Vedas as the Instruction Manual of the

Universe
Just as a nation is governed and run by means of all the laws of the nation, which
are contained in its constitution, so the universe is governed and run by all the
Laws of Nature, which find their expression in the Veda and the Vedic Literature.

'The Veda and the Vedic Literature are the Constitution of the Universe'

               ~  Maharishi

 In 1972, when Maharishi formulated his Science of Creative Intelligence, he

described the Rik Veda as the encyclopaedia of all knowledge of all the Laws of
Nature, and, as such, he designated it as the encyclopaedia of the Science of
Creative Intelligence. 

The Rik Veda, world's most ancient textbook of knowledge and experience,
cognized by seers, forms the source of the other three Vedas, namely Sama, Yajur
and Atharvaveda. Furthermore, the six Vedangas or limbs of the Veda (Shiksha,
Kalpa, Nirukta, Vyakarana, Chandas, Jyotish), are entirely based on Rik Veda, and
form an elaboration and a commentary on the knowledge contained in Rik Veda in
a very concentrated form. 

The six Upavedangas (the six subordinate limbs of the Vedas) also called Upangas
(Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Samkhya, Yoga, Karma Mimamsa, Vedanta) provide a
commentary on the essence of the six Vedangas - they expound on the abstract
principles underlying the practical values of the Vedangas.

The four Upavedas or subordinate Vedas, Sthapatyaveda (Vedic architecture),

Dhanurveda (Vedic Science and art of defence), Gandharvaveda (Vedic Science
and art of music), and Atharvaveda (the Vedic Science and art of creating an
affluent society) are elaborating the practical technologies that are contained in the
Rik Veda. 

The Upanishads, Brahmanas and Aranyakas, respectively elaborate on the

Absolute, the relative, and the lively link between the Absolute and the relative
values of existence, contained in Rik Veda.

The Smritis, Puranas and the Itihasas, provide the fascinating, concrete examples
and illustrations of the abstract principles of life and living, contained in Rik Veda.
The Pratishakhyas elaborate on the holistic, omnipresent, omniscient and
omnipotent aspects of the structuring dynamics of consciousness, contained in Rik
Veda. 

Thus it is clear that Rik Veda is the main trunk of knowledge, which spreads its
fruit bearing branches in 26 directions. 
 

From Veda comes Vishva

The Veda and the Vedic Literature not only provide us with a blueprint of creation,
but also describe in detail the structuring dynamics of creation, and how the whole
creation is a manifestation, an outer expression of the structuring dynamics that are
inherent in the nature of consciousness. All forms and phenomena, all structures
and all Creative Intelligence in the universe are the expression of the structuring
dynamics of consciousness.  
All orderliness that we find exhibited in all levels of nature - from the smallest
atom, through the living organisms, to the largest cluster of galaxies - is the
expression of the infinite orderliness that is contained in consciousness. And the
eternal and omnipresent processes of change, transformation and evolution that we
find exhibited on all levels of creation are all the expression of the infinite
creativity which is contained in consciousness. 
 

The structuring dynamics of consciousness

If you ask "whose consciousness is this?," then the only answer is: our
consciousness. There is only one consciousness in creation, which expresses itself
differently and uniquely in each of us. Our consciousness is in essence a universal
field of cosmic consciousness. It is the source of everything. It is not only the
creator of our bodies, but of the entire universe as well. If we as human beings
would take a close look at our own consciousness, we would find that it is not
individualistic at all, it is not localised in time and space at all, it is an unbounded,
eternal, universal field of awareness. This is the essence of what all the 40 branches
of Vedic Science want to bring home to us. See for instance what the Upanishads
have to say about this. 
"Jivo Brahmaiva naparah" - "Jiva is Brahman and nothing else"; the individual is
the wholeness, the totality; the life of the individual is the life of the universe; the
individual soul is the soul of the universe, and nothing else.

"Ayam atma Brahma" 

"This Self is Brahman" 
 (Ma. Up. 2).
 "Aham Brahmasmi" 
"I am Brahman"  
(Br. Up. 1.4.10).

"Tat tvam asi" 

"You are That (Brahman)" 
(Chh. Up. 6.11).

"Sarvam khalvidam Brahma"   

"All this is nothing but Brahman" 
 (Chh.Up. 3.14.1).

Each of the 40 aspects of Vedic Science is showing in its own way, that the source
of all creation is our own consciousness. Traditionally, every branch of Vedic
Science is said to be "Brahma vidya" - knowledge of the totality, knowledge of the
universal consciousness. The omnipresent consciousness, by its internal dynamism,
has structured the entire creation. Since time immemorial the Vedic Rishis and
wise men have held that "from Veda comes Vishva" - from Veda stems the entire
creation; the entire universe in all its multiplicity comes from the Veda. 

In the Upanishads it is stated that the one universal consciousness thought to itself 

"Eko'ham bahusyama" 
"I am one, may I be many" 
(Tai.Up.).

Consciousness, by reflecting upon its own universal and almighty nature, is able to
create everything by mere desiring, by mere thinking.  
Thus, the Veda and the Vedic Literature are to be understood as the knowledge of
consciousness, knowing itself. Consciousness is the only element in creation that
knows itself. By being in constant interaction with itself, consciousness knows
everything about itself. And the 40 aspects of Vedic Science are the language of
consciousness speaking in itself, speaking to itself, and speaking about itself. 

