The Vedic Vision and the Concept of Agni In the Light of Sri Aurobindo

Vladimir Iatsenko

A Pre-word

This study is an attempt to approach the Vedic Knowledge in a systematic way, keeping in mind all the major aspects of the Vedic Vision, using the means created by the very system. The task of this thesis is to discover the Vedic vision in a holistic way and at the same time to formulate it in metaphysical and psychological terms. We shall try to discover a new way of thinking by introducing and accommodating the ancient episteme into our modern mental processes of thinking. For that we shall look into the role Agni plays in this system of knowledge as the central pivot which holds it in a particular focus with all its aspects: gods and Godheads, introducing them into a play in terms of manifestation. We shall examine the imagery of Agni as it is used in the Veda to trace back all the major elements in their functionality, for it is a very complex system of knowledge, which belongs to the prehistoric age and is very difficult to discover.

In this attempt to define the elements of the system of knowledge we shall follow the paths the Veda itself offers us, rather than our own preferences and concepts; we will use in this attempt the guidance of Sri Aurobindo and his interpretation of the terms and concepts of the Veda. We will also consult all major translations of the Western and Indian Rigvedology of Yaska, Sayana, Dayananda Saraswati, Griffith, Geldner, Elezarenkova, Gonda, Kapali Shastri etc.

Our exploration is based on an ongoing systematic study of the Rig Veda over a long period of time, trying to define all the characteristics of the major gods and other mythological figures. It is based on our own translations of over 300 hymns dedicated to different deities: Agni, Indra, Maruts, Surya, Savitar, Varuna, Mitra, Adityas, Ushas, Vishnu, Rudra, Brihaspati, Ashvins etc. The systematic study of the Rig Veda has resulted in a more coherent and comprehensive perception of what Vedic Knowledge could actually be, and yet we are far from making any final conclusions on the overall vision of the Veda. Nevertheless, what is certain is that this knowledge is a profound psychological system of universals which can be applied to any individual perception. The individual as such is viewed in the Veda only in the light of these universals and treated as a part of the larger system and endeavor on the path towards the future manifestation of the Divine. This orientation towards the future is expressed in the terms of a journey or a battle with opposing forces that try to prevent the seeker of Light, the Aryan, the noble

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fighter for Truth, from his advance. Truth itself was seen only as a means by the Vedic Seers to conquer Immortality, which was their goal. In this strive for immortal life the Aryan fighter invokes all the forces of universal consciousness to help him out. It is to them that he calls and with their help he should succeed. But for these forces to enter the lower states of being the Sacrifice is to be made, the fire is to be ignited, who thus shall invoke and bring forward the hidden forces of the universal consciousness within man. Agni is the key to this transforming movement in manifestation. He is the representative of all cosmic forces here in the body. It is he who, together with other universal godheads, which he manifests, is rising to the highest potential of our being, towards Immortality.

A few words must be said about the Vedic Sanskrit and the usage of language in the Veda. This language is a unique instrument of a unique consciousness of universal. It operates not only by the concepts of the mental structure but also by intuitive and flexible perceptions and movements of a broader consciousness. It is purely poetic from the aesthetic point of view, and yet it is highly functional and psychological from the point of view of the spiritual experience.The terms used in the Vedic Sanskrit do not have negative connotations as such. All the terms are purely functional, the same word can have different and even opposite meanings when viewed in opposite contexts;, for instance, Varuna arid Vritra are derived from the same root vr, 'to cover', which in the first case means 'to protect' and in the second 'to prevent'. Any action can be seen as positive and negative depending on the context.There is another difficulty in approaching the Vedic language. And that is its flexibility in applying certain qualities and characteristics to different and even sometimes contradictory beings and forces. In this way it reflects the movement of consciousness of higher realms, where such visions a’re universally meaningful, projecting them in a similar way in the usage of a human language. Thus it widens the scope of perception in the earthly mind, creating an atmosphere of the perception of higher levels of consciousness. For the Habitual conceptual thinker this is the most difficult feature of this language tq cope with. For his mind can usually see in it are only incoherent and unrelated bits of repetitive and superstitious invocations, overloaded with bright epithets and metaphors. This difficulty of the rational mentality to deal with the higher mind's perceptions was pointed out by Sri Aurobindo as one of the major;difficulties in interpreting the Veda. He writes: "... As indeed throughout the hymns the unity in difference of all the gods makes it difficult for the mind not accustomed to the subtleties of’ psychological truth to find in the Vedic divinities anything but a confused mass of commori or interchangeable attributes. But the distinctions are there.:. Each god contains in himself all the others, but remains still himself in his peculiar function."1

There is also a great deal of suggestive and intuitive content in the way how the Sanskrit language is formed and used in the Veda. Its etymological transparency

1 Volume: 15 [CWSA] (The Secret of the Veda), Page: 497

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and systematic coherency of sound with meaning makes it a unique and most reliable instrument for any conscious operation of a higher mind.There is another difficulty arising on this ground, as Sri Aurobindo puts it: "a deliberate employment of the "multi-significance" of Sanskrit roots in order to pack as much meaning as possible into a single word, which at first sight enhances the difficulty of the problem to an extraordinary degree."2 So the terms are packed with manifold significances which are perceptible only for a subtle and experienced consciousness. Thus the Veda is well protected by the very functionality of its content and language.

In our style of exposition we shall deviate from a purely academic approach by quoting from poetry (Sri Aurobindo's Savitri), using it to illustrate our psychological and philosophical arguments, which in itself is a characteristic of a mantric or higher mentality. To come closer to the inner and deeper meaning of,the spiritual, vision of the Veda we have to tune our perception to subtler visions where these poetic quotations serve their purpose.

There are more points which should be mentioned but we shall let them emerge in their proper place c|uring our journey.

I would like to extend my gratitude to all those who have made this1 research possible and contributed to this wonderful journey on the path of self-knowledge and world knowledge knowingly or unknowingly; (first of all) to the Vedic Rishis for. their great creations and inspirations and to Sri Aurobindo and the Mother for their constant guidance, profound interpretations and inner support; as well as to my mentors and friends, who are on the path towards the discovery of the Veda.

2 Volume: 15 [CWSA] (The Secret of the Veda), Page: 49

An Introduction

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The Need and Necessity of the Study of the Veda

The basic idea of this thesis is to rediscover the Vedic Vision and formulate it in the most general metaphysical and psychological terms in the , light of Sri Aurobindo's interpretation. The concept of a dynamic growth of Consciousness and Being symbolized by the Vedic Sacrifice with Agni as a priest presiding over it or as a force engaged in making it, was the foundation of the Vedic Vision which must now be reformulated in rational terms more suitable for the modern mind.

The difficulty of such an endeavor is quite obvious, for it requires from the researcher an ability to be involved subjectively and to be able to define thereafter his subjective findings objectively (to conceptualize them) without loosing the subtleties of their content. It also requires a deeper understanding of Srj Aurobindo's works in this field, without which not much can be done in this particular study, for the symbolism of Vedic Knowledge is quite complex and profound, and it must be clear, at least to a certain extent, even before starting an investigation.

For this purpose we have chosen the theme of Agni as a deity which represents .all the gods and godheads in manifestation. Thus through the symbolism;of Agni as the Will of the Divine manifesting itself here in matter, we can overview the whole panorama of the body of knowledge of the Ancient Rishis, which may lead us eventually to a deeper understanding of the Vedic spirituality and Sri Aurobindo's Integral Yoga.

The relevance of such studies is quite obvious; it can be of great importance for the future development of the modern mind in search of an integral paradigm of knowledge. To clarify our approach some preliminary remarks must be made, oh the basis of which we shall conduct our research. These basic presumptions will be implied throughout our study; therefore they have to be clarified from the very beginning. :

First of ail we should mention the shift of epistemological paradigm, which took place several times in the history of mankind. In the Vedic times, for instance, the Word was perceived and referred to as creative and formative Of thought, and only later as its representative, indicative of and completely dependent on it, Ttiis particular shift led eventually to the emergence of the theory of Sphota and the Tantric theories of the Word and then to the modern understanding of ilanguage.3

3 Not only in India but also in the West, where the present understanding of language has started in Europe, with the discovery of the Sanskrit language and linguistics at the end of the 18th century.

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Similarly a shift of epistemological paradigm took place in the metaphysical approaches to knowledge and cognition from the archaic and magical structures of pre-Vedic perceptions to the mythical of the post-Vedic in the Brahmanas and the old Vedanta and finally to the mental and rational in the post Vedantic literature of Sankhya and Yoga. To define and to be conscious of such a shift is an important part of this research.The study of archaic and magical developmental stages, speaking in Gebserean terms,, or simply of the pre-rational structures of consciousness, has an important role in building up a historical depth of our consciousness, eventually pointing us towards the unification of all developmental stages, to an integral structure, as Gebser called it It is on this ground that we can start understanding better historical events and the trends in the world today.

The knowledge of the beginnings of human language, religion, philosophy, psychology and art is of a great importance to humanity. For human civilization, according to Sri Aurobindo, could not have simply sprung up on the basis of barbarian or animal life. It had to have at its core a body of a true and profound spiritual realization, which then got spread and diluted in time, giving rise to the present civilization as we know it. Or, to say it otherwise, the inner knowledge had first to be impregnated in the life of man, and then to be forgotten, as it were, in order to rise in a new form in the outer life, shaping the material creation. This is what Sri Aurobindo meant, when he spoke about Our glorious beginnings of the Vedic times, which was clearly misunderstood by his contemporaries (see S. Radhakrishnan's remarks in his History of Indian Philosophy, (vol.l), on this

; particular subject).

The ancient Scriptures of the Veda were a part of the ancient civilization of that time., The Rig-veda was referred to as the Knowledge of the modern rishis, nutana, whereas the ancient rishis, purva, are also mentioned with great reverence. The Rig-veda itself was seen as a further development of the ancient knowledge. There are, several statements in the Rig-veda itself confirming that there was a stage, which has actually concealed its beginnings and revealed it in a new form for the future generations.4 Comparative studies of the Rig-veda with the fundamentals; of other scriptures of the Middle East, of the Chaldean and Semitic origins, and their systems of knowledge, might become a useful tool in our research, bringing us closer to the understanding of how the mind of the ancient seers actually worked.

In the context of India, the Veda is seen as the beginning of Indian civilisation and was referred to by the Upanishads with utmost reverence, acknowledging the' supremacy of the Knowledge-experience collected in the Samhita texts. It is interesting to note here that philosophers in India and in the West, although accepting the profound spiritual and philosophical significance of the Upanishads .in

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See: yajma visva bhuvananijuhvadrsir hota nyasidatpita nah/sa asisa dravinam icchamanahprathamacchad avaran avivesa. RV 10.81.1 ■ ’

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general do not recognize in the same way, as the Upanishads do, the supremacy of knowledge contained in the Vedas. If the Upanishads could see it and constantly referred to the Veda as the ultimate source of knowledge, seeking from it inspiration and confirmation of their own revelations, then how is it possible that the modern philosophers do not share the same views with the Upanishadic seers? How is it possible that S. Radhakrishnan, speaking so highly of the Upanishadic period, says hardly anything valuable about the Vedic period? How was it possible that such a huge and extensive literature as the four Vedas including several great Brahmanas and Aranyakas, making up many volumes, was simply overlooked? I think we have to start serious studies of these texts in order to discover the deeper meaning of the Veda.

The Veda belongs to another age of humanity, its Vision is grand and unifying, it represents a natural view on of the oneness of all existences, its monistic view is existential rather then philosophical. It views all events in the inner and outer life as the movement of the manifold One Being. These movements were named and cognized in the consciousness of the Rishis. For instance: Varuna represents the all inclusive power of Infinity and Purity of the Divine Being, on all the levels of its existence, Mitra is the force of Consciousness creating and harmonizing ail the parts in their Oneness, Aryaman is the force, of creative Power, Tapas, of the Divine Being,, supporting all the movements and realizations within this! Oneness, Bhaga is the power of creative Bliss in all that is and lives in this; Oneness, Agni is, the Divine Will, the power of Knowledge which grows from within the darkness of our unconscious being manifesting all higher states of consciousness within it, etc. etc; Thus we can perceive another mode of consciousness, another paradigm, which we once lost in the pursuit of a more specialized separative: knowledge ifor a more detailed manifestation in matter. But the time will come when humanity will need this grand perception of oneness once again in its next evolutionary stage, when we will become ready to come out of Our narrowed state of being to a broader movement of universal consciousness. It becomes crucial for humanity in its ecological and economical crisis to relearn from the Veda the way Of seeing the world and ourselves in oneness and in terms of a dynamic manifestation of the Truth. In other words, the Veda speaks about many movements in the consciousness of the One Being, presuming its oneness, whereas our modern monistic thoughts refer to the oneness presuming the difference and separateness.

Agni itself symbolises the movement of the evolutionary force within the creation. Agni contains all the forces necessary for the embodiment of the universal consciousness in the individual frame of mart, for it can bring them forward from the beyond or from the depth of its secret divine being to the surface of consciousness in manifestation. Agni is the beginning and the end of this movement of growth, as Sri Aurobindo puts it. It is the means and the goal; of our evolution. It is a power of self-conscious force hidden within man's ignorant being.

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When approached consciously it can manifest a deeper and truer consciousness in humanity. Agni represents the growth of the Dynamic Truth in manifestation, rtam.This process of the dynamic growth, changing or transforming the outer being of man, was forgotten in the post Vedic period, for there was a shift of paradigm which reoriented the human mind towards the realization of the Absolute, leaving the outer life unchanged. This particular shift brought many fundamental changes in our epistemological paradigm, redefining, as it were, our major views on life and its purpose in relation to the material manifestation, which begun to be seen as something undesirable, something one should abandon as soon as possible. So if in the Veda Life was seen as the manifestation of the Divine in all its complexity and variety of existence, as a symbol of the Divinity growing from within, then in the post Vedic tradition there was no more the question of the divine manifestation in matter and life, but only a movement beyond it. This shift of paradigm, according to Sri Aurobindo, was due to the 'failure' of the Vedic Rishis to transform the earthly life, for humanity was not yet ready evolutibnary and psychologically to undertake such a transformation. It had to still jgrow and develop its mental and psychic being.

To bring back this profound Vision of the Veda that views all life as a fijeld for the manifestation of a higher consciousness, is the desideratum for both Eastern and Western civilizations. It can be seen as the answer to all our; fundamental problems today. The Veda has the psychological and spiritual knowledge and power necessary for humanity to solve them. It has to be re-discovered again, with the help of Sri Aurobindo's guidance, who found in the Veda the confirmation of his own spiritual experiences. !

The concept of Agni is central in the Veda. Agni symbolizes the. power of consciousness growing within the being, bringing higher knowledge and power into, it and creating thus another world here in matter, worthy of the higher consciousness of the One Being. Sri Aurobindo dedicated a whoie; book to the studies of Agni alone, called "Hymns to the Mystic Fire", where he selected hymns to Agni from different Rishis to discover the significance of this great godhead. In his. archival notes, published by the Ashram, he constantly refers to Agni and has translated many times the first hymn to Agni, with extensive notes and commentaries. And in "The Secret of the Veda" he gives several :; times a complete overview of all the faculties of Agni, dedicating to it many passages throughout the text. There, in the chapter "The Doctrine of the Mystics",'where he also summarizes the whole paradigm of Vedic knowledge from the perspective of the growth of Agni in manifestation.

In one of his letters he defines the role of the Veda for the whole Hindu Civilisation in this way:

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At the root of all that we Hindus have done, thought and said through these many thousands of years, behind all we are and seek to be, there lies concealed, the fount of our philosophies, the bedrock of our religions, the kernel of our thought, the explanation of our ethics and society, the summary of our civilization, a small body of speech, Veda.

It must be also mentioned here that the Veda has the keys to another approach to the understanding of the faculty of the Word. A new science of language may emerge through these studies. Here too Sri Aurobindo discovered and left us with the keys for a new interpretation of the Vedic language and the embryology of, human speech in general. The concept of the divine origin of language manifesting its higher consciousness in humanity is to be looked into once again, an attempt which was tried and failed in the 19* century in Europe. Sri Aurobindo in his "Origins of Aryan Speech" and in many archival notes presented the concepts and, methodologies to conduct such a research in the field of linguistics.

And finally we can say that all philosophical truths are only useful when they support the growth of psychological truths in us, leading us to a progressive way of thinking and being and to the growing understanding of the One Being. The Veda is one of those rare systems of knowledge which was preserved! over; millennia to bring it forward and to make use of it in the future.Sri Aurobindo in "Essays Divine and Human" speaks about this necessity of rediscovering the Vedic knowledge in the most personal way:5 -

. -j - , •I seek an authority that accepting, illuminating and reconciling all human truth, shall yet reject and get rid of by explaining it all mere; human error.I seek a text and a Shastra that is not subject to j interpolation, modification and replacement, that moth and white ant cannot destroy, 1 that the earth cannot bury nor Time mutilate. I seek an asceticism that ; shall give me purity , and deliverance from self and from ignorance without ! stultifying God and His universe. I seek a scepticism that shall question everything but shall have the patience to deny nothing that' may possibly beltrue, I seek a rationalism not proceeding oh the untenable supposition thqt all the centuries of man's history except the nineteenth were centuries of folly and superstition, but bent on discovering tr!uth instead of : limiting inquiry by a!new dogmatism, obscurantism and furiotis intolerance ; which it chooses to call common sense and enlightenment; ;I seek a materialism that shall recognise matter and use it without being its slave. Tseek an occultism: that shall bring out all its processes arid proofs into ; the light of day, without mystery, without jugglery, without the pld stupid call to humanity, "Be blind, 0 man, and see!" In short, I seek not sciehce, not religion, not Theosophy, but Veda—the truth about Brahman, not only

5 Essays Divine and Human, p.62 ,

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about His essentiality, but about His manifestation, not a lamp on the way to the forest, but a light and a guide to joy and action in the world, the truth which is beyond opinion, the knowledge which all thought strives after—yasmin vijnate sarvam vijnatam. I believe that Veda to be the foundation of the Sanatan Dharma; I believe it to be the concealed divinity within Hinduism,—but a veil has to be drawn aside, a curtain has to be lifted. I believe it to be knowable and discoverable. I believe the future of India and the world to depend on its discovery and on its application, not to the renunciation of life, but to life in the world and among men.

Shift of Paradigm

111 The Vedic Vision: foundations and presumptions.

The difficulty of interpreting the symbols contained in spiritual texts like the Vedas\\es in their spiritual content. These symbols are there only to remind us of the knowledge-experience, which is behind them. But most of the symbols speak about things that have not been experienced by the reader.

What then can we understand from texts like the Vedas? How should we approach them? Should we try to understand them with our minds at all, or should the text have some other value or even function for us? The best that we can do, says the Mother, is to let the words sink into our silent and attentive mind and heart.1 The text has a transformative power and will do the needful to effect a gradual unfolding of its meaning.

In ancient India a similar method was adopted for studying the Vedas. This technique was called Svadhyaya, "reading for oneself". The mind of the reader had to be still and attentive, withdrawn from the active formulation of the text but observing the flow of the words without trying to formulate or understand them by its own means. The consciousness of the reader was offered as a ground for the inspired Word of the Seers to enter and establish its own meaning.2

However, it is possible to build up a picture of the Vedic vision through purely intellectual means and at a purely intellectual level. We will attempt to do this through taking up Vedic myths, images and concepts and referring them to Sri Aurobindo's theory of Vedic interpretation presented in his book The Secret of the Veda as well as in other writings.I believe that unfolding the meaning of the Vedic symbols may provide us with a vivid and living experience of the spiritual knowledge contained in these texts.The purpose of spiritual literature and especially poetry like the Veda is to give an experience and not only to instruct. It is in itself the embodiment of Knowledge.

1 What is the true method for studying Sri Aurobindo's works?The true method is to read a little at a time, with concentration, keeping the mind as silent as possible, without actively trying to understand, but turned upwards, in silence, and aspiring for the light. Understanding will come little by little. And later, in one or two years, you will read the same thing again and then you will know that the first contact had been vague and incomplete, and that true understanding comes later, after having tried to put it into practice. (14 October 1967, MCW)2 Cf. Taittiriya Aranyaka 2

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1.1.2 Metaphysical shift of paradigm.

A shift of epistemological paradigm took place many times in the evolutionary march of mankind. In the Veda the faculties of consciousness were seen as universal and formative of individual perception, whereas in the post-Vedic approach they are more and more centered around individual consciousness, its capacity and perception. In the field of Linguistics, for instance, this shift from a more universal perception of the faculty of the Word to the more application- oriented treatment of language (see: Patanjali's remarks about the meaning to be learnt at the market place) led eventually to the emergence of the theory of Sphota and then to the modern understanding of language.3 Greeks, for instance, did not have such a problem, for their civilization was mainly formed and started to be conscious of itself only after the time of great Mysteries; they were already grounded in a new perception of language, though some archaic statements, the memories of the past Mysteries, can still be found scattered here and there in the literature, but nevertheless they did not determine the overall understanding and approach to language.In India the original perception of the Word was preserved by the Vedic tradition ; and was developed, though already within a new mind-set, by a number of schools of grammar in the post Vedic period, the most famous of , which are Nirukta of Yaska, Astadhyaylof Partini, Mahabhasya of PatahjaH, Vakyapadlya of Bhartrhari, Tantrafoka of Abhinavagupta and others.The Tantras in this regard are to be mentioned here as a unique synthesis, for: they have preserved and developed the ancient perception of the Word in a new fashion, by using already the rational mind, which in its nature radically differs frofrvthat of the Vedas.4 Thus we find in the Tantra an interesting mixture of. deep! prehistoric views on the Word (of magic and mythical structures) combined with a modem rational way of symmetric classification, creating a rational system within the infra-rational or rather supra-rational framework.5 As such it was an attempt to rationally describe something of the 'Vedic' mind;, which has, altogether another epistemology, where the Word was perceived as independent from the Mind.

Besides, Sanskrit is the only language which has preserved its own original and complete system of etymons,6 simple sound-ideas, and does not require any other language to explain its derivations, for all the evidence is contained in its

3 Not only in India but also in the West; it has started with the discovery of Sanskrit language arid linguistics in the 18th century in Europe.4 For it subordinates the word to its own structure, treating it only as a material for its own formations.5 According to the modern understanding, which in principle is similar with the 'Sankhyaic' classification, mind, manas, is a synthesizer and ruler of the senses, indriyas. In this view the faculty of the word is seen as fully subordinate to the mind.6 It is complete in a sense that the missing etymons can be reconstructed in the system, since the mainbody, of the simple roots is still there. We can compare the system of etymons with’ the table of chemical elements, where the elements predicted by the system were discovered later. '

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own basic system of roots, and refers to it alone. The Sanskrit vocabulary is based on the organic interrelation of meaning and sound, being regular throughout the system; therefore the meaning of the word was never mis-taken for the form of object it designated. The meaning of the word was inherent within the system of roots, sound-ideas, and could designate any object in a particular context, for it was revealing and referring to its own system of meaning and only reflecting it in the object, which was seen as a result molded by its meaning.

Sri Aurobindo explains the nature of the Vedic perception of language;"The Vedic Sanskrit... abounds in a variety of forms and inflexions; it is fluid and vague, yet richly subtle in its use of cases and tenses. And on its psychological side it has not yet crystallized, is not entirely hardened into the rigid forms of intellectual precision. The word for the Vedic Rishi is still a living thing, a thing of power, creative, formative. It is not yet a conventional symbol for an idea, but itself the parent and former of ideas. It carries within it the memory of its roots, is still conscient of its own history."7

Approaching the Veda with the rational mind without recognizing the difference in its epistemological framework may lead, and often led, to many and even serious inaccuracies in the interpretation of the Veda, in the West and even in India,Sri Aurobindo recognized and, defined the difference in the approaches to knowledge, the shift of paradigm from the Vedic to the; Vedantic and the later metaphysical approaches to knowledge, and how the Vedas have determined all the schools of Indian Philosophy, Darshanas, and eventually all Indian Civilisation.

"The Veda is not logical, 8 - says Sri Aurobindo - does not really confute anything; its method is experiential, intuitional; its principle is to receive all experiences, all perceptions of truth about the Brahman, and either to place them side by side in order of experience and occasional relation, as in the Sanhitas, or to arrange them in order of perception and fundamental relation, as in the Upanishads, putting each in its place, correcting misplacement and exaggeration, but not excluding, not destroying.... Harmony, synthesis is the law of the Veda, not discord and a disjection of the members of truth in order to replace the many-sided reality of existence by a narrower; logical symmetry. But the metaphysical philosophies are compelled by the law of their being to effect precisely this disjection. Veda can admit two propositions that are logically contradictory, so long as they are statements of fundamental experience and perception; it does not get rid of the contradiction by denying experience but seeks instead the higher truth in which the apparent contradiction is reconciled.

7 ibid, p.518 Archives 1980, December, pp.180-186

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Logic, by its very nature, is intolerant even of apparent contradiction; its method is verbal, ideative; it accepts words and thoughts as rigid and iron facts instead of what they really are, imperfect symbols and separate sidelights on truth.Being and Non-being are ideas opposed to each other; therefore, in logic, one or the other must be excluded. ...(The language of the Sruti is remarkable, asat ekam evadvitlyam, "Non-being one without a second", and shows that the old use of not-being differs from our idea of nothingness.)... The One cannot be at the same time the Many; therefore, in logic, either the Many is an illusion, or Duality is the fundamental reality of things. Brahman is Nirguna, without qualities, beyond definition; therefore, to the rigid Advaitins, the Saguna Brahman, the Infinite Personality of God becomes a supreme myth of Maya, a basic and effective fact indeed, but basic and effective only in and of the grand cosmic illusion which It directs. ,.."9"The battle is, finally a civil strife between Vedantist and Vedantist; temporarily victorious over rival schools, they turn to rend each other; but the strife is still mainly about fundamental perception. The great question now is the fundamental unity or difference between the supreme soul and the individual, or another, which would have astonished greatly the ancient Rishis, the question whether the world is false or real, - false, not Only in its appearance to the senses, but per se, in itself, in its essence and its being. ... Thus has jit come down to our own age,, ever narrowing more and more, shorn of its victorious streams, awaiting its return to a wider flood and a more grandiose motion." 10

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Vedanta as a bridge from the Vedic to the Sankhyaic epistemology.‘i

The Vedantic approach to consciousness was a transition from the Vedic to the later metaphysical approaches of Saiikhya and Yoga.Let us take a brief look into the Vedantic approach to Consciousness, which may help us to define the difference between the modern (Sankhyaic) and ancient (Vedic) episteme.Brahman, according to the Taittiriya Upanishad 3.1.2, is defined as annam pranam chaksuh srotram mano vacam it/, "matter, breath, sight, hearing, mind, speech".In Vedanta they also correspond to the higher cognitive faculties, of Consciousness, which were perceived by the Rishis as universal, that are reflected in the individual frame. !Caksuh-srotram are mentioned constantly as a pair, dvandva, in the Vedic texts.* 11Seeing, drsti or caksuh, was seen by the Vedic Rishis as a faculty of consciousness which introduces a direct contact with what is being perceived. It

9 Ibid; pp. 181-82 i -10 Archives 1980, December, p. 18611 caksuh srotram ka u devo yunaktR" "Who is the God who unites Seeing and Hearing?"- asks Kena, Upanishad (1.1.1)

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can be translated in terms of a "direct evidence of the truth".12 Drstim the Vedas is considered to be the ultimate faculty of Consciousness, as a revelation of the Truth. It is of direct and self-evident nature.

Hearing, sruti or srotram, on the other hand was seen as 'indirect evidence' (like for instance an inspiration). Without this faculty we may not know the relation of the object we see with other objects we don't see. So much So that everything which is not yet manifest, realised, understood, is falling into this domain of Hearing, or "indirect evidence of the Truth". It is of the nature ,of all-pervading Space, Spirit, connecting all into One Reality.

Manas and vak was another constant dvandva in Vedanta.13

Manas, Mind, was perceived by the Vedic seers as a faculty of consciousness equal to Seeing and Hearing and not as their dominant principle, as it was : understood later and especially in Sankhya and Yoga}"* It was also considered to be equal to the Word-faculty, which later was completely .subordinated and made fully dependent on it. In the Vedic paradigm manas was an active counterpart of the perceptive faculty of Seeing, rather than the sixth seiise of the Sankhya.

Vak, Speech, was. considered to be an independent faculty of Consciousness, having its own power and character. It was seen as an, expression or an active . presentation of the All-pervading Spirit: (of) Hearing. Brahman (lit. the growing or expanding one) was referred to as Mantra in the Rig Veda, and only later as Spirit.

Thus, these four: chaksus and srotram, manas and , vak, according to the ■ Upanishads, constituted brahma chatuspad, "The Spirit on four legs'15, through j which Brahman was manifested in the world. Prana very often symbolised the embodiment of Brahman itself, especially in the older Upanishads; on which all other faculties totally depended. It was also understood as the offspring of! manas or even as its father with vak as its mother (BrhUpj. In this way the

12 Russian proverb: "better to see once, than to hear a hundred times", which explains it quite

well. ^13 AitUl.l.l van me manasipratisthlta mano me vacipratisthitam, "My Speech is established in my Mind, and my Mind is established in my Speech."14 In Sankhya the Mind, manas, is the synthesizing principle for all other faculties, which are seen as senses,jnanendriyas. This tendency of the Mind to take over the senses was already in the older Upanishads, but it was not yet fully realized. It is only later with the classification of Sankhya that the mind was considered the Sense of the sense, as it were, and all other faculties were seen only as the gates for the mind to perceive the reality. i \15 Kausitaki Upanisad etc.

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process of manifestation of the Spirit in matter was conceived, which made matter animated, annam (lit. "eatable"). Thus we have one more pair: prana- apana, Breathing in and Breathing out, or prana-anna, Life and Matter (Prasna and Taittirlya Upanisad).

These three pairs are constantly mentioned in.the Upanisads.

1) manas-vac, (cp: agni-soma in the Rg Veda)’,2) caksuh-srotram, (cp: nama-rupa\u the Brahmanas)3) prana-apana, or Prana-anna (cp: Prasnopanisad)

prana

srotram (-)

vak{+)

(pictl)apana/anna

Seeing and Hearing (caksus-srotram) are perceptive faculties (see pict.l), marked with (-), whereas Thinking and Speaking (manas-vak) are their active counterparts, marked with (+). These four are realised in the Manifestation of Life and Matter {prana-anna). Thinking and Seeing are related to rupam, Form, as the expression of the aspect of Power, whereas Word and Hearing to nama, Name, as the expression of the aspect of Knowledge. These two: Knowledge and Power are the constituents of the Supreme Consciousness known as Cit-Tapas, which is the source and origin of nama and rupa, constituting the phenomenon of consciousness in manifestation. It is by the nama and rupa that Brahman could enter its creation, according to the old Vedantic texts.16

This paradigm radically differs from the one which started afterwards with Sankhya, which classifies all these faculties of consciousness and/but treads them (only) as the doors to the perception of the mind, manas, the ego-sense, ahamkara, and the higher intellect, buddhi. It is as if the universal and

16 Shatapatha Brahmana etc.

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transcendental faculties of consciousness sight, hearing and word were submitted to the mind as their leader, surrendered to. the mental perception. Thus from the time of Sankhya the rational classification (which was known already in the Gita) started a new period of mental approach in every field of knowledge, sastras.

1,1.3 The Sociological shift of paradigm.

Why should we then at all study ancient texts? Why should Hegel,!Heidegger or Derrida refer constantly to Socrates and Aristotle? Is it; only a historical reference or is there a need in it? To try to answer this question ,we should review some of the principles of the historical approach to the development of consciousness.

