Keeping the tradition alive
G.B.S.N.P. VARMA
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A sleepy village is home to Vedic pundits and tradition.
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Holy bond The pundits at the village of Iragavaram
The chant rises from the bowels of the earth, manifests through the pundits, ascends to the temple dome and merges in the infinite space above. Squatting on the floor, with tufts dangling from the back of their shaven and cropped heads, vermilion and
sacred ash smeared across their foreheads and arms, white dhotis tied round their waists and white cloth wrapped across their chests, nearly 200-odd Vedic pundits let their vocal chords rip.
The precincts of Uma Paleswara temple, tucked in a lonely corner of the village, become charged. Now smooth-flowing like a river, now lunging forward, the set of ancient mantras from Krishna Yajur Veda, galvanising in its intensity, transport the throng to the sacred confluence of divine propitiation. The persistent world of incantatory vibrations-long after the chanting is done -- draws people from all persuasions of faith and rationality, from humble agricultural labourers and farmers, literates to the unlettered.
Veda Shastra Parishad, started in 1997 and registered a year later in 1998, invites Vedic pundits from across the State for a felicitation in this out-of-the-way, agricultural village, Iragavaram, located eight kilometres southeast of Tanuku in West Godavari district. The eleventh anniversary celebrations of the Parishad on August 23, was marked by Krama and Ghana pathas from Krishna Yajur Veda in the morning and Svasthi from Shukla Yajur Veda, Sama Veda, Adharvana Veda and a religious discourse by Vedic pundits in the afternoon. Sixteen Vedic pundits were specially felicitated and 200 others were rewarded with dakshina.
The aim of the Parishad is to felicitate and encourage students to take up the study of Vedas. “The primary duty of a Brahmin is to learn and teach Vedas,” says Gullapalli Sita Rama Avadhani, founder of the Parishad, who is continuing the tradition of teaching scriptures to his family members and others.
Iragavaram is home to 25 Vedic pundits who are learning and teaching Veda, Shastra, Smarta, Aagama, Jyothisha and Dharma sastras and the village has the history of taking under its wings the students who dedicate themselves to Vedic studies.
Adhyayana (study), Adhyapana (teaching), Parayana (recitation) and Svasthi (sitting in front of each other and chanting) form the tradition of learning Vedas. The message of the congregation, says K.S.S. Avadhani, a special grade principal at T.T.D. Vidyapeeth in Hyderabad, is “learning, spreading of Vedic knowledge and helping the young students.”
Out of the 101 parts of Yajur Veda, only two parts --Krishna Yajur Veda and Shukla Yajur Veda remain.
According to Chirravuri Siva RamaKrishna Sarma, author of Shruti Suarabham in Telugu, the basis of unity of our country can be found only in Vedas. “Tracing fundamental truths of our race to the Vedas and corroborating that wi
th modern research into diverse fields is work that should be done on a large scale,” he says.
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