{"id":889,"date":"2013-07-13T01:31:02","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:31:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=889"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:31:02","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:31:02","slug":"10-the-ashwins-indra-the-vishwadevas-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\/10-the-ashwins-indra-the-vishwadevas-vol-10-the-secret-of-the-veda-volume-10","title":{"rendered":"-10_The Ashwins – Indra – The Vishwadevas.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n


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

The Ashwins \u2014 Indra \u2014 the Vishwadevas
\n<\/font><\/b> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n


\n                T<\/font>HE <\/font><\/b>third hymn of Madhuchchhandas is
\nagain a hymn of the Soma sacrifice. It is composed, like the
\nsecond before it, in movements of three stanzas, the first addressed to the Ashwins, the second to Indra, the third to the
\nVishwadevas, the fourth to the goddess Saraswati. In this hymn
\nalso we have in the closing movement, in the invocation to
\nSaraswati, a passage of clear psychological significance, of a far
\ngreater clarity indeed than those that have already helped us to
\nunderstand the secret thought of the Veda. <\/p>\n

But this whole hymn is full of psychological suggestions
\nand we find in it the close connection and even identity which
\nthe Vedic Rishis sought to establish and perfect between the
\nthree main interests of the human soul. Thought and its final
\nvictorious illuminations. Action and its last supreme all-achieving
\npuissances, enjoyment and its highest spiritual ecstasies. The
\nSoma-wine symbolises the replacing of our ordinary sense-enjoyment by the
\ndivine Ananda. That substitution is brought about
\nby divinising our thought-action, and as it progresses it helps in
\nits turn the consummation of the movement which has brought
\nit about. The Cow, the Horse, the Soma-wine are the figures of
\nthis triple sacrifice. The offering of ghṛ<\/span>ta,<\/i> the clarified butter
\nwhich is the yield of the cow, the offering of the horse, aśvamedha,
\n<\/i>the offering of the wine of Soma are its three principal forms or
\nelements. We have also, less prominent, the offering of the cake
\nwhich is possibly symbolic of the body, of Matter. <\/p>\n

We commence with an invocation of the two Ashwins, the
\ntwo Riders on the Horse, Castor and Polydeuces of the old
\nMediterranean mythology. They are supposed by the comparative mythologists to
\nrepresent twin stars in the heavens which
\nfor some reason had a better fortune than the rest of the celestial
\nhost and attracted the special adoration of the Aryans. Let us, <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 75<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

however, see how they are described in the hymn we are studying. They are
\nfirst described as "Ashwins, swift-footed lords of
\nbliss, much-enjoying, \u2014 dravatpāṇ<\/span>ī śubhaspatī purubhujā".<\/i> The
\nword śubha,<\/i> like the words ratna<\/i> and candra,<\/i> is
\ncapable of signifying either light or enjoyment; but in this passage it occurs
\nin
\nconnection with the adjective purubhujā,<\/i> "much-enjoying",
\nand
\nthe verb canasyatam,<\/i> "take delight", and must therefore be
\ntaken
\nin the sense of weal or bliss. <\/p>\n

Next, these twin gods are described as "Ashwins, divine
\nsouls, many-actioned, thought-holding" who accept and rejoice
\nin the words of the Mantra "with an energetic thought", \u2014
\npurudamsasā <\/i>narā<\/i>
\nśavīrayā dhiyā dhiṣ<\/span>ṇ<\/span>yā.
\nNr<\/i> in the Veda is applicable both to gods and men and does not mean simply
\na man; it meant originally, I think, strong or active and then a male and is
\napplied to the male gods, active divine souls or powers, puruṣ<\/span>as, <\/i>opposed to the female deities, gnāḥ<\/span>,<\/i> who are their energies. It
\nstill preserved in the minds of the Rishis much of its original
\nsense, as we see from the word nṛ<\/span>mṇ<\/span>a,<\/i>
\nstrength, and the phrase
\nnṛ<\/span>tamo nṛ<\/span>ṇā<\/span>m,<\/i> strongest of the divine
\npowers. Śavas<\/i> and its adjective śavīrā<\/i> give
\nthe idea of energy, but always with an association of the farther idea of flame
\nor light; śavīrā<\/span><\/i> is therefore a
\nvery appropriate epithet for dhī,<\/i> thought full of a shining or
\nflashing energy. Dhiṣ<\/span>ṇ<\/span>yā<\/i> is connected with
\ndhiṣ<\/span>aṇā<\/span>,<\/i> intellect
\nor understanding, and is rendered by Sayana "intellectual",
\nbuddhimantau.<\/i> <\/p>\n

