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The YajurVeda boldly declares:

Let there be peace in heaven,

Let there be peace in the atmosphere,

Let there be Peace on Earth,

May the waters and medical herbs bring peace,

May the trees give peace to all beings,

May all the Gods be peaceful,

May the Vedas spread peace everywhere,

May all other objects everywhere give us peace,

And may that peace come to us and remain with us for ever.'

The Vedic idea of peace, as it is seen, is not restricted to the human realm. It includes peace in all areas of life-psychological, social, environmental and so on.

Peace as a Positive Concept :

The Vedic idea of peace is not mere absence of violence; it is rather presence of something positive. The Rigveda daringly asserts:

The winds waft sweets,

The rivers pour sweets for the man, who keeps the Law,

So may the plants be sweet for us.

Sweet be the night and sweet the dawns,

Sweet the terrestrial atmosphere;

Sweet be our Father in Heaven to us.

May the tall tree be full of sweets for us,

And full of sweets the Sun:

May our milch-cow be sweet for us.

In other words, the Vedic idea of peace is that of something that brings sweetness and joy in every aspect of life. This includes a healthy environment-trees, jungles, winds and all of Nature. Indeed, the Vedas urge man to adopt such way of life that is conducive to the protection of our natural environment and habitat.

Now let us look what are the concrete counsels for peace that the Vedas outline. According to Vedas, There are five formulas for Peace described as follow -

1.      Harmony and Brotherhood-

What is the single most effective way to secure peace in society, peace in the world? To develop a sense of oneness with one another. We are all essentially divine. When we remember this inherent divinity present in everyone, we begin to see others with respect and love and that is the end of all quarrels and dissentions. Elucidating that state of harmony, the hymn of the RigVeda says:

Assemble, speak together: let your minds be all of one accord,

As ancient Gods unanimous sit down to their appointed share.

The place is common, common the assembly, common the mind, so be their thought united. A common purpose do I lay before you, and worship with your general oblation.

One and the same be your resolve, and be your minds of one accord.

United be the thoughts of all that all may happily agree.'

The idea is, we should live in harmony and a spirit of cooperation. Social harmony. comes when we discover our underlying unity. There are various ways to unity but the best is to realize our divinity which is equally present in everyone. Feeling one with one another at the level of atman is what provides a solid foundation for lasting sense of solidarity and the resultant happiness. The AtharvaVeda further elucidates:

Unity of heart, and unity of mind, freedom from hatred, do I procure for you. Do ye take delight in one another, as a cow in her (new-) born calf! The son shall be devoted to his father, be of the same mind with his mother; the wife shall speak honeyed, sweet, words to her husband!

The brother shall not hate the brother, and the sister not the sister! Harmonious, devoted to the same purpose, speak these words in kindly spirit! That charm which causes the gods not to disagree, and not to hate one another, that do we prepare in your house, as a means of agreement for your folk.

Following your leader, of the same mind, do they not hold yourselves apart! Do they come here, co-operating, going along the same wagon-pole, speaking agreeably to one another!  I render you of the same aim, of the same mind.  Identical shall be your drink, in common shall be your share of food! I yoke you together in the same traces: do they worship God Agni, joining together, as spokes around about the hub!

I render you of the same aim, of the same mind, all paying deference to One God through my harmonising charm. Like the gods that are guarding the ambrosia, may the leader be well disposed towards you, night and day!

2.      Cultivate the Power of  Right Understanding-

Our Rishis valued wisdom or deep understanding of life. They rightly recognized that unless good sense prevails upon the people, peace and harmony will remain a distant dream. Hence they fervently prayed for proper intelligence, so that men may not resort to violence. True intelligence is that which leads to understanding the fact that coexistence and interdependence is the way of life.

The AtharvaVeda  prays for wisdom thus:

Intelligence, come first to us with store of horses and of cows!

Thou with the rays of Surya art our worshipful and holy one.

The first, devout Intelligence, lauded by sages, sped by prayer,

Drunk by Brahmacharis, for the favour of the Gods I call.

That excellent Intelligence which Ribhus know, and Asuras,

Intelligence which sages know, we cause to enter into me.

Do thou, O Agni, make me wise this day with that Intelligence.

Which the creative rishis, which the men endowed with wisdom knew.

Intelligence at eve, at morn, Intelligence at noon of day.

With the Sun's beams, and by our speech we plant in us Intelligence.

3.     Be a Seeker of Truth-

Upanishads, the essence of the Vedas, counsel all seekers of peace to be seekers of Truth. Untruth cannot bring peace. It can only add to our miseries and woes. Truth always makes man peaceful and strong. Truth, again, is of two types: the lower and the higher. Man travels from lower truth to higher truth. A seeker of truth is a traveller from lower truth to higher truth. Hence the Vedic Rishis tell us to pray for the higher truth thus:

Lead Us from the Unreal to Real,

Lead Us from Darkness to Light,

Lead Us from Death to Immortality.

