Mandukya Karika Lecture 005 on 23 June 2021

Full Transcript(Not Corrected)

Om Jananim Sharadam Devim Ramakrishnam Jagadgurum Pada Padme Tayo Shritva Pranamami Muhur Muhur Om Bhadram Kanne Vishrunuyama Devaah Bhadram Pashye Maakshabhirya Jatraah Sthirai Rangai Stushtu Vaakum Sastanu Bhi Vyashema Deva Hi Tanyadayu Swasthina Indro Vriddha Shravaha Swasthina Poosha Vishwa Vedaha Swasthina Starkshu Arishta Nimi Swasthino Brihaspati Dadadu Om Shanti Shanti Shanti Swamiji is being muted, please unmute Swamiji Om Shanti Shanti Shanti Hare Om So we continue to delve deep into this Mandukya Upanishad and what did we discuss in our last class? The last point, why does man seek liberation? First answer is, that's because it is his real nature and everybody seeks to know himself and to be himself that's called Moksha, liberation, freedom Second reason is, until there is a lot of background noise going on I don't know who is making that blessed noise Will you please mute yourself? Have you all muted yourself? Alright, hope it will not come Oh my God, is it alright? First reason why man seeks liberation is because that is his nature and what is his nature? Complete freedom Parama Sukha Brahmananda Therefore he seeks it, he is helpless Today or tomorrow, whether he tries or not, he is going to attain it but until he attains it, he has to go through all the sufferings that are endemic, natural to what he is not, Anatma What is Anatma? Deha, body, mind and then the entire universe along with the body and mind complex and we discussed that man seeks freedom Freedom is sought only for one reason, bondage Without bondage, there is no need If one is free, he doesn't seek it If a person is rich, he will not want to be rich If a person is not hungry, he doesn't want to eat That is the nature Now we talked about two sources of, types of bondage Sufferings due to prarabdha, our own karma done in the past Second, existential suffering One of the important points we have to clear here is what is the relationship between what we call between the existential suffering and also prarabdha karma Is existential suffering only suffering? No, here suffering means both sukha and dukkha but mostly it is bondage Prarabdha karma also, it means only both happiness and unhappiness They all come together One cannot be understood without the other So what is the relationship? Existential suffering, if it is hot summer If it is cold winter If it is heavy, insect infested, heavy rains This is common to all people wherever it occurs, all over the globe Then what is the relationship with the prarabdha karma? Well, if somebody has done a good karma If it is too hot, he will have AC If it is too cold, he will have a heater and he will have all the comforts which a person who doesn't have, who can't afford he cannot be having and this amount of sukha and dukkha that is called prarabdha It is inevitable, unavoidable and that comes with birth and it goes only with birth Now we have to understand prarabdha karma, each one's prarabdha karma is limited only to that particular life Next birth, again it depends upon what this person has given utilizing the opportunity he has given So this is what the scriptures give us the answer Each soul is potentially divine but for some mysterious power of maya you come to consider yourself as non-atman, anatma considering I am the body, I am the mind I am an object, I am subject to change I am limited, alpanya, alpashaktimaan, etc So the nature doesn't allow a person to keep quiet He has to go, move forward and that is what I said the evolutionary escalator We are all this inescapable evolutionary escalator Then where is the place for self-effort? Well, you have seen escalators Some people will be sitting Some people will be standing Some people will be running up and down because they have to catch their earlier plane So we have got a limited amount of freedom within the escalator and if we can utilize it then mysteriously the escalator will give us much more freedom so that we can reach our goal in a better way And how to do it? That's where the scriptures step in Today I am going to talk about scriptures and there is some partial or misunderstanding about scriptures I am going to talk about them Indian scriptures are called Vedas Veda at the beginning was only one vast collection, mass of knowledge So many Rishis and in Satya Yuga so many more Rishis seems to have been produced their realizations are being propagated at that time and a vast mass of knowledge had gathered in it became too much for ordinary people to digest Now what is a Veda? The word Veda comes from the root Vid Vid means to know To know what? To know something which is beyond our five sensory knowledges In fact I will be talking about this most wonderful topic What is knowledge? How is it properly obtained? And how do we know we have obtained it? And what are the means through which they are obtained? And in brief they are called Pramanas So there are six Pramanas only I am telling you briefly now and the last Pramana is called Shabda Pramana means Vedas Shabda means the expressions of the experiences of realized souls that is what has come to be known as a scripture Unfortunately at some point of time our ancient Rishis had drawn a line and said those who had really realized this truth that is partial first of all secondly it cannot be expressed and so they have put a line and said in future we don't know what is going to happen we will draw a line and from now onwards even if a realized soul's experiences are there we will only categorize them, classify them under Smriti not Shruti So at some point of time this mass became too much for any one particular individual at that time God incarnated himself Narayana incarnated in the form of Veda Vyasa Krishna