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Veda Mantr¢s
The phrase
"Veda Mantr¢s' refers to a single collection of more than
twenty-five thousand mantr¢s in Vedic Samsk¨t. They were preserved
orally for a long time; only about two thousand years ago, they
were committed to writing. These mantr¢s are the earliest poetic
work of the entire humanity. Each mantra is a poem or verse
revealed to men and women of wisdom known as ¨¾his. All of them
were not revealed at the same time. These mantr¢s were literally
known as inspired hearing (shruti ). Veda mantra is not
man-made in the sense that it is not born of human intellect,
human imagination or speculation. Mantr¢s are the perceptions of
deep spiritual truths and occult phenomena revealed by sound to
the sages. The ¨¾his number over five hundred, including women
such as V¢k Ambrini, Ap¢l¢, Lopamudra, S¦ry¢, Ghosh¢, etc.
Three Types of Mantr¢s
The mantr¢s
are verses of three types with the names of Rik, Yajus and S¢man.
A Rik mantra is in one of the several standard metres such as G¢yatri,
the metre is determined by the number of syllables in it. A mantra
in G¢yatri has 24 syallables or ak¾hara.
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A mantra
which is in rhythmic prose is called as Yajus. A typical example
of the Yajus mantra is the famous mantra "namaª shiv¢ya' occurring
in the Yajur Veda.
A mantra
which is sung with the standard seven notes is called S¢man.
An example
of the S¢ma chant is in the Taittir¤ya Upanishad (3.10)
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Tai U. (3.10) (Bh¨guvalli)
In course of
time, perhaps around 4000 B.C.E., the single collection of a mantr¢s
was divided into four overlapping collections with the names of
Rig Veda Samhita, Yajur Veda Samhita, S¢ma Veda Samhita and
Atharva Samhita. Note that they are all overlapping. Rig Veda
Samhita has 10,512 mantr¢s which are all riks or metrical mantr¢s.
S¢ma Veda has about 2000 metrical mantr¢s which are S¢ma mantr¢s.
The text of these S¢ma mantr¢s without their musical notation and
appended letters are all in Rig Veda. Yajur Veda has both Yajus
mantr¢s and Rik mantr¢s. This feature is a surprise to many of the
votaries of Yajur Veda. They believe that because of its name, it
has only Yajus Mantr¢s.
The Four Ved¢s:
Rig Veda
Let us learn
a little about Rig Veda Samhita. It has a total of ten Ma´²al¢s.
Each Ma´²ala has several S¦kt¢s ranging from 40 to 190. Every
S¦kta has several mantr¢s. The total number of S¦kt¢s is 1017 and
the number of mantr¢s is 10512, all of which are metrical verses
riks.
Each S¦kta
was assigned a title containing the name of rishi (or rishis) to
whom the various mantr¢s were revealed, the names of the metres of
the mantr¢s and the deity (or deities; the cosmic powers) to whom
the mantr¢s are addressed or who are invoked by the mantr¢s.
Ma´²al¢s 2, through 7 are associated each with one rishi; they are
G¨tsamada (Ma´²ala 2), Vishvamitra (3), V¢madeva (4), Atri (5), Bh¢radv¢ja
(6) and Vasi¾h°ha (7) respectively. The mantr¢s of the respective
Ma´²ala were revealed to the associated Rishi or his disciples.
The Ma´²al¢s one, eight, nine and ten are associated with several
rishis. All the mantr¢s of Ma´²ala nine are associated with the
deity Soma, the God of Bliss.
It is
incorrect to state that the mantr¢s of Ma´²ala ten were revealed
chronologically later than the others.
Every rishi
has a style of his or her own.
Yajur Veda
Let us now
turn our attention briefly to Yajur Veda. It has two major sh¢kha
or recensions, the Shukla Yajur Veda (SYV) and Krishna Yajur Veda
(KY), both having their own recensions. As mentioned earlier,
Yajur Veda has both Yajus and rik mantr¢s. SYV in the V¢jasaneyi
shakha has 40 chapters with about 4000 mantr¢s, a third of which
are riks and the remaining are Yajus. It has several famous
prayers like Shiva Sankalpa. The last chapter is the Isha
Upanishad.
The Krishna
Yajur Veda Taittir¤ya Samhit¢ (KYTS) is popular in South India and
Maharashtra. It has both Yajus mantr¢s and Rik mantr¢s. KYTS has
4700 mantr¢s of which one third are rik mantr¢s. Note that KYTS
and SYV have 50 per cent overlap in mantr¢s.
A few words on S¢ma Veda:
It has about
2000 S¢ma mantr¢s. The text of more of them is in RV. But they
have to be chanted as S¢man. The close relationship between the
Rig Veda and S¢ma Veda are mentioned in several Upanishads like
Ch¢ndogya.