Again the Ashwins are described as "effectual in action,
\npowers of the movement, fierce-moving in their paths", dasrā
\nnāsatyā rudravartanī.<\/i> The Vedic epithets dasra<\/i> and dasma<\/i>
\nare
\nrendered by Sayana indifferently "destroying" or
\n"beautiful"
\nor "bountiful" according to his caprice or convenience. I connect it
\nwith the root das<\/i> not in the sense of cutting, dividing,
\nfrom which it gets the two significances of destroying and giving,
\nnot in the sense of "discerning, seeing", from which it gets Sayana’s
\nsignificance "beautiful", darśanīya,<\/i> but in the
\nsense of doing,
\nacting, shaping, accomplishing, as in purudamsasā<\/i> in the second
\nRik. Nāsatyā<\/i> is supposed by some to be a patronymic; the old
\ngrammarians ingeniously fabricated for it the sense of "true, not
\nfalse"; but I take it from nas<\/i> to move. We must remember that <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 76<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

the Ashwins are riders on the horse, that they are described
\noften by epithets of motion, "swift-footed", "fierce-moving in
\ntheir paths"; that Castor and Pollux in Graeco-Latin
\nmythology
\nprotect sailors in their voyages and save them in storm and
\nshipwreck and that in the Rig-veda also they are represented as
\npowers that carry over the Rishis as in a ship or save them from
\ndrowning in the ocean. Nāsatyā<\/i> may therefore very well mean
\nlords of the voyage, journey, or powers of the movement.
\nRudravartanī<\/i> is rendered by modern scholars "red-pathed",
\nan epithet supposed to be well-suited to stars and they instance
\nthe parallel phrase, hiraṇ<\/span>yavartanī,<\/i> having a golden or shining
\npath. Certainly, rudra<\/i> must have meant at one time, "shining,
\ndeep-coloured, red" like the roots ruṣ<\/span><\/i> and ruś, rudhira,<\/i>
\n"blood",
\n"red", the Latin ruber, rutilus, rufus,<\/i> all meaning red. Rodasī,<\/i>
\nthe
\ndual Vedic word for heaven and earth, meant probably, like rajas
\n<\/i>and rocanā,<\/i> other Vedic words for the heavenly and earthly
\nworlds, "the shining". On the other hand the sense of injury and
\nviolence is equally inherent in this family of words and is almost
\nuniversal in the various roots which form it. "Fierce" or "violent"
\nis therefore likely to be as good a sense for rudra<\/i> as "red".
\nThe Ashwins are both hiraṇ<\/span>yavartanī<\/i> and rudravartanī,<\/i> because
\nthey are both powers of Light and of nervous force; in the former
\naspect they have a bright gold movement, in the latter they are
\nviolent in their movement. In one hymn (V.75.3) we have the
\ncombination rudra hiraṇ<\/span>yavartanī,<\/i>
\nviolent and moving in the
\npaths of light; we can hardly with any respect for coherence of
\nsense understand it to mean that the stars are red but their movement or their
\npath is golden. <\/p>\n

Here then, in these three verses, are an extraordinary series
\nof psychological functions to apply to two stars of a heavenly
\nconstellation! It is evident that if this was the physical origin of
\nthe Ashwins, they have as in Greek mythology long lost their
\npurely stellar nature; they have acquired like Athene, goddess of
\ndawn, a psychological character and function. They are riders
\non the horse, the Ashwa, symbolic of force and especially of life-
\nenergy and nervous force, the Prana. Their common character is
\nthat they are gods of enjoyment, seekers of honey; they are
\nphysicians, they bring back youth to the old, health to the sick, <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 77<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