Jean Gebser in his The Ever-Present Origin, has discovered and defined the structures of consciousness for different developmental stages, naming them as archaic, magic, mythical, mental and integrall17 Every particular structure of consciousness has a:particular perception of time and space.' For instance, the mythic perception of time is that it is cyclic with the space being enclosed in it, whereas-in the next developmental stage of the mental structure the time is seen as linear and space as a void, an empty space, in which] everything can belocated. Thus each developmental stage has its own perception ofithe individualand society.

Gebser discovered also that the awareness ofthe last integral stage is somehow present throughout all these structures of consciousness, fof without it none of them could actually function and develop into the next one, and therefore the stage which has passed is still somehow present, influencing the overall understanding. Such; a holistic view on the development of,[consciousness is of

great importance to us, for it can explain many difficult issues in the terms of social and personal psychology, and, especially, why and how these structures of consciousness still coexist Within one individual consciousness. Why> for example, man, who seems to be completely rational, finds himself attracted to the magic or mythical issues and epistemologies. Actually the whole individual life1 of man can be seen as a symbolic representation of the development of

17 In his spirit he was influenced by Sri Aurobindo, as he himself recognized at the end: of his life, having

come to know about his writings; Sri Aurobindo developed in The Human Cycle the view of five stages, following the classification proposed by Lamprecht: symbolic, typal, conventional; individualist andsubjective. We can clearly see the correspondence between the two classifications.

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these stages, starting from the embryonic life of an archaic stage, and the childhood as magic and mythical to his adolescence as mythical and mental, and finally to his adulthood as mental and integral. So the phenomenon of consciousness cannot be . fully described in terms of any of these structures separately, though they have in themselves this ever-present origin as an 'integral awareness'.18

Going back to the magic or mythical beginnings is important for us, so as to build up a 'historical depth' of our consciousness, to enlarge our own perception in order to have a glimpse of what that 'integral awareness' could be. It is always best to start from the beginning and to review the embryonic stages in order to know what it was and what it could become in the later stages of development.

Thus the study of ancient Greek Philosophy, for instance, is important for the Western scholar to recover his own beginnings of rationality; Ancient Greek philosophy was a transition from the mythical to the rational .thinking:19 from Heraclites, Pythagoras and Socrates to Plato and finally Aristotle.; Aristotle can be considered as the beginning of a new developmental stage: rational thinking in the West. This transition is full of original views, which are very conducive to the understanding of how reason functions and what was essential for iit at the beginning and what is still essential for It now. It is a kind of embryology of the rational thinking. Therefore all modern philosophers go' back ;to the study of Greek, philosophy and thus build a deeper understanding of the , functioning of their own mind.

If going back to the origins is so crucial for understanding our present paradigm and for building up a holistic view in the mind or, in Gebserean terms, an integral stage of consciousness, then going back to the Vedic paradigm may be considered even more important, for it is a stage which preceded the great Indian and Greek civilizations, and (- one could even say -) was already unknown to the Greeks.20 This stage is hidden from us by the glory of the development and achievement of the later civilizations. It can be studied but with a different approach than simply being rational, with an integral approach.

IS It is only in the Human Cycle that we find an integral explanation of all the stages integrated in the emergence of the individual in his true subjective self-knowledge and world-knowledge. ;19;Here it differs from Ken, Wilber, who considered this transition to be from magic to mythical.20 They have already passed into another mythical stage, and knew very little about their origin, had no real textual evidence, only obscure references in their mythology.

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The rational mind unfortunately does not have such a capacity.21 It is analyzing and judging the culture of another structure of consciousness without being even aware of what it actually represents, being not able to identify itself with its episteme.22 The translations of the Rig Veda by Western and even Indian scholars can clearly demonstrate this deficiency. The Rig Veda was and is still presented, if not as barbarous compositions of a crude craftsmanship, still as the

. text of superstitious Aryan tribes, who were invoking their imaginative gods as powers of Nature to help them in their battles for physical survival with the aboriginal robbers. And this impression is imposed on all Indian culture, since it always refers to the Veda.23 It goes so far as to belittle and exclude the most prdminent and great thinkers and yogis of India even in our modern times, such

as Ramakrishna and Sri Aurobindo. The rational mind with its shallow depth of understanding and inherited Freudian perception is trying to judge an ^integral

visipn of consciousness in Tantra and Veda! What can it know about them? It will see only its own projections and judge them in accordance with its own nature.24

Therefore it is very important for us to define clearly the developmental stages where the paradigm of knowing has changed. The Indian Spiritual tradition has fortunately preserved for us an uninterrupted history of these shifts of paradigms from the Veda to the Vedanta and then to the Gita, and later to the Shastra and the Tantra.

i ' ...

Let us take a brief look at these shifts.i

1) Veda (from 6000 BC) was not logical; it was not confuting anything, according to Sri Aurobindo.25 It was seeking the highest possible spiritual

, experience, seeking after the Truth. The experiences which seem/; contradictory to the mind that is unable to see deeper than surface

phenomena were put side by side regardless . to their seeming ; contradictions, for the truth of their perception was cognized, and that

. was sufficient for the purpose of the Veda. To recognize the Truth, there

: 22 See Gebser's critique of the mtental structure of consciousness.23 It is interesting to mention Here the fact that the Upanishads were highly appreciated in the West,

' starting from Schopenhauer, but not the Veda, in spite of the Upanishads constantly referring to it as the ' supreme authority of Knowledge.; 24 In this regard it is interesting to note Gebser's comments on the mental structure of consciousness, the . deficient form of which he called the 'rational1 structure, which seeks to deny all other structures, claiming

that .humans are exclusively rational beings.25 Essays Divine and Human, p. 10: truth is not logical; it contains logic, but is not contained by it."

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was no need to reconcile them for the satisfaction of the symmetrical thinking of the rational mind only.26

2) Vedanta (fr. 2000 BC) is another great synthesis of knowledge, which,

having recognized the validity of the Vedic experience, put it into a language more suitable for our mind. The great intuitions of the Vedic experience were put in order, the structure and the content of the. text suggested the meaningful unfolding, but without scrutinizing it with a pure logical mind.27

3) Gita (500 BC) is another great synthesis, deconstructing the knowledge of the Veda and Vedanta and putting it into an intellectual, logical language of Satikhya and Yoga, which can be easily understood by the intellectual mind.

4) Tantra is another reformulation of the Vedic knowledge by the means of the rational mind. It is unique, in a way, for it is reviewing the Vedic paradigm, but within a rational mindset. This may explain many difficulties in its interpretation.

5) Sastra is based on the pure scientific,, rational mind, for instance, thetreatises of Panini AstadhyayJ, Yogasutras of PatanjaH, Vakyapadiya of Bhartrhari, etc. etc. <

There is one important element, we must mention here, which is binding all the stages and their ishifts of paradigm, and that is Sanskrit. For all of them used a common language - Sanskrit.28

Sanskrit is the language which pervaded all these developmental; stages and

made them coherent to each other over millennia. Such richness of .Culture no

26 The Veda recognized only that knowledge which, however we look at it, is always revealing , something ofthe Truth. It was by bringing forth different particular angles or experiences, which, although in their form they differ from one another, still maintain always the same supreme perception of the One Knowledge, that the focusing and clarifying of. that supreme perception itself was achieved, jlf suppose!one can clearly perceive one experience, and then bring it into another context, another Myth or so, which; looks like a contradiction to the logical mind, then - since they are both; true in their perception of the Truth - they . reveal to us something more of that One Knowledge and its particularities and secrets and give us even a deeper and truer awareness of it every time we do! so, reestablishing it again in a new form'of perception.. ■. So the placement of any experience in the light of that knowledge was to have a new experience revealing something of that reality; something unique, and still! eternal and infinite. Therefore the Rishis were mot afraid to put two contradictory statement-experiences into one context, one perception of ^consciousness. It was giving them a deeper understanding of Reality. j27 It might have been done by the left brain in a manner that obscured the right brain,; according to jthe research on left/right brain.28 It seems that this kind of continuity of culture, based on the perception of one language, is crucial; for . building up an integral perception of life; in India it was Sanskrit that had this higher capacity to deal with the phenomena of life in a more luminous and detached way. Other civilizations had discontinued the flow ' of their culture and language throughout the history, and thus have lost their ability of integration.

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other civilization on earth could have even dreamed of! To have the same language for'over 5000-6000 years, where all the developmental stages were synthesized and finally presented in the consciousness of one nation, is unthought-of and cannot be easily understood by any, and especially the Western mentality with is scientific approaches of over 20.0 years of history. It is not so much about the years, but about the depth of consciousness synthesizing different developmental stages within one's own collective and individual frame of being.

1.1.4 The Linguistic shift of paradigm

A vast ; experiential approach to the studies of consciousness was the characteristic of the Vedic epistemology. The Veda: maintained that the Word was the creative power of the universe with the gods as its agents.29 The Word

was perceived as an expression of the Supreme Consciousness in manifestation, creating 'all the creatures and their tongues as their, self-expressions. Siiich was the beginning of our knowing, the rational mind cahnot easily understand,-for such ability requires the development,of an 'integral awareness'.;

In the Veda the Word was seen as the parent of an Idea, rather than its expression. The sound value and the manner of. expression within the consciousness of man - that is to say, the emotional and substantive content of the voice and sound - were perceived as creative of and conducive to thought; and feeling. The Word was still connected with its own origin. The meaning and its expression were still close,to each other, or we can say that the meaning was inherent within or even was that very expression.30 The, separation of artha from Kafr was not yet fully realized, and the structure, which separates them, was not fully mentalised, there was a veil between the two, but it, was! still transparent. The mind, did not dominate it yet with is own structural semantics, fixing their; division. It was still fluid, capable of maintaining!the variety of expressions and shades of its own meaning.31 Every root, or sound-meaning,: had many other kindred etymons around it, supporting it in their flexible system; capable to create kindred1 meanings, and, being applied in different contexts, could create additional (or, new) meanings. In other words, the signifier was free from |the

29 The Word, Vak, is she, the Cosmic Cow, the Mother, Aditi, the gods are the Adityas; she is the Dawn, or: rather her lace is the Dawn, Usha, and the gods are usarbudhas, awaken With the Dawn.30 Cp. The Gospel of John, 1.1: "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Wordwas God." ■; j31 Mind was more flexible and more capable of being creative, it was well structured but it wasn't paying much attention to its own structure. It looked for the expression of Consciousness, the Word.

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signified, and could be applied to express or designate any object. That's why the majority of nouns in Sanskrit are treated in their qualitative relations as adjectives. The word was not yet fixed or crystallized into the mental formation to designate a particular object or concept/only, as now is the case. The same word could be applied to any object or concept when it was appropriate to create

; that particular meaning-perception, that particular characteristic. The word was still; alive, referring to is own system of meaning. The image, the lexeme, was not yet fixed by the usage of the mentalised structure of language. The word was still carrying in itself its own significance from its own source of sound­meaning.

When the need for the rational expression of the mind started to dominate other : and more intuitive approaches to knowledge, crystallizing them into the mental structures (of which the sad darsanas, the six schools of Indian philosophy, and the! extensive literature of sastras, are a vivid example), then the emergence of a structural approach to language was finally shaped and the theory of Sphota was formulated.32 The uniqueness of this; theory in its major character is that it is based on the Vedic perception of tHejlWord as creative and formative of thought but utilizes the perception of the rational mind to structure it and accommodate it within the language. When these two approaches are maintained within one

' yieW they create'that what we know as the theory of Sphota. The ability to conceive the two (Simultaneously was; possible only on the basis of the Sanskrit language. No other language would; allow such a synthesis, for only Sanskrit has,

a transparent and complete system of etymons and a clear and, subtle grammatical structure.

To make this point clear let us compare the lexical meaning of the word in ' Sanskrit and other languages. When;; we say in English 'a pen', the word'itself,

does not say what it is or what it; does; one should learn about it separately, remembering and applying a particular meaning of'Writing'to it. Actually in such a language any Word can designate any other meaning, being treated as a symbol, or a token of an idea. The word is only; indicative of meaning; the

: signifierls only to point out the signified, chosen in a seemingly arbitrary way by

the mind, or, as modern linguistics would say, by the custom of language. When we- say 'pen' in Sanskrit, we use the word 'lekhanF, which is derived from the

32 Starting already from the times of Yaska and Panini (600-500 BC) we can clearly see this tendency, which was fully realized only in Patanjali's approach (200 BC), where he suggests that the;meaning of the word has to be learned in the market place and not from the learned linguist.

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root Hkh/rikh meaning 'to scratch', 'to scrap', 'to scribe'.33 So, the word lekhanns only a derivation, meaning 'scratching [thing]' and therefore among other meanings 'scribing [thing]'. It may also mean any other tool of action which involves'scratching'and not only'writing'.

If we take a look into the Sanskrit Dictionary, we will find that the words change; their meanings gradually from word to word, page after page. It is as if the meaning is floating together with the sound. A similar picture we can find in the Latin and Greek Dictionaries, but already no more so systematic and with many gaps in-between. When we look into an English Dictionary we find that this1 regularity is not there; anymore. The meaning is changing without any correspondence to the phonetic content of the word..

The: difference between the contextual significance and proper meaning of the word is to be mentioned' here,34 for the proper meaning of a word exceeds all, the 'significances which are known to us by the; customary usage df the word in the context of our language. For instance, the word 'yoga' in the Monnier Williams Dictionary has about 150 significances.

. Let us have a look into some of them:

Yoga is

- the act of yoking ^ joining, attaching, harnessing, putting to (of horses); a yoke, team, vehicle, conveyance;.

- employment, use, application, performance;- a means, expedient/ device, way, manner, method;- a trick, stratagem, fraud, deceit; '-: occasion, opportunity;- any junction, union,^combination, contact with; mixing of various materials,

mixture; \- partaking of, possessing, connection, relation;- putting together/ Arrangement, disposition, regular, succession fitting

together, fitness, propriety, suitability;- exertion, endeavour, zeai, diligence, industry, care, attention; .

33 it is supported by many other etymons in the system of language (sound-meaning). We will deal with It in the chapter on etymology.34;In modern linguistics the difference is defined between the sign and the application of it to a particular context. 1

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- (in yoga system) application or concentration of the thoughts, abstract contemplation, meditation, (esp.) self-concentration, abstract meditation and mental abstraction;

- (in astr.) a constellation, aster ism, the leading or principal star of a lunar asterism;

- (in arithm.) addition, sum, total;-; (in gram.) the connection of words together, syntactical dependence of a:

word, construction, a combined or concentrated grammatical rule or aphorism; the connection of a word with its root, original or etymological meaning.

- (in med.) a remedy, cure (SusrS);- (in military) equipping or arraying (of an army) MBh. ;-; 1 fixing (of an arrow on the bow-string) ib. : '

We can clearly see that all these meanings are only applications of some original meaning of the word 'yoga' in a particular context, creating thus a contextual meaning, which is given in the dictionary. What is then the original meaning of the' word 'yoga'? If we examine how the word 'yoga' is used in different milieus of language, such as arithmetic, linguistic, philosophical,; psychological, medical, astrological etc., we will, find that the central meaning of the word) did not actually; change, it was as if applied within that particular language as a kind of deyice; treating a; new significance and at the same time isjjstaihing; its own 'core .meaning'. 1 ;

To recognize the core meaning of the word 'yoga' we have to go to back to the : system of roots and its particular position in that system; it is derived from the root 'yuj', meaning 'to yoke', 'to unite', 'to use', among many other possible significances. But somehow it does not answer fully our enquiry, so we have to go deeper into the embryology of the roots. In order to understand it in its universal significance we have to find its parent-root from which it was derived; namely the root which is even simpler than the monosyllabic yuj, and that isjthei: root 'yu', of which 'yug'is an;extension, as it were. The :root 'yu'\ids two major; meanings: 'to unite' and 'to divide' in different verbal classes. Mow we ere ’ perhaps puzzled.; fs; it possible to look even deeper, to perceive, the!: simplest component of the root in order , to know how it may have these jtwo i opposite1 meanings? I : ,

The-simple root 'yu'consists of two simple vowels, '/'arid 'u'. These are the simplest components in the Sanskrit language. The root 'i' means 'to go',,'tci

15

move towards', and 'u' {a\/) means 'to mediate', 'to pervade', 'to grow', 'to occupy', etc. The first root has the significance of 'onepointedness' in its motion or concentration, the latter the significance of’duality'. On one end there is one- pointed-ness and on the other the duality. To say it metaphorically: if we use the device looking from the point of view of duality towards the oneness we get the meaning of uniting two in one, and in the opposite direction the meaning of dividing one into two. So the simplest idea of the root yu is 'two in one' or 'one in two'.

Now, if it is true that the most elemental sound-roots such as 'i' and 'u', have the significance of singularity and duality, it must be maintained in all other roots and simple words and their applications. This particular feature of Sanskrit requires study, which we propose to call 'etymological transparency'. It is because of this (special) feature that the Sanskrit language could sustain itself over millennia. Now if we move towards the dissemination of this core meaning into the derivations, expanding it into the family of roots and words we will find the group of roots: yu-j, yu-nth, yu-dh, yu-p of which tho Monier Williams Dictionary gives the following significances:

yuj, to yoke or join or fasten or harness (horses or a chariot) RV, etc.; yunth, to give or suffer pain Dhatup. iii ,7.yudh , 4. Al. to fight, wage war, oppose or (rarely) overcome in battle; to fight with (instr.) or for (loc.) or against (acc.) RV. &c.; to oppose or overcome in war (acc.) MBh.yup cl. 4. P. to debar, obstruct, disturb, trouble, confuse, efface, remove,:destroy RV. AV., etc.

If all these roots are seen as derivations or extensions of,the root 'yu', we can clearly identify the significance of 'union' and 'separation' within the variety of changes, which occur due to the significance of the extension; element! influencing the change of meaning.

There is possible even a deeper look into the oneness of sound and meaning. According to the Tantra all the sounds are seen as modulations of; the one ; original sound 'a'35 These modulations are becoming significant through a ;

35 Cp. Krishna in the Gita also says; 'among all the sounds I am the sound 'a", symbolizing the beginning of ail manifestation, as modulations of this original vibration.This idea that sound 'a' represents the whole speech is coming from the Veda. AitAr 2.3.6 says: akaro vai \ sarva vak salsa sparsosmabhir vyajamana bahvi nanarupa bhavati/ "the sound A is indeed the whole , speech; it is She (Speech) becomes many-formed when articulated by the consonants and fricatives."

particular effort in articulation. This significance is very subtle but it is regular. It requires a deeper look to be able to perceive it, but it is nevertheless crucial for the transparency and truthfulness of the whole etymological system of Sanskrit. It is this sensitiveness to sound and its meaning in articulation that makes Sanskrit a unique language, sustaining itself over millennia.36

Though there was the shift of epistemological paradigm from the suprarational and infrarational to the rational, the Sanskrit language remained essentially the same, connecting all the developmental stages into one historically uninterrupted perception. It is this particular feature that makes the Indian Civilisation unique.

Since Sanskrit preserved its system of etymons it can therefore bring the deeper perceptions from the past epistemologies into the j modern one. This unique feature of Sanskrit makes all the difference in the| building up of an integral

consciousness in the individual, If it could become a national language it could open it to the depth of its historical consciousness and liberate it from ignorance.

;i ■ -

1.1:.5 Sri Aurobindo^ Evolutionary Theory and'; :The Integra! Structure in' the Rig Veda.

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The fundamental issue which has to be addressed in’ approaching the concept of terrestrial evolution is whether the knowledge of the past is relevant for our modern understanding of evolutionary processes or; it is only an outdated view

, which is to be rectified by the scientific approach. In The History of Indian . Philosophy S. Radhakrishnan in the section on the j Veda commented upon Sri Aurpbindo's evolutionary theory that it was a very interesting view but could not be accepted due to the belief in progress, and Sri Aurobindo in his works presented the whole! development in reverse, as | it were, starting from the luminous beginnings and ending with the loss of the spiritual values, similar to the ancient Indian theories of yugas.I think there is a profound misunderstanding of Sri Aurobindo and his evolutionary theory visible in this comment. Sri Aurobindo writes in the Secret of the: Veda about this idea of a rapid human evolution, which is intensely supported by the modern sciences:

This modem theory is In accord with the received idea of a rapid human evolution from, the quite recent savage; it is supported by an imposing apparatus of critical research and upheld ;by a number of Sciences,

It is interesting to compare it with 'alef and 'aifaf of Hebrew and Greek as the first letter of the alphabet.36 There is an, interesting article by the Russian Indologist Dr. Toporov “Sanskrit and its Insights", .where the author looks deeper into the historical development of Sanskrit trying! to comprehend its sustainability .over millennia. According to him, Sanskrit has created many languages oyer many millennia by being naturally used. In the natural use it was deviating from its origin for the time being, and in this way all the Prakrits came into being, but then by keeping in memory its roots it could always withdraw to or recreate, as it were, its ownloriginal state, leaving other languages to continue their natural life. ,. !

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unhappily still young and still largely conjectural in their methods and shifting in their results,—Comparative Philology, Comparative Mythology and the Science of Comparative Religion.

The idea that the whole development of the human race is a recent phenomenon cannot answer the questions regarding the profound complexity of the human consciousness. Sri Aurobindo points out that this development took place many times in the past, in many cycles, of which the human species is the result. So how do we reconcile these two views of a constant progress and a gradual loss of consciousness?

1.1.6 A Double Process of Evolution in Sri Aurobindo's theory of Evolution

Sri Aurobindo says in the Life Divine that this "terrestrial evolutionary working of Nature from Matter to :Mind and beyond it has a double process: (1) an outward visible process of physical evolution with birth as its machinery - each evolved form of body housing its own evolved power of consciousness is maintained and kept in continuity by; heredity; and simultaneously (2) an [invisible process of soul evolution with rebirth1:(as its "machinery") into ascending grades:of form and consciousness."22 ^ I

These two create a double process of evolution: of the body and the soul. Thus we have two different frameworks: (1) the evolution of the physical body

i;(in’ciudihg vital and mind) and (2) that of the soul (including mind and vital). In accordance with the view we hold the whole approach,to evolution and to the psychology of social development will be defined. Th^ {scientific: materialistic paradigm of the evolutiqnists of ;the 20th century maintains the, development of species as the evolution of physicality; body with its more subtle components !

22, The Life Divine, p. 825. Sri Aurobindo describes the evolution in a letter to a disciple (Letters on Yoga, ' P-44): • :"The world is a manifestation of the Real and therefore is itself real. The reality is the infinite and eternal Divine, infinite and eternal Being, Consciousness-Force and Bliss. This Divine by his power has created the world or rather manifestedittn his own infinite Being. But here in the material world or at' its basis he has hidden himself in what seem to be his opposites, Non-Being, Inconscience and Irisentience. This is what we nowadays call the Inconscient which seems to have created the material universe by its inconscient Energy, but, this is only an appearance,;for we find in the end that all the dispositions of the world can only have been arranged by the working of a supreme secret Intelligence. The Being which is hidden in, what seems to be an inconscient void emerges in the world first in Matter’ then in Life, then in Mind and ifinally |as the, Spirit. The apparently inconscient Energy which creates is’ in fact the Consciousness-Force,of the Divine and its aspect qf consciousness, secret in Matter, begins to emerge in Life, finds something; more of itself in: Mind and finds its true self in a; spiritual consciousness and finally a suprarnental Consciousness through which we become aware pf the Reality, enter into it and unite ourselves, with it. This: is jwhat we call evolution which is an evolution of Consciousness and an evolution of the Spirit in things and only outwardly ah evolution ;of species. Thus! also, the delight of existence emerges from .original insentience, hrst' in' the contrary forms of pleasure and pain, and then has to find itself in the blisS of; the Spiritior,'as it is called in the Upanishads, the bliss of the Brahman. That is the central idea in the explanation of the universe put forward in Thie Life Divine."

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(deriving consciousness from its material instruments). It is a very young science. There is another more ancient science of the mystics starting from the Vedic times which views the development in terms of the soul's engagement, where the soul is the major factor of evolutionary development and the mutation of Nature is only the result. This process they called the Sacrifice.These two frameworks are based on two different approaches to evolution. One is viewing the development in linear terms, for the mutation of Nature is to be not interrupted for the change to take place in the body, where the transition is maintained by heredity (genotype), that is what the evolutionists generally call '‘evolution'. The other one (of the soul) sees the development to be in cycles, for the incarnation of the soul in the body is always interrupted, being regulated by birth, growth and death. These cycles of the soul's engagement with the body are fourfold: 1) birth, 2) growth, 3) sustainance and 4) death. On the bigger scale of social development they can be presented in similar terms as satya, treta, dvapara and kali yuga. Thus, the very j psychology of individual development can be compared to the social development in the most general way and the four varnas of the social order: Brahmanas, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras can also be seen as reflecting a similar cycle of the subjective involvement of the soul in the world, introducing the same evolutionary movement with regard to the social structure.37

1.1.7 A Unique Approach to Historicity in Ancient India.

In the opening chapter to The Secret of the Veda\ The Problem and Its Solution Sri Aurobindo addressed the, issue of validity of Vedic Knowledge in this way:

"Such profound and ultimate thoughts, such systems of subtle and elaborate psychology as are found in the substance of the Upanishads, do not spring out of a previous void. The human: mind in its progress marches from knowledge to knowledge, or it renews and enlarges previous knowledge that has been obscured and overlaid, or it seizes on old imperfect clues and is led by them to new discoveries; The thought of the Upanishads supposes great origins anterior to itself, and these in the ordinary theories are lacking."

So, if there was knowledge in the Veda which the Upanishads refer to as the highest and ultimate in its quality and scope, how is it that this does not correspond with the scientific paradigm of evolutionary development?

The whole approach to the historicity of social development in Ancient India is based on a different perception of Time; it was seen to be working in cycles rather than in a linear way. The ages or yugas were seen to be arranged in

' Similarly the four seasons of a year are defined by the position of the Sun towards the earth.

19

descending order, starting from the Satya Yuga, the Age of Truth, and ending with Kali Yuga, the Iron Age, where the collective Truth is no more supported by the society but by the individuals. This phenomenon was seen as repetitive in cycles where the pulsation of Time worked out on a bigger scale the evolutionary processes, called Manvantaras, repeating its movement, starting from the age of Truth to the decline of Truth at the end of the Kali Yuga. Such an approach to Time defined a particular perception of historicity in India, which was supported by its own Metaphysics and Psychology. It implied a rhythmic and repetitive engagement with the world by the Group-soul. It can be explained as follows. AT the beginning the vision, which the Universal Soul or Group-Soul has and brings into the world, is the strongest and clearest, where the memory of its resolution to enlighten the world is still intact with its life energy. The longer the soul stays

; the more it has to take into itself the elements of the world, which were not foreseen, as it were, not included into the scope of wprk it had envisioned in the

: first place, for the Inconscient is also infinite. At the: end of its engagement, in the Kali Yuga, having exhausted all the possibilities of its original commitment, the; Group-Soul takes all the new elements which emerged from the Inconscient into account, while working out the elements it came to engage itself with, and makes a new resolution and commitment, a new leap, as it were, starting again a new Satya Yuga.Thus history was seen in terms of a series of sacrificial events, where the Soul was to take onto itself the impossibilities of the Inconscient and work them out for its own Manifestation. Thus we have a double process of evolution: 1) the evolution of Nature, where the development of the instruments of knowledge: mind, life and body takes place, which is maintained by heredity, and 2) the evolution of,the soul, which is done by reincarnation;!thus both the soul and the world are constantly growing.The vision of the yugas does not therefore contradict the notion of a constant progress, for every time the Group Soul re-engages itself with the world the

, letter progresses on the evolutionary scale.From the point of view of the Soul there is thus a constant reformulation of the task and reengagement with the world, and from the point of view of the world there is a constant adaptation to the needs of the Soul which, we call 'progress', 'growth'or mutation.

, In Ancient India history was seen from the point of view of the Soul rather than that of the world, which explains its 'indefinite character'. Every time the group Soul engages with the world it starts a new Manvantara. Every Manvantara has a new Veda at the beginning, a new plan of action, as it were, with a hew set of Rishis, as the involutionary beings who bring this knowledge dciwn to the world. The Veda is the knowledge of the Soul's Vision, of the Soul's Commitment for a particular period of time, to work out the impossibilities of the Inconscient in a particular fashion, with regard to the Soul's manifestation in time.

20

Now if we combine these two paradigms of the constant mutation in Nature, on the one hand, and the constant revisiting of Nature by the Soul, on the other, we will get a more complex paradigm. In The Human Cycle Sri Aurobindo introduces this new paradigm of the Psychology of Social Development in terms of different

’ ages which he calls, after Lamprecht, Symbolic, Typal, Conventional, Individualist and Subjective.38 In this paradigm we can clearly see the movement towards the

; individualization of consciousness, bringing forward the innermost subjective truth into manifestation. So the Truth which was seen by the group Soul is eventually worked out on the individual scale till the end of the cycle. Similarly the movement of the group Soul and its universal varnas is to be worked out within every separate individual, where the individual at the end is to become caturvarnya, consisting of four major qualities of the Universal Purusha.

i 1.1.8 The structures of Consciousness in the Rig Veda.

There was another great philosopher of the 20th century Jean Gebser, who in his book The Ever-Present Origin in a parallel way proposed his own theory for the understanding of Social Development with regard to the five major structures of consciousness, which he called: Archaic, Magic, Mythical, Mental and Integral. Gebser viewed it as linear development, he did not know much about India; that time. What is interesting about Gebser is that at the end of his life he recognized

: ; the occult influence by Sri Aurobindo on his work. We can clearly see ip his thoughts the pattern of thinking similar to Sri Aurobindo and the Ancient Indian

j perception of historicity.

' The study of The Secret of the Veda in the light of The Human Cycle and The Ever-Present Origin led me to an unexpected discovery,; namely that the; Veda itself belongs to or represents the Integral structure of consciousness, reflecting

. the psychological development completed, by the Group iSoul from; the previous , cycle of time, and projected into the future development; of mankind, namely its

; social and individual frameworks.

1 The Rig Veda represents an unusual combination of a highly sophisticated . language, which is very rich and conceptually well elaborated, much richer

grammatically than the language of the Classical Sanskrit literature, and the ideas, which can be identified as those from all, different structures 1 of consciousness (using Gebser's language). It has a magic component in it (the symbols of Nature) and the prayers of the pure mythical character of the:

38 Volume: 25 [CWSA] (The Human Cycle), Page: 6 & . •The theorist, Lamprecht, basing himself on European and particularly on German history, supposed that human society progresses through certain distinct psychological stages which he terms respectively symbolic, typal and conventional, individualist and subjective. This development forms, then, a sort of psychological cycle through which a nation or a civilisation is bound to proceed.

religious aspirations of the soul and at the same time highly developetKoncepts and visions of the intuitive mentality. V>v'It is nearly impossible to make out what structure of consciousness \\ should really belong to. It seems to contain all the elements in it. So if the Rig^Veda belongs to the Symbolic age, according to Sri Aurobindo, the beginning of our historical period, how come it has all the structures already expressed in it? To find a possible answer let us have a brief look into the structures of consciousness as they are presented by Gebser.The Magic structure of consciousness, according to Gebser, is the consciousness of Nature; body, life and mind constitute this profound structure of consciousness, which is seen always outside man, as it were, which man is only a part of. This domination of Nature over the individual not yet defined, but already perceiving himself as a part of the whole is the first deviation from the Archaic structure where the subjective and objective perceptions are not distinguished yet. Gebser calls the magic structure one-dimensional, which can be defined psychologically as 'there is only what is', idam sarvam, in the Veda. It is based on the perception of one being and all as its parts, moving and living within it.The Mythical structure of consciousness seems to appear later, according to Gebser, as a memory of one's origin, introducing the self-awareness or the consciousness of the soul, which thus wants to return to its origin, disregarding the magic structure and its concerns of oneness. It denies it, and is always past- oriented, as it were, two-dimensional in its character. It has no future yet, but it has already a Past, a Beginning, to which it wants to return. It is totally different from the magic structure; it finds its consciousness within itself and not without. It brings into play the Word, as the expression of the heart, psyche. It creates a Myth, a story of creation and its return to its Origin. It is in a constant contradiction with Nature and especially its lower parts and their cravings. It introduces a higher and purer love of the Heart to the Divine, Beauty, Beloved, in opposition to the sensual pleasure of the magic structure (sexual love of the body). It disregards all the major concerns of the magic structure, such as comforts and bodily pleasures, tribal togetherness, sexual enjoyment, magic powers, taboos, etc. etc. It introduces other concerns of the Soul and its self­finding, creating the ascetic approach to life, individualistic approach to the Truth, austerity, monastery, away from life and its powers. The compromise between the two even today is reflected in social and religious laws as separate domains in the society. The mythical structure is based on the Myth, the Word, the Scripture.

