{"id":826,"date":"2013-07-13T01:30:40","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:30:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=826"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:30:40","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:30:40","slug":"14-the-herds-of-the-dawn-vol-10-the-secret-of-the-veda-volume-10","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/01-works-of-sri-aurobindo\/01-sabcl\/10-the-secret-of-the-veda-volume-10\/14-the-herds-of-the-dawn-vol-10-the-secret-of-the-veda-volume-10","title":{"rendered":"-14_The Herds of the Dawn.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n


\nC<\/font>HAPTER <\/font>
\nXII <\/font><\/b> <\/p>\n


\nThe Herds of the Dawn <\/font><\/b> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nT<\/font>HE <\/font><\/b>Seven Rivers of the Veda, the Waters,
\nāpaḥ<\/span>,<\/i>
\nare usually designated in the figured Vedic language as the
\nseven Mothers or the seven fostering Cows, sapta dhenavaḥ<\/span>. <\/i>The word āpaḥ<\/span>.<\/i>
\nitself has, covertly, a double significance; for the
\nroot ap<\/i> meant originally not only to move, from which in all probability
\nis derived the sense of waters, but to be or bring into
\nbeing, as in apatya,<\/i> a child, and the Southern Indian appā,<\/i>
\nfather.
\nThe seven Waters are the waters of being; they are the Mothers
\nfrom whom all forms of existence are born. But we meet also
\nanother expression, sapta gāvaḥ<\/span>,<\/i> the seven Cows or the seven
\nLights, and the epithet saptagu,<\/i> that which has seven rays. Gu
\n(gavẹ<\/span>)<\/i> and go
\n(gāvaḥ<\/span>)<\/i>
\nbear throughout the Vedic hymns this
\ndouble sense of cows and radiances. In the ancient Indian sys-
\ntem of thought being and consciousness were aspects of each
\nother, and Aditi, infinite existence from whom the gods are born,
\ndescribed as the Mother with her seven names and seven seats
\n(dhāmāni),<\/i> is also conceived as the infinite consciousness,
\nthe
\nCow, the primal Light manifest in seven Radiances, sapta gāvaḥ<\/span>. <\/i>The sevenfold principle of existence is therefore imaged from the
\none point of view in the figure of the Rivers that arise from the
\nocean, sapta dhenavaḥ<\/span>,<\/i>
\nfrom the other in the figure of the Rays
\nof the all-creating Father, Surya Savitri, sapta gāvaḥ<\/span>.<\/i> <\/p>\n

The image of the Cow is the most important of all the Vedic
\nsymbols. For the ritualist the word go<\/i> means simply a physical
\ncow and nothing else, just as its companion word aśva,<\/i> means
\nsimply a physical horse and has no other sense, or as ghṛ<\/span>ta<\/i> means
\nonly water or clarified butter, vīra<\/i> only a son or a retainer or
\nservant. When the Rishi prays to the Dawn, gomad vīravad dhehi
\nratnam uṣ<\/span>o
\naśvāvat,<\/i> the ritualistic commentator sees in the invocation only
\nan entreaty for "pleasant wealth to which are
\nattached cows, men (or sons) and horses". If on the other hand <\/p>\n

\nPage −118<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

these words are symbolic, the sense will run, "confirm in us a
\nstate of bliss full of light, of conquering energy and of force of
\nvitality". It is therefore necessary to decide once for all the
\nsignificance of the word go<\/i> in the Vedic hymns. If it proves to
\nbe symbolic, then these other words, \u2014 aśva,<\/i> horse, vīra,<\/i>
\nman or
\nhero, apatya<\/i> or prajā,<\/i> offspring, hiraṇ<\/span>ya,<\/i> gold, vāja,<\/i>
\nplenty
\n(food, according to Sayana), \u2014 by which it is continually
\naccompanied, must perforce assume also a symbolic and a
\nkindred significance. <\/p>\n

The image of the Cow is constantly associated in Veda with
\nthe Dawn and the Sun; it also recurs in the legend of the recovery
\nof the lost cows from the cave of the Panis by Indra and Brihaspati with the
\naid of the hound Sarama and the Angirasa Rishis.
\nThe conception of the Dawn and the legend of the Angirasas are
\nat the very heart of the Vedic cult and may almost be considered
\nas the key to the secret of the significance of Veda. It is therefore
\nthese two that we must examine in order to find firm ground for
\nour inquiry. <\/p>\n