Dvaipayana He was called Krishna because he was black jet black in fact and he was called Dvaipayana Dvaipa means an island because he happened to be born in an island His father was Parashara Rishi and he was one of the most respected Rishis at that time So this Parashara Rishi had brought up his son and endowed him with all the knowledge that was available at that time He was in fact a living, moving encyclopedia That's why we see him appearing and reappearing in the scenes of Mahabharata again and again just to advise the Kauravas on the path of what is righteousness and what is not righteousness This Krishna Dvaipayana looked at and realized that I have a mission to fulfill What is that? I must first of all gather all the knowledge Why? Because so much of knowledge because of selfishness because of natural disasters because of untimely death so many people had before they could share it with others it was lost forever So Veda Vyasa like Max Muller collected all the knowledge available at that time and divided it into four parts Why four you may ask? Because he had four disciples and then one-one part imparted to one-one disciple and commanded them you go and distribute it among your disciples who will be even less receptive and capable than you So they started distributing it breaking it into pieces and in course of time we have lost so much I will also come to that point Now these four Vedas are originally only one and each Veda was divided into four parts The first one is called Mantra second part is called Brahmana third part is called Haranyaka and the fourth part is called Upanishad What is the methodology followed for dividing every Veda into four parts? Mantra is the original realization and expression of the Rishi Brahmana nothing to do with modern Brahmin who is born in the family of a Brahmin Here Brahmana means that which elaborates the mantras gives it practical shape and indicates methodology how we can worship gods or contemplate gods how a fire in those Vedic days fire ritual was very very popular how each mantra has to be utilized in what order and what needs to be offered unto the fire etc. all these elaborated details plus what does a person gain by performing any particular ritual all these are comprised in what is called Brahmana and then comes a third part when a person had fulfilled his desire as I mentioned earlier he had crossed the necessity of Artha distress and the stage of Artharthi I am lacking something I am unhappy I want to gain something more a person has sufficient happiness from within himself and then he says I want to know what is that by knowing which I can be completely freed from the thralldom of the Samsara I can know what I am because that's what he learnt already so that inquiry state is called Jignasa and that is when a person slowly withdraws from all externalities and focuses his mind upon contemplations of the highest truth remember here a Vanaprasthi is not contemplating like Grihastha Grihastha also contemplates he is not contemplating on the fulfillment of worldly desires but is contemplating on aspects of God in order to gain self-knowledge and become free and a time will come these Vanaprasthis usually used to retire into solitary places and they are called Aranyakas and in those days it was full of forests solitary spaces where it is not easy to find them out or to disturb them or they will not be disturbed is called Aranyaka so big Upanishads like Prahedaranyaka, Chandogya in fact Prahedaranyaka only because it was taught in the forest because it was such a huge Upanishad even to teach it a person has to live in the forest for many many years and that's why they used to go there live with the Guru now spiritual Guru not ordinary Gurukula Guru and then they used to learn these things such a person is called Vanaprasthi and these sacred Upanishads used to be taught and when sufficient faith is developed and yogyata, fitness is developed then they used to completely renounce the world and society honoured them provided for them the minimal needs and then they are called Sannyasins and what they do is study, meditate and come to know what they are that is called Upanishads now Vedas are also called Shrutis and here is some mystery I would like to place it before you now Shruti means that which is heard that which is heard is called Shruti now what does it mean? when a person sits when a Rishi sits in meditation does he someone whisper him or does he God hear the voice of God yes that is what we say but that is not the complete explanation now I will tell you what it is each one of us have got five sense organs and within each one of us all of us in all of us every sense organ is not dominant usually in some the eye is dominant usually they become painters and they recognize faces very quickly and they enjoy natural sceneries etc. that is their speciality unfortunately or fortunately some people are endowed not with the eyesight but with the power of hearing they can remember names they can remember the telephone numbers very easily they can remember the quotations from the scriptures profusely and instantaneously they can become great musicians remember music doesn't depend upon seeing it depends only upon hearing mainly whether it be instrumental or vocal now these are the two things when a Rishi had that deep spiritual experience we have to understand he doesn't sit there and experience somebody coming and revealing something showing something or somebody shouting something that's not what happens so what experience a Rishi had in the depths of, in the caves of his heart through prolonged contemplation on Bhagawan in different forms such a person becomes absorbed and he has an experience this is called ineffable experience ineffable means inexpressible it is