Veda Research

Veda is the repository of all secrets of civilization and humanity.   

Swami Sri Atmananda

In 2005, USR founded the Veda Research Institute (VRI) in Tamil Nadu, India, in a modest building in Tiruvannamalai, at the foot of Mount Arunachala. It is USR’s first faculty, largely because of Swami Sri Atmananda’s expertise in Veda. At the end of 2008, the Institute moved to a nearby five-acre campus being developed by the Satyachetana International Spiritual Movement. VRI is now jointly managed by USR and Satyachetana Educational Trust, of Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu.

At VRI, Sanskrit professors and scholars perform intense research to decode and compile the lost wisdom of Veda to revive the timeless insights that enabled the people of ancient India to live for thousands of years in perfect harmony, within, with each other, and with the planet.

In addition to educational courses on the Vedas, the Institute is developing two ground-breaking projects: the world’s first-ever comprehensive dictionary and thesaurus of Vedic terms, and “Veda for the Masses,” a project to translate the Vedic mantras word-by-word as per the needs of modern humanity.   

The Vedas are composed of 20,500 mantras.  One scholar working diligently can complete, on average, one mantra in eight hours, as per the following format: 

  • Read and dissect the mantra
  • Convert to prose form
  • Provide the root meaning and grammatical derivation of each word
  • Integrate each word with the next, ensuring that the meaning flows and there are no gaps
  • Give a simple English translation linked with the true meaning of the words

Work is organized by: samhitapathah (original mantra), padapathah (the individual words), prose order, word-to-word meaning, and translation. Vedic accent and grammatical derivation are strictly followed, to protect sanctity.

This work is paired with Swami Sri Atmananda’s unique realizational and experiential commentary on the inner meaning of each mantra.

The work is unlike any Vedic translations ever produced, and publications are bound as beautiful, long-lasting volumes of eternal wisdom.