[Advaita-l] apaurusheyatva of veda-s

[Shyam]

PranAms dear Shri Subbuji

Thank you for your interesting questions.
Your observations are spot on. The very same will also apply to Arjuna who in kalpa after kalpa gets the acharyopadesha from no less than Lord Narayana Himself, exclaims "destroyed is my delusion" "nashto moha smrtilabdhA" only to find himself with the same overwhelming grief and pathos - "krupaya parayavishto vishidannida mabraveet" - precisely one kalpa later!

This is how I humbly reconcile the issue. That in the vision of the vedAs there are different roles that need to be portrayed. And in each cycle of Creation it is a different actor who dons a particular role - (like the Don once played by Mr.Bachan is now played by Mr.Khan!) 

I recall reading somewhere in the LYV(?) that even the Rudra of one kalpa then assumes the role of Brahma in the next one or something to that effect (dont recall the exact section). And this would hold true not only for the DevAs such as Surya, YamA, etc but also for many exalted jivAs such as the SaptaRshis, among many others. So personalities like Aruni AUddalaka that we find referenced in the VedAs themselves may well be among a august group of personalities that in each kalpa are simulated by a new crop of jivAs whose apurvA has matured enough to enable them such exalted births. In the bhashya on the Taittiriya Upanishad, in the introduction to the Bhrigu valli Shankara refers to Bhrigu as a well-renowned person; of great fame. Of course this can also mean that as a "fictional" character, Sage Bhrigu is well-known in the vEdic lore, but to me, this, and other similar instances, seems to demonstrate a proclivity on the part of the revered
 Bhagavatpada to appreciate those events as actual and not merely anecdotal.

The following excerpt from the LYV seems to lend some credence to this proposition.
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The Yogi replied: "There was a time when for eleven thousand years, this earth was one (nebulous) mass of dust filled with stones but without mountains, trees or grass even appearing in it for a long time. In one Chatur-Yuga (four yugas), this earth was one vast forest. In another Chatur-Yuga, it was one chain of mountains without any earth to separate it. ...I have observed, with my own eyes, the origin of the sun, ..., the consolidation into one of the Vedas which were scattered in pieces in different directions and the churning of nectar in the milky ocean with the rod of Mandara hills...But you should know that endless have been the Avatars, Naradas, Bharadwajas, Marichis, Pulastyas, the elephant headed Vinayakas, Subbrahmanyas, and others. Oh Vasistha of great veracity, this is the eighth of your births (as Vasistha). This is the eighth time we have met together thus. You were born once in the Akasa; another time in water; ..Six times has Vishnu
 incarnated as Parasurama, the son of Renuka. Buddha has incarnated again and again in I00 Kali yugas...The eternal Vedas will arise suited to the intelligence of every age. .. Every Yuga, Jnana-Sastras will be embodied in the shape of the stainless Ramayana. Like Rishi Valmiki who recited the Ramayana now, there have been twelve Valmikis who brought out the same before. ... All these illusions of the world will at one time manifest themselves and at another time not. All these illusory visibles will be latent in the one Jnana-Atman, like foams in an ocean and will again revive and again perish.
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[btw I am not aware if His Holiness MahAveriyavA of Kanchi had the LYV in mind when he was referencing "our scriptures say" in the excerpt I provided.]

I will also readily submit that neither is the LYV necessarily authoratative as being the last word in this regard, nor does it explicitly specify that any of the stories contained in the VedAs are actual events - but again, to me, it does seem to significantly favor that postulate.

In any case, one way or the other, what is vital, imho, is the revelatory import of these stories, which really does not hinge on one's inclination towards whether to accept these accounts as fact or fiction.


Hari OM
Shri Gurubhyoh namah
Shyam


On Tue, 8/23/11, V Subrahmanian wrote:
From: V Subrahmanian 
Subject: Re: [Advaita-l] apaurusheyatva of veda-s
To: "A discussion group for Advaita Vedanta"