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Viewed on the surface, Varuņa is an omniscient and omnipotent Lord
or Creator, Master of the oceans and the sky, whose strength and
speed cannot be matched by anyone else. He maintains all the laws
in the Earth, mid-region and the heavens, punishing the
transgressors. But a closer look reveals the esoteric meaning of
the hymns just as with the other hymns of Rigveda. Varuņa
is the Godhead who creates pathways for the Sun in our being which
is full of darkness so that the Sun can pour his knowledge into
all the dark corners of the being. The oceans, of which Varuņa is
the master, symbolize the waters of the Truth and Varuņa pours
these Waters on our three bodies, viz. physical, vital and mental,
and removes all sin, evil and falsehood from our lives. The seer
Shunahshepa explicitly requests Varuņa to release or loosen
the three knots or bonds which represent the bonds of the three
planes, namely physical, vital and mental. These knots restrict
the flow of the universal psychic energies in our body. Varuņa is
prayed to release these knots. These knots are the celebrated
knots associated with the names Brahma, Vişhņu and Rudra
in the tāntric literature of a later date.
A common descriptor used for Varuņa is uru, which means
always ‘wide’ in the Rigveda. Varuņa is the lord of all
infinities, master of all the oceans and ether. Varuņa's
dwelling is in the vast, urukşhaya (1.2.9), Varuņa has wide
vision uru chakşhasam (1.25.16). He is hymned as
urushamsa in (1.24.11) and (2.28.3). shamsa in the
Veda always stands for the perfect expression or speech.
Recall that different formations are brought out by the power of
speech or vāk in the Veda. uru shamsa means
""wide expression'' the bringing out of our being (or sat)
that which is latent in it and manifesting it in our action. Thus
Varuņa grants us a broader vision, removes the narrowness of our
outlook so that we can express our aspiration for the attainment
of infinities.
Consequently, he is also hymned as swarāţ (2.28.1), the
self-ruler and sāmrāţ the emperor (8.25.3, 8.42.1).
samrāţ means one who has complete kingship or control over
both subjective and objective existence. Among the people of the
vedic age, the emperor is also a sage; he is both a
thinker and a hero. He has a plenitude of both wisdom and will,
thought and action. Varuņa is the king of all the dominions
(8.42.1 and 8.42.2.). Hence Varuņa is pictured as self-knowing,
self-mastering, moving freely with the laws because he is
perfectly aware of the laws. Recall that satya is the
Truth-Absolute in the Veda. ŗta is the Truth in
manifestation everywhere and at any time. It is the Truth of
Divine Being regulating the right activity of both body and mind.
Varuņa is said to be touching with the Truth ŗtasparsha
(1.2.8). Varuņa is also called ŗtavŗdha, increaser of
Truth, because he along with Mitra increase the Truth in
the human being, the yajamāna who performs the yajňa,
the harmonious arrangement of actions. Varuņa is endowed with a
vast will-power, brahantam kratum (1.2.8). He increases the
will-power in man so that the human can perform all actions
consistent with the Truth in manifestation (ŗta). He is
hymned as ‘superbly laudable among the laudable' (1.17.5). Laud or
praise in the veda is not simply a casual utterance, but
has the power to bring out the intentions expressed in speech.
We will give here the description of Varuņa given by seer
Nabhaka of the family Kaņva. "Luminous Varuņa has
embraced the nights; He holds the Dawns within him by his creative
knowledge; Visioned, he is around every object.'' (8.41.3) "He who
supports the worlds of life, he who well knows the hidden names of
the rays of the dawns, He cherishes much wisdom (8.41.5).'' "In
whom all wisdom centers as the nave is set within the wheel
(8.41.6).'' "He wraps these regions as a robe; He contemplates the
hosts of Gods and all the works of mortals; In the home of Varuņa
all the Gods follow his decree (8.41.7).'' "He is the hidden ocean
and he climbs passing beyond heaven; when he has placed the
sacrificial word in these dawns, then with his luminous feet he
tramples illusions and ascends to the Heavens (8.41.8).'' [Sri
Aurobindo, SV].
The three oceans
In the Rigveda, three different oceans are mentioned. The
vedic mystics saw below them "an unfathomable night and
surging obscurity, darkness hidden within darkness...''; Above
them, they beheld "a remote ocean of light and sweetness, a
highest either, the supreme step of Vişhņu to which their
being should ascend''; between these two oceans they saw "a third
sea of ever-developing conscious being, a sort of boundless
wave...'' (Sri Aurobindo). We have to navigate through this ocean
to reach the superconscient blissful ocean above.
"Three delightful dawns increase according to the law of his
workings. He of the all- seeing wisdom dwells in three
white-shining earths; Three are the higher worlds of Varuņa whence
he rules over the harmonies of seven and seven (8.41.9).''
The three dawns mentioned here are the illuminations of the three
bodies in man, the physical, the vital and the mental. He
harmonizes all the activities both in the macrocosm and in the
microcosm, in every individual human being.
Sin and Shortcomings
Varuņa prepares the great pathways in the human being so that the
illumination of the Sun, Sūrya, can enter all the unlit
regions of the human. The heart is the dwelling place of the inner
self of man. Afflictions of the heart are indicative of the
effects of the forces of ignorance on our inner being. The
vedic seers did not compartmentalize the physical and
psychological ailments as the moderns do. Only the Light brought
in by the Sun can dislodge the forces of ignorance which cause the
afflictions as declared in (1.25.7).
