Vedic civilization (Books)

Expressions researched:
"Vedic Civilization"

BG Chapters 7 - 12

BG 10.35, Purport: The Gāyatrī mantra is very important in Vedic civilization and is considered to be the sound incarnation of Brahman.

BG Chapters 13 - 18

BG 16.7, Purport: In every civilized human society there is some set of scriptural rules and regulations which is followed from the beginning. Especially among the Āryans, those who adopt the Vedic civilization and who are known as the most advanced civilized peoples

SB Canto 1

SB 1.10.16, Purport: The Vedic wisdom, therefore, forbids us to be attracted by false beauty. But because we are now in the darkness of ignorance, the Vedic civilization allows very restricted mixing of woman and man.

SB 1.13.30, Purport: Saubalinī, or Gāndhārī, daughter of King Subala and wife of King Dhṛtarāṣṭra, was ideal as a wife devoted to her husband. The Vedic civilization especially prepares chaste and devoted wives, of whom Gāndhārī is one amongst many mentioned in history. Lakṣmījī Sītādevī was also a daughter of a great king, but she followed her husband, Lord Rāmacandra, into the forest.

SB 1.18.45, Purport: The Vedic way of life is the progressive march of the civilization of the Āryans. The Āryans are progressive in Vedic civilization. The Vedic civilization's destination is to go back to Godhead, back home, where there is no birth, no death, no old age and no disease.

SB Canto 3

SB 3.6.31, Purport: According to Vedic civilization, a qualified kṣatriya monarch is given the respect of the Lord because he represents the Lord by giving protection to the prajās.

SB 3.11.9, Purport: This is another way of measuring the duration of a daṇḍa, just as time is measured by sand in a glass. It appears that in the days of Vedic civilization there was no dearth of knowledge in physics, chemistry or higher mathematics. Measurements were calculated in different ways, as simply as could be done.

SB 3.17.15, Purport: To check the increase of demoniac population, the Vedic civilization enacted so many rules and regulations of social life, the most important of which is the garbhādhāna process for begetting good children.

SB 3.23.1, Purport: Devahūti was the daughter of an emperor, Svāyambhuva Manu, yet she preferred to accept Kardama Muni as her husband. She served him with great love and affection, and she knew how to please him. Therefore, she is designated here as sādhvī, which means "a chaste, faithful wife." Her rare example is the ideal of Vedic civilization.

SB 3.23.2, Purport: According to the Vedic civilization, a wife cannot call her husband by name. In the present civilization the wife calls her husband by name, but in Hindu civilization she does not.

SB 3.23.3, Purport: In family life, father, mother, wife and children are assets, but if the wife or mother accepts another husband in the presence of her husband or son, then, according to Vedic civilization, she is considered an enemy. A chaste and faithful woman must not practice adultery—that is a greatly sinful act.

SB 3.30.28, Purport: Materialistic life is based on sex life. The existence of all the materialistic people, who are undergoing severe tribulation in the struggle for existence, is based on sex. Therefore, in the Vedic civilization sex life is allowed only in a restricted way; it is for the married couple and only for begetting children.

SB 3.31.35, Purport: The physiological attraction for women is very great, and therefore people are very slack in spiritual understanding. The Vedic civilization, being based on spiritual understanding, arranges association with women very cautiously.

SB 3.31.39, Purport: The association of woman is very much restricted in the Vedic civilization.

SB 3.33.17, Purport: It is understood from this statement that the opulences of household life were exhibited in valuable jewels, ivory, first-class marble, and furniture made of gold and jewels. The clothes are also mentioned as being decorated with golden filigree. Everything actually had some value. It was not like the furniture of the present day, which is cast in valueless plastic or base metal. The way of Vedic civilization is that whatever was used in household affairs had to be valuable.

SB Canto 4

SB 4.1.6, Purport: In other words, where there is no disagreement between husband and wife, all material opulence is present, and good children are born. Generally, according to Vedic civilization, the wife is trained to be satisfied in all conditions, and the husband, according to Vedic instruction, is required to please the wife with sufficient food, ornaments and clothing.