wholeness to the maimed. Another characteristic is movement,
\nswift, violent, irresistible; their rapid and indomitable chariot is
\na constant object of celebration and they are described here as
\nswift-footed and violent in their paths. They are like birds in
\ntheir swiftness, like the mind, like the wind (V.77.3 and 78.1).
\nThey bring in their chariot ripe or perfected satisfactions to man,
\nthey are creators of bliss, mayas.<\/i> These indications are perfectly
\nclear. They show that the Ashwins are twin divine powers whose
\nspecial function is to perfect the nervous or vital being in man in
\nthe sense of action and enjoyment. But they are also powers of
\nTruth, of intelligent action, of right enjoyment, they are powers
\nthat appear with the Dawn, effective powers of action born out
\nof the ocean of being who, because they are divine, are able to
\nmentalise securely the felicities of the higher existence by a
\nthought-faculty which finds or comes to know that true substance
\nand true wealth: <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nYā dasrā sindhumātarā, manotarā rayīṇā<\/span>m;<\/i> <\/p>\n

dhiyā devā vasuvidā.<\/i> (1.46.2) <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

They give that impelling energy for the great work which, having
\nfor its nature and substance the light of the Truth, carries man
\nbeyond the darkness: <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nYā nạ<\/span>h.
\npīparad aśvinā, jyotiṣ<\/span>matī tamas tiraḥ<\/span>;<\/i> <\/p>\n

tām asme rāsāthām iṣ<\/span>am.<\/i> (1.46.6.) <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

They carry man in their ship to the other shore beyond the
\nthoughts and states of the human mind, that is to say, to the
\nsupramental consciousness, \u2014 nāvā matīnām pārāya<\/i>
\n(1.46.7).
\nSūryā,<\/i> daughter of the Sun, Lord of the Truth, mounts their
\ncar
\nas their bride. <\/p>\n

In the present hymn the Ashwins are invoked, as swift-
\nmoving lords of bliss who carry with them many enjoyments,
\nto take delight in the impelling energies of the sacrifice, \u2014
\nyajvarīr iṣ<\/span>aḥ<\/span>…canasyatam.<\/i> These
\nimpelling forces are born evidently of the drinking of the Soma-wine, that is
\nto say, of the
\ninflow of the divine Ananda. For the expressive words, giraḥ<\/span>,<\/i> <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 78<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

that are to make new formations in the consciousness are already
\nrising, the seat of the sacrifice has been piled, the vigorous juices
\nof the Soma-wine are pressed out.\u00b9 The Ashwins are to come as
\neffective powers of action, purudamsasā nara,<\/i> to take delight in
\nthe Words and to accept them into the intellect where they shall
\nbe retained for the action by a thought full of luminous energy.\u00b2
\nThey are to come to the offering of the Soma-wine, in order to
\neffect the action of the sacrifice, dasrā,<\/i> as fulfillers of action,
\nby
\ngiving to the delight of the action that violent movement of
\ntheirs, rudravartanī,<\/i> which carries them irresistibly on their path
\nand overcomes all opposition. They come as powers of the
\nAryan journey, lords of the great human movement, nāsatyā.
\n<\/i>We see throughout that it is energy which these Riders on the
\nHorse are to give; they are to take delight in the sacrificial energies, to
\ntake up the word into an energetic thought, to bring to
\nthe sacrifice their own violent movement on the path. And it is
\neffectiveness of action and swiftness in the great journey that is
\nthe object of this demand for energy. I would call the attention
\nof the reader continually to the consistency of conception and
\ncoherence of structure, the easy clearness and precision of outline which the thought of the Rishis assumes by a psychological
\ninterpretation, so different from the tangled confusion and incoherent abruptness of the interpretations which ignore the
\nsupreme tradition of the Veda as a book of wisdom and deepest
\nknowledge. <\/p>\n

We have then this rendering for the
\nfirst three verses: <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

"O    Riders of the Steed, swift-footed, much-enjoying lords
\nof bliss, take delight in the energies of the sacrifice. <\/p>\n

"O    Riders of the Steed, male souls effecting a manifold
\naction, take joy of the words, O    holders in the intellect, by a
\nluminously energetic thought. <\/p>\n

