Thread by @Sampadananda

Welcome to the first session of the Tutorial on the Introduction to the Veda.
अनादिनिधना नित्या वागुत्सृष्टा स्वयम्भुवा।
आदौ वेदमयी दिव्या यतः सर्वाः प्रवृत्तयः।
anādinidhanā nityā vāgutsṛṣṭā svayambhuvā|
ādau vedamayī divyā yataḥ sarvāḥ pravṛttayaḥ| 1/1
#VedaPrabodha

The above verse from the Shantiparva of the Mahabharata (232.24) says: In the beginning of the creation, the creator brought forth the eternal, imperishable and divine words of the Veda which is the source of everything. 1/2

The Veda, indeed, is the Mother of Indian civilization and culture. The spiritual and cultural history of India begins with the Veda which is the inner spiritual source of Indian culture. A deeper understanding of the Veda can provide the key to the heart of India. 1/3

Veda is a Mantric expression of the spiritual experiences of the ancient Indian seers. These experiences are presented symbolically through words charged with spiritual and occult power.

The Vedic Mantras are ‘inspired from higher hidden planes of consciousness’. 1/4

The Veda Mantras convey the great universal, eternal and impersonal Truth which the Rishis received in their illumined minds. So, the language of the Veda is not an intellectual composition but 'a rhythm heard, a divine word that came vibrating out of the infinite'. 1/5

The Mantras of the Veda in their import have a double significance, exoteric and esoteric. The Vedic deities are names, powers, personalities of the universal Godhead representing the psychological states of consciousness experienced by the Rishis. 1/6

The Vedic deities are not simply poetical personifications of abstract ideas or of psychological and physical functions of Nature. To the Rishis they are the living realities. All this must not be mistaken as imagery. They have to be understood in their esoteric import. 1/7

The esoteric sense of the Mantras can only be discoverable by giving ‘a constant and straight-forward meaning to the words and formulas employed by the Rishis’. Most of the key-words like Ritam, Dhi, etc. are ‘key-stones’ to the esoteric structure of the Vedic doctrine. 1/8

If these words are not interpreted in their proper sense then the true knowledge of the Veda cannot be grasped. This kind of interpretation is possible only by the one who himself is a Rishi. All cannot enter into the secret chamber of the Veda and know the real Truth. 1/9

The words of the Veda could only be known by the one who himself is a seer or a mystic; from others the verses withheld their meaning.
न प्रत्यक्षमनृषिणामस्ति मन्त्रः
na pratyakṣamanṛṣiṇāmasti mantraḥ
The Mantra is not perceptible to one who is not a Rishi. 1/10

With above words from Brihaddevata (8.129) of Shaunaka I end today's session. In the next session I will take up the discussion on who is a Rishi.
Keep following for many more interesting discussions on the Veda as a part of this Twitter Tutorial:
#VedaPrabodha 1/11