Quotations on the Vedas
What they Teach
“‘Ananto vai vēdāḥa’ (The Vedas are infinite). The Vedas are immeasurable, unrivalled and filled with bliss. Veda is derived from the verb ‘vid’, to know. Knowledge of the Supreme is Veda. It represents ātmā jñāna (Knowledge of the Spirit), bramha jñāna (Knowledge of the Universal Consciousness) and advaita jñāna (Knowledge of the One that subsumes the many). These different terms are synonymous.”
Sri Sathya Sai Baba – 3/06/1990
Summer Showers in Brindāvan
“The Veda lays down what has to be done and what should not be done. When these prescriptions and prohibitions are followed, one can earn the good and avoid the evil. Veda is concerned with both the material and the spiritual, both this world and the beyond. All life is Veda-filled.”
Sri Sathya Sai Baba – Leela Kaivalya Vahini
“Developing faith in the ātmā Principle and loving it earnestly is true worship. There is only one Divine Self. Feel that it is more loveable than any object here or hereafter – that is the true adoration you can offer to God. This is what the Vedas teach.”
Sathya Sai Vahini, Chap. 1
“The Vedas seek to promote good thoughts, eliminate ideas of evil and help mankind to lead a good life. Hence, they have to be cherished and fostered. If the injunctions given in the Vedas are followed by mankind, they will be freed from all afflictions. Most of our troubles have arisen because we have forgotten the Vedas.”
Sathya Sai Speaks 20, Chap. 23
“The Vedas have taught the means to make life in the world pure and meaningful. They have declared: ‘Immortality can be attained only through sacrifice; neither wealth, nor progeny nor good deeds can confer it.’
So, cultivate the spirit of sacrifice by developing love within. Determination also, gives rise to sacrifice, which leads to Immortality. Develop love, give up hatred, and reduce desires. Cultivate the spirit of sacrifice.”
Sri Sathya Sai Baba – 4/10/1989
“Mother Veda has been kind to her children – the human race. To sanctify its cravings and to uplift the race, she has posited the concept of Time – and its components, the years, months, days, hours, minutes and seconds. Even the Gods were declared to be bound by Time.
An individual is caught in the wheel of Time and Space and rotates with it, unaware of any means of escape. But, really, he is beyond the reach of Time and Space.
The Veda is bent upon the task of making him know this Truth, and liberating him from this narrowness. Mother Veda is compassionate; she longs to liberate her children from doubt and discontent. She has no desire to inflame or confuse; wise men know this well.”
Sathya Sai Vahini, Chap. 22
“Veda is derived from the root ‘vid’, which means ‘to know’. The Veda teaches how to achieve purity of heart, getting rid of impurities.”
Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol. 22, Chap. 29
“We should not neglect the Vedas. The secret of the entire creation is contained in them. They reveal to us the goal and purpose of life. The Vedas are replete with divine mysteries and deep spiritual truths.”
Sri Sathya Sai Baba – 08/2006
Ati Rudra Mahā Yajña
“The Rig Veda teaches Unity. It exhorts all men to pursue the same holy desires. All hearts must be charged with the same good urge; all thoughts must be directed by good motives towards good ends. All men must tread the one Path of Truth for all are but manifestations of the One.
People believe today that the lesson of the unity of mankind is quite new and that the idea of progressing towards it is very praiseworthy. But, the concept of human unity is not at all new. In ṛg-vedic times, the concept has been proclaimed much more clearly and emphatically than now. It is the pre-eminent ideal of the Rig Veda.
All are parts of God, His Power, His Energy. The ātmā that is the Reality in everyone is, in truth, the One manifesting as the Many. The Veda demands that difference and distinction should not be imposed. This universal inclusive outlook is absent among men today. They have multiplied differences and conflicts and their lives have become narrow and restricted. The Rig Veda, in the ancient past, pulled down restrictive barriers and narrow feelings and proclaimed Unity.”
Sri Sathya Sai Baba – Leela Kaivalya Vahini
“The sacred Veda instructs all that one requires for his spiritual advancement. It instructs one the means and methods to overcome all sorrows and grief. It instructs one in all the spiritual disciplines which can give unshaken peace.”
Sathya Sai Vahini, Chap. 23
“The Vedas have a universal outlook, embracing all that is noble and sacred. They have taught the principle of samatva (equality) in respect of everything. They have proclaimed the concept of oneness. They taught men to face joy and sorrow with equal serenity.”
