Veda and its true meaning
What is Veda? Is it a collection of texts? Is it a textbook for rituals? Is it a collection of mantras (hymns)? What makes the Vedas apaurusheya (not created by man)? Are the texts, the samhitas, different from Veda tatva? Or are they similar? These were some of the questions, profound and complex, which were at the heart of the discussions. Attended by several professors from different universities in the city, the discussion centred on Pandit Motilal Shastri’s explanation of Ojhaji’s writings on the Vedas. Opening the discussion, Dr Ramanuj Upadhyaya, Assistant Professor, Department of Veda, Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeeth, said the central question whether the Veda was a text or essence remained as relevant today as in the past. He said there were two types of Vedas—mula (root) Veda and tula (shoot or branch) Veda. The Vedas are the origin of all creation and are apaurusheya. He said it was difficult to fully understand the mysteries of the Veda if it was considered only as a book of rituals.