Vedic Philosophy: Introduction

Vedic Philosophy provides answers to all unanswered questions i.e why there is pain and pleasure, rich and poor, healthy and sick; God - His qualities, nature and works. Soul – Its nature and qualities, souls of humans and animals; reincarnation – how does it happens, why one is born as he or she is. What is the purpose of life? What we ought to do?
If you are a thinker, curious, confused about the universe as a whole, if you have a strong desire to your questions answered, then you must continue reading this philosophy. It will open your eyes, you will be able to differentiate from true to untrue, right from wrong, just from unjust, and you will be able to put together the puzzle of the whole universe.
In the 19th century a great saint, seer and philosopher, vedic commentator, thinker, master mind having impressive personality, an ancient ascetic and yogi, appeared on the scene, who is widely known as Swami Dayanand Saraswati. To expel the darkness of ignorance and spread the true knowledge for the benefit of humanity at large, Swami Dayanand Saraswati established Arya Samaj. Vedic teachings are based on Swami Dayanand Saraswati's writings and teachings.
Author:
Vidya Sagar Garg
For questions, comments, and feedback, please send Email: vsgarg@yahoo.com
Table Of Contents
1. God – Nature, Qualities and Works
2. Worshipping God
3. Meditation
4. Three Eternal Entities
5. Soul
6. Mind
7. Reincarnation – Rebirth
8. Human Body Compared To A Horse Cart
9. Humanity
10. Definition Of Non Violence
11. Meat - Not A Human Food
12. Five Causes Of Sufferings
13. Ten Principles For Self And Social Uplift
14. Social Practices
15. Age Of The Universe
16. Creation of the Universe
17. Vedic Scriptures
1. God – Nature, Qualities and Works
There is one and only one God. Different people call Him with different names. The real name of God is Om (Aum).
God is omnipresent. He is present at all places. He is present inside of our body and outside of our body. He is present inside of all living and non-living things and outside of them. He is present in the smallest thing as well as in the biggest thing. He is present in the mind and in the soul. He is present in the whole universe.
God is never born. He never dies. He has no beginning and no end. He is always living. He is free from aging process. He is fearless. He is flawless. He is free from happiness and misery. He is pure. He is kind. He is unique. There is no one like Him nor equal to Him. There is no one greater or bigger than Him. He is the greatest of all. He is the biggest of all. God creates, supports and runs the universe.
God is formless. He is always without a body. Therefore, there is no picture or statue of God. He cannot be sensed with 5 senses (eyes, ears, nose, tongue or skin).God can not be even sensed with the help of a microscope.
However, there are occasions when we realize God’s existence and His actions. Occasions, when in utter disappointment, help arrives or an idea flashes into the mind, and the situation begins to improve. Also, thought of doing bad deeds brings feelings of fear, suspicion and shame; and thought of doing good deeds brings feelings of happiness, encouragement, excitement and fearlessness. All these feeling come from God.
God’s existence is also realized from His works. What a wonderful, intelligent, beautiful creation of the universe. The regular, logical and mathematical motions of the planets; meaningful and rightful functioning of the universe; the beautiful creation and growth of the plants and the living beings – all these works prove existence of some super, intelligent, living power – The God.
God is omniscient. He knows the thoughts in the minds of all.
God is the source of all knowledge. In the beginning of the universe, God gives knowledge to the human beings. God appeals directly in to the minds, he does not need hands to write or a mouth to speak.
God is omnipotent. He is all powerful; He performs his works by himself. He does not need anybody’s assistance to run the universe. He manages all His affairs by himself. He is always just and never does injustice. He always follows His just code.
God is equally accessible to all. He is the father and the mother of all living beings. No agent or broker is needed to approach Him. No body can be a God’s agent. God does not favor any one, nor He disfavors any one.
God is always in a state of ecstasy (bliss). Getting close to Him gives comfort, just like a fire gives comfort to the cold (persons).
God has his own work field, and humans have their own different work fields.

