Vedic culture is the original ancestor of all religions (Part 1)

By Stephen Knapp

Not only is the Vedic culture the source of architectural art, music, language, and most learning in the world, it is also the original or primary faith and basis of spiritual development of all humanity since the beginning of time. So, no matter whether one claims to be Buddhist, Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Jain, Sikh, or whatever, he or she is still a descendant of Vedic culture. This is because all other genuine religions and spiritual paths have numerous traditions, legends, and names of God that have been carried over, or have been adopted, from the Vedic culture. However, we need to remember that they look different because as the once united Vedic world became fragmented, portions of the Vedic culture began to emerge in what became separate faiths and customs based on regional preferences. Thus, bits of the Sanskrit literature turned up in portions of other religious texts, as found in, for example, what became known as the Talmud of the Jews, the Zend Avesta of the Iranians, the Eddas of Scandinavia, and so on. So from the Vedic culture came many breakaway cults and creeds. Unfortunately, as previously discussed, many cultures have forgotten their histories and fail to understand their true origins and ancient connections with others. What is worse is that as this age of Kali-yuga unfolds, there will be an increase of societies splintering off from Vedic culture, or whatever is left of it. In fact, this is the prophecy as found in the Vedic literature, which I have especially elaborated in my book, The Vedic Prophecies: A New Look into the future. This means that there will be a continued decrease in moral standards, behavior, our spirituality and less ability to see what we all have in common.

Another reason why many portions of history have been forgotten or buried is that it was typical of the conquering religions that make converts through military force for them to destroy any historical evidence of the previous culture. Especially when it displays loftier principles and more advanced levels of consciousness. So rampaging Roman Christian and Arab Muslim armies destroyed as much of any remaining Vedic culture they could. This, unfortunately, also helped plunge the world into what has been called the Dark Ages, which included terrible crusades, witch burnings of thousands of innocent women, and intense torture of any so-called infidels.

Consequently, the teachings of Vedic sciences suffered a severe setback. This meant that the further development of society also ceased to progress and was forced to discover things all over again that were previously known. This provided the basis of the glorification of the inventions and discoveries of such men as Galileo, Corpernicus, and Newton, who really were discovering what the Vedic literature had described thousands of years, if not thousands, in which societies became more distanced from Vedic culture, and they also became more backward and underdeveloped. In fact, in some distant regions, humanity snak to a state of primitive living.

Theologically, however, the Vedic pantheon was shared by many breakaway religions and cults, each swearing allegiance to come particular form of Divinity. Many philosophies and religions that were started by societies that broke away from Vedic culture still kept many of their Vedic traditions. The difference is that the Vedic knowledge and traditions came at the time of creation, and can certainly be traced back many thousands of years, while more modern scriptures, such as the Bible and Koran, were developed many years later, appearing comparatively recently within the last 2000 years. The Vedas were given to mankind by Lord Vishnu to Brahma, the deva creator of the universe, and were later compiled by Srila Vyasadeva, an incarnation of the Supreme Being, for the benefit of humanity. The Bible was supposedly developed by men who were said to be inspired by God. However, the more scholars focus their research on historical evidence, the more they find that the formation of the Old and New testaments is far from what the Bible tradition claims. The Koran is said to have been given to Muhammad by the angel Gabriel. However, this is questionable because history records that Muhammad could not even read or write. So how could have the original writings of these revelations take place? Furthermore, the Koran was put into it's official form years after the death of Muhammad.

In any case, the concepts and scope of the Vedic literature are much broader than that of the Bible, Koran, or other religious. Vedic literature is a compendium of universal truths and knowledge. The Vedic texts contain a higher level of spiritual understanding and universal love between God and humanity compared with the Koran, which contains many threats and curses for those who do not follow it cent percent. The Bible and Koran are, therefore, local scriptures that pertain primarily to the people of its immediate region. Such scripture deals almost exclusively with the local prophets and customs of the people. This also causes a division between them and everyone else. In this way, we can understand that the Vedic texts are a universal scripture which is based on the principle of Sanatana-dharma, the eternal nature of the soul regardless of where or what a person may be. It is this process which can provide the means for people to return to their natural, spiritual state of being, and find common ground with all people.

Nonetheless, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam incorporate many Vedic traditions, which we will discuss much further in the coming chapters. Even much of Islamic religious terminology is rooted in Sanskrit. For example, the term "Allah" is a synonym for a goddess in Sanskrit, usually in reference to Durga or one of her forms. Also, one of the Indian Upanishads is the Allopanishad.

Another example is the origin of the word Satan, which both Muslims and Christians use in their scripture. The term "satan", or Syaitan as Muslims call him, comes from Sanskrit word Sat-na, which means unreal or nontruth. Sat means the true and eternal, while Sat-na means the opposite. From that we get the word Satan, which takes on a personality in the Bible and Koran, indicating our attraction or temptation to that which is impermanent.

The word "prophet" is a synonym for the Sanskrit word avatar, or one who descends from heaven, from which comes the concept for prophet. The correct Sanskrit word is pri-pata, which is being pronounced as Prophet in English. Pri-Pata is also similar to the Sanskrit word Pita, which means father. Another similarity deals with Abraham. In the Jewish tradition, Abraham was one of the progenitors of the Jewish race. However, there are religious scholars who question historically if there ever was an Abraham. There are stories about him, but historical evidence can be found. But this Abraham, who is accepted by the Jews, Christians, and Muslims, is a reference to none other than Brahma of Vedic tradition.

Part 2: https://vedicforgottenfacts.blogspot.com/2020/01/vedic-culture-is-original-ancestor-of_13.html