The Vedas are very vast and what has come down to us is only a small portion of it. The Vedas themselves say that they are Endless. So it is very reasonable to assume that what has been available to us is a fraction only. The Breath of God, the Vedas, continues to make vibrations, sounds in space. This also has no end. When one Brahma goes, another Brahma will continue the work of creation hearing these vibrations.
Modern research has proved that sound vibrations induce faster and healthier growth in plants, which yield more number of fruits. That Veda Mantras have therapeutic value has also been admitted by medical science. The chanting of Veda Mantras sitting very near the patients afflicted with fatal disease has been found to be effective and is going on in various modern hospitals all over the world.
Soft and melodious music notes or ragas are very effective in producing emotions of joy and sorrow. Those with very high blood pressure or tensions get very great relief by listening to tuneful music. The very musical sound itself has the effect. So too the Veda Mantras. Different sounds produce different effects in the nervous system. When we hear good news and are happy, our face radiates as if the Sun is shinning. This is because certain nerves [nadis] get cool and composed. This is reflected on the face. If on the other hand, when one gets angry, agitated or tensed, the heart beat and pulse beat are increased. So this face becomes different. So the nervous system has to be nursed properly; for proper health, Vedic chanting is said to be the very best remedy.
In Ancient India, the Sages used to cure any illness by one chanting of the Panchakshari Mantra, Na Ma Shi Va Ya, which is chanted by all Shiva devotees daily. How could they do this? Even in the present day, we find the Mahatmas are able to do so. One look, one touch, one word, that is all what is needed; these Mahatmas work wonders. How is it? The answer is that these Sages have very great power of concentration, besides their innate capacity to invoke the vibrations properly. Further, they chant the Mantras very perfectly in its pure form adhering strictly to the words and tone. That is why they get the result. Because of their vast powers, they ‘will’ something and it happens!! And happens in the most natural way!!
So the Veda Mantras are very relevant to man, especially the man who lives in the modern age with stress, strain and tension. To get a healthy body and a healthy mind, he should tread on the Vedic path, practise japa, meditation and recite Veda Mantras properly as advised by the Guru, always keeping his mind and body clean. Naturally, the wild and baser emotions in him will get destroyed automatically.
Those who hear the Vedic Mantras chanted with rapt attention also get the benefits. That is why it is said Veda Mantras should be audibly chanted so that they can spread the benefits far and wide.
All the above facts go to show that the Sages are very relevant to us and they will continue to be of relevance to the whole world. We Indians owe a very vast debt to these great souls who have given us wisdom, enlightenment, wealth, health and happiness. The best homage we could pay them is to lead a life honouring Vedic principles of sacrifice, devotion, love and compassion; of simple living and high thinking.
What the sages gave us as Vedas are the source and spring of Indian culture; the author being Lord Almighty Himself! Let us hold this aloft. If India fails, it would be a disaster. As Swami Vivekananda says, “Then from the world all spirituality will be extinct, all moral perfection will be extinct, all ideality will be extinct; and in its place will reign the duality of lust and luxury, as the male and female deities, with money as its priest, fraud, force and competition its ceremonies and the human soul as its sacrifice”.