Atharva Veda
Atharva Veda
It is a collection of mantr¢s, which is as sacred
as the three other Samhit¢s, rik, yajus and s¢ma. It has 20
books or k¢nd¢s, having a total of 730 hymns or s¦kt¢s
or a total of 6,000 verses or mantr¢s. Most of the mantr¢s are
metrical; About 80 hymns are in prose.
They are all revealed to the descendants or
disciples of the lineage of the seers, Atharvan and ¡ng¤ras. There
is about twenty percent overlap between Rigveda Samhita and
Atharvaveda Samhita. [about 1,200 mantr¢s].
There is a continuity of the Hindu thought from the
ancient Vedic times upto the present day. So much so that many of
the epigrams or subh¢¾hit¢s found in all Indian languages,
not just Sanskrit, can be traced to the Atharvaveda Samhita. Some
of them are in section ""Epigrams''. Atharvaveda verses embody
considerable symbolism.
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Duty of everyone is to climb to the heights and
help the neighbour.
It has 90 hymns on Spiritual and psychological
topics, 100 hymns on various dev¢s like Agni, Indra, Sun etc. and
their psychological powers, 153 hymns on education, stages of
life; brahmacharya, wedding, hospitality, ascetic phase,
215 hymns on health and healing and physiology, 52 hymns on
Professions, caste, governance, nation and community welfare,
openness of society, 10 hymns on Mathematics and time and the
famous hymn to Earth, the only one of its kind in the entire early
literature dealing with the secrets of environment.
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samyanchaª savrat¢ bh¦tv¢ v¢cham vadata
bhadray¢
""Let all of them become of one mind in all their
auspicious activities and speak auspicious words to one another''.
Contents of the Veda
I mentioned
earlier that Veda mantr¢s were revealed to the sages. Five
questions naturally arise:
1. How was
the revelation given?
2. Who gave
the revelation?
3. Why was
it revealed?
4. What is
the content of the revelation?
5. Connection to Work and Enjoyment
Revelation as sound
Answer to
the First Question: The revelation was heard as sounds. Here the
mantr¢s are known as shruti, that which is heard. Note that
of the five senses of knowledge namely seeing, hearing, smelling,
touching and tasting, only the medium of sound or hearing is
interactive. When we see a person, we have no idea of what he/she
sees in us. But in sound, we can question him/her and elicit a
response. Here also the medium of sound was used because the
cosmic powers which convey the mantra (or the mantra-sound which
reveals itself are amenable for interaction. This interaction will
be described later. Note that in the semitic cultures like
Judaism, the revelation is in a written form in the form of a
stone tablet. As a great western scholar Jean Le Mee has pointed
out, the medium of sound is eternal and indestructible. Ancient
cultures have erected temples, Cathedrals, edicts on stone etc. to
convey their glory. All of them have been destroyed either by
human foes or natural agencies. But the mantra-sound can be
preserved by oral transmission and the mantr¢s have survived the
numerous invasions suffered by India.
Let us
consider the second question. who gave the revelation? What agency
uttered the sacred sound which was heard by the human sages? The
sacred sound was given by the cosmic powers with names such as
Agni, Indra, Aditi, Vishnu, Soma etc or by the Supreme Person
Puru¾ha. These cosmic powers Agni, Indra etc have nothing to do
with their namesakes in the Pura´a books or epics.
Deities
Each deity is not a mere physical force. Each deity
is the storehouse and controller of one or more psychological
powers. We also have to distinguish these Vedic gods from their
namesakes in the Pur¢´a. All the Vedic gods act together
harmoniously to help the humankind in its march of progress. The
gods of the Pur¢´a and epics quarrel among themselves.
An usual question is that since Veda mentions many
gods, is Veda polytheistic? First of all we have to understand
that words like monotheism, polytheism, henotheism were coined in
the West to explain the simplistic concepts about nature, man and
God current in that culture.
Nameless spirit
Several S¦kt¢s, both in YV and RV, declare the
existence of the spirit which is nameless and beyond form and
which permeates and empowers every aspect of existence, both
animate and inanimate. The spirit is there in stone also,
otherwise all the atoms constituting the stone would fly away. But
the seers take care to point out that it is not something abstract
like space. One cannot touch or feel space. Every time we feel the
joy in gently touching and smelling a flower, watching the sunrise
or feeling the gentle breeze in the woods wafting a variety of
smell and sounds, we are in touch with this spirit. This spirit
has a core called as the Supreme Person described in the hymns
such as VS (31), RV (10.90) or TA (3.12). RV (10.90.1)
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The various cosmic powers or beings such as Agni,
Indra, Sarasvati etc., are all aspects (or limbs as it were) of
the Supreme Person. Just as the limbs of a human being have no
existence without a living person, similarly these different and
distinct powers have no place without considering themselves as
part of the One. These powers like Agni are not mere natural
forces. An aspect of Agni is the flame. But this flame symbolizes
the psychological power associated with Agni namely the power of
will. Agni can be called the God-will.
