2

IN this brief introduction to the Veda, we may present a few verses from the Rigveda, which is the principal Veda.

First, let us take the most famous verse known as the Gayatri mantra. Actually, all the mantras in the Veda, which are in the poetic meter Gayatri, are Gayatri mantras. There are many meters and the system of these meters constitutes an elaborate science, which is known as Chhanda Shastra. Among these meters, one is called Gayatri. Gayatri has three parts, each of eight syllables, or alternatively it has four parts, each of six syllables. The total number of syllables is 24.

Among numerous Gayatri mantras in the Veda, the following has traditionally become most famous; and, generally, when one is asked to recite the Gayatri mantra, u is this one that is recited. Every youth who is given yajnopavita (sacred thread) is taught, first and foremost, this wantra. It was composed by one of the great Vedic Rishis,

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namely, Vishvamitra. This mantra is addressed to Savitri, who symbolises the highest creative light and power, which is at once all-comprehensive and perfect in each and every particular movement of manifestation. The mantra is as follows:

"Let us meditate on that blissful light of the all-comprehensive creative Savitri, so that he may direct our intellect (in all directions: the earth, the space, the heaven.)"¹

Actually, the first four words, are added to the main mantra that begins with and ends with is called pranava which is conceived as the Divine seed of the cosmos, are called vyahritis (divine prefixes). They refer to the earth the space and heaven . A short commentary may be in order.

In the Vedic literature, the word is given supreme importance. The Vedic Rishis were great discoverers of the secrets of the universe. In their search for the original force of the manifestation of the universe, they discovered that that force is an original Sound and that sound, when heard, makes itself audible as consisting of three syllables (a,u,m).

This sound, they discovered, is imperishable and is as continuous as the universe. They also discovered that if this sound is repeated millions of times by any seeker, he will reach the state of the origin of that sound, which is the Supreme Reality itself. Not only that, the seeker will be able to vibrate with the power of manifestation and he will be capable in due course to manifest the divine consciousness

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and will in all his activities.

Because of this discovery, the Rishis affirmed that the highest achievements of life can be realised with only one word, , provided one becomes concentrated on that word and attains a state where this word begins to repeat itself spontaneously in one's entire being, including mind, life and body.

All mantras are really manifestations of AUM, and one who masters AUM, begins to have revelations and realisations of other mantras also; he becomes himself the composer and the seer of mantras. This is one great truth discovered by the Veda, and in India, many have applied it in their lives and have attained great heights.²

We may now come to the next three divine prefixes, bhur, bhuvah, swah,. These three words, when rightly and repeatedly pronounced, create a state of consciousness of immense wideness that covers in one instant the entire physical universe, symbolised by the word, bhur, , the intermediate world of Life and Mind, symbolised by the word, bhuvah, , and the higher world of Mind and Light and Home of creative forces, symbolised by the word swah, . In other words, the repetition of these three divine prefixes is designed to indicate to the seeker that he has to be as comprehensive as the totality of the physical, vital, mental and higher worlds.

There is also another important point. Normally, we only see the physical universe. But that is because we are confined to physical senses. The Vedic Rishis had, however, developed higher instruments of knowledge by means of which they were able to experience vital and mental worlds also. And, most importantly, they made a discovery of the faculties of revelation, inspiration and divine discrimination leading up to the truth-consciousness (which they called Rita-chit)

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by means of which they discovered the universe called : where only Truth can exist and vibrate, where error and evil or crooked consciousness get automatically dissolved. This was one of their supreme discoveries. With the help of this discovery, they could perceive our physical universe in an entirely new way and could deal with it also in a new way. They, therefore, laid down that those who want to enter into the practice of mantra must endeavour to perceive the physical universe with complex eyes, complex consciousness, with profounder depths and wider vistas, so that Rita-chit, truth-consciousness, would ulti- mately dominate the perception of the mental, vital and physical worlds. It is only there that the physical world will be perceived in its true truth, in the total perspective.

Let us now come to the main text of the Gayatri mantra.

It has three elements:

(i) It is addressed to the original light of creation, symbolised by Savitri;

(ii) It aims at inviting the power of that creative Light to enter into the seeker's being; and

(iii) It specifically selects one faculty, that of intellect, and expresses the aspiration that that faculty of intellect be impelled or directed by the original power of creativity, that is Savitri, which is the home of Truth-consciousness.

This means that the Rishi Vishvamitra (who has seen this mantra) was aware of the Original Creative light of Truthconsciousness. He knew that this light could be effectively invited to enter into relationship with us, and that this mantra itself was the means of that invitation; and, finally, he had discovered that among all the faculties of human beings, the most important faculty was that of the intellect,

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without whose aid, and without whose coming into contact with the creative Light, the human being could not be liberated from his present limitations so as to become a new being of Truth-consciousness.

We can see how many discoveries the Rishi had made before he could arrive at the formulation of this mantra. We can also see how much experimentation must have been made to apply the knowledge of his discoveries to arrive at this mantra, which is in itself the instrument of application of knowledge and means of practical achievement.

NOTES

1. Varenyam is recited as vareniyam. This is for phonetic purpose and for completing the requirement of the metrical/musical rhythm.

2. It has been observed that it was this power of the mantra that acted powerfully when Swami Vivekananda uttered his famous words "Sisters and brothers of America" at the beginning of his address at the Chicago Parliament of Religions (September 11,1893), and produced incalculable effect on the audience.