This compromise between two structures led to the emergence of the next one: the Mental structure. In the mental structure of consciousness all that was denied by the Soul in the magic structure re-emerges again in a new way, as it were, as an objective reality. It is again seen in opposition to the concerns of the Soul. The mental structure comes into being as the scientific objective view on

22

Nature. The fight between the Church and the scientific materialism is a vivid example of the last millennia. Materialism is the most aggressive and clear form of Science, introducing Nature and its consciousness again as the only way of life, but now in opposition to the Soul and its Myth.39 It reestablishes the reality of Nature in a new fashion, in the objective way. It is depicted by Gebser as three-dimensional in its character. It perceives the world as objective reality, regardless to the subjective reality of the soul or magic oneness. This structure is based on thinking, theory, science, as an approach to knowledge. It also uses the perception of the Mythical psyche in a new objective setting and direction, creating an ego-centric perception of a separate being: as a conqueror of the world.

So these three structures psychologically can be described as follows:1) The world is me, there is no other me;2) I am different from the world, I have my, own Origin, to which I must

return;3) I am an objectively existing, egoistic and natural being, different from

others.

All 'these have now to be reconciled in the transparency of the next Integral structure, where they all have to find their new position and validity in the complexity; of the integral consciousness. For in the integral structure of consciousness: all these must be present and fully functional, but in a different more comprehensive and complex unity.Accordingto I Gebser, the mutation of Nature through the evolution of consciousness; takes place only once. 'We start with the archaic and end with the integral structure. But according to the Vedic tradition this process took place many,times. This movement within aiiithe structures was known as Manvantaras, the periods of Manu, who was the founder of Men, the Mental Being, or the Group Soul. Eachii Manvantara consists of four mahayugas, great periods of time with many subdivisions, yugas within; it. Each period of time is ending with the critical structure qf Kali Yuga, and breaks into another period starting with Satya Yuga again. In every Manvantara a particular Veda is brought down by the seven Risbis> involutioriary,beings, for mankind to follow. The Knowledge of the Veda is about the commitment Mankind takes and is always the same but is fashioned fori every period of time (Manvantara) in a different way, accommodating the changes in, the evolution and projecting new ^possibilities for the conquest; of Nature by the Soul. In this sense the Vedai is to be seen as the product of the previous Manvantara and therefore iptegral in its structure, incorporating'all the psychological approaches to reality: i

39 The very fact that in the history of Ancient India the flourishing of Religions did not contradict the scientific development, as it was in the West, but on the contrary supported and inspired it, shows that there was a deeper perception of an integral structure at the very root of Indian Civilisaion; the Veda was its foundation., ' , '

23

1) magic, mythical and mental,2) the action, the word (myth) and the thought,3) the body, the heart and the mind.

This can be clearly seen in the language of the hymns, which is at once magic, mythical and highly mental in its character.The last Hymn of the Rig Veda 10.191, which, is the message of the whole, scripture to the future generations, speaks clearly and openly about these three structures, suggesting their integration. i

sam gacchadhvam sam vadadhvam sam vo manamsi janatam deva bhagam yatha purve samjanana upisate 10.191,02

Sam gachadhvam, meet together (magic structure), sam vadadhvam, speak together (mythical structure), sam vo manamsi janatam, may your thoughts know together (mental structure), deva bhagam yatha purve samjanana : upisate, as the first gods who set together agreeing about the portion of the;

, work/sacrifice they should take part in the creation.; Here we can clearly see this; integral approach of the Veda to all possible structures of consciousness: action,; word and mind, or, as it is spoken in the last verse,of this hymn: will, heart ana mind, akuti, hrdayani, manah.

samarii va akutih samana hrjdayani vah 'samanam astu vo mano yatha vah susahasati 10,191.04 "May your Will in the body be uniting, may your Aspirations of the Heart be; uniting, and may your Mind be uniting, as [it should be] in your common well being together." j

This integral character of the Veda is the foundation of all Indian Civilisation. And because of its integral character it creates more possibilities for seeming deviation^ or rather explorations of different varieties in manifestation without making them clash with one another. The integral character ,of the Veda defined the whole way of thinking in the later religious and scientific literature; the Upanishads and the Gita have therefore a similar integral approach, as for instance in the Gita: Karma, Bhakti and Jhana approaches to knowledge, iso in

: the Taittiriya Upani.sad: Siksa, Brahmananda, Bhrgu VallT> etb etc. Is

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Chapter IIA Reconstruction of the Vedic Knowledge

1.2.1 A Priori Foundation of the Vedic Knowledge

In this chapter we will define the a priori foundations of the Vedic Knowledge, that which is not spoken but always presumed. Here we will select the most suitable passages from the Vedic and Vedantic literature and also, from Sri Aurobindo and Mother to do so. They will help us to find those a priori foundations of the Vedic Knowledge. We can consider this chapter to be introductory to the major studies of the Vedic paradigm which we will come to in due course. This chapter can be considered poetic or rather inspirational than scientific in its approach. We will use a lot of passages here from SriAurobindo's Savitri. :

"Veda is the earliest gospel we have of man's immortality.,."1, says Sri Aurobindo. "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."2

And of its literary style, he says that "the Veda is perfect and beautiful in its coherence and its unity"3. !

. | ■ . - s _ ;

There are many myths in the Veda which describe the beginning of creation from different angles or stages. Some of them start with the description of the Supreme Person, Atman or Self,4 others with the Impersonal Spirit, Brahman.5 Soijne start from Nothingness dr Darkness,6 7 8 which they calf "night", ratrh, or apas, apraketam salllam] "dark waters", or sometimes as mrtyuf "death". They all'refer to different stages of; creation, where Darkness or Nothingness is depicted as our beginning, but not as our origin. ; : ’

We can; easily reconcile these; myths, knowing that Darkness was the result of the fall Of the Supreme Light ('Involution' in the philosophical Terminology of Sri Aurobindo).9 i : i v

1 The Secret of the Veda, p.375 : . • 1 ,2 The Secret of the Veda,, p.241 •; : '

,3 The Secret of the Veda;'p.144 , • ' r ,4 When we use the word Veda, we! mean’all the texts of Shruti. ' ; \"Atman was at the beginning." Cpi: Aitareya Upanishad 1.1.1-4; Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, 1.4.1-3.'; s:Cf: Maitra^ani Upanishad6.17; , - _ , |6 Cff Rig Veiiia, 10.129.1-2; Taittlriya Upanishad, 2.7; etc , ;7 Cf: Rig Veda110.129.1-2; Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 5.5.1; Taittiriya Aranyaka 1.23; Jaiminiya Upanishad '1.56.1, etc.. 1 - '_ . 18 Cf: Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 1.2.19 Savitri, p. 601 ' , . ■Nightisnotourbeginningnorouriend;...We Icame to, her from, a supernal Light, , iBy Light we live and to the Light we go. ; ;

I

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1.2.2 The Cause of Creation

THE BEGINNING

Let us take a brief look at Vedic cosmogony, trying __ to understand in psychological terms the basic approaches to Creation. The Satapatha Brahmana depicts the myth of creation in this way:

"At the beginning was the Self (Atman), atmaiva idarn agra asit. He was Alone. He looked around and found nobody else except himself. He said: "I Am..." But there was no other name to say, for he was alope. ... He was not happy. He wanted Another, sa vainaiva reme.... sa dvitlyam aicchat"10

i

;"Why should Brahman," asks Sri. Aurobindo, who is "perfect, jabsolute, rinfinite,

! needing nothing, desiring nothing, at ail throw out force of j consciousness to create, in itself these worlds of forms?" ... If ... being free to move or remain eternally still, to throw itself into form's or retain the potentiality of form in jitself, it indulges its power of movement and formation, it can be only for one reason, for delight."* 11

i 3

"The Supreme", says the Mother, "decided to exteriorise himself, objectivise himself, in order to have the joy of knowing himself in detail,...; to be able to see

, Himself, the first thing in Himself which He exteriorised wasjthe Knowledge of . the world and the Power to create it; This Knowledge-Consciousness and Force : began its work; and in the supreme Will there was a plan, and the first principle of this plan was the expression of iboth the essential Joy jand the essential

! Freedom, which seemed to be the most interesting-feature of this creation."12

How could He exteriorize Himself, if he alone was? How could He create another?

1.2.3 The First Creation: The Eternal Night

"Night, was born out of the shining Truth of the Supreme Power.From the Night the Waters of the Inconscient came into being.And from the Waters o f the InconscientTime was born, the Creator of all that moves.,i3 ■

See also Rig Veda 10.190.1-210 cp: Brhadaranyaka Upanisad, 1.4.1-3There, is an interesting;expianation given by the Mother to a sadhak asking whythe Supreme, who is perfect, needed such imperfect- mahifestation. She says that the Suprenrife already possesses Himself in, His Supreme Identity but actually what He wanted was to experience himself in Unity, to discover Himself in detail, and that was the cause of this Creation. i11 The Life Divine, p.91 (Emphasis added by the author)12 Questions and Answers; 16 October 1957, CWM, Vol.9, p.205-206 (Emphasis added by the author)

12 Rig Veda: 10.190 'He (the Year) established Days and Nights and fashioned accordingly the Sun and the Moon, Heaven and Earth and Space in-between, and then Svar."

26

It is from the Night that the Manifestation comes into being, but Night itseif was born of the Supreme Truth.

"Out of Himself He cast a luminous shadow; all these worlds sa iman lokan asrjatam says the Veda. Thus he gradually denied himself, withdrew his Supreme Knowledge from His Supreme Power and became unaware of these worlds as Himself.

Of Course, the phrase "out of Himself" is used here in a relative sense, for there can be no "space" where He is not. In order to experience otherness, He had to deny Himself in His own awareness, gradually forgetting Himself completely. His Consciousness, Cit-Tapas, has a double nature: Knowledge and Power; To forget Himself, He had to withdraw the aspect of Knowledge from the aspect, of Power, and let His Power carry out the creation as if it was not He. In other words, in order "to SEE Himself objectively", as another, He had to create the eternal Night. 'In Savitri, Sri Aurobindo describes this' phenomenon as follows:;,

; "In the enigma of the darkened Vasts,; In the passion and self-toss of the Infinite...! A contradiction founds the, base of life; i The eternal, the divine Reality j i Has faced itself with its own contraries;,!; Being became the Void and Conscious-Force j Nescience and walk of a blind Energy i And Ecstasy took the figure of world-pain.,iS

Wliile Consciousness becomes Nescience, Force does hot disappear or become Weakness, ibut the "walk of a blind Energy"; it is still Force, but it is blind. The Ecstasy which is the offspring of both Consciousness and Povfer, also does; not disappear or become a kind of indifference^ but instead the powerful opposite to Bliss: "world-pain". ; ■■■: I '!According to the Mother's' story of creation, which she told to the children of the Ashram, in the beginning four Divine Beings emanated from the [ Supreme:

There were actually two Nights: one born from the Truth,: and another one created by'Time, as a pair of Night and Day. In both .cases the Rishi uses the’same word Ratri. i - j ,; Ini s; i ■Sri ^urobindo explains this symbol of Night in The'Secret'pf the Veda: ''Utter Night out of which the worlds arise is the symbol of the Inconscient. That is the inconscient Ocean, that the darkness concealed within darkness out of which the One is born by the greatness of His energy.”, . ' 1 \"But, in the world of our darkened mortal view of things there reigns the lesser Night, of the Ignorance which envelops heaven and earth and the mid-region, our mental and physical consciousness and our vital,being." >' : ;(p. 481) , ; i ‘14 cp.: Aitareya; Upanishad 1.1.1. The word "asrjata" implies some other space than the space of his

original existence, suggesting non-existence: Night. i ; , ,15 Savitri, p.141; (Emphasis added by the author) ' » .,

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Consciousness in Light, Bliss, Truth and Life. After deciding to exist independently from the Supreme, they fell into conditions opposite to their original state:

"Light turned into a complete Darkness,Bliss turned into Suffering,Truth turned into Falsehood,Life turned into Death."16

Darkness is therefore nothing but Light carried out by Power without Knowledge of the Supreme, just as Suffering is Bliss, Falsehood is Truth, and Death is Life, carried out by Power without Knowledge of the Supreme.

16 Questions and Answers, 16 October 1957, CWM Vol. 9 p. 205-6Referring to a very ancient tradition underlying the Vedic knowledge, the Mother told this story in her own way on several occasions, each time warning that it should riot be taken too literally or too dogmatically, but simply as a story. Here is one of those tellings :"When the Supreme decided to exteriorise Himself in order to be able to see Himself, the first thing in Himself which He exteriorised was the Knowledge of the world and the Power to create it. This Knowledge- Consciousness and Force began its work; and in the supreme Will there was a plan, and the first principle of this plan was the expression of both the essential Joy and the essential Freedom, which seemed to be the most interesting feature of this creation.So intermediaries were needed to express this Joy and Freedom in forms. And at first four Beings were emanated to start this universal development which was to be the progressive objectivisation of all that is potentially contained in the Supreme. These Beings were, in the principle of their existence: Consciousness and Light, Life, Bliss and Love, and Truth. You can easily imagine that they had a sense of great power, great strength, of something tremendous, for they were essentially the very principle of these things. Besides, they had full freedom of choice, for this creation was to be Freedom itself.... As soon as they set to work — they had their own conception of how it had to be done — being , totally free, they chose to do it independently ... and this mistake — as I may call it — was the first cause, the essential cause of all the disorder in the universe. As soon as there was separation — for that is the essential cause, separation — as soon as there was separation between the Supreme and what had been emanated, Consciousness changed into inconscience, Light into darkness, Love into hatred, Bliss into suffering, Life into death and Truth into falsehood. And they proceeded with their creations independently, in separation and disorder. The result is the world as we see it. It was made progressively, stage by stage, and it would truly take a little too long to tell you all that, but finally, the consummation is Matter — obscure, inconscient, miserable .... The creative Force which had emanated these four Beings, essentially for the creation of the world, witnessed what was happening, and turning to the Supreme she prayed for the remedy and the cure of the evil that had been done. Then she was given the command to precipitate her Consciousness into this inconscience, her Love into this suffering, and her Truth into this falsehood. And a greater consciousness, a more total love, a more perfect truth than what had been emanated at first, plunged, so to say, into the horror of Matter in order to awaken in it consciousness, love and truth, and to begin the movement of Redemption which was to bring the material universe back to its supreme origin. So, there have been what might be called "successive involutions" in Matter, and a history of these involutions. The present result of these involutions is the appearance of the Supermind emerging from the inconscience; but there is nothing to indicate that after this appearance there will be no others... for the Supreme is inexhaustible and' will always create new worlds. That is my story."

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1.2.4 The Second Creation: The Ascent to Light

When the first Involution or Fall took place and the Light was turned into the Darkness, 'the Creation became as if unsteady, sithiiam iva adhruvam iva", says the Veda.17 It could not sustain itself, so the Supreme Self had to enter it. And when He has entered, as the text says; "Himself by Himself", atmanatmanam abhisamvivesa, the Creation became steady."

There are comparable lines in Savitri:"When all was plunged in the negating Void,Non-Being's night could never have been saved If Being had not plunged into the dark..."18 • • ,

In the Mother's story, in order to address the effects of the fall of the four divine beings that emanated from the Supreme at the Beginning, the Supreme Mother, Aditi, delegated out of Herself the force of Love which plunged into the darkness of the first Creation.

In the Vedas it is Agni, the Divine Will,19 the first Avatar, who lay down and hid himself within the darkness: the immortal among mortals. It is because of his presence that everything is evolving, seeking after the higher knowledge of the Supreme. ; : ■From this point onward Evolution starts to take iplace. ; ,

"A Soul of the Divine is here slowly awaking out of its involution and concealment in the material Inconscience"20 says Sri Aurobindo. iiSo, actually there were!two creations (involutions) before evolution could;take place: first, out of Himself He created the worlds/ and then He entered them, plunging into the darkness and lying down at the bottom of the Inconscient.

"He sleeps in the atom and the burning star,He sleeps in man and god and beast and stone: Because he is there 'the Inconscient does its work, Because he is there 'the world forgets to die.,n

17 Tafttirlya Aranyaka 1.23.8-9 : .18 Savitri, p.l41: : ‘ i .. -iCf. also p,306 : "When it was there; the: heart's abyss was filled; ' ''

But when the uplifting Deity withdrew, !•*•Existence lost its pim in the Inane."

19 It is interesting to note that, Agni in the Vedas is always referred to as Having two aspects or1characteristics: (1) sacrificial, yajatra, yajistha, as "worthy of sacrifice", and (2) the aspect of adoration and love, idya, priya, as "adored" or "dear". This presents Agni in a new way as a power of Love which we find in the Mother's story of, Creation. i20 The Synthesis of Yoga, p. 262 '21 Savitri, p. 681Gf. also Savitri, Page: 107Thu|s taken was God’s plunge into the Night.

29

Sri Aurobindo says in The Life Divine, as we mentioned it already before, that this "terrestrial evolutionary working of Nature from Matter to Mind and beyond it has a double process":

(1) An outward visible process of physical evolution with birth as its machinery - each evolved form of body housing its own evolved power of consciousness is . maintained and kept in continuity by heredity; and simultaneously

(2) An invisible process of soul evolution with rebirth (as its "machinery") into ascending grades of form and consciousness.

These two involutions create a double process of evolution: of the body and the soul; and thus the whole hierarchy of consciousness.

■ In the Vedantic tradition Brahman was seen as the alMnclusive Consciousness: physical, vital, mental, supramental etc., whereas Atman, Self, was seen as an inhabitant oh those levels. /

"Brahman has projected in Itself this Idminousj Shadow of. Itself and has in the act begun to envisage Itself and .consider Its essentialities in the light of ’attributes. He who is Existence, Consciousness, Bliss envisages Himself as existent,; conscious, blissful. ‘From that momerpt phenomenal: manifestation becomes inevitable; the Unqualified chooses td regard Himself; as qualified. ...the One becomes the Many."23 : 1 * 3 4 * 6 7

. *.

Brahman, Spirit:

1. sat >:2. cit-tapas3. ananda4. vijnana ;■5. manas6. prana7. anna : ,i

existence |consciousness-power bliss i super-mind mind ■!; 'vital jmatter 1

Thie Self, Atman, in- the form of a Person,: Purusha, inhabitant oh every .plane of the Spirit,;Brahman: | i

purusa-vidhah^ is an

This: fallen world became a nurse of souls [Inhabited by concealed diyinity.A Being woke arid lived in! the meaningless void,A world-wide Nescienee strove towards life and thought, 1A Consciousness plucked but from mindless sleep. . . ■23 the Philosophy of the Upanishads, 1994, Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust, p.!’ 21 Taittirlya Upanisad 2.2-^, . : 1 :

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1) sat-purusa divine Self2) caitanya-purusa all-conscious Soul3) anandamaya-purusa all-enjoying Soul4) vijnanamaya-purusa : great Soul5) manomaya-purusa mental being6) pranamaya-purusa vital being7) annamaya-purusa physical being

"Atman, the Self, represents itself differently in the sevenfold movement of Nature according to the dominant principle of the consciousness in the individual being. In the physical | consciousness Atman becomes the material being, annamaya purusha. :In the vital or nervous consciousness Atman becomes the vital or dynamic being, pranamaya purusha. 1 ;In the mental consciousness Atman becomes the mental being, manomaya puijusha. - ■'; i t ■ ; ;.r. :!•;!;In the supra-intellectual consciousness, dominated by the Truth or causal idea (called in Veda satyam ritam brihat, the True, the Right, the Vast), Atman becomes the ideal being dr great Soul, vijnanamaya purusha ormahat atman. in the consciousness proper to the universal Beatitude, Atman becomes the all­blissful being or allrbnjqyijijig and all-productive Soul, arianclam'a|ya purusha.

, Iriithe consciousness iproper .Jo the! infinite divine sfelf>awaii|er!idss jv^bichus also the! infinite! allfeftectivfe' f$jl (cit-tapas), Atman is tbe ailrconscious Sbuii'that is source and lord of the universe, caitanya purusha. \ .,! ' J;j: ,i, :In the consciousness proper to the state of pure divine existence, Atman; is sat pufusa, the pure djyihe;Sp|f. : f!;: .Man, being' one in'sHis true Self with the Lord who inhabits all; forms, |can jive in any of these states! of the Self in the world and partake; baits'; experiences.!;He can be anything; he! Wills from the; material to the all-blissful being.' Through the Ahandamaya heican pter into the Chaitanya and Sat Purusha."25

In i the Vedas the! immortal life was foreseen ahd even experienced in consciousness, asma! lokad pretya amrta bhavapti,26 but not in terms of transformation of the physical body. There remained still a secret to be. discover,

. which was not fully; perceived at that time because evolutidnhad ndt advanced to the point where' it could be envisaged and striven for.27 j-; : ! j !;

When Sri Aurobindo realised the SUpramental consciousness he did not see any means to connect it'to tbp .earthly life. There was a gap,,.an abyss betyyeen them,

25 The Upanishads, p. 44. Emphases added by the author.26 Taittiriya Upanisad 3.10, Kena Upanisad 2.5 . ■27 The Mother in her Conversations explains that the Vedic Rishis were "involutionary beings", ;(MCW, vol.7, p.355) who brought down the Vedic truths for us to evolve towards. She even says that in the times of the Vedas no psychic being had yet been fully 'developed. (Mother's Agenda, 26.09.1962) :• ! " .

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and nothing seemed to be able to connect them. It was only when the Mother arrived that he saw the link, the Golden Bridge, and his sadhana changed considerably. He saw that the psychic being, a growing divinity in man, was the key to the whole evolution, a Lord to Be. This caitya-purusa, or ahgustha-matra- purusa28 in the cave of the heart hrdi guhayam, which was well known in the Indian spiritual tradition, was seriously underestimated. It may have been due to a greater focus being placed on obtaining spiritual powers and the relations with other personalities like Gods and Goddesses or because of other spiritual experiences and realizations like Nirvana, Dhyana, Samadhi. Whatever the reason, the utility of the psychic being was not clearly seen or understood, nor was its unique characteristic: that it belongs to, develops and grows only on earth, in the physical body.In a letter to a sadhak, Sri Aurobindo through Amrita-da explains that he and the Mother represent one consciousness in two bodies. He represents the spiritual consciousness, acting from above the head over the mental and vital consciousness, whereas the Mother represents the psychic consciousness, acting from within the:heart on the vital and physical plane. And for the Integral Yoga both these influences are necessary.29

1.2,5 The Double Soul of Man

"The true being may be realised in one or both of two aspects—the-Self or Atman and the soul or Antaratman, psychic being, Chaitya Purusha. The difference is that one is felt as universal, the other as individual supporting the mind, life and body. .:When one first realises the Atman one feels it separate from all things, existing in itself and detached,... When one realises the psychic being, it is not like that; for this brings the sense of union with the Divine and dependence upon It and sole consecration to the Divine alone and the power to change the nature and

28 See the passage on Psychic being from Savitri, p. 526-27:"She puts forth a small portion of herself, . ' ,A being no bigger than the thumb of man ' /Into! a hidden region of the heartTo face the pang and to forget the bliss, ■To share the suffering and endure earth's wounds And labour mid the labour of the stars.This in us laughs and weeps, suffers the stroke,Exults in victory, struggles for the crown;Identified with the mind and body and life,It takes on itself their anguish and defeat,

. Bleeds with Fate's whips and hangs upon the cross,Yet is the unwounded and immortal self Supporting' the actor in the human scene."

29 The experience that characterises the. Atman is seeing all as the Divine, while the experience that characterises the psychic being is a sense of surrender to the Divine, seeking only after the Divine.

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discover the true mental, the true vital, the true physical being in oneself. Both realisations are necessary for this yoga."30

In the past a spiritual life was possible only by excluding matter because the , utility and the purpose of the Chaitya Purusha was not fully understood. The | Psychic Being, the Individual Supreme, is the future Lord of this Creation. It is he

i; who is to evolve and to take into his hands the whole of Nature. Thus the : Supramental Manifestation can be understood as the Third or as the New

> Creation.

The first Creation was the Fall of the Spirit which laid out the field for the I' future Manifestation. All the levels of consciousness were unfolded gradually,

■i, creating all the worlds in the involutionary order, from light to darkness, from the : j superconscient to the inconscient.

The second Creation was a plunge of the Supreme into his first Creation bringing the aspect of the Self into this field of darkness, in terms of individual

. growth and realisation. From this point the evolution takes place and goes on till the, Psychic being is fully individualised and formed, and the instruments: of its expression: mind, life and body are fully developed’to embody the Spirit. '

And the third and final Creation is the Supramental Descent,: which reconciles ! Nature and the Soul; which enthrones the Psychic being as the; Lord of Creation

and gives it direct access to the higher realms of Being, Consciousness and Bliss, establishing the law of the Spirit in the whole Nature. '

i j 1 ; j j ‘

1.2.6 Three Transformations

. "There are different statuses ’of the Divine Consciousness," says Sri Aurobindo: Individual, Universal and Transcendental. He saysjthat there are also "different statuses of transformation": ! j

. ■ 1 I: "First is the psychic transformation, in whith all is in contact with theDiyine through the individual psychic consciousness,

i II. Next is the spiritual transformation in which Sail is merged in the Divine in the cosmic consciousness. ! I; . • I

III. Third is the supramental transformation in which all becomes suprarheritalisedlin the divine gnostic consciousness,"31

The Psychic transformationAccording to Sri Aurobindo, the Psychic being "is a! flame born out of the: Divine and, luminous inhabitant of the Ignorance, grows in it till it is able to turn it towards the Knowledge". He; describes it as a deputy of the unborn Self or

30 Letters on Yoga, p. 27731 Letters on Yoga, p. 95

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Atman "in the forms of Nature, the individual soul,... supporting mind, life and body, standing behind (them) ... watching and profiting by their development and experience."

"If it can come forward into the front and govern overtly and entirely... this outer nature of mind, life and body, then these can be cast into soul images of what is true, right and beautiful and in the end the whole nature can be turned towards the real aim of life, the supreme victory, the ascent into spiritual existence/'32

The Spiritual transformation"The Psychic being can by the spiritual influx enlarge itself and embrace the whole world.Jn an intimate communion or oneness.Or it may become aware of its eternal Companion and elect to live for ever in His presence, in an imperishable union and oneness as the eternal lover with the eternal Beloved, which of all spiritual experiences is the most intense in beauty and rapture.. All these are great and splendid achievements of our spiritual self­finding, but they are not necessarily the last end ahd entire consummation; more is possible."33

The Supramental transformation"The psychic transformation after rising into the spiritual change has then to be completed, integralised, exceeded and uplifted by a supramental transformation. In Supermind is,‘the integrating Light, the consummating Force, the wide entry into the supreme Ananda: the psychic being uplifted by that Light and Force can unite itself with the original Delight of existence !from which it came: overcoming the dualities of !pain and pleasure, delivering from all fear and shrinking the mind, life and body, it can recast the contacts of existence in the world into terms of the Divine Ananda/'34

Thus the psychic being is the key to evolution.1; It has to be discovered and brought forward. It has to ’be enlarged and strengthened by, the spiritual transformation of all its instrumentations of mind, vital and body. It has to be enthroned as the Lord of the Universe by the Supramental transformation and, by entering info' the realms of the Supreme Transcendental Ananda, it should bring down the higher laws of the Divine Existence into the earthly life1 of man.

32 The Life Divine, p. 22533 The Life Divine, p.228:34 The Life Divine, p.230

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Chapter III

1.3 A Reconstruction of the Vedic Knowledge in the light of Sri .. Aurohindo ,

1.3.1 Classes of the GodsThe faculties of Consciousness in the Vedaare seen as projected from the Divine Mother, Aditi, Infinite Consciousness-Force. The supreme emanations of that Consciousness-Force are called Adityas, the Sons of Aditi. There are seven of them: Vanina, Mitra, Aryaman, Bhaga, Daksa, Amsamti Surya.There are different classes of gods mentioned in the Veda: Adityas, Vasus, Visve- devas,Maruta-gana,Raudra-gana, etc. Although they differ from each other they also share many features and powers in the process of manifesting the Divine, which makes it difficult for the mind not used to distinguish the, subtle differences in the commonly shared features. The ordinary mind would only see the crowded common imagery assigned to all of them. The ability to distinguish the particularities in the commonly shareci: features Sri Aurobindo attributes to the higher mind. He .writes: "Yet as all these things form one in the realised godhead, as each element... contains the,others in itself and none_of them: can exist separately from the rest, therefore each of the Four (Adityas) :aiso possesses by force of his own essential 'quality every general attribute of his brothers. For this reason if we :|do not read the Veda as carefully:as it was written, yve shall miss its distinctions and see only -the indistinguishable Common functions of these luminous Kings, — aS indeed throughout the hymns the unity in difference of all the gods’mdkes it difficult for tqe mind not accustqpdd to the subtleties of psychological truth to find in the Vedic divinities anything but a confused mass, of common or interchangeable attributes^ But the distinctions are there ;.:|Each god contains, in Ihimself all the others, but'remains still' himself in his peculiar function."42 I

Aditya-gana is; a class jof deities ithat is distinctly; different from other types of gods such as the Visve-devas, • for instance, who are the, Universe! Gods, operating already in the created Universe, Whereas the Adityas are still

representing the transcendental and supramental levels. In their original status they also differ from the Vasu class, though many, times they are called upon to be identified with the status of Vasus, especially when they are to Vise in the consciousness of man. 1

42 The Secret of the Veda. Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Publication Department, 1998, pp. 497-98

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Vasu literally means a "luminous dweller within the substance", Agni is often invoked by this name.43 And since Agni represents all the gods and godheads here and is their gate to the manifested consciousness of man, as it were, this word is also applied to all of them when used in this particular meaning of rising to the higher status from within. It is in this context that the Adityas, Maruts, Asvins, Indra, Usas, Rudra, Vayu,. Visnu, Siva and Kubera are invoked as Vasus. In the post Vedic literature the class of Vasu, vasu-gana, consists of eight Vasus, the eighth one was born as Bhisma in the story of Mahabharata.There is also a clear distinction between the Adityas the Maruts, or the class of Rudras, though again they may be called upon to be identified with the Rudras for a particular purpose, in the same way as Agni can take any of the features of other gods on himself. The Rudras are a class of gods, especially when they are mentioned in plural that indicate the sons of Rudra (sometimes

; identified with or distinguished from_ the Maruts, who are 11, 33 or 49 in : number). In the Brahmanas and Arariyakas eleven Rudras are mentioned together with their female energies Rudranis. The number of Adityas also changes and grows up to 12, which seem to represent symbolically the twelve months of the Sun, Aditya.