SB 4.7.13, Purport: According to Vedic civilization, a descendant of a brāhmaṇa family should never be heavily punished. This was exemplified in Arjuna's treatment of Aśvatthāmā.

SB 4.10.14, Purport: According to Vedic civilization, Manu is the lawgiver. Even today Hindus in India follow the laws given by Manu.

SB 4.11.5, Purport: Generally, sex life is the cause of all miseries in the material world. In the Vedic civilization sex life is restricted in various ways.

SB 4.13.23, Purport: According to Vedic civilization the king is supposed to be the representative of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

SB 4.13.39, Purport: According to Vedic civilization, therefore, before the marriage takes place an account is taken of both the boy's and girl's families. If according to astrological calculation the combination is perfect, then marriage takes place. Sometimes, however, there is a mistake, and family life becomes frustrating.

SB 4.13.46, Purport: According to Vedic civilization, this giving up of home by vānaprastha and sannyāsa is compulsory.

SB 4.14.14, Purport: According to Vedic civilization, in a monarchy the king is advised by saintly persons and sages. By taking their advice, he can become the greatest executive power, and everyone in his kingdom will be happy, peaceful and prosperous.

SB 4.14.20, Purport: All Vedic civilization is summarized in this verse: all living entities, either on this planet or on other planets, have to satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead by their respective duties.

SB 4.18.3, Purport: Vedic civilization takes advantage of the perfect knowledge presented in the Vedas and presented by great sages and brāhmaṇas for the benefit of human society.

SB 4.18.18, Purport: In Vedic civilization there is a performance called śrāddha by which food is offered with faith and devotion.

SB 4.19.23, Purport: According to Vedic civilization, sannyāsa is one of the essential items in the program of the varṇa-āśrama institution.

SB 4.20.26, Purport: In the history of the human race, the Āryan family is considered to be the most elevated community in the world because it adopts the Vedic civilization.

SB 4.20.26, Purport: History reports that the Americans and Europeans proved their capability when they were anxious to expand colonization, but at the present time, being contaminated by the advancement of material science, their sons and grandsons are turning into reprobates. This is due to their having lost their original spiritual culture, which is Vedic civilization.

SB 4.21.1, Purport: Real opulence is supplied by natural gifts such as gold, silver, pearls, valuable stones, fresh flowers, trees and silken cloth. Thus the Vedic civilization recommends opulence and decoration with these natural gifts of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Such opulence immediately changes the condition of the mind, and the entire atmosphere becomes spiritualized.

SB 4.21.4, Purport: Offerings of natural products such as betel nuts, bananas, newly grown wheat, paddy, yogurt and vermillion, carried by the citizens and scattered throughout the city, are all auspicious paraphernalia, according to Vedic civilization, for receiving a prominent guest like a bridegroom, king or spiritual master.

SB 4.22.34, Purport: Vedic civilization offers us all knowledge in the śāstras, and if we live a regulated life under the direction of śāstras and guru, all our material desires will be fulfilled; at the same time we will be able to go forward to liberation.

SB 4.23.1-3, Purport: According to Vedic principles, when retiring from family life, one can take his wife with him, for the husband and wife are considered to be one unit. Thus they can both combinedly perform austerities for liberation. This is the path that Mahārāja Pṛthu, who was an exemplary character, followed, and this is also the way of Vedic civilization.

SB 4.23.19, Purport: In Vedic civilization there are hundreds of similar examples of such renunciation on the part of queens and dedication to the husband.

SB 4.23.20, Purport: In Vedic civilization a man is taught from the beginning of his life to become a brahmacārī, then an ideal gṛhastha, then vānaprastha, then sannyāsī, and the wife is taught just to follow the husband strictly in all conditions of life.

SB 4.23.22, Purport: The entrance of a chaste wife into the flames of the pyre of her dead husband is known as saha-gamana, which means "dying with the husband." This system of saha-gamana had been practiced in Vedic civilization from time immemorial.

SB 4.23.25, Purport: In Vedic civilization the husband and wife were not separated by such man-made laws as divorce.

