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No deep understanding of RV is possible without having a clear
perception of the two most widely occurring words in the RV namely
deva and yajňa. Deva occurs in about thirteen
hundred verses. Since Agni, Indra and so on, are
characterised as devās, almost every verse in RV refers to
a deva directly or implicitly.
Deva
is derived from the word div, to shine or illumine. The
devās are beings endowed with consciousness, but without a
physical body like the humans. Thus they are supraphysical beings
endowed both with knowledge and power. The sages of RV were great
observers of not only nature external to them like the mountains,
rivers, herbs, animals and so on but also were aware of the world
within themselves. They recognised different types of powers
pulsating behind and within all aspects of manifestation. Behind
each cosmic power, they divined the presence of a conscious being
denoted as deva or devi. Each deva is a
distinct cosmic power. Even though RV mentions thousands of
devās, about thirty of them get detailed attention like Agni,
Indra, Sarasvati, to mention a few. RV
gives a picture of the qualities common to all the devās in
the forty hymns dedicated to the vishve-devāĥ, the
collectivity of all the devās. Individual devās are
described in different sūktās. Indra is described in two hundred
forty hymns or roughly twenty five thousand verses. Agni,
is described in two hundred sūktās and so on.
Even though devās like Agni or Indra are mentioned in
purāņic texts also, they are quite different from the devās
in RV. There is no need to bring in the anecdotes of purāņa
to describe the events of RV. A careful reading of RV can answer
all the questions regarding the devās.
To get an idea of a deva, consider Indra. The sages
of RV were aware that the minds of the individual human beings are
not completely isolated. They are all projections of the cosmic
mind, the deity or deva behind it being Indra. Thus Indra
is the Lord of the Divine Mind. Note the adjective divine
qualifying the mind. The ordinary human mind has several
imperfections due to many reasons such as its close association
with the material human body. The divine mind is free of all these
imperfections. Similarly, Agni is the cosmic power of heat and
light in the manifested universe. But he is not confined to them.
He is also the power of the Divine Will connected with Wisdom
which vitalises all the human beings.
All the devās are considered as the children of the devi
Aditi, the goddess of infinity, whose power is aptly described
in the verse RV (1.89.10). Aditi is the earliest known conception
of infinity which encompasses everything.
Let us consider the relationship between these devās and
the Supreme Being, termed as the One ekaĥ or tat,
That or ekam sat, That One Truth as was done in the later
Upanishad texts. These devās are the limbs of the Supreme
Being. Each deva is a distinct power and personality of the
Supreme. The Divine consciousness and force which permeates every
aspect of manifestation, living or non-living is termed as
Vaishvānara Agni, the Universal Force, described in
about ten hymns of RV. Even a stone is endowed with consciousness
according to RV (1.70.2).
A unique feature of the Rig Vedic Gods is their camaraderie with
the humans. The different Vedic Gods do not support different
human beings and cause them to fight one another as the Greek Gods
do in books like Iliad. The Vedic Gods are eager to help a
person and manifest their power in him provided the person
expresses his aspiration by recognising the delight of existence
present everywhere, releases it by his/her activities and offers
it to the Gods. The Gods like Indra manifest in the human, remove
the effects of hostile forces like Vŗtra in the inner life of the
person and promote the all-round growth and happiness of the
person.
RV does not associate a distinct deva with each human being
or animal or plant. Each human being has a soul in him/her called
as jīva or ātma and this is not regarded as a
deva. The different devās manifest their powers in the
various aspects of the manifested nature. The functions associated
with the different animals or plants are possible only because of
the power given by the corresponding devās.
By means of the practices described in Rigveda, s/he comes in
contact with these cosmic powers who are called as Agni,
Indra, Ashvin, Soma etc. S/he tries to reach that state of
consciousness or contact directly these universal powers. This is
called as the ascent mentioned in several places. The first power
to be contacted is the Agni power. Hence Agni is called the First
God.
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