{"id":667,"date":"2013-07-13T01:29:35","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:29:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=667"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:29:35","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:29:35","slug":"31-nilarudra-upanishad-vol-12-the-upanishad-volume-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/01-works-of-sri-aurobindo\/01-sabcl\/12-the-upanishad-volume-12\/31-nilarudra-upanishad-vol-12-the-upanishad-volume-12","title":{"rendered":"-31_Nilarudra Upanishad.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n

\nNILARUDRA
\nUPANISHAD<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

1. Om. Thee I
\nbeheld in thy descending down from the heavens to the earth, I saw Rudra, the
\nTerrible, the azure-throated, the peacock-feathered, as he hurled.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

2. Fierce he
\ncame down from the sky, he stood facing me on the earth as its lord; the people
\nbehold a mass of strength, azure-throated, scarlet-hued.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

3. This that
\ncometh is he that destroyeth evil, Rudra the Terrible, born of the tree that
\ndwelleth in the waters; let the globe of the storm winds come too, that
\ndestroyeth for thee all things of evil omen.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

4.  Salutation
\nto thee who bringeth the world into being, salutation to thee, the passionate
\nwith mighty wrath. Salutation be to thy arms of might, salutation be to thy
\nangry shaft.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

5. The arrow
\nthou bearest in thy hand for the hurling, O thou that liest on the mountains,
\nmake an arrow of blessing, O keeper of the hills, let it not slay my armed men.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 421<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n

\n <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

6.  With fair
\nspeech, O mountain-dweller, we sue to thee in the assembly of the folk, that the
\nwhole world may be for us a friendly and sinless place.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

7. That thy
\narrow which is the kindliest of all and thy bow which is well omened and that
\nthy quiver which beareth blessing, by that thou livest for us, O lord of
\nslaughter.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

8. That thy
\nbody, O terrible One, which is fair and full of kindness and destroyeth sin, not
\nthy shape of terror, in that thy body full of peace, O mountaineer, thou art
\nwont to be seen among our folk.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

9.<\/span><\/i>
\nThis Aruna of the dawn that is tawny and copper-red and scarlet-hued, and these
\nthy Violent Ones round about that dwell in the regions in their thousands,
\nverily, it is these whom we desire.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 422<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n


\nCOMMENTARY<\/font><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

1.  Apaśyam,<\/i>
\nI beheld. The speaker is the author of the Upanishad, a prince of the Aryan
\npeople, as we see from the fifth verse. He records a vision of Rudra descending
\nfrom the heavens to the earth.<\/span><\/p>\n

Avah<\/span>̣<\/span>,<\/span><\/i>
\ndown, is repeated for the sake of vividness. In the second half of the śloka<\/i>
\nthe Murti or image in which he beheld the Divine Manifestation is described,
\nRudra, the God of might and wrath, the neck and throat blue, peacock’s feather
\nas a crest, in the act of hurling a shaft.<\/span><\/p>\n

2.  He proceeds
\nto describe the descent. He descended fiercely, that is, with wrath in his face,
\ngesture and motion and stood facing the seer, pratyas<\/i><\/span>̣<\/span>t<\/span>̣<\/span>hāt,<\/span><\/i>
\non the earth, and over it, adhi, <\/i>in a way expressive of command or
\ncontrol. This image of Divine Power, seen by the prince in Yoga, becomes visible
\nto the people in general as a mass of strength, maha,<\/i> scarlet in colour,
\ndeep blue in the neck and throat. Maha<\/i> is strength, bulk, greatness. The
\nmanifestation is that of wrath and might. The people see Rudra as a mass of
\nbrilliance, scarlet-ringed and crested with blue, the scarlet in Yoga denoting
\nviolent passion of anger or desire, the blue śraddhā, bhakti,<\/i> piety or
\nreligion.<\/span><\/p>\n

3.  Rudra, whom
\nwe know as the slayer of evil, comes. The Rajarshi describes him as born of the
\ntree that is in the waters. Bhes<\/i><\/span>̣<\/span>a<\/span><\/i>
\nis by philology identical with the Latin ficus <\/i>or fig-tree, aśvattha.<\/i>
\nThe aśvattha<\/i> is the Yogic emblem of the manifested world, as in the Gita,
\nthe tree of the two birds in the Shwetashwatara Upanishad, the single tree in
\nthe blue expanse of the Song of Liberation. The jala<\/i> is the āpah <\/i>
\nor waters from which the world rises. The Rishi then prays that the vātī<\/i>
\nmass of winds of which Rudra is lord and which in the tempest of their course
\nblow away all calamity, such as pestilence etc. may come with him.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 423<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n

4. In the
\nfourth verse he salutes the God. Rudra is the Supreme Ishwara, Creator of the
\nWorld, He is the dreadful, wrathful and destroying Lord, swift to slay and
\npunish. Bhāma<\/i> is passionate anger, and the word manyu<\/i> denotes a
\nviolent disturbed state of mind, passion, either of grief or of anger.
\nBhāmāyamanyave<\/i> therefore means, one who is full of the passion of violent
\nanger. Rudra is being saluted as a God of might and wrath, it is therefore to
\nthe arms as the seat of strength and the arrow as the weapon of destruction that
\nsalutation is made.<\/span><\/p>\n

5.  Rudra is
\ncoming in a new form of wrath and destruction in which the Aryans are not
\naccustomed to see him. Apprehensive of the meaning of this vision, the King
\nsummons the people and in assembly prayer is offered to Rudra to avert possible
\ncalamity. The shaft is lifted to be hurled from the bow; it is prayed that it
\nmay be turned into a shaft of blessings not of wrath. In this verse the Prince
\nprays the God not to slay his men, meaning evidently, the armed warriors of the
\nclan.<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 424<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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