Rhythm of the Veda: Know your Devas; by Sushrut Badhe.

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Rhythm of the Veda: Know your Devas

Sushrut Badhe.

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Author writes well, as far as his verses go. On the whole a good experience, reading this.

Funny irrelevant glitches.

One, when one acquires the book it's title proclaims

'Rhythm of the Veda: Know your Devas'

But on goodreads it's Spirit, not rhythm. Since the ASIN identification is unique, one doesn’t know why this change in title.

Then too, the table of contents has one expect a preface and a prologue, instead one has an introduction. Why it wasn't on table of contents, no clue.

There are others, such as table of contents uses normal letters, but subsequently chapter titles are in capitals.

There's more.

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"“Is there at all or is there still a secret of the Veda?”

"With this profound opening question, Sri Aurobindo began his treatise on the primordial text whose very name means knowledge, ‘The Secret of the Veda’. A century has passed since his first translations and writings on the Veda appeared in ‘Arya’ ... "

"While the text of the sole surviving retention of the complete Rig Veda, whose authenticity has been verified and accepted, is very much with us, the ancient Vedic Sanskrit used in it has ceased to dance on the tip of the tongues of even the most learned amongst modern Sanskrit scholars further distancing the already alienated masses away from the real meaning of this powerful spiritual treasure. European scholars and philosophers, with and without questionable motives, have worked laboriously in fixing and assigning meanings to the Hymns contained in the scripture and have not been very successful in their attempt as is evident from the gross inconsistencies arising out of their purportedly rational interpretation as clearly highlighted by Sri Aurobindo in his treatise. The multi-roots of the Sanskrit words have been used far too liberally to create a narrative suggesting that the Hymns and Vedas are but ritualistic invocations of barbarians to different Nature-elements deified as fierce and all-powerful Gods. The interpretation that the sages sought to invoke the Elements only to grant protection from enemies, wealth and food for their respective clans can be declared to be as far as possible from the truth. While reducing the motive of the sages and composers of these hymns to a desire for food and wealth is absolute sacrilege, the entire blame of this monumental blunder cannot be passed on to foreign shoulders."

That last sentence needs explaining. India cherished her legacies of treasures of India of antiquity through all efforts by invaders to destroy each, whether Vedas or crafts such as weaving, freedom or education of women or an Indianness that was about Truth, Beauty, Sacred and Ananda.

If after well over twelve centuries of horrendous subjugation by wave after wave of invaders looting, killing and destroying, a bit of piece by the distant invaders resulted in the colonial mindset accepting the lies because of a trust that was not deserved, one can't really fault the beleaguered nation.

"“The modern theory of the Veda starts with the conception for which Sayana is responsible, of the Vedas as the hymnal of an early, primitive and largely barbaric society crude in its moral and religious conceptions, rude in its social structure and entirely childlike in its outlook upon the world that environed it.”

"CWSA Vol 15 p 25- Sri Aurobindo 1"

Was it really Sayanacharya who incorporated or created this conception, or did he continue the discourse as intended by the ancient sages, keeping the Secret of the Veda secret?

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"Indian scholars, on the other hand, unwittingly created an opening for the scholars of the West to foray into the impregnable and confounding philological fortress of the scriptures, stamp their interpretations upon them and validate them by retaining the interpretation of the Indian scholars as their reference. ... A number of factors made this intrusion possible and one can only hypothesize that the prevalent social and cultural transitions led to the purely ritualistic interpretations of the Indian scholars."

Here author changes to another era within the same paragraph.

" ... A great change was taking place in ancient India in the post-Vedic Era. The sun of the age of intuition was setting and a new age of reason was beginning. Even the Sanskrit language, which was a lot more symbolic and poetic in the Vedas, began to be replaced with a Sanskrit that was more focused on philosophy and structuring. The focus shifted from interpreting the Vedas to founding the Upanishads or the Vedantas and as Sri Aurobindo points out a dichotomy of Veda and Vedanta began to manifest."

Author quotes Sri Aurobindo.

"“A sharp practical division came into being, effective though never entirely recognized in theory between Veda and Vedanta, a distinction which might be expressed in the formula, Veda for the priests, the Vedanta for the sages”

"- Sri Aurobindo2 CWSA Vol 15 p 15"

"The Upanishadic age was soon followed by the age of the Puranas which eventually led to the birth of the vernacular languages. The rise of Buddhism also furthered the side-lining of the Vedas; newer religious systems began to occupy a prominent place in the society and the Sanskrit language too began to lose prominence among the masses. Only a selected group of Pandits or scholars remained who continued to pass on the text religiously from generation to generation for they understood that the texts were sacrosanct and thus diligently guarded their sanctity and passed them on word for word and sound for sound. While their scrupulous attachment to adhering rigidly to lexicon and diction ensured that the Vedic text was preserved, their approach, which was often despotic and led to fear mongering, prevented the masses from touching the scriptures. For instance we have, in the Brahmanas, the story of a sage Twashtri who while performing his sacrifice chanted the words ‘Indra’ and ‘Shatru’ in the wrong notes with catastrophic results because the wrong pronunciation completely reversed the meaning of the chant. Instead of empowering his son to slay Indra, he caused his son to be slain by Indra, thus highlighting the drastic consequences of hymns of invocation wrongly uttered."

The accusations in middle there - 'their approach, which was often despotic and led to fear mongering, prevented the masses from touching the scriptures' - is incorrect, mistaken and undeserved.

Masses being prevented from touching scriptures is far more true of church, especially of church of Rome, than of systems of knowledge far deeper.

Every public library in US, and they exist in every smallest town and are free and more, can help a user - citizen or not - access knowledge including works on theory of Relativity; masses leave it alone, for most part. Crowds gatecrash rock concerts or sports stadia, but certainly not libraries, advanced science classes, or anything comparable to Vedas.

"While we are without doubt grateful that these texts have been preserved in their original forms, in the handing over of the Vedas from the sage to the priest and from the priest to the scholar, great damage was done. The original meaning of the sages was lost and only the ritualistic interpretation of the priests remained in the scholastic rendering of the Vedas."

Is there effort here to blame Brahmins in harmony with Abrahamic-II, Abrahamic-III and Abrahamic-IV?

'The original meaning of the sages' never was for masses, who were allowed choice of aim and vocation for life until recent centuries of invaders attempting to destroy India. Few chose to be Valmiki or even Kalidas. But a Jaabaala could always proceed to path upwards, through his aspirations and by sheer adherence to truth, to become a Satyakaama.

"“For even in the earlier days of classical erudition the ritualistic view of the Veda was already dominant, the original sense of the words, the lines, the allusions, the clue to the structure of the thought had been long lost or obscured; nor was there in the erudite that intuition or that spiritual experience which might have partly recovered the lost secret. In such a field, mere learning, especially when it is accompanied by an ingenious scholastic mind, is often a snare as a guide.”

"– Sri Aurobindo3 CWSA Vol 15 P 19"

True, but keeping the texts alive was so dauntingly great a service, one forgets context. After all, when it was needed, someone like Sri Aurobindo did rise in India and not only understood but wrote it, and it was published, making it available to a great number - if they so inclined.

Again, were the masses inclined? For most part, no.

And that's quite all right. Himalayan peaks shouldn't be littered with cheap tours, but retain their pristine beauty, until those guarding are capable of keeping them as Swiss are of Alps.

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"If we were wholly to accept the Western Indologists we would have to come to the conclusion that the Vedas are naught but a collection of hymns composed by barbarous and fair skinned Aryans who wanted their Gods in whose favour the hymns were chanted to grant them cows, horses, rich food and prosperity and drive away the dark-skinned Dravidians who were always trying to steal their cattle."

But why accept such an atrocious interpretation at all, if one is Indian? That amounts to having no respect at all for the heritage of India, and worse, no brains in the first place, whatsoever.

"And if we are to wholly accept the likes of the scholastic Indian renditions, the hymns are naught but a collection of ceremonial rituals to various Gods which needed to be performed meticulously and without any flaws to ensure that the Gods be merciful and pleased so that they grant the priest of the sacrifice and all the others involved longevity, prosperity and plenty of food and cattle."

One begins to suspect otherwise even without having yet read Sri Aurobindo, if one has heard even stotras taught routinely to children to chant in evening. One knows better, even if one doesn't know what, if one is used to practicing it.

"In both these interpretations, a very important factor is altogether ignored: the very composers of the hymns, the realised sages. The premise that the Rishi’s or spiritually accomplished Vedic Sages composed the hymns to gain material possessions seems absurd and banal, making one wonder how this interpretation came into existence in the first place. ... "

Not accidentally, certainly. Growing up in sixties, one was used to an official pronouncement against traders for being profit oriented, and an unofficial but very prevalent ridicule of Hindu wedding ceremonies conducted with Sanskrit mantra-s 'which no one understands'. It took gorm of flagellation against 'shuddha' (or rather, 'shudh' as the word is mispronounced across North) Hindi, in favor of a language inclined to street level Urdu-Punjabi combo.

It took a moment to realise that all this was deliberately propagated fraud, and it's clear why and by whom, and do is what author says above. The absurd interpretation he speaks of was deliberately propagated fraud, by invaders beginning with Abrahamic-II and continuing with Abrahamic-III and Abrahamic-IV.

" ... This is where the multi-roots of the words of the Sanskrit language serve as the key to solving the many inconsistencies arising out of arbitrary assignment of English meanings to Sanskrit root words. In his treatise, in the chapter ‘The Foundations of the Psychological Theory’, Sri Aurobindo has successfully deconstructed the myth furthered by the misattributation of the fight between darkness and light mentioned in the Vedas to an Aryan-Dravidian battle, and has clearly established that the Vedic Hymns are actually formulae or blueprints of realizations of the Rishis that were recorded after the attainment of personal victories on spiritual planes with the aim for providing a key for future seekers to attain the same. While a cursory glance reveals a simple outward ritualistic meaning, the cryptographic nature of the Hymns becomes clear to us when we observe the symbolism embedded in the verses with a careful and trained eye.

"“We have concluded that the Angiras Rishis are bringers of the Dawn, rescuers of the Sun out of the darkness, but that this Dawn, Sun, Darkness are figures used with a spiritual significance. The central conception of the Veda is the conquest of the Truth out of the darkness of Ignorance and by the conquest of the Truth the conquest also of Immortality”

"- Sri Aurobindo4 CWSA Vol15 P241"

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"DEDICATION

"To the transformers of the future

"The Clarion Call pierced through the first dark cloud

"Every mortal ear heard the sound, clear and loud.

"Ecstatic skies thundered flaunting the silver lining

"Ushering moist blind eyes-

"“ The Heroes are coming”."

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CONTENTS

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Acknowledgments

FOREWORD

INTRODUCTION

PREFACE

Prologue The Hymns, the Rishis & the Devas

Introducing the Devas (I.1)

1. Agni & The Legend of Angiras (VI.11)

2. The Cow, the Bull & The luminous herds (V.2)

3. Usha- the Dawn Divine (III.61)

4. Truth of Varuna (V.25)

5.Indra (I.170)

6.Soura Suktam – A Hymn to Surya (I.50)

7. Flow of Vayu (IV.48)

8. Vishnu- The Friend of Man (I.154)

9. Saraswati – The River and the Goddess (VII.95)

10. The Hymn to Man- the last Sukta (X.191)

EPILOGUE

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REVIEW

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FOREWORD

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"Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak (1856 – 1920) who published The Arctic Home in the Vedas in 1903 endorsed the theory of first president of Boston University William Fairfield Warren (1833 –1929) that early man lived in the North Pole, which was a land mass in the post glacial era. In the early geological ages, the Alps were low, the Himalayas not yet upheaved, Asia and Africa were represented only by a group of islands and an equable and uniform climate prevailed over the whole surface of the globe. Warren noted how, in those days, Homer, the legendary author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, considered as the central works of ancient Greek literature, and the ancient Roman poet Virgil and later the Greek poet Hesiod, active between 750 and 650 BCE, all placed Atlas or his world pillar at the "ends of the earth", meaning the far northern arctic regions, while Euripides related Atlas to the Pole Star. Italian poet Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) in The Divine Comedy emerges out of the dark nether world of hell to the South Pole and then to the shore of Mount Purgatory, in the uninhabited southern hemisphere, as opposed to the North Pole representing Paradise.

"Based on Warren’s book Cradle of the Human Race at the North Pole, published in 1885, that placed the destruction of the original Arctic home at the last Ice Age and the commencement of the post-Glacial period at 10,000 to 8000 BCE, Lokmanya Tilak, a great astronomer, timed the Vedas to the Orion constellation - 5000 to 3000 BCE - when the vernal equinox was in Orion. “Lokmanya writes, “At the North Pole, one sees the heavenly dome above seems to revolve around one like a potter's wheel. The stars will not rise and set but move round and round in horizontal planes during the long night of six months. The Sun, when it is above the horizon for six months, would also appear to revolve in the same way.” Rig-Vedic hymns can be traced to the early part of this period. The destruction of the original Arctic home had taken place by the last Ice Age followed by the commencement of the post-Glacial period. The survivors of the human race roamed over the northern parts of Europe and Asia in search of land suitable for new settlements. The “bards of the race, based on the memories of the Arctic home passed on by their ancestors, sang and recorded those memories in the form of Brahmana and Aranyaka texts with heavy doses of their own imagination and reason.