beyond mind beyond speech much less beyond what we can express so such a person when his mind comes down from that highest state to the lowest state then either it comes through the channel of sight or it comes through the channel of the ears that is to say his experience coalesces into memory and that memory is either remembered either in the form of sound or in the form of sight if it is in the form of sound it is called Shruti if it is in the form of sight it is called Darshana. In any case that knowledge remains in the memory in the form of certain sounds that's why it is not a proper context for me to go into Tantra has dealt with these things very beautifully and see maybe a few of you are familiar with these words but I will just maintain. Whenever a Tantric deeply contemplates on these Yantras symbols symbolizing the highest truth so whenever there is a home Kunda either done on a piece of sand or on a copper plate or a silver plate golden plate etc. for example Sri Chakra you will see a lot of triangles and squares and then rectangles and then half lotuses etc. you will see all of them but if you observe carefully there will be a triangle at the middle of it and in that triangle there would be a spot that is called Bindu and that is the origin from there the entire what you call this spot this sound comes it and when this sound emerges and the first thing that comes is called Para, supreme it is beyond the mind it cannot be expressed the second stage is called Pashyanti, it is in the form of very abstract idea and it further grossifies and enters into the mind in the form of thoughts, in the form of ideas and that is called Madhyama and when someone is capable of expressing it, it is called Vaikhari that is in the form of uttered speech and there also conditions are there the person must utter the correct words and they must be pronounced properly that is why if you notice in the Gurukula the first thing the Guru teaches is how to pronounce without the slightest mistake that's why our Vedas which are of 1000 years old are coming down through Karna Parampara not Mahabharata Karna here Karna means the year Guru utters it into the ears of the student and when the student is capable of becoming a Guru in his own right then he utters it in the form of sound to his disciples so this is called Karna Parampara a tradition of passing knowledge from the mouth of the teacher into the ear of the student etc. it has come unchanged and the secret why it was not changed is that there is a verse if you change even half a syllable then your 14 generations will go to the other place and then will be roasted again and again not once but many times and of course I am making too much of it but really what it means is this kind of fear is put into the hearts of people and they had sufficient Shraddha in their Gurus so unbrokenly it is coming down, you cannot simply learn it by reading a book because notations are there there is Udadtha, Anudadtha, Anuswara, Swaritha, everything is there but you have to hear it at least for some time from a qualified Guru and that's why it sounds so marvellous and this is called Samaveda chanting most often I will come to that point but this is called Gregorian music and when a Mulla is uttering prayer it has a relationship with this kind of music which is very uplifting in effect if somebody utters it solemnly. Anyway, what are we talking about? I am talking about Shruti and then the disciple hearing it and many people hear it from the mouth of the Guru and some of them may not be qualified so they will either forget or they do not realise what the Guru told them so they remain maybe a bit advanced but not much but there are some who understand it better and they feel an urge to explain it further so what they heard from their Gurus, they try to explain in the form of stories, parables, historical incidents, trying to illustrate them so that people who read them or listen to them will be able to understand properly in fact that's what I am trying to do right now through all these illustrations etc is meant only for that purpose facility of understanding that's one thing I always insist upon when you talk to somebody whatever be the subject first you have to know and then you must have that capacity to address whomsoever you are addressing so that there is no doubt is left out in the minds of the hearers, otherwise your time his time, everybody's time is completely wasted so then this disciple basing having complete faith he elaborates it and then expands it and that came to be known as Smriti Smriti means memory what does memory has got to do with it, first of all the Guru tells him, you commit it to memory, whatever I utter to you and in the olden days his disciples used to commit memory, their portion of the Veda and which would be their main stay for participating in the rituals and for recitation and also for teaching to their own students now this Smriti means memory and memory was very sharp in those days, again for two reasons, one reason is there was not so much distracting sounds and other types of knowledge, that is one reason, second because even if they are clever even if they are rich people the number of objects which they can enjoy at that time are totally limited, therefore they tended to be more philanthropic, distribute their wealth, keep only what is necessary, so their memories used to be fresh and very accurate and Sriram Krishna's memory is called Ekashruti Dhara, also Swami Vekananda so we can infer whether it is Jesus, Buddha Krishna, Rama they all had that tremendous memory, I am just citing a curious instance Shankaracharya had tremendous memory, that's why when you study Bhashya's commentaries you will see, you know in that Satchand, Satcha Upanishad and it is