Omkaram..
The Causal Word, om, represents the divine thought, the source of existence. It corresponds to the power of will, known as Siva Intention, or icchh
a shakti. The power of knowledge known as Vishnu Formulation, or jnana shakti, and the power of action known as Brahma Expression, or kriya shakti, also express the Causal Word, om.Omkara signifies the Supreme Siva, being both vyashti (individual) and samashti (cosmic). Thus, Ganesha om, the divine son of Siva, is the support of the whole universe. His sound-symbol om is indestructible in past, present and future. It is immortal and ageless. He is ever Pillaiyar, the cherished child of Uma-Parameshvara. By meditating on Him in the three aspects of A-U-M, devotees can realize the reality of the Godhead. The mahavakya om Tat Sat implies "That is what it is," and it is transmuted into the form of Ganesha. He embodies the Truth of Tat Tvam Asi, "Thou art That."
VEDAM
This Veda is almost like a vast ocean of knowledge, which has come into being while the god was sleeping. It was stored in the heart of the god, which evaluated in the form of noise (Naod). How long this Noad lingered around is difficult to say. Those ancie
nt scholars, Rishis acquired the knowledge of the Vedas in the form of sound. The same got spread among the common intellects who further glorified the knowledge in the Vedas. To receive the correct interpreter and the deep meaning of the Vedas, from Bramhadeva and to experience it, the Rishis applied inner ears. They were overjoyed, being spellbound by the sound and seeing the maintestation of the Vedas. They in turn gave literary shape to this sound. This collection of letters is known as the 'Richas' of the Vedas. In turn these Richas are known as Mantras. The meaning of Mantras is more valuable than the letters with which they are written...sound even more valuable than meaning, and the effects of these sounds (Parinaam) are far more valuable than sounds. All together is called the knowledge of the Vedas (Veda Dynana)Every part of the Vedas, thus seperated and named have a prestigious value and importance. The names of these four vedas are :1 Rigvedam
2 Yajurvedam
3 Samvedam
4 Atharvavedam.
RIGVEDAM
The first humming sound in the world of sound - The first letter in the world of letters. The Veda is defined as the Nidhior Sanchay or storage of knowledge of unique nature and which is regarded as the ideal of all that is auspicious. The Veda is not simply a knowledge-oriented literature, to be critically discussed, it also conveys the significance of the utilization of knowledge, how and when? In addition acquiring it. Till the time, you don’t realise how to use the knowledge, it is futile to only acquire the same… it is of no use. The glory and grandeur of knowledge is visible to the public, when utilized properly. In this respect, Rigveda is regarded as the vast and richest treasure of knowledge. This veda is the largest of all the vedas. There are in all 10 mandals (Assemblies), with 1020 Suktas, and 10552 Richas or Mantraj. In all these Richas, there are 1,53,526 stanzas and the total letters are 4,32,000. These are two branches of this Veda available, one is ‘Shakal’ and the other is ‘Bashkal’, out of this, the exhaustive and complete code of shakal branch is unavailable. Although Rigveda is totally full of Mantras, these evolute valuable exhaustive information. If we look minutely, we will notice two independent concepts, one is spiritual and other is practical, which are included in the subjects of the Mantras.There are many hymns (suktas) in this Veda. There is Brahmanspati Sukta popular with Ganesh Devatas, Pavmanpanchasukta of Lord Vishnu’s devotees, Saurasukta, Agnisukta etc. In addition, there are Parjanyasukta, Mandooksukta, Krishisukta, Gosukta, Shantipath and many others. One Ushasukta, displays literacy grandeur & style at its best, used by the Rishis. It reviews the behavior of creatures in the world, on the backdrop of nature. Famous Gayatri Mantra is also a part of Rigveda.There are many other topics, such as Kalgati, Geography, Organization, Measures, effects of Navagriha, Power of each material, their effects social ethics, social system, Medicinal herbs different forms of fire (Agni) and water, origin of creatures in the world etc. have been analytically discussed in Rigveda.