SB 4.26.11, Purport: In the life of a materialist, activity means working in lust and greed. However, when he comes to his senses, he wants to retire. According to Vedic civilization, such retirement is positively recommended, and this portion of life is called vānaprastha.

SB 4.26.21, Purport: According to Vedic civilization, domestic animals and servants are treated exactly like one's own children.

SB 4.26.24, Purport: According to Vedic civilization, a brāhmaṇa, or one who is properly qualified to understand the Absolute Truth—that is, one belonging to the most intelligent social order—as well as the devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa, who is known as Muradviṣa, enemy of a demon named Mura

SB 4.27.11, Purport: According to Vedic civilization, the animal-eaters are recommended to sacrifice a goat in the temple of Kālī under certain restrictive rules and regulations and eat the flesh.

SB 4.28.27, Purport: in Vedic civilization one is trained from the beginning to give up attachment for women.

SB 4.29.54, Purport: According to Vedic civilization, one has to give up family life at a certain age (the age of fifty), take vānaprastha and eventually remain alone as a sannyāsī. That is the prescribed method of Vedic civilization known as varṇāśrama-dharma. When one takes sannyāsa after enjoying family life, he pleases the Supreme Lord Viṣṇu.

SB 4.29.54, Purport: According to Vedic civilization, it is imperative to give up the family at a certain stage, by force if necessary.

SB 4.29.81, Purport: It is significant that when Mahārāja Prācīnabarhi was convinced of the goal of life through the instructions of Nārada, he did not wait even a moment to see his sons return, but left immediately. There were many things to be done upon the return of his sons, but he simply left them a message. He knew what his prime duty was. He simply left instructions for his sons and went off for the purpose of spiritual advancement. This is the system of Vedic civilization.

SB 4.30.39-40, Purport: This verse presents a perfect picture of Vedic civilization.

SB 4.31.1, Purport: After finishing their family life, which lasted thousands of years according to the calculations of the demigods, the Pracetās decided to leave home, putting their wife in the charge of a son named Dakṣa. This is the process of Vedic civilization.

SB 4.31.10, Purport: The word śaukra janma means "taking birth by seminal discharge." Animals can take their birth in this way too. However, a human being can be reformed from the śaukra janma, as recommended in the Vedic civilization.

SB Canto 5

SB 5.1.1, Purport: In Vedic civilization one is trained in the very beginning of life as a brahmacārī.

SB 5.1.22, Purport: Manu wanted to seek shelter at the lotus feet of the Lord, and therefore when his son Priyavrata took charge of his worldly affairs, Manu was very relieved. That is the system of Vedic civilization.

SB 5.10.15, Purport: When the saintly person Viśvāmitra came to the court of Mahārāja Daśaratha, the King, in order to receive the saintly person, asked him, aihiṣṭaṁ yat tat punar janma jayāya. He asked the sage whether everything was going on well in his endeavor to conquer the repetition of birth and death. The whole process of Vedic civilization is based on this point.

SB 5.14.19, Purport: According to the Vedic civilization, one cannot give up the responsibilities of family life, but today everyone is giving up family life by divorce.

SB 5.16.25, Purport: If people actually want happiness in this life and want to prepare for the best in the next life, they must adopt a Vedic civilization. In a Vedic civilization, there is a full supply of all the necessities mentioned above.

SB 5.18.13, Purport: Everyone should therefore seek the shelter of the Supreme Soul, the source of all living entities. No one should waste his time in the so-called happiness of materialistic household life. In the Vedic civilization, this type of crippled life is allowed only until one's fiftieth year, when one must give up family life and enter either the order of vānaprastha (independent retired life for cultivation of spiritual knowledge) or sannyāsa (the renounced order, in which one completely takes shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead).

SB Canto 6

SB 6.2.28, Purport: According to Vedic civilization, everyone has the responsibility for taking care of brāhmaṇas, old men, women, children and cows. This is the duty of everyone, especially an upper-class person.

SB 6.5.20, Translation: According to Vedic civilization, one is offered a sacred thread as a sign of second birth.

