Origin of Veda (With Proves from Shastras)

We are living in such an age, when we all are ignorant, ignorant of our true history. The situation becomes worse, when some with no or less knowledge present themselves to be the most knowledgeable, and misguide others.

Now days, many claim that Vedas are not divine. Everybody has their own arguments, but all such arguments are based on the assumptions that Koran and Bible are divine. It sounds pity, when I find people believe Koran and Bible (which came to the notice of human for just two or a thousand years) to be divine, but they can’t believe Vedas to be divine (which is with human from time immemorial). Here I am quoting the proves (pramans) from Vedas about it divinity.

Yajurveda/31/7

"TASMAT YAJAT SARVHUT RICHAH SAMANI JAJIRE CHHANDASI JAJIRE TASMAT YAJUSTASMADAJAYAT"

Tasmat= from Almighy God, Yajat=adorable, Sarvhutah= to whom everything is surrendered i.e., He is God. From this God Richah = Rig veda, Samamni= Saamveda, Jajire= are emanated. Tasmat= from the God, Chhandasi= Atharvaveda, Jajire= are emanated. Tasmat= from the God Yajuhu= Yajurveda, Ajayat=emanated.

Meaning – From Almighty God, to whom everything is surrendered, from this God, Rig Veda, Sam Veda, Atharva Veda and Yajurveda emanated

Similarly in Atharvaveda mantra 4/1/1 and 10/23/4/20 says that the Vedas are emanated from God. In chapter 31 of Yajurveda and mandal 10 of Rigveda it has been clarified that the knowledge of Vedas is given at the beginning of creation in unsexual creation.

Now the fundamental is this that until the knowledge is given by anybody, knowledge cannot be gained. So who was the first Guru at the beginning of the earth when unsexual creation was there ?

Yoga shastra sutra 1/26 (By Patanjali)

" SA ESHAH POORVESHAM API GURUHU KALENANVACHEDAT" 

Sa Eshah= He i.e., God(because this sutra is connected with previous one), Poorvesham api Guruhu = is Guru of the four ancient Rishis because God is away from Kalean i.e., death.

It means in the said creation there was no any Guru alive. So the God gave the knowledge of Vedas to the ancient Rishis.

After lapse of more than one arab 96 crore and 8 lakhs years i.e., upto Mahabharta period there were no shahstras, upnishads etc., and same were written by Rishis based on the knowledge of Four Vedas and this fact has clearly been mentioned by the Rishis in their shastras and upnishads and Geeta etc. Geeta shlok 3/15 refers.

Now the question may arise, who were the ancient Rishis to whom God passed on the Vedas.

Rig Veda/10/181/1

"PRATHASCH YASYA SAPRATHASCH NAAMANUSHTUBHASYA HAVISHO HAVIRYAT. DHATURDUTANATSAVITUSCH VISHNO RATHANTARMA JABHARAVASISHTHAHA" 

Anushtubhasya Yasya= anushtup ved vak i.e., Vedas' master Almighty God. So God's Yasya Havisha= Vedas and Vedas' Havihi special knowledge. Prathah sa prathah ch= disciple and Guru, Vasishtha= having the deepest knowledge of vedas called Brahma, Dhatuhu= i.e., from mantradrishta Agni, Dutanat= Vaayu Rishi, Savituhu= Aditya Rishi, Vishnoho= and Angira Rishi, Rathntaram Jabhara= the Brahma studied theVedas. 

Here Brahma means a man who took birth from parents, he studied Vedas from the said four Rishis. Yoga shastra sutra 1/7 wants proof of the truth. Vedas are self-proof Shastra, Upanishad, Geeta and Ramayan have been written by Rishi Munis within five to six thousand years whereas Vedas are eternal and in this creation Vedas originated in the heart of four Rishis cited above about one arab 96 crore 8 lakh 53 thousands years ago.