mentioned here in Mahabharata it is mentioned, Bhagavad Gita is mentioned vast are the number of scriptures he had studied kept in memory and we have to wonder how he remembers as though it is just one paragraph earlier, even page has not been turned, he is just looking at it and quoting it such is the power of this Shankaracharya, Ramanujacharya Madhvacharya, etc. great souls we have to admire now coming back to our subject so this Smriti was very fresh and Smriti or memory is intimately connected with other four things, I have mentioned it earlier but the memory being what it is I am going to repeat it, first of all interest if there is a proportionate to the interest only will be the memory, memory will be proportionate to the interest, second will be concentration the more we are interested the more will be the distraction the less will be the distraction and the more will be the concentration third will be the joy that comes out of it, so these four aspects interest, concentration joy of course memory whatever we are interested in that will be firmly impressed, deeply impressed in the mind and these ancient people most of them, they had no other goal excepting God realization and therefore their memory was very strong and they are joyful they are interested and thanks for that they are getting what we are getting today because of all these things and they did not have any copyrights sometimes we do not even know their names etc so this is one type of literature it is called secondary literature it is called Smriti and under the broad category of Smritis Puranas are there Dharmashastras are there Dictionaries are there Etymologies are there Vedas are there so many things are there all fall under what category very important thing is even professions which householders are supposed to learn from their gurus they are also included in the Vedas because the ultimate goal of any profession is to live a happy life here to be a good householder successful householder progress in life become a successful Vanaprasthi a successful Sanyasi and a successful God realized soul called Athyashrami so this is very important point we have to keep it in mind Shruti and Smriti Shruti is a direct experience expressed through the mouth of the Rishis such a person who had such kind of realization they are called Rishi it comes from the root Rishati means he who knows not by hearsay but by direct realization he is also called Shrotriya he is also called Mantravit so he is the real Gnani in fact I tend to call him like to call such a person Vignani he is not merely learning from somebody but he directly perceived it, proved it to be true and then propagated it out of infinite compassion because he becomes like God by knowing about God Shruti and Smriti are there then afterwards there are other type of Itihasas etc have come and then we know all those things I will not go into deep details of these things by this time you should be knowing there are 36 Puranas and Veda Vyasa was supposed to be the author of all these things, 18 main Puranas and 18 Upa Puranas or smaller Puranas and all these Puranas in a general way have been divided into 3 categories those who extolled Shiva called Shaiva Puranas those who extolled Devi, they are called Devi Puranas and those who extoll Vishnu, they are called Vishnu Puranas, so one Purana or the other will be extolling one of the aspects of the God, remember that anybody can reach God realization through any aspect of God even if somebody is worshipping a snake or a tree or a bird or a piece of stone if a piece of stone can take one to God realization why not a living bird a living mouse, a living lion, a living cow etc. so this is what we have to understand now I am going to tell you something very very important before that I want to add something so this Smritis in course of time gave birth of course Smritis they are not primary scriptures they totally depend upon the primary scriptures called Smritis and if any Smriti departs or it differs from the Smritis or Vedas we have to discard it mercilessly as worthless Smriti is the absolute authority everything that is called what is called the knowledge that can be obtained only through direct realization when it comes to the discussion about Pramanas I am going to come to that point now first I said Vedas are vast, are they really vast and Swami Vekananda helps us in this respect no Vedas are not at all vast ok now Swami Vekananda's complete works as of date we have got nearly 10 volumes and there is material probably for another one or two volumes more I don't know but in course of time it may expand also so this is all Veda Smriti, is it? No is it all Smriti? No so what is the Veda here? Swami Vekananda clarifies that point to us let me first give you a little example the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna runs to more than 1000 pages each complete work of Swami Vekananda is around 500, 550, 60 pages etc. so that means two volumes of the complete works of Swami Vekananda form one complete Gospel the whole Gospel is the talks, the conversations is the advice that Sri Ramakrishna had given to his various devotees accepting a little bit of descriptions it is evening so many people are present temple servants are hurrying to prepare for the evening Arathrikam such kind of details if we exclude I am sure at least 6 to 700 pages of pure teachings of Sri Ramakrishna would come to our rescue now, there is a curious fact at one time Swami Sarvagatanandaji was the head of our Boston Centre in USA and he has specially contributed some money to publish a special edition of the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna which is called Red Colour Highlighted Gospel what is its speciality only the words of Sri Ramakrishna have been