that can answer this perplexing question. If not for testing and not for worship, what else can be the reason for creating us? It cannot be for giving us happiness, because we find so many brutal things happening in world. People even commit suicide tired of pains in life.
Further, why did he create in first place, even if to give happiness or grief or take an exam? Could he not have simply enjoyed his solitude that he decided to first create us and then play games with us? In helplessness, one is left with no choice but to say, “Allah knows the best”, or “Khuda Jaane”, or “ God knows”, or even “Goli maar bheje me!”
Buddhism is practical and does not even touch this question. It says that before even thinking of answering such questions, raise the level of intellect through practice of mind and sense control. No doubt, a very practical suggestion for those entrenched in worldly glitters to be blinded to see and feel things beyond.
But despite all this, the question keeps burning somewhere deep in us – Why did He create Us? And nothing seems to make sense or look purposeful unless a satisfactory answer to this question is obtained.
It is true that Only God knows the Best. But Vedas – the first books of humankind – throw sufficient light on this perplexing question for us to take this quest further. And the answer provided by Vedas is clear and unambiguous:
GOD NEVER CREATED US.
And because God never created us, He also never destroys us. Creation and destruction of soul is NOT the scope of work of God.
Thus, just as God is beginningless and endless, so are we. We have existed along with God always and shall continue to do so.
Q: If God did not create us, what does He do?
A: God does what He is doing today. God is managing us.
Q: Then why He made this world and universe?
A: God did not create the root cause of the world and universe. The root cause – called Nature (Prakriti) – was always present and shall remain forever.
Q: This is confusing – God does not create world and He did not create us. Then what does he do?
A: As told earlier, he is managing us. To explain in detail, God brings the root cause of inanimate nature (Prakriti) and modifies it to make the universe/world in same manner as a potter uses water and clay to create pots. He then integrates this universe with souls.
Q: But why does He do all this?
A: He does all this because unless he does so, souls cannot perform actions so as to maximize their happiness. Thus He integrates souls with the universe in a manner that Law of Karma holds perfectly at all times. Now soul can, as per its deed, choose to increase of decrease its happiness.
Q: But why He needs to do all this drama to give us happiness? Can’t He give us directly?
A: God does not do anything which is not his property. For example, He will never kill Himself and create a new God. Now soul has certain properties: it is conscious, exists but devoid of happiness. It can do nothing on its own. It is like a microprocessor which can function only when hooked to a power source and motherboard. Thus God creates this computer system aka universe so that the microprocessor aka soul can function and exhibit its powers to achieve happiness.
Q: How does this Law of Karma work
A: Refer the FAQ on Theory of Karma. But basically, soul has following 6 properties: Desire, Repulsion, Efforts, Happiness, Sorrow and Knowledge. The source of all these is the core Will-power and the goal is to achieve ultimate bliss. Now as and when the soul exercises its will as per its natural properties, it is able to exhibit these properties even better and move closer to the goal. But if it acts unnatural, the properties diminish in expression and it would move away from the goal. Thus based on its deeds, soul achieves different states of its quality called Chitta.
Now what God does is that depending upon the quality of the soul, it provides it an environment which is most conducive for it to exercise its will and move towards its goal. Thus Bliss is a function of Actions which is a function of Thoughts which is a function of Knowledge which is a function of Will-Power. The reverse is also true meaning that if actions are bad, they lead to diminished knowledge and hence skewed will-power. And when one does extremely bad deeds, God puts those souls in non-human species where they can no more exercise their will-power significantly. This is done to clean up the soul of garbage in its Chitta.
This process goes uninterrupted by death. Death is merely a short stop in the journey where you get down the vehicle and replenish yourself with food and water to start afresh.
Q: This is too much to understand in one go. Can you summarize?
OK. Here is the summary:
a. God, Soul and Nature (Prakriti) are three eternal entities that always existed and will always exist. This is the actual concept of ‘Trinity’.
b. God never creates or destroys souls or nature. He only acts as a Super Manager who brings Soul and Nature together so that souls can put efforts as per Law of Karma to achieve ultimate bliss.
c. Whatever is happening with us in our life is as per our own efforts till last moment. And we can change the course of our destiny through present and future efforts.
d. Death is never a final stop. It is just a short break after which journey continues unhindered.
e. When we say that God is creator, we mean that he brings souls and nature together to give them this non-random well-planned shape. He then maintains the universe to help the souls. Finally He destroys the universe and then again starts the process of creation. All this – creation, maintenance and destruction – continues to happen just like night and day continue to follow each other. There was never a time when this process did not exist nor shall there be a time when this process will cease. That is why He is called Brahma (Creator), Vishnu (Maintainer) and Pralaykarta (Destructor).
f. No property of God changes ever. So whatever He does at ALL times is for benefit of souls.
g. Souls have free-will. But that is subject to their knowledge which depends on their deeds. This forms the basis of Theory of Karma.
h. Put simply, God is always with us and he is always helping us. We need to simply follow the core will and attempt to accept truth and reject falsehood every moment. This act of truth-seeking is the natural property of soul and purpose of this universe. When we do so, we rapidly progress towards ultimate bliss.
So God never created us from nothingness. He however developed such a marvelous world for us to help us. And we can help fulfill our destiny and purpose of this creation through truth-seeking. This is the core message of Vedas and sole essence of life.
Q: One final Question – How does one ascertain that this also is not yet another creative theory and not the truth? Why should we believe you?
