We, as Indians, live on a prestigious land full of countless rituals and traditional beliefs. Despite living on such a cultured and traditional land, we have failed to understand the importance, meaning and secrets of Vedic Rituals. And not only that, we have even typified them unscientific, as some modern scientific studies failed to explain the logical reasoning behind our rituals.
If we think practically, as human beings, we cannot live even a single moment without doing any action. “In Shrimad Bhagavad Gita, even Lord Krishna has said the same thing that a human being could not live even for a second without doing any action.”
न हि कश्चित् क्षणमपि जातु तिष्ठति अकर्मकृत्।
– श्रीमद् भगवद् गीता
If we cannot live without doing any actions, a question arises, “What actions do we do in our daily lives.” And more importantly, it is inevitable to have an understanding of how we do that actions. Every action has its importance, and if done correctly, we can get the results as per our requirements.
According to our ancient scriptures, we usually do three types of actions (Karma).
1. Physical Action (कायिक)
2. Vocal Action (वाचिक)
3. Mental Action (मानसिक)
These are the three actions (karma) that we do 24*7 for 365 days, consciously or unconsciously. Even while sleeping, we cannot go for a moment without doing any of these actions.
Karma is divided into two parts :
1. Laukik karma (लौकिक कर्म)
2. Alaukik karma (अलौकिक कर्म)
Laukik karma (लौकिक कर्म) means karma that we do in our daily lives. A karma which our capability of understanding can justify. And the actions for which we can find the logic and reasons behind doing them with our knowledge.
Alaukik karma (अलौकिक कर्म) means the actions (karma) that we do but cannot find the logic behind. Even with the use of our complete knowledge, we won’t understand the reasons behind the actions we do. We simply cannot justify them.
Laukik karma (लौकिक कर्म) that we do are all a part of rituals that no one of us questions. Let’s look at some examples. If one is driving in India, one will have to drive on right hand side, but if one is driving in the USA, one will have to drive on left hand side. That is also a ritual. Similarly, If you meet someone in the morning, you will say good morning, but if you meet someone in the evening, you will say good evening, which is also ritual.
Another example is when a person goes for graduation ceremony, that person will wear a specific type of clothes, which is also a ritual. We celebrate Independence Day and Republic day every year accordingly, and that is also a ritual. When we do Laukik karma, we don’t find the need to ask a question about why we are doing that. And that’s because we already are aware of the reasons and logic behind doing Laukik karma.
Have anyone of us ever raised a question about “Why we stop at the red light of the traffic signal and why we go on when the light of traffic signal turns green?” Universally, it is a ritual that you stop at the red light of a traffic signal and go at the green light of a traffic signal. We have never felt to ask a logic behind that system.
But we always raise a question while doing any Alaukik karma (अलौकिक कर्म) because we cannot understand that karma/action with our limited knowledge. People generally raise questions like; Why should one pray to God? Why should one chant? Why should one worship to God? Why should one fast on some days? Why should one give sanskar? And many more questions.
For understanding or gaining knowledge about any subject, it is prominent to have atleast some basic information about that subject. Suppose, when a person goes to some art Museum, it’s inevitable for that person to have a basic knowledge of some points related to that art form to appreciate the artist’s art. Similarly, if a person wants to go to a music concert, that person needs to know the type of music and singers. Moreover ignoring other points, it is mandatory for a person to atleast have hearing capability (sense) to listen to the music.
Therefore, before finding out the reasons, one needs to know a few things about the subject to understand it better. To understand Alaukik karma, we need some higher knowledge.
Our ancients used to follow some rituals for a long time. But in the 18th century, people learned that scientists don’t follow the rituals, which showed some of the rituals our ancients used to follow were not scientific. Because of that realization, today we ask questions before doing any work that we don’t understand or find logical.
One needs to know that the transfer of knowledge from one generation to another usually happens in three ways.
1. Rituals
2. Stories
3. Symbols
Let us know-how. The symbols mentioned are used in the form of stories that explain the brief meanings of Vedic rituals and give us the exact way of performing that rituals. Based on that, even if one is unaware of the purpose of performing any ritual, that person will still benefit from that ritual because the meanings are already present in the rituals in the form of stories. And sometimes it’s possible to not understand the logic behind rituals because of our limited intelligence.
Though some rituals were only understood by our past generation and were beyond our knowledge, they still passed those rituals to our next generation. On that note, we should also pass the rituals to our next generation to decode the reasons and logic behind the rituals with their advanced knowledge and scientific perception.
To strengthen our community and to transfer the knowledge we have to perform our vedic rituals. Decoding the logic behind our vedic rituals will be easy for our future generation if we pass it in a mentioned way. Because all of our Vedic rituals are full of science. The Vedic rituals are made of moments of the sun and the moon. And you will be amazed to know the effects of these moments.
Due to the combination of the sun and the moon, a unique kind of energy generates during performing rituals. The energy created while performing the rituals gives us the benefits of rituals without even knowing rituals.
Now, after knowing the importance of following and performing rituals, you might have one more question. Can I follow the rituals as I want? Or do I need to follow them as per instructions? The answer to your questions is no. You have to follow the rituals as per instructions because the people who invented them might have spent a lot of time designing them. If they have some specific way to perform the rituals, they would have research about that. That’s why we should accurately perform the rituals.
“In Bhagvat Gita, Lord Krishna himself said that the person who does not follow the rituals as instructed in scriptures and tries to do rituals in his ways does not get success, happiness or peace in life.”
यः शास्त्रविधिमुत्सृज्य वर्तते कामकारतः ।
न स सिध्धिमवाप्नोति न सुखं न परां गतिम् ।।
– श्रीमद् भगवद् गीता
This is the science and secret of Vedic rituals and their methods. Even if you don’t know the science behind rituals for now, you should still precisely follow them so that you can pass them to your next generation and thus help them achieve the benefits of our rituals.
Thus the rituals given by our ancestors are all logical and scientific & are created in a way that we all can get benefitted. To achieve success, happiness, and peace in life, we all should perform and follow rituals and pass them to our next generation.
Shubham Bhavatu
शुभम् भवतु|