"I have piled the seat of sacrifice, I have pressed out the
\nvigorous Soma-juices; fulfillers of action, powers of the movement, come to
\nthem with your fierce speed on the path." <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\u00b9<\/span>yuvākavah<\/span>̣<\/span> <\/span>sutā
\nvr<\/span>̣<\/span>ktabarhis<\/span>̣<\/span>ah<\/span>̣<\/span>.<\/span><\/i> <\/i><\/font> <\/p>\n

\n\u00b2<\/span>śavīrayā dhiyā dhis<\/span>̣<\/span>nyā vanatam girah<\/span>̣<\/span>.<\/span><\/i> <\/p>\n

\n

\nPage \u2013 79<\/font><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

As in the second hymn, so in the third the Rishi begins by
\ninvoking deities who act in the nervous or vital forces. But
\nthere he called Vayu who supplies the vital forces, brings his
\nsteeds of life; here he calls the Ashwins who use the vital forces,
\nride on the steed. As in the second hymn, he proceeds from the
\nvital or nervous action to the mental; he invokes in his second
\nmovement the might of Indra. The out-pressings of the wine of
\ndelight desire him, sutā ime tvāyavaḥ<\/span>;<\/i> they desire the luminous
\nmind to take possession of them for its activities; they are purified, aṇ<\/span>vībhis tanā,<\/i>
\n"by the fingers and the body" as Saying ex-
\nplains it, by the subtle thought-powers of the pure mind and by
\nextension in the physical consciousness as it seems to me to mean.
\nFor these "ten fingers", if they are fingers at all, are the ten
\nfingers of sūryā,<\/i> daughter of the Sun, bride of the Ashwins. In
\nthe first hymn of the ninth Mandala this same Rishi Madhuchchhandas expands the
\nidea which here he passes over so succinctly. He says, addressing the deity
\nSoma, "The daughter of
\nthe Sun purifies thy Soma as it flows abroad in her straining-
\nvessel by a continuous extension", vāreṇ<\/span>a śaāvatā tanā.<\/i>
\nAnd
\nimmediately he adds, "The subtle ones seize it in their labour (or,
\nin the great work, struggle, aspiration, samarye),<\/i> the ten Brides,
\nsisters in the heaven that has to be crossed", a phrase that recalls at once the ship of the Ashwins that carries us over beyond
\nthe thoughts; for Heaven is the symbol of the pure mental consciousness in the
\nVeda as is Earth of the physical consciousness.
\nThese sisters who dwell in the pure mind, the subtle ones, aṇ<\/span>vīḥ<\/span>, <\/i>the ten brides, daśa yoṣ<\/span>aṇā<\/span>ḥ<\/span>,<\/i> are elsewhere called
\nthe ten
\nCasters, daśa kṣ<\/span>ipaḥ<\/span>,<\/i> because they seize the
\nSoma and speed
\nit on its way. They are probably identical with the ten Rays,
\ndaśa gāvaḥ<\/span>,<\/i>
\nsometimes spoken of in the Veda. They seem
\nto be described as the grandchildren or descendants of the Sun,
\nnaptībhir…vivasvataḥ<\/span><\/i> (IX. 14.5). They are aided in the task of
\npurification by the seven forms of Thought-consciousness, sapta
\ndhītibhiḥ<\/span><\/i>
\n(IX.9.4). Again we are told that "Soma advances, heroic
\nwith his swift chariots, by the force of the subtle thought, dhiyā
\naṇ<\/span>vyā,<\/i>
\nto the perfected activity (or perfected field) of Indra and
\ntakes many forms of thought to arrive at that vast extension (or,
\nformation) of the godhead where the Immortals are" \u2014 <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 80<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nEṣ<\/span>a purū dhiyāyate, bṛ<\/span>hate devatātaye,
\n<\/i> <\/p>\n

\nyatrāmṛ<\/span>tāsa
\nāsate.<\/i> (IX. 15.1, 2) <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I have dwelt on this point in order to show how entirely
\nsymbolical is the Soma-wine of the Vedic Rishis and how richly
\nsurrounded with psychological conceptions, \u2014 as anyone will
\nfind who cares to go through the ninth Mandala with its almost
\novercharged splendour of symbolic imagery and overflowing
\npsychological suggestions. <\/p>\n

