Vedic Wisdom

Vedic Wisdom

Vedas

The human’s reach to the basic levels of comfort was not all that smooth or easy but was after a very long and tedious living process.

Origin of basic civilization When they came on the scene first they were terrified with the surroundings – the animals, the natural phenomenon etc., In fact they did not have any organized or identified source of food; they had no cloth or shelter. While they noticed animals eating flesh they understood that nature has not endowed them with the strength to overpower an animal or even tear its skin. So they alternatively noticed the birds which were eating the fruits and so they started living on fruits and vegetables.

The cold, rain and wind disturbed their life. When they saw the animals are not too much disturbed they realized that its skin is more dense and stronger than theirs. They saw birds who took shelter in trees. So to escape the wind and cold they took refuge in caves. Still the fear of animals haunted them. To overcome this problem they looked at how animals and birds live. They noticed birds of the same feather and animal of the same flock stayed together. So they started living in groups.

Since they started living together the possibilities of and need for communication arose. There was no language. They started communication in sign language. Then seeing the birds and animals they tried use sounds to indicate things and the sign communication became sound communication. Soon they realized that they were able to make many more versatile sounds than animals and birds and were pleasantly surprised. So they consciously improved and increased their vocabulary of sounds to protect them as well as to make them more comfortable. Over time these base sounds took the form of recurrent specific sounds for denoting specific things and the seed for language was laid. This is a milestone moment in human history.

Still they were living in caves as they could not always hedge against the rain and cold. They watched around and found that birds could make nest and crabs and rats could dig holes under earth. This gave them an idea to dig the earth, put some tree branches as poles and large dry leaves over it as roof and construct a shelter. The concept of a roof over a head arose. Still they were undressed and faced many difficulties particularly in winter and rain. They looked around and noticed several insects in rain taking cover under leaves. So they started using large leaves to cover their body and the concept of clothing arose.

But yet they were wandering for food and were able to eat only what was available. That was very inconvenient for them as in fact they had to fight with birds and animals for the vegetables and fruits. It so happened that a massive fire broke out in the forest which was feeding them with fruits and vegetables and they had to go without food for many days. Then out of desperation they ate the remnants of the fire ravaged vegetables and they found it tasting far better. They realized that fire can make a better food. But they didn’t yet know how to make fire.

In the meantime their fight for survival against animals was going on and whenever needed they used whatever they can lay hand upon to throw at the animals to drive them away. In one such occurrence they found that certain stones when thrown with force and when it hits a rock it created sparks. That gave them a clue and they started rubbing that type of stones with each other and were able to repeatedly create sparks. The science of making fire arose-which is another major turning point in human living. They started cooking with fire their vegetables and the habit of eating cooked food arose.

Still they were living on what was available and could not get what they wanted. So they looked around to see how to get them. They noticed that the plants and trees grow up in a place where the birds drop the seed of accidentally. So they tried to themselves put the seed in a place of their choice and to their pleasant surprise the plants and trees came up. The concept of agriculture arose.

Now with food, shelter, clothing and certain level of security arising out of living together they had time for other things. So they looked at the nature and the first thing that struck was the cyclical movement of many things. They realized the rhythm and the speed; they understood that it is happening so only because of the cyclical movement and so they felt that something similar, if physically can be constructed it will help them. Now they were looking around as to how to design.

The Sun and Moon gave them the clue and they tried something like that and to their utter joy it rolled. The concept of wheel arose. This is the most important turning point in human life because this is going to play a very important role in many things later on in human scientific discoveries.

This article is a snippet from the Book Vedic Wisdom, Authored by Pandit Sri Rama Sharma. Vedic Wisdom is available online at www.giri.in and across Giri Trading Agency Private Limited, A chain of Speciality Stores dealing in all kinds of products needed in Indian Culture and Tradition.