YAJURVEDAM
After Rigveda comes Yajurveda. The Prime teacher of this Veda is Acharya Vaishampayan. There are however two types of Yajurvadas, one is Krishna Yajurveda and second one is Shukla Yajurvada. With this division taking place, their leadership (Archarya) got changed. While the first of the two was taken over by Vaishampayan, the second one was headed by Yadnyavalkya.Taitariya is the main branch of Krishna Yajurveda and in which there are 44 chapters (i.e. Adhyayas). The number of Mantras are 1975.Major portion of the Krishna Yajurveda is prose. The religious rites like Rudra, Udakshanti etc., which are very common with public, have been elaborated with thoughts; similarly from the performance of small yadnyas to the performance of Rajsurya Yadnya, all the established actual actions (Kruti) have been covered in these Vedas. These Vedas have further narrated about business and trades of different people, their customs traditions, social ethics, about animal husbandry etc.If we carefully think about both the Vedas, we will find that even though Rigveda is bigger in Volume, the Yajurvedas contents are multifaced. In this veda, there are 65 sub branches of Shukla Yajurveda and 24 sub branches of Krishna Yajurveda. However today all are non existent only few are surviving.
SAMAVEDAM
This is third Veda. We may not name it as independent Veda, since it is a collection of few special Mantras from the Rigveda and Yajurveda. Further because, there are only 75 Richas in this Veda, which could be distinctly termed as Sammantra. According to Patanjal Mahamuni there can be 1000 branches of this Veda. As on today however, there are only the codes of two branches available. This Veda has been honoured and distinguished as having musical (poetical) tone. During the performance of the Yadnyas different Mantras used to be sung and recited. This tradition of singing Richas got a dignified status. Lord Shri Krishna, in his Bhagwatgeeta opens out his distinctive identity by mentioning this Veda against three others.
ATHARVAVEDAM
This is the fourth Veda. It has 20 segments, and the total number of Stotras is 730 with the number of Mantras is 5987. There are different subjects included in this Veda. The scholars claim that it has 15 Branches. The subjects like Grihastha Dharma (accepting the responsibility of the family) Brahmacharya (period before Marriage), Nation, Vishanash (destruction of Visha-poison-evil) Paap-Nash (destruction of ill-doings) are tackled.This Veda was handed over as a responsibility to Pippaload by Maharshi Vyas, when he divided the Vedas into four. Out of the 15 branches only nine branches are prominently familiar. These nine branches are Paipload, Tauda, Mauda, Shaunakiya, Jajala, Jalada, Brahmveda, Devdarsha, Charan Vaidya. The codes of only two branches are available. There is quite a difference between these codes.
GAYATRI MANTRAM
Om..
OM Bhur-Bhuvah-Svah.Tat savitur varenyam bhargo devasva dhimahi.Dhiyo yo nah pracodayat.
'Gayatri Mantra', the ultimate Vedic prayer to awaken the intellectual powers of a person, first found its reference in the 'Vedas' believed to be the storehouse of all Divine Knowledge and the most ancient scriptures known to mankind. The universal prayer is addressed to the Sun God, addressed as 'Savitha' as the Life-Giver on Earth. Goddess Gayatri or Annapurna is believed to be the Mother-God that animates all Life. Considered to be the essence of the Vedas, Gayatri Mantra fosters and hones the knowledge-yielding faculty of a person. The four 'mahavakyas' or ultimate sentences of Gayatri Mantra, is a sacred mantra that demonstrates the unity that underlies multiplicity and manifoldness in creation.The essence of the Mantra can be stated as follows - 'Oh God! Thou art the Giver of Life, Remover of pain and sorrow, The Bestower of happiness, Oh! Creator of the Universe, May we receive thy supreme sin-destroying light, May Thou guide our intellect in the right direction.'
The individual words and characters of the Mantra have a meaning of their own than can be defined as follows:
Om: The primeval sound that represents Brahma,
Bhur: The physical world that embodies the vital spiritual energy or 'Pran',
Bhuvah: The mental world and destroyer of all sufferings,
Swaha: The celestial and spiritual world that embodies happiness,
Tat: That or God, referring to transcendental Paramatma (Ultimate Spirit),
Savithur: The Bright Sun or the Creator and Preserver of World,
Varenyam: Best or most adorable,
Bhargo: Destroyer of all sins,
Devasya: Divine Deity or Supreme Lord,
Dheemahi: We meditate upon and take in,
Dhiyo: The Intellect,
Yo: The Light,
Nah: Our,
Prachodayath: Inspire or Enlighten.Thus,
the Gayatri Mantra can be translated as follows:
We meditate on the glory of the Creator; Who has created the Universe;Who is worthy of Worship; Who is the embodiment of Knowledge and Light; Who is the remover of all Sin and Ignorance; May He enlighten our Intellect.
Shanti Mantras
Shanti Mantras