In the hymns of the Seer Shunahshepa there is repeated
mention of the words sin, enah, disregard, hela,
etc., which need special attention. Recall that Varuņa is the
upholder of the Laws, vratāni, upholder of ŗtam
which is the Truth of Divine being regulating the right activity
in both mind and body. The Rig Vedic seers were very much
aware of the human frailties. They saw around them persons steeped
in selfishness and prayed that they may not be in the same boat.
"May I not live, O Varuņa, to witness my wealthy, liberal
dear friend's destitution (3.28.10).''
There is no listing of the set of actions which constitute sins
and otherwise, because such a mechanical classification is not
possible. The attempts at codifying these highly plastic modes of
life and conduct are found in the several ancient books of Hindus
called as dharma shāstrās. The period of these books is
several millennia after the age of Rigveda. Every religion
like Christianity, Judaism, Islam, etc. has its own books of
conduct, often represented as the word of God. Among all these
books, the special feature of the Hindu dharma shāstrās is
that they alone recognize that these books have some eternal
elements and some other elements which are appropriate to a
particular time, place and society. The seers of each generation
are expected to reframe the variable parts of the rules
appropriate to that time and place.
We summarize the observations of Sri M.P. Pandit: "The movement
against the law of being may be with full knowledge of what one is
doing or in ignorance of the wrong nature of the movement. In each
case Karma is forged and the results suffered. Yet where
one acts contrary to the law of Truth consciously, the results are
particularly detrimental to the growth of Soul within. A thick
crust of darkness gathers round the soul and prevents its Light
from coming through (to the other parts of our body). But in the
action in ignorance, the reactions are mostly on the surface and
do not go deep.
Both types of sin are held up before God Varuņa, the Lord
of Purity, so that he may first loosen these impurities from the
being of the seeker and then cut them asunder, as the following
quotation from the Seer Atri indicates. ‘Our sin against
Truth and our sin by ignorance, All these clear away like loosened
things. (5.85.8)'
Note that premature death itself is a transgression of the Law.
Sacred is the life consecrated to the God. If it is not robbed,
but well-protected, it fulfils itself. For Varuņa, the master of
infinities, the establishment of the forces of harmony in human
bodies is not difficult as declared in (1.24.14).
Three Methods
In (1.25.3), the seer prays "O Varuņa, we bind your mind
excellently with our praises like the charioteer the ready
horse.'' There are three ingredients in the attempt of the seer to
bind Varuņa namely namas (homage), yajňa and
havis (offerings). The first step is to have faith and express
it by the homage or adoration. The next step is to try to perform
all actions in a spirit of harmony. We may recall that yajňa
is not merely a ritual. It is an orderly arrangement of all
actions and their offerings to the cosmic powers to whom they
rightly belong. The ritual of yajňa is one such orderly
arrangement. The next is the offering to the Gods of the delight
or rasa released from our actions. This is the threefold
way. Then the bonds of sins will be loosened as will be explained
below.
The three bonds
The force of ignorance or the falsehood in our being signified by
the deity, nirriti, causes in us the triple cord or bond of
obscure physical animality, inefficient life often dominated by
the lower vital impulses and limited mind which revels in doubts.
These are the three bonds or ropes which bind every one of us. The
result is an inert poverty of being; it is the origin of the sheer
inability of the mortal to come in touch with the universal Bliss
or Delight which pervades this universe. It makes him march
towards decay and death at every step. When the mighty Varuņa
comes and cuts this threefold bondage we are freed to move towards
Delight and Riches. "Uplifted, the real man arises to his true
kingship in his undivided being. The upper cord which is limiting
the mental movements flies upward releasing the wings of the soul
into superconscient heights; the middle cord which is limiting the
movements of our life forces parts both ways and all ways, the
constrained life breaking out into a happy breadth of existence;
the lower cord which binds to the matter and our animal origins
collapses downward taking with it the alloy of our physical being
to disappear and be dissolved in the stuff of the inconscient.''
(Sri Aurobindo) Thus we have a threefold liberation of being
hymned by the Seer Shunahshepah in the three mantrās ,
(1.24.13-1.24.15).
Relation to the Chakras in the tantra
As Sri Kapāli Sāstry states (CWKS, Vol. 6) "there is no doubt
whatsoever that the triple bondage corresponds to the three knots
famous in the tantra yoga under the names of Brahma,
Vişhņu and Rudra. The triple bondage obstructs the
entry and spread of the Truth-light in the threefold being of
mind, life and body. Release from it is possible by the grace of
God Varuņa.''
We will give here the relevant passages from, lalita sahasra
nāma stotra, a standard text of tantra yoga giving all
the main aspects of tantra in the form of one thousand
names addressed to the Divine Mother. The three bonds are
mentioned in the names 99 through 104: Residing in the
mūlādhāra (99), Severing the knot called Brahma
granthi (100), Appearing in the maņipura (101),
Severing the knot called Vişhņu granthi (102),
Residing in the centre of the ājnāchakra (103), Severing
the knot called Rudra granthi (104).
We may recall that the subtle body has seven centers of psychic
consciousness, arranged along the subtle counterpart of the
physical spinal column. These centres are called as Lotuses or
chakrās. The bottom one is the mūlādhāra where the
Supreme Energy Kundalini resides. By cutting the knot here,
the knot of brahma, the knot of matter, the energy
Kundalini raises to the next chakra the maņipura.
In the maņipura is the knot of Vişhņu signifying the
bonds which prevent the life-forces from contacting the Supreme
Delight. By cutting this knot, the energy goes to the sixth center
(via the fourth and fifth), the ˇjna chakra. This chakra
has the knot of Rudra cutting which the energy attains
union with the superconscient ocean above.
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