1.3.2 The eighth son of Aditi

SOrya or Savitr is the Creator, who represents the Supramental Manifestation in all its glory with , all the godheads, and embodies all his brothers. He, by projecting himself into the darkness of the Inconscient, becomes Vivasvat or Martanda, the Mortal Embryo, or Mortal Universe, the eighth son of Aditi. It is

this dark Sun, who is hidden by the Titans in the Subconscious cave of Darkness, which has to be recovered by the Sacrifice.Thus Vivasvat is the Creator of the Universe, who carries within himself all the potentialities of his seven brothers from whom, they are to rise to their high throne,;from where they could see both the Supreme realms of Existence and the Lower Nature.44 It is only then that they may. arrive at a supreme perception of the Lord, (cp. also;: Purusottama of the Gita, or is of the Isopanisad).

1.3.3 The four transcendental godheads or the Guardians of Light.

l^mpajrepresents the Vastness of Infinite Being, ;s<a£Mitra represents the luminosity and harmony of the Divine Consciousness, cit.

43 Root vas has several meanings in different verbal classes: to dwell', to shine', and to wear as a garment'.!44 RV 5.62.8 a rohatho varuna mitra gartam atas caksathe aditim ditim ca /"O Varuna, O Mitra, you two are ascending to your throne from where you see Aditi and Diti, Infinite and FiniteConsciousness". ' ' :

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Aryaman is the power of the Divine tapas.Bhaga is the Bliss of the Divine Fulfillment, ananda.

Sri Aurobindo calls the first four Adityas the Guardians of Light, for they are guarding the Transcendental Light from one side and from another introducing it

v into the lower hemisphere. He writes in The Secret of the Veda: "Aditiis the : infinite Light of which the divine world is a formation and the gods, children of : the infinite Light, born of her in the Ritam, manifested in that active truth of her

movement guard it against Chaos and Ignorance."4^Sri Aurobindo defines the characteristics of the four first Adityas 'xw this way:;

"The Divine is existence all-embracing, infinite and pure; Varuna brings toi1 ■ us the infinite oceanic space of the divine soul and its ethereal, elemental

purity., { , ■ 1 • |.The Divine is boundless consciousness, perfect in knowledge, pure and therefore luminously right in its, discernment of thirigs,: perfectly

! harmonious and happy in! its concordance of their law and! nature;: Mitra brings us this; light and harmony,! this fight distinction; and relation and friendly concord, the happy laws of the liberated soul concordant with

; ; itself and the Truth in ail its rich thought, shining actions and thousandfold■ enjoyment. !_ : :' ■ |! • ; ; ! !

. , : The Divine is in its own; being pure, and perfect power and in us the! ! [ eternal upward tendency! in things :to, their source arid; tijuth; Aryaman

brings to; us! this mighty strength and perfectly-guided: happy inner upsurging. ; ; ; ■! - : ; '

, : The Divine is j the pure, the faultless,'the all-embracing, the, untroubled\ ecstasy that enjoys its own infinite;,being and enjoys!equally all that it

creates within itself; Bhaga gives us sovereignly that ecstasy of the 1 liberated soul,j its free and unfallen possession of itself and the world.

This quaternary is practically the later essential trinity of Sachchidananda,

— Existence^ Consciousness, Bliss with self-awareness and self-force, Chit and Tapas, for double terms of Consciousness; but it is here translated into its cosmic terms and equivalents."46 :

45 The Secret of the Veda. Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram Publication Department, 1998, p. 475

46 ibid

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1.3.4 The triple status of the Supermind and the Three Supramenta! Godheads of the Veda

Sri Aurobindo described the triple status of the Supermind in. various ways. First we will use his description in philosophical terms. It is important for us to identify the faculties of the next three Adityas and their functions, which will be directly connected with the triple status of the Supermind.

• Unity• Many in One and One in Many• Many

In the chapter "The Triple Status of the Supermind", Sri Aurobindo writes about these three levels: "The first founds the inalienable unity of things, the .second modifies that unity so as to support the manifestation of the Many in One and One in Many;; the third further modifies it so as to support the evolution of a diversified individuality which, by the- action, qf ignorance, beccjmes in us at a lower level the illusion of the separate ego."47This vision will be then projected into all the structures; of the lower

; manifestation,'on all; its levels. We,! may always find these three elements in the life of every creature: (1) the unifying oneness dominating over the individual elements,;(2); the harmonizing diversity; and its relation with oneness, and vice­

-versa; and (3j the diversifying individual elements, deviating from the oneness as far;as possible. These three will become the major grades in the hierarchy of the mental-vital-physical structure of consciousness, maintaining their approaches to the reality as a whole and to each other in particular. ' |Sri; Anrohindci also jdeplcts the three layers Of the Supermind in psychological terms; iprrelation to; three activities of the intuitive mind — for, Intuition is a flash of the Supramental light reaching out to the lower levels ofj: consciousness. It, is interesting tq compare the two, philosophical and psychological descriptions.

5 Here is the psychological one: ; . ! i"Imperative Supermind, which, corresponds to Revelation! That is always

true. Nothing cain; Stand against it. It iS knowledge fulfilling itself by its own ;• power. ' ■ - ' ;,!. , ' i' ; ’ ? ■1 j i

Representative Supermind represents the actual ; movements of potentialities and shows that in operation. When; Inspiration, is changed into its

; supramental value, then it becomes this'Representative Supermind. Even this is not the highest. There you kndw certain potentialities in-thought and action working and you can in many cases say what would happen or how a certain

: thing happened if it does. ; f K : ,Interpretative Supermind, corresponding to Intuition. I 1 call it

47 Volume 18-19 [SABCL] The Life Divine, p. 145

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Interpretative, because what is a possibility on the mental plane becomes a potentiality on the supramental plane and the Interpretative puts all the potentialities before you. It shows the root cause of events that may become true on the physical plane. When Intuition is changed into its supramental value, it becomes Interpretative Supermind."48

Three godheads of the SupermindDaksa represents the power of Thought, All-discerning and All-distributing

Power of Supramental Consciousness.Amsa represents the diversity in Oneness supported by that Unifying

Power of Daksa.Surya or Savitr represents all the seven Adityas and projects them into a

lower Creation. His rays represent the diversity in the domains of Svar.^,Daksa is; the Father of all the Adityas born for manifesting the Divine ;in

the? material Universe. Even Aditi is born to him as his? daughter, the cosmic universal Cow,/supporting with her milk all the creation. It is in Daksa that the triple conception by the Lord within his Consciousness takes place and creates the triple status of the Supermind. .Sri Aurobindo speaks of Daksa in this way:

' j: "Aditi-is; originally the pure consciousness! of infinite ,existence one and

j; self-luminous; she is the Light that is Mother of all things. As the infinite ; | she giveis birth jto Daksha, the discriminating and distributing Thought of

;; the divine Mind, and is herself born to Daksha as the cosmic infinite, the mystic Cow Whose udders feed all the worlds; ' ;It is this: divine daughter of Daksha who is the mother? of the gods. In the cosmos Aditi is the undivided infinite unity of things, free from the duality,

; advaya, and has Diti the separative dualising consciousness for the , obverse! side of her cosmic creation, — her sister and a riyal Wife in the later myth."50 !/ ; /

Amsa, literally imeans a "portion"/which implies two meanings simultaneously: onpness and separateness. It is in this amsa that the jlvatman, the divine individual self; is being shaped, projecting itself as the Psychic being into the lower hemisphere of Surya Savitr, the Creator.

48 The Supermind. Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram Press, 1971, p, 2649 SvarXs the luminous world of the Ray of the Sun.50 The Secret of the Veda. Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram Publication Department, 1998, pp. 473-74

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Sri Aurobindo speaks of the second status of the Supermind in this way:

"In the second poise of the Supermind the Divine Consciousness stands back in the idea from the movement which it contains,51 realising it by a sort of apprehending consciousness, following it, occupying and inhabiting its works, seeming to distribute itself in its forms.52 In each name and form it would realize itself as the stable Conscious-Self, the same in all; but also it would realise itself as a concentration of Conscious-Self following and supporting the individual play of movement and upholding its differentiation from other play of movement, — the same everywhere in soul-essence, but varying in soul-form. This concentration supporting the soul-form would be the individual Divine or Jivatman as distinguished from the universal Divine or one all-constituting self."53

1.3.5 Seven sons of AditiThus the seven sons of Aditi, the Divine Mother are:

• Varuna, Sat, Infinite Existence• Mitra, Cit,Consciousness• Aryaman, Tapas, Force• Bhaga, Ananda, Bliss• Daksa, Supramental Knowledge-Force• Amsa, Supramenitai Many in Oneness and Oneness in! Many• Surya Savitr, Supramental Manifestation

So we can see that the whole range of the powers and consciousness is already prepared in the Supermind as a Creator before the manifestation of Cosmos can take place physically. Surya is the Creator of this Universe and! at; the same time he.is the Supreme Lord, who;gathered all his power, consciousness and bliss to create himself anew, to become many, bahu syam itCA ^<5^7 thus reflects through her sons the higher status of the Divine in the lower hemisphere. Then she is called in the Veda Did.Thus there are all the equivalents of the Seven Adityas mthm the !lower Creation: there is the presence of the jail-embracing Infinity of Varuna and the creative harmony Of Mitra, the powerful presence of Aryaman and the delight of Bhaga on all the levels of Creation. It is because of the! Sacrifice of the' Divine Mother,

51 Cp. to samjnana, vtjnana, ajnana, prajnana.52 Cp. to Amsa Aditya53 The Life Divine. Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram Press, 1972, p. 14654 TaitUp 2.10.

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Aditi, that the higher states of Consciousness are projected into and present in the lower creation. It is these who manifest the world.This duality is created by the Supramental Consciousness-Force which thus maintains the double process of the One: its diversity and its oneness. The Consciousness of the Supreme is thus including both and exceeding both. To rise to his supreme perception one must maintain both states simultaneously, as the isopanisad says: vidyam cavidyam ca yas tad vedobhayam saha, avidyaya mrtyum tirtva vidyayamrtam asnute. "The one who knows both simultaneously Knowledge and Ignorance, indeed by Ignorance passes through the Death (as the: field of constant change in Time and Space) and by Knowledge enjoys Immortality (as the all knowing state of Being)."This is a description of the Supreme Consciousness partaking in both, and infinitely manifesting itself in time and beyond time, being essentially one.The Lord experiences the state of his Immortality within the transitory situation, within the time and space continuum, (and at the same time) being infinitely free from it. It is only when man can perceive both that he may rise to the , highest consciousness of the Lord and see the two poises of Ditimti Aditi, as it is said in thej Rig-veda. And that is what these godheads are doing through man's consciousness, rising to their highest realization.

1.3.6 Surya Savitrthz Lord of Creation

The Rays of the Sun thus build up the world of: luminous planes, called in the Veda Svar. It has three luminous realms, called trirocana, which in turn projects the; three realms of the higher or Cosmic Mind, called tisro dyavah, sustaining the three spaces of , the Vital realms, called tri rajamsi, supported by the three foundations of the Physical, called tisro bhumih.ssSri :Aurobindo translated tri rocana as "three luminous worlds divine"56: "three powers of Light uphold three luminous worlds divine", tri aryama manuso deyatata tri rocana divya dharayanta. These three powers of Light as the triple status of the Supermind uphold the three luminous worlds of Svar, tri rocana, supporting then the three heavens trin uta dyun, and the three spaces of the mid-worlds, trini rajamsi, ’Thus the three luminous realms; are projected into the three heavens of our mentality and the three spaces of our vitality; and all of them are supported by Mitra and1 Varuna, It is as if they penetrate j it through from the beyond, influencing them With their presence, consciousness, and power:RV 2.27.8 'mentions also the three earths, bhumis.

tisrp bhumir dharayan trin uta dyun trini vrata vidathe antar esamrtinadityd mahi vo mahitvam tad aryaman varuna mitra earn

55 RV5.69.1 trf rocana varuna trin uta, dyun trini mitra dharayatho rajamsi"Three worlds of the Light you two! uphold, 0 Varuna, three heavens, three mid-worlds, O MitraV The three luminous worlds trirocana, (from root rue, to shine) are the three levels of Svar.56 The Life Divine. Pondicherry: Sri Auroblndo Ashram Press, 1972, p. 142

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"They (Adityas) support the three earths, and the three heavens. Three are the laws within the sacrificial gathering (inside the antariksa). By the Truth the sons of Infinity have their greatness here great, and that is beautiful, 0 Aryaman, Varuna and Mitra."

1.3.7 The triple worlds

There are three earths, three levels in the vital, and the three levels in the mind: tisro bhumih, trini rajarnsi, and tisro dyavah, projected, as it were, from three worlds of Svar, tri rocana, as the, Rays of the Sun of the Suprarriental Consciousness-Force.

WORLDMental mind,Vital mind, MINDPhysical mind 1 ’

SVAR SUPERMIND

UNITY

Mental vital,Vital vital, VITALPhysical vital

MANY IN ONE & : ONE; IN MANY

Mental physical,Vital physical,:: PHYSICALPhysical physical

MANY

The Mental Mind is what Sri Aurobindo: calls in Savitri the Self of Mind, the Cosmic or Universal Mind. TheiVitaUMindis the Universal Life's Mind and the Physical Min’d! is the one which manifests the physicality of the Universe. Human mind is also;build on the material ground, dependent on the physical brain, dealing with: physical reality of the Cosmos.

And these a;re the three heavens mentioned in the RV 1.35.6 as tisro dyavah of Savitr. two'are his own realms and one is in the realm of Yama: tisro dyavah savitur dva\ upastam eka yamasya bhuvane yirasat. So, it is; The Mind of the physical Universe, which is in the world of Yama, and the Universal Vital Mind and the Universal Mental Mind are in!the realms of Savitar, which Sri Aurobindo calls in his system of Knowledge: Higher andTHUmined Mind.

1.3.8 A comparison of the Vedic and Sri Aurobindo's terminology

If we were to compare Sri Aurobindo's terms with the Vedic terminology we would see this picture:

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Supermental Overmind —

Overmind trJrocana, 'three luminous worlds divine'

Intuitive Mind

Illumined Mind

Higher Mind

Mind

We have already mentioned tisro dyavah,\he three realms of the Universal Mind: Mental, Vital and Physical, which in Siji Aurobindo's terminology are identified as Illumined Mind, Higher Mind and Mihd, but we , did not speak about I the three rocanasyet, the three luminous realms of Svar. The particularity; of Svar \s that it begins in the Supermind and extends itself into the Overmind and then to the Intuitive Mind. It is here that the major difficulty of understanding of; Svar lies. Sri Aurobindo speaks of Svar differently in different contexts -! sometimes he identifies it with the Supermind and sometimes he underlines'; the [difference between the two. It is the world of the Rays of the Sun, which in its fjirst stage, before going out, is still a part of the [Sun, meaning the Sun itself. It is, only later that the Rays disperse into the groupings of flashes in the Overmerital realms and finally become separate in the Intuitive Mind.Sri Aurobindo describes this phenomenon in a letter speaking of the levels of the Overmind: ; : l; ! ,

"There are different planes of the overmind. : , ;One is mental, directly creative of all the formations that manifest below in

the mental world — that is the mental;overmind. :Above is! the overmind intuition. '! ;Still above are the planes of overmind that are! more and more connected

with the supermind and have a partly |supramental! character. Highest in the overmind ranges is the supramental overmind or overmind gnosis:"57 , ,Commenting on the Hymn to Jff/tra arid Varuna, Sri Aurobindo speaks about the three roca/aas as "the three luminous worlds in which the triple mental, the triple vital, the triple physical find thje light of their truth and the divine jaw of their powers."58 . ! I.-"'!: . j ■ ' / ■

There is another fundamental difficulty in the. understanding of Svar, for, according to the Veda, it was created, last, after Heaven and Earth and Antariksa

57 Aurobindo, Sri. (1970). Letters on yoga. Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram Press, p. 26158 Volume: 10 [SABCL] The Secret of the Veda, p. 483

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came into existence. It is as if it requires a feedback, or a field of application. If the lower creation were not there, S/ar would not come into being. It is because of Agni being born in the lower creation, calling for the light from above, that Si/<arfinally manifests.

Cf. RV 10.88.2:girnambhuvanamtamasapagudham/ avih svar abhavajjate agnau[First] Being was swallowed by the Darkness and hidden within It. Then, when Agni was born, Svar became manifest.

The Hymn of Creation (RV 10.190) also speaks of Svar as being: created, last:

rtam ca satyam cabhiddhat tapaso'dhi ajayata/tato ratrTajayata tatah samudro arnavah ■ • . ,

The Law and the Truth were born from the kindled Power of Tapas. . ’From that the Night was born, from the Night: the Ocean of Inconscient Waters;

samudrad arnavad adhi samvatsaro ajayata /ahoratrani vidadhad visvasya misato vast ;

From the Ocean the Year was born, distributing Days and Nights, the Master of All that changes. •

suryacandramasau dhata yathapurvam akalpayat/ divam ca prthivim ca antariksam athosvah

The Sun and Moon the Establisher fashioned as before, Heaven and Earth and the Space in-between, and then SvaA -

The explanation to this phenomenon we can find in the understanding of the fact that there :is a fundamental difference between the Illumined Mind and the higher realms of the Intuitive Mind and the Overmind. Sri Aurobindo Writes about this in his letter: |. i 'I.'"Intuition is above -illumined Mind which is simply higher Mind raised; to a great luminosity and: more open to modified forms of intuition add inspiration, .ii The Intuition is the 'first plane ini which there is a real opening to the full possibility of realisation ~ it is through, it that one;:goe$ fartherifirst to overmind and then to supermind."59He also defines the; difference between the Illumined Mind and the Intuitive iMindin Savitri, in the Canto "The Self of Mind", where the Intuitive Mind can be reached only through the higher action of Intuition itself, coming down from

S9 LY 264:

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above to the Illumined Mind. It is through the overflooding directness of the Overmind via Intuition that the Illumined Mind can come into contact with the Supramental consciousness, says Sri Aurobindo in his letter:60 ...the thousand-petalled lotus — sahasradala — above commands the higher thinking mind, houses the still higher illumined mind and at the highest opens to the intuition through which or else by an overflooding directness the overmind can have with the rest communication or an immediate contact.

1.3.9 The two lower triple realms

Mental Vital

| Vital tri rajamsi

Physical Vital \

Mental Physical

Vital Physical

Physical

tisrobhumlh

|The tri rajamsi the three realms of the Vital are the levels of (1) the, Higher Universal Life, (2) the Universal Life, as such, with art entrance (antar/ksa) to the Infinite Darkness, and (3) the Universal Life as it is known to us projected into the creation of the material Universe.The Mental Vital corresponds to'the plane which Sri Aurobindo< describes in the Second Book of the Traveller of the Worlds, in the; Ninth Canto "The Paradise of the Life-Gods"., It is the, Life Force which is on the other shore of the material Creation, beyond the darkness, as it were. To reach to that shore Aswapati must crdss the regions of the .Eternal Night, which are ‘described in the previous two Cantos, 7 and 8: "The Descent into Night", and "The World of Falsehood, The Mother of Evil and the Sons of Darkness". : ;j. ;It is only after crossing those regions: of Infinite Darkness andjjEvil that he moves to the realms of the Mental Vital and then to the Mind levels in the following Cantos: first to "The kingdoms and: Godheads of the Little Mind" which corresponds to the Cosmic PhysjcakMind,: depicted in the Veda as Heaven of Yama, ruling’ over men, yamasya bhuvane virasat (RV 1.35.6), which is Our human mind in its highest potential; and then to the "Kingdoms and Godheads of the Greater Mind", to the Cosmic Higher Mind's regions. :Thus the realms of Life are; the place where all the troubles begin, where the dark forces enter into our system of mental-physical existence. It is here in the Vitjal, antariksa,that the bridge is to be made by the Sacrifice to the higher

60 Aurobindo, Sri. (1970). Letters on yoga. Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram Press, p, 365

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domains of consciousness, seeking their direct and effective influence. It is here that the whole battle is going on between the Sons of Light and the Sons of Darkness, in the field of our Life.The, t/sro bhumfh are the three realms of the Universal Physical, determined by:

• the Mind, which makes itself conscious in manifesting and maintaining its form,

• by the Life, which makes it dynamic in its own movement;• and with the proper Physical, as a faculty housing all other forces and

levels of consciousness, taking their part in the material manifestation of the Divine.

Without the physical being fully prepared there cannot be any direct Supramental influence in the material Nature, for it is, as it is clear now, dragging down the vital and the mind inherent in it, not allowing them to realize freely their full potential. And there is a reason for it, for all of them are here only to manifest the Divine in matter, and not for any other reason. Sri Aurobindo says in a letter to a sadhak:

"There can be no conquest of the other planes by the supermind but only an influence, so long as the physical is not ready.... And how is it possible to perfect the mind and vital unless the physical is prepared — for there is such

, a thing as the mental and vital physical and mind and vital cannot be said to be; perfectly prepared until these are ready."61

1.3.10 Body as a Supramental creation

The triple conception by the Creator, depicted in the Veda, within his own Consciousness creates the Supermind. The very physical consciousness is a result of this conception and a part of its realisation.The physical and mental consciousness are seen in the Veda as two! luminous firmaments, rodasi, supporting the growing Soul in this Creation.The body itself is seen as the outcome of a Supramental Creation, which at the first glance is not easy to understand, but which explains why in the: [post Vedic

; spiritual traditions, together with; the disappearance of the concept of Svar and , the; Supermind, the body also lost its proper meaning and got reduced to an imprisonment. It even was seen as an obstacle for the finding of our true self, rather than a solution for the manifestation of the Divine in matter. !Sri: Aurobindo writes in his, letter: "The supramental: is necessary for the transformation of terrestrial life and being, not for reaching the Self. One must realise Self first, only afterwards tan one realise the ;supermind,"In [the Vedas Heaven and Earth, our mental and; physical consciousness was considered to be pure and conscious of the Divine. The body was seen as a fortress and refuge for the soul of man against the forces of Darkness. It was referred to as "well-made", a dwelling place for the Spirit. The treatment of the

61 Aurobindo, Sri. Letters on yoga. Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram Press. 1970, pp. 1228-29 .

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physical body underwent a fundamental change in the later Mayavada-oriented spiritual traditions; it was seen as an obstacle and hindrance on the path to the spiritual realisation, rather than the supporter of, or the field of realisation. It fell off into the domain of a lower consciousness and was blamed for keeping the soul here, bound to suffering against its will to be free.

1.3.11 The seven Suns of the SupermindSri Aurobindo reconsidered the usual yogic practices, oriented towards Liberation alone — which came in the post Vedic period when the transformation of the earthly life and the physical body was considered impossible — and turned towards the Vedic view of a transformative practice: invoking the higher powers by the means of aspiration in the heart and surrendering to them for the transformation. He introduces the ancient Vedic method of a Descent of a Higher Consciousness and Power into our mental, vital and even subtle physical and physical bodies for transformation.It is as if he is looking from above at the-physical body, seeing it from the Supramental point of view. He writes about the seven centres in the body as the manifestation of the Seven Suns of the Supermind in this way:

• The Sun of Supramental Truth, Knowledge-Power, originating the supramental creation. Descent into the sahasradaia.

• The Sun of Supramental Light and Will-Power, transmitting the Knowledge-Power as dynamic vision and command to create, found and organize the supramental creation. Descent into ajna cakra, the centre between the eyes.

• The Sun of Supramental Word, embodying the Knowledge-Power, empowered to express and arrange the supramental creation. Descent into the throat centre.

• The Sun of Supramental Love, Beauty, and Bliss, releasing the Soul ofthe Knowledge-Power to vivify and; harmonise the supramental creation. Descent into the heart-lotus. ;

• The Sun of Supramental Force dynamised as a power and source of life to support the supramental creation. Descent into navel centre.

• The Sun of Life-Radiances (Power-Rays), distributing the dynamis andpouring it into concrete formations; .Descent into the penultimate centre.- ; .

• The Sun of Supramental ^ Substance-Energy and Form-Energyempowered to embody the supramental life and stabilize the creation. Descent into the muladhafo. ^

1.3.12 The concept of SacrificeHeaven and Earth, the mental and physical consciousness, are housing the souls here, as the eternal amsas of the Divine, to perform the Sacrifice; that is, to invoke and bring down the higher forces of Consciousness. Heaven and Earth,

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meanwhile are supporting and nourishing them, protecting them from abhva, the Inconscient, which they have descended to convert and to save.Agni, the Divine Will, the spiritual Father of all the evolving souls of men, is thus a growing Lord in the Darkness, taking all of it onto Himself and changing it into the Divine nature.Heaven and Earth, our Father and Mother, Mental and Physical Consciousness, were seen as projected from the Supermind into the darkness of the Inconscient- as the Golden Embryo, the hiranya garbha. Then they got separated into two halves. The upper one became Heaven and the lower Earth. The Space in- between became: antariksa, introducing into our system through its opening the powers of the beyond, of the superconscient, and the forces of the subconscient realms, from the Abyss of abhva, to meet and to fight in this space. It is a window to the Infinite Light and the Infinite Darkness. It is the place of the Sacrifice. And in this space the soul of man is growing, supported by our physical and mental consciousness. "Thus the soul is a battlefield full of helpers and hurters, friends and enemies." — says Sri Aurobindo speaking about the Vedic symbolism of the Sacrifice — "All this lives, teems, is personal, is conscious, is active. We create for ourselves by the sacrifice and by the word shining seers, heroes to fight for us,, children of our works.... The soul of man is a world full of beings> a kingdom in which armies clash to help or hinder a supreme conquest, a house where the gods are our guests and which the demons strive to possess; the fullness of its energies and wideness of its being make a seat of sacrifice spread, arranged and purified for a celestial session." 62

Sacrifice as a way to transformationAgni\s the summoner, hotr, and the messenger, duta, to the Gods from above and from within the depth of his own Consciousness-Force, introducing them and their transcendental presence here in the earthly consciousness of ,man. ,In the depth of his being he has access to all the Godheads, for he himself represents all of them here in the realms of the fallen Self.It is by the Sacrifice, performed by men in himself, that these transcendental Godheads, Adityas, are rising to their highest Throne, from which they can see both the Infinite and the Finite Creation.Agni invokes and brings them here from the luminous realms of Svar, rocanad, into the earthly mind, life and body of men. Thus we see RV 1.14.9:

aktrn suryasya rocanad visvan devan, usarbudhah / vipro hoteha vaksatiMay the Invoker, the ecstatic Priest, (Agni) bring here to us the Gods, whoawake with the Dawn, from the luminous world of the Sun, rocanad.

1.3.13 Indra and Agnk the two poles of the Sacrifice

62 Volume: 10 [SABCL] The Secret of the Veda, Page: 34

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As Agni works from within, from the depth, on the transformation of the . Inconscient, Indra is coming from above, from the beyond of our mentality, and strikes it with his Lightning, destroying all the enemies that hide there in the dark, illumining the substance of our consciousness and being.

Sri Aurobindo writes in the Secret of the Veda:"Indra, the Puissant..., who is the power of pure Existence self-manifested as the Divine Mind. As Agni is one pole of Force instinct with knowledge that sends its current upward from earth to heaven, so Indra is the other pole of Light instinct with force which descends from heaven to earth. He comes down into our world as the Hero with the shining horses and slays darkness and division wjth his lightnings, pours down the life-giving! heavenly,waters, finds in the trace of the hound, Intuition, the lost or hidden illuminations, makes the Sun of Truth mount high in the heaven of our mentality."63

The illumination which Indra brings is the light of the Sun, who "is the master of that supreme Truth, — truth of being, truth of knowledge, truth of process and act and movement and functioning. He is therefore the creator or rather the manifester of all things — for creation is outbringing, expression by the ! truth and Will — and the father, fosterer, enlightener of dur souls. The illuminations we seek are the herds of this Sun who comes to us in the track of the divine Dawn and releases and reveals in us night-hidden world, after world up to the highest Beatitude."64

The aim of the SacrificeThe union Of the three levels of the physical consciousness with the three spaces of the vital! and three heavens of the mental consciousness is the aim of the Vedic Sacrifice.For! thus it effectuates the ascent to Svafs three luminous realms, trl rocana, introducing the Supramental consciousness into the,lower hemisphere.The union of Agni, Vayu and Surya was considered to be the aim of the Vedic Sacrifice, where Agni was seen as the essence of! Earth, prthivl; Vayu as the essence of the Space in-between; antariksa;, and Surya the essence of Heaven,; dyaus. If these three fires are united into one Fire,, then the aim of the Sacrifice is Realised. For it recreates the .Oneness of jthe triple status jof the Supermind here in the tower hemisphere by completing it on all the levels of Consciousness.

1.3.14 Planes of consciousness in Savitri ; |There is a wonderful description in Savitri of all;the levels;starting from the Higher Mind and ending with the Supermind:65

63 Volume: 10 [SABCL] The Secret of the Veda, p. 3064 Volume: 10 [SABCL] The Secret of the Veda, p. 31 ,® Savitri — A Legend and a Symbol. Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram Publication Department. 1997, pp. 659-62 ' ■ ■

A few have dared the last supreme ascent And break through borders of blinding light above, And feel a breath around of mightier air,Receive a vaster being's messages And bathe in its immense intuitive Ray.On summit Mind are radiant altitudes Exposed to the lustre of Infinity,Outskirts and dependencies of the house of Truth, Upraised estates of Mind and measureless There man can visit but there he cannot live.

[Higher Mind]A cosmic Thought spreads out its vastitudes;Its smallest parts are here philosophies Challenging with their detailed immensity,Each figuring an omniscient scheme of things. ,

[Illumined Mind]But higher still can climb the ascending light;There are vasts of vision and eternal suns,Oceans of an immortal luminousness, ,Flame-hills assaulting heaven with their peaks, ; There dwelling all becomes a blaze of sight;A burning head of vision leads the blind,Thought trails behind it its long comet tail; ; .The heart glows; an illuminate and seer,And sense is kindled into identity.

[Intuitive Mind]A Highest flight climbs to a deepest view:In a wide opening of its native sky Intuition's lightnings range in a bright pack , Hunting all hidden truths out of their lairs.Its fiery edge of seeing absolute Cleaves into locked unknown retreats of self, Rummages the sky-recesses of the brain,:Lights up the occult chambers of the heart;Its spear-point ictus of discovery ■ ;j:Pressed on the cover of name, the screen of form, Strips bare the secret soul of all that \k : ■ Thpught there has revelation's sun-bright eyes; Thb Word, a mighty and inspiring Voice] ; 1

Enters Truth's inmost cabin of privacy .And tears away the veil from God and life.

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[Overmind]Then stretches the boundless finite's last expanse,The cosmic empire of the Overmind,

; Time's buffer state bordering Eternity, *; Too vast for the experience of man's soul: - 1 All here gathers beneath one golden sky:: The Powers that build the cosmos station take

. In its house of infinite possibility;" Each god from there builds his own nature's world;

Ideas are phalanxed like a group of suns,Each marshalling his company of rays.

; Thought crowds in masses seized by one regard;! All time is one. body, Space a single look:; I| There is the Godhead's universal gaze - ,,! And there the boundaries of immortal Mind:,: The line that parts and joins the hemispheres

Closes in on the labour of the Gods Fencing eternity from the toil of Time.