" ... Maharishi Arvind (1872 – 1950) explained it as “The Life Divine” saying that “True knowledge is not attained by thinking, it ought to be accessed from within, It is what you are; it is what you become.”

"It is important to differentiate between what Maharishi Arvind called “The spiritual life, the religious life and the ordinary human life.” What most of us are doing, most of time, is living our ordinary lives out as feast for our senses. This is not only a cut-off from our own true self, which is the Divine, but is also bereft of reason and insensitive to the conscience."

"Arun Tiwari

"Hyderabad

"November 2019"

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June 02, 2022 - June 02, 2022.

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INTRODUCTION

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"Vedas are the earliest texts of ancient Indian knowledge tradition. The Sanskrit words of Vedic hymns are etymological in nature and therefore, the meaning of Vedic words may change according to the context. Traditionally, the meaning of Vedic Sanskrit words can be described in three different ways, i.e., Adhibhautik (natural), Adhidaivik (supernatural) and Adhyatmik (spiritual). Sayanacharya wrote a commentary on Vedas following the Adhibhautik etymology whereas Yaska’s Nirukta provides the Adhidaivik interpretation of Vedic hymns. The tradition of Upanishads propounded the Adhyatmik meaning of mantras. Following the Upanishadic tradition, Sri Aurobindo has written the Adhyatmik commentary of Vedic hymns."

" ... Sh. Sushrut Badhe, a young author and Manasa-putra of Sri Aurobindo tradition has attempted to unravel the mysteries and presented the basics of Adhyatmik translation of Vedic hymns in his book titled “Rhythm of the Veda: Know Your Devas”. ... "

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June 02, 2022 - June 02, 2022.

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PREFACE

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"In 2012, I had an opportunity to engage in a collaborative study of the therapeutic effect of Vedic Chanting on the behaviour of children with autism where my main task involved sitting along with the children and listening to vedic hymns chanted by Damleji thrice a day for a period of more than four months. The study went on to receive “The Best Poster” in an international scientific conference –ISHG, Ahmedabad in 2014 and my parents noticed distinct behavioural changes in me . But this too was not the reason why I chose to try to write a commentary to know the Devas of the Rig Veda."

" ... This book is a compilation and modification of articles from the Spirit of the Vedas series that is being featured in the monthly journal –Sri Aurobindo’s Action whose aim is to help bring about the resurgence of India.

"Eleven prominent yet lesser known Vedic Deities of the Rig Veda have been selected and their hymns have been versified in rhyme with a brief commentary on the symbolism and inner meanings. The rhyme rendition and description has been done solely in the light of Sri Aurobindo’s ‘Secret of the Veda’ and simple illustrations have been provided for picturing the functions of as many Gods as possible. A short bio of the composing Rishi has also been given at the end of each hymn. ... "

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June 02, 2022 - June 02, 2022.

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PROLOGUE

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"For Nine days, the inferno at Nalanda burnt

"Hoping to erase all the sacred texts that were learnt

"Other sanctums of learning too were then raided

"Knowledge suffered distortions and struggled unaided

"Over generations this loss compounded and spread

"The hidden wisdom was lost- unheard and never read

"The devilish ploy was that the light be forever buried

"And down the ages nothing was passed or carried

"But little was really known or understood by man

"That all of this too was part of the grand plan

"Several sacred texts were destroyed in time's course

"But no force on earth could touch the divine source

"From the same planes where the truth was heard

"Would reverberate once more the first word

"Newer Vedas too would once more come-

"From this churning the world too shall immortal become

"Across the oceans shall burst the volcanoes of light

"Flooding and cleansing the plagued lands of blight

"The Sons of Angiras, Atri and the other Rishis shall rise

"And one hotar shall perform Vishwajit Yagnya-

"the final sacrifice!

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June 02, 2022 - June 02, 2022.

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1. THE HYMNS, THE RISHIS & THE DEVAS

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"“Is there at all or is there still a secret of the Veda?”

................................................................................................

"CWSA Vol 15 p 25- Sri Aurobindo 1"

Was it really Sayanacharya who incorporated or created this conception, or did he continue the discourse as intended by the ancient sages, keeping the Secret of the Veda secret?

................................................................................................

Here author changes to another era within the same paragraph.

Author quotes Sri Aurobindo.

“ A sharp practical division came into being, effective though never entirely recognized in theory between Veda and Vedanta, a distinction which might be expressed in the formula, Veda for the priests, the Vedanta for the sages”

"- Sri Aurobindo2 CWSA Vol 15 p 15"

The accusations in middle there - 'their approach, which was often despotic and led to fear mongering, prevented the masses from touching the scriptures' - is incorrect, mistaken and undeserved.

Masses being prevented from touching scriptures is far more true of church, especially of church of Rome, than of systems of knowledge far deeper.

Is there effort here to blame Brahmins in harmony with Abrahamic-II, Abrahamic-III and Abrahamic-IV?

"– Sri Aurobindo3 CWSA Vol 15 P 19"

Again, were the masses inclined? For most part, no.

And that's quite all right. Himalayan peaks shouldn't be littered with cheap tours, but retain their pristine beauty, until those guarding are capable of keeping them as Swiss are of Alps.

................................................................................................

But why accept such an atrocious interpretation at all, if one is Indian? That amounts to having no respect at all for the heritage of India, and worse, no brains in the first place, whatsoever.

"- Sri Aurobindo4 CWSA Vol15 P241"

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"The Marathi saint Tukaram, who was chastised by the society in his earlier days for his interpretation of the Vedas and later on revered as a realized soul, in his compilation of works – ‘Tukaram Gatha’ lashed out very fiercely at the orthodox conformists and scholars of the ritualistic school of interpretation.

"वेदाचा तो अर्थ आम्हासी च ठावा।

"येरांनी वाहावा भार माथा॥

"खादल्याची गोडी देखिल्यासी नाही।

"भार धन वाही मजुरीचे॥

"- Tukaram Gatha, 2266"

“That meaning of the Veda,

"Only I claim to verily understand and know

"Carrying the burden of the texts on their heads, the others can go

"The experience of sweetness that comes from taste, by seeing one cannot share

"May the porters for their labour of carrying the goods, receive their due fare||”

"Quoting him, I begin my journey to connect myself and my readers with the Spirit of the Rig Veda-its Hymns, Sages and the Devas."

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June 02, 2022 - June 02, 2022.

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INTRODUCING THE DEVAS (I.1)

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"Almost every verse of the Rig Vedic scripture is in itself pregnant with a twin meaning- the exoteric and the esoteric. ... we can effortlessly understand the beautiful and occult inner dimension of the Veda, simply by treading the sunlit path in the light of Sri Aurobindo’s ‘Psychological Theory’ according to which the Rig Veda is ‘a Scripture not confused in thought or primitive in its substance, not a medley of heterogeneous or barbarous elements, but one, complete and self-conscious in its purpose and in its purport, veiled indeed by the cover, sometimes thick, sometimes transparent, of another and material sense, but never losing sight even for a single moment of its high spiritual aim and tendency’ CWSA Vol 15, P47"

"The Rig Veda in total contains 1017 Hymns scattered across 10 Books or Mandalas. Each Hymn is dedicated to a single deity (Agni, Varuna, Soma etc) or twin deities (Mitra-Varuna, Soma-Rudra, etc.) or multiple deities, and sometimes all the deities combined (Vishwedevas) composed by the mystic Vedic sages. ... "

"Sri Aurobindo recognized Four Major Deities of prime significance, in terms of their powers and roles, among all the Rig Vedic deities. They are Agni, Indra, Surya and Soma in the order of invokation of their presence. This is the general order of invocation followed by the Vedic seers but it may not be mis-interpreted as an order of importance, for all the deities are ultimately different forces and powers of the One truth – ‘tad ekam’ as Sri Aurobindo has clearly explained in his ‘Hymns to the Mystic Fire’ and described as the kernel of the doctrine of the Veda.

"“ The Gods, the powers of Light and Truth are powers and names of the One, each God is himself all the Gods or carries them in him; there is the one Truth, tat satyam, and one bliss to which we must rise”

"- Sri Aurobindo P21 CWSA Vol 16"

" ... The First of the Gods is Agni – the Blazing Ascender, the one who is closest to man and is the priest of the Call, the first invoked in the sacrifice, the one who takes the aspirations of man to the Gods and also invites the Gods to descend and receive their dues. He is both the outer physical fire and the all purifiying occult fire that is within man. He is knowledge, the Force of Will, the bridge between mortality and immortality, the Divine doer who ignites the inner aspiration and powers the actions of man bringing light and bliss to the whole of mankind.

"Next is invoked Indra, the Hero and Slayer of darkness who descends from the Heavens with his thunderours bolts of ligntning, bringing to the mortal plane the waters of the celestial heavens, giving birth to the faculty of Intuition and Divinising the mind of man. He is not alone, for he is accompanied by his assistants, the Ribhus- the skilled technicians, his human powers, who aid the upward ascension of man and participate in the work of the sacrifice to shape, mould and transform the mind of man. For his actions of conquest and valor, Indra is aided by the roaring deities - the Maruts, who function behind thought and speech and help in slaying the Vritras – the forces of darkness that veil the light of the sun of supreme truth."

Are Varuna, Pawan (and so on?), included there?

"The next primary deity is Surya – the Sun and Lord of Supreme truth who floods the creation with his truth illuminations, nourishing all life forms and bathing our souls in light, dispelling the unending nights of darkness by giving birth to the beautiful and luminous dawn of truth. Surya is accompanied by four other powers- the Just and Fierce Varuna seated on his throne in the Heavens, the all loving, compassionate friend of all beings – Mitra, Aryaman- the pure one who aids every right action and inspiration and Bhaga – the force that participates in the right enjoyment and spreads the elixer of happiness."

Shouldn't Varuna be with Indra? And isn't Mitra another name for Sun?

"Next is Soma- the Divine and complete bliss, the power that raises in man the immortal consciousness, the perfect and complete happiness, the ambrosial nectar of true Ananda in the vital, physical and mental. Soma is aided by the nimble twin Gods- The Ashwin Kumars, the Divine Healing Horseman who ride swiftly to bring in us the divine ascension.

"Just as there are the Major Masculine Powers, each of the Gods has his Female Energy and we come across a number of Female deities in the Rig Veda. We first come across the universal and infinite mother of all Gods – Aditi. She is the first and we have the five powers of Sat that manifest everywhere in the universe. Mahi/Bharati – the word that births the creations from the Divine source, Ila – the word that grants the vision of truth, Saraswati- The word of inspiration that furthers the new creation, Sarama – the Heavenly hound that descends and penetrates the innermost dark caves of the subconscient to discover the hidden light, and Dakshina, the Divine distributor who ensures that all the Gods receive their rightful dues from the offerings of the sacrifice.

"The Origins of the Divine trinity of Brahma (The Creater), Vishnu (the Preserver) and Mahesh (the Destroyer) in the Puranas too can be retraced to the the Trinity observed in the Hymns to Brahmanaspati, Visnu and Rudra. We also find many deities, such as Vayu, Dadhikravan, Parajanya, but we will be dealing with each of these as and when we come across them as we journey through the hymns."

Here on author gives poetic translations of selected verses of Vedas.

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"अ॒ग्निमी॑ळे पु॒रोहि॑तं य॒ज्ञस्य॑ दे॒वमृ॒त्विज॑म् ।

"होता॑रं रत्न॒धात॑मम् ॥ १.००१.०१

"अ॒ग्निः पूर्वे॑भि॒रृषि॑भि॒रीड्यो॒ नूत॑नैरु॒त ।

"स दे॒वाँ एह व॑क्षति ॥ १.००१.०२

"अ॒ग्निना॑ र॒यिम॑श्नव॒त्पोष॑मे॒व दि॒वेदि॑वे ।

"य॒शसं॑ वी॒रव॑त्तमम् ॥ १.००१.०३

"अग्ने॒ यं य॒ज्ञम॑ध्व॒रं वि॒श्वतः॑ परि॒भूरसि॑ ।

"स इद्दे॒वेषु॑ गच्छति ॥ १.००१.०४

"अ॒ग्निर्होता॑ क॒विक्र॑तुः स॒त्यश्चि॒त्रश्र॑वस्तमः ।

"दे॒वो दे॒वेभि॒रा ग॑मत् ॥ १.००१.०५

"यद॒ङ्ग दा॒शुषे॒ त्वमग्ने॑ भ॒द्रं क॑रि॒ष्यसि॑ ।

"तवेत्तत्स॒त्यम॑ङ्गिरः ॥ १.००१.०६

"उप॑ त्वाग्ने दि॒वेदि॑वे॒ दोषा॑वस्तर्धि॒या व॒यम् ।

"नमो॒ भर॑न्त॒ एम॑सि ॥ १.००१.०७

"राज॑न्तमध्व॒राणां॑ गो॒पामृ॒तस्य॒ दीदि॑विम् ।

"वर्ध॑मानं॒ स्वे दमे॑ ॥ १.००१.०८

"स नः॑ पि॒तेव॑ सू॒नवेऽग्ने॑ सूपाय॒नो भ॑व ।

"सच॑स्वा नः स्व॒स्तये॑ ॥ १.००१.०९

"I revere Agni- the foremost priest, the fire sacrifice’s lord,

"The boon of splendour and prosperity, you do verily accord.|1|

"To Agni, the sages- both ancient and present, offer their devotion

"To the herald of the Gods, they pay homage with adulation.|2|

"By Agni’s grace, Man receives a wealth that grows day by day

"And glory and also the powers that adorn the Hero’s way.|3|

"When Agni pervades throughout the sacrifice’s consummation

"Verily to the Gods, reaches the performer’s aspiration.|4|

"The sacrificial overlord, the seer, the doer,

"The Truth of ascension

"The God brings the other Gods too to our dimension.|5|

"With Thy purifying touch of Grace, you make all auspicious

"O Angiras!

