Veda means revealed knowledge. It is derived from the ancient Sanskrit root Vid which means ‘to know.’ In the Vedic tradition, knowledge is not only intellectual; it also comes in the form of experience. Therefore, we always refer to knowledge as being of two types–either direct or indirect.

Direct knowledge comes through the senses, mind and objects, while indirect knowledge comes from within. It is what we call intuitive knowledge. Originally the Vedic hymns were said to be divinely inspired by Brahma, who revealed them to the Rishis in a higher state of consciousness. Rishi refers to a person with inner knowledge or intuition. When the individual mind is tuned to the cosmic mind, one arrives at a new dimension of consciousness, where everything that is thought, felt or seen becomes a reality. This is the state of revelation. The Vedic hymns were composed by different rishis who had attained this state.

Vedas are considered to be the most ancient literature in man’s library. They are dated to 45,000 years. Vedas were not written; they were spoken and had to be retained directly by the mind. This is the ancient method of oral tradition. It greatly increased the powers of the mind, particularly the memory. This kind of teaching was later compiled and became known as Shruti, meaning heard. The Rishis had disciples and these became Gurus. The Gurus imparted this knowledge to intellectual gurus and then it became known as Smriti, which means memory.

Thus, we have the Vedas which are Shrutis, knowledge obtained by direct revelation and the Smritis, knowledge retained by memory passed down through the ages as stories.

After the Vedas and the Puranas, one more system developed and that is known as the Sutra. Sutra means thread. Here all the different thoughts on one topic were threaded together. When the Guru was teaching a number of texts, the disciples just noted down a few things. Then that thread had to be interpreted and explained in the form of commentaries so that ordinary person could understand. Thus, we have sutras on Ahamkara, Bhakti and Vedanta. These small texts contain the centralized themes of what the disciples learned from the Guru, noted down and passed onto their disciples. They are very brief, but the commentaries fill volumes.

Swami Satyananda Saraswati. 1980

Aim Hrim Klim