Vedic Myth, Ritual and Philosophy : A Study of Dvaita Interpretation of Veda by Madhva

The Rgveda happens to be the oldest book of the world. It has maintained its textual sanctity for five thousand years. This polychromatic text was approached from every possible angle through the past four millennia. With every extraordinary reading it has become more illusive than ever before. It was once lost to posterity under inconceivable circumstances and was partly recovered by determined disciples of Vedavyasa after painstaking research. It was compiled and analyzed in a scientific manner to ward off any omission, commission or addition in future. ‘Immortal’ and ‘immortalizing’ massive pyramids and structures were ravaged by time, pillaged by bandits, damaged by zealots, buried under sand and forgotten for centuries. Rgveda remained unsullied by time, surviving in millions of minds through hundreds of generations, and still stands as a miraculous web blown out of time and space.

But Rgveda is also the text, which was subjected to scholastic abuse by self-assured scholars and schools to serve their sectarian needs. The more reverent the scholar, the more ruthless he was. These erratic approaches rendered the text irrelevant, and in fact there were sensible scholars who is their disgust had to confess that the Vedas are meaningless-nirathaka vai vedah or merely a jumble of syllables, vedah aksaramatrikah. This reduction suited those who intended to use the rics for there proclaimed magical power, mantrasakti.