"This is your truth, most conspicuous.|6|

"O Agni,

"Dispeller of flaws, we come closer to you each day

"Bringing with us our thoughts of consecration, to you we pray.|7|

"O custodian of Truth,

"Over all the sacrifices, king like you preside

"May you flourish and progress in the home you reside.|8|

"May we reach you, as a son does a father with ease

"O Agni, May your benefaction upon us never cease!|9|"

................................................................................................

"Know your Rishi: Madhuchhandas Vaishwamitra

:The legendary sage, known for his mastery over the Vedas was also known for his melodious singing and the distinct rhythm and flow that he imparted to the Vedic hymns; his very name was a combination of two words Madhu- nectar and Chhandas – rhythm. The first 10 Hymns of the First Mandala of the Rig Veda were composed by him. He was the son of the Legendary Vedic Rishi Vishwamitra and a brother of Sushruta –the Ayurvedic Physician who is recognized as the father of modern plastic surgery and the Vedic Rishi- Shunahshepah (the adopted son of Vishwamitra)."

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June 02, 2022 - June 02, 2022.

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1. AGNI AND THE LEGEND OF THE ANGIRAS (VI.11)

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" ... Rishi Madhuchhandas chanted his honey-rhythm in an ode to Agni and paid homage to the mystic fire, proclaiming Him to be the herald of the Gods. According to him, Agni was not just the nature element of fire glorified as a deity. He was a living and conscious power that purified the mortal soul and instilled and furthered the inner aspiration in mortals, emancipating man and actuating his evolution towards Godhood. ... "

"“In the Brahmanas, it is said that Agni is the fire and the Angirases are the burning coals, angaaraah; but in the Veda itself the indication seems rather to be that they are the flames or lustres of Agni”

"CWSA Vol 10 The Secret of the Veda, P156"

" ... Hymn to Agni composed by the Rishi Bharadwaja – Hymn 11 of the Sixth Mandala.

"यज॑स्व होतरिषि॒तो यजी॑या॒नग्ने॒ बाधो॑ म॒रुतां॒ न प्रयु॑क्ति ।

"आ नो॑ मि॒त्रावरु॑णा॒ नास॑त्या॒ द्यावा॑ हो॒त्राय॑ पृथि॒वी व॑वृत्याः ॥ ६.०११.०१

"त्वं होता॑ म॒न्द्रत॑मो नो अ॒ध्रुग॒न्तर्दे॒वो वि॒दथा॒ मर्त्ये॑षु ।

"पा॒व॒कया॑ जु॒ह्वा॒ वह्नि॑रा॒साग्ने॒ यज॑स्व त॒न्वं तव॒ स्वाम् ॥ ६.०११.०२

"धन्या॑ चि॒द्धि त्वे धि॒षणा॒ वष्टि॒ प्र दे॒वाञ्जन्म॑ गृण॒ते यज॑ध्यै ।

"वेपि॑ष्ठो॒ अङ्गि॑रसां॒ यद्ध॒ विप्रो॒ मधु॑ च्छ॒न्दो भन॑ति रे॒भ इ॒ष्टौ ॥ ६.०११.०३

"अदि॑द्युत॒त्स्वपा॑को वि॒भावाग्ने॒ यज॑स्व॒ रोद॑सी उरू॒ची ।

"आ॒युं न यं नम॑सा रा॒तह॑व्या अ॒ञ्जन्ति॑ सुप्र॒यसं॒ पञ्च॒ जनाः॑ ॥ ६.०११.०४

"वृ॒ञ्जे ह॒ यन्नम॑सा ब॒र्हिर॒ग्नावया॑मि॒ स्रुग्घृ॒तव॑ती सुवृ॒क्तिः ।

"अम्य॑क्षि॒ सद्म॒ सद॑ने पृथि॒व्या अश्रा॑यि य॒ज्ञः सूर्ये॒ न चक्षुः॑ ॥ ६.०११.०५

"द॒श॒स्या नः॑ पुर्वणीक होतर्दे॒वेभि॑रग्ने अ॒ग्निभि॑रिधा॒नः ।

"रा॒यः सू॑नो सहसो वावसा॒ना अति॑ स्रसेम वृ॒जनं॒ नांहः॑ ॥ ६.०११.०६"

"O Agni, priest of sacrifice

"–O powerful and fiery force

"Aid us in this mortal journey - bar the forces that oppose.

"Towards Mitra and Varuna,

"May our offerings be consecrated

"And the twin Lords of Heaven & Earth,

"May our paths be directed | 1|

"You bring us no harm, Amongst us you are our God of invocation

"O Priest Divine, in you we realize unparalleled bliss and perfection

"Consume into your blazing mouth with the fiery tongue that purifies

"Accept your own body as the worship and offering of sacrifice|2|

"In You, a rapture and Godly understanding is housed

"And in man the wisdom of the divine births and descents is aroused

"When the wisest of the Angiras seers sings the revealed word

"And in the sacrifice, his sacred honey-rhythm is heard |3|

"Into the refulgence and light, O Agni - he does verily wade

"Summiting the Earth and Heaven,

"May your sacrifice pervade.

"All the five peoples bow in a puissant and complete submission

"To the All granting and Living Fire, they offer their finest oblation |4|

"When to Agni, the plucked sacred grass is offered in prostration

"When the ladle’s offerings to Agni are poured in consecration

"Upon the earth, the abode of Agni is then truly ordained

"And like an eye in the sun, the sacrifice is ingrained |5|

"Empower us, O Son of Force,

"O priest of sacrifice O consort of Gods,

"Lend us the treasures of your paradise,

"With your flaming armies of light on our side, may we assail

"Overcoming the battle, beyond sin may we verily sail |6|"

" ... For instance a literal interpretation of Panchajanah, or the five peoples in Verse 4, as the western Indologists very much prefer, implies that the sage was referring to the members of five specific Vedic tribes - Anus, Druhyus, Yadus, Turvasas, and Purus that find mention in the Rig Veda. A symbolic interpretation of the same vers implies that all the five types of people involved in the sacrifice bow in complete submission. The five types include the Yajamana (the host on whose behest the sacrifice is done) and the four Ritwiks Hotar, Udgata, Adhvaryu and Brahma."

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" ... in the light of the first hymn of the Veda where the sage proclaims that the truth of Angiras is most conspicuous, this lets us understand that the truth of Agni cannot be only a perfect mortal chanting the hymns or an individual sage. Sri Aurobindo has already approached this problem and highlighted the solution for us. He has clearly pointed out that the Angirases are not just the human sacrificers but are the extension of the Divine Agni, the divine children of the Mystic flame, the rays that very much possess the same powers and properties as their flaming source. It is this approach that is most pertinent for us in our quest.

"“..Agni in the Veda is the light of the sun and the lightning as well as the flame found in the waters and shining on the earth. The Angiras Rishis being powers of Agni share this manifold function”

"– Sri Aurobindo CWSA, Vol 10, The Secret of the Veda P 164"

"“Thou, O Agni, wast the first Angiras, the seer and auspicious friend, a god, of the gods; in the law of thy working the Maruts with their shining spears were born, seers who do the work by the knowledge”

"– Sri Aurobindo CWSA, Vol 10, The Secret of the Veda P 165"

"Understanding this truth of Angiras and their dual powers of knowledge and action is essential for it helps us in understanding the Agni-Agniras link, the Indra-Angiras link, Brihaspati-Angiras and also the connection of the Angiras with the Divine dawn, Usha. This is one very fascinating aspect of the Veda where we find a unique differentiation, integration and also transformation of the various God powers which are very interchangeable in their functions. It is only in this light that we can understand the true meaning of the appeal of the Rishis to the various god powers to become Angiras. This prayer to the Godheads to attain Angriashood is seen in the hymns directed towards both the Male Gods: Indra (Mandala 1, Hymn 100) and the Female Gods: Usha (Mandala 7, Hymn 79). The interchangeability of the God powers is manifest in most hymns and the symbolic approach allows us to conclude that the legendary Angirases are divine when they are associated or become one with the god powers and mortal when they function in the realized and awakened Vedic rishis.

"With this conclusion we have not only succeeded in being introduced to the legend of the blazing Angiras but have also readied a ground on which we may touch another symbolism that is often repeated throughout the Vedic Hymns – that of the holy cow and the kine of Veda."

" ... Bharadwaja Brihaspatya

"Rishi Bharadwaja is one of the most revered Vedic sages and is one of the seven venerated sages who are cited more than three times throughout the Rig Veda. He has authored several treatises on Medicine, Spirituality, Phonetics and even Archery. The Bharadwaja gotra was named after him and even today, his descendants continue to bear his name to further their proud association with his unbroken lineage. The classical Ayurvedic text, Charaka Samhita, mentions Rishi Bharadwaja and states that the Vedic sage performed penance to Indra seeking his blessings to improve the health of the people so that all are disease-free to progress in their life’s spiritual journeys. In the Buddhist text, Digha Nikaya, the Buddha is quoted naming Bharadwaja as one among the ten noted Vedic sages."

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June 02, 2022 - June 02, 2022.

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2. THE COW, THE BULL & THE LUMINOUS HERDS (V.2)

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"Another motif that is recurrent in the Vedic hymns dedicated to almost all the major deities is the image of the cow. The theme of the cow, the stolen cattle and the great victory that is celebrated upon retrieval of the cattle is neither tautological nor vestigial in purpose. Rather, it has a definite significance and origin. While the cow has always been revered in India since ancient times and is considered a source of prosperity even today, it would be quite banal to assume that the sages were so distracted by the prosperity that was to be obtained from the physical cows that they devoted so many verses to kine in the Veda. In some verses, the esoteric significance is so prominent and obvious that one cannot even logically assume that ‘cows’ refers to the physical herds. The second hymn to Agni in the fifth Mandala composed by Rihsi Vrisha Jana is one such hymn which directly displays the symbolic and esoteric purpose of the cattle found in the Vedas and so we will now explore that hymn.