Manusmriti/1/23,

"AGNIVAAYURAVIBHAYSTU TRYAM BRAHM SANATANAM DUDOH YAJSIDHYARTHAMRIGYAJUHU SAAMLAKSHNAM"

Yajsidhartham= the God for Yajna and to spread knowledge of all matters etc., gave the Vedas' knowledge Agni-Vaayu-Ravibhya and from these Rishis the Brahma studied Rig, Yaju, Saam vedas, dudohah= just like milking of cow

Here three names are mentioned because of gyan ,karma and upasana, the three Vidya but the fourth Veda Atharvaveda originated in Angira Rishi is automatically held. But the Rigveda mantra cited above already says about four Rishis and then no need of shastra, upnishad etc., Vedas being self proof.

Now lets see, some other places where origin of Vedas are written.

[Chandogya Upanishad- Adhyay 4, Khanda 17, Mantras1 and 2]

"1. Prajapati brooded over the worlds, and from them thus brooded on he squeezed out the essences, Agni (fire) from the earth, Vayu (air) from the sky, Aditya (the sun) from heaven.

2. He brooded over these three deities, and from them thus brooded on he squeezed out the essences, the Rik verses from Agni, the Yagus verses from Vayu, the Saman verses from Aditya

A genuine question may arise, in the first verse we have discussed here from yajurveda, it is said, Vedas were emanated from God, and in the verse from Rig Veda, it is said that Brahma learned these Vedas from four Rishis, then how Prajapati is related to the origin of Vedas ?

It needs a detail study of various books. First of all, lets see what other verses of the same Upanishad says about Vedas.

Chandogya Upanishad/1/1/1

The syllable Om, called the Udgitha, should be meditated upon; for people sing the Udgitha, beginning with Om. Now follows the detailed explanation of the syllable:

Chandogya Upanishad/1/3/7

Ut is heaven, gi the mid—region and tha the earth. Ut is the sun, gi the air and tha fire. Ut is the Sama—Veda, gi the Yajur—Veda and tha the Rig—Veda. To him who thus meditates speech yields milk and milk is speech. He who knows this and meditates on the letters of the Udgitha becomes the possessor of food and the eater of food.

So what have we established so far - the heaven, Aditya & Sama Veda are at par. The middle air(region),vayu & Yajur Veda are at par. Earth, Agni and Rig Veda are par. These are the external symbols. The first verse asks one to meditate on OM, the chant of the Sama Veda (the highest abode of the 3 Vedas). Just like bhu,bhuvar and Swar being three rungs of the universe, the Rig, Yajur and Sama Vedas enable one to ascend to the highest abode of the imperishable ONE. 

Rig Veda 10/71 establishes and explains the eternal syllable. Similarly, Rig Veda 1/164/34 - 45 explain the eternal syllable and articulate that this syllable OM is the highest abode of the ONE. 

Rig Veda 1/164/45

The eternal syllable is measured in 4 quarters. Three quarters are concealed and cause no movement but fourth is THAT (TAT is the impersonal way of Vedic reference to the Brahman, TAT EKAM, that ONE) spoken by men.

Rig Veda 10/90/1 -16 (Purusha Sukta) describes the act of Supreme Consciousness where, the Supreme one, called the Purusha here, sacrifices 1/4th of Self and the remaining 3/4th of the one, oversee and perform the sacrifice. There is a kind of a triple principle at play here. The Supreme Consciousness is the object of sacrifice, the sacrifice itself and one that is executing the sacrifice. It is from this Purusha that all animate and inanimate things are born. This Purusha is the divine emanation. 

So,now we have established that Sama Veda is likened to heaven and Aditya, the Sama Veda is invoked by the eternal syllable OM. This primordial syllable is the Supreme abode of the ONE who created animate and inanimate things by self sacrifice. When the Lord decided to manifest this universe or in other words, when the Lord decided TO BE, he symbolically emerged from his golden embryo and this ONE, in this context is addressed as Prajapati (Lord of Beings)- Rig Veda 10/121/ 1 -10. 

Now let us flip back to where we started from, Chandogya Upanishad Chapter 4/17/ 1,2. It simply says that after brooding Prajapati,squeezed out the 3 Vedas from Agni,Vayu and Aditya. So who created the Vedas??? The Supreme Brahman

At another level, Rig Veda is the basis of the meditating/contemplating mind, the next level is the Yajur Veda and the ascension of this meditative thought leads to Sama Veda, invoked by OM, the abode of the Supreme ONE.

