By S.S. Moorthy, M.D.
Carmel, IN: This has reference the news article — Vedas and Vedic knowledge are gifts of India to world, says Dr. Tony Nader — by J.V. Lakshmana Rao published in the India Tribune issue dated May 11.
I am glad that some of the Western thinkers and academicians are considering the promotion of the Vedas and the Vedantic philosophy.
The explanation of physiology with reference to the Ramayana is an interesting analogy. Similarly the “caste system” and the Parameswara were addressed in the Vedic literature. As I read the Upanishads and the description of the Brahman at the junction of thorax and abdomen as a lotus to concentrate on, is intriguing. Some of the anatomical and physiologic descriptions are outdated and outright wrong.
I am puzzled by learning that there are centers in Iowa and Brahmasthal in India where nearly 4,000 pandits are trained. There are two important factors to be addressed. Do these centers follow caste system to admit candidates into these centers? Once trained, what happens to these Vedic-Vedantic scholars with their capacity to earn and live a comfortable living? Coming from a family where Vedic scholars practiced their profession, in the olden days the rulers gave a few acres of land to these families to live on. Social and societal changes have taken place in India. Most of these lands have been confiscated by the government. These Vedic pandits live poor lives. They cannot become modern professionals as they spent their time learning the Vedas and the Vedanta.
The meditation part in the article is good for a lot of people, who can afford to go to the centers of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Real yogic practice needs detachment from the cumbersome activities, thoughts, and needs, and focus on the mind. The article is excellent and the project is very encouraging.
I hope this will awaken not only Indians in the USA and India but also all humanity. Just now good translations of these scriptures in understandable English and Indian languages are published in India.