, [Supermind], In her glorious kingdom of eternal light;; All-ruler, ruled by none, the Truth supreme, * 1 ii Omnipotent, omnistient and alone,:: In a golden country keeps her measureless house;! In its corridor she bears the tread that comes

Out of the Unmanifest never to return 1 Till the Unknown is known and seen by men.Above the stretch and blaze of cosmic Sight,Above the silence of the wordless Thought, i :Formless creator of immortal forms,

( ! Namelejss, investitured with, the namedivipe, v ;iTranscending time's hours,; transcending Timelessness, :•

■ The Mighty Mother: sits in lucent calm ,And holds the eternal Child upon her knees

' Attending the day When he shall speak•.to Faite.66

There is the image of our future's hope; i:; .1 ’There is the siin fefr which ail darkness yybits,

, 66 Cp. to pv 5.69.3 pratar; devlm aditlm johavlmi madhyanidina udita suryasya/, ; raye mitravaruna sarvatata lie tokaya tanayaya sam yo(i 1 !

. . "In the; Dawn I call constantly to the' Divine Mother Aditi, and in the midday and in the rising of the Sun. For ■ the shining wealth for All I seek her with adoration, 0. Mitra and Varuna, for peace and for creation and for

i the, birth of her Son." It is a cujmination and the meaning of this creation, the birth of the Son of Aditi, the Supreme'in the physical body of man. 1 * •

There is the imperishable harmony;The world's contradictions climb to her and are one: There is the Truth of which the world's truths are shreds, The Light of which the world's ignorance is the shade Till Truth draws back the shade that it has cast,The Love our hearts call down to heal all strife,The Bliss for which the world's derelict sorrows yearn: Thence comes the glory sometimes seen on earth,The visits of Godhead to the human soul,The Beauty and the dream on Nature's face.There the perfection born from eternity Calls to it the perfection born in Time,The truth of God surprising human life,The image of God overtaking finite shapes.There in a world of everlasting Light,In the realms of the immortal Supermind Truth who hides here her head in mystery,Her riddle deemed by reason impossible In the stark structure of material form,Unenigmaed lives, unmasked her face and there Is Nature and the common law of things.There in a body made of spirit stuff,The hearth-stone of the everliving Fire,Action translates the movements of the soul,Thought steps infallible and absolute And life is a continual worship's rite,A sacrifice of rapture to the One.A cosmic vision, a spiritual sense Feels all the Infinite lodged in finite form And seen through a quivering ecstasy of light Discovers the bright face of the Bodiless,In the truth of a moment, in the moment's soul Can sip the honey-wine of Eternity.A Spirit who is no one and innumerable,The one mystic infinite Person of his world Multiplies his myriad personality,On all his bodies seals his divinity's stamp And sits in each immortal and unique.67

67 Cp. RV 7.52.1 adityaso aditayah syama pur devatra vasavo martiyatra/ "May we become the Adityasm their infinite qualities, which they all share in the Supreme Mother Aditi, and at the same time remain unique, stay like a Fortress among the Gods and among the Mortals, O Luminous Dwellers in the substance!"

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Chapter I¥Symbolism of the Vedic Imagery '

Chapter IV . .Symbolism of the Vedic Imagery • ' . .. 1

1.4.0 IntroductionSri Aurobindo on the Vedic Symbolism i

"The Rig Veda is! one in all its parts. Whichever of its ten Mandalas68 we choose, we find the same substance, the same ideas, the same images, the same phrases. The Rishis are the seers of a single truth and use in its expression a common language. They differ in temperament and personality; some are inclined to a more rich, subtle and profound: use of Vedic symbolism; others give voice to their spiritual experience in a barerandsimplerdiction>with less fertility of thought, richness of poetical image or depth and fullness of suggestion."69

"A too imaged rendering of the inexpressible Truth?" - answers Sri Aurobindo in his letter to the sadhak about the Veda's imagery. "But without images, how to present to the intellect a mystery far beyorip at? It is only wherilone has crossed the barrier of the limited intelligence.and s'fiarbd! in the cosmic experience and the; knowledge which sees things from identity].thatThe supreme:realities which lie ibehind these-] images—images corresponding to the terrestrial fact—assume their divine forms and are felt as simple/1 natural^ implied jj| The essence of things. It is by entering into that greater consciousness alone that one; can grasp the inevitability of its self-creation and its purpose."70 : ;; ; ! :

Sri Aurobindo explains different levels of symbolic thinking im a very systematic and coherent way: "A symbol, as I understand it," - says Sri Aurobindo, - "is the form on one] plane that represents a truth of another. For:: instance, a flag is the symbol of a [nation.... But generally all forms are symbbls.jjThis body of ours is a symbol of our real being and everything is a symbol of some higher reality. There are, however, different kinds of symbols: : 1

I. Conventional Symbols, such as the Vedic Rishis formed with objects taken from

their surroundings. The cow stood for light] because the same word 'go' meant both ray and cow, and because the cow [was their , mdst: precious possession

68 Rig Veda consists of ten books or mandalas, each mandata is composed by ,a Certain family of ancient rsis, for instance the second mandata belongs to Grtsamada, the third belongs tb. Visvamitra and his family, the forth to Vamadeva, the fifth tb Atrifamily, the sixth to Bharadvaja, the seventh to Vasistha, the eighth to Kama etc. The first and the last are composed by many different families, and the ninth is dedicated to Soma from all different rsis.69 SV 58 ” • '70 LV 29

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which maintained their life and was constantly in danger of being robbed and concealed. But once created, such a symbol becomes alive. The Rishis vitalised it and it became a part of their realisation. It appeared in their visions as an image of spiritual light. The horse also was one of their favourite symbols, and a more easily adaptable one, since its force and energy were quite evident.

2. What we might call Life-symbols, such as are not artificially chosen or mentally interpreted in a conscious deliberate way, but derive naturally from our day-to- day life and grow out of the surroundings which condition our normal path of living. To the ancients the mountain was a symbol of the path of yoga, level above level, peak upon peak. A journey, involving the crossing of rivers and the facing of lurking enemies, both animal and human, conveyed a similar idea. Nowadays I dare say we would liken yoga to a motor-ride or a railway-trip.

3. Symbols that have an inherent appositehess and power of their own. Akasha or etheric space is a symbol of the infinite all-pervading eternal Brahman. In any nationality it would convey the same meaning.' Also, the Sun stands universally for the supramental Light, the divine Gnosis.

4. Mental symbols, instances of which are numbers or alphabets. Once they are accepted, they too become active and may be, useful. Thus geometrical figures have been variously interpreted. In my, experience the square symbolises the supermind. I cannot say how it came; to do so. Somebody or some force may have built it before it came to my mind. Of the triangle, too, there are different explanations; In one position it can symbolise the'three lower plaries, in another the symbol is of the three higher ones: so both can be combined together in a single sign. The ancients liked to indulge in, similar speculations concerning numbers, blit their systems were mostly mental. It is no doubt true that supramental; realities exist which we. translate into mental formulas such as Karma, Psychic evolution, etc. But they are, so to speak, infinite realities which cannot be limited by these symbolic forms, though they may : be somewhat expressed by them; they might be expressed as well by other symbols, and the same symbol may also express many different ideas." 71

7i ly 954

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the Vedic Imagery: Night and Dawn,

Night was born from the Truth, as the outcome of the Supreme Consciousness- Power, Tapas, and from Night all the Manifestation came into being:

rtam ca satyam cabhiddhat tapaso 'dhyajayata tato ratry ajayata tatah samudro arnavah

"From Tapas the Law and the Truth were born, from there the Niaht was born. and from there the Waters of the Ocean!" 72

samudrad arnavad adhi samvatsaro ajayata ahoratrani vidadhad visvasya misato vast surya-candramasau dhata yathapurvam aka/payat divam ca prthivlm cantariksam atho svah

"From the Waters of the Ocean the Year was born - the Lord of all cyclic changes. The Creator established Days and Nights, fashioned accordingly the Sun and the Moon, Heaven and Earth and the Space in-between, and then Svar."73

There are many passages in Savitri which present a similar view on Night - as a passage on the path rather than an ultimate origin of things:

"It was the hour before the gods awake.Across the path of the divine Event The huge foreboding mind of Night, alone In her unlit temple of eternity,Lay stretched immobile upon Silence’ marge."74

The word "across" implies that "the path of the divine Event" was before and will Continue after the Night has passed, it is neither original nor final. As Sri Aurobindo will say later:

"Night is not our beginning rior our end; ...We came to her from a supernal Light,By Light we live and to the Light we go...."75

72 RV 10.191.173 Rig Veda 10.190.2-374 Savitri, p.l75 Savitri, p. 601

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This divine Event symbolizes the realisation of the Supreme's Original Intent to become Another/6 to become Many,77 to experience Himself in Unity and not only in His Supreme Identity, in the words of the Mother. Therefore Night was seen as a device, so to say, to shape out the otherness of self; and once the self would be able to stay in the manifestation of time and space as a fully grown Psychic Being, the Night was not needed any longer and would be over-passed.

According to the Veda there are actually two Nights78: one is born from the Truth, and the other is created later by Time (the Year) together with the Day. In both cases the Rishi calls it Ratri.

Sri Aurobindo explains this phenomenon in The Secret of the Veda: "Utter Night out of which the worlds arise is the symbol of the Inconscient. That is the inconscient Ocean, that the darkness concealed within darkness out of which the One is born by the greatness of His energy. But in the world of our darkened mortal view of things there reigns the lesser Night of the Ignorance which envelops heaven and earth and the mid-region, our mental and physical consciousness and our vital being."79

"These later nights" - says Sri Aurobindo - "are other than those utter darknesses which are dreaded as the occasion of the enemy, the haunt of the demons of division vyho devour; these are rather the pleasant nights, the divine and blessed ones who equally labour for our growth."80

Some special characteristics of Niaht1 i . ; /

The Rishi Hiranyastupa Angirasa while invoking different GOds for help and assistance calls also for Night.

hvayamyagnim prathamam svastaye hvayami mitravarunav ihavase hvayamiratnm jagato nivesanim hvayami devarn sayitaram utaye

"1 ca|l forAgni first, for well-being! 1I call for Mitra-Varuna for protection here!I call for Niaht. fas) the entrance to the manifest world! , :

7f See Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, 1,4.1-3: sa dvitJyam aicchat.11 See TaitAr, ChUp, etc., bahusyam.78 Rig Veda 10.190 . ;79 The Secret of the Veda, p. 481. ;It; is interesting to note that the word, ratri, night, etymologically can be derived from the root fa, to grant, impart, yield, bestow, or from the root ram, to rejoice, to rest, and can be translated, as "bestower of wealth", or "giving rest". 1 , ’ ■80 The Secret>of the Veda, p. 482

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I call for God Savitar, for (his) assistance."81

It is the Night that introduces the soul to the world; or it may be more accurate to say that it provides a place for the soul in this Manifestation.The word nivesani literally means "introducer to" or "founder of" and is a noun derived from the Causative basis of ni-vis, to enter into, to descend, to settle down, to be founded. Thus the Rishi calls for Night to get his foundation in Manifestation, to get his place here in the ,world. It is as if he is looking at it from above, from the top of his consciousness, from the abode of light, as it were, before entering into the manifestation of the darkened hemisphere.

"All here is a mystery of contraries:Darkness a magic of self-hidden Light,Suffering some secret rapture's tragic mask And death an instrument of perpetual life;Although Death walks beside us on Life's road,A dim bystander at the body's start . .And a last judgement on man's futile works,Other is the riddle of its ambiguous face:Death is a stair, a door, a stumbling strideThe soul must take to cross from birth to birth. : .A grey defeat pregnant with victory; , :A whip to lash us towards our deathless state;The inconscient world is the spirit's self-made room.Eternal Niaht shadow of eternal Day. , :Night is not our beginning nor our end;She is the darkMother in whose womb we have hidSafe from too swift a waking to world-pain. !We came to her from a supernal Light, ■By Light we live and to the Light we go.Here in this seat of Darkness route and lone,In the heart of everlasting Nothingness 1 ;Light conquered now even by that feeble beam: : ;Its faint infiltration drilled the blind deaf mass; p jAlmost it changed into a glimmering sight iThat housed the phantom of an aureate Sun ■ I •Whose orb pupilled the eye of Nothingness., j :A golden fire came in and burned Night's ;heart; h !Her dusky mindlessness began to dream;,The Inconscient conscious grew, Night felt and thought.Assailed in the sovereign emptiness of its1 reign The intolerant Darkness paled; and drew,apart Till only a few black remnants' stained that Ray."82 ;,

81 Rig Veda 1.31.1

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This is a wonderful description of the two creations and the role the Night has in it. She accommodates the golden Fire within herself and by the power of its light of consciousness 'Her dusky mindlessness" begins to dream and the Inconscient conscious grows; Night begins to feel and think. In this way Night becomes a body or a temple for the Supreme to dwell in, first as the unlit and then as the illumined 'temple of eternity'.

The Night was also compared to a robe or a cloak, a garment for the One dwelling or growing within: 1

apa krsnam nirnijam devy avah

"The Goddess (Dawn) has thrown away the black garment."83 !■;

The Wisdom was near, disguised by its own works,Of which the darkened universe is the robe."84

"One lucent corner windowing hidden things ,Forced the world's blind immensity to sight. ; ,The darkness failed and slipped-like a falling cloak' , < From the reclining body of a god."85 :

In this light it is interesting to review the first stanza of the Isha lipanishad

Isa vasyam idam sarvarn yatkimcajagatyam jagat

"Air this is for| habitation by the Lord, whatever exists in the Universe,"86 where vasyam, the future passive participle from root vas, can be translated as that, which should be of will be (1) inhabited, (2) worn (as a garment),;'or (3) illumined by the Lord from within. From the last meaning "to shine" (ucchati, uvasa, etc.) the name usas, dawn, and vasu, a class ,of shining ‘Igods, is ddfivjed. So, the first verse' of the Isha Upanishad implies that "all this" :i| jto be,"illufnlfied",!"glbnfied" by the Lord from jwithin. . ; . Jh , f : ,

Thus "the Nightj conceals" the; Spirit, "the wonderful fire"8^; yi/ithih, her robe, working out the Mystery of the Supreme obtaining a material form.

"Afire in the Night is its mighty action's!blaze."88' , !

82 Savitri, p.601' ,83 Rig Veda, 1.113.1484 Savitri, p. 31385 Savitri, p. 319 Isopanisad 1.1 87 Savitri, pi 314

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"A secret splendour rose revealed to sight Where once the vast embodied Void had stood.Night the dim mask had grown a wonderful face."89

Night determines the lower pole of the evolutionary ladder for the soul in this Manifestation to climb up back to the Divine:

"You are my Force at work to uplift earth's fate,My self that moves up the immense incline Between the extremes of the spirit's night and day.He is mv soul that climbs from nescient NiahtThrough life and mind and supernature's VastTo the supernal light of TimelessnessAnd my eternity hid in moving TimeAnd my boundlessness cut by the curve of Space.

It climbs to the greatness it has left behind And to the beauty and joy from which it fell,To the closeness and sweetness of all things divine/To light without bounds and life illimitable,Taste of the depths of the Ineffable's bliss,Touch of the immortal and the infinite/'90

"Justifying the ambiguous providence That makes of night a path to unknown dawns Or a dark clue to some diviner state."91

So, the most secret function of Night is to nurse the future miracles of Light:

"Night, splendid with the moon dreaming in heaven In silver peace, possessed her luminous reign.She brooded through her stillness on a thought Deep-guarded by her mystic folds of light,And in her bosom nursed a greater dawn."92

Sri Aurobindo comments on the nature of the Night in the Vedas "...Night holds hidden in her bosom her luminous sister..."93

88 ibid p. 5689 ibid, p. 67990 ibid, p.70291 . ibid, p.13492 ibid, p. 72493 The Secret of the Veda, p. 482

59

ratri vi akhyad ayaff/ purutra devt aksabhih / .visva adhi sriyo 'dh/taa urv apra amartya / nivato devy udvatah / jyotisa badhate tamah

"The Night, approaching, looked wide with (her many) eyes, she put on all the glories!""The Goddess Immortal has filled the wide space, the depths and the heights! She oppresses Darkness with Light/'94

The Night is opposing tamas, the ultimate Darkness, with the light of her sister Dawn concealed within her. She establishes it here in the Darkness:

nir u svasaram askrta / usasam devy ayaff/ aped u hasate tamah

"The Goddess (Night), approaching, replaced (or remade) her sister Dawn, and away indeed the darkness goes!"95

The Vedic symbol of the two sisters "Night and Dawn" (naktoshasau) is therefore crucial for understanding several symbolisms used in the Veda, including the spiritual evolution, the two oceans of the superconscient and the inconscient, Heaven and Earth, Knowledge and Ignorance (vidya and avidya) and the myths of Creation, where the Night is seen as a means of shaping out the Multitude by impregnating the light into the darkness. Night had therefore a separative character; for it divides and shapes the oneness into manifoldness, in the sense of providing it with a specific and separate context: the body (as habitable place and instrumentation). Night and Dawn are two sisters, that do the same work and and have the same Intention:

idam srestham jyoffsam jyotir agac citrah praketo ajanista vibhva yatha prasuta savituh savayam eva ratry usase yonim araik

rusadvatsa rusaff svety agad araik krsna sadanany asyah samanabandhu amrte anaci dyava varnam carata aminane

95 Rig Veda 10.1271-2 95 ibid, 10.126.3

60

samano adhva svasror anantas tam anyanya carato devasiste na methete na tasthuh sumeke •

naktosasa samanasa virupe

"The best of Lights has come, the beautiful vision is widely born, as if compelled by Savitar, and the Night has vacated her Womb to the Dawn. ;Shining, with the shining Calf, the White she has come,'and the Black vacated for her (their) common dwelling places.

, (For they are) bound together, (both) Immortal, following each other! Day and Night are moving (always) changing (only) the colour! ; : .jCommon is the Infinite Path of these two sisters, they move on orderly (as they were) taught by God (Savitar)! j;; |They do not mix with each other, they do not stop ! their movement, being perfectly measured, Night and Dawn have the same Mind, apd differ (only) in

-'form."96' . ;' ‘I . .' ;; : ■ i ' ■

"Night opened and vanished like a gulf of dream. ! j { . •Into being's gap scooped out as empty Space .j i >In which she had filled the place of absent God, ! j j |There poured a wide intimate and blissful Dawn; ;}| ; 1 ! ;{Healed were all things that Time's torn heart had made j 1 , - :And sorrow could live no more in Nature's breast: ! ; jdivision ceased fo be, for God was there. ! [! V{The soul lit the Conscious body with its ray, : ;! !

■Matter and spirit mingled and were one."97 ! i: : : J ,Sri Aurobindo comments: "Night and Dawn are then of different forms but one mind and suckle alternately the same luminous Child. Tlfe the revealing lustres of the brighter goddess are known in the pleasant nibhts even through' the movements of; the darkness. Therefore Kutsa hymns the|twb sisters, "Immortal, with a common lover, agreeing, they move over heaven; arid earth forming the hue of the Light; common is the path of the sisters, infinite; arid ,the one and the other, taught by the gods; common they, though forms." For one; is the bright Mother of the herds, the bther theblack Infinite, who can yet be made to yield us the shining milk of heaven."98

they range it, different their dark Cow, the

"Dawn daughter of Heaven and Night her sister are obverse and reverse sides of the same eternal Infinite."99 i: ; !

, ■96 ibid, 1.113.1-3 97 Savitri, p.232 ,98 The Secret of the Veda, p. 482 99 ibid, p. 481

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syavl ca yadarusica svasarau mahad devanam asuratvam ekam

"The Dark and Red are the two sisters, which is One Great Power of the Gods!"100 .

pade iva nihite dasme antas tayor anyad guhyam aviranyat sadhriclna pathyasa visud mahad devanam asuratvam ekam

"As if they are established in the wonderful secret place these two, whose one (side) is hidden and the other is visible! The Path leads to one aim in opposite directions! Great] is the One Power of the Gods!"101

Sri Aurobindp explains: "For Dawn in the Veda is the goddess symbolic of new openings of divine illumination on man's physical consciousness. She alternates with her sister Night; but that darkness itself is a mother of light and always Dawn comes to reveal what the black-ibrowed Mother has prepared."102

"There is a rnorning twilight of the gods;Miraculous from sleep their forrns ariseAnd God'sJong nights are justifiejj by dawn."103

. Dawn and Nightjare shaping o|t all tilings in Manifestation: :

nana cakraie yamy a vapumsi tayor anyad roc'ate krsnam anyat I

"The Twins have made all varieties of forms; the One is shining and the other is black."104 ; - : ’ " ' - ji. 1 ; ; ■ ■ ‘

Sri Aurobindo explains the symbolism; of their alteration in the 7770 Secret of the Veda: "But this great work is to be done according to the ordered gradations of the Truth, in its fixed seasons, by the twelve months of the sacrifice, by the divine years of Surya SavitrL Therefore there is a constant rhythm and alternation Of night and dawn, lilluminations of tHe Light arid periods of exile from it, opening^ tip]of our darkness and its settling- upon us once mbfe; ]:till the celestial Birth; is; accomplished ’and , ]again till j it is fulfilled ] in] M greatness, knowledge, love] and power.,,10f ! ]

padya vaste pururupa vapumsy urdhva tasthau tryavim rerihana ;

iC0 Rig Veda3S5.ll101 ibid, 3.55.15;' ' '102 The Secrefof the Veda, p. 273 ,103 Savitri, p.601 ' i -104 Rig Veda, 3.55.11 j , ,105 The Secret of the Veda, p. 482

"The one, who is at the bottom, wears a wide variety of shapes, and the other, who stands high, is kissing the Protector of the three worlds!"106

"They are the two cows full of nourishing milk", sudughe payasvatf107, dhenu, fostering, feeding, dhapayete,108 the Divine Child, Agni, growing in time and space, 'a luminous calf rusadvatsa...', purvJ sisum na matara rihand' the two mothers full (of milk) kissing the baby,"109

"His heights of being lived in the still Self;His mind could rest on a supernal groundAnd look down on the magic and the playWhere the God-child lies on the lap of Night and DawnAnd the Everlasting puts on Time's disbuise."110 ,

sa rocayajjanusa rodasl ubhe sa matror abhavat putra Tdyah

"It is he (Agni) who made them shine, by his, birth, - both the Rodasi (Heaven and Earth), he became the Son of the Two Mothers, most beloved."111

The gods also desire to sit on the lap Of Night and Dawn;

a varn devaso usatf usanta urau sidantu subhage upasthe

"The gods desire you two, o Desirous ones, let them sit Blissful ones!"112

For they are "the two young mothers of the Truth

yahvi rtasya matara113

n

on your vast lap, o

Sri Aurobindo .explains the profound psychological: meaning behind their symbolism and how easily it was misunderstood by the modern: mind;" 'Dawn and Night/ runs an impressive Vedic verse, 'two sisters of different forms but of one mind, suckle the same divine Child.' We understand nothing. Dawn and Night are of different forms, but why of one mind? And who is the

106 Rig Veda, 3.55:14 Cp. also about two primary hotars, where one is at the naveI of the Earth(in the altar, according to Say) an<d the other is abiding over three tiillSj, yajantau.. nabha prthivya adhisanusu trisu, RV 2.3.7 1107 RV 2.3.6108 RV 3.55.12109 , RV 7.2.5 - ' . ' ;110 Savitri, p. 36

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child? If it is Agni, the fire, what are we to understand by Dawn and Night suckling alternately an infant fire? But the Vedic poet is not thinking of the physical night, the physical dawn or the physical fire. He is thinking of the alternations in his own spiritual experience, its constant rhythm of periods of a sublime and golden illumination and other periods of obscuration or relapse into normal unillumined consciousness and he confesses the growth of the infant strength of the divine life within him through all these alternations and even by the very force of their regular vicissitude. For in both states there works, hidden or manifest, the same divine intention and the same high-reaching labour. Thus an image which to the Vedic mind was clear, luminous, subtle, profound, striking, comes to us void of sense or poor and incoherent in sense and therefore affects us as inflated and pretentious, the ornament of an inapt and bungling literary craftsmanship."114

Comparison with Mitra and Varuna

The smiling Dawn and Night are compared by Vishvamitra to the rejoicing of Mitra and Varuna, and in their greatness to Ihdra and Maruts. It is an interesting comparison, which sheds some light on the nature of the two sisters. Varuna in. the Veda is always compared to Night, for he holds everything within his primary waters, and Mitra to the Light, which is kindled from within the waters.115

uta smayete tariva virupe / yatha no mitro varuno jujosad/ indro marutvan uta va mahobhih116

"And you two smile, having: different shapes, a$ if Mitra and Varuna were rejoicing with us, or like Indra, with who are the Maruts, [comes to us] with their Greatnesses!"

The origin of Varuna is Water (= Night)117, and the origin of Mitra is Light. It is somehow very similar to Indra and the Maruts, where the Maruts represent Indra in the lower hemisphere.118

All the gods are of the nature of Agni. There is a verse in the Rig Veda whereinMitra and Varuna, Indra and the Maruts are described from this point of view:

1 ■ , ; ' •

tvam agne varuno jayase yat tvarn mitro bhavasi yatsamiddhah tve visve sahasasputra devas tvam indro dasuse martyaya tava sriye maruto marjayanta rudra yat tejanima caru citram119

114 Secret of the Veda, p. 365115 Compare also that Agni's place of birth is in the Waters.116 RV 3.4.6 .117 cf. RV 10.129.1 i118 See Sri Aurobindo's explanation on the Hymn with Agastya and!Indra's talk.119 RV 5.3.1-3 ■ '

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"Thou, 0 Agni, art Varuna when thou art born. Thou becomest Mitra when thou art perfectly kindled. In thee are all the Gods. 0 Son of Force, thou art Indra to the mortal who gives the sacrifice ... For the glory of thee, 0 Rudra, the Maruts brighten by their pressure that which is the brilliant and varied birth of thee/'120

Similarly to Varuna, Night signifies the consciousness of the lower hemisphere where the Light is contained or concealed and suppressed, and thus undergoing the process of birth or becoming; whereas the Dawn represents the higher consciousness, where the Light is free. By these two processes of contracting and releasing the Light in the Individual, the God-child, is being created; the Night gives him a separate existence in the birth, and the Dawn gives him the Oneness with the Divine Consciousness, so that he can grow and become Immortal in his separate existence.

1,4,3 Night and Day

Generally, Night represents the darkened or ordinary consciousness of the lower hemisphere, whereas Day represents the illumined consciousness of the higher hemisphere. Their primary values are quite different, for they are from, different realms.

On the Vedic timescale, where a "Year" is a full cycle of Time, Night and Day play a dynamic role in evolution; or the growth of consciousness. Ih; the description of the Sacrificial Horse as a symbol of the Divine Force, Night and Day are given special attention:

usa va asvasya medhyasya sirah / suryas cakuur vatah prano vyattam agnir vaisvanarah samvatsara atmasvasya medhyasya /■21

ahar va asvam purastan mahima arivajayata / tasya purve samudre yonih/ ratrir enam pascan mahimanvajayata/ tasyapare samudre yonih/ etau va asvam mahimanav abhitah sambabhavatuh /122

'The Dawn is the head of the Sacrificial Horse! The Sun is his Eye, the Wind is his Breath, Agni Vaishvanara is his open mouth, the Year is hisiown Self... The Day was born as greatness in front of Him, its Origin is in the Eastern ocean. The Night was born as greatness after Him, its Origin is in the Western ocean; These two greatnesses have indeed been encompassing the Horse!"

"The Supreme voice says to Savitri:

The Secret of the Veda, p.353 BrUp 1.1.1 BrUp 1.1.2

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You are my Force at work to uplift earth's fate,My self that moves up the immense inclineBetween the extremes of the spirit's night and dav."123

There is another interpretation of Night and Day as psychological states of our consciousness, where their reversal symbolises a change of perception and attitude: things which where important in the night-consciousness become unimportant for the day-consciousness, and vice versa.

"A vision lightened on the viewless heights,A wisdom illumined from the voiceless depths:A deeper interpretation greatened Truth,A grand reversal of the Night and Dav;All the world's values changed heightening life's aim; w j:A wiser word, a larger thought came in ; j|Than what the slow labour of human mind can bring, ;> ijA secret sense awoke that could perceive ■1 ;:Il j!A Presence and a Greatness everywhere."124 j

The Bhagavadgita uses the same symbol to indicate the reversal of consciousness:' iya nisa sarva-bhutanam tasyam jagarti samyami yasyamjagrati bhutani sa nisi pasyato muneh125

"That which is Night for all beings, is Day wherein the yogi; is awake, and that which is jDay wherein all beingis are awake, is night for the Seeing! Muni.

!

I ,

According to Sri Aurobindo, jthe myth of the Dawn is one of the foundation stones of;the Vedic vision. Dawn, according to the Veda> comes from the Transcendental realms, bringing into; the terrestrial life of Man the Light of the Supreme. She thus indicates to him, his goal and leads him out ejf the Night, her twin sister (naktosasau). However,;; Night helps hirfrto accqmhpbdate the new light into the depths of his j being * ’.his mind,;;yifal|!ahd physical body. The importance of the Dawn lies in Her capacity to bring ;into the realms of Darkness, into our mortality, the Immortal Light. ! : f

"Above mind's twilight and life's star-led night

Savitri, p.702 ibid, p.42

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There gleamed the dawn of a spiritual day."126

uso bhadrebhir a gahi divascid rocanad adhi /127

"0 Dawn, come with your blessings, from beyond the shining Heaven!"

idam sresthamjyotisamjyotir agac citrah praketo ajanista vibhva/28

"The best light of all lights has come. A bright Vision is born, widely spreading."

It is the Dawn who creates Light129 and clears up the original. Darkness, abhva, and heals all things distorted by . it, restoring the Presence of the Divinity iri the lower hemisphere. |

upa ma pepisat tamah /krsnam vyaktam asthita '/ \usarneva yataya , i i

"The Darkness (tamas) painting thick, approached me, dark and palpable; 0 Dawn, clear it away, like debts!"136 '

pratyarcJ rusad asya adarsi vi tisthate badhate krsnam abhvam/ ;

"Her shining flame appeared remdvihg and destroying the black non-being!"131

"Into being's gap scooped out as empty Space In which she had filled the place of absent God,There poured a wide intimate and blissful Dawn;Healed were all things that Time's torn heart had m;ade And sorrow could live no more in Nature's breast: !Division ceased to be, for God was there. 1 The soul lit the conscious body wijth its ray; jMatter and spirit mingled and were one."132 j

Therefore in the Veda, Dawn is the symbol!of the Divine Mother.

126 ! Savitri, p.26127 ; RV 1.49.1128 RV 1.113.1 .579 RV 1.48.8130 1 RV 10.126.7131 ! RV 1.92.5132 Savitri, p. 232

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"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 1.113.19, mata devanam aditer anlkam "Mother of the gods, form (or, power) of Aditi." says Sri Aurobindo in The Secret of the VedaPz

She is always ancient and young at the same time; She is Immortal:

puranidevi yuvatih... uso devy amartya 134

She is the Mistress of the Universe, free in Her movement:i

bhuvanasya patnf135 usa yati svasarasyapatni136 ' 11 . .i

i

In Savitri, Sri Aurobindo often uses this rich imagery of the Dawn, defining her as. the Divine Mother. In the canto, "Adoration of the Divine Mother", he speaks of Her and the change She has brought: ! '

"Illumined by her all-seeing identityKnowledge and Ignorance could strive, no more;: ■ JNo longer could the titan Opposites, ■'Antagonist poles of the world's artjfice> :Impose the illusion of their twofold screen : | i' !Throwing their figures between us and her."137 ! ■ ; - i .