A: Several reasons:
a. Whatever has been said is as per Vedas – the oldest and unchanged texts. Refer the text below and you shall find several references and details.
b. This theory is intuitive and as per common observations in life. It does not talk of a miracle that needs to be accepted blindly. Law of Karma is seen working everywhere. You need not go far to test it. Simply become positive and cheerful and enthusiastic for 30 days, refuse to be negative, refuse to indulge in wrong acts and note down how whatever happens in life or you feel. You would find your level of bliss to be way higher in this small experiment. This theory is at least more plausible than things like theory of evolution which no one ever witnessed, or stories of miracles which no one ever saw.
c. Vedas do not even put a restriction that you need to believe in it blindly. However the action points that derive from this theory are such that every sensible person would agree – that accept truth and reject false to best of intentions. And perform good acts as mentioned in Vedic religion in brief.
Remember that Vedas have a very organic intuitive approach. There is no compulsion in believing. What Vedas say instead is that as and when you continue accepting truth and rejecting false to best of your intentions, things will automatically start becoming clearer.  So call it whatever if you are not convinced. But you would have to agree that there is no other theory which is more logical, intuitive as well as motivating than the theory that -
“God has always been and shall always protect us and nurture us and give us opportunities and work only for our benefit all the while giving respect to our free-will without deviating even a bit!”
The global bestseller “The Secret” merely scratched the surface of this marvelous theory and changed lives of many. Imagine what would be the potential of the complete theory! We, at Agniveer, would attempt to present it to best our our understanding.
Note: For more details on this topic, I strongly recommend Chapter 7,8 and 9 of Satyarth Prakash or Light of Truth. If you can read Hindi, go for the original Hindi version which is attached here. Though the language is 125 years old, it contains concepts not found elsewhere.
Hindi version:
Satyarth Prakash Chapter 7
Satyarth Prakash Chapter 8
Satyarth Praaksh Chapter 9
For English please refer this site: http://www.vjsingh.info/books.html
One who carefully understand the concepts of these 3 chapters would never ever need any other self-help book to motivate himself. Agniveer movement attributes its foundation to these select pages which turned out to be a life changing phenomenon. Move ahead and experience that transformation for yourself!
May the truth prevail!

Eternity of Vedas

In this article, we shall discuss the concept of eternity of Vedas. Just as Ishwar is eternal, so is His knowledge.
Doubt: Vedas comprise of words, phrases and verses. Just as a sculpture is not formed without someone making it, in same manner Vedas must also have been made by someone. They did not exist before creation and shall not exist after dissolution. Hence Vedas cannot be eternal.
1. Words (Shabda) are of two types – eternal and effect. Words in knowledge of Ishwar are eternal because they represent relation with specific perfect knowledge. However the words created by us are effects of various factors including our existing knowledge, tendencies and mindsets and hence non-eternal.
The knowledge of Ishwar is eternal in lines of eternal powers of Ishwar. Thus Vedas are eternal.
2. Let us understand it in a different manner. By words we imply the relation with specific knowledge. For example, when someone calls or writes your name, that pronunciation or handwriting is not eternal. But the fact that it implies relation with you in unchangeable. If one has to represent you in sound, calling your name would be the best possible way. But pronunciation of name is not you. However you remain unchanged.
Similarly the words printed in Vedas or their pronunciations are not eternal. However the knowledge that they represent is eternal.
3. Alternatively, Vedas represent eternal knowledge. The best representation of Vedas in sound is the mantras we chant and best representation of Vedas in vision is the print of mantras. This is just like best representation of you on a plain paper is your photo.
Because we are ignorant, we are unable to grasp the full meaning of Vedas from what we listen or see. But in Ishwar’s perfection, which is devoid of such ignorance, Vedas represent eternal knowledge.
4. As we progress in our efforts to free ourselves from ignorance, Vedas become clearer and clearer to us. That is why it is fruitless to simply mug up Vedic mantras. What is actually mugged up is non-eternal. Only when those mantras become representation of knowledge they imply, that we actually understand the eternal Vedas.
5. This eternity is what differentiates Vedas from other books like Quran, Bible etc. Because Vedas represent eternal knowledge that can be progressively grasped to utmost capacity of soul only when progressively freed from ignorance, blind belief in book called Vedas or sounds of mantras without understanding them is fruitless. Because when we do so, we are trying to master the non-eternal. Unless and until that relationship with eternal knowledge exists, mugging up Vedas, or worshipping cover of Vedas, or believing that Vedas worship will lead us to Heaven even though we do not understand it, is sheer stupidity.
6. Thus this concept of eternity forms the foundation of principle of tolerance imbibed in Vedas. There is no concept of compulsion or blind belief like in Islam or Christianity. Vedas are not supposed to represent beginning points of blind belief for ignorant souls. On contrary, Vedas represent the ultimate benchmarks of knowledge that can be fully understood when fully devoid of ignorance. So one is expected to simply follow path of truth, do thorough introspection, extend one’s capabilities and then embrace Vedas in a more organic manner rather than through brute-force blind faith.
Doubt: When the universe dissolves completely, even the books of Vedas get destroyed and even study of Vedas stops. Why are then Vedas eternal?
1. As discussed earlier, Vedas do not represent books, paper, ink etc. They represent ‘relation’ between Shabda (sound/word) and knowledge. In other words, they are the ‘best or most perfect representation’ of eternal knowledge in sound/words. When the universe dissolves, even then the eternal knowledge remains same in Ishwar. It is in hidden form, because there is no creation to manifest it in sounds/words. But just as sapling remains hidden in seed, Vedas still remain and germinate when creation happens again and opportunity arises to represent this eternal knowledge in sound/words.