However that may be, the important point here is not the
\nSoma and its purification but the psychological function of
\nIndra. He is addressed as Indra of the richly-various lustres,
\nindra citrabhāno.<\/i> The Soma-juices desire him. He comes impelled
\nby the thought, driven forward by the illumined thinker within,
\ndhiyeṣ<\/span>ito
\nviprajūtaḥ<\/span>,<\/i>
\nto the soul-thoughts of the Rishi who has
\npressed out the wine of delight and seeks to manifest them in
\nspeech, in the inspired mantras, sutāvataḥ<\/span> upa brahmāṇ<\/span>i vāghataḥ<\/span>. <\/i>He comes with the speed and force of the illumined mind-power,
\nin possession of his brilliant horses to those thoughts, tūtujāna
\nupa brahmāṇ<\/span>i
\nharivaḥ<\/span>,<\/i> and
\nthe Rishi prays to him to confirm or
\nhold the delight in the Soma-onering, sute dadhiṣ<\/span>va naś canaḥ<\/span>. <\/i>The Ashwins have brought and energised the pleasure of the
\nvital system in the action of the Ananda. Indra is necessary to
\nhold that pleasure firmly in the illuminated mind so that it may
\nnot fall away from the consciousness. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

"Come,
\nO Indra, with thy rich lustres, these Soma-juices
\ndesire thee; they are purified by the subtle powers and by extension in body. <\/p>\n

"Come,
\nO  Indra, impelled by the mind, driven forward by
\nthe illumined thinker, to my soul-thoughts, I who have poured
\nout the Soma-juice and seek to express them in speech. <\/p>\n

"Come,
\nO    Indra, with forceful speed to my soul-thoughts, O    lord of the bright horses; hold firm the delight in the Soma-juice." <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Rishi next passes to the Vishwadevas, all the gods or
\nthe all-gods. It has been disputed whether these Vishwadevas <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 81<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

form a class by themselves or are simply the gods in their generality. I
\ntake it that the phrase means the universal collectivity of
\nthe divine powers; for this sense seems to me best to correspond
\nto the actual expressions of the hymns in which they are invoked.
\nIn this hymn they are called for a general action which supports
\nand completes the functions of the Ashwins and Indra. They are
\nto come to the sacrifice in their collectivity and divide among
\nthemselves, each evidently for the divine and joyous working of
\nhis proper activity, the Soma which the giver of the sacrifice
\ndistributes to them; viśve devāsa āgata, dāsvāmso dāśuṣ<\/span>aḥ<\/span> sutam. <\/i>In the next Rik the call is repeated with greater insistence; they
\nare to arrive swiftly, tūrṇ<\/span>ayaḥ<\/span>,<\/i>
\nto the Soma-offering or, it may
\nmean, making their way through all the planes of consciousness,
\n"waters", which divide the physical nature of man from their
\ngodhead and are full of obstacles to communication between
\nearth and heaven; apturaḥ<\/span>
\nsutam ā ganta tūrṇ<\/span>ayaḥ<\/span>.<\/i> They are to
\ncome like cattle hastening to the stalls of their rest at evening-
\ntide, usrā iva svasarāṇ<\/span>i.<\/i> Thus gladly arriving, they are gladly to
\naccept and cleave to the sacrifice and support it, bearing it up in
\nits journey to its goal, in its ascent to the gods or to the home of
\nthe gods, the Truth, the Vast, medham juṣ<\/span>anta vahnayaḥ<\/span>.<\/i> <\/p>\n

