BY: SUN STAFF
Dec 11, CANADA (SUN) —
Tattva Sandarbha
by Srila Jiva Goswami
SECTION FOURTEENTH
In the Vayu Purana (60.16-18 and 60.21-22) Suta Gosvami explains why the Itihasas and Puranas are considered the fifth Veda:
"The almighty Supreme Lord (Vyasa) accepted me as the qualified speaker of the Itihasas and Puranas. In the beginning there was only one Veda, the Yajurveda, which was divided into four by Srila Vyasa. These four divisions gave rise to the four activities called Caturhotra, which constitutes a sacrifice.
"The Yajurveda explains the duties of the Adhvaryu priest, the Rigveda, those of the Hota priest, the Samaveda, those of the Udgata, and the Atharvaveda, those of the Brahma priest ".
Suta Gosvami further states:
"O best of the twice born, after that Srila Vyasa, the best knower of the meaning of the Puranas, compiled them and the Itihasa by combining various Akhyanas, Upakhyanas, and Gathas. The portion that remained after compiling the four Vedas was also Yajurveda. This is the conclusion of the scriptures."
The Puranas are also employed in the formal study of the Vedas, called Brahma yajna: yad brahmananitihasa puranani, (Sahavai 13) "The Itihasas and Puranas are vedas". This would not be mentioned if they were not Vedic in their meaning.
Therefore, in the Matsya Purana (53.8,9), the Supreme Lord says:
"O best of the twice born, by the influence of time, when people become incapable of holding the original Purana, assuming the form of Vyasa, I abridge it in every yuga". The meaning is that Srila Vyasa condenses the already existing Purana for easy comprehension.
Matsya Purana verses 9-11 state: "The Purana, which consists of four hundred thousand verses, is divided into 18 parts and made popular on the earth in every Dvapara-yuga. Even today the Purana having one billion verses exists in the worlds of demigods. The essence of that Purana is condensed into these four hundred thousand verses".
The statement of Suta that 'the remaining portion was also Yajurveda' indicates that the essence of the original Purana, which was the remaining portion of the Yajurveda, formed the abridged version, the Puranas of four lakh verses in the world of mortals. It is not a different composition.
Sri Jiva Toshani Commentary
The Itihasas and Puranas are called the fifth Veda because they are a compilation of the original Veda, the Yajurveda. This is explained in the Vayu Purana in the section defining the caturhotri priests. There are four Ritviks, or priests, needed to perform a Vedic sacrifice and their duties were known from the Yajurveda. But later on, for simplification and easy comprehension, the Veda was divided into four. The duties of the four priests, Adhvaryu, Udagata, Hota and Brahma, are known from each of these four divisions. The Adhvaryu is associated with the Rigveda and his duty is to prepare the sacrificial area, it's shape, size, and so forth. The Udgata priest studies the Samaveda and chants hymns during the sacrifice to propitiate the Lord. The Hota priest decorates the altar, pours oblations and studies the Yajurveda. The Brahma priest is a student of the Atharvaveda and acts as the supervisor and coordinator of sacrificial ceremonies.
After Srila Vyasa compiled the four Vedas there still remained one billion verses from the original Yajurveda. This became the original Purana, which is still available on the heavenly planets. Out of compassion for the people of Kali-yuga, Vyasadeva extracted the essential five hundred thousand verses out from this original Purana. Four hundred thousand verses he divided into the eighteen Puranas. The remaining verses formed the Itihasa called Mahabharata. Thus, being made up from the original Veda, the Itihasa and Puranas are called the fifth Veda. Another reason the Puranas and Itihasas are considered the fifth Veda and distinct from the four vedas is that the above four Ritviks do not use them in sacrifical ceremonies, but they are studied along with the Vedas.
In his commentary on the Vishnu Purana (3.6.16), Sridhara Svami gives the following explanation of Akhyana, Upakhyana, and Gatha:
"An Akhyana is a narration witnessed by the speaker; Upakhyana is heard by the speaker but not witnessed. Gatha refers to stories and songs about the forefathers and earthly beings".
Yacchishtam tu yajurveda, "the remaining part was also called Yajurveda" signifies that the Itihasas and Puranas are apaurusheya, not composed by a mortal, thus they have the same authority as the Vedas, because Srila Vyasa took the verses that came from the breathing of the Lord to compile the Itihasas and Puranas. While compiling the Puranas and Itihasas He included some of His own statements to make the narration comprehensible. For example, in the Bhagavad-gita the words "Arjuna said" and "Krishna said" are written by Srila Vyasa for the reader's easy comprehension. Even these statements should not be considered as written by a mortal being, since Vyasa is an incarnation of the Supreme Lord. This is evident from the verse of the Matsya Purana quoted in the text.
An objection may be raised that from the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (2.4.10) it is clear that the four Vedas individually appeared from the Supreme Lord. Why is it said that Vyasadeva divided the one Veda into four? It is true that they all emanated from the Lord, but originally they were all called the Yajurveda because that Veda is much bigger than the other three. Generally, the highest number in a set represents the whole set. In Sanskrit this is called adhikyena vyapadesah bhavanti, or the law that the highest constituent represents the whole set. A herd of cows with just a few buffaloes in it, for example, is still called a herd of cows, or the four fingers and one thumb is usually called the five fingers. The four Vedas had become disordered and Sri Vyasa clearly defined the duties of the four priests and arranged the Vedic texts accordingly for them. How the Vedas came to be mixed up owing to a curse by Gautama Rishi is told in the sixteenth anuccheda.
In the next anuccheda, Srila Jiva Gosvami further substantiates his conclusion about the Vedic nature of the Itihasas and Puranas, and explains the meaning of the name Veda Vyasa.
Go to Section Fifteen
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