2. Rigveda 10.190.3 states that Ishwar creates the universe exactly in same manner as it created previously. Thus in all creations, the same sounds/words perfectly represent the eternal knowledge of Vedas. Hence the same Vedas, as we see or hear today, represent the eternal knowledge always without an iota of change.
3. And hence in each creation, Ishwar institutes the method of preserving Vedas in same manner through Paatha Vidhis and Maatra markups as earlier. Thus Vedas remain as protected even in mundane world as always.
Doubt: As per texts of grammar, union of certain alphabets lead to change and removal of alphabets as in Sandhi. Thus words would be different when separated and when united. How can then words be eternal?
1. As discussed above, such rules of grammar are only effects. They are not cause – the knowledge. Even when words change as per rules of grammar, the knowledge they represent remains eternal. Hence Vedas remain eternal.
2. As per Aarsh texts, Shabda or words mean the “meaning” that is embraced when we hear from ears, see from eyes, speak from ‘mouth’ and understand from ‘intellect’. Thus Shabda is not non-eternal, only physical process of grasping or propagating Shadba is.
3. If you and me say the same word, both produce different sound patterns. But the meaning is unchanged. Hence Vedas – the knowledge of Ishwar – is eternal regardless of way we speak or combine words as per grammar.
Doubt: Even Shabda get destroyed after pronunciation. And they do not exist before pronunciation. How can then Shabda be eternal?
1. This is the problem. You are misrepresenting the meaning of ‘Shabda’ as per your own conceptions. As discussed earlier, Shabda represents relationship with knowledge. This relationship is eternal and unchanged. Pronunciation is an effect and hence not eternal. But regardless of pronunciation happening or not, the relation of a particular pronunciation with the meaning it represents is eternal.
2. In fact all Shabda are eternal, as propounded by scholars of grammar like Panini and Vyas. And hence those Shabda that represents eternal knowledge to maximize our bliss – the Vedas – are also eternal.
All the Darshans – Meemansa by Jaimini (1.1.18), Vaisheshik by Kanad ( 1.1.3), Nyaya by Gautam (2.1.67), Yoga by Patanjali (1.26), Sankhya by Kapil (5.51) and Vedanta by Vyas (1.1.3) consider Shadba to be eternal. Shankaracharya also states the same in his commentary on Vedanta.
Finally, Yajurveda 40.8 lists the properties of Ishwar as follows:
Paryagat – Omnipresent,
Shukram – All-powerful,
Avranam – Without any gaps,
Asnaviram – Without nerves, arteries and veins,
Shuddham – Perfectly devoid of ignorance or miseries
Apaapaviddham – Pious
Kavi – Knower of all
Manishi – Intelligent
Paribhoo – Controls everything and everyone
Swayambhoo – Unborn
Shashwateebhya – Eternal
Arthan Vyadadhaat – Provides true knowledge
Hence he eternally provides us with His true eternal knowledge of Vedas.
Further, something cannot happen from nothing and existence cannot spring up from non-existence. Hence if Vedas are available today, they have to be eternal always. If Ishwar has always been the same, he shall always bless us with his eternal knowledge.
We see that experience gives rise to sanskaars (tendencies or habits), sanskaars give rise to memory and we use this memory to decide what to accept and what to reject. One who studies Sanskrit creates sanskaars of Sanskrit in his mind and one who studies Latin creates sanskaars of Latin in his mind. Thus, if Ishwar did not give guidance of Vedas in inception of civilization, no human could have experienced knowledge and without experience even sanskaar of knowledge would not have been possible. Without sanskaar, even memory would have failed and hence growth of knowledge would not have been possible. Thus unless Ishwar kickstarts this process at inception of civilization, this process of pursuit of knowledge would not have started at all, just as it did not start in other species of animal world.
Doubt: But even by normal actions, humans feel pain and pleasure and they could have used that to gradually enhance knowledge and then create Vedas. Why then we need to believe that Ishwar created Vedas?
We have already discussed this doubt in article on Origin of Vedas. We deduced that no species or even tribes in jungles or an isolated child can enhance knowledge beyond most primitive level barely sufficient for survival, unless provided knowledge externally.
For example, Chimpanzees do not feel the need to introspect on death and life even when they see so many of them dying. If humans think so much on this, it has to have origin through external training. Unless Ishwar guides us at beginning of civilization, we would remain animals.
Eternal Ishwar and His eternal knowledge
Eternal entities have eternal traits. And non-eternal entities have non-eternal traits. Because the entity is identified by its traits only.
Destruction is nothing but disaggregation of elements that create something to be no more perceived by our senses; and creation is combination of elements to form something that can be perceived by senses.
Thus only those objects are created or destroyed in which aggregation and disaggregation is feasible.
Since Ishwar is omnipresent without gaps, it is impossible for Ishwar to disaggregate. Hence Ishwar is eternal and so is His knowledge.
Vaishek 4.1 states that only that is non-eternal which is effect of some other cause. For example, the pot was effect of clay coming together. So pot is non-eternal. Similarly, clay was effect of certain atoms coming together. So clay is also non-eternal. But fundamental entity that forms the atoms is eternal.
