Vedic knowledge continues to be the guiding force for human life and activities and it is incumbent on every individual to make every effort to know about it and to follow its teachings in one’s daily life. This knowledge alone can lead one towards attaining the purpose of life, which is liberation form samsara, pointed out Nannilam Sri V. Rajagopala Ganapadigal in a discourse.
The sacred knowledge of the Vedas and scriptures has been handed down through the oral tradition of teaching and learning.
A disciple would undergo rigorous training in the scriptures under a guru to gain this knowledge and would then go out into the world to practise what was learnt and also to propagate it among others.
In the course of the yugas, especially at the end of Dwapara Yuga before the advent of Kali Yuga, it was found that gaining access to the vast corpus of Vedic knowledge was becoming increasingly difficult. So Sage Vyasa classified the Vedas into four sections, the Rg, the Sama, the Yajur and the Atharva, and imparted these to four of his disciples: the Yajur Veda to Vaisampayana, the Rg to Pailar, the Sama to Jaimini and the Atharva to Atharvana. This has come to stay as sacred literature till date.
But there was a gradual decline in the awareness and practice of the code of dharma prescribed in the Vedas. So, many rishis and sages began to retell the dharma sastra for the common man in simple terms and these texts came to be known as the Smritis.
The Smritis form the basis of the religious, cultural and spiritual tradition, while also inspiring people to attain the highest spiritual development.