2. Worshipping God
All kinds of God worshipping we do, is not for God. It does not affect God any which way. Any action of ours has no effect on God.
God feeds all. Everything is in God, and God is in everything. Therefore, feeding God does not make any sense.
There is no place where god does not exist. He sees and hears all. He also knows our thoughts. Therefore, there is no need of loud voice, bells or loud speakers, etc. God is out of smell, therefore, God has no use of incense. God has no shape or body, therefore no sense in clothing or decorating Him.
Everything we do is for ourselves. God gives us the good or bad fruit based upon our own deeds. Some deeds get fruit immediately, others get fruit at different times, when and where deserved. This getting fruit at deserving time is called luck or destiny.
Worshipping God means, thinking of qualities of God, and making those qualities part of your life. God is just. He always does justice without any favoritism. He does not accept any approach. He is never unjust. God is always right. He is never wrong. God knows all. God has all the true knowledge. He is never ignorant. God is holy and does not have any weaknesses. God is kind-because of his kindness he has given thousands of things for our use. We too ought to be just, righteous, knowledgeable, holy, kind etc. This is the meaning of God Worship.

3. Meditation
With meditation, soul becomes so much powerful, that it is not afraid of even the biggest hardship, and it will be able to tolerate it easily.
How To Meditate:
Find a clean and quiet place; sit down in a right posture and close your eyes.
First stop the senses from wondering then start the Pranayam.
Point and hold the mind on the heart, navel or throat (at one of these places); get lost in God by thinking of soul and God.
By doing this repeatedly, soul and the conscious are purified, and the person becomes interested only in truthfulness.
4. Three Eternal Entities
God, souls and matter – always exist. They have no beginning and no end.
God – read the topic on ‘God – His Qualities, Nature and Works’.
Souls – There are numerous souls, but fixed in number. The total count of souls does not change ever. Each living being has an individual soul. In the God’s kingdom, one is identified from the soul, not from the body. Because, soul keeps changing bodies one after another. Same soul may become an ant, elephant, man, woman, lion etc.
Soul, when in a human body, is more or less free to do actions; this is not the case when in a body of an animal; animals act on the natural instinct. Therefore, by the God’s justice system, humans face the consequences of their actions. As a result, one suffers or enjoys in his present life, and also may be born as human, animal, bird or insect after the death. When soul and body joins together, it is called birth; its separation is called death (for more detail on soul, read topic on ‘Soul’).
Matter – matter is never destroyed. All we see, smell, taste, touch or hear is matter. Human body and other living beings are made of matter.
Matter changes shape. By burning wood, it changes into carbon, moisture and gases. It just changed its shape. When vegetables grown from seed, basically they are changing shape with the help of soil, water, sun and air. After eaten and digested, they change the shape again.

5. Soul
Every living being – human, animal, bird or insect has a soul. Presence of the soul in a body keeps one alive. Departure of the soul, causes death. Therefore, bodies of people and animals are pure as long as the soul is present, they are impure after the soul leaves.
Soul stays at one place in a body, but it affects the whole body; just like a lit candle, placed at one place, brightens the whole room.
Soul’s place is near the heart in the body.
Soul is so fine in size, that it cannot be seen with the naked eye or with the help of a microscope.
Soul enters the body with food, drinks, air or through the pores of the skin. First, it gets into the male, at the time of mating, it goes into the female.
Soul is not capable of doing anything without a body. It performs actions only with the help of a body.
Knowledge, effort, desire, resentfulness, happiness and sadness are the qualities of a soul. Dead body is without a soul, therefore, lacks these qualities.
A body changes, because of the presence of a soul. Right from the conception, the growth begins, because of the presence of the soul. There is no growth without a soul.
Soul is never born; it never dies; it always exists.
Weapon can not cut a soul, fire cannot burn it, water cannot spoil it, and air cannot dry it.
Soul, by itself, is neither a male, nor a female, nor an unisex. Its sex depends upon the body it gets. Same soul may move from male to female bodies or vice versa, but only after the death of the present one.

