Parables of Rama
by Swami Rama Tirtha | 102,836 words
Stories in English used by Swami Rama to illustrate the highest teaching of Vedanta. The most difficult and intricate problems of philosophy and abstract truths, which may very well tax the brains of the most intellectual, are thus made not only simple and easy to understand but also brought home to us in a concrete form in such an interesting and ...
It is related in the Puranas that at one time the Vedas were taken, by a demon and carried to the bottom of the sea. The word 'Veda' has two meanings. The original meaning is knowledge, the kingdom of heaven. The second meaning is the most sacred scriptures of the Hindus.
The name of this demon, said to have carried the Vedas to the bottom of the sea, was Shankhasur which etymologically means the demon of the conch-shell or the "insect dwelling in conch".
In order to redeem the Vedas, in order to bring back the treasures of knowledge, God incarnated as a fish, fought with the demon, destroyed it, and brought back the Vedas to the world. Children read that story and take it literally; common people read it and take it literally; but there is a deep, hidden meaning in the story. The story was meant to illustrate a general truth.
God incarnated as a fish to bring back the Vedas from the worm living in conch-shell. God incarnated as a fish and fought the demon or insect at the bottom of the sea, and destroyed it. What was the use of this? The fish is a maritime animal and the conch-shell is also inhabited by a creature of the sea. Now God, the All, in the shape of the fish fought the insect of the sea. The insect was driven out of the shell and the waves of the sea washed the shell ashore. People picked it up. The conch-shell was blown and there came out of it the reverberating sound OM. This is Veda. In this sense was the Veda the conch-shell, brought from the bottom of the sea. The story-teller meant to lay particular stress on the importance of the sacred Mantram OM. The object is to show that this sacred syllable Om is the end of knowledge in the entire world. It is all the Vedas, all the Kingdom of Heaven put in a conch-shell, condensed to its smallest compass. That was the object of this story.
MORAL: All knowledge or Veda is condensed in the sound of Om produced by a conch-shell, and it is the key to unlock the kingdom of Heaven within.