The following essay has been translated from Bengali and is reproduced from Swami Vivekananda’s Complete Works, 6: 181-86.
For the Hindus, by the
word “Shastras” is meant the Vedas which are without beginning or end.
In matters of religious duty the Vedas are for them the only capable
authority.
The Puranas and other religious scriptures are all denoted by the word
"Smriti". And their authority goes so far as they follow the Vedas and
do not contradict them.
Truth is of two kinds:
(1) that which is known through the five ordinary
senses we humans have, and by reasoning based thereon;
(2) that which
is known through the subtle, supersensuous power of Yoga.
Knowledge acquired by the first means is called science; and knowledge acquired by the second is called the Vedas.
The whole body of supersensuous truths, having no beginning or end, and
called by the name of the Vedas, is ever-existent. The Creator Himself
is creating, preserving, and destroying the universe with the help of
these truths.
The person in whom this supersensuous power is manifested is called a
Rishi, and the supersensuous truths that he or she realizes by this
power are called the Vedas.
This Rishihood, this power of supersensuous perception of the Vedas, is
real religion. And as long as this does not develop in our lives, so
long is religion a mere empty word to us, and it is to be understood
that we have not taken yet the first step in religion.
The authority of the Vedas extends to all ages, climes and persons; that
is to say, their application is not confined to any particular place,
time, and persons.
The Vedas are the only exponent of the universal religion.
Although the supersensuous vision of truths is to be met with in some
measure in our Puranas and Itihasas and in the religious scriptures of
other races, still the fourfold scripture known among the Aryan race as
the Vedas being the first, the most complete, and the most undistorted
collection of spiritual truths, deserve to occupy the highest place
among all scriptures, command the respect of all nations of the earth,
and furnish the rationale of all their respective scriptures.
With regard to the whole Vedic collection of truths discovered by the
Aryan race, this also has to be understood that those portions alone
which do not refer to purely secular matters and which do not merely
record tradition or history, or merely provide incentives to duty, form
the Vedas in the real sense.
The Vedas are divided into two portions, the Jnana-kanda
(knowledge-portion) and the Karma-kanda (ritual-portion). The ceremonies
and the fruits of the Karma-kanda are confined within the limits of the
world of Maya, and therefore they have been undergoing and will undergo
transformation according to the law of change which operates through
time, space, and personality.
Social laws and customs likewise, being based on this Karma-kanda, have
been changing and will continue to change hereafter. Minor social usages
also will be recognized and accepted when they are compatible with the
spirit of the true scriptures and the conduct and example of holy sages.
But blind allegiance only to usages such as are repugnant to the spirit
of the Shastras and the conduct of holy sages has been one of the main
causes of the downfall of the Aryan race.
It is only the Jnana-kanda, or Vedanta, that has for all time commanded
recognition for leading people across Maya and bestowing salvation on
them through the practice of Yoga, Bhakti, Jnana, or selfless work; and
as its validity and authority remain unaffected by any limitations of
time, place or persons, it is the only exponent of the universal and
eternal religion for all humanity.
The Samhitas of Manu and other sages, following the lines laid down in
the Karma-kanda, have mainly ordained rules of conduct conducive to
social welfare, according to the exigencies of time, place, and persons.
The Puranas etc. have taken up the truths imbedded in the Vedanta and
have explained them in detail in the course of describing the exalted
life and deeds of Avataras and others. Moreover, in order to teach us,
they have each emphasized some out of the infinite aspects of the
Divine.
But when by the process of time, fallen from the true ideals and rules
of conduct and devoid of the spirit of renunciation, addicted only to
blind usages, and degraded in intellect, the descendants of the Aryans
failed to appreciate even the spirit of these Puranas etc. which taught
people of ordinary intelligence the abstruse truths of Vedanta in
concrete form and diffuse language and appeared antagonistic to one
another on the surface, because of each inculcating with special
emphasis only particular aspects of the spiritual ideal—
And when, as a consequence, they reduced India, the fair land of
religion, to a scene of almost infernal confusion by breaking up
piecemeal the one Eternal Religion of the Vedas (Sanatana Dharma), the
grand synthesis of all the aspects of the spiritual ideal, into
conflicting sects and by seeking to sacrifice one another in the flames
of sectarian hatred and intolerance—
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