We will now
handle the two other questions namely "Why was the revelation
given?' and "What is the content of the revelation?'
The Goal of Veda
The goal of
the Veda mantr¢s is to lead everyone to
all-sided perfection,
both individually and collectively. To understand the idea of
all-round perfection recall that most human beings are endowed
with the five senses of knowledge (jn¢na indriya) such as
sight, sound, touch, smell and taste and five modes of work namely
that which is done by hands, legs, mouth, the organs of sex and
excretion. Let us consider the organs of knowledge and the
manas (or mind) along with them because only manas
coordinates their work. Most of us are aware that we cannot
exactly speak what we intend to say; we rarely understand most of
what another is saying currently both our abilities to speak and
hear are limited; we can envision continual improvement. Similarly
the capacities of touch, smell and sight are limited in most
persons, and they are in need of improvement. The same goes from
our organs of action. Often our hands and fingers cannot carryout
what the mind wants, i.e., we are not nimble enough. We can
envision increasing levels of perfection in the operation of all
sense organs.
Achieving perfection
means each organ becomes more and more conscious about its
operation. Recall the anecdotes of the high consciousness of the
fingers of the famous Pianists. When Kap¢li S¢stry, the great
Tantrik and Veda scholar was in the Sri Aurobindo Ashram,
considerable construction was going on. Everyone helped including
Kap¢li S¢stry. He was given the task of distributing paint. A
person would ask for 50 gms, another for 80 gms. Kap¢li S¢stry
would scoop out the exact amount in one scoop and the weight would
be correct.
Once we
achieve this step of perfection, we can think of achieving
perfection in our external work like writing, gardening, cooking,
etc.
"Tao Te Ching' on perfection in
everyday work:
""A good
walker leaves no traces or tracks.
A good speaker makes no slips
and errors.
A good locksmith uses no bolts
or keys, yet no one can open.
A good binder uses no ropes or
cords, yet no one can loosen.
The master is ready to use all
situations and does not waste anything''.
Again we can envision this
perfection becoming manifest in our interpersonal interactions,
i.e., all the members of a group work together harmoniously to
achieve perfection in the task assigned to the group.
This establishment of the perfection and
harmony cannot be done by human effort alone. We need the help of
the cosmic powers like Agni, Indra, etc. In the veda, these
deities are not only responsible for the creation at large at the
cosmic level or macrocosm, but also for the internal development
of each human being. Each deity is a distinct power of the Supreme
One, ekam sat, has a distinct personality and has a
distinct function. RV
(1.164.46)
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For instance, Agni is the Divine Will in man; Indra,
the lord of the divine mind; Mitra, the lord of harmony; U¾ha, the
Goddess of the dawn of the spiritual knowledge etc. These powers
have to be invoked so that each one of them will manifest in a
human being. The manifestation of a deity in a human is called
dvijanma, the second birth, the first birth being in the
cosmos. Agni, the Divine Will, is the first to take birth in man
and he brings in the other powers. The invocation of these powers
or deities involves special procedures to be mentioned later. Once
the deities are established within the human being, then the speed
of progress in man, i.e., the attainment of perfection at each
level and the harmony across the levels is accelerated.
The progress is almost never ending, like
climbing a mountain from one peak to another mantra RV (1.10.2).
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Only when we are at a peak, we can see what are the
things to be achieved at the next peak. This is not possible for
persons staying at the foot of the mountain.
Note that the analogy of traveller does
not mean that everyone makes a fixed plan for the whole life.
As the Chinese scripture Tao Te
Ching states, ""A good traveler has no fixed plans and is nor
intent upon arriving.
A good artist lets his intuition
lead him wherever it wants. A good scientist has freed himself of
concepts and keeps his mind open to what is''.
We will first give a summary of the psychological
powers of various deities such as Agni.
Gods and Their Powers
Agni
Agni is the most important
deity in both RV and the Yajur Veda, TS. Outwardly, Yajur Veda
deals with the outer yaj®a where the most important part is the
fire in the fire-altar. The entire K¢´²a 4
of TS
is viewed by ritualists as dealing with the construction of the
bird-shaped fire altar and the worship of Agni.
But inwardly Agni leads the journey of the aspirant
towards all-round perfection. Agni is interpreted as agre +
nayati, he who in front leads. Agni in the Veda is primarily
the power of Divine will (kratu) that brings with him all
the other powers. RV (6.15.5) and TS (4.6.17) state that:
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""He shines with the light (k¨pa) that makes
pure,
the light that awakens the knowledge (chitayanti).
