THE ESSENCE OF THE ESSENCE OF THE VEDAS – Dr. Kapil Deva Dvivedi

THE ESSENCE OF THE VEDAS

“The Essence of the Vedas” is a unique contribution to the Vedic Literature written by Dr. K.D. Dvivedi. It can be considered as a concise Encyclopedia of the Vedas. The book is written to enlightened people to know about the secrets of the Vedas. All the Mantras (Verses) are written in the standard Roman script with diacritical marks so that they can pronounce accurately. The English translation explains the secrets of the Verses.

The Vedas are the treasures of knowledge. They contain in subtle form all essential knowledge, which is beneficial to the human being. They include a lot of scientific data, which may prove useful to the modern scientists for further investigation.

Dr. Dvivedi was a renowned scholar of the Vedas. He had searched out some scientific data from the Vedas that modern world can utilize them for human welfare. About 1400 Mantras (Verses) have been selected from all the four Vedas & the some of the shakhas of the Yajur Veda. The entire book has been divided into 25 chapters and 150 topics. It’s hoped that the book will enrich knowledge of the scholars and enlightened people.

PREFACE

This book is intended to provide a glimpse of the Vedic wisdom. The Vedas have rightly been regarded as an ocean of knowledge leading to noble life and for the attainment of peace, prosperity and salvation for the humanity.

With a view to providing the essence of the Vedas, I have collected and arranged some basic texts of the Vedas subject-wise, so as to facilitate easy reading pertaining to different topics. I have divided the whole matter into 25 main headings. The main headings are divided into serveral sub-headings. The matter is arranged according to the relevant topics.

The Vedic Mantras (stanzas) are written in Standard Roman Script. The Scheme of Transliteration has been given on page 13. I have tried to transliterate the Mantras as accurately as possible. To avoid ambiguity I have dis-joined euphonic combinations (Samdhis) at several places and marked them with a hyphen.

In translating the stanzas special care has been taken to make the underlying idea exact and lucid. At several places, instead of giving the literal translation, I have preferred to give the underlying idea of the stanzas. As regards stanzas relating to sciences the central idea has been high-lighted in the translation.

The Mantras have been selected from all the four Vedas and some Shakhas of the Yajur-veda, viz., Taittirīya Samhitā, Maitrāyaṇī Samhitā and Kathaka Samhita. The Mantras have been arranged subject- wise. The stanzas containing similar ideas have been put together at one place. At places only a part of a mantra has been given in accordance with the requirement of the topic under discussion.

In References the Rg-Veda contains serially (1) Mandala (Book), (2) Sūkta (Hymn), (3) Mantra (Stanza). In the Yajur-Veda it is (1) Adhyāya (Chapter), (2) Mantra (Stanza). In the Sama-Veda only number of the stanza has been given for that purpose. I have utilized Pandit S. D. Satavalekara’s edition (Pardi). In the Atharva- Veda it is (1) Kanda (Book), (2) Sūkta (Hymn), (3) Mantra (Stanza). For correct reading of the Mantras Standard Roman Script has been used and dia-critical marks are given accordingly. The ‘Scheme of Transliteration’ and ‘Abbreviations’ have been given on pages 12 and 13

In preparing this book I received assistance from my children, who have thus earned my blessings. They are Dr. Bharatendu Dvivedi and his wife Mrs. Savita Dvivedi, Dharmendu Dvivedi and his wife Mrs. Jaya Dvivedi, Gyanendu Dvivedi, Vishvendu Dvivedi and Aryendu Dvivedi. Ratna Press, Varanasi, also deserves thanks for taking great pains in printing the book.

Dr. Kapil Dev Dvivedi