The list of inventions by Thomas Alva Edison is pretty long. He ranks one of the earliest inventors of the voice recorders. The first to record in Edison's recorder was Max Muller, the German-born philologist and orientalist.
Soon after recording, he said, "You all applaud hearing my voice in the recorder....but the credit goes to Bharat's Rig Veda...emerging from the eternal Sanatan Dharma.". The Rig Veda slokan he recorded first was salutation to Lord Agni, the Fire God.
See a holy resonance here. They all bring alive the spirit of our deep belief, Vasu Daiva Kutumbakam - the whole world is one family. Edison was born in America, Muller in Germany, latter studied in Britain and was deeply interested in studies of India and its religious thoughts.
Well the sloka he recited in first recording:
'O Lord Agni,
The Fire God,
Effacing the darknes
By effulgent flames.
Salutation to Thee,
Handhold us
Like a father
And guide us.'
The clapping reverberated the whole auditorium..
Yes.
The premise of Sanatan Dharm is known by the name, 'Sruti'. The beauty of this unaffaceable eternal Sanatan Dharm is it's not a script, it was never written in words. In Tamil it's ezhutak kilavi - எழுதாக் கிளவி. Surprise why the ever broad English is yet to adopt this phrase, எழுதாக் கிளவி into its lexicon.
Appar was one of the four, populaly known as நால்வர் - நால்வர் sang in praise of Lord Shiva, "ஆறங்கம் நால்வேத மானாய் போற்றி" - "Lord, you form four Vedas and their six parts". Vedas care for all creatures and guide them to lead a healthy life. God permeates the whole of cosmos. Yajurveda, one of the four Vedas, affirms this. Chandogya Upanishad also emphasizes it.
Veda insists that we align our live to nature. It stresses not to pollute the environment. All creatures should be cared for. Water bodies are to be maintained well. Cows should be protected. Only those who make these values part of their lives are Hindus. It's the reason why we equate the holy rivers as Matas. We call Ganga Ma, the Mother Cauvery et al. We consider splitting in the river as sin. Heartrending is now the rivers turn gutter for many industries. The Vedas say if we do good it adds to our punya and conversely it accumulates sin if we do bad deeds.
A sincere farmer wouldn't let even tiny size stone in his field. Now we get concrete jungle where we once had perennial lakes and water bodies.
With the advent of atheism and propogation, we started giving a damn to all values. We now reap the consequences. In Hindu households, it is used to be a practice to beautify the front yard with a kolam out of a flour made of rice powder. The idea is not just to decorate. The kolam would eventually become fodder for small ants. Now, sticking kolams have become convenient. We welcomed the sticker and chased away our compassion.
Years there lived a King by name Pari.
Once he came back victorious after a battle. Even when there is slightest success, vainglory would take over. Pari was different. He had compassion. He couldn't stand some suffering. On his way back he saw a flower creeper struggling to find and get foothold. Pari left his chariot and helped the creeper find its support to survive and grow on. This value is from the Dharma the adhered to.
Sad thing is, the removal of Mahakavi's poem - on love towards all creatures - from the text books. Time again the Vedas exhort living harmoniously by all creatures. Even today, thank God, there are noble souls. They are taking good care of trees, plants etc.
Sad fact is we are pushed to remind ourselves of the lines of Mahakavi Bharathi:
"வேதம் நிறைந்த தமிழ்நாடு". - the Tamilnadu, filled and full of Veda.
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