The Upanishads say further:

Righteousness is the controller of the Kings. Therefore there is nothing higher than that. So even a weak man hopes to defeat a stronger man through righteousness, as one contending with the king. That righteousness is verily truth. Therefore they say about a person speaking of truth. He speaks of righteousness, or about a person speaking of nighteousness. He speaks of truth, for both these are but righteousness.

4.      Practice Non- violence :

Why should one practice non-violence? The sample reason which the Upanishads give is essentially we are all one. The Isha Upanishad plains,

He who sees all beings in the Self itself, and the Self in all beings, feels no hatred by virtue of that realisation. Indeed when one sees the same self everywhere, in all beings, how can he hurt. others? Hurting others is to hurt oneself.

The Chhandogya Upanishad discusses ahinsa or non-violence as one of the most profound principles essential for civil society. It says: “Austerity, almsgiving, uprightness, non- violence and truthfulness-these are the gifts for the priests."

The Upanishad also speaks of non- violence against 'all creatures' (sarva bhuta) and the practitioner of ahimsa is said to escape from the cycle of reincarnation.

5.      Perform Five Yajnas or Sacrifices-

The Upanishads teach us to seek total peace. It is not just seeking peace of mind but peace with the rest of the creation. Only then can total peace be achieved. The Brihada- ranyaka Upanishad says:" 'By giving shelter to men as well as food, he becomes an object of enjoyment to men.'

The Vedic way of life speaks of per- formance of five sacrifices that is known as panch maha yajnas. One should perform these sacrifices

·         To the gods;

·         To all beings;

·         To departed ancestors;

·         To the saints; and

·         To men

An eminent authority on Hinduism describes these yajnas thus,

Our Shastras prescribe five acts of sacrifice (yajnas) for all. These are Deva-yajna, Pitri-yajna, Rishi-yajna, Nri-yajna and Bhuta-yajna. We have to please the dwellers of the Devaloka and Pitriloka, the seers and makers of Shastras, mankind and all other creatures on earth by our acts of sacrifice. We have to give all others something out of what we have. This is the price. of our happiness.

Prayer and worship please the deities (devas). These deities are also creatures like ourselves. Only they are more well-placed. Once they were men. As a reward for their good deeds on earth they have been born as gods in the Devaloka. They have considerably more power than we have. They control the elemental forces of nature like light, heat, electricity, rain, wind, etc. When pleased by our offerings, they make these forces favourable to us and bless us with what we desire most.

Among the dwellers of the Pitriloka there may be many of our forefathers. They love us. If we remember them and offer them oblations (tarpana) they become pleased (tripta). They also wield much more power than we do. That is why when they are pleased they can bless us with the things of our desire.

The seers or Rishis do not want any material offering from us. They are pleased if we study the Scriptures regularly. Nitya-karma, like Sandhya-Vandana, also may go under this head. For these we have to set apart a portion of our time. This is why this study (sadhyaya) is also an act of sacrifice. When pleased, the seers, like devas, see to our well-being.

Nri-yajna is the fourth in order. We have to serve our ailing brothers. We should try to remove the distress of our fellow-beings. One who does this really serves God. For God is here in so many forms. Pleased by such service, God grants one's wishes.

The same thing may be said of Bhuta-yajna, which comes next. We should spare a portion of our food for the beasts, birds, insects, etc. This act of sacrifice also earns for us happiness."

At last we want so say that We live surrounded by thousands of Modern technical gadgets and scientific inventions but they are of little help for us, if humans cannot stop fighting among themselves; for those very same gadgets, which are supposed to make life comfort- able, are going to be used for fighting and it will be distructive for hunman being. The explosion of pager and walkie talkie by Israel is a prime example of this.  For instance nuclear energy can be used to generate electricity in times of peace, but is used to make nuclear weapons. Bio-chemicals can be used to make medicines, but can also be used to make biological weapons during war.

1. Vedic Heritage for Global Harmony,   Edi- Bal Ram Singh & Surendra N Dwivedi,     World Association for Vedic Studies 2012  P.No.-  213, 218, 376, 398, 658-72
2. Glimpse of the Spirit: Compilations from Sri Aurobindo’s action,   Sushrut Badhe, 
3. Kindle edition, 2019,    P.No.-6,13,14,45
4. The Vedant Kesari,     May 2010   P.No.-28-29
5. Harmony through Indian Heritage, Gurudas Bandyopadhyay, Kindle edition, 2024 P.No.- 112-20
6. Vedic Humanism: Path to peace Dilipa Vedalankara,   Geeta books Publication,  2015
7. Rhythm of Veda: Know your Devas, Sushrhut Badhe and Arun Tiwari, Kindle edition,  2020
8. Shukla YajurVeda, 36/17
9. RigVeda, 1-90, Mantras 6-8, 10-191
10. Atharina Veda III, 30
11.  Ibid,  Book o Hymn 108
12. Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 1.3.27,  1.4.14
13. Isha Upanishad, verse 6
14. Chhandogya Upanishad, III.17.4
15.  Ibid,  VIII. 15.1
16. Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, 1.4.16
17. Hinduism at a Glance,  P.No. 49-50