He is as if one having the way (turvan) in
the march and battle of the life''.
Agni yokes
us to the various powers. TS (4.1.9.1).
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""Agni yokes us to will (¢kuti), he yokes us
to mind, intelligence (medham) and impulsion;
He yokes us to the thought and knowing;
He yokes us to speech intense fortitude (vidh¨ti)''.
Agni purifies the will by the
power of aspiration. He leads the thoughts towards effective
power, leads the active energies towards the light''.
RV, KYTS and SYV clearly state in so many places
that Agni is not merely the physical fire. TS (4.2.3.13)
states that it is the gods ¡dity¢s, the Rudr¢s and the Vasus who
kindle Agni again and again.
Agni's power takes birth in
our bodies and he grows within us like a child. There are numerous
references to Agni as a child in the RV
and YV. RV (8.43.9)
and TS (4.2.3)
state that "Agni is the child of the growths of earths, the child
of trees, the child of all living beings and the child of the
waters'.
If Agni is the power of will, which initiates our
actions, what is the role of self-effort? This is clarified in TS
(1.2.14)
or RV
(4.4.9).
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""Here in this world one should
largely act from one's self in your presence, O Agni,
as day by day you shine out in
morn and in dusk;
Right-minded (sumanasaª)
may we touch thee as we play (kr¤¶an),
taking our stand on the luminous
energies of men''.
The idea is that when we feel the presence of Agni
in all our actions, every act appears easy as a play and the help
from our fellow beings pours in the performance of actions.
Indra
Indra is the Lord of the
Divine Mind and action as mentioned in RV (2.12.1) which is same
as TS (1.7.13.5) and others.
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In Indian tradition, mind is not a source of
knowledge, it manipulates the knowledge to aid action. Indra
battles with the evil forces on behalf of the human.
In all our work, he is the guide. In the Veda,
every activity is a transformation of matter or thoughts from one
form to another form. For instance, cooking is the conversion of
raw vegetables, grains etc., into an edible and tasty form. Even
though this task appears to be very simple from the outer view, it
involves a variety of cosmic forces to which we do not pay
attention. Indra is the power which gives perfect form, RV (1.4.1;
6.47.18). He converts our obscure mentality into a tremendous
intelligence.
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Now the other Gods
V¢yu: Wind; He is the Lord of all the
Life-energies, Pr¢´a which represent the passions,
feelings, emotions and abilities.
Ashvins: The Lords of Bliss and
Divine Physicians who render the human body free of disease so
that it can accept the divine Pr¢na, the life-energy.
Mitra: The Lord of Love
and Harmony.
Varu´a:
The Master of Infinities who cannot tolerate restrictive thinking
or actions. Only he can cut the three bonds which restrict the
three aspects of every human being —
physical, vital and mental.
Sarasvati: The Goddess of
inspiration.
I¶a: The Goddess of revelation.
Sarama: The
Goddess of intuition.
S¦rya: The
Supreme Deity of Light and Force.
Aditi: The
Goddess of Infinity
Bhaga: Enjoyer
and the Distributor of Delight
Brahma´aspati: Lord of
Mantr¢s, Ga´apati
Maruts: Life
Energies
Rudra: The Force
of Evolution
Soma: The Divine Delight
Vaishv¢nara: Universal
Divine Will and Force
Vasu: The
master of riches
Vi¾h´u: The Lord of all Space
Work
and Enjoyment
Note that Veda clearly states that in any work say
writing, cooking, cleaning, it is the gods or cosmic powers who do
most of the work and the human being's contribution is miniscule.
For instance in cooking, the ability of raw rice along with water
and heat become the tasty fluffy edible dish, the ability of
several vegetables to combine together to yield the tasty s¢mbhar
are powers of Nature. A person only mixes the ingredients and
follows the recipe.
Every action done consciously as an offering to the
God-Mind Indra automatically results in the release of delight or
joy, called as Soma. The work gives not only its intended result
but also Soma. Rig Veda regards Indra as a cow, who can be milked,
i.e., only effort results in the milk of Soma. If we offer the
Soma back to the gods, then the Indra-power increases in us to
render our work more and more perfect or effective. Consequently,
more Soma or joy is released. This is the relation between work
and enjoyment.
I conclude my lecture with Sri Aurobindo's words:
""Truth comes to us as a light, a voice, compelling
a change of thought, imposing a new discernment of ourselves and
all around us. Truth of thought creates truth of vision and truth
of vision forms in us the truth of being, and out of the truth of
being (satyam) flows naturally truth of emotion, will and
action. This is the central idea of the Veda.'' |