Sri Sathya Sai Baba – 3/10/1989
“Since ancient times, the Vedas have been teaching profound truths. They form the basis for a peaceful and prosperous society. The term ‘Veda’ refers to ‘wisdom’, ‘discrimination’, and ‘being’. There are many people who chant the Vedas from dawn to dusk, but no one is trying to understand the utility and significance of the Vedas.”
Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol. 32 (2), Chap. 7
“The Vedas should not be treated as mere mantras. It helps to realise full knowledge and wisdom. They confer security on humanity and show the way to happiness and peace. The goal of human life is to sacrifice desires and realise the Divine.”
Sri Sathya Sai Baba – 18/10/1993
“The mantra can create new subjective states in ourselves, alter our psychical being, reveal knowledge and faculties that we did not possess before. It produces similar results in other minds than that of the user, but can produce vibrations in the mental and vital atmosphere which result in effects, in actions and even in the production of material forms on the physical plane.”
Sri Aurobindo – Vedic Chants
“The Vedas teach not only karma (rites, rituals, vows, sanctifying observances) but also dharma. In fact, it is said that the Vedas are the roots which feed dharma and hold it fast – ‘vēdōkhilō dharma mūlam’. Since dharma is the sustainer of the entire world and Law regulates the Cosmos, Vedas have universal validity. There are latent as well as patent forces that urge every particle or wave in the Cosmos.”
Sri Sathya Sai Baba – 20/10/1982
“Each hymn of the Vedas is called a ‘ṛk’ which means ‘praise’. And the word Veda is derived from the root ‘vid’, ‘to know’. And what exactly should we strive to know? We must know the One, which has no second, no another, no other. So, every word, every statement in the Vedas, every mantra or ‘ṛk’ in them, connotes only the One, though out of insufficient or wrong understanding people mistake the lesson and ascribe the words to indicate the Many. It is essential that the true import be grasped by all. Since the opportunities to learn it have declined, mistaken interpretations gain currency. In the course of this week-long Vedic Yajña, we shall delve into the deeper significance of the Vedic Teachings.”
Sri Sathya Sai Baba – 21/10/1982
Veda Puruṣha Saptāḥa Jnāna Yajña
“It should be noted that every Veda is intended to enable man to make his daily life holy and good. Although human life is transient, the allotted span must be used for sacred purposes and to realise the Divine. The Vedas have the power to enable man to transmute his life and make it sublime. Whether consciously or otherwise, from morning till night, man carries out the duties laid down by the Vedas. Every act is governed by the dictates of the Vedas, but it is only when these acts are done with an understanding of their purpose will their true character be known.”
Sri Sathya Sai Baba – 22/10/1982
“Learning derived from various Śhāstras and all the Vedas is of no avail if it does not help you to reach the Feet of the Lord.”
Sri Sathya Sai Baba
Summer Showers in Brindavan 1973, Chap. 27
“The quintessence of the Vedas is the glorification of sacrifice as the supreme virtue. Of what avail is all your study or listening if there is no change in the way you live and you have not understood your true nature? The highest knowledge is understanding the value of sacrifice. It is a source of limitless joy. It leads to immortality.”
Sri Sathya Sai Baba – 3/10/1989
“Trust everything as God’s work, whatever your vocation or profession. By dedicating all actions to God, you sanctify every act in daily life. That is the message of the Vedas.”
Sri Sathya Sai Baba – 22/10/1995
“The Vedas tell you those things that cannot be known by anything else. The word Veda means ‘knowledge’, knowledge that cannot be acquired by the senses or the intellect or even by unguided intuition. The Vedas endeavour to open the eyes of man to the falsity of dualistic experience, the reality of the only One – advaita (the non-dual One). They proclaim it, loudly and with enthusiasm.”
Sri Sathya Sai Baba – 18/08/1964
“‘Vetti iti Vedaḥa’; Knowing, knowledge is Veda. That is to say, man can know from the Vedas, the Code of Right Activity and the Body of Right Knowledge. The Vedas teach man his duties from birth to death. They describe his rights and duties, obligations and responsibilities in all stages of life.”
Sathya Sai Vahini, Chap. 11 ‘Values in Vedas’
“The wealth acquired through the Grace of Mother Veda (Veda Māta) is the most potent Wisdom itself. For this reason, the Vedic ṛṣhis prayed thus: ‘God! You are the very Embodiment of the Veda (Veda Svarūpa). Fill me, not with the burden of cattle and children, but with the Wisdom that is the source of param aiśhvarya. I shall be fully content with that wealth (dhana). And, since such wealth is capable of being utilised for your service, you too will be glad when I have it.’”
Sri Sathya Sai Baba – Leela Kaivalya Vahini