धर्मत्रयी
श्रुति / śruti / स्मृति / smṛti / 'Purana' / 'पुराण'
--
In broad perspective, A Religion / धर्म is practiced in three ways :
1. As is revealed to one in terms of the inner voice of the soul.
2. As is expressed before someone other, in words so as to convey (about) the truth of it.
3. As is followed in tradition.
The genesis (उत्पत्ति-ग्रन्थ) of Religion / धर्म therefore has three aspects :
श्रुति / śruti / स्मृति / smṛti, and व्यवहार / Practice.
Veda / वेद is pure श्रुति / śruti, as is evident from the fact that it is the 'नाद' / 'word' literally so 'heard' in the 'heart' by the one who has arrived in the heart where this 'नाद' / 'word' is timelessly present without effort on the part of someone or something. This 'नाद' / 'word' is though the causeless source / origin of all the 'words' in any of the sounds, in human languages resembles to a great extent with the 'word'/ syllable 'Om' / 'ॐ'.
And more again, it is also not just a coincidence that all the religions of the Orient begin their spiritual and religious endeavor by uttering this word.
The vowel / word 'Omega' in the Greek and 'Amen' in the Latin, even in the Arabic and Persian too; are but cognates of this.
We can see how this single word syllable is capable of uniting the whole humanity in one thread of Harmony and Peace (Amen!).
The Veda is the essence of 'Om' / 'ॐ', but 'Om' / 'ॐ' is all that is Veda and beyond too.
This 'Spiritual' / 'Religious' feeling (a realization and revealing rather than an 'experience') is unique and the same for all and every-one who might come across it.
There is a lot that could be said about the etymology of the Veda / वेद, but that may be of interest for the scholars. Here I would like to go straight about the
स्मृति / smṛti.
The 'Spiritual' / 'Religious' feeling that one comes across as if 'heard' in the 'heart',
when conveyed to someone else in the words that are used by the human in their worldly conversation, is deformed and acquires the touch of the human mind that is impure, -not as pure, chaste and virgin as the 'heart' is timelessly so.
Thus, Veda / वेद, that is pure श्रुति / śruti, when transformed to the written 'text', gets somewhat deformed and becomes the स्मृति / smṛti, which loosely means the 'memory'.
The (Sanskrit) etymology of स्मृति / smṛti, could be traced to स्मृ / मृ which both mean 'transience' ; -that is repeated death and rebirth.
The English equivalent 'memory' is a perfect cognate (सज्ञाति) of the Sanskrit word मृ-म्रिय, which means 'to remember'. Again, this 'remember' too could be traced back to परिमृमीय, like most of the English words which are formed with the prefix 're', for 'परि' of the Sanskrit. As the two prefixes convey the same meaning, we can't doubt their authenticity.
--
The Texts (The written form of the Veda / वेद) has thus its own drawbacks, in that it carries two types of misunderstandings and misinterpretation.
The very first and the more important is the phonetic form.
The next one is the scriptural (script) form.
Of course, the phonetic form could be well preserved through oral tradition, the script / text form is likely to carry the various errors that come into because of many reasons.
Therefore a criteria was determined in two ways to minimize the errors that so creep in because of inadvertence on the part of the आचार्य / Predecessor (Master) and the disciple.
The two ways were :
1. The Devanagari script equipped with diacritical marks to show the exact intonation of the Veda / वेद, as it is the most important aspect of the scripture.
2. The 'Tamizh' script which debars one who does not deserve / not qualified for the Teaching.
So one should inevitably 'hear' the same from a Competent अधिकारी Master in his own voice.
Though both the written forms could serve well to the disciple only, its kind of a double-check that one undeserving may not receive the Veda / वेद .
For the laymen and the scholars both The authorities of this sacred knowledge Veda / वेद, the ऋषि / the sages however noted-down the essence of Veda / वेद in the form of स्मृति / smṛti, which from the Manu-smriti onward carry the essential teachings.
The श्रुति / śruti could never be 'translated' nor 'interpreted' and is to be taken / learned in the original form only preferably from a आचार्य / Predecessor (Master), the स्मृति / smṛti, could be used for a referential purpose and accordingly there are differences of opinions in the various स्मृति / smṛti.
These differences are also because of the particular 'streams' / वैदिक संप्रदाय / शाखा (branches)
Now we come across a rather interesting point.
Most of the Religious Books could be thought of as स्मृति / smṛti, and therefore there are apparent differences of opinion in them. They agree / disagree with the opinions of the other स्मृति / smṛti .
The next kind of tradition is basically a reflection of 'Gospel' That is again a cognate (सज्ञाति) of the Sanskrit word 'गल्प' / 'गल्पस्' / which took another turn as 'Gossip' as well.
