Vedas kya hain?

Muh se kaan tak pahuncha gyaan

Veda shabd Sanskrit ke vid se bana, jiska matlab hai ‘gyaan’, jaise vidya mein. Chaar Vedas hain: Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama Veda aur Atharva Veda. Ye India ke sabse purane texts hain aur duniya ke sabse purane texts mein se hain.

Vedas hazaaron hymns se bane hain, yaani kavita aur geet ke roop mein prarthanayein, jo northwest ke Sapta Sindhava ilaake mein rache gaye. Ye bole jaate the, likhe nahi. Sabse purane Rig Veda ke liye experts ki taareekhein 5th se 2nd millennium BCE tak hain, isliye 100 se 200 peedhiyon tak ye hymns kadi training se yaad kiye gaye aur lagbhag bina badlaav ke aage badhe. Isiliye 2008 mein UNESCO ne Vedic chanting ko insaaniyat ki maukhik aur amoort dharohar ka shaandaar namoona maana.

Kisne rache, kiske liye

Hymns rishiyon, yaani purush drashtaon, aur rishikaon, yaani mahila drashtaon, ne Sanskrit ke ek shuruaati roop mein rache. Ye kai devtaon ko sambodhit the, jaise Indra, Agni, Varuna, Mitra, Sarasvati aur Ushas, jo rishiyon ke saath insaani zindagi aur brahmaand mein ritam, yaani satya aur vyavastha, banaaye rakhte the.

Vedas ka sandesh

Shuruaati rishi devi-devtaon ko alag-alag nahi, balki ek maante the. Ek mashhoor hymn kehta hai ekam sat vipra bahudha vadanti: jo param satya hai wo ek hai, par rishi use kai naam dete hain. Satya ek mukhya moolya tha, aksar Ishwar ka hi doosra naam, aur Rig Veda ke aakhri mantra logon se saath aane, saath bolne aur ek mann aur uddeshya rakhne ko kehte hain.

Vedic samaaj

Shuruaati Vedic samaaj janas yaani kulon mein bata tha. Sirf Rig Veda 30 se zyaada janas ginaata hai, jaise Bharatas, Purus, Kurus, Yadus aur Turvashas, har ek northwest ke kisi ilaake se juda. Unke shaasan ke baare mein kam pata hai, par raja (shaasak), sabha aur samiti (sabhayein) jaise shabd sanket dete hain. Texts kai peshon ka zikr karte hain: kisaan, bunkar, kumhaar, raajmistri, badhai, vaidya, nartak, naai aur pujaari.

Anushthaan, Upanishads aur naye schools

Vedic sanskriti ne yajna naam ke anushthaan banaaye, jise aksar ‘yagya’ padhte hain; aam taur par aag ke devta Agni ko prarthana aur arpan, jo samay ke saath jatil hote gaye. Upanishads naam ke texts ne Vedic vichaaron par aage badhkar naye vichaar diye, jaise punarjanm, yaani baar-baar janm lena, aur karma, yaani hamare kaam ya unke phal.

Vedanta naam ke school mein insaani zindagi, prakriti aur brahmaand ek divya saar hain, jise brahman kehte hain; ise devta Brahma se na milaayein. Har jeev mein basa atman, yaani Self, aakhir mein brahman se ek hai. Do mantra ise saral tareeke se kehte hain: aham brahmasmi, ‘main brahman hoon’, aur tat tvam asi, ‘tum wahi ho’. Agar sab ek hai to sab juda hai, aur isi se prarthana aati hai sarve bhavantu sukhinah, ‘sab jeev sukhi hon’. 1st millennium BCE ki shuruaat mein Vedas se aur schools bane, jaise Yoga, jisne apni chetna mein brahman ko anubhav karne ke tareeke banaaye. Milkar ye us cheez ki neev bane jise aaj hum Hinduism kehte hain.

Sawaal poochhti kahaniyan

Upanishads kahaniyon se sikhaate hain, jinme purush, mahilayein aur bachche sawaal poochhte hain:

• Shvetaketu: pita samjhaate hain ki jaise bargad ka beej poora ped chhupaaye rakhta hai, waise hi sab kuch ek sookshm saar se bana hai: ‘tum wahi ho’.
• Nachiketa: wo maut ke devta Yama se baar-baar poochhta hai ki maut ke baad kya hota hai, aur seekhta hai ki atman na janm leta hai na marta hai.
• Gargi: ek rishika, jo Raja Janaka ke darbaar mein rishi Yajnavalkya se tab tak sawaal karti hai jab tak wo brahman nahi samjhaate.

Jin schools ne Vedas nahi maane, unke baare mein padho Buddhism aur Jainism mein. Textbook ke sawaalon ke jawab Chapter 7 ke NCERT solutions mein hain; poore chapter ke liye Chapter 7 ke notes.