"कु॒मा॒रं मा॒ता यु॑व॒तिः समु॑ब्धं॒ गुहा॑ बिभर्ति॒ न द॑दाति पि॒त्रे ।

"अनी॑कमस्य॒ न मि॒नज्जना॑सः पु॒रः प॑श्यन्ति॒ निहि॑तमर॒तौ ॥ ५.००२.०१

"कमे॒तं त्वं यु॑वते कुमा॒रं पेषी॑ बिभर्षि॒ महि॑षी जजान ।

"पू॒र्वीर्हि गर्भः॑ श॒रदो॑ व॒वर्धाप॑श्यं जा॒तं यदसू॑त मा॒ता ॥ ५.००२.०२

"हिर॑ण्यदन्तं॒ शुचि॑वर्णमा॒रात्क्षेत्रा॑दपश्य॒मायु॑धा॒ मिमा॑नम् ।

"द॒दा॒नो अ॑स्मा अ॒मृतं॑ वि॒पृक्व॒त्किं माम॑नि॒न्द्राः कृ॑णवन्ननु॒क्थाः ॥ ५.००२.०३ क्षेत्रा॑दपश्यं सनु॒तश्चर॑न्तं सु॒मद्यू॒थं न पु॒रु शोभ॑मानम् ।

"न ता अ॑गृभ्र॒न्नज॑निष्ट॒ हि षः पलि॑क्नी॒रिद्यु॑व॒तयो॑ भवन्ति ॥ ५.००२.०४

"के मे॑ मर्य॒कं वि य॑वन्त॒ गोभि॒र्न येषां॑ गो॒पा अर॑णश्चि॒दास॑ ।

"य ईं॑ जगृ॒भुरव॒ ते सृ॑ज॒न्त्वाजा॑ति प॒श्व उप॑ नश्चिकि॒त्वान् ॥ ५.००२.०५

"व॒सां राजा॑नं वस॒तिं जना॑ना॒मरा॑तयो॒ नि द॑धु॒र्मर्त्ये॑षु ।

"ब्रह्मा॒ण्यत्रे॒रव॒ तं सृ॑जन्तु निन्दि॒तारो॒ निन्द्या॑सो भवन्तु ॥ ५.००२.०६

"शुन॑श्चि॒च्छेपं॒ निदि॑तं स॒हस्रा॒द्यूपा॑दमुञ्चो॒ अश॑मिष्ट॒ हि षः ।

"ए॒वास्मद॑ग्ने॒ वि मु॑मुग्धि॒ पाशा॒न्होत॑श्चिकित्व इ॒ह तू नि॒षद्य॑ ॥ ५.००२.०७

"हृ॒णी॒यमा॑नो॒ अप॒ हि मदैयेः॒ प्र मे॑ दे॒वानां॑ व्रत॒पा उ॑वाच ।

"इन्द्रो॑ वि॒द्वाँ अनु॒ हि त्वा॑ च॒चक्ष॒ तेना॒हम॑ग्ने॒ अनु॑शिष्ट॒ आगा॑म् ॥ ५.००२.०८

"वि ज्योति॑षा बृह॒ता भा॑त्य॒ग्निरा॒विर्विश्वा॑नि कृणुते महि॒त्वा ।

"प्रादे॑वीर्मा॒याः स॑हते दु॒रेवाः॒ शिशी॑ते॒ श‍ृङ्गे॒ रक्ष॑से वि॒निक्षे॑ ॥ ५.००२.०९

"उ॒त स्वा॒नासो॑ दि॒वि ष॑न्त्व॒ग्नेस्ति॒ग्मायु॑धा॒ रक्ष॑से॒ हन्त॒वा उ॑ ।

"मदे॑ चिदस्य॒ प्र रु॑जन्ति॒ भामा॒ न व॑रन्ते परि॒बाधो॒ अदे॑वीः ॥ ५.००२.१०

"ए॒तं ते॒ स्तोमं॑ तुविजात॒ विप्रो॒ रथं॒ न धीरः॒ स्वपा॑ अतक्षम् ।

"यदीद॑ग्ने॒ प्रति॒ त्वं दे॑व॒ हर्याः॒ स्व॑र्वतीर॒प ए॑ना जयेम ॥ ५.००२.११

"तु॒वि॒ग्रीवो॑ वृष॒भो वा॑वृधा॒नो॑ऽश॒त्र्वर्यः सम॑जाति॒ वेदः॑ ।

"इती॒मम॒ग्निम॒मृता॑ अवोचन्ब॒र्हिष्म॑ते॒ मन॑वे॒ शर्म॑ यंसद्ध॒विष्म॑ते॒ मन॑वे॒ शर्म॑ यंसत् ॥ ५.००२.१२"

"The youthful Mother keeps the boy in concealment

"Hidden even from the father, safe in her den,

"His undiluted force though, escapes not the eyes of men

"Who recognize his progression and inner movement|1|

"“Who is this child that was carried by you?

"O Mother you had borne him after you grew.

"Within your womb, several years went past

"I saw him when he was born to you at last.|2|

"From a distance, I saw his one tusk-golden

"The luminous form, wielding many a fearsome weapon

"When my immortal ambrosia, to you I offer completely

"Can the Indraless and Wordless ever harm me? |3|

"In the field, I witnessed the herd luminous and beautiful

"He was born now and they were safe and blissful

"None could dare seize them in his reign

"Even the greying old turned young once again|4|

"Who weakened me, severing me from my herds of light?

"Before, I had no defender or hero-warrior to fight!

"I order the forces, “Release my light back to me.”

"Now aware, he drives them back, I can clearly see.|5|

"The forces hostile hide the King who in all resides

"The mortals dwell in him, not knowing that he presides

"May they be liberated by Atri’s words of wisdom

"May the ensnarers themselves ensnared become|6|

"With a thousand bonds, to the sacrifice Shunahshepa was bound

"But You set him free and his liberation was found

"O Priest, the rightful place within us,

"May you take Conscious Lord,

"Set us free, let all our shackles break.|7|

"May your wrath upon me, never be

"Desert me not,

"For your secret was revealed to me

"By Indra-Guardian of the laws of Gods, who sought

"And realized your way and then to me he taught!|8|

"This fire- Agni pervades all with its glory blazing

"And by his might alone, all existences come to being

"Conquering the forces nefarious in working and way,

"Whetting his horns, the evil Rakshasa he seeks to slay.|9|

"May his fiery roar as a weapon function

"And bring about the Rakshasa’s destruction

"The hostile forces seek to contain and capture

"But fail for he rages on untouched in his rapture|10|

"O One of births many, this hymn,

"May you envisage

"A vehicle offered by the best worker, thinker and sage

"Accept my offering, so we may win the light-stream

"O Lord, and the celestial waters too of the sun-realm|11|

"The strong necked bull juggernauts across hostile forces

"Developing, Driving away from opposers knowledge’s sources

"Thus the immortals spoke of the Fire’s divine functioning

"Bringing peace to man as he readied the seat, offering. |12|"

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"While we can see that this hymn is decorated with a number of riddles which warrant an in-depth understanding of the lexical verb-plays and symbolisms adopted by the composer, some verses explicitly convey to us that the cow, the herds and the bull do not in any way refer to the actual physical creatures. They have a distinct and significant spiritual reference.

"For instance, with reference to Verse 4, Sri Aurobindo had raised the following questions that clearly undermined a purely physical interpretation of the Hymns.

"“What, we may fairly ask, are these shining herds, these cows who were old and become young again? Certainly, they are not physical herds, nor is it any earthly field by the Yamuna or the Jhelum that is the scene of this splendid vision of the golden-tusked warrior god and the herds of the shining cattle”

"-Sri Aurobindo CWSA Vol 15, The Secret of the Veda P 142"

"“Agni, long repressed in her womb by mother Earth who is unwilling to give him to the father Heaven, held and concealed in her so long as she is compressed into limited form (peshi), at length comes to birth when she becomes great and vast (mahishi). The birth of Agni is associated with the manifestation or vision of luminous herds.”

"-Sri Aurobindo CWSA Vol 15, The Secret of the Veda P 141"

"“They are radiances that were stolen by the powers of darkness and are now divinely recovered not by the god of the physical fire, but by the flaming Force which was concealed in the littleness of the material existence and is now liberated into the clarities of an illumined mental action”

"-Sri Aurobindo CWSA Vol 15, The Secret of the Veda P 142"

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"Before the clarity of the illumined mind was realized, the chanter was confounded by the action of the hostile forces which weakened him by taking away his strength- his herds of light. The frustration is palpable in the words ‘Before, I had no defender or hero-warrior to fight’. But with the blessing of the illumined mind, by the grace of Agni, everything changed. Summoning the strength of the new found Agni in him, Vrisha Jana orders the forces of darkness to return the clarities that were unjustly taken away from him, preventing him from gaining the full realization of the truth. Now that Agni had arisen, the forces that bind would themselves be bound. The wisdom of Atri’s words would drive away the ignorance that prevented man from realizing the Divine who resideds in all. Recollecting the tale of Rishi Shunahshepa he prays that his bonds too be removed in the same way. According to the legend, the young Shunahshepa was tied to the sacrificial post to be offered as sacrifice but the hundred bonds that tied him disappeared as he invoked Usha (The Divine Dawn) while he was chanting his Vedic Hymns. Recognizing Agni’s grace in this feat, Vrisha Jana proclaimed that he had been grsnted the realisation of the secret of Agni by the Guardian of the Gods- Indra, who had himself realized the way to Agni. In his hymns he says that Agni was the cause of the manifestation of all living things, destroyer of the forces of darkness. He envisions Agni as a blazing bull sharpening his horns to gore the forces of evil and bring about the destruction of the Rakshasa. The forces, with nefarious plans, surround the Divine Bull seeking to contain him but the juggernaut force razes the forces that seek to conceal the wisdom. The sage, perfect in action, highest in thought, invites the dynamic Divine force to be seated in the vehicle that he has fashioned with his hymns so that they may together win the light streams and the waters of the celestial world of the Sun.

"While the riddles of the celestial waters and the light steams of the Sun still remain to be solved, we can satisfactorily state with confidence that we now know the significance of the cow, the bull and the luminous herds mentioned in the Rig Veda. This readies the ground on which we may seek to understand the truth of the ‘Mother of the cows’ of the Veda, whose path even the Sun follows – Mother Usha.

"Kumara Aatreya

"Vrisha in Sanskrit means ‘Bull’ literally. This makes the name of the composer of this hymn – Vrisha Jana all the more apt and exact. Another name for Vrisha Jana is Kumara Aatreya, who belongs to the lineage of the Atris. It may be noted that Vishnu too is referred to as a bull in the Veda. We will be elaborating on this during a separate introduction to Vishnu later on.

"Atri is the last of the seven celestial sages revered as the Saptarishis. The fifth Mandala of the Rig Ved, also known as the Atri Mandala, contains 87 hymns composed by Atri and his successors, together called the Atreyas or the Atris. These hymns are known for their distinct style of concealment of spiritual ideals in the form of riddles. Atri is one of the most frequently mentioned sages in the Rig Veda and is also mentioned in the Ramayana as residing in the Chitrakuta Forest Ashram.

"His wife is Anusuya who, according to the legend, was known to be one of the legendary seven Pativratas. Her piety and devotion enabled her to attain great powers which made it possible for her to produce three sons –Dattatreya, Durvasa and Soma, all of them immaculate conceptions and avatars of the divine Trinity: Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwara."

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June 02, 2022 - June 02, 2022.

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3. USHA - THE DAWN DIVINE (III.61)

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"Usha the Goddess is both the Mother of all the Gods and also the Divine Dawn of the luminous truth and not merely a personified deity of Day and the mother of the cows as propounded by the naturalistic interpretation of the Veda. While we do come across repeated references to Usha as the mother of the Cows in different verses of the Veda, Sri Aurobindo points out to us that the cow in the Veda is but a symbol of the light of spiritual illumination."

The word Gau being used for both, should be clear enough from the almost synonymous epithet used for Buddha, 'Gautama' - which means Enlightened, and certainly does not mean 'owner of maximum cows'.

"“Usha as the mother of the cows can only be a form or power of this supreme Light, of this supreme Consciousness, of Aditi. And in fact, we do find her so described in I.113.19. maata devaanaam aditer aneekam, “ Mother of the gods, form (or, power) of Aditi”

"– Sri Aurobindo P131, The Secret of the Veda, CWSA Vol 15"

"“We have precisely the same idea repeated but with still clearer and fuller psychological indications in I.124.3; ritasya panthaam anveti sadhu, pajaanateva na disho minaati: “She moves according to the path of the Truth and, as one that knows, she limits not the regions.”"

"उदी॑र्ध्वं जी॒वो असु॑र्न॒ आगा॒दप॒ प्रागा॒त्तम॒ आ ज्योति॑रेति ।

"आरै॒क्पन्थां॒ यात॑वे॒ सूर्या॒याग॑न्म॒ यत्र॑ प्रति॒रन्त॒ आयुः॑ ॥ १.११३.१६"

"Awaken, O soul, for the Life has returned

"The Light approaches and Darkness has been overturned

"She has paved the path for the sun to travel

"And we have arrived where life can limitlessly unravel|16|"

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"उषो॒ वाजे॑न वाजिनि॒ प्रचे॑ताः॒ स्तोमं॑ जुषस्व गृण॒तो म॑घोनि ।

"पु॒रा॒णी दे॑वि युव॒तिः पुरं॑धि॒रनु॑ व्र॒तं च॑रसि विश्ववारे ॥ ३.०६१.०१

"उषो॑ दे॒व्यम॑र्त्या॒ वि भा॑हि च॒न्द्रर॑था सू॒नृता॑ ई॒रय॑न्ती ।

"आ त्वा॑ वहन्तु सु॒यमा॑सो॒ अश्वा॒ हिर॑ण्यवर्णां पृथु॒पाज॑सो॒ ये ॥ ३.०६१.०२

"उषः॑ प्रती॒ची भुव॑नानि॒ विश्वो॒र्ध्वा ति॑ष्ठस्य॒मृत॑स्य के॒तुः ।

"स॒मा॒नमर्थं॑ चरणी॒यमा॑ना च॒क्रमि॑व नव्य॒स्या व॑वृत्स्व ॥ ३.०६१.०३

"अव॒ स्यूमे॑व चिन्व॒ती म॒घोन्यु॒षा या॑ति॒ स्वस॑रस्य॒ पत्नी॑ ।

"स्व१॒॑र्जन॑न्ती सु॒भगा॑ सु॒दंसा॒ आन्ता॑द्दि॒वः प॑प्रथ॒ आ पृ॑थि॒व्याः ॥ ३.०६१.०४

"अच्छा॑ वो दे॒वीमु॒षसं॑ विभा॒तीं प्र वो॑ भरध्वं॒ नम॑सा सुवृ॒क्तिम् ।

"ऊ॒र्ध्वं म॑धु॒धा दि॒वि पाजो॑ अश्रे॒त्प्र रो॑च॒ना रु॑रुचे र॒ण्वसं॑दृक् ॥ ३.०६१.०५

