The Veds are a rich source of everything man needs to live in this world. A devotee who believes in God and surrendered himself to Him never faces the need for anything. Only a man who worships God with complete devotion, as his ultimate goal and his ultimate guardian, can become His great devotee. A devotee of God is always disinterested, free from all worries and without any passions. Prarthana, a prayer implies the request for the universal wellbeing made by a devotee of God.

�Veds are replete with Vedic Suktas related to request for the universal wellbeing made by a humanitarian devotee of God. They depict the highest humanity, greatest thoughts, and great life of a man who has elevated himself with devotion and contemplation, and who wishes for the wellbeing of the whole universe.

�Although both Mantras as well as Brahmins are called Veds, Mantras being the basics as well as definable, they are the chief Vedic principles.

�Shrutis are the only standards for those who have pure devotion and a wish to learn about the religion. So, like the Shrutis, all the teachings and sayings of Smrutis and Purans etc. are also considered to be true and worthy of practicing.

�The Almighty Himself created it, and He explains all about religion, knowledge, devotion etc. Our ancient Rishis have exhibited the extraordinary and limitless importance of the Veds. Unshakable devotion the wise and steadfast devotee naturally gets attracted to the One whose great importance we listen to, who looks after our wellbeing perpetually and gives us eternal peace and happiness.

�The Atharva Samhita says: O Almighty who lifts us up and provides us everything we wish! You are the One who controls innumerable permanent things such as spirituality. Please give them to us, please establish them into our beings, so that we may be equipped with the devotion of the Almighty. May we establish a firm belief into ourselves that we will attain all we wish only with your total and pious devotion.

�On listening to the description of His great virtues, the feelings start flowing continuously towards Him, and take the form of devotion. The RigVed Samhita says clearly: Seven rivers such as Ganga etc. flow towards the ocean and completely become one with it. Similarly, all the feelings and emotions of the devotees flow towards the Almighty and become one with Him. (1.71.7). Company of the Almighty removes all worries and anger and gives the greatest type of happiness.

�When we see or hear about someone we know in some way or the other, we develop love and affection about him. All the worldly relations including the parents are temporary and coincidental. These are mostly based on some selfish motive or the other. But the Almighty is the mother and father and brother and friend of all of us mortal humans, He is our protector and selfless benefactor. Our holy Veds ask us to develop complete love and faith in Him.

�O God who removes all the grief and problems from our lives, you are our protector and saviour. You are the eternal mother and father of us mortal humans. (Rig. 6.1.15).

�O Almighty, you are the only incomparable and extraordinary Lord for us. You are the Lord of the whole universe.(Rig. 6.36.4).

�This Lord Indra is our benevolent friend. (Rig. 8.93.3).

�Thus, you belong to us and we belong to you.(Rig. 8.92.32). This indicates total surrender to Him. The Vedic Samhita describes in many ways the great virtues of the Lord God which develop devotion towards Him.

�The Lord Indra, Agni, Rudra mentioned in the Veds indicate the Almighty. Lord Indra is the Governor of the Heaven and Earth, as well as the water world and mountains. The Almighty Lord Indra has all power to look after our wellbeing and upliftment. Lord Indra is also the Governor of everything movable and immovable as well as of the living universe. Thus He is worthy of our worship and prayers. Just as He hears the devotee’s prayers, the Almighty becomes eager to embrace the devotee, make him happy in all respects with His appearance. This is just as natural as the devotee’s love and devoe for Him. The Almighty is only one, though He is known and praised by many names. But in spite of so many names which are according to His various attributes and forms, and so many ways in which the devotee visualizes Him, He is still one and remains so.

�The soul has been attracted to the worldly pleasures since times immemorial and thus has been mired in countless grief and worries. So, to liberate the soul from these attractions which breed grief and worries, The Veds have instructed us to worship the many divine, pious, sweet forms of the God.

�O Lord God! We chant your Holy Names with all our forms of speech. (Rig. 3.37.3).

�O Immortal and Indestructible One, we chant your Holy Name with deep devotion. (Rig. 8.11.5).

�The Formless and Attributeless One is present in reality. (Yaju. 31.19), and takes various divine forms to present Himself according to the devotees’ visualizations and imaginations so that they may worship Him in the way they feel. Principally, it is believed that the God in His various forms is to be worshipped, while He in His formless and attributeless form is the one whose knowledge is to be attained.

�The Veds say that The Supreme Lord should be the subject of your love and affection, even more than everything else, including wealth and wife. Thus, He should be explored in His Soul form. The emotional devotee, doing this wonderful wait, says: O Lord, when will I become completely pure, contemplate and see you in your wonderful and true form? When will I become one with you, O Endless Ocean? This yearning of mine can come true only with your blessings. I pray you with complete devotion. The Supreme One is omnipresent everywhere in the universe. He is the soul of the entire universe. He is the universe.

�Devotee is the one who sees Him everywhere and feels Him everywhere, and is one with Him body, mind and soul all the time. One who is really knowledgeable cannot be without devotion, and a real devotee too cannot be without knowledge. The river of devotion flows continuously in the heart of the knowledgeable. And the devotee’s heart is illuminated with the light of knowledge. Thus, it is the combination of knowledge and devotion that can lead the devotee to the ultimate mountain of attainment of salvation.

�AnanyaBhakti, AvyabhichariniBhakti, EkantaBhakti, PhalaBhakti etc. are all various types of devotion. The Supreme Soul then becomes one with the soul. This in turn leads to retirement of all materialism into the soul. When the devotee sees, hears and feels Him everywhere, it is the ultimate AnanyaBhakti. Thus, knowledge is in the form of oneness between the soul and the Supreme Soul, whereas devotion is AnanyaBhakti. Both aim at the same goal. There is no culmination of devotion without knowledge, and there is no loyalty of knowledge without devotion.

�There are many methods of devotion described in the Vedic Samhita, such as faith, company of pious persons, benevolence, bachelorhood, etc.

�We are always with a devotee who is benevolent, thinking, knowledgeable, and who is without evil tendencies such as sexual desire, deceit etc. (Rig. 5.51.15).

�Devotion leads to attainment of the True God. Bachelorhood is great contemplation in itself. Because of it, man can attain godliness equipped with rich divine wealth, and achieving AnanyaBhakti, can easily defeat the death in the form of ignorance. (Atharva 11.5.19).

�Thus, there are descriptions of numerous ways as well as the importance of devotion in the Vedic literature. Company of pious persons is like Nandanvan, the Divine Garden. Self-control is like the Kalpataru, the Divine Tree that fulfills all our wishes. Faith is like Kamdhenu, the Divine Cow. Vedic and Shruti books are the lights that light the way to the Nandanvan. When the devotee sits under the comforting, soothing shade of the Kalpataru in the Nandanvan and gets blessed by the Kamdhenu, the Lord God presents Himself, bringing in peace and happiness.

�We fold our hands to the God every morning, noon, evening and night with complete respect and surrender. May all our feelings and emotions be surrendered unto Him, full of devotion. Veds are replete with various expressions of devotion. If we contemplate them and follow them, our faith in the Veds will grow, the tendency to self-study will start growing, we will be active in protection and canvassing the Veds, and this will ultimately lead to the wellbeing of the nation as well as of the universe. Thus, the One that is the Supreme Lord with eternal control of the universe, that is the eternal store of all knowledge, the ultimate in the knowledge, and full of benefits from this world as well as the next, is called the Veds. To practice them in the real life is devotion.