printed in red colour and everything else is in normal colour and if we extract all those reddish coloured highlighted teachings then we will get 5 to 600 pages I am sure about it, something like that now the entire teaching of Sri Ramakrishna is stemming from his own realizations even though he studied he heard, not studied but he heard from many people he understood, he had that capacity to understand, all these things were there, but the most important thing for us to understand is that he expressed it in contemporary language and changed its practicability to suit the modern needs that is important out of these 500 or 600 pages of pure teachings of Sri Ramakrishna how much can be considered as Veda, as I mentioned earlier whatever falls from the mouth of these great souls, it is called Veda, and to understand this, I will give you again, take you back to Swami Vivekananda Swami Vivekananda's complete verse consists of more than 6000 pages and then he had a special delivery of Raja Yoga talks, and then this has been transcribed and published as a book and in the very beginning of this book, there are four sentences each soul is potentially divine, the goal is to manifest this divinity within by controlling nature external and internal, do this either by work or worship or psychic control or philosophy by one or more of these and be free, this is the whole of religion, doctrines dogmas, temples, churches books, ceremonies, all these are secondary details, four sentences now, the first three sentences, first sentence is called Tattva, second sentence is called Purushartha third sentence is called Hitha, this is the essence of Vedas, should be the essence of the Vedas what is Tattva, what is the truth, this truth cannot be obtained by the five sense organs therefore only a Rishi whose mind is left far behind and his soul alone travels and experiences itself and then by God's will comes back and again through the instrumentality of the mind, expresses his experience they are called Vedas and that is what this is, these three truths are, each soul is potentially divine, no amount of sensory knowledge five sense organs can never give us the knowledge that we are all potential on the contrary the more we depend upon them the more they reinforce Mahamaya and say you are the body you are the body, you are the mind you are the body, you are the mind so this is first Vedic truth, second Vedic truth is if this is true, what should be the only goal of life or inevitable goal of life, inescapable goal of life, you are helpless like a mighty stream carrying small twigs on its surface we are all helpless and that is called the second Purushartha Purushartha gradually first you cater to your body, cater to your mind, do only righteously but there is only one Purushartha really speaking and that is called Moksha and that is what the second Mahavakya of Swami Vivekananda which I call Vedic Vakya, Shruti first is Shruti, second Vakya is also Shruti then there must be a way any amount of sensory knowledge will not tell us then who can tell us one Rishi comes and tells I followed Karma Yoga, I reached the goal another Rishi comes and says I followed Bhakti Yoga reached the same goal realized God, third Rishi comes and says I followed Jnana Yoga and realized God fourth Rishi comes and says I followed the path of Yoga and realized the same goal, another Rishi modern Rishi comes and says I followed all the devotional paths that are enumerated in Hinduism I followed Tantras I followed Vedanta I followed Bhakti Marga I followed also Dvaita Vishishta Dvaita and Advaita, I followed Christianity, I followed Islam and through all these paths I have realized God this authoritative statement cannot be made by a person who has not reached the goal that is why that is also part of the Vedas so this is how we get these three things, with this introduction I am going to quote from one of the most marvelous talk Swami Vivekananda has given at the Parliament of Religions and there he compares Sri Ramakrishna to something unique, I better read out so that we all enjoy it, this is from Hinduism and Sri Ramakrishna by the word Shastra, scriptures the Vedas without beginning or end are meant, in matters of religious duty the Vedas are the only capable authority the Puranas and other religious scriptures are all denoted by the word Smriti and their authority goes so far as they follow the Vedas and do not contradict them Swami Vivekananda continues truth is of two kinds one, that which is cognizable means obtainable by the five ordinary senses of man and by reasonings based there upon right knowledge even in worldly affairs also and that is called science, science means irrefutable knowledge we derive through our five sense organs why? because sometimes our five sense organs can also mislead us and many times we it is misled and second type of truth is there, that which is cognizable by the subtle super sensuous power of yoga, knowledge acquired by the first means is called science and knowledge acquired by the second is called the Vedas the whole body of super sensuous truths having no beginning or end and called by the name of Vedas is ever existent this is very important that means truth is eternal and that is why when we study further, I am going to deal with it when I start the Upanishad, all the knowledge that we get is of limited knowledge depends upon the instrument and the knower modified, limited by time space and causation and then it is ever changing but the truth is ever existing it has no beginning no end and called by the name of Vedas is ever existent that's why Vedas are Anadi that's why Vedas are called Apaurusheya Apaurusheya means that which has been created by the human mind human intellect Apaurusheya means no a human being merely