6. Mind
Soul’s actions are done through the mind. Soul connects with mind, mind connects with body and body connects with the outer world; which causes knowledge and action.
If the Mind is not with the body, then no action takes place. If the Mind is not with the eyes, we don’t see; if the Mind is not with the ears then we don’t hear.
A dead body does not feel the pain or pleasure, because of the absence of the mind and the soul. The Mind leaves the body along with the soul. The Mind stays along with the soul in the body near the heart.
Mind itself is not a living thing. Therefore, it cannot do anything by itself.
Mind is made of matter. Food is made of matter as well. The kind of food one eats, has a significant effect on one’s mind.
Mind is a storage box of all impressions. All effects of one’s actions, all the knowledge one has acquired, all the experiences one has gained; in this life and in previous lives, stay in the mind. So, it has everything, one has ever experienced. The stronger impressions appear on the surface, the weaker stay buried deep down. Efforts can bring up the impressions on the surface which are buried deep down.
Three states of mind –
Absence of cruelty, absence of greed, staying balanced in pleasure and pain, cleanliness, practicing truth, being just, being peaceful, acquiring knowledge, having patience, etc.
Wandering nature, impatience, being arrogant, etc.
Not using brain, laziness, lack of desire to work, desiring to sleep more and more, lack of desire to learn, using brain in a wrong direction, etc.
Out of all these, the second is better than the third and the first is the best of all.
Finally, to get rid of a bad habit or action, condemn the bad habit or action, in your mind, again and again. More this is condemned, further away one goes from the vices.
Ref: Upnishad, Manusmriti, Sushrut

7. Reincarnation - Rebirth
Reincarnation simply means rebirth. Soul keeps changing the body one after another. It gets a bodies based on its deeds done in human life.
Soul, when in other than human body – e.g. in an animal, a bird or an insect, does not act independently. It acts either under the direction of a human being or just by natural instinct. It does not and cannot think. All its actions are controlled by others or by natural instinct. Because of that, its actions are neither rewarded nor punished.
When leaving human body, if the good deeds equal bad deeds, one is born as an ordinary human being in the next life. If good deeds exceed bad deeds then one is born as an intellectual human being. If bad deeds exceed good deeds, one is born as an animal, a bird or insect etc. based on the severity of the bad deeds.
Basically, deeds good or bad are done through:
thought,
word and
action
One reaps the fruit good or bad by receiving or paying for the deeds done with similar organs. E.g. harsh talker, liar, back stabber etc gets a life of an animal or of a mute human being.
The soul adjusts in the body it gets, whether it is a human, an animal, a bird or an insect. Soul is like water, without a color. Color makes the water colored. Same way, the soul is known as by the body it is in.
Soul continues to move from one body to another. It starts body at the time of conception, and departs at the time of death. Same soul can be a man, woman, elephant, ant or any other living being, and back and forth as well.
As humans discard worn out clothes and wear new ones, similarly soul discards the useless old body and starts a new body.

8. Human Body Compared To A Horse Cart
5 senses (eyes, ears, nose, tongue and flesh) are means of learning by seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting and touching. 5 other parts of body (hands, feet, mouth, sexual and waste organs) perform deeds. All these 10 parts of the body are the 10 horses of the human cart. Where Mind is the control, brain is the operator and the soul is the passenger.
The only way, the passenger will get to its destination, if the operator follows instructions from the passenger and has control over the horses. In a situation, when the operator is sleeping or intoxicated, there will not be any control over the horses, they will go anywhere they wish to go, the passenger will never reach to its destination.
So the brain has to be very clear and strong to control the mind and the body, in order to achieve the soul’s goal. Thus, the brain is the most important part of human life.
The goal of the soul is to achieve (long lasting) happiness. To achieve happiness, one has to:
get the right knowledge,
do the good deeds, and
meditate
There is a process and training of oneself, to achieve this goal.
On the other hand, bad deeds (e.g. untruthfulness, injustice) knowingly and unknowingly, lead to miseries.
The human body is considered to be a rented one. It continuously requires rent in the form of air, water and food.
It is said that the human body is great, but the mind is greater, brain is much greater and the soul is the greatest.
Ref: Kathopnishad

