आ नो भद्राः क्रतवो यन्तु विश्वतो -- May noble deeds come to us from all sides (RV 1.89.1)
विश्वानि देव सवितर्दुरितानि परा सुव । यद्भद्रं तन्न आ सुव ॥
-- Savita! Send far away all evil; Send us what is good. (RV. 5. 82.5)
ॐ भूर्भुवः॒ स्वः । तत्स॑वितुर्वरे॑ण्यं । भ॒र्गो॑ दे॒वस्य॑ धीमहि। । धियो॒ यो नः॑ प्रचो॒दया॑त्॥ । ॐ
AUM|| We meditate on the Effulgent Lord, Who is the Creator of the entire Universe;
Who is worthy of Worship (varenyam) ; Who is the embodiment of Knowledge and Light (bhargo) May (He) enlighten our Intellect. || AUM|| (RV III 62.10)
This talk explains some characteristics of the Vedas, and then explains the Gayatri mantra.
The Vedas are the fountainhead of Hinduism and its ultimate sacred scriptures. These sacred books are the most ancient preserved literature of the world. It is difficult to say when exactly these works were composed. According to educated guess, these are more than seven to 8,000 years old.
The contents of these books are the records of the spiritual realisation of the sages of that period. Some of the mantras of the Vedas, including the Gaytri mantra are quite popular and are recited regularly by millions.
Everything of Hinduism, the grand old religion of the world, flows out of these sacred books, organised in four -- Rik, Sama, Yajur and Atharva. Composed and preserved in an oral tradition since ancient times, these contain in full the four aspects of religion - philosophy, mythology, rituals, and ethics. Most importantly, these contain the Upanishads, popularly known as Vedanta, which is the greatest philosophical system in the world.
The Vedas contain more than 20, 000 verses of varied lengths. The language used is very old and the mantras have profound meaning. This series of talks tries to give a simple overview of these sacred books.
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