"ऋ॒ताव॑री दि॒वो अ॒र्कैर॑बो॒ध्या रे॒वती॒ रोद॑सी चि॒त्रम॑स्थात् ।

"आ॒य॒तीम॑ग्न उ॒षसं॑ विभा॒तीं वा॒ममे॑षि॒ द्रवि॑णं॒ भिक्ष॑माणः ॥ ३.०६१.०६

"ऋ॒तस्य॑ बु॒ध्न उ॒षसा॑मिष॒ण्यन्वृषा॑ म॒ही रोद॑सी॒ आ वि॑वेश ।

"म॒ही मि॒त्रस्य॒ वरु॑णस्य मा॒या च॒न्द्रेव॑ भा॒नुं वि द॑धे पुरु॒त्रा ॥ ३.०६१.०७"

"O Opulent Dawn, endowed with wisdom and strengths great O Dawn,

"Accept these chants, by which we venerate-

"The Goddess both ancient and youthful, swift in motion

"Bestower of boons and for the actions, granter of sanction.|1|

"Immortal Goddess Dawn,

"May your moon-chariot blissfully shine

"To reveal the soothing voice of the Truth Divine

"The lustrous golden horses radiate your ever flowing refulgence

"Leading you to us so we may realize your magnificence|2|

"Accosting and raising the worlds in their every multitude

"With your immortal understanding, standing at the highest altitude

"Traversing the plains with equal measures, proceeding on your way

"Wheel like O Dawn, you summon the morn of the new day.|3|

"The Consort of bliss moves endowed with abundant richness

"Letting her robe fall, She spreads Svar’s blissfulness

"With perfection in action and enjoyment she spreads

"When from the heavens onto the earth she treads.|4|

"Surrender to her and she shines on to you

"Channel all your energies as she comes to your view

"To the heaven’s zeniths is her force’s ascension

"Its sweetness and bliss, she brings into our mortal dimension.|5|

"In her we can receive the heaven’s ruminations

"Our mind and body firmaments, by her attain truth’s illuminations

"To that Dawn, seeking her bliss’s essence Agni prays

"And attains the complete delight by her light rays|6|

"Into the vast worldly firmaments, the Lord forays

"Embedding truth’s constitution into the Dawn’s rays

"Varuna’s wisdom and Mitra’s harmony,

"He together blends

"The light of happy oneness to all forms,

"He lends.|7|"

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"“Dawn divine is the coming of the Godhead. She is the light of the Truth and the Felicity pouring on us from the lord of Wisdom and Bliss, amritasya ketuh, svarasya patni.”

"- Sri Aurobindo P298, The Secret of the Veda, CWSA Vol 15"

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"Vishwamitra Gathinah

"Rishi Vishwamitra is one of the most respected of Vedic Rishis and is credited with the authorship of most of the suktas of the Third Mandala of the Rig Veda. He finds mention in both the Ramayana and Mahabharata and in various Puranic tales. He is recognized as the preceptor of Rama and the knowledge of the divine weapons or Devaastras was imparted to Rama by him. He was believed to have been an efficient king before he left his kingdom to do penance and become widely accepted as a BrahmaRishi. His real name was Kauhika but he was later known as Vishwamitra, Friend of the World, due to his universal compassion for all being. He is the father of Madhuchhandas, Sushruta, Shunahshepa and Shakuntala"

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June 02, 2022 - June 02, 2022.

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4. THE TRUTH OF VARUNA (V.25)

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"According to Sri Aurobindo, Varuna is the ‘all-pervading Vastness and purity of the Divine supporting and perfecting the world’. He is the granter and upholder of the Law of truth, and terrible destroyer of all the foes and forces that prevent the growth and progression of a man on the path of truth. He is the highest heaven and also the lowest abyss, the compassionate God who bestows grace and also the terrible Titan who destroys with rage.

"“Varuna in the Veda is always characterised as a power of wideness and purity; when, therefore, he is present in man as a conscious force of the Truth, all that limits and hurts the nature by introducing into it fault, sin and evil is destroyed by contact with him. He is ri’s ¯adas, destroyer of the enemy, of all that seek to injure the growth”

"- Sri Aurobindo, CWSA, The Secret of the Veda, Vol 15 P76 – Sri Aurobindo"

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"यच्चि॒द्धि ते॒ विशो॑ यथा॒ प्र दे॑व वरुण व्र॒तम् ।

"मि॒नी॒मसि॒ द्यवि॑द्यवि ॥ १.०२५.०१

"मा नो॑ व॒धाय॑ ह॒त्नवे॑ जिहीळा॒नस्य॑ रीरधः ।

"मा हृ॑णा॒नस्य॑ म॒न्यवे॑ ॥ १.०२५.०२

"वि मृ॑ळी॒काय॑ ते॒ मनो॑ र॒थीरश्वं॒ न संदि॑तम् ।

"गी॒र्भिर्व॑रुण सीमहि ॥ १.०२५.०३

"परा॒ हि मे॒ विम॑न्यवः॒ पत॑न्ति॒ वस्य॑‍इष्टये ।

"वयो॒ न व॑स॒तीरुप॑ ॥ १.०२५.०४

"क॒दा क्ष॑त्र॒श्रियं॒ नर॒मा वरु॑णं करामहे ।

"मृ॒ळी॒कायो॑रु॒चक्ष॑सम् ॥ १.०२५.०५

"तदित्स॑मा॒नमा॑शाते॒ वेन॑न्ता॒ न प्र यु॑च्छतः ।

"धृ॒तव्र॑ताय दा॒शुषे॑ ॥ १.०२५.०६

"वेदा॒ यो वी॒नां प॒दम॒न्तरि॑क्षेण॒ पत॑ताम् ।

"वेद॑ ना॒वः स॑मु॒द्रियः॑ ॥ १.०२५.०७

"वेद॑ मा॒सो धृ॒तव्र॑तो॒ द्वाद॑श प्र॒जाव॑तः ।

"वेदा॒ य उ॑प॒जाय॑ते ॥ १.०२५.०८

"वेद॒ वात॑स्य वर्त॒निमु॒रोरृ॒ष्वस्य॑ बृह॒तः ।

"वेदा॒ ये अ॒ध्यास॑ते ॥ १.०२५.०९

"नि ष॑साद धृ॒तव्र॑तो॒ वरु॑णः प॒स्त्या॒३॒॑स्वा ।

"साम्रा॑ज्याय सु॒क्रतुः॑ ॥ १.०२५.१०

"अतो॒ विश्वा॒न्यद्भु॑ता चिकि॒त्वाँ अ॒भि प॑श्यति ।

"कृ॒तानि॒ या च॒ कर्त्वा॑ ॥ १.०२५.११

"स नो॑ वि॒श्वाहा॑ सु॒क्रतु॑रादि॒त्यः सु॒पथा॑ करत् ।

"प्र ण॒ आयूं॑षि तारिषत् ॥ १.०२५.१२

"बिभ्र॑द्द्रा॒पिं हि॑र॒ण्ययं॒ वरु॑णो वस्त नि॒र्णिज॑म् ।

"परि॒ स्पशो॒ नि षे॑दिरे ॥ १.०२५.१३

"न यं दिप्स॑न्ति दि॒प्सवो॒ न द्रुह्वा॑णो॒ जना॑नाम् ।

"न दे॒वम॒भिमा॑तयः ॥ १.०२५.१४

"उ॒त यो मानु॑षे॒ष्वा यश॑श्च॒क्रे असा॒म्या ।

"अ॒स्माक॑मु॒दरे॒ष्वा ॥ १.०२५.१५

"परा॑ मे यन्ति धी॒तयो॒ गावो॒ न गव्यू॑ती॒रनु॑ ।

"इ॒च्छन्ती॑रुरु॒चक्ष॑सम् ॥ १.०२५.१६

"सं नु वो॑चावहै॒ पुन॒र्यतो॑ मे॒ मध्वाभृ॑तम् ।

"होते॑व॒ क्षद॑से प्रि॒यम् ॥ १.०२५.१७

"दर्शं॒ नु वि॒श्वद॑र्शतं॒ दर्शं॒ रथ॒मधि॒ क्षमि॑ ।

"ए॒ता जु॑षत मे॒ गिरः॑ ॥ १.०२५.१८

"इ॒मं मे॑ वरुण श्रुधी॒ हव॑म॒द्या च॑ मृळय ।

"त्वाम॑व॒स्युरा च॑के ॥ १.०२५.१९

"त्वं विश्व॑स्य मेधिर दि॒वश्च॒ ग्मश्च॑ राजसि ।

"स याम॑नि॒ प्रति॑ श्रुधि ॥ १.०२५.२०

"उदु॑त्त॒मं मु॑मुग्धि नो॒ वि पाशं॑ मध्य॒मं चृ॑त ।

"अवा॑ध॒मानि॑ जी॒वसे॑ ॥ १.०२५.२१"

"O Overlord Varuna, the laws of truth that we must comply

"We the mortals, day by day only verily defy.|1|

"Yield us not to the attacks of death,

"Be appeased

"May your destructive rage on us, never be released.|2|

"Like the horse reins that a charioteer uses to yoke

"Binding your heart, your forgiveness, these hymns seek to invoke.|3|

"Moving away from me, the material desirers simply take flight

"Like the birds of the sky, returning to their nests to alight.|4|

"When shall you reveal to man, the Hero Warrior of might?

"O Varuna, Bless the mortals with your Grace and foresight!|5|

"For this, they all verily and joyously accept

"And unfailingly offer prayers in your respect.|6|

"O Knower of the celestial pathways and the birds of the heavens,

"And also the routes of the seas and vessels of the oceans|7|

"O Knower of all the births that the 12 moons bear

"And also the manifestations that are yet to appear|8|

"O Knower of the great wind-paths spreading high and wide

"You even know all the Gods that in the upper realms reside.|9|

"Varuna- the Conscious one upholding his pledge, verily presides

"Governing all with wisdom, along with the mortals he resides.|10|

"From here He oversees the wondrous rapture of the creation

"And the acts completed and those that are to come to fruition.|11|

"Making the world receive Aditya-The Sun’s illumined days

"For every soul, you prolong their earthly stays.|12|

"Draped in a mantle of gold, radiating light you are seated found

"O Varuna, your spies too are present around.|13|

"One who is hurt not by enemies nor those who harm the clan

"You are the God who destroys the enemies of man.|14|

"Favoring man, with unparalleled glory you bless

"Uplifting us too, you grant (integral) physical progress|15|

"Like cattle thirsting for the meadows, my eyes aspire

"To see the clairvoyant Lord mighty, I verily desire.|16|

"May our dialogue that once was, once more resume

"This sweet nectar, your offering favorite, may you consume.|17|

"The hymns have been accepted, a vision has been granted to me

"I saw his celestial carriage hovering above, now the world too can see.|18|

"O Varuna, Hearken to my desperate cries

"May your benevolence pour from your mighty skies|19|

"To you, O wise Overlord of the world, I pray

"Heed my call today, before journeying ahead on your way.|20|

"Untie the bonds above, loosen the middle ones, may the one’s below dissolve

"From all the shackles,

"Release me so my life can truly evolve.|21|"

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"Thanks to Shunahshepah and his hymn, we too are able to perceive a vision of Varuna as his celestial car hovers above mortals. Varuna, the king is seated on his throne not in his heavenly abode but in the kingdom of mankind along with his subjects. Surrounded by his spies, draped in a mantle of gold, he is conscious of the occurrences of things at all times and places. Feared and respected, the overlord watches over his subjects on earth, sea and sky to ensure that they journey on truth’s path, destroying all that harms growth and progress. He is the upholder of truth-consciousness in the universe and he is the breaker of all the bonds that chain man and keep him away from the the path of truth preventing the soul’s progress."

"Shunahshepa Aajigarti

"Rishi Shunahshepa was the middle and least wanted son of Sage Ajigarta. According to the tale of the Aiteriya Brahmana, he was offered by his father, who readily gave him up, in exchange for hundreds of cattle, to be the sacrificial object for the Rajasuya yagnya of King Harishchandra. Tied to the sacrificial post, he began reciting his hymns to Varuna and invoked all the deities in proper succession. following the instructions he received intuitively; ultimately he earned his liberation and the Gods untied and blessed him. Sage Vishwamitra then adopted him as his spiritual son and named him Devarata – the one obtained from the God."

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June 02, 2022 - June 02, 2022.

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5. INDRA – THE LORD OF THE ILLUMINED MIND (I.170)

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"Indra in the Puranic stories has been reduced to a personified Lord of Devas and bringer of rain, residing in the Heavens as a Divine King leading all the Gods in Zeusian fashion in their battles against the demons/asuras. In the Jataka tales, we find Indra to be a hero-god displaying several human traits and flaws, such as anger, arrogance, and lust which, more often than not, land him in several unwanted situations leading to his becoming subject to the samsaric cycles of birth and death. While the lore of Indra and his inconic image with a thunderbolt weapon-Vajra and his white elephant-Airavat has survived over generations, Indra’s Vedic significance and origin has been blurred and completely effaced from the minds of the masses. This makes it all the more necessary to understand the truth of Indra in the spirit of the Rig Veda."