In same way Ishwar is also eternal as He is not  effect of any other cause. And hence His knowledge – the Vedas – is also eternal.
source:--agniveer.com

Why I am not an Atheist

In past several posts we have critically analyzed two of the major doctrines of the world and found the following:
a. Both contain blatant internal contradictions.
b. Both contain concepts that are blatantly against proven science.
c. Both contain concepts on issues of human rights, gender rights and morality that can put any sensible person to shame.
In addition, both have a same common theme running across:
- Once upon a time, God thought of creating universe and humans from nowhere. (What caused God to do this one time exercise when he has been existing since infinity and will exist till infinity, is beyond these superstitious texts!)
- Then God sent some Adam and some Eve (whom he made from rib of Eve) who used to roam around naked. Once they ate some fruit of a tree where they were stationed by God. This petty act irritated God so much that He chose to curse Adam/ Eve and his progeny forever with pain and grief.
- God created some Satan also who would trouble other creations of God.
- God has pre-decided fate of everyone born and everyone yet to be born.
- God sends his divine knowledge through some book on some persons. Those who believe in that book and person blindly alone, will go to a Paradise. Rest will burn in Hell forever.
- Different sects claim a different set of divine book(s) and their prophets. There is no way to decide conclusively which set is true. But if you make a mistake, you are doomed to Hell forever.
- To add to complexity, God decided to not provide any mechanism for conservation of the divine book. Perhaps because modern storage methods were not yet devised when these books were launched, and hence God too was ignorant! But still if you make a mistake, Hell is waiting! There are countless Bibles, and Quran was compiled 20 years after death of its Prophet by those who were fighting for each others’ lives. In fact Quran was not even called Quran till its compilation, and the earliest available Quran is 300 years later to its Prophet’s death.
- The only supporting evidences to justify authenticity of a divine book are miracles that have been performed by the magicians called Prophets who broadcasted the contents of the book. Now there is no way to deduce if the miracle actually happened, but unless you choose to believe in the right book and right Prophet from among so many bidding for faith of humans, you are destined to burn in Hell!
- There will be another miracle when world ends. God will then have a court-proceeding along with his chosen Prophet to decide whom to send to Hell and whom to Heaven. God does not know that right now and has to do a drama.
In summary, blind belief in a particular book and stories associated with the book, along with its broadcasting Prophet is the only way for escaping Hell. What more the God as per these books is
- whimsical
- inconsistent
- deliberately confuses people
- has already decided who shall go to Hell and who shall go to Heaven even before people take birth,
- has created a Satan to add to confusion of people
- tests some people for decades and sends others to Heaven directly from womb
- at times himself acts like a Satan to trouble people and make them ignorant
- chooses such people as Prophets who are murderers, rapists, pedophiles, preach hatred, self-obsessed and psychopaths. Some Prophets have symptoms exactly of Temporal Lobe Epilsepy
- and most importantly, has prewritten fate of everyone. Thus free-will is simply an illusion of free-will
This is the case with all the fraud religions and scriptures of the world.
Under such a situation, it makes more sense for someone with a mind that can think, to be an Atheist than believe in such a book and such a God, among many in the market.
Thus typically those who believe in one of these blind faiths belong to one or more of following categories:
a. They were born in a family or society following a particular faith.
b. They came to read book(s) of their family faith, saw the junk, got irritated and hence opted for a different faith in the market. For example, I bought a Motorola mobile, it crashed one day and hence I decided to never use Motorola and choose Nokia instead!
c. They want to feel important and know that if they change faith, they will get greater importance in new society of blind-followers
d. They want to be liberal in relations with opposite/same gender and marriages.
e. They know that they would have to face grave harm from society if they turn apostates.
f. They have limited intelligence, or are too emotional and thus got swayed by marketing hype and social hatred/preference.
But for a rational person, who is also brave, atheism seems to be the only option in a world where people do not have any reason to believe what they believe in. Thus Atheism is a natural reaction mechanism to hoax of a religion that has no logical foundation and is based merely on blindness of minds. Atheism is thus the next step of evolution of intellect from tendency for blind belief and believing without reason.
The above holds true not only for Islam and Christianity, but also for majority of Hindus comprising Sanatanis, Jains, Buddhists, Sikhs and so many other big and small cults and sects. Thus we see many Muslims being Muslims because they hate Christians and Hindus. And many fanatic Hindus call themselves as proud Hindus primarily because Islam has been a barbaric nuisance in this subcontinent and largest factory of terrorism production since its inception (competed closely by Christianity in its early phase).
And then we have an entire cult of Secularists who deliberately or unknowingly refuse to explore and merely shout that all religions are equal merely because all have some good elements and all have more or less fraud elements as well. These secular businessmen who tend to benefit from the religious confusion in the society like the jackals of the jungle, only add to the prevailing confusion.
Thus, we see a society where emotions run high, people tend to follow what they are used to, or rebel abruptly, tend to mix social and religious beliefs, have given up any element of logic to support their belief systems and have no reason to explain why I am a Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Jew or Sickular! Thus a more sensible person turns Atheist. A more evolved thinker goes a step ahead and becomes Agnostic – I don’t know! May be God exists, may be not. Who cares! And Why?
Agniveer also had the opportunity to become an Atheist or Agnostic. It rejects all popular religious texts as full of defects listed above. However, in same vein as Agniveer rejects these religious texts, it has no option but to trash the Atheist or Agnostic school of thought.