SB 6.5.20, Purport: All the śāstras, however, advise nivṛtti-mārga, or release from the materialistic way of life. Apart from the śāstras of the Vedic civilization, which is the oldest of the world, other śāstras agree on this point.

SB 6.5.36, Purport: The Vedic civilization therefore enjoins that at the end of one's fiftieth year one must give up household life.

SB 6.7.13, Purport: Since Nārada was a brahmacārī, a brāhmaṇa and an exalted devotee, even Kṛṣṇa, while acting as a king, offered His respectful obeisances unto Nārada. Such is the conduct visible in the Vedic civilization. A civilization in which the people do not know how the representative of Nārada and Kṛṣṇa should be respected, how society should be formed and how one should advance in Kṛṣṇa consciousness

SB 6.14.26, Purport: According to Vedic civilization, one gets married simply to have a son, who is needed to offer oblations to his forefathers.

SB Canto 7

SB 7.2.12, Purport: The word gāvaḥ indicates that cows should be given protection. Because the Vedic civilization is lost, cows are not protected, but instead indiscriminately killed in slaughterhouses.

SB 7.5.32, Purport: The entire Vedic civilization is meant to relieve one from these unwanted miseries, but persons bound by the laws of nature do not know the destination of life.

SB 7.6.1, Purport: The whole purpose of Vedic civilization and of reading the Vedas is to attain the perfect stage of devotional service in the human form of life.

SB 7.8.33, Purport: The Vedic civilization existed millions and millions of years ago.

SB 7.8.42, Purport: During the reign of Hiraṇyakaśipu, everyone was disturbed in the routine duties of Vedic civilization.

SB 7.9.37, Purport: Since the demons are always ready to oppose Vedic civilization, they are sure to be killed by the transcendental form of the Lord.

SB 7.12.9, Purport: Vedic civilization carefully restricts mingling between men and women.

SB 7.13.34, Purport: Here is the difference between Vedic civilization and the modern demoniac civilization. Vedic civilization concerned itself with how to achieve self-realization, and for this purpose one was recommended to have a small income to maintain body and soul together.

SB 7.13.34, Purport: According to Vedic civilization, the ultimate perfection of life is to take sannyāsa, but at the present moment people do not know why sannyāsa is accepted.

SB 7.14.5, Purport: The real problem is how to get free from the bondage of birth, death and old age. Attaining this freedom, and not inventing unnecessary necessities, is the basic principle of Vedic civilization.

SB 7.14.8, Purport: if one has more than one requires for his necessities, the extra money should be spent for Kṛṣṇa. According to the Vedic civilization, it should all be given to the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, as ordered by the Lord Himself in Bhagavad-gītā (9.27)

SB 7.14.16, Purport: The entire Vedic civilization aims at satisfying the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

SB 7.14.29, Purport: According to Vedic civilization, therefore, the holy places of pilgrimage are considered most sacred, and still there are hundreds and thousands of holy places like Jagannātha Purī, Vṛndāvana, Hardwar, Rāmeśvara, Prayāga and Mathurā.

SB Canto 8

SB 8.16.19, Purport: The Vedic civilization, however, is based on spiritual education, and spiritual education is the special basis on which Bhagavad-gītā was spoken to Arjuna.

SB 8.18.13, Purport: According to Vedic civilization, when a child is born in the family of a brāhmaṇa, the birthday ceremony, known as jāta-karma, is first performed, and then other ceremonies are also gradually performed.

SB Canto 9

SB 9.13.12, Purport: The Vedic civilization prefers monarchy.

SB 9.16 Summary, Purport: The fifty elder sons of Viśvāmitra, however, did not accept Śunaḥśepha as their elder brother, and therefore Viśvāmitra cursed them to become mlecchas, unfaithful to the Vedic civilization.

SB 9.18.12-14, Translation: We are among the qualified brāhmaṇas, who are accepted as the face of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The brāhmaṇas have created the entire universe by their austerity, and they always keep the Absolute Truth within the core of their hearts. They have directed the path of good fortune, the path of Vedic civilization, and because they are the only worshipable objects within this world, they are offered prayers and worshiped even by the great demigods, the directors of the various planets, and even by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Supersoul, the supreme purifier, the husband of the goddess of fortune.