"Sri Aurobindo, in his secret of the Veda, has described the psychological functions of Indra to be associated with mind-power stating that the very name indra is derived from the sense faculties indriya. If we observe the general order of deities invoked by the different seers in the various Mandalas of the Veda, we find that Indra is invoked immediately after the hymns in invocation of Agni after which the other deities are invoked. When looking at Indra’s role in the Veda in the Sri Aurobindonian way, we find the recurring theme of Indra slaying the concealers of light, the Vritras, the Valas, the python and other subconscient powers, while the thunderbolts and flashing lightnings reveal to man the illuminations that were hidden from him.

"171st verse of the 1st Mandala which portrays a dialogue between the sage Agastya and Indra himself, perfectly elucidated by Sri Aurobindo in “The Colloquy of Indra and Agastya”

"प्रति॑ व ए॒ना नम॑सा॒हमे॑मि सू॒क्तेन॑ भिक्षे सुम॒तिं तु॒राणा॑म् ।

"र॒रा॒णता॑ मरुतो वे॒द्याभि॒र्नि हेळो॑ ध॒त्त वि मु॑चध्व॒मश्वा॑न् ॥ १.१७१.०१

"ए॒ष वः॒ स्तोमो॑ मरुतो॒ नम॑स्वान्हृ॒दा त॒ष्टो मन॑सा धायि देवाः ।

"उपे॒मा या॑त॒ मन॑सा जुषा॒णा यू॒यं हि ष्ठा नम॑स॒ इद्वृ॒धासः॑ ॥ १.१७१.०२

"स्तु॒तासो॑ नो म॒रुतो॑ मृळयन्तू॒त स्तु॒तो म॒घवा॒ शम्भ॑विष्ठः ।

"ऊ॒र्ध्वा नः॑ सन्तु को॒म्या वना॒न्यहा॑नि॒ विश्वा॑ मरुतो जिगी॒षा ॥ १.१७१.०३

"अ॒स्माद॒हं त॑वि॒षादीष॑माण॒ इन्द्रा॑द्भि॒या म॑रुतो॒ रेज॑मानः ।

"यु॒ष्मभ्यं॑ ह॒व्या निशि॑तान्यास॒न्तान्या॒रे च॑कृमा मृ॒ळता॑ नः ॥ १.१७१.०४

"येन॒ माना॑सश्चि॒तय॑न्त उ॒स्रा व्यु॑ष्टिषु॒ शव॑सा॒ शश्व॑तीनाम् ।

"स नो॑ म॒रुद्भि॑र्वृषभ॒ श्रवो॑ धा उ॒ग्र उ॒ग्रेभिः॒ स्थवि॑रः सहो॒दाः ॥ १.१७१.०५

"त्वं पा॑हीन्द्र॒ सही॑यसो॒ नॄन्भवा॑ म॒रुद्भि॒रव॑यातहेळाः ।

"सु॒प्र॒के॒तेभिः॑ सास॒हिर्दधा॑नो वि॒द्यामे॒षं वृ॒जनं॑ जी॒रदा॑नुम् ॥ १.१७१.०६"

"Indra said:

"That which is at this moment, absent

"That which tomorrow too is not present

"Who is it that has been able to grasp or capture?

"Who has understood its wondrous rapture?

"It acts and flows in another’s consciousness

"It disappears, when sought through one’s mental prowess.|1|

"Agastya asked:

"O Indra, Why must we face the wrath of your might?

"The Maruts, are but thy brethren of the divine light

"Through them, the desired perfection may your reach

"But slay not our spirit’s attempt and outreach |2|

"Indra asked,

"Why, O brother Agastya,

"Are you not my friend?

"Beyond me, why does your thought seek to portend?

"I know very well what you have sought,

"Without seeking to lend to us your mind and thought!|3|

"With the understanding the altar you can construct

"Let Agni blaze in the front, you may thus instruct

"For there the consciousness will immortal awake

"When in the sacrifice, you and I shall together partake| 4 |

"Agastya agreed:

"You are the lord supreme, ruler of all the living

"Overlord of friendships, you reign as the king

"O Indra, with the mighty Maruts may you agree

"Accept and enjoy the offerings, as per the solemn decree.|5|

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"Sri Aurobindo has perfectly described this union of Indra and Agastya as the joining of the universal power and the human soul.

"“Let the egoistic endeavour cease, the great sacrifice be resumed, the flame of the divine Force, Agni, be kindled in front as head of the sacrifice and leader of the march. Indra and Agastya together, the universal Power and the human soul, will extend in harmony the effective inner action on the plane of the pure Intelligence so that it may enrich itself there and attain beyond. For it is precisely by the progressive surrender of the lower being to the divine activities that the limited and egoistic consciousness of the mortal awakens to the infinite and immortal state which is its goal.”

"– Sri Aurobindo, P255 CWSA Vol 15"

"Agastya Maitravaruni

"Rishi Agastya is one of the revered Saptarihsis and many hymns of the 1st Mandala are attributed to Agastya and his wife Lopamudara. However, his origins and lineage remain a mystery as it is believed that Rishi Agastya was a human descendent of the Gods Mitra and Varuna, hence the name Maitravaruni. He is prominently mentioned in the Ramayana, Mahabharata and Puranas, is considered to be the father of the Tamil language and is the compiler of the first work on grammar, Aggatiyam."

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June 02, 2022 - June 03, 2022.

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6. SOURA SUKTAM - A HYMN TO SURYA (I.50)

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" ... 12 names of the Sun which describe the 12 different functions of the sun viz, Mitra- the friend of all, Ravi- the bringer of transformation, Surya- the one who induces activity, Bhanu- the one who gives all light, Khaga- the one who moves in the sky, Pusha – the one who nourishes all, Hiranyagarbha- the one with the golden womb that bears all, Maricha – the bringer of the dawn , Aditya- the first solar lord of gods, Savitra- the lord of the truth, Arka – the essence of all, Bhaskara – the shining and lustrous one."

"“The Solar energy is the physical form of Surya, Lord of Light and Truth, it is through the Truth that we arrive at Immortality, final aim of the Vedic discipline. It therefore under the images of the Sun and its rays, of Dawn and day and night and the life of man between the two poles of light and darkness that the Aryan seers represent the progressive illumination of the human soul”

"– Sri Aurobindo, Vol15, CWSA P289"

"उदु॒ त्यं जा॒तवे॑दसं दे॒वं व॑हन्ति के॒तवः॑ ।

"दृ॒शे विश्वा॑य॒ सूर्य॑म् ॥ १.०५०.०१

"अप॒ त्ये ता॒यवो॑ यथा॒ नक्ष॑त्रा यन्त्य॒क्तुभिः॑ ।

"सूरा॑य वि॒श्वच॑क्षसे ॥ १.०५०.०२

"अदृ॑श्रमस्य के॒तवो॒ वि र॒श्मयो॒ जना॒ँ अनु॑ ।

"भ्राज॑न्तो अ॒ग्नयो॑ यथा ॥ १.०५०.०३

"त॒रणि॑र्वि॒श्वद॑र्शतो ज्योति॒ष्कृद॑सि सूर्य ।

"विश्व॒मा भा॑सि रोच॒नम् ॥ १.०५०.०४

"प्र॒त्यङ्दे॒वानां॒ विशः॑ प्र॒त्यङ्ङुदे॑षि॒ मानु॑षान् ।

"प्र॒त्यङ्विश्वं॒ स्व॑र्दृ॒शे ॥ १.०५०.०५

"येना॑ पावक॒ चक्ष॑सा भुर॒ण्यन्तं॒ जना॒ँ अनु॑ ।

"त्वं व॑रुण॒ पश्य॑सि ॥ १.०५०.०६

"वि द्यामे॑षि॒ रज॑स्पृ॒थ्वहा॒ मिमा॑नो अ॒क्तुभिः॑ ।

"पश्य॒ञ्जन्मा॑नि सूर्य ॥ १.०५०.०७

"स॒प्त त्वा॑ ह॒रितो॒ रथे॒ वह॑न्ति देव सूर्य ।

"शो॒चिष्के॑शं विचक्षण ॥ १.०५०.०८

"अयु॑क्त स॒प्त शु॒न्ध्युवः॒ सूरो॒ रथ॑स्य न॒प्त्यः॑ ।

"ताभि॑र्याति॒ स्वयु॑क्तिभिः ॥ १.०५०.०९

"उद्व॒यं तम॑स॒स्परि॒ ज्योति॒ष्पश्य॑न्त॒ उत्त॑रम् ।

"दे॒वं दे॑व॒त्रा सूर्य॒मग॑न्म॒ ज्योति॑रुत्त॒मम् ॥ १.०५०.१०

"उ॒द्यन्न॒द्य मि॑त्रमह आ॒रोह॒न्नुत्त॑रां॒ दिव॑म् ।

"हृ॒द्रो॒गं मम॑ सूर्य हरि॒माणं॑ च नाशय ॥ १.०५०.११

"शुके॑षु मे हरि॒माणं॑ रोप॒णाका॑सु दध्मसि ।

"अथो॑ हारिद्र॒वेषु॑ मे हरि॒माणं॒ नि द॑ध्मसि ॥ १.०५०.१२

"उद॑गाद॒यमा॑दि॒त्यो विश्वे॑न॒ सह॑सा स॒ह ।

"द्वि॒षन्तं॒ मह्यं॑ र॒न्धय॒न्मो अ॒हं द्वि॑ष॒ते र॑धम् ॥ १.०५०.१३"

"He is the God who knows everything

"Who bears, with his rays every living thing

"Appearing in the world’s line of sight|1|

"Even the constellations take flight

"From thy illumining self, like thieves sly

"For the whole world you behold in your eye|2|

"The peoples of the distant world perceive

"Through the rays, the God they verily see

"Blazing like the flames of the fire|3|

"O Surya, your light, you cause all to acquire

"You direct the world to become resplendent,

"And the world too reflects your light refulgent|4|

"You rise in the realms of the Godly clan

"And also in the mortal world of man

"The rise of the sun the universe does truly witness |5|

"With the same grace you verily bless

"And nourish the living for their progress,

"Varuna’s progression too you watch and assess.|6|

"Greeting all with your light beams

"Wading through the skies and the heavenly realms

"O Surya, The births of all beings you witness|7|

"The chariot of seven steeds,

"O God Surya you harness,

"With your luminance, all things you illuminate

"And your effulgent hair too does verily radiate|8|

"Yoking the seven chariot bearers pure

"The onward progression of your car you ensure

"Thus together you further proceed|9|

"Shining your light upwards, darkness you supersede,

"Among the Gods, the most Divine and prominent

"And among lights, we seek Surya, the most brilliant|10|

"Rise today, O Great Friend and Ascender

"Luminous Lord, to the light realms yonder

"O Surya, Rid the disease of my heart

"May the paleness in me verily depart.|11|

"May the weakness within leave and perish

"The parrots and the saplings may it nourish

"Feeding on it may the green plants grow

"May my feebleness thus completely go.|12|

"With the dawn of Aditya, we see In the world, his rise and victory

"May my enemies, I verily overcome

"Their prey, May I never become|13|

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"If we absorb the energy of the sun by basking in His rays of truth, no other energy will be necessary in our lives to further our growth because the Surya is himself Narayana – a form of Vishnu who nourishes the lives of all micro and macroscopic forms of plant and animal lives and is also the cause of the various natural phenomenon in our universe.

"Krishna in the Gita while describing the various Vibhutis or cosmic representations of the Divine to Arjuna states in the 21st Shloka of the 10th Adhyaya.

“Aadityanaam aham vishur

" jyotishaam ravir amshumaan”,"

"Amongst Adityas, the seven suns, I am Vishnu the most radiant Amongst splendorous lights, I am the brilliant sun."

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"Praskanva Kaanvah

"Rishi Praskanva is the son of the Vedic Rishi Kanva, who adopted Shakuntala, the daughter of Rishi Vishwamitra in his Kanvaashram or hermitage. Seven suktas in the First Mandala, one in the Eighth and another in the Ninth Mandala are attributed to the Rishi Praskanva."

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June 03, 2022 - June 03, 2022.

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7. THE FLOW OF VAYU (IV.48)

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" ... The Rishis of the Veda perceived the psychological functions of Vayu in attaining the highest realizations and found, concealed within the symbols embedded in their sweetly sung hymns, great truths expressed with an unparalleled subtleness and ingenuity in such a way that only the initiated would grasp the higher purpose of the hymns., Vayu, as the master of the life energies has control over the domain of every life. The Prana, or life force entering and leaving the living, the flow of the winds across the world and all types of movements can be attributed to Vayu. The Vedic seers recognized this and also the other psychological functions of Vayu in the completion and manifestation of the incomplete and unmanifest. Among the various Vedic Rishis, Sri Aurobindo offers his greatest praises to Rishi Vamadeva for his hymnal creations invoking Vayu in different ways and singles out the 48th Hymn of the IV Mandala of the Rik Veda in his commentary on Vayu in his “Secret of the Veda” as one of his finest works.