The reasons are as follows:
a. Despite the hype created by false texts, the fact remans that I exist. And I cannot be a chemical reaction or inanimate entity. If that be so, how could I demonstrate the characteristics of happiness, sorrow, attraction, repulsion, efforts, intellect. I agree that different parts of brain enable these functions. But who is the source? Who is the driver of the car? Who, even after a deep sleep, wakes to say that I slept peacefully? Who feels the peace? Who gets the urge to be Agniveer. Who feel the ‘I”? If it were a purely physiochemical world, only inanimate objects would have existed and there would not have been ‘You’, ‘Me’, ‘He’ or ‘She’ debating this very topic!
Now presence of ‘I’ cannot be denied. The very act of denial proves that an “I’ exists that is denying!
b. Further, there is no cause for this ‘I’ to get destroyed. Since ‘I’ is not a physical entity, ‘I’ cannot be worn off or damaged by other physical entities. Apart from the change in association of ‘I’ with other physical entities like body, nothing can change in ‘I’. ‘I’ don’t need a proof to know that ‘I’ exists!
c. Now if ‘I’ is imperishable, how come rest of the physical entities work together in unison to create appropriate environment for ‘I’ to exist, enjoy, act and think? ‘I’ know that ‘I’ did nothing to manage it. Yet I know a grand conspiracy is constantly at work to suit my requirements of survival with physical world and enjoy the same. Thus I get a body whose wonderful mechanism is not yet understood, a brain about which we know nothing much except that there is nothing more mysterious than it, the food I eat, the society I live in, the earth, the solar system, the universe ….
‘I’ know ‘I’ did not manage all these complexities. ‘I’ know that inanimate particles and waves cannot create a corporate body and allocate responsibilities to make all this happen like in a factory. So there is some other entity who is managing it all. Now this entity has to be living/animate like me or else it cannot manage innumerable ‘I’s like me.
And this amount of introspection, suddenly destroys the very foundation of Atheism. And it challenges Agnostic to admit that you are Agnostic only because your intellect has a limited capacity today.
d. So I know clearly that three entities exist right now – ‘I’, inanimate particles/waves, and the manager of it all. Lets call them soul, nature and Ishwar (God).
Thus while the God of Quran or Bible has been trashed by an intelligent soul, the presence of these three entities cannot be denied and hence no rational soul can be an atheist.
Thus all leading scientists have refused to be Atheist and have admitted that a manager Ishwar has to exist.
e. Some skeptics may argue further and say that there is no Ishwar but only laws of nature which lead to creation of everything in world. But this is only a false excuse to get out of clutches of Bible or Quran. This cannot stand reason of scientific spirit because:
- What we call as law of nature is nothing except something being repeated in most perfect manner without deviations. For example, Yajurveda says that “Ishwar has held every entity and moves them perfectly as per unchangeable laws.” Because He does so with perfection, we call it to be a law. Let us take example of Law of Gravitation. Two objects at a distance tend to attract towards each other as per a defined formula. Now if there is no entity managing the whole show, what caused the objects to get attracted? Scientists call it Fundamental Law because they cannot answer it further.
An analogy would be a mother of a deaf-blind child. Whenever the child wept, mother gave him food. And she did it in most perfect manner. A few years later, the child was communicated through some language that her mother has been very nice to him and gave him food every time he wept. The child laughed, “What a joke! I don’t know any mother. Its a fundamental law of nature, that when I weep, some food comes to me!” An Atheist is a nothing but such a deaf-blind child!
- They cannot explain why would certain physical entities suddenly start having a feeling of ‘I’. They cannot even explain which particular physical entity is feeling this ‘I’. For example, scientists are baffled on whether there is a specific seat of consciousness in human brain, or many neurons together form ‘consciousness’. If yes, how and why? And why does that consciousness repels against death and its destruction? Why that consciousness seeks peace and wants to avoid frustrations and grief?
So called Atheist scientists have no answer. And they also don’t know how they can answer it except admitting existence of another intelligent entity apart from their own jungle of neurons in their respective brains!
Their claims are equally ridiculous compared to claim of Allah of Quran saying ‘Kun’ and creating Adam from mud and God of Bible making Light first and then creating Sun and Stars!
f. What more, I find that my thoughts control my destiny to large extent. By moulding my thoughts and resolving for anything, automatically I get surrounded by situations and people that help me move towards my resolve. There is an art through which all the inanimate and animate entities of the world seem to working as per my thought processes. If I tend to be negative, negative events happen with me and negative people surround me. If I tend to be enthusiastic, I get more enthusing opportunities. Recently a bestseller book “The Secret” was written on this principle. (This is nothing but first step of foundations of Vedas and Yog).
g. Further, if there is no permanent ‘I’ and no just manager of everything, all the concepts of ethics, morality, peace, honesty go for a toss. Then even punishment of criminals is wrong. Incest is also justified. Murder is also justified. Insanity is also justified. Nothing remains unjustified except the curious urge of an Atheist to expose frauds of religious cults and propagate Atheism!
‘I’ know I exist, and unless there is an entity managing all this for me, ‘I’ know that nothing at all will make any sense!
Thus a brief scratching of surface brings us to yet another conclusion:
That Atheism or Agnosticism is as insane an ideology as Islam, Christianity and other cults based on stories of miracles and Prophetism.
Thus despite disillusionment with the various cults and sects, a rational ‘I’ can still not be an Atheist.
g. There may be some smaller sects who agree with conclusions till this point, but would want to present their own ideology to be true. For example some sects that claim that there is no absolute God and only those souls who reach high levels of spiritualism become God. We did not spend much time to reject these cults because these cults are not intolerant like cults of Bible and Quran and at least share a common ground of tolerance and opportunity for all.
