Vision
The Veda will be interpreted in a way that facilitates the manifestation of the aspiration of mankind.
– Swami Sri Atmananda
The Vedas hold the secret of life and its fulfillment on Earth. Although one in the beginning, it was divided into four parts at the beginning of Kali Yuga by Bhagavan Veda Vyasa, who synthesized it into 1131 sakhas (recensions) out of which 21 are in Rig, 101 in Yajur, 1000 in Sama and nine in Atharva. The purity of the Vedas is preserved through Parampara (lineage of seers), viz., Paila, Vaishampayana, Jaimini, and Sumanthu. At present, out of 1131 sakhas only 10 (less than one percent) are available to mankind. Herein lies the urgency of preserving the Vedas for mankind, whatever is available at present.
The Vedas are composed of 20,500 mantras. One scholar working diligently can complete, on average, one mantra in a day, as per the following format:
-
Read and dissect the mantra
-
Convert to prose form
-
Provide root meaning, etymology, contextual meaning, and grammatical derivation of each word. Vedic accent and grammatical derivation are strictly followed, to protect purity and sanctity.
-
Integrate each word with the next, ensuring that the meaning flows and there are no gaps.
-
Provide a gist of major commentaries for each mantra.
-
Give a simple English translation linked with the true meaning of the words from three angles: rational, universal and spiritual.
After the research is completed, it is paired with Swami Sri Atmananda’s unique realizational and experiential commentary on the inner meaning of each mantra provided at no cost). The work will be published by sukta (a collection of mantras). Two different volumes of each sukta will be available: a mainstream edition and a reference edition geared for scholars and containing all the research notes.
Work is ongoing in English and Odia languages, but the aspiration is to publish the sukta research in all the major languages of India and of the world.
The Vedic Research Institute is also developing educational courses on the Vedas, and the world’s first-ever comprehensive dictionary and thesaurus of Vedic terms.