SECTION FIFTEEN

Similarly, the Väyavéya-saàhitä of the Çiva Puräëa indicates the Vedic nature of the Puräëas by discussing their common appearance:

            "The ingenious Lord abridged the Veda then divided it into four and therefore He became known as 'Veda Vyäsa'. The Puräëas were also summarized in four hundred thousand verses, but in the heavenly planets they still have one billion verses". (Çiva Puräëa, 7.1.1.37,38) >

            Here the word saìkñiptam (lit. condensed) implies condensed by Him. The names of the Puräëas such as Skanda, Ägneya, and so forth indicate their prime speaker or the person who arranged the order of the book. The Kaöha Upaniñad, for instance, was promoted by the sage Kaöha. If sometimes they are described  as non-eternal, that is because sometimes they are manifest and sometimes not. Hence the Vedic nature of the Itihäsas and Puräëas is established. The right of Süta and others (not twice-born) to recite the Puräëas is comparable to the right to chant the holy name of Lord Kåñëa, the pious fruit of the creeper of all Vedas, (which is accessible even to low-born people).  As stated in the Prabhäsa-Khaëòa of the Skanda Puräëa:

               "O best of the Bhågu dynasty, the holy name of Kåñëa is the sweetest of the sweet and the most auspicious of the auspicious. It is the pious fruit of all the Vedas and is conscious. Whosoever chants it but once, whether with faith or with contempt, becomes liberated."

            The Viñëu Dharma Puräëa states:

               "A person who chants the two syllables 'Hari' has already completed the study of the Åg, Yajur, Säma and Atharvaveda." >

And the Viñëu Puräëa states that the meaning of the Vedas is in the Puräëas and Itihäsas:

               "On the pretext of writing Mahäbhärata, Çréla Vyäsa has explained the meaning of the Vedas. There is no doubt that all the meanings of the Vedas are in the Puräëas."

            Moreover, even if the Itihäsas and Puräëas are counted among the books explaining the meaning of the Vedas, still they are unique, owing to the glory of their compiler (Bhagavän Veda Vyäsa). The Padma Puräëa says, "What Çréla Vyäsa knows is unknown even to Brahmä and others. Vyäsa knows everything known to others, but what He knows is beyond the reach of others".

 

ÇRÉ JÉVA TOÑAËÉ COMMENTARY

 The word "saìkñiptam", in the verse from the Çiva Puräëa (7.1.1.37) is significant. It means condensed, not composed. Çréla Veda Vyäsa, the literary incarnation of God, condensed the already existing Vedas. An unused part of that abridged portion became the Puräëas, but He did not compose them. This confirms that the Puräëas, by dint of their transcendental origin, are equal to the four Vedas. They are eternal and apauruñeya. One may protest that since the Puräëas have names such as Skanda and Agni they must have been composed by these persons and thus they are neither eternal nor apauruñeya.

            If so then the Vedas themselves become non-eternal compositions since they have names such as Kaöhopaniñad and Aitreya Brähmaëa, after the sages Kaöha and Aitreya. Portions of the Vedas are named after a certain sage, not because he wrote that portion, but because he was its main exponent, hence his name became affiliated with that section of the Veda. Persons with names like Kaöha or Aitreya appear in every millenium and so one should not think that before the appearence of the known Kaöha and Skanda these names were meaningless words in the Vedas.

            Similarly, the Puräëas have their names after their first teacher or the person who rearranged them. By the influence of time some books become less popular or are completely forgotten on this planet. Eventually a sage or demigod again speaks them and the book becomes known after his name. An example of this is in the Çrémad Bhägavatam, where it describes how sage Yajïavalkya received the Vajasaneyé-saàhitä from the Sun God (S.B.12.6.73) "Süta Gosvämé said: Satisfied by such glorification, the powerful sun-god assumed the form of a horse and presented to the sage Yajïavalkya the Yajur mantras previously unknown in human society." Just as the Lord appears to take birth and then disappear like a mortal being, similarly the Vedic literature becomes manifest and unmanifest. The Çrémad Bhägavatam was unmanifest at the end of Dväpara-yuga. After the instructions of Närada Muni to Vyäsa it again became manifest. Otherwise, reference to it in earlier Puräëas would be meaningless. In the Padma Puräëa, Uttarakhaëòa, for example,  Gautama advises Ambaréña Mahäräja, who reigned in the Satya-yuga, to study the Çrémad Bhägavatam.

   So the Puräëas are eternal, but sometimes manifest and sometimes unmanifest to human society. As the Lord is independent in His appearance and disappearance, so by His free will He speaks various scriptures through the medium of different sages and gives them different names.

            Another objection is that the Çrémad Bhägavatam states that women, the mercantile class and the friends of the twice-born have no access to the Vedas. Stréçudradvija-bandhünäà trayé na ñruti-gocarä (S.B. 1.4.25). Furthermore, in the same chapter, text 13,  Çaunaka Åñi, addressing Süta Gosvämé, states, manye tvam viñaye väcäm snätamanyatra chändasät (S.B. 1.4.13). "We consider you expert in all subjects except the Vedas." Therefore, if the Itihäsas and Puräëas comprise the fifth Veda, why does Süta gosvämé, who was not twice-born,  narrate them?

            Anticipating this objection Çréla Jéva Gosvämé compares the right to study the Puräëas and Itihäsas to that of chanting Kåñëa's holy name, which is the choicest fruit of the Vedas. That is to say even though the holy name is Vedic in nature it is accessible to everyone, including those who have no right to study the Vedas. As a low class person has the right to chant the holy name, so a qualified çudra can approach the Itihäsas and Puräëas. In Mahäbhärata (Vana Parva 180.25,26), Yudhiñöhira Mahäräja describes who is a qualified çudra to King Nahüña:

            "If the qualities like truthfulness, and control of the mind and senses are found in a çüdra, then he is to be considered a brähmaëa and not a çüdra. On the other hand, if a brähmaëa does not have these qualities he is to be accepted as a çüdra.

            "O Snake, anyone who has the qualities of truthfulness, control of the mind, and so on is to be considered a Brähmaëa, and that person devoid of these qualities is a çüdra."

            Therefore, although the Itihäsas and Puräëas are considered the fifth Veda, still a qualified person like Süta Gosvämé has the right to study them. Süta Gosvämé himself acknowledges this in Çrémad Bhägavatam 1.18.18.

   "O how wonderful! although we are born in a mixed caste, we are still promoted in birthright simply by serving and following the great who are advanced in knowledge. Even by conversing with such great souls, one can without delay cleanse oneself of all disqualifications resulting from lower births".

   As one can get all perfection by chanting the holy name of Lord Kåñëa, which is the ultimate fruit of the Vedas, one can also get the essence of the Vedas by studying the Itihäsas and Puräëas. He need not study the Vedas. Otherwise those who are not twice-born will have no means to attain perfection, since they are barred from studying the Vedas.

            Finally, even if one lumps the Itihäsas and Puräëas with other småti scriptures that explain the meaning of the Vedas and are composed by sages or saintly teachers, their place is unique because of the eminence of their propounder, Çréla Vyäsadeva, who is an incarnation of the Lord.

            In the next section Çréla Jéva Gosvämé further explains the superiority of the Itihäsas and Puräëas due to the excellence of their compiler.