However the basic flaws of these cults are their scriptures. If one reads them, one finds huge number of descriptions which are proven to be false. For example, flat earth, wrong description of earth, universe etc, wrong descriptions of human size etc. So we ignore proponents of these cults as those mindsets who are misled to believe in a cult due to reasons mentioned earlier in the article. A good analysis of such cults has been done by Swami Dayanand Saraswati in Chapter 11 and 12 of Satyarth Prakash.
So finally we are left with a firm belief that despite all the confusion created by these false texts and baseless ideologies:
a. God still exists
b. ‘I’ also exist
c. If at all God is just and rational:
- His knowledge and path for total bliss relevant for me should be intuitive to my intellect
- This knowledge cannot be left to be based on my own intellect, because that is limited. So it has to be a perfect absolute benchmark, I can look up to, throughout my progress, without doubting whether I am being fooled by my limited intellect.
- This knowledge has to be unchangeable. There should be some mechanism to ensure that the knowledge is preserved in same format as since inception.
- This knowledge has to be available since dawn of human civilization and not have emerged suddenly through some self-proclaiming prophet and his gang or some self-proclaimed saint. The saint may at best present this same knowledge in more reasonable manner for my consumption.
- The life should exist in a cycle of birth and death because I can do nothing without a supporting body and intellect, and one single life is too less a time to achieve the final desired state of bliss. Also if there is only one life, if I fail to achieve ultimate level of bliss in one single life, still some more opportunities have to be provided to me since I still exist. And if there is no such additional opportunity provided, then life itself has no meaning. This knowledge should remain same in all lives.
- This knowledge should not be in a vernacular language
- This knowledge should be an ultimate benchmark but not something which has to be mandatorily believed in blindly to escape wrath of God. I should have the opportunity to explore the truth myself and reach the knowledge through process of efforts and evaluation. There should be no force of blind compulsion.
- This knowledge should not have internal contradictions.
- This knowledge should not have contradictions with established facts and observations of science.
- This knowledge should not contain time or geography specific knowledge that are not relevant for all ages and all locations.
- This knowledge should be devoid of superstitious stories and false claims.
- This knowledge should be based on tolerance, equality, peace, bliss and purposefulness that is so intuitive to ‘I’.
Thus despite being shaken by frauds of Bible, Quran et al, I still believe in Ishwar or God, and aspire to seek and lead my life as per such source of knowledge as described above.
I reject the God of Bible or Allah or Quran completely. But  I am not an Atheist. I am also not an Agnostic.
I believe in an Ishwar who is existent, animate, blissful, formless, omnisicient, unborn, endless, unchangeable, beginningless, the support of all, the master of all, omnipresent, permanent, unageing, immortal, fearless, eternal, and holy, and the maker of all.
I believe in an Ishwar who exists with me always – right from beginninglessness (Anadi) to endlessness (Anant).
I am Vedic. I am seeker of Truth and Truth alone!

source:---agniveer.com

Origin of Vedas

In this article, we shall briefly discuss the origin of Vedas. With this article, we begin a series to understand the Vedic framework – origin, definition, content, concepts etc. The series would be based on works of our great scholars from dawn of civilization to recent times. All conclusions shall be made after thorough analysis. We may skip certain details for sake of readability. The articles largely follow the structure laid in Introduction to Vedas (Rigvedadibhashyabhumika) by Swami Dayanand Saraswati and readers are advised to read this book for further details.
The only promise that can be made about this series is that one who carefully reads this, shall never ever face any depression or helplessness in life, shall be in a position to live life more blissfully and meaningfully, and contribute utmost for defense of truth and Dharma.
Origin of Vedas
Note: This chapter assumes reader to be a theist. Atheism has been rejected in previous article and we shall do a more comprehensive rejection later.
Yajurved 31.7 clearly states that Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda and Atharvaveda were originated from Him – the ultimate Ishwar who is omnipresent.
Atharvaveda 10.7.20 reiterates the same essence beautifully. It says that Rik, Yajuh, Sama and Atharva originated from the ultimate Ishwar. It asks “Which deva (provider ofbliss/knowledge) gave the Vedas?” And answers that the One who is controlling and maintaining the entire universe is the creator of Vedas. Atharva is like the mouth of that Ishwar, Samaveda is like the hair on the skin, Yajurveda is akin to the heart and Rigveda is the Prana or source.
Shatpath Brahman 14.5.4.10 states that Ishwar, who is present even beyond the Akash/Sky created the Vedas. The way breath goes out of body and then comes in, during inception of creation, Ishwar creates the Vedas and illuminates the world, and in the phase of dissolution (Pralay), Vedas no more remain in world. However just as a sapling remains inside the seed, Vedas still remain in knowledge of Ishwar, unchanged.
Shankaracharya writes in commentary on Geeta 3.15 that Vedas are actually never created or destroyed. They merely get illuminated and de-illuminated but remain in Ishwar.
Rigveda 10.190.3 states that the creation remains same in all cycles and hence even the constitution of the creation – the Vedas – also remain exactly the same.
Doubt: When Ishwar is shapeless, how did He create the Vedas?