She removes the screen of duality - the opposites of knowledge and ignorance that were created by the original Darkness - which prevents us; from knowing our unified and immortal nature, makes us feel' like separate individualities and leads us to experience life and death. . T. ■ ; j' \

When the Dawn arrives, illumining the, consciousness with her; "ail-seeing identity", Knowledge and Ignorance lose their identities. The antagonist)poles of the world's artifice can no longer "Impose the i illusion of their, twofold ^screen/ Throwing their figures between us and her". i | r . j'' ' j|;

"The Wisdom was near, disguised by its own worksp !Of which the darkened universe is the; robe; ! ; ; iNo more existence seemed an aimless fali, : I !Extinction was no more the sole release."138 ; /

The Secret of the Veda, p.131; see also the Mother's explanation of the Symbol Dawn. RV 3.61.1-2RV 7.75.4 : : 1RV 3.61.4 ; i : i

137 Savitri, p. 313138 ibid ,

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The Wisdom, the Consciousness of Aditi, superior to Knowledge and Ignorance, though working by both and embodying both 139, approaches us, hidden by its own works - a seeming Ignorance, of which all this Universe is nothing but a robe, a garment for the Divine to wear.140 And existence looses its seeming aimlessness - the fall of life becomes fully justified; the liberation from the World or extinction, as Sri Aurobindo calls the desire for dissolution in the pure Transcendental Spirit (Mukti), completely loses its meaning. The world and the spirit become one again, ajami.

"The hidden Word was found, the long-sought clue,Revealed was the meaning of our spirit's birth,Condemned to an imperfect body and mind, ;In the inconscience of material things And the indignity of mortal life."141

It is with Her coming that "the hidden Word" is found - the clue to things Divine here in the lower hemisphere. Under Her influence, the Fire, the Divine Will full of Knowledge, the Immortal among mortals; the emerging Word who carried "the meaning of our spirit's birth", is finally released from Darkness, mahan devas tamaso niramoci,142

When the Dawn arrives, the! Fire hidden here in the Darkness emerges and moyes towards Her, like a calf towards the cow who will feed it, prati dhenum ivayatlm usasam.M3 It is on Her that he feeds and by which he grows beyond Heaven and! Earth, shining With Her supernal Light, uttanarp urdhvo adhayaj juhubhih.144 1

Thus is revealed the secret meaning of our spiritual birth here, and of the plunge into Night, which looked at first like a condemnation. To suffer "ah imperfect body and mind" and "the indignity of mortal life" is finally justified, for. the hidden Word is found in the depth of the Ihconscient - "the long-sought clue" which finally explains to us why this Sacrifice has been made. |

It dan be compared to the conversion of the Lord pf Darkness,;!mentioned by the Mother, when the Light from!above arid from within the Darkness is finally re­established. ! ; 1 !

We can also compare it to the first two boohs, Savitri receives; from the Lord of Death: Dyumatsena's sight being restored signifies the awakening to the Dawn above; and the regaining of his earthly kingdom signifies the discovery of the

139 Cf. the concepts of Vidya and Avidyain the Isa:Upanishad,'9rll140 See Isa Upanishad, 1: Isa visyam ida sarvam j 1 i . ' i141 Savitri, p,313142 RV 5.1.2 ■143 RV 5.1.1144 RV 5.1.3

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meaning of our spirit's birth, of the hidden Word, which is the answer to why we are here and what we are here to do.

It is because of this union of the transcendental and involved divinity that the oneness between the two poles of existence can be re-established. Therefore, The Mother was seen by Sri Aurobindo as "a golden bridge" between the two.

"A Heart was felt in the spaces wide and bare,A burning Love from white spiritual founts Annulled the sorrow of the ignorant depths;Suffering was lost in her immortal smile." 145 ::

Once the Supreme Wisdom from above and from below is re-established in our being here, the suffering and sorrow are also annulled, because the spiritual Heart is awakened within the manifestation, "in the spaces wide and bare".

This is a state of Cosmic Consciousness, where all: is seen as a manifestation of the Supreme, it can be compared to the transformation of the second Asura of Suffering into the Lord of Bliss, or to the boon Savitri asks for her! father Aswapati, who, as the story in the Mahabharata says, suffered a lot: santapam upajagmivan. !

: i . •

"A Life from beyond grew conqueror here of death;To err no more was natural to mind; !; ■Wrong could not come where all was light and love.The Formless and the Formed were joined in her: !Immensity was exceeded by a look,A Face revealed the crowded Infinite." 146

Where all is light and love - that is to say when the two first ASuras of Darkness and Suffering are converted, or when the boons for Dyumatsena and Aswapati are already granted - then "wrong could not come" here anymore and1 "to err no more was natural to mind". Even "a Life from beyond grew conqueror here of death", which in the story, of Savitri corresponds to the last two boons and the conversion of the Lord of Falsehood and Death. , !

Dawn brings the Light that reconciles the antagonist-poles of the higher and lower hemispheres: "the Formless and the Formed were joined in , her" And creating the oneness of all, ?She reveals herself as a "Face" of "the crowded Infinite", mata devanam aditer anlkarh.147 •

145 Savitri, p.313146 Savitri, p. 313147 RV 3.61.1-2

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When the Lord speaks to Savitri after her defeat of Death, and tempts her to withdraw her demands for the transformation of earthly life, He calls her the World Mother and the Dawn:

"O too compassionate and eager Dawn,Leave to the circling aeons' tardy pace And to the working of the inconscient Will,Leave to its imperfect light the earthly race:Ail shall be done by the long act of Time.... ;Be one with the infinity of my power: ,For thou art the World-Mother and the Bride."148 j

But Savitri answers the radiant God:

"In vain thou temptst with solitary blissTwo spirits saved out of a suffering world; CMy soul and his indissolubly linked !In the one task for which our lives were born, ’To raise the world to God in deathless Light, = i 'To bring God down to the, world oH earth we came, ! I ;To change the earthly life to life divine.149 ,

These are the three main actions of the Divine Mother ' Which have their correspondences with the, Dawn in thelVeda: J r(1) "to raise the world to God", ? : ;(2) "to bring God down to the world", and f ;(3) "to change the earthly life to life divine" , : 'These three tasks are differently rendered in the Veda, using a symbolism appropriate to that time and the then prevailing, System of knowledge. Let us briefly study, some examples. ; :

Kutsa Angnirasa in his hymn to Usha depicts similarly the three actions of the Dawn. ,f,

uso yad agnim samidhe cakartha vi yad avas caksasa suryasya :

yan manusan yakuyamanan ajlgas tad devesu cakrse bhadram apnah

"0 Dawn, by kindling the Fire and opening wide (the world above) by the Eye of the Sun, and by awakening men, who are eager to grow in their consciousness

148Savitri, p.690. The Lord calls Savitri Dawn, in an attempt to flatter her intp:with'drawing her demands.

Savitri, p. 692 ' • ■149

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(and who want to participate in the Sacrifice for the Divine), by that you have created the supreme good in the gods!"150

From the point of view of the Vedic vision, this is basically all that the Divine Mother should have done: (1) to kindle the Fire in the lower hemisphere which is aspiring and rising to the greater realisation of Consciousness, (2) to create a wide vision of the Sun from above, for the Supreme to descend, and (3) to awaken those who want to participate and to progress in this creation - who want to become the carriers of the Divine Consciousness in the material body through making the Sacrifice, which means being involved in seeking the growth of the Light within the Darkness.

There is another significant passage, attributed to Vasishtha, which uses the symbolic image of the Sacrifice to depict the action of the Dawn:

ajijanan suryam yajnam agnim apadnam tamo agad ajustam"You (Dawns) have created the Sun, the Sacrifice, the Fire, (and) away theunwanted darkness went"151 .

These three, Surya, Yajna (=Vayu Pavamana) and Agni are very important for the understanding of the whole Vedic vision. There are many related texts that explain the relation of these three.

The Aitareya Brahmana explains that Yajna consists of Vac (Speech), which belongs to the Earth, of which Agni is the essence, and of Manas (Mind), which belongs to Heaven, of which Surya is the essence.152 It also states that Speech and Mind, (= Earth and Heaven) create the Space in between, Prana (Life- Energy), which belongs to Antariksa or the Middle World, of which Vayu is the essence. Therefore, Vayu Pavamana is Yajna:153 :

The general scheme of the Vedic ritual provides a key to the symbolism of the Sacrifice. Agni, the lower pole, and Surya, the upper pole, create the energetic field in between: Vayu,, or the Yajna. Moreover, Yajna is the only way to connect Agni and Surya, Earth and Heaven.

There is another interesting passage in the Taittiriya Aranyaka' that explains the relation between these three. It starts with the exclamation:

apam apam apah sarvah asmad asmad itojmutah agnir vayus ca suryas ca saha sancaskara-rddhiya

150

151

152

153

RV 1.113.9 RV 7.78.3

ChUp 4.17.1 AitBr 25, 8-9

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"I have gathered all the nourishing powers of Consciousness, from here, from there and from the beyond; Agni and Vayu and Surya I have combined for my growth!"154 ,

This union of all the levels of existence, from below and from above, was seen as a key to the concept of sacrifice, which is to be performed for the growth of the universe and of the individual, the condition of which is a simultaneous and united existence with Agni, Vayu and Surya. Thus, when the Rishi says that Usha has created Agni, Yajna and Surya, this concept of total unity comes to our mind.

After verses dedicated to Night and Dawn, the Aprisukta hymns of the Rig-veda mention two Hotars155. These two hotars are considered by Sayanacharya to be Agni and Surya, representing‘Light in the Night and Light in the Day, of Earth and Heaven, respectively. ;

daivya hotara prathama vidustara. rjuyaksatah samrca vapustara devan yajantav rtutha samanjatonabha prthivya adhi sanusutrisu '

"Two Prime Divine Hotars, the best in Knowledge, most beautiful in theirjshapes, they sacrifice straight with the hymn. They sacrifice to the Gods, arranging all according to the proper time and space. One is in the navel of the Earth fand the other is [in the sky] above the; three hills;"156 | !:

1.4.5 The Dawn and the Angirasa Rishis

It is interesting to mention here that the Dawn is often called in the Veda ahgirastama, the best of Angirasa Rishis,157 also Indratama, the’ best of Indra's qualities, who broke the rock of Vaia and freed the, herds of Light together with other powers. In the Secret of the Veda, Sri Aurobindo explains this imagery, saying that, the Angirasa Rishis are the "...sons.of i^grii, jthe original fAngiras, forces of the symbolic Light and Flame, and even to coalesce, into' a singly seven­mouthed Angiras with His nine and his ten rays ;pf;;thej Lights \navagv^ angire dashagve saptasye, on and by whomfthe Dawn: breaks out with all her joy and opulence."158;-.. ’! ' i:. f ■'p .

154 Taittiriya Aranyaka 1.1.1,2 Iiss Hotar |jt_ mearls a prjest wh0 offers the oblation into the fire, an Invoker of the'Gods.156 RV 2.3.5 ■ ■ ! : ‘ .157 RV 7.75.1 '158 The Secret of the Veda, p.163

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There are many passages in the Veda where the Light of the Dawn is identified with the Light of the Angirasa Rishis, because both of them follow the same path of the Sacrifice:

kuvit sa devih sanayo navo va yamo babhuyad usaso vo adya yena navagve arigire dasagve saptasye revati revad usa

"0 goddesses, should it be your ancient or hew path today, by which, 0 rich ones, the riches were revealed in Angiras, the Navagvas, Dashagvas and in Saptasya?"159 , ; ’ '

satya satyebhir mahati mahadbhir ’devf devebhir yajata yajatraih ■; • 1 ■rujad ddhani dadad usriyanarri I . ::prati gava usasam vavasanta.

"True with true ones, iGreat with great ones,Goddess with Gods, : i .

Worthy of Sacrifice with those who are most; worthy of Sacrifice,..(She) broke the hard places of the Cows, to the Dawn the Kine bellow!"160

She is thus the Creatrix of a new heaven, Svar, and thus the emerging Supramental World: !

svarjananff... antad divah papratha a prithivyah , ;

"She is bringing to birth the Supreme Heaven! ; ,She has spread over Heaven and Earth!"161;

The Creator Savitar, the God of; the Sun, the symbol of the .Supramental manifestation, is propelling the dawns and by following their paths into the lower hemisphere enters it himself:1 ; ,! ! :

rtasya budhna usasam isanyan ' ,j . 'vrsa mahi rodasi a vivesa

159

160

161 '

RV 4.51.4 RV 7.75.7 RV 3.61.4

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"In the foundation of the Truth hastening the Dawns [to break in the lower hemisphere], the Bull (Savitar) entered the Great firmaments Heaven and Earth!"162

Then Agni approaches her begging for the desired treasure:

ayatim agna usasam vibhatim vamam esi dravinam bhiksamanah

"The Dawn is approaching, shinirjg wide; 0 Agni; you come begging Her for the Substance full of Delight!"163

In relation to men, who are, according to the Veda, the offspring of the Agnirasa Rishis or Pitris (Forefathers), the Dawn is called minus!, "of the nature of man".164 The Dawn creates the path for Man to follow and enlightens man's inner journey: •

atarisma tamasas param asyosa ucchantf vayuna krnoti

"We have crossed to the other side of Darkness; ;the Dawn is shining and makes the paths (clear for us)!"165 4

uso yad adya bhSnuna vi dvaifvtpavo divah .

"0 Dawn, today with your, light you have opened wide the gates of heaven (for us)!"166 ; ,

"Often a lustrous inner dawn shall come Lighting the chambers of the slumbering mind; :A sudden bliss Shall run through every limb And Nature with a mightier Presence fill."167

In relation to the Panis, the:robbers bf the spiritual Light, it is said that they should continue to sleep when the .Dawn comes, for otherwise they would steal the treasures and lock them in the cave:168 .

162 RV 3.61.7 , , •1(3 RV 3.61.6, vamam dravinam can be' interpreted in several ways, dravinam is something substantial, it can be translated as valuable thing: treasure, etc. Word vamam indicates pleasure, delight.164 RV 7.75.2 ' '' ' ■165 , RV 1.92.6168 RV 1.92.15167 Savitri, p.7:10 ,168 Sri Aurobindo in The Secret of the Veda (p.233) explains the nature of Panis: "The word pani means dealer, trafficker, from pan (also pan), (Sayana takes pan in Veda—to praise,: but in one place he admits the sense of vyavahara, dealing. Action seems to me to be its sense in most, passages. From pan in the sense of action we have the earlier names of the organs of action, pani, hand, pada foot or hoof, Lat.

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ucchantir adya citayanta bhojan...acitre antah panayah sasantv abudhyamanas tamaso vimadhye

"The Shining ones today showed (us) the Delight....Let the Panis sleep inside the lightless place, they should not wake from within the Darkness!"169

The fight between the Lords of Darkness and of Light constitutes the very meaning of the Vedic conquest of Truth and thus of Immortality. It is with the help of the Dawn that the Angirasa Rishis break the cave of Darkness and free the hidden Light, the steeds and herds of the Dawn - all those treasures which were stolen from Her and stored in the Darkness ever since the beginning of Creation.

1,4.6 The Successive Dawns

It is interesting to note here the distinction between one Dawn and many Dawns. Sometimes the plural is used to indicate the same phenomenon of spiritual illumination, but the many Dawns are then the hues of the one Dawn, as in Savitri: Dawn built her aura ofmagnificent hues.. ,.170

But sometimes the plural is used when the aspect of Time and its succession is important. Vamadeva, for instance, dedicates nearly an entire hymn to this question: which Dawn is ancient and which is new. It is important for him, as he says, to know whether the path of these Dawns is leading him to the same goal as his Ancestors or whether it is a new path, which he may not want to choose - the path of "misleading dawns"171, as Sri Aurobindo puts it in Savitri. Vamadeva says:

kuvitsa devih sanayo navo vayamo babhuyad usaso vo adyayena navagve ahgire dasagve saptasye revati revad usa

penis, cf. also payu.; cf. Tamil pan, Greek ponos, labour) and we may perhaps regard the Panis as the powers that preside over those ordinary uniliumined sense-activities of life whose immediate root is in the dark subconscient physical being and not in the divine mind."169 RV 4.51.3170 Savitri, p.4171 ibid, p. 55A Consciousness that knows not its own truth,A vagrant hunter of misleading dawns.Between the being's dark and luminous ends Moves here in a half-light that seems the whole:...

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"O goddesses, is it your ancient or new path today? By which, o rich ones, you revealed the riches to Angiras, Navagvas, Dashagvas and Saptasya?"172

And he answers himself: kva svid asam katama purani yaya vidhana vidadhur rbhanam subhram yacchubhra usasas caranti na vi jnayante sadrsir ajuryah

"Where is she, indeed, among these? Who is the most ancient bv whose help they established the establishments of the Ribhus173?The Bright Dawns come having the brightness (of the ancient ones within), they cannot be distinguished for being ageless they look similar." 174

lyusinam upama sasvatlnam vibhatfnam prathamosa vyasvait

"The Dawn broke forth, the closest to those eternal ones, which are already gone, and the first of those which are to come."175

Sri Aurobindo explains the symbol of many Dawns in The Secret of the Veda:

"Thus the Dawns come with a constant alternation, thrice ten—the mystic number of our mentality—making the month, till some day there shall break out upon us the wondrous experience of our forefathers in a long bygone age of humanity when the dawns succeeded each other without the intervention of any night, when they came to the Sun as to a lover and circled round him, not returning again and again in his front as a precursor of his periodical visitations. That shall be when the supramental consciousness shines out fulfilled in the mentality and we shall possess the year-long day enjoyed by the gods on the summit of the eternal mountain. Then shall be the dawning of the "best" or highest, most glorious Dawn, when "driving away the Enemy, guardian of the Truth, born in the Truth, full of the bliss, uttering the highest truths, fulfilled in all boons she brings the birth and manifestation of the godheads." Meanwhile each dawn comes as the first of a long succession that shall follow and pursues the path and goal of those that have already gone forward; each in her coming impels the life upwards and awakens in us "someone who was dead."176

"It wrote the lines of a significant myth Telling of a greatness of spiritual dawns.

172 RV 4.51.4173 Ribhus are the skillful divine artisans who fashioned our physical, vital and mental bodies.174 RV 4.51.6175 RV 1.113.15176 The Secret of the Veda, p. 482

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A brilliant code penned with the sky for page."177

"This great evolution is effected in Time gradually, in the mornings of the human spirit, by the unbroken succession of the Dawns. For Dawn in the Veda is the goddess symbolic of new openings of divine illumination on man's physical consciousness. She alternates with her sister Night; but that darkness itself is a mother of light and always Dawn comes to reveal what the black-browed Mother has prepared. Here, however, the seer seems to speak of continuous dawns, not broken by these intervals of apparent rest and obscurity. By the brilliant force of that continuity of successive illuminations the mentality of man ascends swiftly into fullest light."178

We read in Savitrr.

"Some great thing has been done, some light, some power Delivered from the huge Inconscient's grasp:It has emerged from night; it sees its dawns Circling for ever though no dawn can stay."179

1.4.7 - ‘ • ,The Path of Knowledge: the concept of evolution and the Dawn.

The Dawn creates the Path for men to follow; she brings Her fresh light of the Divine Vision from the Sun for man to see and know the Path.

udapaptann aruna bhanavo vrtha svayujo arustrga ayuksataakrann usaso vayunanipurvaiha rusantam bhanum aruslr asisrayuh 1.92.2

"Suddenly the red lights (beams) flew up! They yoked the red cows (the rays of Knowledge), easy to yoke!The Dawns created the paths as before and red-hued, they become of bright light!"

gatum krnavann usaso janaya (4.51.1)asthur u citra usasah purastan mita iva svaravo 'dhvaresu (4.51.2)

"The Dawns are making a Path for men to walk...The bright Dawns stood up from the East, as if measuring the Paths by the sacrificial posts."

177 Savitri, p.4178 The Secret of the Veda, p.273179 Savitri, p.650

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The Dawns are showing what is to be done, the stages on the Path of development, which have to be passed or completed. When they come, one can clearly see what is to be done now and after. One can see the Path, as if measured by sacrificial posts. The Path is itself a Sacrifice, yajham adhvaram, (RV 1.1.3), mita iva svaravo 'dhvaresu, "as if measured by the Sacrificial events" of a greater consecration and of a more complete surrender to the Divine of all that is here in the lower hemisphere, which thereby creates the movement towards the Light, This experience-knowledge naturally leads us to the concept of the evolution of consciousness.

The full light of the Dawn cannot be immediately assimilated by the darkened consciousness, therfore the Darkness has to feed on it slowly, as it were, bit by bit, building up the possibilities of a new perception for a greater light to come. Thus day by day the Dawn comes and brings something of a new light, but she cannot stay long. In fact, she never stays. Her light is always fresh and new and ancient at the same time. But our mortality cannot bear Her ever new light; therefore She must withdraw and come again.

"Then the divine afflatus, spent, withdrew,Unwanted, fading from the mortal's range....

Too perfect to be held by death-bound hearts,The prescience of a marvellous birth to come.Only a little the god-light can stay:Spiritual beauty illumining human sight Lines with its passion and mystery Matter's mask And squanders eternity on a beat of Time." 180

Thus, being born again and again, punah punar jayamana, 181 the Dawn, diminishes, wears out the life-force in Man, making him age, martasya devi jarayanty ayuh, praminatf manusya yugani. 182 For according to the Veda the body of mortal man has only a temporary value and should not stay long in its imperfect and transitional form; it has some higher purpose and evolutionary destination: Immortality. Therefore when Dawn comes with the Immortal Light of the Sun, the symbol of the Supramental Consciousness, suryasya ceti rasmibhir/83 she forces the life of mortal beings to age and thus to change. This function of Usha to bring the influence of the higher world into the lower and to ensure the growth of the lower forms of consciousness into the higher is the very concept of evolution in the Veda. She is an intermediary between the Supreme and His Creation. She is the symbol of the Divine Mother.

ISO181182

183

Savitri, p.5 RV.1,92.10

RV.1.92.10-11 RV.1.92.12

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She does, however, not diminish man's sacred commitments which are of a divine character or dedicated to the divine, aminati daivyani vratani,184 for these are the agents of his future life, which make the divine force enter into him and make him grow. The opposition of the two statements is quite obvious: 'diminishing the ages of men' - praminatlmanusya yugani-, and 'not diminishing the divine laws', aminati daivyani vratani, which clearly shows that the Dawn is supporting all the actions of man dedicated to the higher life and neglecting or even diminishing the establishments of mortal life, which have no future. She is therefore transgressing the law of human life, neglecting or even destroying the state of mortal consciousness in its progressive movement towards Immortality. Let us read the whole passage now:

punah punarjayamana purani samanam varnam abhi subhamaha svaghniva krtnur vija aminana martasya devijarayanty ayuh /10

"Again and again She is being born, the Ancient one, shining with the same colour all around.As if a hunter, measuring the fly of birds with the hunting dogs, to cut them down, the Goddess wears out the life-force of the mortal."

vyurnvati divo antam abodhy apa svasaram sanutar yuyoti praminati manusya yugani yosa jarasya caksasa vi bhati / 11

"Disclosing the borders of Heaven She awakened, leading away Her sister (Night).Diminishing the age of Men, the Lady shines wide with the Eye of the Beloved (Sun)."

pasunna citra subhaga prathana sindhur na ksoda urviya vyasvait aminati daivyani vratani suryasya ceti rasmibhir drsana /12

"Spreading like cattle, bright and blissful, shining wide like the ocean,Never diminishing the divine laws, She is perceived, visible by the rays of the Sun."

And then, in order to establish the continuation of life (symbolized in the Rig Veda by progeny, tokam ca tanayam ca dhamahe/85 which is nothing but delight

184

185RV. 1.92.12 RV.1.92.13

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in this world of death), Usha is asked to bring into this lower hemisphere of darkness and death three great achievements:

a) The Supreme Consciousness-Knowledge, tac citram, by which men can be supported in their growth and evolution here. 186 Progeny is a symbol of the continuation of the Supreme's existence in the world of non-existence, where He, the Supreme, does not know that He is the Supreme. The combination of these two states of consciousness of the Supreme: awareness and unawareness, creates time, space and causality. It is as if Being is stretched over into Non- being; there is a gap within the Being: the gradation from the more conscious (part) into the less conscious, which makes possible the play of multitude in the creation. To continue the play between the two and thus to introduce more conscious beings into this play, can be seen as the spiritual symbol bf getting progeny.

b) Then She is asked to reveal the luminous wealth within man, the divinity in him, his very soul, the spark of the Divine, the immortal in mortals. It can be revealed only with the help of the Supreme Consciousness from above, which Usha brings with Herself, tac citram.

c) , Finally she is asked to yoke the horse-powers to her luminous Knowledge, asvan adyarunan,187 and therby introduce her Consciousness into matter! Thus, by these three actions, She brings delight to Men. It is important to note here that delight is the offspring of Knowledge and Power (Cit-Tapas) and so requires both for its realisation. Thus we can say that the nature of this delight is nothing but Conscious Existence. Neither existence which is imperfectly conscious, nor consciousness which is imperfectly existing are sufficient for the manifestation of that Delight.188

usas tac citram a bharasmabhyam vajinivati yena tokam ca tanayam ca dhamahe

"0 Dawn, Powerful mistress, bring to usthat luminous perceptionby which we may establish our offspring here."

uso adyeha gomaty asvavati vibhavari revadasme vyuccha sunrtavati

"Here today, 0 Dawn, the radiant one,

186 Cf. Ashvapati, the Lord of Power, is doing tapasya to Savitri, the Goddess of the Divine Truth, for getting progeny.187 RV.1.92.15188 Cp. with the symbol of Ashvapati in the story of Savitri.

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the mistress of knowledge arid power,Illumine within us the shining wealth,0 mistress of the happy truths!"

yuksva hi vajinlvaty asvan adyarunan usah atha no visva saubhaganya vaha

"Today, O Dawn, yoke, O Powerful maiden, the red horses (powers) together, and then bring to us all the enjoyments."189

There is another very significant passage in the Rig Veda, which is striking in its imagery:

"Do not delay your sacrificial work", ma dram tanutha apah - says the Rishi to the Dawn, - "do not let the Sun burn you with his flame as if you were a thief and an enemy!" net tva stenarp yatha ripum tapati suro ardsa.190 The Sun is a symbol of the Supramental manifestation. If it comes before the Dawn has finished her evolutionary preparatory work of bringing down the light of the Sun and establishing it in the darkness, gradually transforming it into the substance of light, then the Supramental light, symbolized by the Sun, would simply burn it down, destroying this creation, which is unprepared to receive the full force of that light. It is interesting to note that the word thief, stena, is used in this context. Stena is one who lives for himself; although he has come into this creation to take part in the sacrificial work, that is for the growth of the Divine in the Manifestation, he changed and started to live for himself alone, his own enjoyment, his own knowledge and his own power.191 Stena, 192 according to Vedic psychology, is the one who does not sacrifice, who takes the Divine light and support for granted, with no gratitude and no giving back. The Panis, the traffickers and traders, are also called thieves and robbers. They steal the Divine light and treasures/store them in the cave of the Subconscious, but do not use them for the Divine purpose, which is the welfare of all. Thus when the time of

189 RV.1.92.12-15 •190 RV 5.79.9. Sri Aurobindo translates this passage differently but implying the same meaning: "Break forth into light, O daughter of heaveni And spin not out too long the work. For thee thy sun afflicts not with his burning ray as he afflicts the foe and the thief." In the footnote Sri Aurobindo says: "The labour towards the being of the Truth is long and tedious, because the powers of darkness and division, the lower powers of our being, seize on and appropriate, keep idle or misuse the gains of the knowledge. They are not bearers of the sacrifice, but its spoilers; they are hurt by the full ray of the sun. But this Dawn of knowledge ran bear the full illumination and bring to a rapid conclusion the great work."191 "There is no greater sin than selfishness", says Sri Aurobindo in his Aphorisms.192 BhG 4...."The one who cooks for himself alone is a thief', says the Gita, meaning that the heavenly Soma, coming down here from heaven, is not shared with the whole, though it was given for the whole of creation.

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the Sun, the supramental manifestation, comes and the Sun, the Divine Eye, sees that the bearers of light are not ready to receive and use the Immortal Power, it will treat them as thieves and robbers.

vyuccha duhitar divo ma dram tanutha apah net tva stenam yatha ripum tapati suro arcisa sujate asvasunrte

"Shine wide, 0 Daughter of Heaven, do not delay vour work. Let not the Sun with his flame burn you down, like a thief or enemy.193 0 maiden of the perfect Birth, 0 Mistress with the Power of the happy Truth!"

etavad ved usas tvam bhuyo va datum arhasi/ ya stotrbhyo vibhavary ucchantf na pramlyase sujate asvasunrte

"This much and more you should give, O Dawn, to those who affirm you in their prayers, you, 0 Luminous Lady, who shine but are not diminished, O maiden of the perfect Birth, 0 Mistress with the Power of the happy Truth!"194

Similar to this passage in Savitri the Voice of the Supreme warns Ashvapati not to invoke the immeasurable descent of the Supreme into the earthly frame of man, who is too weak to receive it. Therefore he has to be patient, and entrust all work to the Divine Mother, for she is the all-seeing Power and knows how to slowly hew her way through this resistance.

"I am the Mystery beyond reach of mind,I am the goal of the travail of the suns;My fire and sweetness are the cause of life.But too immense my danger and my joy.Awake not the immeasurable descent,Speak not my secret name to hostile Time;Man is too weak to bear the Infinite's weight.Truth born too soon might break the imperfect earth.Leave the all-seeing Power to hew its way:In thy single vast achievement reign apart Helping the world with thy great lonely days."195

193 The aim of terrestrial evolution: if the Sun comes and the work of Evolution is not done, then He will burn everyone as if they were an adversary.

194 RV 5.79.8-10. It is another interesting thought of the evolutionary function of the Dawn. Unlike the Sun, the Dawn shines and gradually transforms the Darkness, but unlikethe Sun,, her light does not destroy.

195 Savitri, p.335

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In The Essays on the Gita Sri Aurobindo explains the psychological concept of the thief in the perspective of the Vedic Sacrifice:"But the individual being begins with ignorance and persists long in ignorance. Acutely conscious of himself he sees the ego as the cause and whole meaning of life and not the Divine. He sees himself as the doer of works and does not see that all the workings of existence including his own internal and external activities are the workings of one universal Nature and nothing else. He sees himself as the enjoyer of works and imagines that for him all exists and him Nature ought to satisfy and obey his personal will; he does not see that she is not at all concerned with satisfying him or at all careful of his will, but obeys a higher universal will and seeks to satisfy a Godhead who transcends her and her works and creations; his finite being, his will and his satisfactions are hers and not his, and she offers them at every moment as a sacrifice to the Divine of whose purpose in her she makes all this the covert instrumentation. Because of this ignorance whose seal is egoism, the creature ignores the law of sacrifice and seeks to take all he can for himself and gives only what Nature by her internal and external compulsion forces him to give. He can really take nothing except what she allows him to receive as his portion, what the divine Powers within her yield to his desire. The egoistic soul in a world of sacrifice is as if a thief or robber who takes what these Powers bring to him and has no mind to give in return. He misses the true meaning of life and, Since he does not use life and works for the enlargement and elevation of his being through sacrifice, he lives in vain."196

1.4,9 The Myth of the Dawn and the forgotten Path of the Dynamic Truth,

The Path of the Vedic Dawn was understood as symbolic of the union of the human and the Divine mind. The Dawn comes from beyond, from the regions of the Sun, impelled by the God Savitar. In her descend she creates the world of Svar and fills it with the rays of the Sun. It is the world between the Supramental and our ordinary human intelligence, says Sri Aurobindo. This world of the Rays of the Sun is depicted as the three luminous realms beyond the triple Heaven. In Sri Aurobindo's terminology these regions are called the Intuitive Mind, Overmind and Overmental Gnosis. AndThe three realms of the Mind, the Higher Mind, and the Illumined Mind constitute the lower triple heaven, which is at the top of the lower hemisphere. Sri Aurobindo himself thought first for quite some time that the planes of the Overmind were that of the Supramental Consciousness, until, after descending into the abyss of the Inconscient, he realised that there was another realm behind it, which was a true Supermind, for it had the power to change the Inconscient. The Overmental consciousness is thus the closest to the

196 Essays on the Gita, p.126

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Supramentai and diffuses its light into the lower creation. It is the realm where the Dynamic Truth, called in the Veda Ritam, is being assimilated into the lower nature.