made himself a proper conduit and by the grace of God, the truth a little bit of that truth reflected itself in the purified intellect of this sadhaka or saint and that is his particular contribution to the world of pure knowledge the whole body of super sensuous truths having no beginning or end and called by the name of Vedas is ever existent the creator himself that means Brahma is creating preserving and destroying the universe with the help of these truths so what was Swamiji talking about is four Vedas, who is the creator? Brahma, why Brahma? because four Vedas are called Brahma another name for Veda is Brahma that's why Brahma has got four faces representing four Vedas so the person the creator, how is he creating this world? by the help of the truths which are manifest now in the realm of duality in the form of these Vedic truths, preserving and destroying the universe with the help of these truths, the person in whom this super sensuous power is manifested is called a Rishi and the super sensuous truths which he realizes by this power are called the Vedas, what does it mean? only when a person is a Rishi and when we say here is a saint, you must mean that he is a realized soul and such a person can be called he is a Yogi he is a Sanyasi he is a Rishi, so a Rishi is a mantra drashta, mantra means truth, a seer of truth is called Rishi, vishati janate through anubhava through experience, anubhuti and what type of anubhuti not paroksha anubhuti aparoksha anubhuti direct experience and this point also I will elaborate because we say I saw with my own eyes and then in between there is atmosphere, there is light and there is what is called the health of the eyes, then the nervous system, then the distorted, colored, impure mind, so many things are there, by that time the mind interprets and presents it to us, it is not once paroksha but 100 times over it becomes paroksha, indirect but Rishi he goes beyond the mind and then when he comes down he becomes one when he experiences that and when he comes down that highest truth which is himself is now reflecting in his purified mind so that he should be able to express it to other struggling, wending their way to God, human souls, so Swamiji continues this Rishihood, this power of super sensuous perception of the Vedas, that is the real religion, what is religion? Religion is the realization of God, religion is the realization of the super sensuous truths, religion is the realization that I am Brahman and there is no other other than me and the whole world is also Brahman and that is called religion, the authority of the Vedas extends to all ages, climes and persons, that is to say their application is not confined to any particular place, time and persons I am giving my commentary because these are profound truths one Rishi is expressing about the himself and other Rishis, the authority of the Vedas, see the authority of science, what is that? There are certain things called axiomatic truths 2 plus 2 is 4 3 plus 3 is 6, 3 into 3 is 9 nobody can change them these are given truths the whole modern science in fact is based upon this mathematics which is expressed in the form of these axiomatic truths, ok, that is a different issue altogether this is the highest truth and truth never changes, therefore truth is the authority 100 billion years ago, now or a billion billion years hence in the future because that which never changes is the only authority and what is it that never changes? God, another name for truth Sathya is God therefore the authority of God nobody will deny nobody can deny the Vedas are the only exponent of the universal religion and those who follow the Vedas in the right way, study them in the right way, study them under the guidance of a right teacher and understand them rightly, they are exponents of universal religion, what is universal religion? All paths are leading to God a brahmachari, a brahasta, a vanaprastha, a sanyasi, a christian, a hindu, a buddhist, a muslim, a jio everybody is only running towards, moving towards only God, karma yoga, bhakti yoga, raja yoga, jnana yoga are also taking one to that God only, so every stage of development is a path that is taking every creature to its real swaroopa, that is the grace of God, that is called prakriti and I call it evolutionary escalator The Vedas being the first, the most complete and the most undistorted collection of spiritual truths, deserve to occupy the highest place among all scriptures, command the respect of all nations of the earth and furnish the rationale of all their respective scriptures, every other scripture whether it is Koran, whether it is Bible, whether it is Guru Granth Sahib, they all have to bow down to the highest truth which is called the Veda, but nobody should mistake these sentences to mean, by Veda it means Hindu scriptures, every scripture has come from God by Veda is meant God, therefore God is the highest authority and the moment they deviate it and try to interpret it according to their peculiar constitution of the minds they can distort and then they can destroy people they can become fanatics and they can mislead people and they can bring about rivers of blood, wars in the name of God in the name of religion and all these things there are so many points to be told, I will stop here so that as agreed as the license agreement is there, we can have some clarification but please be very brief your question itself should not take such a long time, if you are taking long time, it means you have not even thought about the problem and much less, if you have thought about the proof is, you should be able to put it in the simplest terms, shortest terms, words that's possible May Ramakrishna Holy Mother and Swami Vekananda bless us all with Bhakti anyone? go ahead