By Pramod Saini
Drashtavya jagat ka yathartha; Two volumes; by Om Prakash Pandey; pp 288 (vol. I); 280 (vol. II); Price Rs 300 each vol.
What is the significance of the Vedas, Puranas, Upanishads and other ancient Indian scriptures in today'scontext? Are they relevant today? When, how and from where this universe came into existence? What is the secret behind the shining sun and moon as well as the twinkling stars? What is galaxy or universe? How, when and from whom were they originated and how long will they exist? Such complicated questions have been agitating the human minds for centuries. Undoubtedly, various scholars in different phases of time have tried to answer these questions at their own level, still there exit queries and confusion. Although westerners might be seeking their answers, we in India know that all these questions have been answered in our ancient scriptures. But we continue to ignore those scriptures. Whenever any western scholar comes out with a new ?invention?, we say this has already been said in our Vedas, etc. Shri Om Prakash Pandey, the author of Drashtavya Jagat ka Yathart, has tried to find out the reasons behind this ignorance. Shri Pandey has also answered most of these queries citing references from the modern science in his two-volume book. Originally the book written in Hindi, is in the process of translation into English and some other Indian languages.
The author defines the references revealed in the Vedas, Puranas, Upnishadas, etc. in today'sperspective. The nine forms of the goddess Durga, worshiped in India as the forms of shakti, have been defined with the nine forms of energy?potential, kinetic, nuclear, thermal, magnetic, chemical, sound, light and electricity, as defined by the modern science today. According to Valmiki Ramayana (shloka 16/17, sarga 37 of Balkanda) Agnidev due to the uncertainties of Parvati'sconceiving, had implanted that foetus into the womb of Ganga. This is how a surrogate mother (Ganga) delivered the first test tube baby of the world in the form of first son (Skanda) of Lord Shiva and Parvati.
Similarly, unearthing the cover from modern clone system or designer baby, Shri Pandey quotes from Mahabharata, which says Rishi Vyasa, while dividing the foetus of Gandhari into hundred pieces, kept them into separate pots and subsequently they were implanted into the wombs of various queens of king Dhratarashtra. It was because of those foetuses, one hundred Kaurvas with similar character were born. Similarly the akshya patra, granted by Lord Sun to Yudhishtar during the first phase of exile, was also no less than today'smobile solar fridge, which kept the fruits and food fresh for long time.
The author says the vision and sight that was needed to understand the proper meaning of the Vedic hymns had been hampered in India for many centuries. The western oriented new generation of so-called Indian scholars find themselves uncomfortable to understood the knowledge of old Indian scriptures in right perspective, because of educational structure provided to them were designed by the Britishers to protect their colonial interest. The Vedas talk about the absolute truth while the science look at every problem into pieces. What Newton said Einstein invented beyond it and that too has now gone beyond with changing concept by the Hawkins.
The author says the devtas mentioned in the Vedas were invisible powers that control or energise the human kind and other species. They were not in the human form but they are the eternal powers and are still in the universe. ?The confusion developed after the historic figures naming in the Puranas were connected with the name of devtas revealed in the Vedas. In fact, the foreigners took advantage of this confusion and jeered over our ancient knowledge. Even the Sanskrit grammar developed by Rishi Panini during the Shungvansh period does not fully explain the knowledge of the Vedas, as he was born centuries after the revelation and composition of the Vedas. Panini himself claimed that 18 grammartarians had been before him. Out of those 18 grammartarians, Yask was the oldest. And Yask too said that there had been 12 grammartarians before him. The niruktas and nighuntas composed by Yask explain the meaning of the Vedic hymns to a great extent,? the author claims.
?In the Vedas, the meaning of the word sahastra is more than the particular number. But in the Panini grammar it means thousand. Similarly samudra word has been used in the Vedas for space. But in Panini grammar it means sea. It is believed that the earth has been developed by Lord Barah. It does not mean that Lord Vishnu emerged with the earth in the form of a Barah. Basically the word, Barah, has been used in Vedas for the thing that eats water i.e. cloud. The modern science also named the cloud composed by a cosmic dust as nebula. Indeed, the clouds of cosmic dust after transactions of millions of years produce galaxy, various planets, stars, etc. NASA has recently put up some telescoping pictures of the primary form of nebula, which surprisingly looks like a horse-head, on its website. This is what the first incarnation of Lord Vishnu, as per Puranas, who is also believed as horse-head, is regarded,? the author says. Explaining it further he added that during the Vedic period there were 108 alphabets in the grammar, which with the passage of time reduced to 78 then 64 during the Yask period and further reduced to 53 during the Panini period. Now they have further been reduced to 48 in Devanagari, 32 in Arabic, 26 in Roman and only two words (vit and bytes) in computer. Today'scomposition of alphabets is not sufficient to explain and define the accurate meaning of the Vedas and thereby lead to confusion.
Without properly knowing the language and deciphering inability of code most people today call the Vedas full of incoherent things. The author says that time has come to clear this confusion with deep, concentrated and scientific study of the Vedas by the researcher in real task of content available in Vedas. The manuscript of this book was evaluated by the late Dr Vidya Niwas Mishra, the renowned scholar in Sanskrit, Hindi and English.
Dr L.M. Singhvi, noted scholar, in the preamble of the book describes it as a unique Vedant of Indian culture. ?In this background the explanations by Shri Pandey seems miracles that develop attractions. ?the innumerable references of Indian literature, philosophy, Puranas, traditions, geography, history and Sanskrit used in the book appear an encyclopaedia,? Dr Singhvi said.
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