9. Humanity
Humanity is considering others pleasure and pain, profit and loss as your own. Not being afraid of unjust person, no matter how powerful he is, and be afraid of just person no matter how powerless he may be. Working with the full force for the protection and promotion of just person, even if one has to suffer heavy losses, even if one loses ones life during the pursuit.
All the living beings other than humans have a common characteristic. i.e. be afraid of the strong and frighten the weak; they even kill others for their selfish motive. Humans with similar characteristics be considered non-human beings. Being kind and helpful to the weak is a human characteristic.

10. Definition Of Non Violence
Never to have enmity of any kind, towards any living being – human, animal, bird or insect, is defined as non-violence.
Hurting, punishing or killing a living being does not by itself make the action violent. It is the cause behind it that matters.
Killing an animal, which kills people or destroys crops, is not an act of violence. Killing an animal or a bird for food or fun is a violent action.
To punish a person for the crime committed is not violence. Rather, not to punish a criminal is a violence. Because, if the criminal is not punished, he would harm many more innocent people, thereby creating much more violence.
The purpose of punishment is to deter the criminal from committing the crime again and to alert the others not to engage in such an act. Only harsh punishment can reduce the crime and save many people from the miseries of the crimes.
If someone attacks you and you respond with force, it is not violence. Anyone trying to harm the society or the nation, should be dealt with firmly and with force. That will save millions from sufferings. Therefore that is non-violence.
Ref: Translation of Yog Darshan by Maharishi Ved Vyas

11. Meat - Not A Human Food
Meat is not a human food. No flesh of any animal, bird, fish or egg etc. is a human food.
Meat is not only unhealthy for the body; it poisons the mind, the intellect and the soul. Eating meat is totally forbidden in the Vedic scriptures.
Rishi Manu in Manusmiriti says:
"He who does not restrain, kill or hurt the living beings, is pro-life and gets lots of happiness."
"You cannot get meat without killing, and killing does not give happiness. Therefore one should not eat meat."
"Because of the way the meat is produced, the killing and torturing the animals; one ought to stay away from eating all kinds of meat."
"Any body, who kills innocent creatures in order to get happiness; he living and even after death does not get happiness."
"He, who orders to kill animals; he who cuts the flesh; he who kills the animals; seller and buyer of animals for killing; he who cooks meat; he who serves meat and he who eats meat these are all killers and sinner.
Vedas speak of caring and protecting animals:
Yajur Veda says: Oh Humans! You do not kill sheep, cow, horse etc.
In Yajur Veda there is a prayer: O God! Protect my people and animals.
Atharva Veda says: Oh cruel man! If you kill our animals like cows, horses, etc. or humans; then we will put you to death so that you will not be able kill them again.
Mahabharta says: He who wants to live, how he can kill others? Humans should wish for others, what they wish for themselves.
Rig Veda tells: Do not kill our cows and horses.
Atharva Veda says: He, who eats raw meat, he who eats human flesh and he who eats eggs: they all ought to be destroyed altogether.
In regards to eating, Vedas talk about grains like wheat, oat rice etc., fruits and vegetables, milk, butter etc. Meat eating is not allowed at all.
Dr. Field writes, every living being knows the life’s happiness and fear of death.
He feels the pain and joy, just like you.
Same one God is the father of all living beings – animals, birds, insects and human beings.
Do the animals and birds want to be killed? No, Not at all. Don’t they feel helpless and miserable when they are being killed? Certainly, they do. Won’t they like to live their full life as we people do? Definitely, they would.
Every living being has a specific purpose for its existence. The purpose, definitely, is other than being killed and eaten by others. Let each one of them be left alone to serve that purpose.