Since consciousness is an eternal reality, it is traditionally held that the Vedas are
"Nitya" (eternal)  and  "Apaurusheya" (not created by anyone). They are the self-
generating expressions of pure knowledge, emerging spontaneously in "One
unbounded ocean of consciousness in motion." Consciousness knows itself:
Consciousness equates with knowledge. For that reason, it has organising power.
Cosmic, all comprehensive consciousness possesses total and all-comprehensive
knowledge and, for that reason, it has the capacity to create anything it wants,
anything it conceptualises. 

It is in this light that we can understand information theory saying that "knowledge
has organising power." Traditionally, Vedic scholars have always distinguished
two aspects to Vedic Science "Mantra" and "Brahmana." These terms stand for
Pure Knowledge and its inherent organising power. The total knowledge of the
Veda comprising the total knowledge of creation including past, present and future,
has infinite organising power. And, as such, it has planned, designed and created
the entire universe.

The fact that the Veda and Vedic Literature are eternal further implies that the
sequence of the words constituting them is eternally fixed. And this absolute
sequence forms the basis of the orderly development of every item in creation. This
viewpoint on the Vedas and Vedic Literature is corroborated by the most advanced
theories of quantum mechanics. There one speaks of the spontaneous, sequential,
dynamical symmetry breaking, defined as the way in which the creation emerges
out of the Unified Field of all the Laws of Nature. 

The uncreated commentary

In the early eighties, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi cognized the nature and the details of
this eternally fixed sequence of the words in Rik Veda. This cognition of the
inherent structure of Rik Veda is termed as "Apaurusheya Bhasya," or uncreated
commentary. It brings to light, that the specific sequence of the letters, syllables,
words, Padas, Richas, Suktas and Mandalas of Rik Veda, form an eternal structure
in which every next expression provides a commentary on the previous expression.
Every following expression is a natural elaboration or commentary on the
expressions that are preceding it. 

From this it follows that all the knowledge of the entire Veda is contained in the
first word and indeed even in the first letter of the Veda "A." The term
"Apaurusheya Bhasya" further implies that it is a commentary provided by the
structure of the Veda itself. The whole essence of the Apaurusheya Bhasya can
therefore be summarised in the phrase: "Follow the sequence." 

Maharishi's Apaurusheya Bhasya has made clear to the world for the first time in
the history of mankind that the sequence of the Vedic expressions is of an absolute
significance. Only as such, the Veda can be understood as the blueprint of
Creation, or as Maharishi formulated it in 1992, the Constitution of the Universe,
containing the structuring dynamics of all the Laws of Nature that govern all
evolutionary processes in the ever expanding universe.

The cosmic plan

In his commentary on verse 71 of Chapter Two of the Bhagavad Gita, Maharishi

says that "everything moves according to the cosmic plan."  Wise people all over
the world have always been saying this. In the last chapter of this book, dealing
with the eternal paradox of free will and predestination, we will elaborate on this
important question and we will see how Maharishi's Vedic Science presents to us
the ultimate solution. 

All the Laws of Nature follow a fixed pattern and although the whole universe is
one huge process of transformation on all levels, all the transformations are fixed -
they all follow the cosmic plan. It is exactly this same cosmic plan that is laid
down in the textbooks of the Veda and the 26 branches of Vedic Literature. The
Veda and the Vedic Literature are nothing other than this "blueprint of creation,"
the textbook of nature, the master plan, providing us with an insight into the
source, course and goal of the ever expanding universe. 

The automatic production line

Maharishi once commented on the fixed nature of all processes in creation by

comparing the entire universe with an automatic production line in a factory. It is
interesting to pursue this analogy in some detail. 

Long before the automobile factory existed, the production line was designed in
the mind of the engineer. The consciousness of the engineer interacts within itself.
From this self-interacting dynamics of his consciousness, the engineer designed the
production line in its entirety. Still working within his consciousness, he conceived
of an elaborate list of items, steps, and mechanisms to be structured into the
production line. This master plan, the overview of the totality of the production
line, can be compared with Rik Veda, which as we saw before is the "blueprint of
creation." 

Then the engineer worked out the details of every phase of the production process,
by making drawings and designs of each and every step involved in the structuring
dynamics. All with a view to facilitate the creation of a wonderful, shining
automobile. These drawings and designs of the specific procedures involved in the
production line can be compared to the 26 branches of Vedic Literature.

The workers who will eventually be involved in the production line may or may
not want to know the details of this whole process. Many of them are just
contented to do their allotted duty, and never bother about the other phases of the
production line, which are dealt with by their colleages. Some workers are curious
by nature, and they will want to have some overview of all the successive stages of
production of the automobile. They are more alert than the others, and gradually
they begin to comprehend more and more of the structuring dynamics that
constitute the production line, both in its holistic and in its specific aspects. 

Furthermore, the main engineer has provided a study room, in which he has placed
all the descriptions, drawings and designs of the entire production process in all its
stages. This encyclopaedia of descriptions and blueprints is always available to the
workers. Some of them are interested in this master plan, while others are happy to
remain ignorant about it.

This encyclopaedia of all knowledge regarding the production line, or in other

words, the instruction manual of the production line, forms a wonderful analogy to
the Veda and the Vedic Literature. The Rik Veda itself declares: "Yo jagara tam
richa kamayante" - "He who is awake, the Richas seek him out"  (Rik Veda
5.44.14). This means that when the consciousness is pure enough, we human
beings automatically start to cognize, by mere intuition, the Mechanics of Creation,
which are the structuring dynamics of our own consciousness.