As we know the Vedas have come down to us through word of mouth and do not have any systematic structure like the modern books. Despite the fact Vedavyasa has catogorised them, it was nearly five thousand years ago, and they have been maintained in the same format, never anyone being permitted to correct or modify its contents or configuration. Even though it is in the form of dialogues between Guru and Sishya, you have no quotation marks and a novice cannot make out who is saying what. For that matter There were no comas or fullstops also. Further, we know that all individuals Are not the same in their knowledge and level of understanding. And various parts of the Vedas address individuals of different levels. Not only that, you will find seemingly contradictory statements in many places. For example, at one place it is said that Swarga loka is eternal, and at another place, that the life in Swarga is not parmanant. Not only that, one word occurring in different places has diverse meaning which is poles apart. For example, the word Atma may mean Brahman or Self or mind or even body depending on the context. That is why one however knowledgeable he is in the language should not attempt to read Vedas by himself without the help of a Parampara Acharya who has the key for the sastras. If you ask how the acharya has learnt the method , he will say he has learnt it from his Guru, who has learned from his guru, and so on. This chain alone is called Parampara. Hence it is important for seeking the help of a Parampara Acharya. So one has to have faith and study sastras in a systematic way for a length of time under a competent Acharya. If one finds an illogical statement, the benefit of doubt should be given to the sastras and he must read once again. If still in doubt, continue studying until convinced. If one is not convinced in this birth, continue in the next! Srikrishna says in Gita that any effort put in this janma is not wasted and he will continue in the next janma from where he left, like carrying forward the balances in accounts. This alone accounts for the appearance of great teachers like Adisankara, Ramakrishna Parmahamsa, Ramana Maharshi, Sai Baba and others. Not only in spiritual field, we have Einstein, Ramanujan etc in sciences and many child prodigies in arts and music to prove this concept. Thus faith and devotion to Sastras and determination are the first steps for mastering Vedic Teaching. Swami Vevekananda said, “To succeed you must have tremendous perseverance, tremendous will. “I will drink the ocean,” says the persevering soul, “at my will mountains will crumble.” Have that sort of energy, that sort of will, work hard, and you will reach the goal”. Hari OM.
