Values in Vedas

"Vetthi ithi Vedah"; Knowing, knowledge is Veda. That is to say, man can know from the Vedas, the Code of Right Activity and the Body of Right Knowledge. The Vedas teach man his duties from birth to death. They describe his rights and duties, obligations and responsibilities in all stages of life - as a student, householder, recluse and monk. In order to make plain the Vedic dicta and axioms and enable all to understand the meaning and purpose of the do's and don'ts, the Vedangas, Puranas and Epic texts appeared, in course of time. Therefore, if man is eager to grasp his own significance and true reality, he has to understand the importance of these later explanatory compositions also.

This is the reason why the ancients taught the Vedangas and other related texts even before the pupils learnt the Vedas. This was a must in the Gurukulas or Hermitage Schools of the past. In those days, the Bharathiyas studied the 'Fourteen Vidyas', or 'Subjects'. The Vedas were learnt by rote. The master of the Vedas, who had learnt the Vedas in this manner was called Jada, or Inert! But, the word did not convey the meaning that he had not known anything. It only meant that he had nothing more to learn and was therefore 'inactive' and 'content'. Through the study of the Vedas, he had become the master of all knowledge. In order to make this human career worth while, the study of the Vedas was considered very essential.