Richard, > The Srimad Bhagwatam has almost nothing to do with Vedic culture. > The Vedic people lived before 1500 B.C. but the Bhagwatam wasn't > even composed until after 800 A.D., long after the Vedic culture > had turned into Hinduism. Many of the notions expressed in the > Bhagwatam are the result of Buddhist ideas, circa 200 B.C.: > > Ahimsa > Monasticism > Sutra composition > Yogic introspection > Asceticism > Temple worship > Puja activities > Worship of devatas > > None of which are mentioned in the Vedas. > > The Vedics practiced the sacrifice of burnt offerings to the > forces of nature - they did not live in cities or worship > any devatas such as Rama, Balarama, Vasudeva, Krishna or Durga > in temples made of stone or wood - the ancient Vedics worshipped > outdoors. They enjoyed all kinds of inebriants and loved to have > bar-b-ques down by the river.
>From what I've read, the ancient peoples of India depended on oral tradition to pass down knowledge. It is conceivable to me that the writer (possibly Vyasa, who also wrote the Gita and the Mahabharata) of Srimad Bhagavatam penned down the stories that were handed down to him from his ancestors. So, the tradition from the vedic times are contained in one way or the other in these books. Also, MMY has been documented to say that soma is a chemical derivative that can be found in the stomachs of advanced meditators. MMY considers this chemical to be the ingredient that supports bliss. This same ingredient is the amrita that the vedic demigods had been looking for in the mythological past. Further, MMY stated that the vedas cannot be understood in its literal meaning. They can only be understood from the sounds that have been handed down from generations. As you have indicated in your past emails, the message of the vedas is to trascend the gunas in order to reach the higher level of consciousness. It is possible that modern researchers have misinterpreted the meaning and sources of soma. Regards, John R.