In the hymn to Mitra and Varuna (RV 5.062.01) the Rishi invokes them in this

way:rtena rtam apihitam dhruvam vam suryasya yatra vimucanti asvan dasa sata saha tasthus tad ekam devanam srestham vapusam apasyam "By the Truth is veiled that ever-standing Truth of yours where they unyoke the horses of the Sun; there the ten hundreds stand still together; That One,—I have beheld the greatest of the embodied gods."

It is indeed a dynamic projection of the Supermind into the lower hemisphere, which alone has access to our lower dynamic nature and therefore can transform it into its Divine prototype.All these realms of the Mind are therefore closely associated with the human mind, in fact they are an extension of it into the higher realms of consciousness. It could also be said that our mind is an extension of the Supermind. Sri Aurobindo confirms this when he says that we cannot really know our mind and how it actually operates until we reach the Supermind. It is in the Supermind, he says, that the secret of our mentality lies, it is there that we will discover it to be a dynamic link to the Beyond. This function of the Mind was well known to the Vedic Rishis. It was always referred to as such and consciously invoked to effect changes to the consciousness in the body.

The arrival of the Dawn brings with it the Divine Light from the Beyond into the lower darkened mentality and thus effects its transformation. Dawn is also depicted in the Veda as the mother of the gods and the Face of the Infinite Mother, Aditi, mata devanam, aditeranlkam. All great universal godheads are her sons, called the Adityas, the inhabitants of the Overmentai realms. It is through them and with their help that She does her Sacrificial work here: pouring her supreme light into us. These godheads are her faculties and powers, her children: Mitra and Varuna, Aryaman, Bhaga, Daksha, Amsha and Surya. All of them are solar deities, diffusing her light into the lower creation.

With the failure of the ancient Yoga of the Veda to transform our nature (and the reasons were several)197 the path of transformation was gradually forgotten, and the dynamic link to the Supermind was finally lost. This became the ground for a paradigm shift in the spiritual life of mankind. The focus shifted to the achievement of the Absolute, introducing the concepts of Mukti (liberation) and

197 One of the reasons probably was that the development of the Psychic being was yet to take place. It was only when it became sufficiently developed that it was possible for the godheads to uplift it to the higher realms of consciousness where they (who are the. powers of the soul at the universal level of consciousness) abide.

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Mayavada (the doctrine of illusion), in terms of escape from the bodily life. Thus the real meaning of transformation symbolized by the Vedic Sacrifice, which was practiced as a surrender of our human nature to the rays of the Dawn, the dynamic truth of the godheads of Svar, who were leading man beyond his limited mentality to the Supramental consciousness and to the conquest of Immortality, was forgotten and fell into oblivion; it became an ancient Myth of Maya, leaving behind only an extensive system of rituals as the remnants of its glorious past.

No wonder, then, that these great godheads became forgotten, for they were not required anymore. Unwanted, they withdrew their influence from the action over our mentality. Another path was established to bypass them that headed straight to the Absolute. The sacrificial ground was still used for rituals, but they were performed in forgetfulness of the promise we made to transform unregenerate Nature. The focus was instead on escaping from the toil and the tardy steps of evolution, neglecting all that was taken up before by the ages of the Sacrifice, in order to become empty, to drop the body with its imperfect life and puppet mind, and return home to the glorious Beginning empty-handed.And we must say that after such a failure there was no other possibility to justify and to keep intact the memory of the Spirit's existence, since the dynamic realms were no more a target and priority; there was no other task, not even the question about the transformation of life here, for it was already known as an impossible path. The word 'immortality' had lost its significance and its original meaning of transforming life here in the body, and started to mean the state beyond body, life and mind. The only thing which remained for the spiritual seekers was to drop their half conscious nature as soon as possible and to return home where there was no suffering.It is interesting to note here that Sri Aurobindo, before he studied the Veda, could not find a suitable expression for his spiritual experiences. Neither the Upanishads nor the Bhagavadgita provided him with suitable descriptions for the states of consciousness he was experiencing, because these later texts do not deal with or describe the Vedic type of experiences. It was only in the Veda that Sri Aurobindo found a confirmation of and a language for his spiritual experiences and recognized them as the ancient Path of the Rishis, the Path of the Dynamic Truth, Ritam or, as he called it, the Supermind.

Sri Aurobindo was therefore led to believe that the time had come for this path to be taken up by mankind once again. He thus had to reactivate the link between mind and the Supermind through the triple regions of Svar, bringing it to the Supramental realms of the dynamic Truth, which alone have the power to transform the earthly nature.

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Chapter V The Myth of the Lost Herds of Light and the Angirasa Rishis

1.5.1 The Secret of the Veda

The myth of the Dawn and the Myth of the Angirasa Rishis are two of the major foundation stones of Vedic knowledge. References to it are scattered throughout the body of the Vedic scripture, presuming that we know the whole story of the lost herds of the Sun and their recovery from the subconscious cave of darkness. All the gods are taking part in this recovery together with the Angirasa Rishis.

Sri Aurobindo says in The Secret of the Veda: "The conception of the Dawn and the legend of the Angirases are at the very heart of the Vedic cult and may almost be considered as the key to the secret of the significance of Veda."198

"The language of the hymns establishes, then, a double aspect for the Angiras Rishis. One belongs to the external garb of the Veda; it weaves together its naturalistic imagery of the Sun, the Flame, the Dawn, the Cow, the Horse, the Wine, the sacrificial Hymn; the other extricates from that imagery the internal sense. The Angirases are. sons of the Flame, lustres of the Dawn, givers and drinkers of the Wine, singers of the Hymn, eternal youths and heroes who wrest for us the Sun, the Cows, the Horses and all treasures from the grasp of the sons of darkness. But they are also seers of the Truth, finders and speakers of the word of the Truth and by the power of the Truth they win for us the wide world of Light and Immortality which is described in the Veda as the Vast, the True, the Right and as the own home of this Flame of which they are the children."199 "In a hymn of Vamadeva to Indra, IV.16, which celebrates this achievement of Indra and the Angirases, we read: "When by the hymns of illumination (arkaih) Swar was found, entirely visible, when they (the Angirases) made to shine the great light out of the night, he (Indra) made the darknesses ill-assured (i.e. loosened their firm hold) so that men might have vision." "...the divine Angirases, rsayo divyah, who symbolise and preside over certain psychological powers and workings like the gods, and the human fathers, pitaro manushyah, who...also described as human beings or

198 SV124199 SV173

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at least human powers that have conquered immortality by the work, have attained the goal and are invoked to assist a later mortal race in the same divine achievement...It is for the great human journey that they are invoked; for it is the human journey from the mortality to the immortality, from the falsehood to the truth that the Ancestors accomplished, opening the way to their descendants."200

"Brihaspati is the Master of the creative Word. If Agni is the supreme Angiras, the flame from whom the Angirases are born, Brihaspati is the one Angiras with the seven mouths, the seven rays of the illuminative thought and the seven words which express it, of whom these seers are the powers of utterance. It is the complete thought of the Truth, the seven-headed, which wins the fourth or divine world for man by winning for him the complete spiritual wealth, object of the sacrifice. Therefore Agni, Indra, Brihaspati, Soma are all described as winners of the herds of the Sun and destroyers of the Dasyus who conceal and withhold them from man. Saraswati, who is the stream of the Word or inspiration of the Truth, is also a Dasyu-slayer and winner of the shining herds; and they are discovered by Sarama, forerunner of Indra, who is a solar or dawn goddess and seems to symbolise the intuitive power of the Truth. Usha, the Dawn, is at once herself a worker in the great victory and in her full advent its luminous result.Usha is the divine Dawn, for the Sun that arises by her coming is the Sun of the superconscient Truth; the day he brings is the day of the true life in the true knowledge, the night he dispels is the night of the ignorance which yet conceals the dawn in its bosom. Usha herself is the Truth, sunrita, and the mother of Truths. These truths of the divine Dawn are called her cows, her shining herds; while the forces of the Truth that accompany them and occupy the, Life are called her horses. Around this symbol of the cows and horses much of the Vedic symbolism turns; for these are the chief elements of the riches sought by man from the gods. The cows of the Dawn have been stolen and concealed by the demons, the lords of darkness in their nether cave of the secret subconscient. They are the illuminations of knowledge, the thoughts of the Truth, gavo matayah, which have to be delivered out of their imprisonment. Their release is the upsurging of the powers of the divine Dawn.It is also the recovery of the Sun that was lying in the darkness; for it is said that the Sun, "that Truth", was the thing found by Indra

200 SV187-188

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and the Angirases in the cave of the Panis. By the rending of that cave the herds of the divine dawn which are the rays of the Sun of Truth ascend the hill of being and the Sun itself ascends to the luminous upper ocean of the divine existence, led over it by the thinkers like a ship over the waters, till it reaches its farther shore. The Panis who, conceal the herds, the masters of the nether cavern, are a class of Dasyus who are in the Vedic symbolism set in opposition to the Aryan gods and Aryan seers and workers. The Aryan is he who does the work of sacrifice, finds the sacred word of illumination, desires the Gods and increases them and is increased by them into the largeness of the true existence; he is the warrior of the light and the traveller to the Truth. The Dasyu is the undivine being who does no sacrifice, amasses a wealth he cannot rightly use because he cannot speak the word or mentalise the superconscient Truth, hates the Word, the gods and the sacrifice and gives nothing of himself to the higher existences but robs and withhojds his wealth from the Aryan. He is the thief, the enemy, the wolf, the devourer, the divider, the obstructor, the confiner. The Dasyus are powers of darkness and ignorance who oppose the seeker of truth and immortality. The gods are the powers of Light, the children of Infinity, forms and personalities of the one Godhead who by their help and by their growth and human workings in man raise him to the truth and the immortality.Thus the interpretation of the Anairas mvth gives us the kev to the whole secret of the Veda. "201

1.5,2 The Angirasa Rishis and Pitris; devayana and pitryana.

The Rishis are, according to the Brahmanic literature, the sons of Brahma, Prajapatj, the creator, who by his Word brought Space into being and all that is in it. He is also known as Svayambhu, the Self- Existent Lord.

The Angirasa Rishis in the Rigveda are seven powers or flames of Brhaspati or Brahmanaspati, the Lord of the Divine Word. These powers of the Divine Word are also associated with the Pitrs, our forefathers. Their relation is very subtle. The powers of the Word are working here to manifest the Divine in its supreme Consciousness and Being, using the higher consciousness to introduce it to the lower being; that is to say the luminous word, the higher intention of consciousness, is constantly brought down201 SV243

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into the lower being, creating thus an evolutionary process in the being trying to reach its highest potential. The Rishis and Forefathers are the powers involved in this process of manifesting the Divine in this self-discovery.

The Pitrs are the powers supporting this manifestation as the souls involved in it. It is around the soul, as the spark of the Supreme Fire, that all other powers of the darkened being are organized and rearranged, being newly involved, as it were. This rearrangement of. the powers of being in a new (individual) fashion is the key to the concept of the sacrifice and its transformative character. It is the way the Supreme, who alone is, reengages himself with himself through the relation in Many. He wanted to become many, bahu syam, and thus to discover his hidden potentials. He took a challenge to create himself anew and thus to know himself as a supreme individual.In this view the souls are following the law of the forefather's as the powers of the Supreme manifesting the Divine in the individualized consciousness and being. The individualised consciousness is the psychic being, which is the result of the creative action of the Divine Will, Agni, who with his seven flames, known also as Angirasa Rishis, is engaged in the fallen Self as the Divine Word of Brihaspati. The individualized being, on the other hand, is a constitution of body, vital and mind, by which the psychic entity operates in this world as an individual, which is the result of the work of the Pitris. Thus one part of the work is pertaining to the Soul, the path of the psychic being known as deva-yana> the Path of the Gods, or the faculties of consciousness, and the other part of the work, in regard to the creation of the individualized Self, with body-vital-mind, is known as Pitr-yana, the path of the Pitris. These two paths constitute one process of manifesting the Divine. The devayana involves all the faculties of consciousness, which are centered around the soul and represent the soul in manifestation, such as sight, hearing, word, mind, life force and the consciousness of the body, adhidaiva, 'pertaining to the gods or the faculties of consciousness'. The pitr-yana has two parts. It involves the part of the eternal being: the Self of Mind, Vital and Physical, in; both its aspects of being and becoming. The static aspect of being is adhyatma, 'pertaining to the Self', the unborn and unchanging self, even in the individual framework, such as manomayah, prariamayah, annamaya atma; but being introduced through the faculties of consciousness (annam pranam caksuh srotram mano vacam iti, TaitUp 3.2), which are representing the Purusa and not the Self, Atman, the Self in its aspect of Being changes and acquires the

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aspect of becoming, adhibhuta. The unchanging Self, becomes the changing and fluctuating becoming (creating the phenomenon of Time and Space), but in its own movement it is trying to suit itself to the requirements of the representative faculties of Consciousness. This change in the Self is supported by the Pitris, creating a continuum of manifesting the becoming by heredity. The body is to pass on its achievements to the future, for it should be one and persist uninterruptedly in time and space. The self is to survive as one continuum in the evolutionary movement. The change in the Soul, on the other hand, which involves all the faculties of consciousness that represent the Universal Purusa, the Supreme Conscious Soul, is supported and effectuated by the Angirasa Rishis, the carriers of the Word, of the divine Will.Thus we have two kinds of ancestors, or forefathers: the fathers of our souls: the Angirasa Rishis, and the fathers of our selves, our bodies: the Pitris. Being our fathers they are both referred to in the Rigveda as our Forefathers, pitrs. The Angirasa Rishis are responsible for the Evolution of Consciousness and the Pitris for the Mutation of Nature.They are both powers of the soul, only one type is oriented towards the growth of consciousness, whereas the other towards the change in the being, in order to suit that growth. The path of one (type) is heading towards liberation, devayana, whereas the path of the other is locked in moving within the manifestation of the being and by moving within it brings about the mutation, pitriyana.

The movement of the pitr-yana is depicted as the movement of Soma in two halves, as it were, on the individual and universal scale, known as pahca-agni-vidya. It encompasses the movement of Soma, the essence of Being, the Delight, in its movement from the universal scale, chandramah, the Moon, where it is enjoyed by the cosmic powers, devas, to the earthly region, prthivf, where it is enjoyed by men, manusya, the divine souls who decided to manifest the Divine in matter and made a plunge into the material inconscient (sacrifice). It results in recording the change in the body; genes are gradually fixing it in. the DNA code, creating genotype, and thus passing it on to the next generations; it has the code and it is the food at the same time. In its female aspect Soma is an all-supporting and all-sustaining food in the form of the body, in its male aspect it is a procreatory semen carrying the coded change of the being. Thus the change is secured and passed on by heredity.

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The deva-yana is depicted as the journey of the Soul (Psychic being), moving out of its imprisonment in the material universe towards its own freedom. There is only one way in the devayana, leading to a freedom from where there is no return to the slavery caused by the ignorance. It was misunderstood in the post Vedic literature as the way out of Nature, where the Nature was to be neglected and rejected all together. When Ramana Maharshi was asked about Sri Aurobindo's Integral Yoga and the possible change in the body, where the body would be free from disease and death, he answered: 'what freedom from disease? The body is the disease.' This is a typical spiritualistic approach of a Mayavadin that looks at the body and the pitryana from the point of view of the devayana and concludes that the former has to be dropped altogether. But from the Vedic point of view it is not so. Dropping Nature for the sake of liberation, does not lead to the Light but to the Darkness (IshUp). Dropping the Spiritual movement towards the liberation from Nature does not lead to the Light either, but to the Darkness again. Both paths are to be followed simultaneously and this is the path of the Vedic Sacrifice. The soul has to take upon itself the Nature and transform it into the Divine Being. It will grow in this process of transformation and become the all-powerful and all­knowing Supreme, the Lord and the Master of his own Being.

Let us review what Sri Krishna says in the Gita about these two paths, where they are called uttarayana and daksinayana, the northern and southern paths; one leads to anavrtti, no return, the other to avrtti, return to the body. The yogi who knows these two paths is never bewildered and goes to the supreme state of being (8.23-28):

suklakrsne gatf hyete jagatah sasvate mate/ ekaya yaty. an avrttim anyayavartate punah/"White and black are these two paths, known as eternal in' the world.By one he goes to no return and by the other comes back again."

naite srti partha janan yogi muhyati kascana/ tasmat sarvesu kalesu yogayukto bhavarjuna/"Knowing these two movements the Yogi is never bewildered, therefore at all times stay in Yoga, O Arjuna!"

Notice that Sri Krishna does not say: you must choose the uttarayana and not fall into daksinayana, instead he exclaims: know both the movements. And then Sri Krishna says in the final verse:

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sarvam idam viditva yogi param sthanam upaiti cadyam/"Having realised All This, the Yogi arrives at the Supreme Original state [of being and consciousness]."

The term sarvam idam, is a philosophical term, which comes from the Veda (see Isa vasyam idam sarvam, 'all this is to be inhabited by the Lord', Ishllp 1). The term 'All This' includes both the paths. It relates to the body and to the consciousness of the Lord growing within it, and thereby causing the mutation of his own being.

1.5.3 Search for Immortality

Immortality was sought by sages and yogis from the beginning of time as the ultimate solution for our life here. The very secret of it, the path to it, was first discovered and laid out for us by our ancient divine forefathers, the Angirasa Rishis, who with, the help of the Intuition, Sarama, the Illumined Mind of Indra, the Will of Agni, the Word of Brihaspati and the Supreme Bliss of Soma, discovered the Divine Light of the Super-conscious Truth in the cave of the Sub-conscious Darkness. They made seven streams of Consciousness flow freely, and found the luminous Herds, and the Dawn and the Sun and a new Heaven, the treasures of the Super­conscious Truth, by conquering Vritra, destroying the Cave of Vala and slaying the robbers, the Panis.

Sri Aurobindo writes about the Seven Rivers freed by Indra and the Angirases in The Secret of the Veda\"Obviously these are the waters of the Truth and the Bliss that flow from the supreme ocean. These rivers flow not upon earth, but in heaven; they are prevented by Vritra the Besieger, the Coverer from flowing down upon the earth-consciousness in which we mortals live till Indra, the god-mind, smites the Coverer with his flashing lightnings and cuts out a passage on the summits of that earth- consciousness down which they can flow. Such is the only rational, coherent and sensible explanation of the thought and language of the Vedic sages."

VII.90.4, "The Dawns broke forth perfect in their shining and unhurt; meditating they (the Angirases) found the wide Light; they

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who desire opened the wideness of the cows and the waters for them flowed forth from heaven."202

The very fact that the Super-conscious Truth and Light are hidden in the Subconscious Darkness and should be discovered there, gives us a key and shows us a way to an ultimate solution in regard to our mortal life here - the path of the transformation of mind, life and body into the divine counterparts of Sat-Chit-Ananda, Being- Consciousness-Bliss. Thus, the Vedic Rishis brought down the highest truths from the Supreme into the earthly life of men and determined the whole cycle of human evolution, revealing to us the aim of our life on earth - Immortality. At the bottom of things, in the deepest darkness, there is a luminous Sun, a new Heaven. Such an imprint was made in the consciousness for future generations to come and had its impact. The whole system of Avatars may be considered proof of it, for the Avatars come to support men in their endeavour to tread the evolutionary Path towards Immortality.The turning away from the earthly life to a heavenly dissolution that leaves the material life unchanged, was not at first considered to be a spiritual path, and the Avatars would not have needed to come down and work here for such a reason. The Avatars bring the Knowledge and the Powers of the Supreme into the earthly life and even deep into the Subconscient and Inconscient, in order to transform them. This ideal of Immortality was gradually lost and changed into another ideal, that of shedding all manifestation, of leaving the earthly life untransformed, and moving towards the Unmanifest beyond to achieve the dissolution of the separate self in it. The theory of Mayavada was one of the results of this paradigm shift. The idea of the illusory nature of earthly, and especially dynamic, life possessed the seeking mind of men over millennia. It compelled them to aspire only for a bodiless transcendental life. This was what they understood to be the achievement of Immortality.

It is Sri Aurobindo who first reversed this fundamental issue, saying that heaven we have always possessed, but the earth we have never possessed. It is Sri Aurobindo who found the secret of the Veda, the language of which, according to him, was alone suitable to describe his own spiritual experiences.

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Explaining the oneness and coherence of the Veda in its profound psychological imagery, Sri Aurobindo writes about different functions of the gods, and defines them as Universal powers assisting men in their evolutionary ascent to find out who they truly are and to "be even as gods":"This matter of the lost herds is only part of a whole system of connected symbols and images. They are recovered by the sacrifice and the fiery god Agni is the flame, the power and the priest of the sacrifice; —by the Word, and Brihaspati is the father of the Word, the Maruts its singers or Brahmas, brahmano marutah, Saraswati its inspiration; —by the Wine, and Soma is the god of the Wine and the Ashwins its seekers, finders, givers, drinkers. The herds are the herds of Light and the Light comes by the Dawn arid by the Sun of whom Pushan is a form. Finally, Indra is the head of all these gods, lord of the light, king of the luminous heaven called Swar>—he is, we say, the luminous or divine Mind; into him all the gods enter and take part in his unveiling of the hidden light.We see therefore that there is a perfect appropriateness in the attribution of one and the same victory to these different deities and in Madhuchchhandas' image of the gods entering into Indra for the stroke against Vala. Nothing has been done at random or in obedience to a confused fluidity of ideas. The Veda is perfect and beautiful in its coherence and its unity.Moreover, the conquest of the Light is only part of the great action of the Vedic sacrifice. The gods have to win by it all the boons (visva varya) which are necessary for the conquest of immortality and the emergence of the hidden illuminations is only one of these. Force, the Horse, is as necessary as Light, the Cow; not orily must Vala be reached and the light won from his jealous grasp, but Vritra must be slain and the waters released; the emergence of the shining herds means the rising of the Dawn and the Sun; that again is incomplete without the sacrifice, the fire, the wine. All these things are different members of one action, sometimes mentioned separately, sometimes in groups, sometimes together as if in a single action, a grand total conquest. And the result of their possession is the revelation of the vast Truth and the conquest of Swar, the luminous world, called frequently the wide other world, urum u lokam or simply u lokam. We must grasp this unity first if we are to understand the separate introduction of these symbols in the various passages of the Rig Veda."203

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Sri Aurobindo's poetic language in Savitri uses the rich imagery of the Veda:

"A Voice in the heart uttered the unspoken Name,A dream of seeking Thought wandering through Space Entered the invisible and forbidden house:The treasure was found of a supernal Day.In the deep subconscient glowed her jewel-lamp;Lifted, it showed the riches of the Cave Where, by the miser traffickers of sense Unused, guarded beneath Night's dragon paws,In folds of velvet darkness draped they sleep Whose priceless value could have saved the world.A darkness carrying morning in its breast Looked for the eternal wide returning gleam,Waiting the advent of a larger ray And rescue of the lost herds of the Sun.In a splendid extravagance of the waste of God Dropped carelessly in creation's spendthrift work,Left in the chantiers of the bottomless world And stolen by the robbers of the Deep,The golden shekels of the Eternal lie,Hoarded from touch and view and thought's desire,Locked in blind antres of the ignorant flood,Lest men should find them and be even as Gods.A vision lightened on the viewless heights,A wisdom illumined from the voiceless depths:A deeper interpretation greatened Truth,A grand reversal of the Night and Day;All the world's values changed heightening life's‘aim;A wiser word, a larger thought came inThan what the slow labour of human mind can bring,A secret sense awoke that could perceive A Presence and a Greatness everywhere.The universe was not now this senseless whirl Borne round inert on an immense machine;It cast away its grandiose lifeless front,A mechanism no more or work of Chance,But a living movement of the body of God."204

204 Savitri, p.41

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Sri Aurobindo and the Mother in their Yoga had similar experiences and realisations. It was a great secret of the ancient yoga, left for the future generations to rediscover. It was as if completely lost in the course of time. The whole process of yoga and the yogic approach to life became that of Mayavada, leaving the conquest of Matter by the Spirit behind as an unreachable illusion.It is only with Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, who had the experience of the Vedic Rishis, that the coherent and meaningful interpretation of the Veda became possible.

Sri Aurobindo describes, once again in Vedic imagery, the dark forces opposing Ashvapati in his evolutionary journey through the Night:

"Above was a chill deaf eternity.In vague tremendous passages of Doom He heard the goblin Voice that guides to slay,And faced the enchantments of the demon Sign,And traversed the ambush of the opponent Snake.In menacing tracts, in tortured solitudes Companionless he roamed through desolate ways Where the red Wolf waits by the fordiess stream And Death's black eagles scream to the precipice,And met the hounds of bale who hunt men's hearts Baying across the veldts of Destiny,In footless battlefields of the AbyssFought shadowy combats in mute eyeless depths,Assaults of Hell endured and Titan strokesAnd bore the fierce inner wounds that are slow to heal."205

On Vedic Symbolism in terms of Psychology 206

"That ascension has already been effected by the Ancients, the. human forefathers, and the spirits of these great Ancestors still assist their offspring; for the new dawns repeat the old and lean forward in light to join the dawns of the future. Kanwa, Kutsa, Atri, Kakshiwan, Gotama, Shunahshepa have become types of certain spiritual victories which tend to be constantly repeated in the experience of humanity. The seven sages, the Angirasas, are waiting still and always, ready to chant the word, to rend the cavern, to

205 Savitri, p. 230; cp. with RV 10.39.13; 8.66.8; AV 6.37.1 etc.206 SV 383-384

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find the lost herds, to recover the hidden Sun. Thus the soul is a battlefield full of helpers and hurters, friends and enemies. All this lives, teems, is personal, is conscious, is active. We create for ourselves by the sacrifice and by the word shining seers, heroes to fight for us, children of our works. The Rishis and the Gods find for us our luminous herds; the Ribhus fashion by the mind the chariots of the gods and their horses and their shining weapons. Our life is a horse that neighing and galloping bears us onward and upward; its forces are swift-hooved steeds, the liberated powers of the mind are wide-winging birds; this mental being or this soul is the upsoaring Swan or the Falcon that breaks out from a hundred iron walls and wrests from the jealous guardians of felicity the wine of the Soma. Every shining godward Thought that arises from the secret abysses of the heart is a priest and a creator and chants a divine hymn of luminous realisation and puissant fulfilment. We seek for the shining gold of the Truth; we lust after a heavenly treasure.The soul of man is a world full of beings, a kingdom in which armies clash to help or hinder a supreme conquest, a house where the gods are our guests and which the demons strive to possess; the fullness of its energies and wideness of its being make a seat of sacrifice spread, arranged and purified for a celestial session.Such are some of the principal images of the Veda and a very brief and insufficient outline of the teaching of the Forefathers. So understood the Rig Veda ceases to be an obscure, confused and barbarous hymnal; it becomes the high-aspiring Song of Humanity; its chants are episodes of the lyrical epic of the soul in its immortal ascension.This at least; what more there may be in the Veda of ancient science, lost knowledge, old psycho-physical tradition remains yet to be discovered."

Sri Aurobindo speaks in the images of the Veda in Savitri:

Invaded by a swarm of golden gods:Arising to a hymn of wonder's priestsHer soul flung wide its doors to this new sun.207

207 Savitri, p. 395

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Chapter ¥1Art ©werviewf of the Myths of Creation

All myths of Creation are important for a single reason: to give us a metaphysical picture, an understanding of the hierarchy of consciousness and power. They can reveal to us, if we are ready to see, the hidden truth of things.

1.6,1 Wasadlfa-sukta 208

nasad asm no sad asft tadanfmnasid rajo no vfoma paro yatkfm a varivah kuha kasya sarmannambhah kfm as/d gahanam gabhiram 10.129.01

"Neither Non-existence nor existence was at the beginning. There was neither space nor heaven beyond.What was covered? where? under whose protection? what waters were there - the deeps of depth?"

na mrtyur asld amftam na tarhina ratriya ahna asft praketahanld avatam svadhaya tad ekamtasmad dhanyan na pa rah kfm canasa 10.129.02

"There was neither Death nor Immortality then; nor any sign of Night or Day. That Alone was breathing by Itself without air, and none was there except that!"

tama asft tamasa gujham agre apraketam salilam sarvam a idam tuchyenabhu apihitam yad asft tapasas tan mahinajayatafkam 10.129.03

"Darkness was hidden by darkness in the beginning; all these waters were indiscernible.That, which was covered by the void and formlessness, was born as the One by the greatness of Tapas."

208 RV 10.129.

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kamas tad agre sam avartatadhi manaso retah prathamam yad a sit sato band hum asati nfr avindan hrdf pratisya kavayo manisa 10.129.04

"The Desire then appeared first, the seed of the Mind.The Masters of Wisdom found out in the non-existent that which builds up the existent; in the heart they found it by purposeful impulsion and by the thought-mind." 209

tirase!no vita to rasmfr esamadhah svid as/d upari svid asitretodha asan ma hi man a asansvadha avastat prayatih parastat10.129.05

"Their ray was extended horizontally; there was something above, there was something below. 210The procreators and the great powers were there; there was svadha (self-establishment) below and progress above."

kd addha veda ka iha pra vocat kuta ajata kuta /'yarn vfsrstih arvag deva asya visarjanena atha ko veda yata ababhuva 10.129.06

"Who knows here, who can proclaim?Where is it born from? Where is this creation from?The gods appeared after this creation, then who knows where has it come from?"

iyam visrstir yata ababhu va yadi va dadhe yadi va na yo asyadhyaksah para me vfoman so anga veda yadi va na veda 10.129.07

"Where this creation has come from, whether it is established or not - the one who is the Lord of it in the highest heaven, he indeed knows, or even he doesn not know."

209 Sri Aurobindo's translation in The Secret of the Veda, p. 106210 ibid, p. 106

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The description of the Beginning is full of striking similarities in language and symbolism with Sri Aurobindo's Savitri:

"It was the hour before the Gods awake.Across the path of the divine Event The huge foreboding mind of Nioht. alone In her unlit temple of eternity,Lay stretched immobile upon Silence’ marge."211

"Who knows here, who can proclaim?" - says the Veda - "From where is it born?From where does this creation come?

The gods appeared after this creation.Then, who knows from where it has come?"212

"It was the hour before the Gods awake", so "the gods appeared after this creation" therefore nobody can actually know and say where it comes from, for all the creatures, including the Gods belong to the second generation, so to say. They appeared after the plunge into the darkness of the Inconscient.The Rishi goes so far as to say that only "He who is the Lord of it in the highest heaven, He indeed knows, or even He does not know." This last phrase of the hymn is highly functional; it brings out the questions about this creation in a deeply psychological manner. If Night represents the self-oblivious spirit of the Supreme, where He does not know Himself anymore, then it is possible that within that darkness he also cannot say where this creation is coming from. Thus He totally forgets Himself within Himself and starts a new life of Another, as it were, which was exactly his primary aim.

This hymn describes the first two stages of Creation starting from the Darkness as the initial stage, marking the second stage as "That, which was covered by the void and the formlessness, was born as the One by the greatness of Tapas." 213 It does not come to the third stage. Actually none of the Vedic myths comes to the third stage of Creation: the Supramental Manifestation.

