SatyaVeda: All about the Veda

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Sankaracarya has written commentaries on all the Upanishads and on the Bhagavad Gita .

The upanishads are parts of the the vedas and or explanations of the vedas and deal with that part of Indian Philosophy which is called Vedanta.

Many Indian Philosophers consider Vedanta as higher to the Vedas. My view is that there was a lot of science and technology in the karmakAnDa or rituals of the Vedas, which the philosophers ignored since they were not interested in the technology.

Similarly many practioners of the karmakAnDa also lost track of the maths and technology under the doctrine of ‘yatha sakthi, yatha dravyam‘. This doctrine gives the doer the psychology benefits but not the technology benefits.

Many practioners of the  karmakAnDa or rituals of the Vedas focussed only on the phala, prayoga or viniyoga.. in other words the desired benefits of  performing the ritual.. example birth of sons, awakening of spirituality.. what have you.  (Rg Vidhana of Saunaka, Rg Vidhana – by Saunaka Maharshi)

I think Swami Dayananda Saraswathi was one of those saints of the 20th century, who recreated interest in the technical benefits of at least some of the Vedic Rites (Rituals) for eg air purification, cloud seeding for rains.. that sort of thing.

In the context of the Vedas and Upanishads, karma refers to proper Vedic Rites and not its general english meaning that goes around nowadays.

Adi Sankaracharya of kAlaDi was THE Philosopher-Guru of Advaita. He did not care too much at all for the karmakAnDa. He cared most for brahmagnyAna or knowledge of The brahman. (See also : Tat Tvam Asi).

After the s’Anti mantram of the Is’A vAsyOpanishat, there are a few sentences in the Sankara Bhashyam which we shall discuss now.

Sankaracarya tells us that the mantras of the Isa Vasya Upanishad cannot be used for any viniyoga. The mantras of the Is’A vAsya upaniSat tells us about the true nature of the Atma (Self).

This Atma is pure and eternal.

It is the buddhi or intellect that feels capable of doing things and enjoying things. It is to purify, benefit and uplift this buddhi that all the vedic rituals (samskArAs eg upanayanam) are peformed. Only a person focussed on his body, mind and circumstances will be interested in the karmakAnDa.

A person interested in the nature of the  Atma can study and discuss the Is’A vAsya upaniSat, other upaniSats and the Bhagavad Gita.

You cannot reconcile the purpose of the vedic rituals with the pursuit of the knowledge of the Atma. So Sankaracarya was strong advocate of renounciation.

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