The Vedas are the eternal, uncreated vibrations of the transcendental field of Pure Consciousness residing at the source of Creation. They are the seed of all the Laws of Nature in the universe. Through self-referral interaction within themselves at the beginning of time they give rise to the universe and they continue to uphold it in all its diversity. The Vedas have been recorded and preserved since time immemorial by the Vedic families as the hymns of the four Vedas: Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda and Atharva Veda.
The Rig Veda is the holistic ‘encyclopedia’ of Natural Law. Its collection also contains most of the hymns in Sama Veda and Yajur Veda. The Sama Veda presents the Vedic hymns in a flowing, melodic format. The Yajur Veda arranges the Vedic hymns from the perspective of yagyas: the application of the Vedic hymns to Vedic performances for the benefit of the individual, the community and the world. The Atharva Veda is a somewhat distinct tradition from the other three Vedas. It is currently preserved by only a very few families in India today and at the moment it is not taught at our facilities.
These four Vedas are expanded upon in the other aspects of the Vedic Literature like the Brahmanas, Aranyakas, Upanishads, Upavedas, Vedangas, Upangas, Smritis, and Itihasa-Puranas.
The Upavedas include, among others, Ayur Veda – the Vedic science of health; and Sthapatya Veda (Vastu) – the Vedic science of architecture. The Vedangas contain the sciences of preservation and proper utilization of the Vedas. They include Jyotish (Vedic astrology), Shiksha (proper pronunciation), Vyakaran (grammar) and Kalpa (which is used in the performance of yagyas). Central to the ashram’s education program is the practice of the Transcendental Meditation (TM) and TM-Sidhi Programs which embody the essence of the teachings of Yoga, Vedanta and the other Vedic sciences contained in all of the Vedic literature. The following video shows some of our students reciting a small section of the Yajur Veda, one of the four main Vedas.
