When it comes to Veda Adhyayanam we can only hear the following comments. The comments can be classified as
1. Myth, 2. Social condition (stigma), 3. Practical difficulties.
Myth:
It is good….Very good … but it is not meant for me…Veda Adhyayanam is not for my son or grandson (Read - applicable only others…!!) ….
Those were olden days ….. In fact my great great grandfather was a ganapati/ somayaji etc, etc!!
Veda Adhyayanam is very, very tough
No use.. Veda Adhyayanam is only learning by heart of verses …. No practical use; Nobody knows the meaning….
Tough living conditions in patashala…. It is rigorous, in-humane
Vedam is lost and hence no scope / Veda Adhyayanam has no set grades or standards.
No body is keen on these issues and we don’t have help.
Social Condition (Stigma):
No, it won’t suit us… (Don’t ask me why!!!…)
Not definitely for our social and cultural background…..
We have no Adhyayis in our family in the recent generations …so why should I attempt this now? We shall be aliens in our family circle.
Why should we learn Vedam at all? We don’t want our boy to be a Shastrigal!!
How can we change the society? ….We ought to live the way it does…We cannot get back to the old-age!!
Resistance to life-style, dressing and eating habits
Why make your life stressful?
Practical difficulties:
Where/What is the scope???….
What shall be the future career? Purohityam is not the career that we are interested
How to make a respectable living?
Is it a proven path? Can you prove it?
Only owing to our Periyava’s efforts and tapas we see even now few Veda Adhyayis among our community. It goes to show that the practicing the ‘Preach’ is difficult.
Most Brahmin families refrain from Veda Adhyayanam only because the only career option after Veda Adhyayanam is Vaideekam (read Purohityam),
It is now required that:
We need the will to think dispassionately and think big!!
Break the Myth on the negative aspects of Veda Adhyayanam and bring people around on the importance and sanctity of Adhyayanam.
We need to indulge, implement and create right social conditions so that the stigma associated with adhyayam is eroded and positive feeling are generated about Vedam and Vaideeka way of living.
There are successful people who have done Veda Adhyayanam as a child and are engaged subsequently as Doctors, Engineers, Chartered Accountants, Lawyers, Clerks, Teachers, Lecturers/Professors, Businessmen, Upannyasakar (Discourse specialists), Management consultants etc etc . (Most such persons have been able to lead a vaideeka lifestyle too!!) Though this unique population is small, it is a sizeable ratio of the people who undertake Veda Adhyayanam. Moreover, this unique population have had no formal facilities/guidance and have done all ground work by themselves under odd circumstances. If formal facilities/guidance were available, most Adhyayis can do wonders and many more new career avenues without compromising Vaideeka lifestyle can be discovered. We need to make it possible that Veda Adhyayanam is taken as choice as sva-dharmam not as hopeless last resort alternative.
We need to take pride in our ancestry, have the will to abide by the Brahmna Dharmam and will to take some efforts towards upholding it.
With all this in mind “Samhita” plans to create the infrastructure and social conditions to make Veda Adhyayanam a natural option in Brahmin families.