Ishwar does not need physical organs like humans to perform His tasks. Such limitations do not exist in case of Ishwar. Vedas describe Ishwar as possessor of infinite limbs and mouths. It implies that Ishwar can perform all His functions without recourse to physical organs or support of anyone else. When Ishwar can create such a magnificent world, why should one doubt His capability to create Vedas!
Shwatashwataropanishad 3.19 states that he holds everyone even though He has no hands and legs!
Doubt: No soul can create the world, but they can definitely create books of grammar and other fields of knowledge. Why then is Ishwar necessary to create the Vedas?
The knowledge possessed by humans is dependent. It needs training and dissemination of knowledge to further research and discover new knowledge. If you keep a person isolated in jungle since birth, he or she would be unable to learn the ways of humans even a bit. Even today we find many tribes in jungles who live like animals. Similarly knowledge is necessary at inception for humans to possess the capability to discover new knowledge or create books.
Doubt: Ishwar has gifted humans with basic knowledge or natural instincts. This is superior to all texts because only through this we understand anything. So with progress of this knowledge, why should people not be able to design Vedas. Why should then we consider Vedas to be originated from Ishwar?
1. Was natural instinct not available with junglee tribes and child born and brought up in isolation? Why could not they turn scholars? Why chimpanzees fail to evolve and learn over centuries. Why insects continue to commit suicide in light and not learn from it?
2. Even language originates from Vedas. In absence of belief in Vedas, origin of language also remains a mystery for modern superstitious scientists!
3. Even we learn because we go to schools or receive lessons from our mentors. How could then people during early ages learn so much as to draft Vedas that contain such a huge number of mantras, in a language that is more encompassing than any later language, covers such a wide number of topics, contains such fine thoughts that surpass any text of later era, and is preserved in such a manner through Paatha and Maatra method that change of even a single syllable is not possible!
4. What is claimed to be basic knowledge is merely sufficient to allow us to learn more complex knowledge and  not create new knowledge out of nothingness. Just as eye is capable to see only when linked with mind and mind can function only when linked with soul, similarly basic knowledge or natural instinct is capable only to lead us to higher sources of knowledge and not to discover knowledge of Dharma, Artha, Karma and Moksha (Duties, Purpose, Desire and Salvation).
5. That is why initial knowledge from Ishwar is necessary to kickstart the process of knowledge assimilation. Yogadarshan 1.26 states that He is the teacher of the oldest teachers and is unhindered by time. Kumarilbhatta writes in his treatise on Meemansa that Vedas are Apaurusheya (not created by humans) because no one knows their creators. Sankhya 5.6 states the same. Sayana also reiterates the same opinion.
Doubt: What was the purpose of Ishwar in creating the Vedas?
1. Let me counter-question: What was the purpose of Ishwar in not creating the Vedas?
2.  Ishwar has infinite knowledge and He is benevolent. Now knowledge is the most valuable attribute to possess. So unless Ishwar illuminates us with His knowledge, He does not remain benevolent. Ishwar justifies his attributes only by illuminating us with His knowledge – the knowledge of Vedas.
3. Ishwar is like our parents. He loves us and wants us to be blissful. Thus He has gifted us with knowledge of Vedas so that we can use this knowledge to maximize our bliss. Had Ishwar not blessed us with this knowledge, purpose of creation would have defeated. Everything else in the world makes sense only when we possess the knowledge to utilize them for our ultimate objective of maximizing bliss.
4. Knowledge is more bliss-producing than all the wonders of creation. And when Ishwar has gifted us with such wonderful gifts of creation, why would He keep Vedas to Himself and defeat His very purpose of creation, as well as His core attribute of benevolence.
And such is this knowledge, unlike Bible, Quran and Purans, that WD Brown wrote in “Superiority of Vedic Religion” that ” Vedic religion is thoroughly scientific where science and religion meet hand in hand . Here theology is based on science and philosophy.”
In “The Bible in India” by L Jacoliot, it is stated that ” Veda, of all revelations, is the only one whose ideas are in perfect harmony with modern science.” Huge number of other scientists who scratched the surface of Vedas share such views.
Doubt: How did Ishwar arrange for pen, ink and paper to write Vedas in inception of creation?
1. This is a most stupid doubt. As discussed earlier, when Ishwar can create universe without any additional tools, why  should He be unable to create Vedas?
2. Ishwar did not illuminate Vedas by publishing them in beginning of civilization. He illuminated the minds of noble Rishis – Agni, Vayu, Aditya and Angira during inception of civilization. Shatpath Brahman 11.5.2.3 elaborates this. These Rishis in their state of meditation receive the knowledge of Vedas and they adopt it in same manner as a toy moves when its button is pressed – in exactly the manner it is supposed to move!
Doubt: Agni, Vayu, Aditya appear to be name of inanimate objects Fire, Air and Sun.
This doubt is again baseless. Knowledge cannot be acquired by inert matter. If someone says, Court has issued summon, it does not mean the building of court has issued summon. It means that the people working in court have issued the summon. Similarly, knowledge can be acquired only by humans.
Doubt: Ishwar may have given them knowledge and they then created Vedas with this knowledge
Yet another baseless doubt. When knowledge is sourced from Ishwar, then Vedas created by Rishis are also sourced from Ishwar. Why would Rishis add their own masala for distortion when they have the knowledge of Ishwar in pure form?
Doubt: If Ishwar is Just, why did He not illuminate everyone’s mind with Vedas and chose only four among them? Hence Ishwar is biased.
