Section I shows that the Veda is not only meant for rituals but has spiritual knowledge. Section II dispels the misconception that Tantra contradicts the Veda.
On Veda
The Veda and the Tantra, known as Agama, are the scriptural authority and support for the earnest faith in the revealed nature of these sacred texts. Among certain sections of the learned classes, the Tantra is supposed to contradict the Veda. A perusal of the Second Section of this book will remove the misconception. Even so, among a large section of the learned classes, the Veda in the main is only meant for rituals, karma, and real spiritual knowledge is to be found only in the Upanishads. This notion also will be uprooted on a close reading of the First Section.
THEME/S
There have been two lines of higher thought occult and ultra-mundane that have governed the religious and spiritual mind of India ancient and mediaeval, and to a considerable extent the devout Hindu of modern times. The Veda and the Tantra, known as Agama, are the scriptural authority and support for the earnest faith in the revealed nature of these sacred texts. Among certain sections of the learned classes, the Tantra is supposed to contradict the Veda. A perusal of the Second Section of this book will remove the misconception. Even so, among a large section of the learned classes, the Veda in the main is only meant for rituals, karma, and real spiritual knowledge is to be found only in the Upanishads. This notion also will be uprooted on a close reading of the First Section.
It is to be noted that occult truths are there in the Veda while its main object is spiritual. It is also true that the spiritual aim is admitted as the goal in the Tantra while deliberating on the occult side of the teachings. These two scriptures, the Veda and the Tantra, which form the authority for the modern religious mind have been taken up for illustration in this book.
The First Section, based upon my Sanskrit Commentary on the Rig Veda, contains three articles, the first of which is in substance a reproduction in English of the 4th part of the Introduction, Bhumika, while the second is a discourse on the workings of the Mystic Fire, Agni, and the higher Powers he brings down to fill the being of the awakened soul engaged in the Vedic Yoga; to expound this idea is given a clear exposition of the 13th Hymn in the First Mandala of the Rig Veda commented upon in the Siddhänjana; the third which exemplifies the fact that the Vedic rituals are symbolic of occult and spiritual Knowledge is based on the same commentary on the 28th Hymn of the First Mandala.
These studies were originally published in the Annuals that are devoted to Sri Aurobindo's teachings. Except the first and the last in the Second Section, which appeared in the Annual Numbers 6 & 7of the Sri Aurobindo Circle, Bombay, the rest were al contributed to the Annual Numbers 6, 7; 9 and 10 of the Sri Aurobindo Pathamandir, Calcutta.
T. V. Kapali Shastry
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