Here we reached at the conclusion that, Prajapati is non other then the Supreme Brahman. So there is no contradiction of what is said in yajurveda, and what is written in Chandogya Upanishad.

Shatapath Brahman (14:5:4:10) and Brihadaranyak Upanishad (2:4:10)

"As clouds of smoke proceed by themselves out of a lighted fire kindled with damp fuel, thus, verily, has been breathed forth from this Great Being what we have as Rig-veda, Yagur-veda, Sama-veda, Atharvangirasas, Itihasa (legends), Purana (cosmogonies), Vidya (knowledge), the Upanishads, Slokas (verses), Sutras (prose rules), Anuvyakhyanas (glosses), Vyakhyanas (commentaries)'. From him alone all these were breathed forth."

This Upanishad reaffirms what we saw earlier about Prajapati and the self sacrifice that the impersonal Brahman does to manifest life forms in the Rig Veda. Even within the same Upanishad, what I have quoted is in the context of a dialogue between Yagnavalka and Maitreyi.

But the seed of this verse (2/4/10) and the discussion point is established much earlier in the same Upanishad, 2/2/5. This expands the idea we saw in the Rig Veda and again reiterates that Prajapati gave rise to the Vedas. This Upanishad reaffirms the instance of the Supreme ONE, donning a material nature and by his potency or force, the ONE manifests this universe. Prajapati, in this Upanishad is likened to a symbolic horse that generates potent force. 

The bottom line, the verse 2/4/10 once again reaffirms that the Vedic hymns originated from Prajapti, the same Supreme Brahman. So the great being (call this ONE as Prajapati or Purusha or TAT EKAM),as the verse states, breathes, manifests everything including the Vedas. So now we have two confirmations that the Vedas emanated from the Supreme Brahman (from Chandogya Upanishad and the BrihadAranyak).

Atharvaveda 10/7/20

"Declare who is that Skambha, from whom they cut off the Rik verses; from whom they scraped off the Yajush; of whom the Saman verses are the hairs, and the verses of Atharva and Angiras the mouth"

What is Skamba? the Skamba is the cosmic pillar or limb. The hymns perceive the Supreme Consciousness as focal point of everything and as the cosmic pillar (Skhamba) that "supports" everything in this universe, the SELF of the universe. This SELF of the Universe is none other than the Supreme Brahman that manifested it. So again, from Atharvana Veda 10/7/20, we see that the Skamba, the SELF of the universe, is the Brahman from whom the Vedas were carved out. Again this establishes that the Supreme ONE is the source of the Vedas. 

Now we have clearly established that the Brahman is the source of the Vedas from the Chandogya Upanishad, the Brihadaranyak Upanishad and finally from the Atharvana Veda. To leave no doubts, I am furnishing a few of the hymns

1.      In which of his limbs does Fervor dwell?In which of his limbs is Order set?In what part of him abides Constancy, Faith ? In which of his limbs is Truth established? 

3. In which of his limbs does the earth abide?In which of his limbs the atmosphere?In which of his limbs is the sky affixed?  In which of his limbs the great Beyond? 

8. That which of all forms the Lord of Life Created–above, below, and in between With how much of himself penetrated the Support? How long was the portion that did not enter? 
[The part that did not enter, pertains to the 3/4th part of the transcendental ONE that sacrificed the 1/4th Purusha] 

15. In whom, as Man, deathlessness and death combine,To whom belong the surging ocean And all the arteries that course within him;Tell me of that Support who may he be? 

18. He whose head is Universal Fire,Who has for his eyes the Angirases And for his limbs the practitioners of sorcery– Tell me of that Support who may he be? 

21. The branch of Nonbeing which is far extending Men take to be the highest one of all.They reckon as inferior those who worship Your other branch, the branch of Being. 

22. In whom the Adityas, Rudras and Vasus,Are held together, in whom are set firm Worlds–that whch was and that which shall be Tell me of that Support who may he be? 

From above discussions, it is clear that, Vedas were generated from the God himself. There are no contradictory statements of the above in any other sources. Hence Vedas are divine.

(Merit of this article goes to Swami Ram Swarupji, Mushafiq Sultan and Apollorich)