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3

WE are giving below four important verses from the Rigveda, Mandala-I . Sukta 89. These have been chosen with a special purpose. They bring out the emphasis that is laid in the Veda on: (a) universality, (b) goodwill, (c) well-being, (d) selflessness and (e) all-round good health.

"May thoughts of goodwill come to us from all directions, without any obstruction or restraint, leading us to higher ideals, so that we may be recipients of divine protection without any hindrance from day to day for our well deserved growth."

"May Indra, with the opulent power of the divine hearing,

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be propitious to us. May the Omniscient Pushan be propitious to us. May Garuda, with His irresistible weapons, be propitious to us. May Brihaspati be auspicious to us."

"0 Gods, may we hear with ears what is auspicious; may we see with eyes what is auspicious, 0 gods worthy of worship. May we sing songs of gratitude with all our bodies endowed with firm faculties and live the full span of our life devoted to divine welfare."

"Hundred autumns are assigned to us by the Divine in this fleeting existence of bodies, subject to old age and decay. Those who are sons today shall be fathers tomorrow; may we have (therefore) no afflictions or infirmities in the midst of our life-span."

A few words of commentary:

(May good thoughts come to us from the entire universe)—These words of the Veda are often quoted to indicate that the Vedic teaching is wide open to the whole universe and is ready to receive thoughts of goodwill from all, irrespective of country, race and religion.

These words also emphasise the earnestness of the Veda for goodwill, for all that is auspicious, pleasant and sweet.

The verse in question is aware of the fact that, realistically, the good is usually met with obstruction, opposition or restriction. Gravitation towards the lower levels of existence is easy and smooth, but climbing upwards, which is effected by thoughts of goodwill, is always difficult. The Rishi, therefore, prays for daily

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protection from the Divine so that upward growth is fostered.

The force of this prayer is deeply realised by those who are in the midst of difficulties or are surrounded by enemies and are desperately in need of conquering them in order to experience higher or upward movement of growth.

The next verse is straightforward and expresses the prayer for Grace.

At a deeper level, however, a fundamental law of the universe lies behind this prayer. This law can be explained in the following words of Sri Aurobindo:

"There are two powers that alone can effect in their conjunction the great and difficult thing which is the aim of our endeavour, a fixed and unfailing aspiration that calls from below and a Supreme Grace from the above that answers."

It is also noteworthy that, in the Veda, aspiration or the call from below is represented by Agni, and Grace or the power that descends from above is represented by the Sun who stands for omniscience or all-knowing light. Again, in the framework of Vedic knowledge. Sun or Supreme creative Light acts through three agencies, the agency of light that inspires, the agency of light that reveals and the agency of light that tears the veil of darkness by means of irresistible weapons.

In other words, the power of the Grace is the power of the Sun, which in this verse, is addressed as Pushan (which means the increasing or rising light of the Sun), and the adjective attached to it is Vishwavedah (which means Omniscient). But the first delegate of the Sun is Indra, who stands between our Mind and Solar Supermind and comes to us in the form of increasing inspirations and words that are heard increasingly. That is why we find Indra with the

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epithet Vriddhashravah (opulent power of divine hearing).

Indra is always supported by the action of force or weapons which are irresistible and can tear open the veils of ignorance and darkness. When this is effected, the light of the Sun manifests as truth that can be seen, the word that can be revealed, which is indicated in the verse by reference to Brihaspati who symbolises the Lord of the Word, Revelation or Creation.

In the light of the above, we can see that this verse gives the secret of the law of aspiration and Grace as also the secret of the elements that are involved in the Action of Grace that descends from above.

The third and the fourth verses are also simple, as simple as all truths are. But the profundity of this simplicity will become manifest when we relate the prayers of these two verses with the principal aim that the Veda sets before us for achieving in human life.

As is well known, the principal aim of the Vedic knowledge is the discovery of the Supreme Truth (satyam, ritam) and application of it in every part of our being so as to attain to the state of immortality.

Vedic immortality lies in the realisation of the eternal Reality, not only in its essence, but also in its manifest powers of Light and Force. This realisation has been described variously in the Veda. The following mantra of Parashara, for example, gives us quite a vivid image of the state of immortality:

They who entered into all things that bear right fruit formed a path towards the immortality; earth stood wide for them by the

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greatness and by the Great Ones, the mother Aditi with her sons came (or, manifested herself) for the upholding.

Commenting on this, Sri Aurobindo points out:

"That is to say, the physical being visited by the greatness of the infinite planes above and by the power of great godheads who reign on those planes breaks its limits, opens out to the Light and is upheld in its new wideness by the infinite consciousness, mother Aditi, and her sons, the divine Powers of the supreme Deva. This is the Vedic immortality."³

Considering that the physical condition should.be able to sustain the power of realisation in the divine state of immortality, the Veda insists that the body should be kept in good condition, with firm organs and faculties capable of singing songs of gratitude.

And the Veda further lays down the condition that this can happen when we hear with our ears and see with our eyes always what is auspicious.

It is in the context of the larger aim of immortality and of the conditions that have to be fulfilled to achieve that aim that we can appreciate why the Veda advocates longest possible longevity (hundred years and even more). It is not the attachment to the physical frame or physical life that is the underlying motive; it is the basic motive of divine manifestation.

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* The Secret of the Veda, Centenary Ed., pp. 191 2.

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