12. Five Causes Of Sufferings
Yoga Philosophy talks about five Causes of Sufferings:-
Ignorance – Root cause of all the other four.
Arrogance
Attachment
Fear of Pain
Fear of Death
Ignorance: There are four types of ignorance.
1. Wrong beliefs – Treating mortal as immortal, immortal as mortal.
Thinking and treating body and things as they will last for ever.
Treating and thinking soul, God and good qualities i.e. truth, justice, etc., as they are not ever lasting.
2. Believing pure which is impure and impure which is pure. Not believing in speaking the truth, being just, helping others and being courteous; rather believing in useless things.
3. Believing the causes of unhappiness as causes of happiness, and causes of happiness as causes of unhappiness. i. e. trying to find happiness in lust, anger, greed, attachment, jealousy, fear of pain; and not finding happiness in the real means of happiness such as love, friendship, contentment, control of senses.
4. Treating living beings as non living and non living beings as living. I.e. believing in stone worship as god worship; No hesitation in hurting, humans or animals treating them as they are non living.
Arrogance: Considering oneself big and arrogant. One attains godly qualities only by being modest.
Attachment: Desire of doing it again, previously done fun things. When one understands that there is always a change in life than this problem goes away.
Jealousy: Getting angry by thinking about the past painful experiences.
Fear of Death: All living beings want to stay alive and do not want to die. This is because of previous life’s experiences. All humans, animals, birds, insects fear death.

13. Ten Principles For Self And Social Uplift
Patience - Having patience during happiness or misery, gain or loss, admiration or insult.
Tolerance - Being tolerant of the harm done to you by someone who is stronger or weaker than you are.
Control of Mind – Keeping the mind away from the bad thoughts and engaging it in the good thoughts.
Refrain from Stealing – Earn money only by just means. No illegal or immoral means be used. No stealing or robbing nor accepting bribe.
Cleanliness – Keep inner cleanliness by shunning jealousies and grudges. Keep outer cleanliness by keeping air, water, food, body, clothes, places and paths clean. Outer cleanliness helps keeping the mind happy.
Proper use of Body – Engage body parts like hands, feet, mouth for a good cause.
Intelligence – Improve intelligence by eating right food, reading good books and keeping good company.
Knowledge – acquire as much knowledge as possible. Learn qualities and uses of all the things around.
Truth – Accepting what you know, saying what you accept and doing what you say.
Avoid Anger – too much anger should be avoided. Normal anger for a right cause may be justified.
Styles of hair and clothes do not make a man or the society. Accepting the truth and rejecting the untruth and following the path of justice, without prejudice, are the real qualities that make a man and the society.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Ref: Manusmriti