SB 9.19.2, Purport: In the Vedic civilization, therefore, it is recommended that one retire from family life at the end of his fiftieth year and go to vana, the forest. Vedic civilization therefore recommends four different stages of life-brahmacarya, gṛhastha, vānaprastha and sannyāsa.

SB 9.19.8, Purport: Vedic civilization recommends that a woman stay under the protection of a man. During childhood she should be cared for by her father, in youth by her husband, and in old age by a grown son. In any stage of life, a woman should not have independence.

SB 9.19.11, Purport: Therefore, according to Vedic civilization, one must voluntarily leave his so-called home and go to the forest

SB 9.20.33, Purport: The Vedic civilization enjoins that after a certain age, following in the footsteps of Mahārāja Bharata, one should cease to enjoy material opulences and should take the order of vānaprastha.

SB 9.23.16, Translation: The Pracetās [the sons of Pracetā] occupied the northern side of India, which was devoid of Vedic civilization, and became kings there. Yayāti's second son was Turvasu. The son of Turvasu was Vahni; the son of Vahni, Bharga; the son of Bharga, Bhānumān.

SB 9.24.34, Purport: According to Vedic civilization, if a girl gives birth to a child before she is married, no one will marry her.

SB Canto 10.1 to 10.13

SB 10.1.31-32, Purport: The system of giving a dowry to one's daughter has existed in Vedic civilization for a very long time.

SB 10.3.22, Purport: According to the Vedic civilization, cows, women, children, old men and brāhmaṇas should be excused if they are at fault.

SB 10.3.33, Purport: According to Vedic civilization, procreation should not be contrary to religious principles, and then the birthrate will be controlled.

SB 10.5.4, Purport: These are śāstric injunctions concerning how one can purify everything according to Vedic civilization. Unless purified, anything we use will infect us with contamination.

SB 10.6.22-23, Purport: Even in the houses of the cultivators, who were not very advanced in the modern ways of civilization, the ladies used to know how to chant mantras to give protection to children with the help of cow dung and cow urine. This was a simple and practical way to give the greatest protection from the greatest dangers. People should know how to do this, for this is a part of Vedic civilization.

SB 10.7.4, Purport: In Vedic civilization, childbirth or pregnancy is never regarded as a burden; rather, it is a cause for jubilation.

SB 10.7.11, Purport: Whenever there is some danger or some inauspicious occurrence, it is the custom of Vedic civilization to have qualified brāhmaṇas immediately chant Vedic hymns to counteract it. Mother Yaśodā did this properly and allowed the baby to suck her breast.

SB 10.7.32, Purport: According to Vedic civilization, one should perform activities for the benefit of the public, such as constructing public roads, planting trees on both sides of the road so that people can walk in the shade, and constructing public wells so that everyone can take water without difficulty.

SB Canto 10.4 to 12 (Translations only)

SB 11.17.18, Translation: Faith in Vedic civilization, dedication to charity, freedom from hypocrisy, service to the brāhmaṇas and perpetually desiring to accumulate more money are the natural qualities of the vaiśyas.

SB 12.1.37, Translation: The land along the Sindhu River, as well as the districts of Candrabhāgā, Kauntī and Kāśmīra, will be ruled by śūdras, fallen brāhmaṇas and meat-eaters. Having given up the path of Vedic civilization, they will have lost all spiritual strength.

CC Adi-lila

CC Ādi 9.41, Purport: Human life is especially meant for God realization, as stated in the Vedānta-sūtra: athāto brahma jijñāsā. Anyone who takes birth in the land of India (Bhārata-varṣa) has the special privilege of being able to take advantage of the instruction and guidance of the Vedic civilization.

CC Ādi 9.42, Purport: According to Vedic civilization, a human being must be God conscious. He should understand what God is, what this material world is, who he is, and what their interrelationships are. This is called śreyas, or ultimately auspicious activity.

CC Ādi 9.42, Purport: The Vedic civilization considers all aspects of human life, including dharma (religion), artha (economic development), kāma (sense gratification) and mokṣa (liberation). But humanity’s first concern should be religion.