"Though this sukta contains only 5 shlokas, it displays the cryptographic prowess of the Vedic Rishis in concealing the esoteric meanings through outward symbols. If not for Sri Aurobindo’s key and elucidation, the true meaning of the verses might have never reached us.

"वि॒हि होत्रा॒ अवी॑ता॒ विपो॒ न रायो॑ अ॒र्यः ।

"वाय॒वा च॒न्द्रेण॒ रथे॑न या॒हि सु॒तस्य॑ पी॒तये॑ ॥ ४.०४८.०१

"नि॒र्यु॒वा॒णो अश॑स्तीर्नि॒युत्वा॒ँ इन्द्र॑सारथिः ।

"वाय॒वा च॒न्द्रेण॒ रथे॑न या॒हि सु॒तस्य॑ पी॒तये॑ ॥ ४.०४८.०२

"अनु॑ कृ॒ष्णे वसु॑धिती ये॒माते॑ वि॒श्वपे॑शसा ।

"वाय॒वा च॒न्द्रेण॒ रथे॑न या॒हि सु॒तस्य॑ पी॒तये॑ ॥ ४.०४८.०३

"वह॑न्तु त्वा मनो॒युजो॑ यु॒क्तासो॑ नव॒तिर्नव॑ ।

"वाय॒वा च॒न्द्रेण॒ रथे॑न या॒हि सु॒तस्य॑ पी॒तये॑ ॥ ४.०४८.०४

"वायो॑ श॒तं हरी॑णां यु॒वस्व॒ पोष्या॑णाम् ।

"उ॒त वा॑ ते सह॒स्रिणो॒ रथ॒ आ या॑तु॒ पाज॑सा ॥ ४.०४८.०५"

"That which never manifested may you manifest

"As the priests offer you sacrificial works, best

"Come O Vayu in your refulgent car divine

"Partake in the savouring of the Soma wine.|1|

"Yoke your steeds, dispel the obstructions

"With Indra as charioteer, let flow your expressions

"Come O Vayu in your refulgent car divine

"Partake in the savouring of the Soma wine.|2|

"The Two dark (realms) perceive you in their actions

"Enclosed within them are all manifestations

"Come O Vayu in your refulgent car divine

"Partake in the savouring of the Soma wine.|3|

May you be led by ninety and nine horses

"Whom the mind yokes and harnesses

"Come O Vayu in your refulgent car divine

"Partake in the savouring of the Soma wine.|4|

"With a hundred brilliant steeds controlled

"O Vayu, may they increase many fold

"Else may the horde of a thousand drive

"Enabling your massive force to verily arrive|5|"

" ... ‘Soma’ and ‘ghrita’ as Sri Aurobindo points out are not just the offerings of wine or clarified butter respectively. While the clarified butter represents the clarified mental consciousness, the soma drink refers to the Ananda or pure bliss which is the true immortal elixir that can descend upon the mortal from the realm of the immortal."

"“The “secret Name” of the mental consciousness, the tongue with which the gods taste the world, the nexus of Immortality, is the Ananda which the Soma symbolises”

"- Sri Aurobindo CWSA Vol 15, P307"

"While these symbolisms are easy enough to understand, the references to the “Two Dark” Krishne and the specific implication of the numbers ninety-nine, a hundred and a thousand in the succeeding verses does pose some questions regarding the purpose behind these seemingly arbitrary references.

"The hymns were certainly not the compositions of irrational or confused minds and, as we have seen, in hymns before that, each time a reference is truly discovered, a hidden world of great vastness and spiritual meaning is opened for us to behold. It is in Sri Aurobindo’s light that the veil is lifted and we are able to truly grasp at least a glimpse of the wonder that was experienced by Vamadeva when he made this composition.

"The Two Dark or Two Black unnamed existences refer to the black side of the earth and the heaven, the physical and the mental consciousness that craves to be illuminated.

"“It is their dark states- the obscured consciousness between its two limits of the mental and the physical,- which by the happy movement of the nervous dynamism begin to labour in accordance with the movement or under the control of Vayu and to yield up their hidden forms; for all forms are concealed in them and they must be compelled to reveal them”

"- Sri Aurobindo CWSA Vol 15, P312"

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"Likewise a coherent meaning of the increasing number of horses or the energies that are to be manifested from 99, 100 and finally to1000 also becomes clear to us in light of Sri Aurobindo’s elucidation for, with an ace mathematician’s precision, he identifies an arithmetical progression that can lead us to the numbers using the principles of addition and multiplication.

"He postulates that we begin with the mystic figure 7, which represents the seven forms of divine consciousness that manifest in nature. (eg. The seven existences Bhur, Bhuah,Swaha, Maha, Janah, Tapah & Satyam).

"Each existence contains another six within itself. Thus we have a total of 7 X 7 existences equalling 49. As there are two, a duplication of all of them takes place, one for the upward movement and another for the downward descent of the energies. We arrive at the number 98 (49 X 2); one more unit which corresponds to the ascent of man to the luminous plane and another unit corresponding to the final descent of the Gods into the obscure plane of man takes us to the figure of a 100."

"“It is the completely varied all-ensphering, all-energising mental illumination with its full perfection of being, power, bliss, knowledge, mentality, vital force, physical activity that he desires.”

"- Sri Aurobindo CWSA Vol 15, P314"

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"The grace is there as it has always been, but if the vessel to receive it on the ground is not ready, no descent can ever take place."

"Vamadeva Gotama Rishi Vamadeva son of the Rishi Gautama is credited with many suktas of the Fourth mandala. He was the son of the Maharishi Gautamam, one of the Saptarishis and brother of Nodhas Rishi who also authored various suktas. The hymns of Mahadeva ... "

Is author saying Mahadeva by mistake, instead of Vamadeva?

" ... are distinct in style and find their mention in the Aiteriya and Brihadarnyaka Upanishads which contain the foundations of the Vedantic school of thought."

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June 03, 2022 - June 03, 2022.

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8. VISHNU – THE FRIEND OF MAN (I.154)

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"Vishnu in India is revered as the manifesting preserver among the Trinity of the Divine Supreme, the one who descends to mankind’s aid to restore the balance of the world and to ensure the continuation and progress of all worldly existences. His incarnations are called Avatars and every Hindu scripture recognizes 10 Avatars of Vishnu called the Dashavatars, nine of which have already manifested in different epochs of time.

"From the Matsya ( Fish- Aquatic), Kurma (Tortoise- Amphibious), Varaha ( Boar – Terrestrial) in the animal kingdom, Narasimha (Man-Lion) a transitional consciousness and then the human Avataars, Vamana (Dwarf man), Parashu Rama (the mighty ax wielding one), Rama ( The One with the perfectly Divine mental consciousness), Krishna ( The One with the Overmental consciousness) and Buddha ( The One who merged into the supreme nil). Kalki, the final Avatar, who is yet to manifest is believed to be the One who will complete the task that has remained unfinished by the previous nine Avatars. An evolutionary sequence is observed in the Avatars; Sri Aurobindo calls the Ten Avatars a parable of evolution."

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"Let us look at the 154th Hymn of the Mandala I which is dedicated to Vishnu by the Rishi Dirghatamas

"विष्णो॒र्नु कं॑ वी॒र्या॑णि॒ प्र वो॑चं॒ यः पार्थि॑वानि विम॒मे रजां॑सि ।

"यो अस्क॑भाय॒दुत्त॑रं स॒धस्थं॑ विचक्रमा॒णस्त्रे॒धोरु॑गा॒यः ॥ १.१५४.०१

"प्र तद्विष्णुः॑ स्तवते वी॒र्ये॑ण मृ॒गो न भी॒मः कु॑च॒रो गि॑रि॒ष्ठाः ।

"यस्यो॒रुषु॑ त्रि॒षु वि॒क्रम॑णेष्वधिक्षि॒यन्ति॒ भुव॑नानि॒ विश्वा॑ ॥ १.१५४.०२

"प्र विष्ण॑वे शू॒षमे॑तु॒ मन्म॑ गिरि॒क्षित॑ उरुगा॒याय॒ वृष्णे॑ ।

"य इ॒दं दी॒र्घं प्रय॑तं स॒धस्थ॒मेको॑ विम॒मे त्रि॒भिरित्प॒देभिः॑ ॥ १.१५४.०३

"यस्य॒ त्री पू॒र्णा मधु॑ना प॒दान्यक्षी॑यमाणा स्व॒धया॒ मद॑न्ति ।

"य उ॑ त्रि॒धातु॑ पृथि॒वीमु॒त द्यामेको॑ दा॒धार॒ भुव॑नानि॒ विश्वा॑ ॥ १.१५४.०४

"तद॑स्य प्रि॒यम॒भि पाथो॑ अश्यां॒ नरो॒ यत्र॑ देव॒यवो॒ मद॑न्ति ।

"उ॒रु॒क्र॒मस्य॒ स हि बन्धु॑रि॒त्था विष्णोः॑ प॒दे प॑र॒मे मध्व॒ उत्सः॑ ॥ १.१५४.०५

"ता वां॒ वास्तू॑न्युश्मसि॒ गम॑ध्यै॒ यत्र॒ गावो॒ भूरि॑श‍ृङ्गा अ॒यासः॑ ।

"अत्राह॒ तदु॑रुगा॒यस्य॒ वृष्णः॑ पर॒मं प॒दमव॑ भाति॒ भूरि॑ ॥ १.१५४.०६"

"Of his deeds mighty, I thus proclaim

"Measurer of earthly realms- Vishnu, I verily name

"Striding wide with only footsteps three

"From the zenith, so we can all realized be |1|

"Atop his abode, up the high mountains treacherous

"With mighty deeds, striding like a lion ferocious

"All the worlds, within his three movements wide

"And all the living things, find a place to reside.|2|

"May we channel our force and our thinking

"Towards Vishnu- the wide moving taurine being

"Who wearily measured from the mountain residence

"In whose three steps is our place of existence. |3|

"In His three steps is contained the nectar sweet

"Imperishable, the experience is with ecstasy replete

"All the worlds, the heavens and the earth he holds

"By the triple principle, all the living he verily beholds|4|

"The happy realms that the god-seekers aspire to gain And his rapture too,

"May I experience and verily attain

"It is here that the highest friend of man resides

"Sweetness’ source is Vishnu of the mighty strides |5|

"In your abodes, we seek our journey’s realization

"For the nimble light herds, it is the destination

"The many horned ones in your vast realms roam

"As you shine down light from your home |6|"

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"In Dirghatamas‘s hymn we see a very different form of Vishnu from the various familiar forms that we see in the Vaishnava tradition. He is described as a fierce lion roaming in his lair atop the mountains and also like a mighty bull who strides across the earth. His deeds are valorous and mighty and Dirghatamas declares to us that the greatest deed done by Vishnu was measuring existence.

"He states that Vishnu measured the earth and the other realms of existence with his three wide steps and within this space all living creatures dwell. The taurine mentioned in this sukta is definitely no ordinary being but is a clear symbol of Vishnu as a cosmic bull that wades in the realms that are up from and beyond the earthly existence.

"It is interesting to note that the mystical three steps of Vishnu seem like precursors to the fifth Avataar of Vishnua, Vamana (the Dwarf man). Vamana was also known as Trivikrama meaning the victor over the three worlds: the heavens, the earths and the nether realms. However, the three strides of the Vedic Hymn differ greatly from the three steps taken by the Vamana Avataar to send the Titan Bali to the nether planes.

"“The three strides of Vishnu in the Veda are clearly defined by Dirghatamas as earth, heaven and the triple principle, tridhaatu. It is this triple principle beyond Heaven or superimposed upon it as its highest level, naakasya prishte, which is the supreme stride or supreme seat of the all-pervading deity. ”.

"-Sri Aurobindo CWSA Vol 15, P336."

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"Further, we find Dirghatamas mentioning the abode of Vishnu as a realm of happiness that is imperishable, symbolizing the bliss of the immortal divine realization. He calls Vishnu, the Highest Friend of man and states that it is his realm that all the god seekers aspire to attain as the destination, and that the realization is but a rapturous experience of undiluted bliss. The many horned herds of light roaming in his abode do not refer to actual kine grazing but rather are symbols of illumination and realization much like the symbol of the Vedic Cow. With this introduction we are ready to understand the significance of Goddess Saraswati."

"Dirghatamas Auchithya

"Rishi Dirghatamas was the son of Utathya Rishi and has Twenty-five suktas in the First Mandala; he is the leading Rishi of the Goutama clan and is the brother of Rishi Bharadwaja. The rishis Gautama, Nodhas and Vamadeva were his successors. Dirghatamas, literally meaning “long darkness” was the name given to him as he was born blind. Among his suktas, the one which contains the line “ekam sat viprah bahudha vadanti” is most notabe because it speaks about the overall oneness of the gods, directly disproving the western vedic theory which stated that the verses of the Vedas were purely pantheistic in nature."