14. Social Practices
Heaven and Hell defined:
A Person who is particularly in a happy situation is said to be in Heaven and one who is in a particular sad situation is said to be in Hell. There are no special places or planets like Heaven or Hell.
Intoxication:
Use of all kinds of intoxicants – opium, wine, tobacco etc. - is prohibited by Vedic Dharam. These are harmful for the body and the mind. They make a criminal mind, thereby increasing the crime.
Speculation:
All types of speculations are prohibited by Vedic Dharam.
Namaste:
Namaste is a Sanskrit word. It means and stands for – My regard for you or my love for you or my wishes for you, based on the situation.
All our scriptures use the word Namaste for greetings whenever two people meet.
Government:
Just like husk is separated very carefully without breaking the rice, the wicked and criminal people should be separated and punished without hurting the innocent.
As a pregnant female protects the unborn even at the cost of her comfort, the government personnel should watch the public interest even at the cost of their own interests.
PURITY:
Water purifies the external body, not mind and soul.
Mind is purified by being truthful in word, thought, and action.
Soul is purified by being righteous at all costs.
Intellect is purified by analyzing the Universe and the God.
Purity of different kinds of people:
A scholar is purified by having patience
A pervert by giving donations
A wicked by repenting
A vedic scholar by practicing vedic philosophy
Sanskrit and Hindi Languages
Sanskrit language is written in Devnagri alphabet – Sanskrit and Devnagri are as old as the universe itself - about two billion years old. From the beginning of this universe until couple thousand years ago, there has been only one language – Sanskrit, and only one alphabet – Devnagri, in the whole world.
Devnagri is the only alphanet, in the whole world, that has all the possible sounds. And all letters of Devnagri alphabet have natural sounds. All words in Sanskrit language are read and spoken exactly as they are written. Thus, Devnagri is the most scientific alphabet and Sanskrit is the most scientific language.
Arya (Hindi) language is also written in Devnagri alphabet. And, most of the words used in Hindi are from Sanskrit language.
The Dead is Cremated:
After a person dies the body should be burnt and not buried. Burial spoils that piece of land and creates lot of foul smell. Burning a dead body with wood and with stuff that gives good smell like butteroil and saffron does not give foul smell.
If a dead body is thrown in water, the water animals will eat the body, but the water will get polluted. If a dead body is thrown in the woods, the wild animals and birds will eat the body but the air will get polluted.
Last rites are performed on around 12th day after the death. After that there is no other ceremony is suggested.

15. Age Of The Universe
The total age of the earth (past and future) is 4.32 billion years. This is called Brahma Day. After this period God converts all matter into Paramanus. It remains in Parmanu form for the same length of time. i.e. 4.32 billion years. That is called Brahma Night. After Brahma Night God again creates the universe. This cycle of Brahma Day after Brahma Night and Brahma night after Brahma day goes on forever.
Brahma day:
In one Brahma day, there are fourteen Manvantras of human life. Each Manvantra has seventy-one Chaturyugis. There are four Yugas in one Chaturyugi. Satyug has 1,728,000 Years Tretayug has 1,296,000 Years Dwaparyug has 864,000 Years And Kaliyug has 432,000 Years ---------------------- Their sum – Chaturyugi 4, 320,000 Years Total Human life on earth, past and future = 14*71* 4,320,000 Years = 4,294,080,000 YearsThis is equal to = 14*71 = 994 Chaturyugis.
Total time of Brahma day is said to be equal to one thousand Chaturyugis. 994 Chaturyugis is the total time of human life on earth. Out of the remaining six Chaturyugis, three Chaturyugis time is spent in creating the universe and three Chaturyugis time is spent in Converting the matter into Parmanu form.
Past age of human life on earth:
Six Manvantras have passed. Twenty-seven Chaturyugis of seventh Manvantra have passed. Of the twenty-eight Manvantra Satyug, Tretayug and Dwaparyug have passed. In February 2000, 5099 years of the Kalliyug have passed.
Thus, the total past age of human life one earth is calculated as:
Past six Manvantras = 6*71*4,320,000 = 1,840,320,000 Years
Past 27 Chaturyugis of Seventh Manvantra
= 27*4,320,000 = 116,640,000 Years
28th Chaturyugi - Satyug = 1,728,000 Years
- Tretayug = 1,296,000 Years
- Dwaparyug = 864,000 Years
- Kaliyug = 5,099 Years
---------------------------------------------------
Total = 3,893,099 Years
Total of all past years of human life on earth.
= 1,960,853,099 Years
Total remaining years of human life on earth.
= 4,294,080,000 - 1,960,853,099 Years
= 2,333,226,901 Years

