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Originally Posted by Jainarayan
I don't know how far the o.p. has gotten in the quest to read translations of the Vedas, but I wouldn't bother. The Vedas are not where the philosophical and theological foundations of Sanātana Dharma will be found. You'll find that in the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, the Puranas, the Tamil writings, the Itihasas. The Vedas are largely poetry, hymns, praises to various gods (stotras, suktas, stutis), rituals. Just my opinion, so no one need get butthurt.
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Actually, I couldn't agree more.
The only Veda I read more than once and actually cared about was the Rig Veda and pretty much only because of the Gayatri and Mahamrityunjaya Mantras - and all of the ways to perform the sacred rites and rituals.
From there, I studied the Agamas and Shastras but I didn't place much importance on the Puranas and Itihasas, even though I loved all the tales of the Leelas of the Divine...but I decided just to study the Tantras and Shiva Sutras instead.
I read about a dozen of the major Upanishads (some are still part of the Vedas prior to Yajur Veda IIRC) and most notably, the Katha, Kena, Isha and Chhandogya Upanishads which are probably the most notable of the Upanishads with the inclusion of the Mandukya Upanishad as well...but that pretty much set the stage for everything that either followed it or preceeded it...."That Thou Art"...yeah, thanks...I got it about 10 Upanishads ago. LOL
From the Rig Veda, the Agamas, Shastras, Upanishads and Tantras, I moved more along the lines of Raja Yoga...I studied Patanjali, Swami Svatmarama and the Nath tradition although I still had a love deep within for the whole Ancient tradition...I mean, I spent MANY an hour watching the Ramayana Ballet, the Monkey Dances...lost count of the number of times I watched Sita being abducted and Garuda go looking for her...lost count of how many times I have seen the Tamil Bharatnatyam and the Apsara temple dances of Thailand...the Wayang Kulit puppet plays of central Java to the background drawl of Puja Trisandhya....there is something definitely in all of that because I can feel it in my DNA "bones"..there is a sense of "belonging" there, if nowhere else.
Of course I studied the Shiva Purana... don't know what I think about Devon ke Dev Mahadev though...when I was knee-high to a grasshopper, we had regular video instalments of all the Puranas on TV...which were more humorous and educational than informative...the very first attempts at Sanatana Dharma based "edutainment"...this still detracts NOTHING from the content of the Puranas and Itihasas though...they are timeless pieces of work (especially the backstory of the Mahabharata).
...but I was too busy studying Tantra to really get caught up in all of that side of it though...and when I ran out of books in Sanskrit to read all about Shakti, the Chakras, Kundalini Yoga...I had a look see at the offerings that Sir John Woodrofe from the Theosophical Society produced...followed by Pundit Gopi Krishna...which led me on to becoming a student of Harish Johari for a while..but 2-3 times a week, I would be down at the temple eating khitcheree and watching the latest rendition of what the tribes of the Kakawin (Sunderland) had on offer... cannot escape the "calling".
Aum Namah Shivaya