The choice of only four Rishis confirms that Ishwar is just. Because justice implies meritocracy – rewarding one as per his or her deeds. So Ishwar chose the most meritorious among them for dissemination and further propagation of Vedas as per their past deeds. Rigveda 10.71.7 states that though all possess eyes and ears but intellect differs among humans.
Doubt: But we are talking of inception of creation. How can we talk of past deeds then?
Creation and Dissolution is a continuous cycle without beginning or end. During beginning of creation, souls take birth as per their deeds in previous creation. Never is the account of past deeds, completely vacant in this process.
Doubt: Why is Ishwar anti-women? Why did He not choose women for dissemination of Vedas?
Soul has no gender. Ishwar gave Rishis the body of men during inception of civilization because a male is more suited for propagation of knowledge among rest of the people who are thriving only through their natural instincts. A male is more suited to tame such uncivilized people. However in later phase, many women also became Rishis who discovered new meanings of these Vedic mantras.
Doubt: Are Chhandas like Gayatri also created by Ishwar?
Yes, when Ishwar has infinite capabilities, why doubt this one?
Doubt: Brahma created Vedas from his four mouths and Ved Vyas later compiled them in written form and divided in four parts- we hear this in history.
This theory has no basis. No authoritative text mentions this. This theory is propounded in Purans which are much later dated and full of blatant discrepancies. Some people believe Purans to be perfect and derived from Ishwar. But this claim is only as true as the claim of Quran and Bible hailing from Ishwar.
The fact is that Brahma learned the four Vedas from these Rishis. Brahma was a person with one head, two hands and two legs and not the caricature as represented in false Purans. Ved Vyas was commentator of Yoga Darshan and writer of Mahabharat. Nowhere except in Purans we find the theory of Ved Vyas being writer of four Vedas. And if these Purans have to be believed, we shall also have to believe in false stories of Jesus, Muhammad, Victoria etc, condemnation of women, denigration of our role models like Ram and Krishna and other foolishness that we accuse Bible and Quran to also contain. Further there is no foolproof mechanism to claim that the books we call Purans today are authentic. This prerogative or litmus test of authenticity is passed only by Vedas.
If Vedas were one in inception and later divided into four parts by Veda Vyas, then no text prior to Veda Vyas should refer to Vedas in plural. Also names of four Vedas should not be present. But if we look at actual references, this does not hold true and hence Vedas have been four from inception.
To cite references, please see the following for usage of Vedas in plural or name of more than one Vedas:
Atharva 4.36.6, Atharva 19.9.12, Rig 10.90.9, Yajur 31.7, Atharva 16.6.13, Yajur 34.5, Atharva 10.7.20, Yajur 18.29, Yajur 36.1, Yajur 12.4, Shatpath 6.7.2.6, Taittriya Samhita 4.1.10.5, Maitrayani Samhita 16.8, Shankhayan Grihya Sutra 1.22.15, Yajur 10.67, Atharva 11.7.14, Atharva 15.6.7-8, Atharva 12.1.38, Atharva 11.7.24, Rig 4.58.3, Yajur 17.61, Gopath Brahman 1.13, Shatpath 14.5.4.10, Brihad Upanishad 3.4.10, Aitareya Brahman 25.7, Gopath 3.1 etc.
Such references also come in Upanishads, Manu Smriti, Mahabharat, Sarvanukramani, Ramayan and many other texts.
In fact, the fact that Mahabharat is said to be fifth Veda by many Pundits implies that Vedas were originally four. Also Ayurveda, Dhanurveda, Gandharvaveda and Arthaveda are called Upaveda. This also implies that Vedas are four in number.
Doubt: In Veda Samhitas, we find names of Rishis before each Sukta or Chapter. They must have written those verses
1. These are names of Rishis who researched on particular verses of Vedas. Many verses have large number of Rishis.
2. Brahma was born long before Vyas, Madhuchhanda and other Rishis. When Brahma studied Vedas from original four Rishis, as explained even in Manu Smriti, there is no doubt that Vedas existed long before these Rishis.
We shall scrutinize this false allegation in greater depth in a subsequent post.
Doubt: Why we find two names to denote knowledge of Ishwar – Veda and Shruti?
Veda is derived from Vid root. Vid means knowledge as in Vidya, or existing as in Vidyamaan, or benefit or thought. Shruti is derived from “Shru” root meaning “to listen”. Since by studying them we get knowledge, understand truth, derive benefits and can become thinkers, they are called Vedas. And since we have been listening to this knowledge from inception of civilization and none ever saw the originator (since He is shapeless), they are called Shruti.
Doubt: How old are Vedas?
As per the details of texts like Surya Siddhanta and traditions throughout India, Vedas are supposed to around 1.97 billion years old. Scholars have debates over whether this period refers to time of origin of earth or humans and it remains a topic of research. However in India, whenever a Yajna happens, people call out in detail the time since origin in units of Manvantar, Yuga and Year. This calculation is same across all parts of India.
Doubt:What about works of Wilson and Max Muller who claim Vedas to be 2000-3000 years old?
They were rogue Christian missionaries with no knowledge of Sanskrit or Indian culture who came with purpose of destroying Indian culture. They have been quite successful in their designs and performing their duties for which they were paid by British. But unfortunately, their crazy theories have no basis whatsoever. There is no logical or rational foundation of their claims but they are parroted by communists and missionaries because they thrive on denigrating the foundations of our culture. Vedas existed since inception of civilization and shall remain till dissolution of creation 2.33 billion years from now.

source:--agniveer.com