16. Creation of the Universe
All the matter was in the form of Parmanu, the smallest particle. Omniscient God combined those Parmanus and created the universe.
Sixty paramanus make one Anuu
Two Anuu Make Air
Six Anuu Make Fire
Eight Anuu Make Water
And Ten Anuu Make Earth
After the Paramanus are combined to create the universe, the left out space is the sky.
God firstly made air, then fire, then water, then earth then herbs, then grains, then living beings. Men and women was the last to be created after all the animals, birds, insect’s etc. were created.
In the beginning, God created many men and women, all in their youth. No children or elderly people were created. The reproduction system started after that.
God created the human life at the place now known as Tibet. After some time, when the population grew, some people known as Aryas moved to the place now known as India. And, the place was named as Aryavrat. Thus, Aryavrat is the original name of India. Later, people moved to other parts of the world from Tibet.
In February 2000, number of years passed since God first created men and women on earth is 1,960,853,099. Aryas have been counting each day since the creation for the human life on earth. They have been writing these dates in their calendar and Astronomy books. Even now, while performing certain ceremonies like marriage, an Arya priest reads the date since human life began on earth.
Men and women now are in the same style and shape as were created by God in the beginning. They did not descend from any other species.

17. Vedic Scriptures
All Vedic Ancient scriptures are in Sanskrit language. Sanskrit is the first language on the earth. Most of the languages of the world including English have been derived from Sanskrit. Hindi, English and other translations are available for most of the following scriptures:
Veda: The Vedas are the most important scripture. The meaning of the word Veda is knowledge. The Vedas were revealed in 4 sections at the dawn of the creation to the 4 saints (Rishis):
Rig Veda - Agni Rishi
Yajur Veda - Vayu Rishi
Sam Veda - Aditya Rishi
Atharva Veda - Angira Rishi
Upanishads: The word Upanishad means "to sit near". In ancient days, devotees sat near the Rishis to listen to the discourses. Those discourses compiled into the books are called Upanishads. The Upanishads are many in number, but eleven are considered most important. They are Ish, Ken, Kath, Prashna, Mundak, Mandukya, Aitareya, Taitareya, Chhandogya, Brihdarnayak and Shvetashvetar.
Manusmiriti: The Manusmriti is famous among scriptures, and the author is Manu. Rules for religion, political and social conduct are contained in Manusmriti.
Ramayan: The Ramayan is the first great composition of Sanskrit literature written by Valmiki Muni. It portrays a picture of the society in the Vedic and Upanishadic ages. Religion’s principles of the Vedas and Upanishads were not just found in theory but practiced in real life.
Mahabharat: The Mahabharat is also a great epic written by Vyas Muni. The Mahabharat depicts how people resort to injustice and oppressive means because of their greed, pride, selfishness and hypocrisy. Alongside this picture, it shows how the virtuous have undergone troubles and sufferings in upholding the path of truth and justice.
Bhagvad Gita: The Gita is a part of the great epic, Mahabharat. Its significance is so great that it stands out as a scripture in itself. Commentaries on the Vedas, are found in the Upnishads; while the essence of the Upanishads is containied in the Gita. Arjun was standing confused to fight with his own relatives in the battlefield. It was on this occasion the Yogiraj Krishan imparted true knowledge to Arjun and enlightened him with his course of action.
Darshans: The word ‘Darshan’ means observation and a detailed examination. Darshans explain the relationship between God, Soul and Matter. Their teachings lead us to our goal of God-realization. These teachings have been discussed very deeply in the six Darshans. The six Darshans and their authors are:
NYAYA - Gautam Muni
VAISHESHIKA - Kanad Muni
SAMKHYA - Kapil Muni
YOGA - Patanjali Minu
MIMANSA - Jaimini Muni
VEDANTA - Vyasa Muni
Satyarth Praksash (Light Of Truth):Satyarth Prakash has been written by Swami Dayanand. Just as other Scriptures have been prepared on the teachings expounded by the Vedas, Satyarth Prakash also contains explanations and clarifications of Vedic principles on all walks of life.
Rigved-adi-bhashya-bhumika (Introduction to Vedas): This is also written by Swami Dayanand. Various topics found in Vedas are discussed here. This book is full of knowledge and worth reading.