An urge or vague desire was the first drive in that "darkness covered by darkness", which was the seed of Mind:

211 Savitri, p.l212 RV 10.129.6213 Cp. to the myth of Hiranya Garbha.

kamas tad agre samavartatadhi manaso retas prathamam "The Desire then appeared first, the seed of the Mind. "214

Then something in the inscrutable darkness stirred;A nameless movement, an unthouaht Idea Insistent, dissatisfied, without an aim,Something that wished but knew not how to be,Teased the Inconscient to wake Ignorance."215

The original Desire born in the Void 216

This leads to the division of the one into two hemispheres or oceans: the upper of light and the lower of darkness. The obscure passage from the fifth verse is the key to understand what these Two Oceans are. Sri Aurobindo explains this symbol of the two oceans: "Out of the subconscient ocean the One arises in the heart first as desire; he moves there in the heart-ocean as an unexpressed desire of the delight of existence and this desire is the first seed of what afterwards appears as the sense-mind. The gods thus find out a means of building up the existent, the conscious being, out of the subconscient darkness; they find it in the heart and bring it out by the growth of thought and purposeful impulsion, pratisya, by which is meant mental desire as distinguished from the first vague desire that arises out of the subconscient in the merely vital movements of nature. The conscious existence which they thus create is stretched out as it were horizontally between two other extensions; below is the dark sleep of the subconscient, above is the luminous secrecy of the superconscient. These are the upper and the lower ocean." 217

Sri Aurobindo also uses the image of the two oceans of the subconscious and the superconscient in his Savitri:

On a dim ocean of subconscient life A formless surface consciousness awoke:A stream of thoughts and feelings came and went,A foam of memories hardened and became A bright crust of habitual sense and thought,A seat of living personality

214 RV 10.129.4215 Savitri, p. 1,2216 Savitri, p. 40217 The Secret of the Veda, p. 106

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And recurrent habits mimicked permanence.218

A giant drop of the Bliss unknowable Overwhelmed his limbs and round his soul became A fierv ocean of felicity:He foundered drowned in sweet and burning vasts; The dire delight that could shatter mortal flesh, The rapture that the gods sustain he bore. Immortal pleasure cleansed him in its waves And turned his strength into undying power. Immortality captured Time and carried Life. 219

Out of some vast superior continent Knowledge breaks through trailing its radiant seas. And Nature trembles with the power, the flame. 220

The Myth of Heaven and Earth, the two firmaments.

"A high and dazzling limit shines above,A black and blinding border rules below:His mind is closed between two firmaments." 221

The Myth of Heaven and Earth is one of the oldest Indo-European myths of Creation. According to it, in the beginning Heaven and Earth, Dyava-Prithivi (or Rodasi in RV) were one. The Creation was perceived as their division and the appearance of the Space in- between, Antariksam. Heaven became the upper part and Earth the lower. Agni is the essence of Earth, Surya is the essence of Heaven, and the essence of Antariksham is Vayu. These three fires: Agni- Vayu-Surya, constitute the Vedic Sacrifice, Yajna, and their union is its aim.222

Sri Aurobindo says: "All this action and struggle and ascension is supported by Heaven our Father and Earth our Mother, Parents of the Gods, who sustain respectively the purely mental and psychic and the physical consciousness. Their large and free scope is the

218 Savitri, p.477219 Savitri, p. 237220 Savitri, p. 47221 Savitri, p. 690222 TaitAr 1.1.1,2, see also commentary of Sayana.

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condition of our achievement. Vayu,. Master of life, links them together by the mid-air, the region of vital force." 223

Two firmaments of darkness and of tight Opposed their limits to the spirit's walk;It moved veiled in from Self's infinityIn a world of beings and momentary eventsWhere all must die to live and live to die. 224

This basic structure we find everywhere in the later eastern metaphysics. Heaven and Earth are referred to as Father and Mother, whereas the space in-between is referred to as their Child. 225 This myth has many far reaching implications across the whole Indian tradition.

a) The Projection of the Mvth into Linguistics.Ancient Indian linguistics is also based on this concept, where Meaning (heaven) and Sound (earth) were one at the beginning, but became divided by Indra, who invented grammar, by creating the Space in-between. The myth of grammar, to which the Mahabhasya of Patanjali, his commentary on Panini's Astadhyayi tells. that Brihaspati was the teacher of the Divine Word, and his first student was Indra, who, according to Sri Aurobindo, is the Lord of the Divine Mind. The Speech of Brihaspati was infinite and Indra understood that (as such) he would never be able to master it. Therfore he stopped the stream of this infinite speech and cut it into pieces, by placing its sounds into a system of mental categories, namely grammar, which he invented. In this way the Mind could master the Word. These pieces of speech embody the mental categories of the universal grammar, like "subject", "object", "predicate", the categoris of "space", "time", "manner", "number" etc. .

Thus the meaning of the utterance can be understood only through grammar, or what we call "language". One cannot understand the utterance unless one knows the language. The correspondence of artha (meaning) and vak (sound) was the main focus of linguistic studies in ancient times.

b) The Projection of the Myth into Ritualism

223 SV 382224 Savitri, p. 287225 BrhUp 1.5, praja

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In the field of ritualistic practices this myth is used to define the concept of the sacrifice, yajha. Yajna is Vayu Pavamana, says Aitareya Brahmana,226 that which is born between heaven and earth. It is a link between gods and men, who represent heaven and earth respectively, it is a path to heaven for men and to earth for the gods.227

sahayajnah prajah srstva purovaca prajapatih anena prasavisyadhvam esa vo stv istakamadhuk devan bhavayatanena te deva bhavayantu vah parasparam bhavayantah sreyah paramavapsyatha 228

"Having created all beings together with the Sacrifice, the Creator said to them:'Create yourself with it, let it be your Cow of Desires!Having supported the gods with it, they will support you back, and thus supporting each other you will reach to the highest good!'" Gods abide in Heaven and men on Earth. It is by the sacrificial action from both sides that they can be united.

Stage I Stajre II

226 AitBr 25.8-9, see also ChUp 4.16,17227 ChUp says that "the Heaven for men is Heaven and for the Gods Earth is Heaven:228 BhG 3.10-11

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1.6.3 Hiranwa Garbha, the Golden Embryo.

The myth of Hiranya Garbha, the golden embryo, is similar to the myth of Heaven and Earth. This Golden Egg, according to the Puranas, was broken into two parts: the upper one became Heaven and the lower part Earth. In the Rig Veda it is the creator of heaven and earth, and holds themtogether.

hiranyagarbhah sam avartatagre bhutasya jatah patir eka as/t sa dadhara prjthivtm dyam utemam kasmai devaya ha visa vidhema 10.121.01

'The golden Embryo has appeared at the Beginning! The Lord of all that becomes was born, alone!He has held the Earth and Heaven - what god should we worship with our offering?"229

ya atmada balada yasya v/sva upasate prasfsam yasya devah yasya chaya amrtam yasya mrtyuh kasmai devaya havfsa vidhema 10.121.02

"The one who gives the self, who gives the power, whose order all respect, including the gods.Whose shadow is Immortality and Death, - what god should we worship with our offering?"

yena dyaur ugra prthivi ca drlha yena suva stabhitam yena hakah yo antarikse raja so vimanah kasmai devaya havfsa vidhema 10.121.05

"By whom the Heaven is great and the Earth is firm, by whom Svar (the Sun-world) is established and the sky!Who measures out the space between Heaven and Earth? - what god should we worship with our offering?"

229 RV 10.121

106

apo ha yad brhatfr vfsvam ay an garbham dadhana janayantlr agnfm tato devanam sam avartatasur ekah kasmai devaya havfsa vidhema 10.121.07

"The wide Waters indeed came into Creation, establishing the Embryo, bringing to birth Agni.From that the Life-Power of the Gods, which is one, came into being, - what god should we worship with our offering?"

yds cid apo mahina paryapasyad daksam dadhana janayantir yajnam yd devesv adhi deva eka as/'t kasmai devaya havfsa vidhema 10.121.08

"Who verily oversees by his greatness the waters, establishing Daksha (the Supramental Knowledge-Discernment), generating, the Sacrifice! Who was the One God of the gods, - what god should we worship with our offering?"

Another hymn to the Creator of the Universe also speaks of the Golden Embryo established in the waters of the Inconscient in a mysterious way:

paro diva para ena prthivyaparo devebhir asurair yad astikam svid garbham prathamam dadhra apoyatra devah samapasyanta vfsve 10.082.05

tarn fd garbham prathamam dadhra apo yatra devah samagachanta vfsve ajasya nabhav adhi ekam a rpi tarn yasmin vfsvani bhuvanani tasthuh 10.082.06

na tarn vidatha ya ima jajana anyad yusmakam antaram babhuva ■ niharena pra vrtaja/piya ca asutrpa ukthasasas caranti 10.082.07

"That which is beyond Heaven, beyond this Earth, beyond Gods and Asuras, - what was indeed the First Embryo the Waters have held, in which all the Gods were seen?

107

That indeed is the First Embryo, what the Waters have held, where all the Gods are together! In the navel of the Unborn the One is stationed, wherein all the beings abide.You will not know Him, who created these (creatures), for another thing rose up between you. Covered with mist, speaking non-sense, the chanters of hymns move around unsatisfied."230

There are few interesting insights into the nature of this creation in these two hymns. The first is that the Life-Power of the gods is one. There is another famous phrase of Vishvamitra: mahad devanam asuratvam ekam , 'the Life-Power of the gods is Great and One".231

It means that there is a common field of action for all forces and beings in this Universe: Asuh, Pranah. Asura is etymologically derived from the word asu- meaning "life-energy", and not as it is usually understood by tradition a-sura, meaning "not-god", "not- luminous". In the RV great gods like Varuna, Indra etc., are called Asuras, those who have great life force.The second insight is that all the gods and beings are gathered within this Golden Embryo.The Chandogya Upanishad tells us this story in the following way:

asad evedam agra asit / tat sad a sit / tat samabhavat / tad and am niravartata / tat samvatsarasya matram asayata / tan nirabhidyata / te andakapa/e rajatam ca suvarnam cabhavat / tad yad rajatam seyam prthivi / yat suvarnam sa dyauh /232

"Non-existent was indeed This in the beginning. That was (or became) Existent. That was born. That turned to be the Egg. That was lying for the Time of One year. Then it broke forth open. The two parts of the Egg became silver and gold. That which is silver is this Earth, and which is gold is this Heaven."

The Mahabharata narrates in a similar way that Hiranya Garbha was born in the Waters from the Fire of Tapas and remained there for the period of one Year, though Time was not yet created.233 In one year Brahma Svayambhu, the Creator of the Universe, was born within the Embryo and split the Egg into two parts, the upper golden part became Heaven and the lower silver part became Earth.

230 RV 10.82.5-7231 RV 3.55232 ChUp 3.19.1.2233 MhB, Book 12

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When He split this golden Egg, he created the space in-between that was the beginning of time and space.Rig Veda 10.190.2 similarity states that the (symbolic) Year was born from the Ocean and became the Creator of the Universe.234

Hiranya-Garbha is also associated with the Golden Child to be grown and born from that golden embryo. It is He "who was born by the greatness of His Tapas", the Fire in the Waters, the Immortal among Mortals, the first Avatar.

In him shadows his form the Golden Child Who in the Sun-capped Vast cradles his birth:Hiranvaaarbha. author of thoughts and dreams,Who sees the invisible and hears the sounds That never visited a mortal ear,Discoverer of unthought realitiesTruer to Truth than all we have ever known,He is the leader on the inner roads;A seer, he has entered the forbidden realms;A magician with the omnipotent wand of thought,He builds the secret uncreated worlds, 235

The world was a conception and a birth Of Spirit in Matter into living forms,And Nature bore the Immortal in her womb.That she might climb through him to eternal life. 236

In the Mandukya Upanishad the Hiranya-Garbha is often associated with Svapna, the second state of consciousness, the vital-mental world, the dream-state of consciousness, the state of the vital formation, svapnasthano:237

234 RV 10.190.2 samudrad arnavad adhi samvatsaro ajayata.. "From the Waters of the Ocean the Year was bom."235 Savitri, p. 681236 Savitri, p. 43237 Mandukya Upanisad 4.; See also Sri Aurobindo's explanation in regard to the three states of consciousness of the Mandukya Upanisad, Letters on Yoga, p. 256:"These two sets of three names each mean the same tilings. Visva or Virat=the Spirit of the externa1 universe. Hiranvaaarbha or Taiiasa (the Luminous)=the Spirit in the inner Dianes. Prajna or Ishwara=the Superconscient Spirit, Master of aii things and the highest Seif on which aii depends."And on page 1222; "Three planes— 1. Karana 2. Hiranvaaarbha 3. ViratThe parallel between Vijnana or Karana Jagat of the Upanishad presided over by Prajna and equated with Sushupti, as the Hiranvaaarbha world with Swaona and things subtle does not altogether equate with my account of the supermind. But it might be said that to the normal mind approaching or entering the supramenta! plane it becomes a state of Sushupti".

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The immobile lips, the great surreal wings,The visage masked bv superconscient Sleep,The eyes with their closed lids that see all things,Appeared of the Architect who builds in trance.The original Desire born in the VoidPeered out: he saw the hope that never sleeps,The feet that run behind a fleeting fate,The ineffable meaning of the endless dream.238

Hiranvaaarbha. author of thoughts and dreams,...239

An ancient womb of huge calamitous dreams.... 240

Let us compare the passages from RV and Savitri:

" That indeed is the First Embryo, what the Waters have held, where all the Gods are together! In the nave! of the Unborn the One is rested, where all the beings abide."

All grace and alorv and all divinity Were here collected in a single form:All worshipped eyes looked through his from one face:He bore all godheads in his grandiose limbs.

The second Creation (the descent into the Night) was an Involution of the Soul into the first Creation, as the First Avatar, so to say, supporting and transforming the First Creation,241 as the God-Child, the Golden Child, Hiranya Garbha growing within it. According to the Mother's story of Creation it was the power of Love, from within the Divine Mother, who could dare to plunge into the Darkness of Self- denial. Thus, once he entered these primary worlds the Evolution took place/ "A slow reversal movement then took place". The Soul from within started to grow within and through the Inconscient and gradually all planes (matter-vitality-mind) evolved out of it. These levels of Consciousness are evolutionary and thus differ from the involutionary gradation, of the First Creation, though they are supported by the latter.

238 Sav/tri, p. 40239 ibid., p. 681240 ibid, p. 221341 TAr 1.23 atmanatmanam abhisamvivesa, He penetrated Himself (first creation) by Himself (second creation).

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In God's supreme withdrawn and timeless hush A seeing Self and potent Energy met:The Silence knew itself and thought took form:Self-made from the dual power creation rose. 242

Thus this evolution or gradual unfolding of the Supreme out of the Inconscient is the whole Story of the Universe.

...Into its forms the Child is ever born Who lives for ever in the vasts of God.A slow reversal's movement then took place:A gas belched out from some invisible Fire,Of its dense rings were formed these million stars; ,Upon earth's new-born soil God's tread was heard.

It evolves in its multiplicity to the highest heights of the lower hemisphere, and then requires a new and final support to become Supreme in the many.A new descent of the Supreme is necessary, that is of the Divine Mother, to build "a golden tower", a connection of the Supreme with the multiplicity of Creation in time and space, to bring to birth the Flame-child: the Individual Divine. And here comes the third Creation, which was not dealt with in the Vedas as such, but the result of which was foreseen and expected.

"Out of the depths the world's buried secret rose;He read the original ukase kept back In the locked archives of the spirit's crypt,And saw the signature and fiery seal Of Wisdom on the dim Power's hooded work Who builds in Ignorance the steps of Light.A sleeping deity opened deathless eves:He saw the unshaped thought in soulless forms,Knew Matter pregnant with spiritual sense,Mind dare the study of the Unknowable,Life its gestation of the Golden Child."243

1.6.4 The Sacrifice of the Purusha244

242 Savitri, p. 284243 Savitri, p.76 Sri Aurobindo says that the sacrifice of the Purusha as a Conscious Soul is otherwise known as the Sacrifice of the Divine Mother.244 RV 10.90.

Ill

Our life is a holocaust of the Supreme. 245

sahasrasfrsa purusah sahasraksah sahasrapat sa bhumim visvato vrtva aty atisthad dasahguiam 10.090.01

"The Lord with a thousand heads and eyes and legs,having covered the Earth from all sides, he has arisen over tenangulas!"

purusa evedam sarvam yad bhutam yac ca bhaviyam utamr tatvasyesan o yad annenatirdhati 10.090.02

"For the Purusha is indeed all this, what was and will be.The Lord of Immortality that overgrows himself by Matter (or by food)."246

eta van asya mahima ato jyayams ca purusah pa do 'sya vfsva bhutani tripad asyamrtam divf 10.090.03

"Such is his greatness, and the Purusha himself is even greater: one quarter of him is all the beings, and the three (other) quarters of him are the Immortality in heaven."

tripad urdhva ud ait purusah pa do 'syehabhavat pun ah tato v/svari vf akramat sasananasane abhf 10.090.04

245 Savitri, p. 99These grades had marked her giant downward plunge,The wide and prone leap of a godhead's fall.Our life is a holocaust of the Supreme.The great World-Mother bv her sacrifice Has made her soul the body of our state:Accepting sorrow and unconsciousness Divinity's lapse from its own splendours wove The many-patterned ground of all we are.246 "A god come down and greater by the fall." Savitri, p. 343

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"The Purusha rose up by three quarters. One of his quarter became again here.Then he moved in different directions pervading all that is animate and inanimate!"

tasmad viral ajayatavirajo adtii purusahsa jato aty aricyatapascad bhumim atho purah 10.090.05

"From him Viraj was born, from Viraj again the Purusha;He, being born, spread all over the Earth westward and eastward."

yat pur use na havfsadeva yajfiam atanvatavasanto asyas/d ajyarpgrlsma idhmah sarad dhavfh 10.090.06

"The Sacrifice, the gods spread/performed with Purusha as an offering: Spring was the oblation/anointing, Summer the fuel, Autumn the offering."

tam yajfiam barhfsi prauksanpurusam jatam agratahten a deva ayajantasadhiya r say as ca ye 10.090.07

"That Purusha, born in the beginning,they consecrated on the sacrificial grass as Yajna.By Him the Gods and those Sadhyas and Rishis have sacrificed."

tasmad yajnat sarvahuta rcah samani jajnire chandamsi jajnire tasmad yajus tasmad ajayata 10.090.09

"From that Yajna, fully offered, the Riks and Samans were born; the (poetic rhythms) Chandas were born from that, from that the Yajus was born."

yat purusam vf adadhuh katidha vf akaipayan

113

mukham kfm asya kau bahu ka uru pa da ucyete 10.090.11

"When they distributed the Purusha, how many parts did they arrange?What did his mouth become, his hands, his thighs, his legs?"

brahmand 'sya mukham as/d bahu rajanfyah krtah uru tad asya yad vatsyah padbhyam sudro ajayata 10.090.12

"The Brahmana became his mouth, the hands were made the Rajanya; what were thighs became the Vaishya, from the feet the Shudra was born!"

candrama manaso jatas caksoh suryo ajayata mukhad fndras ca agnfs ca pranad vayur ajayata 10.090.13

"The Moon was born from the Mind, the Sun was born from (his) Eyes. From his mouth Indra and Agni and from his breath Vayu was born."

nabhya as/d antariksam slrsno dyauh sam avartata padbhya m bhumir dfsah srotrat tatha !okam°akalpayan 10.090.14

"From his navel the Space in-betweenand from his head Heaven appeared, -from his feet the Earth and from his hearing Space (disah).Thus they arranged the worlds."247

saptasyasan pa rid hay as trfh sapta samfdhah krtah deva yad yajham tan van a abadhnan purusam pa sum 10.090.15

247 Cp. to AitUp 1.1,2. We can see here also the beginning of the Brahma Chatushpad concept in the Vedanta. ChUp 3.18. etc.

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"Seven fences were his, three times seven the fuel was arranged, when the gods, sacrificing/performing or extending the Yajna, tied the Purusha as Pashu 248."

yajnena yajnam ayajanta devastani dharmani prathamani asante ha nakam mahimanah sacantayatra purve sadhiyah santi devah 10.090.16

"By Yajna the gods sacrificed Yajna, these were the first dharmas! Those mighty ones indeed attained to Heaven, where the first Sadhyas and the Gods dwell."

In this hymn we can also trace the same imagery of Hiranya Garbha, where the Purusha himself is Hiranya Garbha, where his head became the heaven, his feet the earth, and his navel the space in- between heaven and earth. The creation of the Year out of this sacrifice is also mentioned here.

"The Purusha rose up by three quarters. One of his quarter became, again here.Then he moved in different directions pervading all what is animate and inanimate!"Sri Aurobindo says: "The divine Purusha, Sachchidananda, the three highest states, and Truth are his four horns." 249These four horns of the Bull Purusha. symbolise the Four First Supreme Emanations: Sat, Chit, Ananda, Vijnana. The Purusha offered one quarter of himself, for this great action of Creation of the Body. This one quarter, which can be identified as Truth, Vijnana, as the Supermind, which is the foundation of the whole Creation here. It is the plane where all the Sacrifice is being done and the Manifestation is being prepared:

vijhanam yajnam tanute karmani tanute 'pi ca/ vijnana m devah sarve brahma jyestham upasate //2S0

"The Supermind is spreading/performing/extending. the Yajna, and all the works It arranges too. All Gods, worship the Supermind as Brahman, the Best."

248 Pasu can be translated here as Witness, Conscious Self, from root pas, to see.249 The Secret of the Veda, p. 284:250 TaitUp 2.5

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Let us now compare Sri Aurobindo's description of the vision of the Universal Purusha in Savitri with the Hymn of Purusha in the Rig Veda.

AH grace and alorv and all divinity Were here collected in a single form:All worshipped eves looked through his from one face;He bore all godheads in his grandiose limbs.An oceanic spirit dwelt within;Intolerant and invincible in joy A flood of freedom and transcendent bliss Into immortal lines of beauty rose.In him the fourfold Being bore its crown That wears the mystery of a nameless Name,The universe writing its tremendous sense In the inexhaustible meaning of a word.In him the architect of the visible world,At once the art and artist of his works,Spirit and seer and thinker of things seen,Virat, who lights his camp-fires in the suns And the star-entangled ether is his hold,Expressed himself with Matter for his speech:Objects are his letters, forces are his words.Events are the crowded history of his life.And sea and land are the pages for his tale.Matter is his means and his spiritual sign:He hangs the thought upon a lash's lift,In the current of the blood makes flow the soul.His is the dumb will of atom and of clod;A Will that without sense or motive acts,An Intelligence needing not to think or plan,The world creates itself invincibly;For its body is the body of the LordAnd in its heart stands Virat. Kina of Kings. 251

The process of Creation is a Mysterium, which is described in symbolic language:"Seven fences were his, three times seven the fuel was arranged, when the gods, sacrificing Yajna, tied Purusha as Pashu." 252

251 Savitri, p. 680252 Three times seven makes twenty one, which reminds us of the system of the Chaldean tradition, preserved in the Kabbala, the Tarot of 22 Arcanum where the 22nd symbolizes the Mysterium of the 21 laws

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According to Sri Aurobindo the Purusha is the Soul253 who became tied to the creation by means of Sacrifice:"So too when the seer of the house of Atri cries high to Agni, "0 Agni, 0 Priest of the offering, loose from us the cords," he is using not only a natural, but a richly-laden image. He is thinking of the triple cord of mind, nerves and body by which the soul is bound as a victim in the great world-sacrifice, the sacrifice of the Purusha; he is thinking of the force of the divine Will already awakened and at work within him, a fiery and irresistible godhead that shall uplift his oppressed divinity and cleave asunder the cords of its bondage; he is thinking of the might of that growing Strength and inner Flame which receiving all that he has to offer carries it to its own distant and difficult home, to the high-seated Truth, to the Far, to the Secret, to the Supreme. All these associations are lost to us; our minds are obsessed by ideas of a ritual sacrifice and a material cord. We imagine perhaps the son of Atri bound as a victim in an ancient barbaric sacrifice, crying to the god of Fire for a physical deliverance!" 254

1.6.5 The concept of Purusha and the faculties ofconsciousness in the early Upanishads .

Sri Aurobindo writes in his essay on the Kena Upanishad:"And when we have gone on thus eliminating, thus analysing all forms into the fundamental entities of the cosmos, we shall find that these fundamental entities are really only two, ourselves and the gods."255

"Well, but what then of the Brahman is myself? and what of the Brahman is in the Gods? 256 The answer is evident. I am a representation in the cosmos, but for all purposes of the cosmos a real representation of the Self; and the gods are a representation in the cosmos—a real representation since without them the cosmos could not continue—of the Lord. The one supreme Self is the essentiality of all these individual existences; the one supreme Lord is the Godhead in the gods."257

of existence. See also the scheme of the three creations (three times seven) in the chapter The Vedic Vision in the Light of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother.253 The word Pashu means the Seeing one, the Conscious one, a witness.254 Tlie Secret of the Veda, p.366255 The Upanishads, p. 167256 Kena Upanishad 4.4 yadasya tvamyad asya devesv atha nu mimamsyam eva temanye viditam257 The Upanishads, p. 168

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"The gods of the Upanishad have been supposed to be a figure for the senses, but although they act in the senses, they are yet much more than that. They represent the divine power in its great and fundamental cosmic functionings whether in man or in mind and life and matter in general; they are not the functionings themselves but something of the Divine which is essential to their operation and its immediate possessor and cause."

There is an interesting account confirming this view in the Aitareya Upanishad on the nature of Purusha and His sacrifice as the origin of the gods, devatas. Let's have a brief look into this Myth:

atma va idam eka evagra as/t / nanyat kimcana misat / sa iksata iokan nu srja iti/1 sa imam!iokan asrjata.../2

"The Self indeed was alone at the beginning. Nothing else was moving. He thought: "Let me create the worlds! He created these worlds. ..."

sa iksata ime nu lokah / iokapaiannu srja iti/ so 'dbhya eva purusam samuddhrtyamQrcchayat / 3

"He thought: "These are the worlds! Let me create the Masters of the worlds." Having taken the Purusha from the Waters, He gave him a shape."

tamabhyatapat / tasyabhitaptasya mukham nirabhidyata yathandam/ mukhad vak/ vaco 'gnih //nasike nirabhidyetam / nasikabhyam prana h / p ran ad vayuh // aksinf nirabhidyetam/ aksibhyam caksuh/ caksusa aditryah// karnau nirabhidyetam/ karnabhyam srotram / srotrad disah //

"He (the Atman, the Self) heated him up by concentrating on him his Conscious Force, and thus his mouth broke forth as an egg; and from his mouth Speech (broke forth), and from the Speech Fire.His nostrils broke forth, from the Nostrils Breath, and from the Breath Wind.His eyes broke forth, from the eyes Sight/and from the Sight Sun. His ears broke forth, from the ears Hearing and from the Hearing Space." Etc.etc.

In this passage we can see the two stages of creation, first the Atman created the worlds and then He made the Guardians, the

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Masters, the dwellers within. Out of the waters of the Self, He "brought out" the Purusha, "shaped" him and concentrated on him His Energy, Tapas. Thus He created a Universal Person and all the universal functions of cognition, the devatas, the powers presiding over the senses.

And the text continues:

ta eta devatah srsta asm in mahatyarnave prapatan / tam asanapipasabhyam anvavarjat / ta enam abruvan ayatanam nah prajanihi/ yasmin praduhhita annam adameti /1

"All these gods being created [from the Universal Purusha] fell into the Great Ocean [of the Incoscient]; and thus He [the Purusha] was hunted by Hunger and Thirst, [for all his senses were within the Inconscient]. The gods spoke to Him: "Create for us an abode, in which we will [safely] dwell and partake of food!"

It is interesting to note here that the Purusha was hunted by the Hunger and Thirst of the Inconscient, the powers lacking Knowledge, for his senses were sent down into the. Great Ocean of the Inconscient. It is as if he remained transcendental though at the same time fully involved in the Manifestation. So his devatas, the functions of consciousness, demanded from him an abode, since they lost it within him, as it were.

tabhyo gam anayat/ ta abruvan na vai no yam aiam iti / tabhyo svam anayat/ ta abruvan na vai no yam aiam iti // 2 tabhyah purusam anayat / ta abruvan sukrtam bated / puruso vava sukrtam / ta abravld yathayatanam pravisated // 3

"He brought them a Cow. They said: "it is, indeed, not enough for us!"He brought them a Horse. They said: "it is, indeed, not enough for us!"He brought them a Man (Purusha, Individual). They said: "Ah, it is Perfect! The Purusha is indeed well-made." He told them: "Enter him as your abode!"

agnir vag bhutva mukham pravisat / vayuh prano bhutva nasike pravisat / adityas caksur bhutva 'ksinipravisat / disah srotram bhutva karnau pravisan/... 4

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"Fire became Speech and entered his mouth.Wind became Breath and entered his nostrils.Sun became Sight and entered his eyes.Space became Hearing and entered his ears." Etc.

The creation of a Universal Purusha as prototype and his reflection through the cognitive faculties of consciousness in the manifestation of the1 individual is a leading concept in Vedic psychology. It explains also the later yogic concerns with an inward orientation of the senses, which leads them to their universal domains,; to their divine prototypes, rather than an outward drive (or, orientation) away from their source of knowledge to the surface consciousness, thus subjecting them to the plane where nothing can be: actually known, and therefore to suffering and ignorance. It is exactly on this plane of,matter that the victory has to be won, but in order to do it successfully an inward turn and gathering of all the power of the senses within the depth of their own universal domains is needed. It is through this depth that the knowledge can come to and touch the surface; to search for true. understanding and knowledge outside, without this inner turn and deepening of the very instrumentation of knowledge, is not really possible.

Therefore the Kena Upanishad says that Brahman cannot be seen by the sight, for it is that by which the sight is seen; it is not heard by the hearing (oriented outwardly), but that by which the hearing is heard (in the inward universal audience), etc.258, for Brahman is the Spirit where existence and knowledge are one, it is only in the Brahman that the outer manifestation can be known.

These Universal functions of Consciousness are the Sense of our sense, the Mind of our mind, the Life of our life, etc. It is towards them that we must turn our individualized senses for finding their universal source, the Godhead, the Purusha, the Conscious Soul.

This Sacrifice, or plunge of the Purusha into the darkness of the material Inconscience with all his functions and senses, devatas, which thus have distributed Him all over in Manifestation259 has

258 KeUp 1.6-7 yac caksusa na pasyati yena caksumsi pasyati tad eva brahma tvam viddhi nedarp yad idam upasate; yac chrotrena na srnoti yena srotram idam srutam tad eva brahma tvam viddhi nedarp yad idam upasate259 See also Purusha Sukta, RV. 10.91. yatpurusena havisa deva yajnam atanvata

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started the process of redeeming the primary fallen Self - the journey back to the Supreme, yajnam adhvaram,260

It is in this field of the senses, mind, life and body that the battle is taking place between the Sons of Light and of Darkness, between the Sons of the Conscious Soul and the Sons of the fallen Self, between the Gods as the representatives of the cognitive Consciousness of the Godhead, the Lord, and the Asuras as the representatives of blinded power of the Self, who lost their knowledge but retained their power, the older brothers of the gods.

The gods, says Sri Aurobindo are "... positive self-representations of the Brahman leading to good, joy, light, love, immortality as against all that is a dark negation of these things. And it is necessarily in the mind, life, senses, and speech of man that the battle here reaches its height and approaches to its full meaning. The gods seek to lead these to good and light; the Titans, sons of darkness, seek to pierce them with ignorance and evil. Behind the gods is the Master-Consciousness [Purusha] of which they are the positive cosmic self-representations."261

260 Rig Veda 1.1.5261 The Upanishads, p. 167