The Power of the Vedas

Excerpt taken from the book 'The Vedas', published by Bharathiya Vidya Bhavan.

This book is based on discourses given by the Sage of Kanchi.

'The main characteristics of the Vedas as mentioned already are:
 1. They are without beginning (anaadi)
 2. They have no human authorship (apoursheya)
 3. They are at the root of all creation.

But this is not all.

The sound while chanting them activates our nerve centres and also affects the atmosphere, resulting in individual as well as collective well-being of the world. Collective well-being does not refer only to humanity.

No other religious text emphasises the well-being of animals and plants as much as the Vedas. 'Not only two-legged but four-legged beings should prosper,' says the Veda. It goes even further and stresses the well-being of shrubs, trees, mountains and rivers - in fact all creation.

The Vedic texts contain a wealth of meaning. Besides its poetic grandeur they contain detailed injunctions for a well-ordered society and social life, great philosophical truth and even scientific laws.

It is not necessary for the Veda mantras, which are essentially vibrations in sound, to have a verbal meaning as we commonly understand it.

In everyday life, we find the Raga Aalapana, or the detailed delineation of musical notes or Ragas which contain no words but only a symbolic meaning nevertheless capable of producing emotions of joy and sorrow. Experiments have shown that the yield of vegetables has been increased by instrumental music. This shows that sound has a creative ability. That apart, the most important thing to note is that, since the sounds emanate from a musical instrument, there is no question of any words or meaning being essential for effectiveness. The very musical sound itself has an effect.

The outstanding feature of the Vedas, therefore, lies in the fact that the sound of the mantras by itself when chanted, has a meaning apart from the words which are also full of meaning.

Thus the greatness of the Vedas lies in the mantras having properties of sound and meaning. A pill may be bitter but may be good for health. A sweet may taste well but may cause harm. How nice it would be to have something that would not only taste well but also improve health like a sweet tonic ? Veda mantras have this two-fold advantage.

Vedas contain injunctions for ensuring the well-being in this world and the world to come. It guides the actions of a person from the moment of birth to the moment he breathes his last and thereafter to ensure his salvation. It does not stop at individual salvation. How should society behave, what are the duties of the common man, how should  a Brahmin conduct himself, how should the king govern the country, what should be the conduct of women - all these matters have been presented to us in a codified form in the Vedas.'