Now even the most superficial examination of the Vedic
\nhymns to the Dawn makes it perfectly clear that the cows of the
\nDawn, the cows of the Sun are a symbol for Light and cannot be
\nanything else. Sayana himself is obliged in these hymns to interpret the word
\nsometimes as cows, sometimes as rays, \u2014 careless,
\nas usual of consistency; sometimes he will even tell us that gauḥ<\/span> <\/i>like ṛ<\/span>tam,<\/i>
\nthe word for truth, means water. As a matter of fact
\nit is evident that we are meant to take the word in a double sense,
\n"light" as the true significance, "cow" as the concrete
\nimage and
\nverbal figure. <\/p>\n

The sense of "rays" is quite indisputable in such passages
\nas the third verse of Madhuchchhandas hymn to Indra, 1.7,
\n"Indra for far vision made the Sun to ascend in heaven: he sped
\nhim all over the hill by his rays", vi gobhir adrim airayat.<\/i>\u00b9<\/span> But
\nat the same time, the rays of Surya are the herds of the Sun, the
\nkine of Helios slain by the companions of Odysseus in the
\nOdyssey, stolen by Hermes from his brother Apollo in the <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\u00b9We may also translate "He sent abroad
\nthe thunderbolt with its lights"; but this does
\nnot make as good and coherent a sense; even if we take it, gobhih<\/i><\/span>̣<\/span><\/i> must mean "radiances",
\nnot "cows".<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nPage −119<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

Homeric hymn to Hermes. They are the cows concealed by the
\nenemy Vala, by the Panis; when Madhuchchhandas says to
\nIndra, "Thou didst uncover the hole of Vala of the Cows", he
\nmeans that Vala is the concealer, the withholder of the Light and
\nit is the concealed Light that Indra restores to the sacrificer.
\nThe recovery of the lost or stolen cows is constantly spoken of in
\nthe Vedic hymns and its sense will be clear enough when we come
\nto examine the legend of the Panis and of the Angirasas. <\/p>\n

Once this sense is established, the material explanation of
\nthe Vedic prayer for "cows" is at once shaken; for if the lost
\ncows for whose restoration the Rishis invoke Indra, are not physical herds
\nstolen by the Dravidians but the shining herds of the
\nSun, of the Light, then we are justified in considering whether the
\nsame figure does not apply when there is the simple prayer for
\n"cows" without any reference to any hostile interception. For
\ninstance in 1.4.1,2 it is said of Indra, the maker of perfect forms
\nwho is as a good milker in the milking of the cows, that his ecstasy
\nof the Soma wine is verily "cow-giving", godā id revato madaḥ<\/span>. <\/i>It is the height of absurdity and irrationality to understand by
\nthis phrase that Indra is a very wealthy god and, when he gets
\ndrunk, exceedingly liberal in the matter of cow-giving. It is
\nobvious that as the cow-milking in the first verse is a figure, so
\nthe cow-giving in the second verse is a figure. And if we know
\nfrom other passages of the Veda that the Cow is the symbol of
\nLight, we must understand here also that Indra, when full of the
\nSoma-ecstasy, is sure to give us the Light. <\/p>\n

In the hymns to the Dawn the symbolic sense of the cows
\nof light is equally clear. Dawn is described always as gomatī,
\n<\/i>which must mean, obviously, luminous or radiant; for it would
\nbe nonsense to use "cowful" in a literal sense as the fixed epithet
\nof the Dawn. But the image of the cows is there in the epithet; <\/p>\n

for Usha is not only gomatī,<\/i> she is gomatī aśvāvatī;<\/i>
\nshe has
\nalways with her her cows and her horses. She creates light for
\nall the world and opens out the darkness as the pen of the Cow,
\nwhere we have without any possibility of mistake the cow as the
\nsymbol of light (1.92.4). We may note also that in this hymn (Rik
\n16), the Ashwins are asked to drive downward their chariot on
\na path that is radiant and golden, gomad hiraṇ<\/span>yavad<\/span>.<\/i>
\nMoreover <\/p>\n