Thus Ramayana and Mahabharata are Basically 'History' that could be hardly called 'Mythology' for the events narrated there correspond to the three levels of Existence; namely :
The Spiritual, The Supra-mental and the mental / physical.
The exact words for them in the Oriental Sanskrit are :
आध्यात्मिक, आधिदैविक, आधिभौतिक
respectively.
This Encyclopedia of Dharma is briefly addressed as 'Purana' / 'पुराण' also.
'Purana' / 'पुराण' again is timeless though written in the 'past-tense' just for the sake of it. For the convenience of the laymen and the erudite as well.
The 'Purana' / 'पुराण' is defined as 'What permeates the existence / What the existence is pevaded with.'
Gita Chapter 2 stanza 17 describes the nature of the indestructible Spirit of the existence.
Chapter 2, śloka 17,
avināśi tu tadviddhi
yena sarvamidaṃ tatam |
vināśamavyayāsya
na kaścitkartumarhati ||
--
(avināśi tu tat viddhi
yena sarvam idam tatam |
vināśam avyayasya asya
na kaścit kartum arhati ||)
--
Meaning :
Know that, That (Brahman), Which is imperishable pervades all this universe. No one is capable to destroy this imperishable principle, (Brahman).
--
अध्याय 2, श्लोक 17,
अविनाशि तु तद्विद्धि येन सर्वमिदं ततम् ।
विनाशमव्ययास्य न कश्चित्कर्तुमर्हति ॥
--
(अविनाशि तु तत् विद्धि येन सर्वम् इदम् ततम् ।
विनाशम् अव्ययस्य अस्य न कश्चित् कर्तुम् अर्हति ॥)
--
भावार्थ :
नाशरहित तो (तुम) उसको जानो जिससे यह सम्पूर्ण (दृश्य जगत् एवम् दृष्टा भी) व्याप्त है । स्वरूप से ही अविनाशी इस तत्व का जो सबसे / सबमें व्याप्त है, कोई कर सके, ऐसा सक्षम कोई नहीं है ।
--
This Dharma enunciated in 'Purana' / 'पुराण' is श्रौत धर्म which is but an off-shoot of the Veda / वेद, pure श्रुति / śruti through the स्मृति / smṛti .
श्रुति / śruti / स्मृति / smṛti / 'Purana' / 'पुराण'
--
In broad perspective, A Religion / धर्म is practiced in three ways :
1. As is revealed to one in terms of the inner voice of the soul.
2. As is expressed before someone other, in words so as to convey (about) the truth of it.
3. As is followed in tradition.
The genesis (उत्पत्ति-ग्रन्थ) of Religion / धर्म therefore has three aspects :
श्रुति / śruti / स्मृति / smṛti, and व्यवहार / Practice.
Veda / वेद is pure श्रुति / śruti, as is evident from the fact that it is the 'नाद' / 'word' literally so 'heard' in the 'heart' by the one who has arrived in the heart where this 'नाद' / 'word' is timelessly present without effort on the part of someone or something. This 'नाद' / 'word' is though the causeless source / origin of all the 'words' in any of the sounds, in human languages resembles to a great extent with the 'word'/ syllable 'Om' / 'ॐ'.
And more again, it is also not just a coincidence that all the religions of the Orient begin their spiritual and religious endeavor by uttering this word.
The vowel / word 'Omega' in the Greek and 'Amen' in the Latin, even in the Arabic and Persian too; are but cognates of this.
We can see how this single word syllable is capable of uniting the whole humanity in one thread of Harmony and Peace (Amen!).
The Veda is the essence of 'Om' / 'ॐ', but 'Om' / 'ॐ' is all that is Veda and beyond too.
This 'Spiritual' / 'Religious' feeling (a realization and revealing rather than an 'experience') is unique and the same for all and every-one who might come across it.
There is a lot that could be said about the etymology of the Veda / वेद, but that may be of interest for the scholars. Here I would like to go straight about the
स्मृति / smṛti.
The 'Spiritual' / 'Religious' feeling that one comes across as if 'heard' in the 'heart',
when conveyed to someone else in the words that are used by the human in their worldly conversation, is deformed and acquires the touch of the human mind that is impure, -not as pure, chaste and virgin as the 'heart' is timelessly so.
Thus, Veda / वेद, that is pure श्रुति / śruti, when transformed to the written 'text', gets somewhat deformed and becomes the स्मृति / smṛti, which loosely means the 'memory'.
The (Sanskrit) etymology of स्मृति / smṛti, could be traced to स्मृ / मृ which both mean 'transience' ; -that is repeated death and rebirth.