CC Ādi 9.43, Purport: Unfortunately, people in general do not know what is to take place in the next life. To prepare oneself for his next life is common sense, and it is a principle of the Vedic civilization, but presently people throughout the world do not believe in a next life.

CC Ādi 9.43, Purport: Even if one is not able to go back to Godhead in one life, the Vedic civilization at least gives one the opportunity to be promoted to the higher planetary systems, where the demigods live, and not glide down again to animal life.

CC Ādi 9.46, Purport: According to Vedic civilization, kñatriyas are considered to be great personalities because if anyone goes to a kñatriya king to ask for charity, the king will never refuse.

CC Ādi 14.58, Purport: According to Vedic civilization there was no restriction against this, and even a man more than fifty years old could marry.

CC Ādi 17.154, Purport: According to Vedic civilization, there are seven mothers, of which the cow is one.

CC Madhya-lila

CC Madhya 1.197, Purport: At the present moment in India the presidential offices are occupied by many so-called brāhmaṇas, but the state maintains slaughterhouses for killing cows and makes propaganda against Vedic civilization. The first principle of Vedic civilization is the avoidance of meat-eating and intoxication.

CC Madhya 1.197, Purport: By deprecating the principles of Vedic civilization and supporting cow-killing, they are immediately degraded to the platform of mlecchas and yavanas.

CC Madhya 6.178, Purport: after studying the Vedas, one must then execute devotional service by thinking always of the Supreme Lord (man-manā), becoming His devotee, worshiping Him and always offering Him obeisances. This is called viṣṇu-ārādhana, and it is the supreme occupational duty of all human beings. It is properly discharged in the varṇāśrama-dharma system, which divides society into brahmacarya, gṛhastha, vānaprastha and sannyāsa and brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya and śūdra. This is the whole scheme of Vedic civilization.

CC Madhya 12.184, Purport: According to Vedic civilization, one has to see through the authority of the revealed scriptures.

CC Madhya 22.88–90, Purport: According to Vedic civilization, one’s association with women should be very much restricted. In spiritual life there are four āśramas—brahmacarya, gṛhastha, vānaprastha and sannyāsa.

CC Madhya 24.250, Purport: In the Vedic civilization, meat-eaters are advised to kill an animal for the goddess Kālī or a similar demigod.

CC Antya-lila

CC Antya 3.136, Purport: According to Vedic civilization, charity should be given only to the qualified brāhmaṇas. As stated in the Bhagavad-gītā (18.42)

CC Antya 3.136, Purport: The Vedic civilization recommends that one give charity to brāhmaṇas and sannyāsīs, not to the so-called daridra-nārāyaṇas.

Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead

Kṛṣṇa Book, Preface: As far as we, the followers of Vedic civilization, are concerned, we accept the Vedic history of the whole universe, which consists of different planetary systems, called Svargaloka, or the higher planetary system, Martyaloka, or the intermediary planetary system, and Pātālaloka, or the lower planetary system.

Kṛṣṇa Book, Chapter 1: According to the custom of the Vedic civilization, when a girl is married, the brother takes the sister and brother-in-law to their home. Because the newly married girl may feel too much separation from her father’s family, the brother goes with her until she reaches her father-in-law’s house.

Kṛṣṇa Book, Chapter 21: Such is the effect of Vedic civilization. People in general would learn the highest truths of the Vedas simply by hearing from authoritative sources.

Kṛṣṇa Book, Chapter 22: According to Vedic civilization, unmarried girls from ten to fourteen years of age are supposed to worship either Lord Śiva or goddess Durgā in order to get a nice husband.

Kṛṣṇa Book, Chapter 50: Upon Kaṁsa’s death, his two wives became widows. According to Vedic civilization, a woman is never independent. She has three stages of life

Kṛṣṇa Book, Chapter 89: We also find in Vedic history that if a kṣatriya king was irresponsible, sometimes a consulting board of brāhmaṇas maintained by the monarchy would dethrone him. Considering all these points, it appears that the post of monarch in the Vedic civilization is a very responsible one.