\n

\nPage −120<\/font><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Dawn is said to be drawn in her chariot sometimes by ruddy
\ncows, sometimes by ruddy horses. "She yokes her host of the
\nruddy cows"; yunkte gavām aruṇā<\/span>nām anīkam<\/i>
\n(1.124.11),\u2014
\nwhere the second meaning "her host of the ruddy rays" stands
\nclear behind the concrete image. She is described as the mother
\nof the cows or radiances; gavām janitrī akṛ<\/span>ta pra ketum<\/i> (1.124.5),
\n"the Mother of the cows (radiances) has created vision", and it
\nis said elsewhere of her action, "vision" or "perception has
\ndawned now where nought was"; and again it is clear that the
\ncows are the shining herds of the Light. She is also praised as
\n"the leader of the shining herds", netrī gavām,<\/i> (VII.76.6);
\nand
\nthere is an illuminating verse in which the two ideas are combined, "the
\nMother of the Herds, the guide of the days", gavām
\nmātā netrī ahnām<\/i> (VII. 77.2). Finally, as if to remove
\nthe veil
\nof the image entirely, the Veda itself tells us that the herds are
\na figure for the rays of the Light, "her happy rays come into sight
\nlike the cows released into movement" \u2014prati bhadrā adṛ<\/span>kṣ<\/span>ata
\ngavām sargā na raśmayaḥ<\/span><\/i> (IV.52.5). And we have the still more
\nconclusive verse (VII.79.2), "Thy cows (rays) remove the dark-
\nness and extend the Light", sam te gāvas tama ā vartayanti,
\njyotir yacchanti.<\/i>\u00b9<\/span><\/p>\n

But Dawn is not only drawn by these shining herds; she
\nbrings them as a gift to the sacrificer; she is, like Indra in his
\nSoma-ecstasy, a giver of the Light. In a hymn of Vasishtha
\n(VII.75.7) she is described as sharing in the action of the gods
\nby which the strong places where the herds are concealed are
\nbroken open and they are given to men; "True with the gods
\nwho are true, great with the gods who are great, she breaks open
\nthe strong places and gives of the shining herds; the cows low
\ntowards the dawn", \u2014 rujad dṛ<\/span>l<\/span>̣<\/span>hāni dadad usriyāṇā<\/span>m, prati
\ngāva uṣ<\/span>asam
\nvāvaśanta.<\/i> And in the very next verse she is asked
\nto confirm or establish for the sacrificers gomad ratnam aśvāvat
\npurubhojaḥ<\/span>,<\/i>
\na state of bliss full of the light (cows), of the horses
\n(vital force) and of many enjoyments. The herds which Usha
\ngives are therefore the shining troops of the Light recovered by <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\u00b9It cannot of course be disputed that gauh<\/i><\/span>̣<\/span><\/i> means light in the Veda e.g. when it is said that
\nVritra is slain gavā,<\/i> by light, there is no question of the cow;
\nthe question is of the use of the
\ndouble sense and of the cow as a symbol.<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nPage −121<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

the gods and the Angirasa Rishis from the strong places of Vala
\nand the Panis and the wealth of cows (and horses) for which the
\nRishis constantly pray can be no other than a wealth of this same
\nLight; for it is impossible to suppose that the cows which Usha
\nis said to give in the 7th verse of the hymn are different from
\nthe cows which are prayed for in the 8th, \u2014 that the word in the
\nformer verse means light and in the next physical cows and that
\nthe Rishi has forgotten the image he was using the very moment
\nit has fallen from his tongue. <\/p>\n

