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Secret of the Veda, New U.S. Edition

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The Rig Veda is probably the oldest and best preserved of the ancient spiritual literature of the world, dating from anywhere from three to five thousand years or more according to different scholars and mystics. The Rig Veda is also the oldest book in an Indo-European language and contains many keys to Indo-European language, culture and religion long before the Christian era. Yet there is still much debate and controversy as to what the Vedas mean, who composed them, when and where.
Besides this important historical debate about the origins of the Vedas is a perhaps yet more significant debate about their real meaning and import. Do the Vedas reflect an older and deeper spirituality of humanity, the lost yogic teachings of earlier ages of light long before the present spiritual Dark Age or Kali Yuga? Or are the Vedas are they just fragments of primitive poetry which we should not read too much into? While modern academics hold to the latter, mystics and yogis uphold the former.
The Secret of the Veda is probably the most important book that attempts to show a deeper spiritual and yogic meaning to the Vedic teachings, its deities, practices and sages. It is also highly noteworthy that it was written by Sri Aurobindo (1872 - 1950), widely regarded as one of the greatest gurus, sages and philosophers of modern India, with a spiritual fame that exceeds that of Mahatma Gandhi in the country. The Secret of the Veda is the only extensive book on the Vedas written in the English language from such a reputed sage and enlightened master. Sri Aurobindo brings the Vedic world alive to us and opens up for us the vistas of the Vedic mind. He does not just project his opinions on to the Vedic experience but brings unfolds the Vedic experience from within.
For anyone looking for the spiritual meaning of the Vedas, the Secret of the Veda is easily the best and most accessible place to begin. It includes a deep study of Vedic deities and seers and reveals the hidden background of their thoughts and their meditations. As a published scholar on Vedic knowledge over several decades, including having written translations and interpretations of the Vedas, as well as studies in Yoga, Vedanta and Ayurveda, I count the Secret of the Veda as one of the most important books that I ever read. It was the key text that encouraged me to follow the Vedic work that has become my life mission. I believe the book has the ability to change the life of anyone who seriously contemplates its deep knowledge. It takes us through the spiritual origins of our species to our connection with the eternal consciousness in its ever new unfolding.

The rishis of the ancient Vedas sought to wrest the truth of time and space by digging deep into the secrets veiled in the laws of matter. They wrapped their tremendous discoveries in seemingly incoherent symbolisms in the Vedic texts and the true knowledge lay buried and lost to human understanding. For centuries these texts were passed on by word of mouth, generation to generation, in a tradition of ritualistic knowledge. Sri Aurobindo was convinced that more lay beneath these ancient texts and exposed them with the light of his formidable sadhana.
The vedic hymns reveal a mystical source of inspiration with a precise explanations of the powers that can powerfully guide the inner progress of the spiritual practise. These are not easy texts to follow as the symbols of the vedic period were very different from the familiar symbols of technology and communication that dominate the modern world. Any effort to benefit from these ancient guides requires the reader to make a determined step into the symbolisms of a time vastly different from today.
As with most of Sri Aurobindo's works, the best results are available to those who attempt the practise.

This epoch-making work of Sri Aurobindo on Vedic mysticism is of immense import as far as hermeneutics and psychology are considerd. It is the most original contribution of Sri Aurobindo to the modern knowledge systems. To the reader of this work, Indra is no longer a mere mythological deity, but the master of his own 'indriyas', senses, with whose active help, it would be easy to win new frontiers of awareness. Varuna is not simply the lord of the sea but the highest psychological state of oceanic vastness, light and purity into which we all must aspire to surge forth. By this simple exercise of replacing the connotations, one turns with profit the Vedic text of great antiquity into an excellenct self-management treatise. The Veda is no more prisoned in rituals and conventions but becomes a handbook of self-culture.

As a result, thematic unity between the Veda and the Upanishads has been restored. By addressing the most primordial existential issues besetting human life, the Veda is a univesal testament, and Sri Aurobindo has delivered it from the confines of a particular religion.

This is one of Aurobindo's best books. It presents a correct interpretation of the Vedas and moves away from the colonial discourse of the 19th century European scholars of the Veda.

aurobindo's writing and his existence on earth is proof enough of existence of god. words turns into flower and fragrance when the ink flows through his pen. for those who have been baffled with hymns of vedas and concluded in ignorance about silliness, deification and archaic language; should read this. through sri aurobindo the hymns will become poetry of creation, expressed in language that is at once allegorical as well revealing depending on your understanding. it will make one realise why chants of rig veda are distilled truths that has withstood the rigours of time and epoch. afterall that which is and is truth cannot be subject or object of human thought that fluctuates temporally or spatially? to miss reading aurobindo is just to miss the bliss of life.

I read the hindi version of this book 30 years ago,when i was at nasik.Ther is no doubt that it is a great work done by maharshi arvindo to reveal the secret meanings of vedic hymes,I appreciate his great effort to get this complex book decoded and thussimplified it.Thus making it available for every one to read.I therefore recomend every one to read this book and enlighten himself. sp.sharma

The Veda is a book of esoteric symbols in the form of ritualistic hymns. The aim of the Veda was illumination, not logical reasoning. It is part superstition, part allegories of nature with an astrological element thrown it. The hymns are written in obscure language, are hard to understand and deliberately ambiguous. Good reason to write a book for the unwashed hordes.

The author went to painstaking lengths to come with a theory that made the Veda make sense. He explains this in the first part of the book. The remaining sections cover selected hymns which are translated with the author's comments following.

The secret? Truth and mastery of the human existence. The Veda speaks to people on many levels, depending on where they are on their path to enlightenment.

For a complicated subject, the author does a good job of explaining his theory and translating the hymns. It is a dense book, but easy to understand.

The book took a little longer to arrive than other vendors but it was certainly worth the wait. The book that arrived was in absolutely perfect condition.
Also the vendor was very quick to return my e-mail (within a couple of hours).
All said, I would definitely do business with them again.

This is a truly wonderful book that reveals the true spiritual meaning concealed within the hymns of the Veda. Orthodox scholars have taken its words literally and wrongly dubbed it as "primitive babble" or only useful for ritual purposes. Aurobindo shows us how a range of similar recurring symbols reveal the inner illumination of the truth at the depths of our being. For example scholars take the word "cow" at is face value not knowing that its inner meaning is "the light within". The mountain or cave that has has penned up these inner illuminations is our social conditioning. Echoing another great modern master, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Aurobindo affirms the transforming quality of Sanskrit verses upon our physiology which can confer upon us higher states of consciousness, beyond waking, dreaming and deep sleep.

This is the most verbose and useless commentary on the Vedas that I have ever read. This whole book could be written in about 10 pages if the author cut the nonsense and just said what he has to say in a straight forward manner......"secret of the Veda"....yeah right....the real secret is to find out what the author actually wants to say !!!