Greatness of Vedas - Unfathomable Vedas

Sage Bharadwaja spent his life studying the Vedas, and yet he felt he had more to study and know. Once he did penance, and when asked what boon he wanted, he replied that he wanted his lifespan extended by hundred years.

When asked why he wanted his lifespan extended for so long, Bharadwaja replied that he wanted to study the Vedas more thoroughly, and for that another hundred years were necessary. At the end of the extra hundred years, when Bharadwaja was asked what boon he wanted, he again asked for a further extension of his life by hundred years. And at the end of the second hundred years, he again asked for another hundred years. And at the end of the three hundredth year of his life, he asked for yet another extension. The Lord of the celestials then created three hills. From each of them, he picked up a fist of mud. He then said to Bharadwaja: “This is the extent to which you have studied the Vedas.” Thus even three hundred years of diligent study by a sage of the calibre of Bharadwaja was insufficient to master the Vedas. There is so much to learn and understand from the Vedas, said M.V. Anantapadmanabha chariar.

The greatness of Bharadwaja is seen in many respects. And to understand his greatness, one has to begin with the story with Valmiki. Valmiki was himself so great a rishi that Sage Narada came in search of him. Bharadwaja was Valmiki's disciple. One day, when Valmiki had to go out for his daily rituals, he took Bharadwaja along. When they came to the Tamasa river, Valmiki said to Bharadwaja: “This river is clear and pure like the heart of great men.” Hearing the call of birds, he looked up and saw a pair of birds, happily chirping to each other. But just then a hunter's arrow struck the male bird, and it dropped down dead. Seeing the agony of the female bird, Valmiki cursed the hunter. Upon their return to the ashram, Bharadwaja told all the other disciples of Valmiki what had happened in the forest. Thus, he was the one to kindle their curiosity and make popular the first verse of Valmiki's. And if even such a great sage could not comprehend the Vedas fully in three hundred years, it shows the greatness of the Vedas.

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Lord of Tirumala Hills(Lord Narayana/Srinivasa/Sri venkateswara), the Vedas transcend Yugas

The Vedas worship Lord Narayana. The greatness of the Vedas is that they are not authored by man, and they, like God, are not destroyed. There are four Yugas. The Krita Yuga lasted for approximately 17 lakh years, the Treta Yuga for approximately 11 lakh years and the Dwapara Yuga for approximately 8 lakh years. The Kali Yuga will roughly last for four lakh years. We are now in the Kali Yuga. The Matsya Avatara took place in the Krita Yuga. The Lord took the Matsya Avatara to recover the Vedas from an asura. So the Vedas existed even before the Krita Yuga. So if we total up the years of all the Yugas so far, we roughly get 36 lakh-odd years. So the Vedas have been known for as long as 36 lakh years, and the Vedas of such antiquity worship Lord Narayana, said Padur Rangarajachariar.

Such a Lord resides in Tirumala. The Varaha Murthy in the Hills is even older than the Srinivasa we worship there. The Hill itself is the embodiment of the Vedas. Once a Bhagavata came down from the Tirumala Hills and opened the food packet he had brought along. It was crawling with ants. So he went back up the hill to let out the ants. The ants could be Nitya Suris, who were residing in Tirumala, and that was why he took the ants back to the Hill.

Lord Narayana, who resides in Tirumala, has been worshipped for eons, and is still worshipped, and will continue to be worshipped by future generations. Thus He transcends Yugas.

The Lord of Tirumala has been praised by Azhvars and Acharyas. Swami Desika highlights the quality of Daya of Lord Srinivasa. He says Daya Devi is a consort of the Lord. It is this compassion or Daya of the Lord that sent us Acharyas like Alavandar and Ramanuja. Peyazhvar in his ‘Moondram Tiruvanthathi’ describes Srinivasa as the essence of the four Vedas. He says the Lord, who is the ‘Antaryamin’ of all, resides in Tiruvenkatam and also in his heart. Lord Srinivasa is Sarva Seshin — Master of all. Bhootathazhvar says in a pasuram that even the monkeys in Tirumala offer worship to Him. They bathe in the Pushkarini, pluck flowers and offer them to Him in the early morning hours.

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