The English equivalent 'memory' is a perfect cognate (सज्ञाति) of the Sanskrit word मृ-म्रिय, which means 'to remember'. Again, this 'remember' too could be traced back to परिमृमीय, like most of the English words which are formed with the prefix 're', for 'परि' of the Sanskrit. As the two prefixes convey the same meaning, we can't doubt their authenticity.
--
The Texts (The written form of the Veda / वेद) has thus its own drawbacks, in that it carries two types of misunderstandings and misinterpretation.
The very first and the more important is the phonetic form.
The next one is the scriptural (script) form.
Of course, the phonetic form could be well preserved through oral tradition, the script / text form is likely to carry the various errors that come into because of many reasons.
Therefore a criteria was determined in two ways to minimize the errors that so creep in because of inadvertence on the part of the आचार्य / Predecessor (Master) and the disciple.
The two ways were :
1. The Devanagari script equipped with diacritical marks to show the exact intonation of the Veda / वेद, as it is the most important aspect of the scripture.
2. The 'Tamizh' script which debars one who does not deserve / not qualified for the Teaching.
So one should inevitably 'hear' the same from a Competent अधिकारी Master in his own voice.
Though both the written forms could serve well to the disciple only, its kind of a double-check that one undeserving may not receive the Veda / वेद .
For the laymen and the scholars both The authorities of this sacred knowledge Veda / वेद, the ऋषि / the sages however noted-down the essence of Veda / वेद in the form of स्मृति / smṛti, which from the Manu-smriti onward carry the essential teachings.
The श्रुति / śruti could never be 'translated' nor 'interpreted' and is to be taken / learned in the original form only preferably from a आचार्य / Predecessor (Master), the स्मृति / smṛti, could be used for a referential purpose and accordingly there are differences of opinions in the various स्मृति / smṛti.
These differences are also because of the particular 'streams' / वैदिक संप्रदाय / शाखा (branches)
Now we come across a rather interesting point.
Most of the Religious Books could be thought of as स्मृति / smṛti, and therefore there are apparent differences of opinion in them. They agree / disagree with the opinions of the other स्मृति / smṛti .
The next kind of tradition is basically a reflection of 'Gospel' That is again a cognate (सज्ञाति) of the Sanskrit word 'गल्प' / 'गल्पस्' / which took another turn as 'Gossip' as well.
Thus Ramayana and Mahabharata are Basically 'History' that could be hardly called 'Mythology' for the events narrated there correspond to the three levels of Existence; namely :
The Spiritual, The Supra-mental and the mental / physical.
The exact words for them in the Oriental Sanskrit are :
आध्यात्मिक, आधिदैविक, आधिभौतिक
respectively.
This Encyclopedia of Dharma is briefly addressed as 'Purana' / 'पुराण' also.
'Purana' / 'पुराण' again is timeless though written in the 'past-tense' just for the sake of it. For the convenience of the laymen and the erudite as well.
The 'Purana' / 'पुराण' is defined as 'What permeates the existence / What the existence is pevaded with.'
Gita Chapter 2 stanza 17 describes the nature of the indestructible Spirit of the existence.
Chapter 2, śloka 17,
avināśi tu tadviddhi
yena sarvamidaṃ tatam |
vināśamavyayāsya
na kaścitkartumarhati ||
--
(avināśi tu tat viddhi
yena sarvam idam tatam |
vināśam avyayasya asya
na kaścit kartum arhati ||)
--
Meaning :
Know that, That (Brahman), Which is imperishable pervades all this universe. No one is capable to destroy this imperishable principle, (Brahman).
--
अध्याय 2, श्लोक 17,
अविनाशि तु तद्विद्धि येन सर्वमिदं ततम् ।
विनाशमव्ययास्य न कश्चित्कर्तुमर्हति ॥
--
(अविनाशि तु तत् विद्धि येन सर्वम् इदम् ततम् ।
विनाशम् अव्ययस्य अस्य न कश्चित् कर्तुम् अर्हति ॥)
--
भावार्थ :
नाशरहित तो (तुम) उसको जानो जिससे यह सम्पूर्ण (दृश्य जगत् एवम् दृष्टा भी) व्याप्त है । स्वरूप से ही अविनाशी इस तत्व का जो सबसे / सबमें व्याप्त है, कोई कर सके, ऐसा सक्षम कोई नहीं है ।
--
This Dharma enunciated in 'Purana' / 'पुराण' is श्रौत धर्म which is but an off-shoot of the Veda / वेद, pure श्रुति / śruti through the स्मृति / smṛti .
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