Part – II

Ire of gods and sorrow of souls

Section 2: Gods admonish

God Ved

Who is god Ved ?

There are four Veds and each of them mentions a plethora of gods. Who is God Ved then? Answer to the question lies in etymology of the word, available in the first carving of Vedic deities Dyaus-Prithivi on a pair of pillars in Rajasthan (3).

In closely spaced paired pillars of Rajasthan, erected for astronomical use around 25000 years ago, the taller has a figure of God Heaven or Sky – Dyaus.   The smaller pillar has a similar sized figure of Goddess Earth. On either side of the head of the goddess is a pair of spherical effulgent gods: moon and sun. Moon, Sun and Earth together – U (moon) +A (sun) +Ida (Earth) – join as Ved under the rules of Sanskrit grammar. The word was declined routinely as neuter – Vedam.  Vedam meant, those days, a trinity of gods: Mother Earth, her son Sun and daughter Moon. Thus the two heavenly gods and earth together constituted God Ved when the Vedic culture commenced on Indian soil before the last glaciation. The author sticks to the original definition and meaning of God – Earth, sun and moon together. In his usage of deity Ved-Purush (p.160), the gods are Earth, her children and her husband Heaven together. They constitute   duel deity Dyaavaprithivi.

During later period, especially in the Upanishad era, derivation of word Ved is from verb root Vid meaning knowledge. At this time A+U alone joined as Aum or Om to represent the presiding deity all the four Veds – Rik, Yajus, Sam and Atharvaved. All Vedic mantras and rituals began with recital of Om, thereafter. Aum is Kratu or Karma recording god, associated intimately with goddess Earth as seen in “Om the Kratu remember! Earth Remember! Remember (karmas of mine)!” (13). Aum is a caretaker god for the individual as also community or Samasti Karmas. Such a god is neutral and unaffected by wordy prayers, and the deity takes care of what an individual or community has done. He would only allot time and space for the fruition of a karma spontaneously. There is no forgiving in the rule of karmas of Aum. ‘Must we reap the fruits of our actions, good or bad’ my father used to recite often. We have seen the rule applying in the punishment of SKS by a mother deity Kaba – representing Earth.

“You must suffer for the remaining years of your terminal life for the residual painful karmas of your past lives,”   said my Sanskrit teacher at Vadodara in 1989. Vedic cult is different from any other cult. It talks of rules of Karmas and no escape from misdeeds. God Ved is caretaker of our deeds – benevolent and vile both.

Who presides over the execution or executes the karmas? Although there is none in physical form, answer from a Vedic erudite will be: God Brahma and Goddess Sarasvatee if we are looking for humanoid deities.  Brahma is knower of all the four Veds and Sarasvatee – the goddess of learning,  most revered goddess in Veds.