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June 03, 2022 - June 03, 2022.

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9. SARASWATI- THE RIVER AND THE GODDESS (VII.95)

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"If there is any description of a Vedic deity where the symbolism is crystal clear and impossible to mask, it is in the hymns to the female goddess Saraswati. The stream Saraswati is also the deity and this is by no means a mere naturalistic personification of the river Sarasawti. Specific psychological functions and an awakened consciousness has been recognized and associated with her. The Vedic Rishis considered that the divine Saraswati is different from all the streams and is associated with creation, intuition and inspiration.

"This facet of Saraswati has survived over the ages and today the Vedic Goddess Saraswati is worshipped in different forms across India, Myanmar, Japan, Cambodia and even Thailand. In the Mahabharata, she is called the Veda Mata or the Mother of the Vedas and in the Puranas she is said to have assumed different forms to assist in new creations across the earth and is considered to be the goddess of wisdom and a counterpart of the goddess of wealth, Lakshmi. A wonderful Sanskrit stotra on Saraswati calls mother Saraswati “Vedayai, Vedarupayai, Vedantayai” the one who is Veda, the form incarnate of Veda and the culmination of the Veda, Vedanta.

"Though there is a stark difference between the Saraswati of the Veda and the image of goddess Saraswati, their functionality and significance is similar."

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" ... 95th hymn of the VII mandala where Vasishtha has invoked the goddess Saraswati.

"प्र क्षोद॑सा॒ धाय॑सा सस्र ए॒षा सर॑स्वती ध॒रुण॒माय॑सी॒ पूः ।

"प्र॒बाब॑धाना र॒थ्ये॑व याति॒ विश्वा॑ अ॒पो म॑हि॒ना सिन्धु॑र॒न्याः ॥ ७.०९५.०१

"एका॑चेत॒त्सर॑स्वती न॒दीनां॒ शुचि॑र्य॒ती गि॒रिभ्य॒ आ स॑मु॒द्रात् ।

"रा॒यश्चेत॑न्ती॒ भुव॑नस्य॒ भूरे॑र्घृ॒तं पयो॑ दुदुहे॒ नाहु॑षाय ॥ ७.०९५.०२

"स वा॑वृधे॒ नर्यो॒ योष॑णासु॒ वृषा॒ शिशु॑र्वृष॒भो य॒ज्ञिया॑सु ।

"स वा॒जिनं॑ म॒घव॑द्भ्यो दधाति॒ वि सा॒तये॑ त॒न्वं॑ मामृजीत ॥ ७.०९५.०३

"उ॒त स्या नः॒ सर॑स्वती जुषा॒णोप॑ श्रवत्सु॒भगा॑ य॒ज्णे अ॒स्मिन् ।

"मि॒तज्ञु॑भिर्नम॒स्यै॑रिया॒ना रा॒या यु॒जा चि॒दुत्त॑रा॒ सखि॑भ्यः ॥ ७.०९५.०४

"इ॒मा जुह्वा॑ना यु॒ष्मदा नमो॑भिः॒ प्रति॒ स्तोमं॑ सरस्वति जुषस्व ।

"तव॒ शर्म॑न्प्रि॒यत॑मे॒ दधा॑ना॒ उप॑ स्थेयाम शर॒णं न वृ॒क्षम् ॥ ७.०९५.०५

"अ॒यमु॑ ते सरस्वति॒ वसि॑ष्ठो॒ द्वारा॑वृ॒तस्य॑ सुभगे॒ व्या॑वः ।

"वर्ध॑ शुभ्रे स्तुव॒ते रा॑सि॒ वाजा॑न्यू॒यं पा॑त स्व॒स्तिभिः॒ सदा॑ नः ॥ ७.०९५.०६"

"Saraswati, Streaming in a gush, strong as a metal fort

"Offers with her waters, nourishment and support

"On a chariot, onwards the oceanic one goes

"Surpassing all the the streams, she verily flows |1|

"Among the rivers, from the mountains to the ocean

"Saraswati alone flows conscious in her motion

"Providing her milk and richness aplenty

"To all the ones living in her vicinity |2|

"The Male Power grew amidst the feminine presence

"From the sacrifice grew a child of fertile essence,

"To the accomplished ones, He offers his mettle

"And cleanses his body for the victory in battle |3|

"May Saraswati be delighted and pay heed

"As we approach her in sacrifice and plead

"With bent knees, our reverence when we offer

"Her kinship is granted for her comrades to prosper |4|

"Offered in your obeisance may you verily accept

"This hymn, O Saraswati, chanted in your respect

"Place us in your refuge, become our protector

"As under a tree, may we be in your shelter |5|

"Vasishtha opened, O Divine Saraswati be pleased

"Doors that were closed, so you may be appeased

"In the singer, shine brighter and further grow

"With your blessings, to highest states may we go|6|"

................................................................................................

"Vasishtha Maitravaruni

"Rishi Vasishtha is amongst the most revered sages and is considered to be one of the legendary seven sages. He is chief author of the suktas of the 7th Mandala and the hymns of most of this Mandala bear the stamp of the Vasishtha family. Credited with the authorship of multiple Puranas and Vedic Suktas, he is best known for the scripture “Yog Vasishtha” and the Vedantic Sermon that he offered to Rama. Among his many disciples Bhisma is a prominent character of the Mahabharata."

................................................................................................

................................................

June 03, 2022 - June 03, 2022.

................................................

................................................................................................

10. THE HYMN TO MAN- THE LAST SUKTA (X.191)

................................................................................................

"संस॒मिद्यु॑वसे वृष॒न्नग्ने॒ विश्वा॑न्य॒र्य आ ।

"इ॒ळस्प॒दे समि॑ध्यसे॒ स नो॒ वसू॒न्या भ॑र ॥ १०.१९१.०१

"सं ग॑च्छध्वं॒ सं व॑दध्वं॒ सं वो॒ मनां॑सि जानताम् ।

"दे॒वा भा॒गं यथा॒ पूर्वे॑ संजाना॒ना उ॒पास॑ते ॥ १०.१९१.०२

"स॒मा॒नो मन्त्रः॒ समि॑तिः समा॒नी स॑मा॒नं मनः॑ स॒ह चि॒त्तमे॑षाम् ।

"स॒मा॒नं मन्त्र॑म॒भि म॑न्त्रये वः समा॒नेन॑ वो ह॒विषा॑ जुहोमि ॥ १०.१९१.०३

"स॒मा॒नी व॒ आकू॑तिः समा॒ना हृद॑यानि वः ।

"स॒मा॒नम॑स्तु वो॒ मनो॒ यथा॑ वः॒ सुस॒हास॑ति ॥ १०.१९१.०४"

"We invoke Agni, Mighty Lord of Fire, to come-

"May the flames of the spirit kindled become.

"For Thy comrade- The God within every being,

"Shower His grace upon all-the living and non-living

"United we – the world peoples stand and pour the libations

"May the earth be nourished by our sacrificial oblations |1|

"Together, May we progress, prosper and grow

"The same knowledge, May we all know

"May the language that we speak be one

"United may all the minds assemble under the Sun.

"May all the Gods their due shares-receive,

"Satisfied,

"Their blessings-May the mortals achieve.|2|

"May all offerings, chants and minds echo a sameness

"May all of us become One in consciousness.

"Becoming one in mantras and mind

"All of us chanting and offering, may you find

"May the sounds Divine chanted together resonate

"The spirit of Oneness may we all impersonate.|3|

"From an inner intuition may all utterances start

"May the same oneness originate from every heart.

"Make us together in our complete union

"May all beings agree and live in a joyous communion.|4|"

................................................................................................

"Sanvananah Aangirasah

"Rishi Sanvananah is of the lineage of the Angiras sages and the authorship of the last sukta is attributed to him. Other information about this Rishi is sparse but what is most notable about his final sukta is that after invoking Agni, he chooses to invoke the feeling of oneness among all beings for a peaceful and happy co-existence on earth. A perfect and fitting end to the colossal spiritual scripture."

................................................................................................

................................................

June 03, 2022 - June 03, 2022.

................................................

................................................................................................

EPILOGUE

................................................................................................

"(In a hidden sanctum, veiled to mortal eyes -

"Time readied to perform the yagnya of Fire on ice.

"Barefooted -the banished one walked on frozen floor -

"To appease Agni and take mankind's call to heaven's door.

"With closed eyes, for the sake of man.

"Escaping mortal lips- the sacred hymn began -)

""On the altar of truth, O Messenger of the Lords !

"Heed my call as I invoke the Gods-

"Now has been lit the mighty fire sacred

"May all that you devour turn consecrated.

"O Agni! Humble offerings I make at your sacred pyre

"The sacrifice completed -may you accord what we aspire

"These primal oblations now I pour into your fire

"I offer my cherished dreams and all that I desire:

"Like dead grass may these fuel you to greater grow -

"Lift me higher with your flames - lend me your radiant glow!

"Now, I shed to you my flaws and all my vice:

"Burn them to ashes, for with blood I have paid the price.

"To Serve you only, rid me of my imperfection and disease.

"Come forth reside in me- from useless bonds offer me release.

"Next into the fire I now joyfully pour -

"Feasting on this may you fiercely roar.

"My actions of Past, present and the future time.

"My Karma, My works and all that is mine

"The final sacrifice this flawed mortal shalt now make -

"Immaculate Fire, my soul is now truly yours to take.

"The same fire that now blazes before my eyes

"Burns within me now, emancipating my rise.

"The same fire that hath kindled the Sun -

"See it burning ,O Agni, in the eyes of the chosen one.

"Consume this too, O, every God's harbinger

"Time is ripe. Let darkness feel thy scorching anger

"By your grace, I am now a part of you-

"Now I can perceive the inferno that shalt ensue,

Holy one! Engulf this globe in your fiery cocoon

"Help us establish a place for the gods to arrive soon.

"Lord Agni! hither you have brought the Gods-

"Once again these divine kings shalt reign over their wards.

"Ashwini kumars of the nimble steed led by Indra-

Also have arrived mighty Maruts, Father Varuna and Mitra.

"Vayu, Surya, Vishnu and Rudra too have arrived

"Vritras, Valas and Dasyus now have nowhere to hide

"The bulls, the lion and the feral beasts of light

"Have rushed in to join and banish the night

"Mother Usha walks towards us beckoning the dawn

"Saraswati, Ila and Sarama ensure that darkness has withdrawn

"O Vishwedewas come forth, ascend your golden throne,

"And endow man with the ambrosia- Soma has sworn."

"The dream of the Rishis has true become

"The time of cosmic Awakening has finally come

"Earth now stands bathed in your supramental light

"Redemption is now complete, darkness has taken flight.

"She is now awake from her frozen slumber -

"The golden destiny has been reached, now no force can encumber!"

................................................................................................

................................................

June 03, 2022 - June 03, 2022.

................................................

................................................................................................

Rhythm of the Veda: Know Your Devas (Gods of the Rig Veda Book 1)

by Sushrut Badhe (Author),

Arun Tiwari (Foreword), & 1 More

Format: Kindle Edition

Kindle Edition

................................................

April 18, 2022 -

June 02, 2022 - June 03, 2022.

Purchased March 30, 2022.

Publisher: ‎Sushrut Badhe;

1st edition (10 April 2020)

Language: ‎English

ASIN:-‎ B086ZNBZ7G

................................................

Rhythm of the Veda: Know Your Devas

(Gods of the Rig Veda Book 1)

by Sushrut Badhe (Author),

Arun Tiwari (Foreword), & 1 More

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Sushrut Badhe;

1st edition (10 April 2020)

Language ‏ : ‎ English

Kindle Edition

Format: Kindle Edition

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B086ZNBZ7G

................................................................................................

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4759231555

................................................................................................

"ABOUT THE AUTHOR

"The author is the disciple of Sri.M.R.Damle and is the CEO of KVM Research Laboratories, which was founded by Damleji in 1988. Located in Kothapurinatham village, Puducherry, the SSI manufactures and exports purely natural Ayurvedic products. He is, as well, a researcher at Midam Charitable Trust, also founded by his Damleji, which works in the fields of education, women empowerment and children with special needs and is actively engaged in the scientific investigation and evaluation of the therapeutic effect of listening to Vedic Chants.

"The author holds a degree in mechanical engineering and has a liking for poetry. He has transcribed the entire Bhagavad Gita and some of the Upanishads: Isha, Kena, Mandukya and Sri Aurobindopanishad in rhyme and holds the records for the same in the India Book of Records and Limca book of records.

"The author frequently writes in the journal – Sri Aurobino’s Action, a monthly International journal founded by The Mother of Sri Aurobindo Ashram.

................................................................................................

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4759231555

................................................................................................

Reviews - Books I Read - DRJG

Friday, June 3, 2022

Rhythm of the Veda: Know your Devas; by Sushrut Badhe.

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