And the epithets of the Vishwadevas, qualifying their character and the
\nfunctions for which they are invited to the Soma-
\noffering, have the same generality; they are common to all the
\ngods, and applied indifferently to any or all of them throughout
\nthe Veda. They are fosterers or increasers of man and upholders
\nof his labour and effort in the work, the sacrifice, \u2014 omāsaś
\ncarṣ<\/span>aṇī<\/span>dhṛ<\/span>taḥ<\/span>.<\/i> Sayana renders these words
\nprotectors and sustainers of men. I need not enter here into a full
\njustification of
\nthe significances which I prefer to give them; for I have already
\nindicated the philological method which I follow. Sayana him-
\nself finds it impossible to attribute always the sense of protection
\nto the words derived from the root av, avas,ūuti, ūmā,<\/i>
\netc. which
\nare so common in the hymns, and is obliged to give to the same
\nword in different passages the most diverse and unconnected
\nsignificances. Similarly, while it is easy to attribute the sense of
\n"man" to the two kindred words carṣ<\/span>aṇ<\/span>i<\/i> and kṛ<\/span>ṣ<\/span>ṭ<\/span>i<\/i> when they
\nstand by themselves, this meaning seems unaccountably to disappear <\/p>\n

\n

 
\nPage \u2013 82<\/font><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

in compound forms like vicarṣ<\/span>aṇ<\/span>i, viśvacarṣ<\/span>aṇ<\/span>i, viśvakṛ<\/span>ṣ<\/span>ṭ<\/span>i. <\/i>Sayana himself is obliged to render viśvacarṣ<\/span>aṇ<\/span>i<\/i> "all-seeing" and
\nnot "all-man" or "all-human". I do not admit the
\npossibility of
\nsuch abysmal variations in fixed Vedic terms. Av<\/i> can mean, to
\nbe, have, keep; contain, protect; become, create; foster, increase,
\nthrive, prosper; gladden, be glad; but it is the sense of increasing
\nor fostering which seems to me to prevail in the Veda. Carṣ<\/span><\/i> and
\nkṛ<\/span>ṣ<\/span><\/i> were originally derivate
\nroots from car<\/i> and kṛ<\/span>,<\/i> both meaning
\nto do, and the sense of laborious action or movement still remains
\nin kṛ<\/span>ṣ<\/span>,<\/i> to drag, to plough. Carṣ<\/span>aṇ<\/span>i<\/i> and kṛ<\/span>ṣ<\/span>ṭ<\/span>i,<\/i> mean therefore
\neffort, laborious action or work or else the doers of such action.
\nThey are two among the many words, (karma, apas, kāra, kīri,
\nduvas,<\/i> etc.) which are used to indicate the Vedic work, the sacrifice, the
\ntoil of aspiring humanity, the arati<\/i> of the Aryan. <\/p>\n

The fostering or increasing of man in all his substance and
\npossessions, his continual enlargement towards the fullness and
\nrichness of the vast Truth-Consciousness, the upholding of him
\nin his great struggle and labour, this is the common preoccupation of the Vedic
\ngods. Then, they are apturah,<\/i> they who cross
\nthe waters, or as Sayana takes it, they who give the waters. This
\nhe understands in the sense of "rain-givers" and it is perfectly
\ntrue that all the Vedic gods are givers of the rain, the abundance
\n(for vṛ̣<\/span>ṣ<\/span>ṭ<\/span>i,<\/i> rain, has both senses) of
\nheaven, sometimes described
\nas the solar waters, svarvatīr apaḥ<\/span>,<\/i> or waters which carry in them
\nthe light of the luminous heaven, svar.<\/i> But the ocean and the
\nwaters in the Veda, as this phrase itself indicates, are the symbol
\nof conscient being in its mass and in its movements. The gods
\npour the fullness of these waters, especially the upper waters,
\nthe waters of heaven, the streams of the Truth, ṛ<\/span>tasya dhārāḥ<\/span>, <\/i>across all obstacles into the human consciousness. In this sense
\nthey are all apturah.<\/i> But man is also described as crossing the
\nwaters over to his home in the Truth-Consciousness and the gods
\nas carrying him over; it is doubtful whether this may not be
\nthe true sense here, especially as we have the two words apturah
\n…tūrṇ<\/span>ayaḥ<\/span><\/i> close to each other in a
\nconnection that may well be
\nsignificant. <\/p>\n

Again the gods are all free from effective assailants, free
\nfrom the harm of the hurtful or opposing powers and therefore <\/p>\n