Sometimes the prayer is not for luminous delight or luminous plenitude, but
\nfor a luminous impulsion or force; "Bring
\nto us, O daughter of Heaven, luminous impulsions along with the
\nrays of the Sun", gomatīr iṣ<\/span>a ā vaha duhitar divaḥ<\/span>, sākam sūryasya
\nraśmibhiḥ<\/span>,<\/i>
\n(V.79.8). Sayana explains that this means "shining
\nfoods", but it is obviously nonsense to talk of radiant foods being
\nbrought by Dawn with the rays of the Sun. If is<\/i> means food,
\nthen we have to understand by the phrase "food of cow’s flesh",
\nbut, although the eating of cow’s flesh was not forbidden in the
\nearly times, as is apparent from the Brahmanas, still that this
\nsense which Sayana avoids as shocking to the later Hindu
\nsentiment, is not intended \u2014 it would be quite as absurd as the
\nother, \u2014 is proved by another verse of the Rig-veda in which
\nthe Ashwins are invoked to give the luminous impulsion that
\ncarries us through to the other side of the darkness, yā naḥ<\/span> pīparad aśvinā
\njyotiṣ<\/span>matī
\ntamas tiraḥ<\/span>,
\ntām asme rāsāthām iṣ<\/span>am<\/i> (1.46.6). <\/p>\n

We can perceive from these typical examples how pervading
\nis this image of the Cow of Light and how inevitably it points to
\na psychological sense for the Veda. A doubt, however, intervenes. Why should we
\nnot, even accepting this inevitable conclusion that the cow is an image for
\nLight, understand it to mean
\nsimply the light, of day as the language of the Veda seems to
\nintend? Why suppose a symbol where there is only an image?
\nWhy invite the difficulty of a double figure in which "cow" means
\nlight of dawn and light of dawn is the symbol of an inner illumination? Why not
\ntake it that the Rishis were praying not for
\nspiritual illumination, but for daylight? <\/p>\n

The objections are manifold and some of them overwhelming. If we assume that
\nthe Vedic hymns were composed in India\n<\/p>\n

\n

\nPage −122<\/font><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

and the dawn is the Indian dawn and the night the brief Indian
\nnight of ten or twelve hours, we have to start with the concession
\nthat the Vedic Rishis were savages overpowered by a terror of
\nthe darkness which they peopled with goblins, ignorant of the
\nnatural law of the succession of night and day, \u2014 which is yet
\nbeautifully hymned in many of the Suktas, \u2014 and believed that
\nit was only by their prayers and sacrifices that the Sun rose
\nin the heavens and the Dawn emerged from the embrace of her
\nsister Night. Yet they speak of the undeviating rule of the action
\nof the Gods, and of Dawn following always the path of the
\neternal Law or Truth! We have to suppose that when the Rishi
\ngives vent to the joyous cry "We have crossed over to the other
\nshore of this darkness!", it was only the normal awakening to
\nthe daily sunrise that he thus eagerly hymned. We have to sup-
\npose that the Vedic peoples sat down to the sacrifice at dawn and
\nprayed for the light when it had already come. And if we accept
\nall these improbabilities, we are met by the clear statement that
\nit was only after they had sat for nine or for ten months that the
\nlost light and the lost sun were recovered by the Angirasa Rishis.
\nAnd what are we to make of the constant assertion of the discovery of the Light
\nby the Fathers; \u2014 "Our fathers found out
\nthe hidden light, by the truth in their thoughts they brought to
\nbirth the Dawn", gūḷ<\/span>ham jyotiḥ<\/span> <\/span>pitaro anvavindan, satyamantrā
\najanayan uṣā<\/span>sam<\/i>
\n(VII.76.4) ? If we found such a verse in any collection of poems in any
\nliterature, we would at once give it a psychological or a spiritual sense; there
\nis no just reason for a different treatment of the Veda. <\/p>\n

If, however, we are to give a naturalistic explanation and no
\nother to the Vedic hymns, it is quite clear that the Vedic Dawn
\nand Night cannot be the Night and Dawn of India; it is only in
\nthe Arctic regions that the attitude of the Rishis towards these
\nnatural circumstances and the statements about the Angirasas
\nbecome at all intelligible. But though it is extremely probable
\nthat the memories of the Arctic home enter into the external sense
\nof the Veda, the Arctic theory does not exclude an inner sense
\nbehind the ancient images drawn from Nature nor does it dispense with the
\nnecessity for a more coherent and straightforward
\nexplanation of the hymns to the Dawn. <\/p>\n

\n

\nPage −123<\/font><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

We have, for instance, the hymn of Praskanwa Kanwa to the
\nAshwins (1.46) in which there is the reference to the luminous
\nimpulsion that carries us through to the other shore of the dark-
\nness. This hymn is intimately connected with the Vedic idea of
\nthe Dawn and the Night. It contains references to many of the
\nfixed Vedic images, to the path of the Truth, the crossing of the
\nrivers, the rising of the Sun, the connection between the Dawn
\nand the Ashwins, the mystic effect and oceanic essence of the
\nSoma-wine. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

"Lo, the Dawn than which there is none higher, opens out
\nfull of delight in the Heavens; O Ashwins, the Vast of you I affirm, ye of whom the Ocean is the mother, accomplishers of
\nthe work who pass beyond through the mind to the felicities and,
\ndivine, find that substance by the thought…. O Lords of the
\nVoyage, who mentalise the word, this is the dissolver of your
\nthinkings, \u2014 drink ye of the Soma violently; give to us that impulsion, O Ashwins which, luminous, carries us through beyond
\nthe darkness. Travel for us in your ship to reach the other shore beyond the
\nthoughts of the mind. Yoke, O Ashwins, your car,
\n\u2014 your car that becomes the vast oared ship in Heaven, in the
\ncrossing of its rivers. By the thought the powers of Delight have
\nbeen yoked. The Soma-powers of delight in heaven are that
\nsubstance in the place of the Waters. But where shall you cast
\naside the veil you have made to conceal you ? Nay, Light has been
\nborn for the joy of the Soma; \u2014 the Sun that was dark has shot
\nout its tongue towards the Gold. The path of the Truth has
\ncome into being by which we shall travel to that other shore; seen
\nis all the wide way through Heaven. The seeker grows in his
\nbeing towards increasing manifestation after manifestation of
\nthe Ashwins when they find satisfaction in the ecstasy of the
\nSoma. Do ye, dwelling (or, shining) in the all-luminous Sun,
\nby the drinking of the Soma, by the Word come as creators of the
\nbliss into our humanity. Dawn comes to us according to your
\nglory when you pervade all our worlds and you win the Truths out of the Nights.
\nBoth together drink, O Ashwins, both together
\nextend to us the peace by expandings whose wholeness remains
\nuntorn." <\/p>\n

\nPage −124<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

This is the straightforward and natural sense of the hymn
\nand its intention is not difficult to follow if we remember the
\nmain ideas and images of the Vedic doctrine. The Night is
\nclearly the image of an inner darkness; by the coming of the
\nDawn the Truths are won out of the Nights. This is the rising of
\nthe Sun which was lost in the obscurity \u2014 the familiar figure of
\nthe lost sun recovered by the Gods and the Angirasa Rishis \u2014
\nthe sun of Truth and it now shoots out its tongue of fire towards
\nthe golden Light: \u2014 for hiraṇ<\/span>ya,<\/i> gold is the concrete symbol of
\nthe higher light, the gold of the Truth, and it is this treasure not
\ngolden coin for which the Vedic Rishis pray to the Gods. This
\ngreat change from the inner obscuration to the illumination is
\neffected by the Ashwins, lords of the joyous upward action of the
\nmind and the vital powers, through the immortal wine of the
\nAnanda poured into mind and body and there drunk by them.
\nThey mentalise the expressive Word, they lead us into the heaven
\nof pure mind beyond this darkness and there by the Thought
\nthey set the powers of the Delight to work. But even over the
\nheavenly waters they cross, for the power of the Soma helps them
\nto dissolve all mental constructions, and they cast aside even this
\nveil; they go beyond Mind and the last attaining is described as
\nthe crossing of the rivers, the passage through the heaven of the
\npure mind, the journey by the path of the Truth to the other
\nside. Not till we reach the highest supreme, paramā parāvat, <\/i>do<\/span> <\/i>we rest at last from the great human journey. <\/p>\n

We shall see that not only in this hymn, but everywhere
\nDawn comes as a bringer of the Truth, is herself the outshining of
\nthe Truth. She is the divine Dawn and the physical dawning is
\nonly her shadow and symbol in the material universe. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\nPage −125<\/font><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CHAPTER XII The Herds of the Dawn   THE Seven Rivers of the Veda, the Waters, āpaḥ, are usually designated in the figured Vedic language…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-826","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-10-the-secret-of-the-veda-volume-10","wpcat-17-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/826","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=826"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/826\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}