\n

 
\nPage \u2013 83<\/font><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

the creative formations of their conscious knowledge, their Maya,
\nmove freely, pervasively, attain their right goal, \u2014 asridha
\nahimāyāso adruhaḥ<\/span>.<\/i>
\nIf we take <\/b> into account the numerous
\npassages of the Veda which indicate the general object of the
\nsacrifice, of the work, of the journey, of the increase of the light
\nand the abundance of the waters to be the attainment of the
\nTruth-Consciousness, ṛ<\/span>tam,<\/i>
\nwith the resultant Bliss, mayas,<\/i> and
\nthat these epithets commonly apply to powers of the infinite,
\nintegral Truth-Consciousness we can see that it is this attainment
\nof the Truth which is indicated in these three verses. The all-
\ngods increase man, they uphold him in the great work, they bring
\nhim the abundance of the waters of Swar, the streams of the
\nTruth, they communicate the unassailably integral and pervading
\naction of the Truth-Consciousness with its wide formations of
\nknowledge, māyāḥ<\/span>.<\/i> <\/p>\n

I have translated the phrase, usra iva svasarāni,<\/i> in the most
\nexternal sense possible; but in the Veda even poetical similes are
\nseldom or never employed for mere decoration; they too are
\nutilised to deepen the psychological sense and with a figure of
\nsymbolic or double meaning. The word usra<\/i> is always used in
\nthe Veda, like go,<\/i> with the double sense of the concrete figure or
\nsymbol, the Bull or Cow, and at the same time the psychological
\nindication of the bright or luminous ones, the illumined powers
\nof the Truth in man. It is as such illumined powers that the all-
\ngods have to come and they come to the Soma-juice, svasaraṇ<\/span>i, <\/i>as if to seats or forms of peace or of bliss; for the root svas,<\/i>
\nlike
\nsas<\/i> and many others, means both to rest and to enjoy. They are
\nthe powers of Truth entering into the outpourings of the Ananda
\nin man as soon as that movement has been prepared by the vital
\nand mental activity of the Ashwins and the pure mental activity
\nof Indra. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

"O    fosterers who uphold the doer in his work,
\nO    all-gods,
\ncome and divide the Soma-wine that I distribute. <\/p>\n

"O    all-gods who bring over to us the Waters, come passing
\nthrough to my Soma-offerings as illumined powers to your places
\nof bliss. <\/p>\n

"O    all-gods, you who are not assailed nor come to hurt, <\/p>\n

\n

 
\nPage \u2013 84<\/font><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

free-moving in your forms of knowledge, cleave to my sacrifice
\n.as its upbearers." <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And, finally, in the last movement of the hymn we have
\nthe clear and unmistakable indication of the Truth-Consciousness
\nas the goal of the sacrifice, the object of the Soma-offering, the
\nculmination of the work of the Ashwins, Indra and the All-gods
\nin the vitality and in the mind. For these are the three Riks devoted to Saraswati, the divine Word, who represents the stream
\nof inspiration that descends from the Truth-Consciousness, and
\nthus limpidly runs their sense: <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

"May purifying Saraswati with all the plenitude of her forms
\nof plenty, rich in substance by the thought, desire our sacrifice. <\/p>\n

"She, the impeller to happy truths, the awakener in consciousness to
\nright mentalisings, Saraswati, upholds the sacrifice. <\/p>\n

"Saraswati by the perception awakens in consciousness the
\ngreat flood (the vast movement of the ṛ<\/span>tam)<\/i> and illumines entirely all
\nthe thoughts." <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This clear and luminous finale throws back its light on all
\nthat has preceded it. It shows the intimate connection between
\nthe Vedic sacrifice and a certain state of mind and soul, the inter-
\ndependence between the offering of the clarified butter and the
\nSoma-juice and luminous thought, richness of psychological con-
\ntent, right states of the mind and its awaking and impulsion to
\nthe truth and light. It reveals the figure of Saraswati as the goddess of the
\ninspiration, of Shruti. And it establishes the connection between the Vedic
\nrivers and psychological states of mind.
\nThe passage is one of those luminous hints which the Rishis
\nhave left scattered amidst the deliberate ambiguities of their
\nsymbolic style to guide us towards their secret. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 
\nPage \u2013 85<\/font><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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